By Sidharth Mishra

Finally the alliance between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress has been announced with the former to contest four of the seven seats and the Congress remaining three seats. Despite the fact that the ruling party of Delhi is fighting a grim battle of survival given its alleged involvements in corruption cases, the Congress has decided to close ranks with the adversary to safeguard its interests in Goa, Gujarat, Haryana and Chandigarh.

Soon after the announcements, AAP was back to usual histrionics saying that as soon as reports of finalisation of seat-sharing talks between the Congress and the AAP started coming in, the Enforcement Directorate sent a seventh summon to AAP boss and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in the liquor scam case. Delhi Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj told media persons, “We have learnt from reliable sources that the CBI is planning to arrest Kejriwal in the next two to three days.” 

By Sidharth Mishra

This was a week of political theatrics with Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal scheduled to appear before the Special Court adjudicating in the cases filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The week before last the ED had moved the court stating that Kejriwal had refused to entertain its summons to join investigation in the Delhi liquor scam case.

As Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) built strategy to ward off the threat, like in the past, Kejriwal decided to take refuge in confines of the legislative assembly to escape the summons of the court. With Delhi assembly’s budget session in progress, the court gave Delhi chief minister relief from appearance before it till the end of the session and appear on March 16.

The court order, however, doesn’t guard him from appearance before the ED, which has issued a fresh summon for appearance this week. He may forward the same reason for non-appearance as done on Saturday last using the alibi of the ongoing budget session of the assembly.

By Sidharth Mishra

Last week the unthinkable happened – a portion of a station of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) collapsed. It killed a person and injured others. Now more than the damage to the property and the human life, such accidents damage the image of Brand DMRC.

 What has been more surprising is the ‘chalta hain’ (it happens) kind of response of the public and media on the incident. There was a time when DMRC had created the confidence that it could never go wrong. That confidence seems to have waned and the Metro is now being considered to be one of the several agencies which are serving the metropolis and are going wrong.

Could you believe that not even 500 metres away from the Bharat Mandapam, where we claimed ourselves to be the Vishwa Guru during the G20 Summit, a newly built tunnel road has been found to be defective and dirty linen is being washed in the public by the involved parties?

By Sidharth Mishra

One doesn’t know how much does the story of cybercrime bewilders a reader. Unlike the gruesome criminalities of the yore, which helped weave many a stories of dacoits, pirates, serial killers and celebrity thieves, cyber delinquents are a class apart.

One can know them if only one has a real-time encounter with them. Their smooth talk, their intelligence to engage a reluctant listener and above all their skills with the internet makes case for, as novelist Vikram Seth would put it, ‘A Suitable Boy’. But alas! Beneath the genteel fascia is a hardened felonious mind which goes around clinically executing the criminal act.

The cyber reconnaissance carried out by them on the potential prey is something which the best of the valuation firms would marvel at. So here is sharing a first-hand experience with one such suave criminal mind.

By Sidharth Mishra

Noted journalist Javed Anand, on the morning of January 22, writing in a prominent newspaper said, "For the Muslims it was only a property dispute. It (the mosque) had no religious or historical significance. It was so obscure that locating it in the then narrow and dusty lanes of Ayodhya was bit of a task." He holds forth that the Muslim leadership should have volunteered to handover the structure to the Hindus, whose sentiments were so deeply ingrained in the structure.

While Anand blames the Muslim leadership of failing to see the sentiments, he has not placed on record the role of Left-leaning historians like Irfan Habib, RS Sharma and DN Jha, who derided the Hindu belief in the location being the place of birth of their cultural and not just religious icon - Ram, the Prince, and later the King of Ayodhya.

By Sidharth Mishra

In their excitement to write the obituary of INDI alliance even before it has died, what has been overlooked is the turmoil within the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on the political line to be taken during the Lok Sabha polls. After more than a decade of existence, the party born out of a people’s agitation has not been able to find much traction beyond the states of Delhi and Punjab.

It’s performance in some of the other states has largely been that of a group whose presence has harmed the chances of the anti-BJP forces. However, in the past two assembly elections of Karnataka and Telangana, it has been reduced to a position where it cannot even damage the interests of the main anti-BJP party, the Congress.

By Sidharth Mishra

Delhi after a long-time has seen this gloomy beginning to the New Year. Much to the relief of the citizens, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) was ‘large-hearted’ enough to bring down the GRAP from level four to level three thus allowing BS-III (petrol) and BS-IV (diesel) vehicles on the roads. However, the weather isn’t in any way adding to cheer.

If one recalls correctly, till the turn of this century during the coldwave days the government would arrange for bonfires in marketplaces and other residential areas, which led to small assemblies and brought some cheer in the otherwise bitter cold environment. This today sounds like a folktale.

The harsh anti-pollution norms have ensured that there are no public bonfires today in the national capital region. Thus no assemblies and no scope for winter chat over ‘chai’ under shivering cold. The authorities may say that we have allowed heaters but then you don’t go around switching a heater at the roadside. Huge gas burners to keep the public places warm are still to make their debut in the national Capital or its surroundings.

By Sidharth Mishra

According to a report released by the Centre, five years after the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) was launched in 2019, Delhi has failed to meet its 2024 target of bringing down the annual PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations by 20-30%. While we have been witness to continues blame games between the political parties, the government report shows that every state government, whatever the political hue, in the national capital region (NCR) has failed to get into mission mode to contain pollution.

The report says that of the Rs 428.61 crore allotted to six cities of NCR with million plus population, only Rs 170.58 crore has been utilised in the last five years. Delhi, ruled by Aam Aadmi Party, was allocated Rs 38.22 crore of which only Rs 10.77 crore used. Noida, under BJP government, of Rs 26.42 crore allocated only Rs 0.95 crore utilised, Alwar, ruled by Congress government, of Rs 15 crore Rs 0.04 crore used, Meerut, ruled by BJP government, Rs 81.93 crore of allocated Rs 139.19 crore used, Ghaziabad, ruled by BJP, Rs 76.89 crore of Rs 136.25 crore used and finally Faridabad, again ruled by BJP, not a single paisa of allocated Rs 73.53 utilised.