Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal has finally accepted that resigning as the Chief Minister of Delhi after just 49 days at the helm was a ‘mistake’.

Kejriwal said that maybe his quitting as the CM of Delhi was “ill-timed” and did not go down well with the common man. He accepted that the mistake was in assuming that the people would ‘celebrate’ the decision by AAP ‘to quit on principle’ and believing that people at large would understand on their own as to what their reasons were.

However, he maintained that he had no regrets regarding his resignation and stood by his move to submit the papers on not being able to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill, which was part of the AAP manifesto in the Delhi polls.

But at the same time Kejriwal did say that he should have made efforts to explain to the people the reason behind his resignation, held public meetings and maybe should not have demitted office the same day that the Jan Lokpal Bill “was not allowed to be passed by the Congress and the BJP.”

He was also of the view that the sudden turn of events and the gap in communicating with the people had allowed the Opposition to call his party as escapists and spread certain mis-information about AAP.

The Aam Aadmi Party which was formed in 2012 after the Lokpal movement spearheaded by social activist Anna Hazare, had surprised everyone by winning 28 seats in the Delhi Assembly elections in December last year.

Later, they went ahead and formed the government with outside support of eight Congress MLAs.

However, though they were initially praised by the masses for reducing tariffs in water and electricity rates, the government lead by Kejriwal took a severe beating when he lead a dharna outside Rail Bhavan just before the Republic Day and when he quit office after 49 days on not being able to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill.

Kejriwal was attacked by the Opposition who said that he had run away from the responsibilities of running the government and also that he had deserted Delhi because he had his eyes on the Lok Sabha polls and wanted to capitalise on the so-called ‘wave’ for AAP.

AAP is contesting in more than 400 seats in the General Elections and Kejriwal is contesting against BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.

In the same interview Kejriwal also exuded confidence that AAP would definitely win Amethi and Varanasi seat. He also said that the BJP would get less than 180 seats and Modi would never become the next PM of India.

In what appears to be a last-ditch attempt to arrest the growing prominence of Narendra Modi, the Congress now says that no leader in the BJP can match the stature of former PM Atal Behari Vajpayee.

An article displayed prominently – with Vajpayee’s photo – on the Congress’ website hit out at Modi by invoking Vajpayee’s words criticising the 2002 Gujarat riots under Modi’s watch as CM.

“Shri Vajpayee was clear what was the reason for the defeat: Gujarat Chief Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s failure to control the communal pogrom in his state in 2002. He believed that the party will lose its credibility unless it took action against Shri Modi,” the article said.

“The fundamental cause of Shri Vajpayee’s pain was that Shri Modi didn’t perform his Rajdharma. He did not fulfil his fundamental duty as the chief minister: protecting the lives of the people of Gujarat. Towards the last ebb of the Gujarat riots, Shri Vajpayee urged Shri Modi to “observe Rajdharma and not discriminate on the basis of caste, creed or religion”. It is evident that Shri Vajpayee believed that the Gujarat CM had been not only inept but downright partisan in his handling of the riots,” it said.

“Not just the handling of the riots, Shri Vajpayee believed that the Modi government wasn’t doing enough to provide relief and rehabilitation to those who had been displaced during the riots.”

“This raises the question that how can a person whom the tallest leader of the BJP wanted removed as chief minister, be the party’s Prime Ministerial candidate?”

“The BJP might forget Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee. But every Indian must ponder over the questions he raised on the man who is now the BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate,” the article said.

No one will be able to stop BJP from coming to power at the Centre if the Muslim votes are divided, BSP chief Mayawati on Friday said.

The former Uttar Pradseh chief minister appealed the Muslims to check division of their votes.

“If Muslim votes are divided no one would be able to stop the BJP from coming to power at the centre,” Mayawati said at an election rally in Devchara area of Aonla constituency.

The BSP president said if BJP comes to power it would also give rise to corruption as both BJP and Congress contest elections with the help of “capitalists’ money”.

Alleging that BJP and Congress are “conspiring” to end the reservation for Dalits, she said that without increasing the total percentage of quota they want to cover more castes in it which would deprive Dalits of their share.

Describing BJP as a communal party, Mayawati said Muslims will not be safe under BJP government.

She also attacked the law and order situation of the state under the SP government and said “it is jungle law in UP”.

Referring to Muzaffarnagar riots, she claimed Muslims were subjected to immense atrocities… They should not come under the influence of BJP, Congress or Samajwadi Party and instead “give their consolidated votes to BSP as it is the only party which is concerned about the interests of Muslims”.

Stressing that BSP is contesting the elections on its own, Mayawati said her party wanted that the black money deposited in foreign banks be brought back and used in the welfare of poor.

Hitting out at both BJP and BJD, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Friday accused the saffron party of trying to destroy social harmony by creating a communal divide and the ruling party in Odisha of misrule, rampant corruption and loot of central funds.

“BJP seeks to destroy unity and harmony in the country by creating a communal divide. It believes in violence,” Gandhi said addressing election rallies at Baripada and Balasore in Odisha.

Asking the people to remain vigilant and alert towards BJP’s approach, the Congress chief said the saffron party’s ideology would be harmful for the country and appropriate steps must be taken to check it.

Congress, on the other hand, has been working sincerely to ensure unity and harmony in society without showing any discrimination towards any section, she said adding, “Our party’s aim is to unite the people, which is the tradition of India.”

Stating that both BJP and BJD have the single-point agenda to oppose Congress, the UPA Chairperson said the two parties have been trying to mislead people by levelling false and baseless charges against Congress.

