New Delhi Apr 21 PTI A delegation of Congress leaders visited violence-hit Jahangirpuri on Thursday but were stopped by the police from going to the area where an anti-encroachment drive was conducted by the North MCD a day beforeThe Congress delegation included former Union minister Ajay Maken and AICC in-charge of the state unit Shaktisinh GohiThe demolition drive conducted by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation to remove encroachments was stopped following a Supreme Court on WednesdayMaken told reporters that the drive was an attack on the poor people and their means of livelihoodCiting court judgements he said the drive was conducted by violating the rulesThis demolition is illegal I was an urban development minister too and I know how laws work They cannot do this without any prior notice BJP leaders are lying Maken saidGohil also hit out at the BJP saying the anti encroachment drive was an attempt to divert attention from rising inflation in the countryDelhi Congress president Anil Kumar asked why has the chief minister not visited the areaHow come bulldozers are being allowed when theres section 144 imposed here One sided action that is being taken They are targeting Muslims We are here to ensure they get justice he saidSeveral senior leaders of Delhi Congress were also part of the delegationSome leaders including Anil Kumar sat on dharna at the spot but were asked by the police to moveThe area witnessed violent clashes including stone pelting arson and firing between two communities during a Hanuman Jayanti procession on Saturday Eight police personnel and a local resident had sustained injuries PTI ABU VIT VIT TDS TDS

New Delhi Feb 20 PTI As many as 1000 Congress workers have submitted applications to the party for contesting the municipal corporation elections in the national capital Delhi Congress president Anil Chaudhary said on SundayThe elections to the 272 wards of the three municipal corporations in Delhi are expected to be held in April Early this month the Congress asked its leaders and functionaries keen on contesting the elections to start applying for tickets from MondayThe number of applications received from Congress workers for the Corporation Elections-2022 has reached 1000 which is a very encouraging number Chaudhary said in a statementHe claimed that the enthusiasm of the Congress workers to submit applications is a clear indication that the party will perform very well in the corporation elections as the people have come to know the reality of both the BJP and the Aam Aadmi PartyThe party had started distributing application forms to those interested in contesting the electionsApart from the basic details about the applicants and their family members the four-page form also asks the aspirants to divulge details about their presence on popular social media platformsThe form demands details of the work an applicant has done for the party and his political as well as social achievementsThe party has also asked the possible candidates to explain the three main problems in their wards and suggestions for the manifesto for the pollsThe Congress lost the last three municipal polls -- 2007 2012 and 2017 -- to the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP PTI VA VA TIR TIR

Chandigarh Oct 30 PTI BJP leader Tarun Chugh on Saturday asked Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and Congress state unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu to clarify if they have endorsed naming Jagdish Tytler as a permanent invitee to the Delhi Congress new executive committeeThe Aam Aadmi Party AAP and the Shiromani Akali Dal SAD also lodged a strong protest over the issueTytlers name had earlier figured in connection with the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 In a statement issued here BJP national general secretary Chugh said Tytler has been named as one of the key Congress leaders in Delhi but he Kamal Nath and Sajjan Kumar continue to be the blue-eyed boys of the party in spite of the fact that their role in the riots against Sikhs has been always highlighted by many witnesses Sidhu had confessed that he barely escaped the anti-Sikh riots in 1984 and now he feels proud of being a leader of the Congress he saidChugh said Sikh leaders including Channi and Sidhu owe an explanation to the people of Punjab for being part of the Congress AAP MLA Baljinder Kaur also asked Channi and Sidhu to clarify their standIn a joint statement Kaur and party spokesperson Manwinder Singh Giaspura said that the Congress has not done justice to the Sikhs but when will it stop rubbing salt into the wounds of the 1984 massacreThis decision of the Congress high command has once again exposed the mindset of the Congress about the 1984 massacre anti-Sikh riots Giaspura saidIt is clear that the Congress can never give justice to the Sikhs although the people of Punjab believed in the Congress many times after 1984 But the Congress has always betrayed the Sikhs and the Punjabis the AAP spokesperson said The AAP leaders said that Channi and Sidhu along with all Congress leaders should explain their stand on the honour bestowed on Tytler SAD leader Daljit Singh Cheema asked the Punjab chief minister to tell Punjabis why he gave his consent for the appointment of Tytler to a prestigious Congress panel He said that such acts amounted to sprinkling salt on the festering wounds of the Sikh communityIt is even more shocking that the chief minister has not objected to the appointment till now Cheema saidThis proves that Channi does not have any moral courage and is even ready to sell off the interests of the Sikh community as well as Punjabis at large to save his chair Punjabis will not forget this betrayal he said Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee SGPC president Bibi Jagir Kaur also strongly objected to the Congress partys moveIt is an act that has hurt the sentiments of Sikhs she said in a statementShe also questioned the Congress appointment of Tytler as the partys permanent inviteeAhead of the civic body polls in the national capital early next year theDelhi Congress on Thursday got its new executive committee Congress national general secretary KC Venugopal in a statement had said Congress president Sonia Gandhi has approved the formation of the executive committee The list of permanent invitees included senior leaders JP Agarwal Ajay Maken Kapil Sibal Janardan Dwivedi Arvinder Singh Lovely Subhash Chopra and Tytler PTI CHS VSD ANB ANB

