Stung by poor show in Punjab and Goa, AAP changes poll strategy – 'No Modi-bashing'

April 15, 2017

New Delhi, Apr 15: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has decided to stop criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi as part of a new strategy for the MCD polls in Delhi following its humiliating defeat in Punjab and Goa elections last month.

The Kejriwal-led party would now focus on a "positive campaign" instead of its usual Modi-bashing tactics as it faces a high-stake MCD municipal polls.

"We are adopting the same strategy used by the party before 2015 assembly polls in which we went to people convincing about the positive work done during our 49-day government,” news agency quoted a party leader as saying.

"We have seen the outcome of a positive campaign in the 2015 Assembly polls and will continue to do that for the MCD polls," he added.

The BJP's massive victories in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand is another reason for not targeting PM Modi as a huge section of people from these states also live here.

The AAP leader said attacking Modi directly during the MCD polls campaign may backfire.

In the recent Assembly election in Punjab, AAP could win 20 of 117 seats, while drew a blank in 40-member Goa Assembly.

During the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, AAP's strategy revolved around attacking Modi. Kejriwal himself unsuccessfully contested against Modi from Varanasi.

The party fared badly in the polls failing to win even a single seat in its home turf in Delhi.

The AAP then changed its strategy during the Assembly polls and focused on the works it it did during its 49-day rule. However, its attack on the BJP continued, with barbs on Modi. The AAP won 67 out of 70 seats in the Assembly polls.

In its MCD campaign, the party is rarely highlight the two years of tussle between the AAP govt and the Lt Governor and "the Centre not allowing the Delhi government to work".

The thrust remains on subsidies on electricity and water, "internationally acclaimed" mohalla clinics and the "revolution" in the education sector.

In the last fortnight, the party exercised a lot of restraint and did not attack Modi even when Lt Governor Anil Baijal ordered recovery of Rs 97 cr spent on advertisements.

When the PWD department of the Delhi government asked the AAP to vacate its office immediately, all the attack was on the BJP and there wasn't a single word against Modi.

In his rallies too, Kejriwal has been vehemently attacking the BJP, but not Modi.

For instance, during a rally at Matiala in west Delhi and Nangloi in north-west Delhi last week, the CM talked about the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and BJP-led MCDs' "inability" to deal with problem of sanitation in the city.

"Don't vote for the BJP. They can't even remain true to their Prime Minister," Kejriwal said.

He also referred to the CBI raid on office of his former principal secretary Rajendra Kumar in the Delhi Secretariat and case registered against PWD Minister Satyendar Jain. Again there was no reference to Modi.

After the raid on Kumar's office in December 2015, Kejriwal had invited criticism for accusing the PM of staging the raid and calling him a "coward" and a "psychopath".

A sample analysis of Kejriwal tweets, who has over 11 million followers second only to Modi, post Punjab and Uttar Pradesh Assembly poll results speaks volumes on this.

From March 4 to 10-- the week leading up to the results on March 11-- Kejriwal tweeted and retweeted 181 tweets.

Of these, 49 had reference to Modi, almost all bashing him, 22 of were attacking the BJP and the RSS while 88 tweets were eulogising the work done by the Delhi government. Rest were general tweets.

From March 11-17, the week after the results, Kejriwal hasn't sent out even one tweet attacking Modi, but his sporadic attack on the BJP remains.

The attack this time was on the Election Commission over alleged tampering of Electronic Voting Machines.

Interestingly, Kejriwal, who is known for using tweets to put his message across, did not tweet for two days during this period.

But will the "restraint" last long?

"Every election has a different strategy. Taking Modi head on is an integral part of party's strategy. It may have been altered for this MCD polls, but not for too long," the AAP leader said.

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‘Pay the worker before his sweat dries’: Madras High Court cites Prophet Muhammad’s teaching while ordering settlement of dues

News Network

December 21,2025

Invoking the teachings of Prophet Muhammad—“pay the worker before his sweat dries”—the Madras High Court has directed a municipal corporation to settle long-pending legal dues owed to a former counsel. The court observed that this principle reflects basic fairness and applies equally to labour and service-related disputes.

Justice G. R. Swaminathan made the observation while hearing a petition filed by advocate P. Thirumalai, who claimed that the Madurai City Municipal Corporation failed to pay him legal fees amounting to ₹13.05 lakh. Earlier, the High Court had asked the corporation to consider his representation. However, a later order rejected a major portion of his claim, prompting the present petition.

The court allowed Thirumalai to approach the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) and submit a list of cases in which he had appeared. It also directed the corporation to settle the verified fee bills within two months, without interest. The court noted that the petitioner had waited nearly 18 years before challenging the non-payment and that the corporation could not be fully blamed, as the fee bills were not submitted properly.

‘A Matter of Embarrassment’

Justice Swaminathan described it as a “matter of embarrassment” that the State has nearly a dozen Additional Advocate Generals. He observed that appointing too many law officers often leads to unnecessary allocation of work and frequent adjournments, as government counsel claim that senior officers are engaged elsewhere.

He expressed hope that such practices would end at least in the Madurai Bench of the High Court and added that Additional Advocate Generals should “turn a new leaf” from 2026 onwards.

‘Scandalously High Amounts’

While stating that the court cannot examine the exact fees paid to senior counsel or law officers, Justice Swaminathan stressed that good governance requires public funds to be used prudently. He expressed concern over the “scandalously high amounts” paid by government and quasi-government bodies to a few favoured law officers.

In contrast, the court noted that Thirumalai’s total claim was “a pittance” considering the large number of cases he had handled.

Background

Thirumalai served as the standing counsel for the Madurai City Municipal Corporation for more than 14 years, from 1992 to 2006. During this period, he represented the corporation in about 818 cases before the Madurai District Courts.

As the former counsel was unable to hire a clerk to obtain certified copies of judgments in all 818 cases, the court directed the District Legal Services Authority to collect the certified copies within two months. The court further ordered the corporation to bear the cost incurred by the DLSA and deduct that amount from the final settlement payable to the petitioner.

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