Asking people not to pay heed to “false campaign” launched by BJP and BJD in their bid to gain power, Gandhi said Congress is not worried over the tricks used by these parties as it is sincerely working for the poor and downtrodden.

Stating that Congress has been working for the uplift of tribals, backward, poor, women and weaker sections of society since the days of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, she said now Rahul Gandhi was trying to make their dream a reality.

Narendra Modi’s admission in a poll affidavit that he is married to Jashodaben Chimanlal, a retired schoolteacher he separated from decades ago, led to wordy political exchanges.

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi attacked Mr. Modi for never acknowledging his wife in the past, saying at a rally in Jammu and Kashmir, “We don’t know how many elections he has fought, but for the first time he has written that he is married. In Delhi, they talk about respecting women… but his wife’s name never found its way into the affidavit.”

Hours later, thousands of kilometres away in Chhattisgarh, Mr. Modi seemed to respond to Mr. Gandhi’s attack when he said, also at a rally, “They are not willing to give an account of their own work and yet they go around the country asking Modi to explain himself.”

On Wednesday, Mr. Modi, in his poll affidavit as the BJP’s candidate from Vadodara in Gujarat, wrote the name “Jashodaben” in the column for spouse – a field he had left blank in the four assembly elections he contested in the past. Mr. Modi’s older brother Somabhai Damodar Modi said his marriage was a formality and he gave it up to serve the country.

Jashodaben, 62, lives with her brother in a village in western Gujarat and is reportedly on a pilgrimage at present.

Congress leaders say the Election Commission should consider action against Mr. Modi for filing what they call false affidavits in the past.

As India holds the latest round of its mammoth elections Friday, one man – polygamist and sect leader Zionnghaka Chana – has become the voter every local politician wants to know.

With 39 wives and 127 children and grandchildren, Chana is a voter like no other in the remote northeastern state of Mizoram, and can deliver a sizeable bloc of support.

“We were witnessing a rush of politicians seeking votes in the last few days,” Chana told from his 100-room home in the hills of Baktawng village outside the state capital Aizawl.

“During every election we are much in demand as the winning margins of politicians in this state are slim, so even 100-odd votes matter to them,” Chana, 70, said earlier this week.

Mizoram is the only state voting today, in the fourth of nine stages of voting in the world’s biggest election, after the Election Commission rescheduled polling following a dispute over whether tribal groups displaced during the recent ethnic strife were allowed to vote in their refugee camps.

The state represents less than one percent of India’s 814 million-strong electorate. Voting across India ends on May 12, with results due four days later.

“When we go to vote, we always cast our ballots for the same candidate or party. That means more than 160-odd votes are assured from one family,” said one of Chana’s wives, Rinkmini.

Like most voters at this election, Chana said he wanted a clean government and development so that his family could prosper.

“All we want is good governance and the wellbeing of the state instead of personal gains for our family from the politicians,” he said.

The sect, founded by Chana’s grandfather in the 1930s, has some 1,700 members including four generations of the Chana family, many of whom carve wooden furniture and make pottery items.

Its philosophy is based on Christian teachings, although leaders from the Presbyterian church, the main faith in the state, reject Chana’s embrace of polygamy.

Nursery admissions have been put on hold again in Delhi schools; this time by the Supreme Court, a week after the Delhi High Court gave the green signal.

The Supreme Court stayed the admissions on a petition by parents who have challenged the high court’s order saying children who have shifted from a different state to Delhi will get no quota.

The court has also issued notice to the Delhi government.

“The admissions already done will be subject to the Supreme Court’s decision,” said Nidesh Gupta, the lawyer for the parents.

Last week, the high court ended its stay on nursery admissions, ending prolonged uncertainty for thousands of parents.

The court had scrapped the transfer point system after some parents had alleged fake transfers and ordered a fresh draw for the 70 point category.

Nursery admissions have been fraught with chaos for the past few years but this time, the process has dragged the longest, with multiple hold-ups and confusion. Over the last month, the admission process has been stalled at least four times.

Schools have been following a 95-point system to admit children – 70 points for proximity to the school, 20 for a sibling already in the school and five for children of parents who are alumni.

A book by a former advisor to the Prime Minister, Sanjaya Baru has ruffled the feathers in the top echelons of the Congress. Baru, in his book ‘The Accidental Prime Minister’, has written that PM Manmohan Singh surrendered to pressure from Congress president Sonia Gandhi and allies.
Baru has written that Singh was “defanged” by the Congress in his second term with Sonia Gandhi deciding on key appointments to the Cabinet and to the PMO, as he seemed to “surrender” to her and to the allies.
The PMO was quick to hit back, saying Baru was writing fiction for commercial gains. The PMO accused him of taking advantage of his access to the PMO for his own benefit.
Baru, a senior editor and PM’s Media Adviser between 2004 and 2008, quotes Singh as having told him that there cannot be two centres of power. “That creates confusion. I have to accept that the party president is the centre of power. The government is answerable to the party,” the PM told him, according to the 301-page book, published by Penguin.
Baru writes that after he had led the Congress party to electoral victory in 2009, Singh had made “the cardinal mistake of imagining the victory was his”. He may have convinced himself that his performance and destiny had again made him the PM, and not Sonia.
“Bit by bit, in the space of a few weeks he was defanged. He thought he could induct the ministers he wanted into his team. Sonia nipped that hope in the bud by offering the finance portfolio to Pranab (Mukherjee), without even consulting him,” Baru writes.