Delhi court orders FIR against Somnath Bharti, minister remains defiant

In further signs of trouble for controversial Delhi law minister Somnath Bharti, a Saket court has ordered the Delhi police to file an FIR against him, based on the complaints by two Ugandan women.

The women have alleged they had been manhandled by a mob led by Bharti, who led a midnight 'raid' against 'drugs and prostitution' in Khirki village of his constituency of Malviya Nagar.

The court passed the order under section 156 (3) of the Criminal Procedure Code, which gives a magistrate the right to to order registration of a criminal offence.

Somnath Bharti: Image from Facebook

Bharti had apparently accused the African nationals of being prostitutes and criminals and had demanded their arrest, despite not having a warrant against them. He claimed to have been acting on a complaint received from local residents.

The state law minister said that he was not aware of any case being filed against him, but said that he would put his stand forward in the event of an investigation.

He also denied any wrong doing.

"I don't think any of our volunteers laid a hand on anyone. We are people who end up getting beaten, we don't beat people", he told reporters.

"No one is talking about the impact of what was happening there on the youth. Why isn't anyone talking about that? All these things take place with the support of the police," he added.

He also hit out at BJP senior leader Arun Jaitley, who had expressed concern at the 'seemingly racist' comments made by Bharti, who had talked about the 'Ugandans or Nigerians' in a derogatory manner.

"Arun Jaitley should remember that he is a neta and not a lawyer. If he doesn't work for the people he will be left nowhere," Bharti said.

The incident, which has been widely condemned across the political spectrum, has however, been vigorously defended by AAP leaders and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Kejriwal has asked Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde to suspend the four police officials for allegedly not conducting a raid without a warrant as ordered by Bharti. He has also said that if no action is taken against the four officials by Monday, 10 am, all AAP ministers would sit on a 'dharna' outside the Home Ministry.

According to this report in the Times of India, when the police arrived, Bharti asked them to arrest the two. The police first refused since they had no evidence against them. This infuriated the minister. He complained that the Malviya Nagar SHO, Vijay Pal, who had come to the spot, had returned without taking any action.

"There was a building full of girls. We called the police. First they took a long time to come and then left after refusing to raid the premises. They are not listening to me, the law minister," Bharti said.

Speaking to CNN-IBN after the incident, one of the Ugandan women revealed that they were assaulted by the mob accompanying Bharti. "We were returning from a party when we reached here and we saw a lot of Indian men on the road. They stopped our car, started shouting at us. We were really scared, so refused to step out. They started banging the doors of our car. When the police came, we finally stepped out of the car."

Another woman demanded Bharti's resignation. She said, "Police helped us because I think they were going to kill us. The way they were treating us as if we were criminals. We are not criminals. The minister who conducted the raid should be made to resign. What he's doing is not right . We just want to go to our embassy."

Facing Modi, Rahul Gandhi’s missing charisma may cost him, Congress dearly

The important fact of the 2014 contest is that the excitement the Bharatiya Janata Party is able to create around its prime ministerial candidate is missing in the Congress. Narendra Modi is seen as a far more inspirational leader, and more effective communicator, than Rahul Gandhi.

The reluctance or inability of the younger man to deploy his charisma - by making heroic or lyrical speeches - also hurts his party.

Political dynasties survive on the back of such loudness of character and self-referencing, and every South Asian family politician knows this. Though he is self made, Modi has the confidence and quality to produce this charisma and he is a 'known' commodity for his potential voters, even though he has no dynastic past.

The strongman from Gujarat also has the advantage of a record on governance and growth that Rahul Gandhi personally lacks. The Congress heir does not own the successes and failures of the Union government, and it is his mother and Manmohan Singh who are seen as its masters.

Rahul Gandhi took on the BJP at the AICC meet on 17 January. PTI

Even so far as the party goes, there is a division of power between mother and son. The extent to which Rahul has independence in directing Congress strategy is unclear. Though his interventions have sometimes resulted in the party changing direction, he is still only the deputy leader of the Congress and subordinate to his mother.

This is quite different from Modi, who is undisputed leader of his party, and in total control of his campaign.

In the Congress there is a large section, particularly in the lower ranks, that would like Priyanka Vadra to bring the spark that Rahul is unable to kindle. Election campaigns need personality and colour and this is absent in the Congress, and acknowledged by many within it. Where will it come from?

Priyanka, on the limited evidence of her public outings and media interactions, is more magnetic a figure than her brother. The mischief of her husband, and the awful public image he has built, has also not rubbed off on her, and this has in part to do with her independent personality. She is likeable and attractive.

This is why many in Congress believe the entry of Priyanka would help the party fight back against Modi, its toughest opponent in decades.

The other way of looking at it is to say that Rahul ought to be given a chance to fail first before being sidelined in favour of his sister. A move to bring in Priyanka at this stage would mean an acknowledgment of Rahul Gandhi's failure and defeat in 2014. But that defeat hasn't yet come.

