New Delhi, November 24
Slamming Narendra Modi over his attack on the Congress leadership, Sonia Gandhi today accused him of ‘closing eyes and resorting to lies’ to negate the development carried out during 15 years of her party’s rule in Delhi.

Lauding Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit’s tenure, she projected the state as a model of development, accusing the opposition of ‘knowingly ignoring’ the development carried out in Delhi.

In her 12-minute-long speech in Hindi laced with sarcasm and a liberal use of maxims popular in north India, she cautioned the people against those who were trying to ‘mislead’ them in their ‘sole pursuit of power’.

Sonia’s public rally at DDA ground in Shastri Park, falling in North-East Delhi parliamentary constituency represented by Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee chief J P Aggarwal, took place a day after Modi’s election meeting in Dwarka in which he had attacked Dikshit, accusing her of failing to provide even the basic amenities to the people.

He had said that even small states and cities were better off than the national capital. The BJP’s prime ministerial candidate had lashed out at the Congress for its ‘arrogance’ and ‘born to rule’ mindset, attacking Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Rahul Gandhi and Dikshit.

Rejecting the remarks, Sonia said, “I am also a resident of Delhi. All of us are witness to the development that has happened in Delhi in the last 15 years. They say ‘Haath kangan ko arsi kya’ (What is visible to the open eyes does not need any proof),” she said.

“But it’s a different matter if somebody closes the eyes knowingly with a design and resorts to lies,” Sonia said. Dismissing Modi and BJP’s criticism of the Congress leadership, the party president sought to strike an emotional chord, reminding people of the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.

“The opposition has always done the same since Independence, resorting to baseless allegations. Did they spare Mahatma Gandhi? No they did not. Did they spare Jawaharlal Nehru, who was a great freedom fighter...? Did they spare Indira Gandhi, who worked relentlessly for the poor, the minorities? How will they spare us, Manmohan Singh and Sheila Dikshit, when they did not spare those who built our nation?” she said.

New Delhi, November 24
Citing multiplicity of authorities as a major hurdle in development of Delhi, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today made a strong pitch for single command system in the capital and demanded Congress President Sonia Gandhi's intervention to "end city's woes".

"It is a request that whether we get full statehood or not, we want single command system in Delhi, so that we don't have to run from one department or ministry to other to get things done. This hampers the development and growth of the city," Dikshit said, addressing a rally at Shastri Park in East Delhi here today.

Sonia Gandhi was the main speaker in the rally and present on the dais when Dikshit made the remarks addressing her.

A month back, Dikshit had made the same request to Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi at a rally held at Mangolpuri.

Urging Rahul Gandhi to solve the issue, Dikshit had said the multiplicity of commands caused confusion and delayed developmental work.

"There are a number of authorities here, the government, MCDs, NDMC, Lieutenant Governor etc. Multiplicity of commands causes complexity and leads to confusion. If there is one command, this problem can be solved. I urge Rahul Gandhiji to work for the redressal of the problem," Dikshit had said at the rally.

In other demand, Dikshit also sought Sonia's assistance in developing a common economic and development zone in Delhi NCR.

"Every year five lakh people come to the national capital in search of jobs. We have limited land. There is need to develop NCR, especially Noida and Gurgaon, and form a common economic and development zone, for overall development.

"If that happens we will become the most progressive and the most prosperous state of North India," said Dikshit.

Reminding overwhelming crowd at the rally of the developmental works carried out by her government, Dikshit warned them "to not to fall in any trap led by opposition parties, BJP and AAP." Delhi's progress should not stop. Any wrong decision to make Congress weaker or remove it from the government will not only hampers city growth but also creates problems for country besides Delhi.

"It is not an ordinary city, but the capital of India. So beware and do not fall in trap. They (opposition parties) have not said a single sentence regarding how they will work for the development of the capital," Dikshit said.

Talking about the works done by her government, Dikshit cited examples of Metro rail, increased number of flyovers during the past 15 years and Ladli scheme for girls. — PTI

New Delhi, November 24
"Delhi government has miserably failed to provide any worthwhile medical facilities to the people of Delhi," said Jagdish Mukhi during a padyatra in Janakpuri from where he had won the assembly elections for the last four terms.

Over the decade, the population of Delhi has grown by over 60 lakh but just 4,700 beds have been added to the government-run hospitals. Two patients on a single bed is a common sight in most hospitals. Patients do not get proper medicines from the hospitals and often have to get the diagnostic tests done privately, Mukhi said.

There has been a phenomenal rise in the price of medicines over the last five years. The government has no control over the sale of spurious drugs, he said.

According to government estimates, there are 4 lakh people living below poverty line but just around four thousand have been covered under the State Health Insurance Plan. The budget provision under this head is mere Rs 4.39 lakh, Mukhi said.

He was critical of private hospitals also for denying medical facilities to poor patients although they had been provided land at much below the markets rate on the understanding that they would reserve a certain percentage of beds for poor patients.

