BJP launches membership drive in Delhi, Haryanvi singer-dancer Sapana Chaudhary joins party
New Delhi, Jul 7: The BJP's membership drive was launched in the national capital on Sunday, with famous Haryanvi singer-dancer Sapana Chaudhary joining the party in the presence of senior leaders, including Delhi unit chief Manoj Tiwari and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
Chaudhary had campaigned extensively for the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in May but stopped short of joining the saffron party even though there was talk that she would contest the polls.
Earlier in March, Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Raj Babbar had announced on Twitter that she had joined the party. Chaudhary, however, categorically denied it.
Besides Chaudhary, seven others, including a specially-abled youth, a first-time voter, retired Army officers and bureaucrats and a street vendor, joined the BJP at the event held at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
Chouhan, who is the national in-charge of the BJP's membership drive, asked party workers to ensure its victory in the Delhi Assembly polls early next year by enrolling members from each booth and all sections of the society.
"According to the 'Sarv Vyapi, Sarv Sparshi' (covering all areas, touching base with all) slogan of the campaign, you have to work hard to ensure that new members come from each booth and each section of the society. With a large heart ensure that no section remains untouched," he said.
As against the target of adding 20 per cent members to the party, Delhi BJP has decided to bring 10 lakh people to the party fold, said Kuljeet Chahal, campaign in-charge in Delhi.
Chouhan asked party workers and leaders affiliated with Shakti Kendras (groups of polling booths) to devote a week's time to the drive.
He also heaped praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, describing him as a "movement".
Speaking about Amit Shah, Chouhan said the BJP president could produce "oil from sand", citing the party's success in Assam, Tripura and West Bengal.
National general secretary (organisation) Ramlal asked party workers and leaders to make efforts to enrol 50 per cent new members from each of the over 13,800 booths in Delhi, with a special focus on those where the party strength is low.
Tiwari assured senior party leaders that the membership drive will be an "unprecedented" success in Delhi and suggested that new members should represent all walks of life.
He also lauded Modi's leadership, saying he was appreciated by all world leaders.
The BJP's membership drive in Delhi will conclude on August 11. Members will be enrolled online as well.
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Traffic fraud: Fake 'no-entry' sticker racket busted in Delhi, mastermind among 3 held
New Delhi (PTI): Police here have busted a crime syndicate involved in traffic fraud and extortion, arresting three people including the alleged mastermind who sold fake stickers to help commercial vehicles bypass no-entry restrictions, an official said on Saturday.
The police said they dismantled a third organised syndicate linked to traffic-related frauds, with the arrest of Rinku Rana alias Bhushan, his associate Sonu Sharma and Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, who was also connected to another extortion syndicate.
According to the police, Rinku Rana was running a well-organised network that facilitated the movement of commercial goods vehicles during restricted hours by selling fake 'marka' or stickers for Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 per vehicle every month. The stickers were falsely projected as authorisation to evade traffic challans.
During raids, the police recovered Rs 31 lakh in cash, property documents worth several crores of rupees, over 500 fake stickers and six mobile phones allegedly used to operate the syndicate.
The crackdown followed a complaint filed by a traffic police officer in April this year after a commercial vehicle tried to evade checking by producing a fake sticker claiming exemption from enforcement action.
Investigation revealed that social media groups were being used to coordinate the illegal movement of vehicles and alert drivers about traffic police checkpoints, police said.
"A parallel system was being run to cheat drivers and vehicle owners while undermining traffic enforcement. On the basis of evidence, provisions related to organised crime under the BNS were invoked," a senior police officer said.
Sonu Sharma, the police said, managed social media groups through which stickers were sold and real-time alerts were circulated regarding traffic police movement. He also acted as a link between Rana and drivers operating in the field.
In a related development, Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, an associate of Rajkumar alias Raju Meena, who was earlier arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), was also apprehended.
Mukesh allegedly helped extort money from transporters and was involved in blackmailing traffic police personnel by recording enforcement actions, the police said.
Investigators alleged the syndicate led by Rajkumar deployed drivers to deliberately violate traffic rules and secretly record police officials during challans, later using manipulated videos to extort money under threat of false allegations.
The police said that in total, eight accused belonging to three different organised crime syndicates linked to traffic frauds and extortion have been arrested so far.
Further investigation is underway to trace the remaining members, conduct financial probes, and analyse digital evidence recovered during the raids, officials added.