It well might, and there may be a need to rethink the idea of Rahul as the party's future, but it cannot be done on the basis of an imagined result.

Since taking over as Congress president, Sonia Gandhi improved on the party's electoral performance (in terms of the number of seats) in three consecutive general elections. Congress has gone from 114 in 1998 to over 200 in 2009. She has unquestionably revived the party. Rahul's job was to rejuvenate it, and he hasn't done that.

It is probable that this year the sequence will end and the party tally will drop. If this happens, it will be seen as Rahul Gandhi's failure, given the focus on him.

Sonia Gandhi enjoys a much better reputation as a leader than her son, at least with the media. It is quite remarkable that she personally has not come under the sort of attack that Rahul has, though she is the individual in charge of the party.

But she has been reluctant to be the face of the government, and now even of the party. And so her son must show that he is capable of taking forward the most valuable political inheritance in the world.

Live: Modi to speak at BJP national council, Rahul, Aiyar on hit list

10.45 am: Modi to speak at BJP national council, Rahul, Aiyar on hit list

BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi will address the BJP's national council at the Ram leela Maidan today, where he is expected to launch a scathing attack on the Congress party. He will also have plenty of ammunition with which to do so.

Firstly there is Rahul Gandhi's 'inspiring' speech to party workers on 17 January, where he attacked Modi, saying that those dreaming about a Congress-free India would themselves be destroyed.

PTI

Tearing into BJP and its PM candidate Modi for his 'Congress-free India' campaign, he said Congress is a "thought" which cannot be erased. "Whoever has tried to do it, has himself got destroyed".

Today will be Modi's opportunity to hit back. He has already told party workers to concentrate on running a grounded election campaign focusing on booths and households as he said polls are not won through rallies and TV debates.

Striking a note of sarcasm, the Gujarat Chief Minister said, "We cannot beat Congress in their way of running a campaign. We do not have the ability to spend such money, misuse state machinery or resort to any dirty tricks. The power we have is the power of organisation." His speech today will most likely expand on that.

Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar's infamous 'tea vendor' comment is also expected to figure prominently in Modi's speech.

"There is no way he can be Prime Minister in the 21st century... but if he wants to come and distribute tea here we can make some room for him", Aiyar said, in comments that the party has since distanced itself from.

But the BJP machinery has already swung into action.

There are already plans for Modi to visit a tea stall in Gandhinagar in Gujarat that will be beamed live in 1,000 locations across the country.

And on Saturday, BJP President Rajnath Singh said that the Congress had been trying to defame Modi by making personal attacks against him.

So expect a scathing, (read entertaining) speech from the BJP Prime Ministerial candidate!

Kejriwal defends law minister, says Delhi cops should be under state govt

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal refused to believe that the state's Law Minister Somnath Bharti was in any way wrong in dealing with the Delhi Police and a few women foreign nationals recently over an alleged drug and prostitution racket in a South Delhi locality.

The Delhi chief minister rather chose to blame the police for inaction and demanded strongly that the force should be within the jurisdiction of the state government rather than the Union home ministry.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Naresh Sharma/Firstpost

"We want Delhi Police to come under Delhi government, the Bill is pending in Parliament since 2004," Kejriwal told CNN-IBN, Editor-in-Chief, Rajdeep Sardesai.

The chief minister expressed dismay that efforts are on to protect the police alleging that these illegal activities are going on right under the nose of the cops.

"When sex and drug rackets run in you locality then you will realise, this runs with police backing. Why are we defending the SHO? Instead of punishing the police, who are not doing their job, these people are defending them. Suspend four officers and Delhi Police will fall in line," Kejriwal said.

The Delhi chief minister also did not spare his former colleague Kiran Bedi for her recent pro-Narendra Modi remark. "She is promoting Narendra Modi's agenda. There is nothing wrong in that," he said.

Kejriwal however made it clear that despite the external support extended by the Congress he would go after the alleged misdeeds by the earlier Sheila Dikshit government.

"This support is unique in itself. They are supporting us on their own. We never asked for it. The support will not prevent us from ordering a probe into the role of the earlier Delhi government in the Commonweath Games scam," he said.

The Delhi chief minister said that he may have to fight Lok Sabha polls if his party wants him to despite being opposed to the idea personally.

"My ambition is not to become the prime minister. My ambition is that I want to remain an aam aadmi and go to see a movie with my family during weekend," Kejriwal said.

The Delhi chief minister did not agree that there would be a fiscal imbalance because of the large subsidies that his government recently announced.

"Lakhs have benefitted from free water. If I have given Rs 200 crore subsidy to public that too only for four months what is the harm," Kejriwal told CNN-IBN.

The chief minister also made his unhappiness with rebel MLA Vinod Kumar Binny open.

