New Delhi, April 1
The BJP has submitted a complaint to the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) against the Aam Aadmi Party, saying that the party has pasted posters containing the unauthorized photos of its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on three wheelers that is a violation of the Model Code of Conduct.

A statement issued by the BJP said that the posters are offensive and in "bad taste". The posters are not sober, moderate and do not have educative value.

Urging for action against the AAP, the statement said, "It violates the Model Code of Conduct as it criticizes our leader and our party. It is based on unverified and distorted allegations."

It also said that the posters are a reflection on the character of Narendra Modi, whom the party has projected its prime ministerial candidate.

The BJP urged the CEO to get the posters removed from three wheelers and take stringent action against the party.

Meanwhile, chairman of the Delhi BJP Lok Sabha Election Management and Campaign Committee Prof Vijay Kumar Malhotra said that the former Chief Minister and AAP leader should be held responsible for the hike in power and water tariff.

He said that from today the power tariff had been increased as yesterday was the last day for the period of subsidy given to power distribution companies.

The budget provision passed by the Delhi Legislative Assembly for the fiscal year 2014-15 as proposed by Kejriwal did not make any provision for the subsidy in power and water tariff.

There was provision for subsidy up to March 31 and now the subsidy of Rs 1 per unit being provided by the Kejriwal government to the consumers will not be available from April 1.

Malhotra said, "We appeal to the Central government that it should grant special financial assistance to Delhi and save the people of Delhi from shock of steep hike in power and water tariff."

New Delhi, April 1
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today said the BJP and the Congress cannot escape the joint responsibility of increasing the hardships of the people of Delhi by having "connived" to put an end to the relief provided by the government, which had subsidised electricity bills and provided free water for three months.

The AAP had promised to audit the accounts of private power distribution companies and slash electricity tariffs along with providing up to 700 litres of water free to the people of Delhi before the assembly elections.

"After the formation of its minority government led by Arvind Kejriwal, the AAP fulfiled all the promises immediately after assuming office on December 28, 2013. Rattled by the new government's performance, which was implementing all its election promises one after the other, the BJP and the Congress hatched a conspiracy to disrupt the functioning of this pro-people government," said AAP leaders.

They said that both the parties joined hands in the state assembly on February 14 to defeat the AAP government's Jan Lokpal Bill and openly declared that the BJP and the Congress have a combined strength of 40 MLAs in the 70-member House, and therefore the bill cannot be introduced.

Following the resignation of the AAP government, the next stage of the "conspiracy" hatched between the BJP and the Congress was carried out in Parliament, "When the Congress-led UPA government introduced the Delhi's interim budget there and made no provision in it for continuing the subsidy for electricity bills and free water beyond March 31, the BJP readily supported and got this budget passed."

The 18-point charter of the AAP, which the Congress had agreed to before the government was formed in Delhi, included both, bringing down the electricity bills and free water. In fact, before the AAP government resigned on February 14, the Congress was forced to support its decision of providing the subsidy on electricity and water for January, February and March.

"When the AAP government had already made this provision, what was the need for tampering with it at a time when there is no government in the capital? Can the Congress answer why its Central government chose to terminate this relief which was provided to the people? The BJP owes an answer to the people of Delhi as to why it supported an anti-people interim budget of the UPA government for Delhi?" AAP stated.

According to the AAP, the "BJP-Congress combine" has been running away from answering all questions, including in the Supreme Court on whether they want to jointly form a government in Delhi to put an end to the President's rule.

New Delhi, April 1
Taking the agenda of the Aam Aadmi Party forward, its South Delhi candidate Col. (Retd) Devender Sehrawat has made "criminalisation of politics" an issue in his constituency ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

He today alleged that the rival candidate of BJP, Ramesh Bidhuri, has at least six FIRs against him registered over the last ten years in various police stations in the national Capital instead of three cases as disclosed by Bidhuri in the affidavit submitted to the electoral authorities.