"The CAT ambulances are nowhere on the roads of Delhi. All claims about the provision of health services to the people of Delhi are hollow," he said.

In his door-to-door campaign, Mukhi was accompanied by Nigam Parshad Rajani Mamtani, Mandal Adhyaksha Balraj Solanki, Navin Wahi, RWA president J.B.Gupta, Mohan Seth, Sunil Adora, Sunil Jindal and over a hundred BJP workers.

New Delhi, November 24
Senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi today promised amending the Agricultural Products Market Committee (APMC) Act to control prices, make direct contact with the wholesale dealers and producers and finish the system of middlemen.

He also said that the BJP is against the FDI in retail business.

Joshi said hoarding, middlemen and anti-people policies of the government are main factors for the rising prices of daily commodities. The government has an appropriate law to deal with the hoarders, but it is not willing to check them.

He said if the BJP is voted to power in Delhi, the party would take strict action against the hoarders and not allow the middlemen between wholesale dealers and the farmers. To provide affordable food to all citizens would be the BJP's top priority.

"Sheila Dikshit's government is hand in glove with the hoarders and speculators," Joshi said.

He promised to set up a food price commission to fix the prices of daily commodities in Delhi.

When pointed out that Delhi is a state that depends on the neighbouring states for its needs, what will then be the mechanism with the BJP to check prices, he said that commodities are brought from outside, but the rates are fixed by the state government.

To protect against seasonal increase, Delhi needs adequate storage capacity. We will encourage the establishment of cold storages and the state-of-the-art storage facilities in Delhi. All new cold storages will be exempted from sales tax for five years, he said.

New Delhi, November 24
There were curious eyes trying to catch a glimpse of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) displayed at the counters of a demo polling booth set up by Delhi Chief Electoral Office (CEO) at Nehru Park in Chanakyapuri today.

In a programme, 'Celebrate the Spirit of Democracy' held to spread awareness on the voting process, lessons were imparted to the public on the method of casting their vote. People who listened carefully to the election officers about the dos and don'ts while using the EVM included a number of youngsters. "I don't have an election card, I am just 17. But it will be exciting to be able to vote next time," said Abhishek, a class 11 student. Many electoral enthusiasts got an opportunity to try their hands at the voting machines in the trial polling booth. They were explained the procedure step-by-step to be followed on December 4.

What made the visitors interested was the digital machine called, VVPAT, attached to the EVMs that will be introduced as a new feature in the coming elections.

VVPAT will enable people to confirm the fact that their vote has gone to the right candidate. "Voters often doubt whether their vote has gone in favour of the intended contestant. This new feature of the digital machine will clear their doubts," said Lakhraj Singh, sector officer of New Delhi district, who was explaining the visitors the process of casting vote.

VVPAT has a small screen on the top which will display the name and symbol of the party. "It is a useful facility as it will help increase the credibility of electoral process," said Lalit Kumar Jain, a visitor at the counter.

The function that was organised as a part of Systematic Voter's Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) also had photographs that took people into the era of 1950s and 1960s, showing an overwhelming participation of people in exercising their franchise in the general elections of Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Bombay, Uttar Pradesh and also when the first general elections were held in Lahaul Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh.

The series of photographs also showcased how the stored ballot boxes in those times were careful examined and then dispatched to various centres for distribution to the polling station.

Social messages in the form of colourful posters painted by children bearing slogans like 'Thinking is not agreeing or disagreeing', 'I am voting for Delhi and India', 'You have the right to choose to reject', 'Fulfil the role of a good citizen, vote', etc were most appreciated by the visitors.

There was also a live performance by the famous band 'Indian Ocean' that enchanted the audience.

New Delhi, November 24
Delhi Police arrested an extortionist, Ashok Kumar, alias Boby, who got the idea of extorting money by watching TV serials - Vaardaat, Sansani, Dial 100 and CID, said Additional Commissioner of Police (Northern Range Crime Branch) Ravindra Yadav.

He was arrested yesterday from Gujranwala in Model Town where he was moving in suspicious circumstances.

The accused who had a shop of electrical goods and used to manufacture fans in Basai Darapur took to the life of crime as his business was not doing well.

Initially in 2007, the accused wrote a letter to his relative who runs a transport company in Azadpur. He threatened to kill his whole family and demanded Rs 30 lakh. He terrorised the family in such a way that it had shifted to Rohini from Rajouri Garden, by selling their house at a throwaway price.

The accused was also aware of a rich businessman of Moti Nagar, running a manufacturing unit in the Bawana industrial area. He sent a similar threatening letter and demanded Rs 30 lakh as extortion money.

All the cases of extortion were given to the Northern Range Crime Branch to investigate and take action against the accused.

The Crime Branch got information yesterday that a man was moving in suspicious circumstances at Gujranwala in Model Town. A team of police laid trap there and arrested the suspect.

During interrogation, the accused admitted to his involvement in extortion cases. With his arrest, the police claimed to have worked out three cases - Surajkund in Faridabad, Prashant Vihar and Model Town, the Additional Commissioner of Police said.