Chandigarh Oct 30 PTI BJP leader Tarun Chugh on Saturday asked Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and Congress state unit chief Navjot Singh Sidhu to clarify if they have endorsed naming Jagdish Tytler as a permanent invitee to the Delhi Congress new executive committeeTytlers name had earlier figured in connection with the anti-Sikh riots of 1984In a statement issued here BJP national general secretary Chugh said Tytler has been named as one of the key Congress leaders in Delhi but he Kamal Nath and Sajjan Kumar continue to be the blue-eyed boys of the party in spite of the fact that their role in the riots against Sikhs has been always highlighted by many witnesses Sidhu had confessed that he barely escaped the anti-Sikh riots in 1984 and now he feels proud of being a leader of the Congress he saidChugh said Sikh leaders including Channi and Sidhu owe an explanation to the people of Punjab for being part of the CongressAhead of the civic body polls in the national capital early next year the Delhi Congress on Thursday got its new executive committeeCongress national general secretary KC Venugopal in a statement had said Congress president Sonia Gandhi has approved the formation of the executive committeeThe list of permanent invitees included senior leaders JP Agarwal Ajay Maken Kapil Sibal Janardan Dwivedi Arvinder Singh Lovely Subhash Chopra and Tytler PTI CHS VSD ANB ANB

Chandigarh Oct 29 PTI Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Friday hit out at Congress president Sonia Gandhi for naming Jagdish Tytler as a permanent invitee to the partys Delhi executive committee Tytlers name had earlier figured in connection with the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 This is a brazen display of shocking insensitivity to the Sikh wounds by Sonia Gandhi and the Congress Party They have chosen the eve of the painful anniversary of the massacre of Sikhs to announce this decision Badal said in a statement Could there be a worse way to rub salt into the deep festering wounds of the Khalsa Panth than this decision and its timing asked Badal adding that the move comes just a couple of days ahead of the 38th anniversary of the 1984 riots Badal also dared Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu and Chief Minister Charanjit SIngh Channi to show the moral courage to oppose this decision and get it rescinded Collapse of character stems from the compromise corner Now come out of that corner show the moral courage to at least speak the truth and prevent the collapse of your character said Badal Naming Tytler as one of the elite permanent invitee is an insult to the brave and patriotic Sikh community Will Punjab Congressmen including Navjot Sidhu CM Channi Deputy CM Sukhjinder Randhawa and former Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar now awaken their conscience listen to it and save the collapse of their character by opposing this decision asked Badal Meanwhile the SAD Sanyukt led by veteran leader Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa also hit out at the Congress over the move SAD Sanyukt general secretary Karnail Singh Peermohammad said the Congress should reconsider its decision Ahead of the Delhi civic body polls early next year the Congress on Thursday had got its new executive committee Congress national general secretary KC Venugopal in a press statement on Thursday said party president Sonia Gandhi has approved the formation of the executive committee The list of permanent invitees included senior leaders JP Agarwal Ajay Maken Kapil Sibal Janardan Dwivedi Arvinder Singh Lovely Subhash Chopra and Jagdish Tytler PTI SUN VSD RDK RDK

New Delhi Oct 28 PTI Ahead of the MCD polls early next year the Delhi Congress on Thursday got its new executive committee reflecting a mix of youth power and experience and recognition of party workers who committedly served the people during the COVID-19 pandemic Congress national general secretary KC Venugopal in a press statement said party president Sonia Gandhi has approved formation of the executive committee and appointment of office-bearers of Communications department and Doctors Cell chairman and vice chairman of Booth Management Committee and Disciplinary Committee of the Delhi unit The 83-member executive committee has a mix of our youth power and experience of leaders Many of our leaders and workers who served people committedly during the pandemic while holding the Congress flag have been rewarded Delhi Congress president Anil Kumar said The executive committee includes the Delhi Congress president and all the vice presidents The list of permanent invitees to the Executive Committee included names of senior leaders JP Agarwal Ajay Maken Kapil Sibal Janardan Dwivedi Arvinder Singh Lovely Subhash Chopra Jagdish Tytler whose name figured in connection with the anti-Sikh riots in 1984 was also made a permanent invitee to the Executive Committee There were also 71 special invitees to the Executive committee including senior leader Pawan Khera Delhi Mahila Congress Amrita Dhawan and others Former MLA Anil Bhardwaj has been appointed as chairman of Communications department of Delhi Congress Parvez Alam and Anuj Attrey will be co-chairman while Hardeep Mathur and Bhupesh Yadav will be coordinators of the department The department will have seven senior spokespersons including Haroon Yusuf Harishankar Gupta Alka Lamba Mukesh Goel Adarsh Shastri Jagivan Sharma and Dr Naresh Kumar Onika Mehrotra Sunil Kumar Anuj Attrey Lokender Chaudhary and Vikram Lohia will be the spokespersons Rajesh Garg has been appointed as chairman of Booth Management Committee The Disciplinary Committee will be chaired by former minister Narendra Nath and Mateen Ahmad its vice chairman along with seven members Praveen Kumar and Vivek Shama have been appointed chairman and vice chairman respectively of Doctors Cell of Delhi Congress added the statement PTI VIT CK