The basis of his allegations, he said, were complaints that he received from the locals of his constituency following which he and his team gathered information. However, the charges were rubbished by Bidhuri who warned Col Sehrawat, demanding evidence or face defamation suit.

"There have been cases of crime against the BJP candidate and he is said to have been consistently indulging in criminal activities and has unleashed a reign of terror against the people in the constituency. While many due to the fear of reprisal do not report to the police, there have been six FIRs against him which are spread over ten years," he claimed.

Sharing the details about the allegations, he said cases are ranging from criminal intimidation, misbehaviour, trespassing, use of unlawful force, etc.

"In February 26, 2004, Bidhuri threatened one Ram Shankar at gunpoint and the metropolitan magistrate of South East district Devendar Kumar Jangla found material on record for commission of the offence under Sec 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), sec 149 (common objective to commit offence) and Sec 506 (criminal intimidation). Another case is that of April 9, 2004 at Sangam Vihar under IPC 325 (causing grievous hurt) and other sections too. FIR 246/04," said the AAP candidate.

Further, he said, "The third one under sections 500 and 502-- Case No. 299/1 was registered at Kalkaji police station on September 10, 2005. In July 2006, he was allegedly charged under IPC section 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and other sections in an FIR at Ambedkar Nagar police station and in November 2008, another FIR No 662 was lodged by Sunil Dutt at Sangam Vihar police station. The latest being on March 9, 2013 when a case under IPC Section 509 (outraging modesty of a woman) and 189 (threat of injury to a public servant) was registered."

Three-time Tughlakabad MLA Bidhuri in his defence termed the claims "malicious", another attempt to defame the BJP and mislead the voters.

"The party seems to have done incomplete research as it has based its allegations solely on "press reports" and no concrete evidence. They are politically motivated cases. I have declared three cases and the rest are old complaints which have been sorted out," he said.

Hitting back at the AAP candidate, BJP Delhi vice-president and convenor of South Delhi elections campaign Ashish Sood said, "It comes as a little surprise as this is not the first time something like this has been done by the AAP. They have a reputation of spreading rumours and making baseless accusations." 

New Delhi, April 1
With few days left for polling in the city, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will address his first rally in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections at Ambedkar Nagar on April 6.

The rally is being deliberately organized just three days before the polling to leave a greater impact on the voters, said party sources. Party chief Sonia Gandhi too addressed a rally at Ajmal Khan Park on Sunday which saw a moderate response from the people of the city.

In Ambedkar Nagar, the venue of Gandhi's rally, most of the residents are from the resettlement colonies, dalits, backward classes, minorities, unauthorized colonies and villages.

"These people had always reposed faith in the Congress, and that was the reason for the decision to hold the rally at Ambedkar Nagar. The rally is going to be a historic event and the party has already begun preparations for it," said DPCC president Arvinder Singh Lovely.

The rally is being organized in an attempt to establish the fact that the traditional vote bank of the Congress has returned to the party fold. 

New Delhi, April 1
Shortage of certified welding engineers may affect 215 infrastructure projects worth seven lakh crores, said PK Das, president of Indian Institute of Welding.

Recognizing the need for substantial investment in the new generation of welding equipment of an estimated Rs 2,100 crore, he said, as compared to 22,000 certified welding engineers in China, India is home to just around 600 qualified engineers or postgraduates in welding.

"There are more than 100 projects across sectors like power, coal, steel, iron, and road construction, etc with sanctioned loan approval. Keeping it in view, there is an urgent need to double the strength of qualified and certified welding engineers available in India," said Das.

Job opportunities in manufacturing and welding in future may even match education and career opportunities offered by software, Internet and telecommunication sector, he said.

New Delhi, April 1
Hidden in the middle of the neat and clean residential blocks of Pandara Road lies a colony surrounded by a brick wall, consisting of dirt tracks and dilapidated single-storey houses with their broken roofs covered with tarpaulin sheets.

The colony is locally named the Jodhpur Mess servant quarters. The residents claim that the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) has declared their houses 'damaged' about six years ago, meaning that the life of the houses is over. They assert that the CPWD has often directed them to vacate the houses. The threat of the houses being demolished has been looming large over them. They assert that if they are evicted, the government should provide houses to them.

