Arvind Kejriwal announces People's Welfare Alliance after forging ties with Twenty20 in Kerala
Kochi, May 15: Seeking to spread its wings in southern State of Kerala, New Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday announced his party's political alliance with Twenty20, a political party, promoted by a business group here and targeted the mainstream political parties in the State by alleging that they were not interested in providing jobs for the youth.
While attending a public meeting organised by Twenty20 that is promoted by the Kitex Group, Kejriwal said the political parties here won't give jobs to the children of this State as they want people who can riot and can spread hooliganism.
Listing out the projects the AAP chief said his government has provided jobs to 1.2 million people in Delhi.
"People of other parties won't give jobs to the children of this State, they won't give education. Why? Because they want people who can riot, who can spread hooliganism. We are decent people, we don't know how to do any of these things and we don't want to indulge in such practices," Kejriwal said.
Both the political parties have joined hands and announced the People's Welfare Alliance (PWA) in Kerala.
Addressing the crowd gathered at the Kitex ground here, Kejriwal said no one knew Arvind Kejriwal 10 years ago and there was no AAP either.
"Now, we have formed a government in New Delhi thrice and Punjab is with us. Do you want a change in Kerala or not," Kejriwal asked.
These things happened not because of any magic by Arvind Kejriwal, but due to the grace of God, the Delhi Chief Minister said, pointing his fingers to the sky.
"We stand by the truth and that's why we have the grace of God," he said.
He said the party members of AAP are not powerful politicians but ordinary men and women.
"It was an ordinary housewife who defeated a powerful four-time MLA in Delhi. It was a technician working in a local mobile shop who defeated former Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi," Kejriwal said.
He claimed that electricity was given free of cost to the people of New Delhi and listed the achievements of his government in the capital territory.
Kejriwal said he was impressed with the work of Sabu Jacob, the chief of Kitex group in Kerala, and that he was happy to have ties with Jacob's political party.
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Karnataka Assembly passes bill on Palace Grounds amid opposition protest
Bengaluru, Mar 6 (PTI): The Karnataka Assembly on Thursday passed the Bangalore Palace (Utilisation and Regulation of Land) Bill, reaffirming state ownership over 472 acres and 16 guntas of land here, amid protests by the opposition BJP.
During the discussion, Karnataka Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said the state government would have to provide Rs 200 crore worth of Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) for each acre of land, which means that for 15 acres, Rs 3,000 crore worth of TDR would be issued.
“If we accept it, then this 2-km stretch of road will become the costliest road in the world. If we accept it then how are we going to develop the city in later stages? How will you carry out development works?” asked Patil.
He also pointed out that this question was raised not only under the Congress government but also during the previous BJP regime.
However, the BJP-led cabinet has opposed the project.
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“Suppose we agree to it then, what will be the valuation of the 472 acres? It will be lakhs and lakhs of crores of rupees. Can we accept?” Patil wondered.
The Minister said the government had previously exercised its executive powers to issue an ordinance, which was approved by the Governor. Now the government is bringing a bill with two amendments.
“In this bill, we have made provisions either to develop or drop the road development work,” Patil explained.
However, BJP state president B Y Vijayendra and BJP MLA Arvind Bellad opposed the move, alleging that the government was targetting Yaduveer Krishna Datta Chamaraja Wadiyar, the scion of the Mysuru royal family, and the BJP MP from Mysuru-Kodagu constituency out of political vendetta.
“We talk of 472 acres of Mysuru Maharaja but here there are many Maharajas who too own 400 acres, 500 acres and thousands of acres of land, which is known to everyone,” Bellad said.
He slammed the Congress government, saying political power should not be misused for personal vendetta.
“Why (the then Deputy Chief Minister) Siddaramaiah brought the law in 1996 pertaining to the Bangalore Palace? Why are you setting eyes on the Bangalore Palace?” he asked.
Vijayendra charged that Wadiyar won the election on BJP ticket so the state government realised that it should acquire it.
“This bill has been brought for political vengeance. We are not discussing whether Rs 3,000 crore is exorbitant or not but the moment Yaduveer became MP, the state government woke up. You should be ashamed. This house should not be used for political vendetta,” he said.
Intervening, Minister Priyank Kharge said Vijayendra should not have raised it because the intention behind building the road was noble.
According to him, the BJP too had the same plan when it was in power.
He sought to know whether thousands of crores of rupees be spent on a road which should have cost significantly less.
In response, BJP MLA B A Basavaraj (Byrathi) said issuing TDR will not be a burden on the state government and appealed to the ruling Congress to reconsider its stance.
Minister Ramalinga Reddy too explained that the Karnataka government acquired the entire land way back in 1996.
The Mysuru royal family went to the High Court, which gave ruling in favour of the state government. The royal family then approached the Supreme Court, where the case is still going on, the Minister pointed out.
“The final judgment is pending in the SC to decide whether the acquisition was right or wrong. If the SC says it’s the royal family’s property then let it be so. If the order is in the state government’s favour then we can take a decision. The bill is only about it,” Reddy explained.
Speaker U T Khader then called for a voice vote and the bill was passed by the Assembly amidst opposition BJP’s discontent.