"If Binny is unhappy, he is free to quit," Kejriwal said.

Delhi police hiding its failures, AAP opposed to harassment: Kejriwal

New Delhi: Batting for Law Minister Somnath Bharti after his altercation with cops, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today accused the Delhi Police of "hiding its failures" and not acting on complaints of residents of Khirki village, Extension and Hauz Rani since November last year.

"The police brass is now busy hiding its failures of not having acted on the complaints of local residents of Khirki village, Extension and Hauz Rani since November 2013 about certain undesirable activities in these areas," the Chief Minister said in a statement.

He also charged a section of the media with putting out "misleading" reports that local residents and AAP activists had resorted to "objectionable behaviour" with foreign nationals in Bharti's presence.

Kejriwal has continued to defend his law minister. PTI

"The newly-elected government of Delhi strongly condemns the motivated attempts being made to twist a law and order problem into an unfounded issue based on colour and race," he said in the statement.

"Government is strongly opposed to any harassment on the basis of nationality, caste, creed, religion and gender," he said.

Kejriwal has demanded action against the policemen -- SHO of Malviya Nagar and two ACPs -- who refused to cooperate with Bharti in cracking down on an alleged prostitution ring in South Delhi three days ago.

"Despite repeated requests by Law Minister Somnath Bharti to the police officers present on the spot to call a squad or at least some women personnel, no attempt was made by the police to do so," he said.

Attacking Delhi police further, he said, "The SHO of Malviya Nagar Police Station was allegedly involved in beating a Dalit women in May 2013 and the complaint of this incident by the residents of the area is pending with the Union Home Ministry since eight months."

The AAP government has alleged that Malviya Nagar police did not cooperate with Bharti in conducting a raid on Nigerian nationals whom he claimed were involved in a drugs and sex racket at Khirki village.

It also sought action against a policeman who had tiff with Women and Child Development Minister Rakhi Birla in Sagarpur of West Delhi.

The Chief Minister has criticised police for their handling of the Danish tourist gangrape case.

Kejriwal had yesterday said he and his Cabinet colleagues will hold a dharna on Monday outside the Union Home Minister's office at North Block, if the three SHOs and two ACPs are not placed under suspension by then.

He had also written to Shinde, demanded handing over of control over Delhi Police to Delhi Government without any "further delay".

PTI

 

AAP downplays Captain Gopinath’s comments against party’s decision on FDI

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today downplayed Air Deccan founder Captain Gopinath's comments against its government's decision to reject FDI in retail in
Delhi, saying members can have different opinions.

Senior party leader and member of the national executive committee Yogendra Yadav said that the party had over 1.5 million members and it was only the opinion of the party officer bearers and spokespersons that was relevant.

Captain Gopinath. Reuters

"We came to know that many people (popular personalities from different fields including Captain Gopinath) have become the members of the Aam Aadmi Party.
"It would be an extraordinary expectation to assume that all those 1.5 million members of the Aam Aadmi Party will haveconsensus on any major issue. Of these 1.5 million members, some are office bearers, some are official spokespersons. If they say something then that is the party's line," Yadav said.

Gopinath yesterday had criticised the Delhi's government decision of not allowing FDI in retail. He said that the party was in danger of being branded like other political parties of resorting to populist measures and opposing for the sake of opposing.

Yadav added that AAP welcomed the expectations and public focus because this what will keep the government on its toes and that the party is committed to seeking public opinion on any major issue.

PTI

Congress says it disapproves of Mani Shankar Aiyar’s statement on Modi

New Delhi: Congress today ticked off party leader Manishanker Aiyar for his controversial remarks that the party would welcome Narendra Modi to sell tea at AICC
meetings.

"The party does not approve of the statement," Congress general secretary Ajay Maken, who is in charge of the media department, told PTI.

Aiyar had mocked Modi's Prime Ministerial ambitions and said a place will be identified for the Gujarat Chief Minister to distribute tea here.

"I promise you in 21st century Narendra Modi will never become the Prime Minister of the country. ...But if he wants to distribute tea here, we will find a place for him," Aiyar
had said at the venue of the AICC meeting here.

Aiyar had refused to apologise for his statements. Ibnlive

Aiyar's remarks came against the backdrop of Modi's reference to his own humble socio-economic background at rallies while targeting the Gandhi-Nehru family.

Aiyar's remark had come under severe attack from BJP yesterday with the main opposition saying democracy would be strengthened if a former tea vendor succeeded in defeating dynastic politics.

While BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar described Aiyar as an "icon of cheap thinking", Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley posted on Twitter that "the strength of Indian democracy will be proved when a former tea vendor defeats a dynasty representative. Let this be the battle of 2014."

Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal had earlier made similar remarks against Modi, saying a person who used to sell tea cannot have a national perspective.

PTI