Assertions apart, the residents also admit there is little hope of help. They had requested the Member of Parliament of the New Delhi parliamentary constituency and senior Congress leader, Ajay Maken to look into the issue of their eviction from the colony. The colony falls under the jurisdiction of the constituency.

Maken had written a series of letters to the Defence Ministry. Copies of these letters were shown by the residents. In one such letter to the Defence Minister, A K Antony, dated February 4, Maken requested him to allot quarters to the residents of the colony.

Speaking to The Tribune, Maken claimed that the residents of the colony had received eviction notices about three months ago. "I wrote to the Defence Minister, A K Antony, asking him to look into the matter. The Defence Ministry has decided that people who have been staying at the Jodhpur Mess (servant quarters) for the past 20 years will be relocated to an area falling in the vicinity of the colony," he claimed.

But there is no word yet from the Defence Ministry on this issue.

On the other hand, the residents said that there are a total of 90 families staying in the colony, including those who have been staying there for fewer than 20 years. They demanded that the occupants of a minimum of five years should also be relocated.

However, Maken said, "There has to be a benchmark. And it will be 20 years."

The residents claim that the colony was constructed during the days of the British. "Earlier, there were stables and rooms for caretakers in this colony. The stables were removed and the houses constructed," said Rajender Singh, a 41-year-old man who is the chairman of the Jodhpur Mess Residential Servant Welfare Association, which is an unrecognised body that was created to prevent forcible evictions of the residents.

Rajender says that the residents of the colony, mostly women, work as domestic helps for the officers of the Armed Forces, including the Army, Navy and Air Force, who reside in houses located at Jodhpur Mess. He claims that the officers do not pay them salaries. "They say that they will not give us salaries, because there is no rent for our quarters," he said.

Sitting next to Rajender is Manoj Kumar, the 'Pradhan' of the Jodhpur Mess Residential Servant Welfare Association. He claims that the residents have to spend their own money for carrying out the maintenance of their houses.

"The water drains in our colony have been blocked many times, but no one has come to repair them. The rains are most dangerous. The roofs of our houses have caved in and we had to place tarpaulin sheets on them. A few years ago, my son was injured in his leg when a pole from the roof of my house fell on him. So when it rains my family does not sleep inside the house due to the fear that the roof might fall on us," said Manoj. 

New Delhi, April 1
A 26-year-old woman allegedly hanged herself from a ceiling fan at her residence in south Delhi's Katwaria Sarai area this morning.

The woman has been identified by the police as Larima, who hailed from Hardoi district in Uttar Pradesh. The police didn't find a suicide note, but suspect that frequent quarrels between Larima and her husband, Satendra, had led her to suicide.

The police said that Satendra had allegedly left her and returned to his village in Uttar Pradesh with their four-year-old daughter, following a quarrel with her.

"It appears that she killed herself, because she was depressed due to the fights with her husband. Her neighbours said that she tried calling him back several times, but he would not return her calls," said a police officer.

Larima had allegedly eloped with Satendra against the wishes of both their families about five years ago. "Locals have said that the couple's family broke all relations with them," said the officer.

About seven months ago, the couple had rented an apartment at Katwaria Sarai. Satendra worked as a ward boy at a hotel while his wife took care of 
the house.

At about 8 am today, the couple's landlord arrived at their house to collect the rent. He repeatedly knocked at the door, but when he didn't receive a response, he informed his neighbours about it. One of the locals climbed a wall to peep through the window and found her hanging with a dupatta (cloth) from a ceiling fan.

The police learnt of the incident at about 9 am and they broke open the door and sent the body for a postmortem.

The police are trying to bring Satendra to Delhi to question him about his relationship with Larima. Her family has also been informed about her death and they are on their way to Delhi.

The matter has been handed over to a sub-divisional magistrate for inquiry as the couple had been married for fewer than seven years.