Arvind Kejriwal is 'mentally unstable': Harsimrat Kaur Badal

March 15, 2017

New Delhi, Mar 15: Mocking Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for putting the onus on Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) for the dismal show of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the recent Punjab Assembly polls, Union Food and Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Wednesday said that the former has lost his mental balance.

Harsimrat
"Kejriwal is mentally unstable and we all can see that. When he got 67 seats in Delhi then everything was fine, now when Punjab has rejected him he is not able to digest his defeat and is creating a ruckus," Kaur said.

She further said that the Delhi Chief Minister should focus on the affairs related to the national capital rather than making lame statements about the EVMs and ballots.

"He has always lied. Why will the public support him? He should introspect," Kaur added.

The Union Minister also attempted to downplay the defeat of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in Punjab.

"Though we have lost the elections, we have a 31 per cent vote share at the end of it. It means the people of Punjab still have faith in us," she said.

Kejriwal today alleged that the EVMs were tampered during the recently conducted assembly polls in the five states which ultimately resulted in his party's dismal show especially in Punjab.

Addressing a press conference here, Kejriwal suggested that the Election Commission needs to relook at the use of EVMs in the electoral process until faith is restored in it.

"Many said that there is anger against the Akalis and AAP is sweeping polls, still AAP got 25 percent votes and SAD got 31 percent votes. How is it possible? Even in Malwa, we got thrashed and Congress won there. How is it possible?" Kejriwal asked.

Kejriwal further said is it possible through the EVMs that 20-25 percent vote share meant for the AAP was transferred to the SAD-BJP alliance.

The AAP national convener insisted it is the Election Commission's responsibility to keep people's faith in EVMs.

He further asked the Election Commission to count slips of Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail or VVPAT and match it with the figures of EVM results.

Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati had earlier also put the onus on the EVMs for her loss in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, saying the machine accepted votes only in favour of the BJP.

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News Network
March 17,2024

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New Delhi: The Election Commission on Sunday made public fresh data on electoral bonds, which it had submitted in sealed covers to the Supreme Court and was later asked to put it in public domain.

These details are believed to be pertaining to the period before April 12, 2019. Electoral bond details after this date was made public by the poll panel last week.

The BJP encashed electoral bonds totalling Rs 6,986.5 crore; maximum Rs 2,555 crore received in 2019-20, as per the EC data.

The Trinamool Congress received Rs 1,397 crore through electoral bonds, second largest recipient after BJP, as per the EC data.

On the other hand, the Congress redeemed a total of Rs 1,334.35 crore through electoral bonds.

DMK received Rs 656.5 crore through electoral bonds, including Rs 509 crore from lottery king Santiago Martin's Future Gaming.

BJD encashed electoral bonds worth Rs 944.5 crore, YSR Congress Rs 442.8 crore, TDP Rs 181.35 crore.

Political parties had filed data on electoral bonds in sealed cover as directed by the Supreme Court's interim order dated April 12, 2019, the poll panel said in a statement.

"Data so received from political parties was deposited in the Supreme Court without opening sealed covers. In pursuance of the Supreme Court's order dated March 15, 2024, the Registry of the Supreme Court has returned physical copies along with a digitized record of the same in a pen drive in sealed cover. The Election Commission of India has today uploaded the data received in the digitized form from the registry of the Supreme Court on electoral bonds on its website," EC said.

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March 22,2024

The Enforcement Directorate on Friday produced Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal before the Rouse Avenue court and sought a 10-day custody in the excise policy-linked money laundering case. "Kejriwal was the kingpin of the scam," the ED reportedly told the court after the AAP chief was produced before Special Judge Kaveri Baweja around 2 pm amid tight security. 

ASG S V Raju was appearing for the agency, while Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi is representing Kejriwal. 

Raju in his argument said Kejriwal was "directly involved in formulation of the (liquor) policy... he was involved in handling of proceeds of crime as well in the Goa election campaign."

"The expert committee was constituted but it was a sham committee. The policy was made in such a manner that it would enable the taking of bribes and recoupment of people who gave the bribes," the ED counsel said. 

Kejriwal was produced in the trial court shortly after he withdrew from the Supreme Court his plea against arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in the excise policy-linked money laundering case. Kejriwal's counsel said he would contest the remand proceedings before the trial court and then come back to the apex court with another petition.

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March 16,2024

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New Delhi: The 2024 general election for 543 Lok Sabha seats will be held in seven phases from April 19, Chief Election Commissioner Rajeev Kumar said today, announcing the largest democratic exercise in the world. Results will be announced on June 4.

The seven phases: 
April 19
April 26
May 7
May 13
May 20
May 25
June 1

Simultaneous election for Lok Sabha and assembly will be held in four states -- Sikkim, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh and Andhra.  

By-elections will also be held for 26 assembly seats across multiple states, including Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.

Mr Kumar, announcing the dates, sent out a strong message on fake news on social media, saying political parties should ensure responsible social media behaviour -- "verify before you amplify".

"Fake news will be dealt with severely as per existent laws.. Section 79 (3)(B) of the IT Act empowers nodal officers in each state to remove unlawful content," he said.

The other strong message was on violation of model code in terms of hate speeches. "There should be issue-based campaign, no hate speeches, no speeches along caste or religious lines, no criticism of anyone's personal lives," he said.

The media must clarify when they carry political adverts, those cannot masquerade as news, he said. Individual messages regarding this would be sent to the candidates, he added.

The commission has employed 2,100 advisors to keep an eye on these issues and strong action will be taken regarding this, he said.

Voters above the age of 85 years and persons with disabilities, with 40 per cent disability can vote from home, Mr Kumar said. Around 82 lakh voter are above the age of 85, he said.

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