New Delhi, May 24
Taking a dig at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Congress today said quitting of two key members Shazia Ilmi and G R Gopinath from the fledging party has proved that there is no internal democracy in it because of which leaders are deserting Arvind Kejriwal.

The chief spokesperson of Delhi Congress, Mukesh Sharma, said Kejriwal's support base is 'eroding very fast' because of his style of functioning and 'theatrics'.

"The resignation of Ilmi and Gopinath has proved that there is no internal democracy in AAP. The party is being run by Kejriwal and his coterie due to which senior leaders are deserting him," Sharma said.

The Congress has been targeting the AAP as it feels its vote bank has shifted to the new party which had made a dream debut in the assembly polls winning 28 of 70 seats. The AAP did not win a single seat in the Lok Sabha polls, but its vote share had increased from 29.49 per cent to 32.9 per cent.

Alleging that Kejriwal decided to go to jail to gain public sympathy, the Congress leader said people of Delhi have realised that the AAP leader was not concerned about them but was 'enacting drama' to get benefit in the assembly polls.

"The AAP has become a private limited party being run by Kejriwal and his coterie. People of Delhi will not trust them at all. The AAP is losing support of people belonging to lower and middle class," said Sharma.

Ilmi and Gopinath today quit the AAP citing differences with Kejriwal's 'jail politics' and lack of 'internal democracy' in the party, which is battling internal fissures after the severe electoral drubbing in recent polls.

The simmering discontent in the party since its Lok Sabha poll debacle came to the fore as Ilmi, one of the founder members, announced her resignation from all party posts.

New Delhi, May 24
Faced with one of the worst crises since its inception more than one and half years ago, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is trying hard to rejuvenate the party cadres and volunteers and win back the confidence of disenchanted sections among people of Delhi, especially after the Lok Sabha elections drubbing here.

To start with, the party will start a door-to-door campaign, in the wake of AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal's judicial custody in Tihar Jail for not furnishing bail bond, from Monday when AAP volunteers will take his message of fighting corruption to every household in the national Capital.

In the process, a letter written by Kejriwal from jail would be distributed among people to step up the party's campaign in the run-up to fresh Delhi assembly polls.

"From Monday, we will begin our door-to-door campaign and in the second phase, we would have public meetings. In all the 70 assemblies, meetings of our booth-level workers have begun and a letter written by Arvind will be taken to every household," said senior party leader Gopal Rai.

For the campaign, booth-level observers have been identified who would apprise people of the circumstances that led to their party chief's arrest and ask the people whether exposing corruption is a crime in India.

The details of the campaign were finalised ahead of its political affairs committee meeting held at AAP lawyer Prashant Bhushan's residence in Noida today.

"The meeting was to analyse the Lok Sabha elections and in view of that, we charted out what should be our political strategy inside and outside Parliament. We had preliminary discussions of what organisational plans are and we discussed Arvind's case and how to go about it,” said AAP leader Prof Yogendra Yadav.

New Delhi, May 24
Elaborate security has been made for smooth conduct of the swearing-in ceremony of the Prime Minister and his Council of Ministers, besides ensuring a proper traffic movement around the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The ceremony will be held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on May 26. A number of important Heads of States, senior political leaders, diplomats, dignitaries, senior government functionaries and media persons are scheduled to attend the ceremony.

The roads which will be closed for movement of general traffic on May 26 between 4.00 pm and 8.00 pm include Rajpath (from Vijay Chowk to Rashtrapati Bhavan), Vijay Chowk and its North and South Fountain area, South Avenue Marg, North Avenue Marg, Dalhousie Road and Church Road.

In addition, traffic diversions will also take place on some roads and locations in the vicinity of Rashtrapati Bhavan to facilitate the movement of VVIPs.

These include Raisina Road (beyond Rail Bhawan towards Parliament House), Pandit Pant Marg (beyond Talkatora towards Parliament House), Kamraj Marg (beyond Kamraj Marg towards R.P. Bhawan), Moti Lal Nehru Marg (beyond Udyog Bhawan towards R.P. Bhawan), E-Block, Security Lines Road, Mother Teresa Crescent, Sardar Patel Marg, Vinay Marg, Shanker Road and RML Hospital.

Rehearsal will also be undertaken for the event in the afternoon on May 25.

"Motorists and general public are therefore asked to avoid using these roads during the rehearsal in the afternoon of May 25 and between 4.00 pm and 8.00 pm on May 26. Adequate signage and boards have been provided for the information of invitees and other road users. All motorists are requested to adhere to the directions of the traffic policemen," said an official of the Delhi traffic police.

New Delhi, May 24
The Chief Secretary has directed the Public Works Department (PWD), municipal corporations and the district magistrates to continue their drive against encroachments on public land.

Chief Secretary S K Srivastava, while chairing the meeting of all the secretaries and HODs, reviewed the ongoing drive against the encroachments on public land and right of way. He directed the departments concerned to continue the drive vigorously and not to spare any encroacher. He further directed that FIRs be lodged against those who trespass on the public land.

"The Delhi government has taken up a comprehensive and coordinated drive through the municipal corporations, district magistrates, PWD and other land owning agencies. In the drive, the Gaon Sabha land and the land belonging to various government departments have been retrieved by removing unauthorized encroachments," said Srivastava.

The drive has also covered 11 major roads across the city where there is heavy encroachment which is causing traffic jams and inconvenience to people.

The Chief Secretary directed all the departments to deal with such encroachments with a heavy hand and not to spare any one.

He also appreciated the work done by the departments so far, especially the action taken by the district magistrates.

New Delhi, May 24
With the arrest of one person allegedly being involved in stealing vehicles, the Delhi Police claimed to have solved 24 cases of Motor Vehicle (MV) theft.

The accused Inder Khanna (24), a resident of Karnal, Haryana, is involved in 24 cases of MV theft and Arms Act committed in the area of West, South and North districts, a senior police official said.

Khanna was arrested during a checking at Keshopur Mandi. "During checking, the police noticed suspicious movement of one motorcyclist. On verification, the motorcyclist Inder Khanna could not produce any document related to the vehicle. Through the facility of auto match, it was found that the vehicle was stolen from the area of KN Katju Marg," said the police official.

Accordingly, he was taken into police custody and the stolen vehicle seized.

The accused confessed to have stolen the vehicle. During the course of investigation, he disclosed that previously, he was involved in 22 cases.

"About two months ago, he was released from jail. After the release, he left his house and started residing at rented accommodation in the area of Vijay Vihar so that the police could not keep a watch on his activities. He did not mend his ways, and again committed the crime," said the official.

He stole three vehicles within a fortnight. His interrogation is in progress.