New Delhi Oct 17 PTI Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee DPCC vice president and former MLA Jai Kishan Monday condemned BJP functionary Santosh Ranjan Rais demeaning remarks against Congress leader Udit RajIn a statement Kishan said it was highly deplorable and objectionable that a BJP functionary has described Raj in a disparaging mannerSuch remarks only reemphasise the BJPs prevalent attitude of treating Dalits as outcasts of the society Kishan said in the statementUdit Raj was a BJP MP in Lok Sabha from Northwest Delhi parliamentary constituency between 2014 and 2019 He joined the Congress after being denied the ticket by the BJP ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha pollsKishan said the Dalit community strongly condemns BJP functionary Santosh Ranjan Rais tweet against Udit RajIt was a highly demeaning remark and an insult to the Dalit community as a whole Dalit organisations and the Congress will make it a country-wide issue The BJP functionarys tweet reflected the lowly mindset of the BJP which has been adopting the divide and rule policy to ruin the country the statement quoted Kishan as sayingThe bigotry of the BJP was driving the country to devastation and under the BJP rule the lives of Dalits have become unsafe as Dalit girls and women suffer sexual harassment and assaults regularly with those in power keeping a blind eye Kishan alleged in the statementKishan said that Udit Raj had been questioning and agitating against the Central governments policy of ending reservation for DalitsEarlier the Congress had on Thursday hit out at the BJP over what it said were casteist and racist commentsThe All India Confederation of SCST organisation has also filed a complaint at the North Avenue police station against Santosh Ranjan Rai a former national vice president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha BJYM for allegedly using the casteist and racist comments PTI AKM TIR TIR

New Delhi Sep 27 PTI Farmers protested against Delhi Congress leaders including its president Anil Kumar and asked them to leave Ghazipur border when the party workers tried to join the Bharat Bandh protest on Monday Farmers protesting at Ghazipur against the farm laws of the BJP-led Union government urged Kumar and other leaders not to participate in the agitation after which the Congressmen left the venue Kumar was not available for comments on the issue However in a Delhi Congress statement he said Congress workers supported Bharat Bandh by the farmers at Ghazipur border The Delhi Congress president along with a large number of party workers and leaders reached Ghazipur border in the morning to extend solidarity to farmers in their fight against the black laws the statement said Congress workers and leaders also extended support to farmers at other border points of Delhi where the agriculturists have been sitting on dharna weathering heat dust rain and cold for over ten months it said The party leaders who accompanied Kumar were former MLAs Bhisham Sharma and Amrish Gautam vice-presidents Ali Mehndi and Shivani Chopra Delhi Womens Congress president Amrita Dhawan among others Kumar said that the Congress has always supported farmers demands and party president Sonia Gandhi and leader Rahul Gandhi have been speaking on the issue both inside and outside Parliament PTI VIT AAR AAR

New Delhi Aug 31 PTI A delegation of Delhi Congress led by its president Anil Kumar on Tuesday met the family of a 13-year-old girl from Narela who was allegedly raped and killed and demanded that the government provide protection and financial help to them The parents of the victim are very poor and they also fear for the safety of their three other children Kumar said after visiting the family atShiv Vihar in Narela It is a very inhuman incident and the government must act to punish the culprits and also ensure all steps are taken to prevent such heinous crimes he said The minorDalit victim from north Delhis Narela area was allegedly raped and killed in Haryanas Gurgaon officials said on Tuesday According to the complaint filed with the police the girls father said the incident occurred after his landlords wife took his daughter to her brothers home in Gurgaon last month and was informed on August 23 that she had died After the death of the girl the body was brought to Narela for cremation However her father made a PCR call when he got suspicious A case has been registered by the Gurgaon police and an investigation is underway Kumar demanded that the Delhi government provide immediate financial assistance to the family and added that local Congress workers were taking care of their immediate needs PTI VIT RT RT