New Delhi:

Delhi Lt Governor VK Saxena today ordered investigations into allegations concerning the Aam Aadmi Party’s schemes ahead of the assembly elections scheduled for next year. The Lt Governor’s office has issued separate directives to the Delhi Chief Secretary and Commissioner of Police, based on complaints raised by Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit.

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal termed the allegations against his party as “fake” and posed a question: “What will they investigate?” 

The allegations include claims about fraudulent collection of personal data under the guise of AAP’s Mahila Samman Yojana, the presence of Punjab intelligence officers near the residences of Congress candidates, and the alleged transfer of cash from Punjab to Delhi to influence the elections.

Mr Dikshit’s complaint also flagged concerns about the Mahila Samman Yojana, an AAP initiative promising a monthly payment of Rs 2,100 to eligible women. The LG has ordered the Chief Secretary to conduct an inquiry through the Divisional Commissioner into the alleged collection of personal data by private individuals under the guise of enrolling beneficiaries. The Delhi Police has been instructed to take legal action against those breaching citizens’ privacy by organising unauthorised registration camps.

“We were repeatedly asking what would the BJP do by contesting elections. What is their plan? Today we got to know that if they win, they will stop the Mahila Samman Yojana, Sanjeevani Yojana, free electricity, free education and free electricity,” the former Delhi Chief Minister said. 

Delhi government’s Women and Child Development and Health departments had earlier issued public notices stating that the Mahila Samman Yojana and the Sanjeevani Yojana lacked government approval and were “non-existent.” These notices warned citizens against sharing personal details with unauthorised individuals and described the registrations as fraudulent.

“I had said that after winning the election, we would give Rs 2,100 to women and free treatment to the elderly above 60 years of age. Both these schemes were so beneficial for the public that lakhs of people registered for them already. This made the BJP nervous, many BJP leaders told me that to forget about winning, the BJP’s deposit would be forfeited in many places,” Mr Kejriwal said. “First, they sent their goons, then sent the police and uprooted the registration camp, today they have ordered a fake investigation that there will be an investigation. What will they investigate? We had made an election announcement that if we win the election, we will implement it.”

Mr Dikshit’s complaint to the Lt Governor claimed cash being transported from Punjab to Delhi, allegedly to fund election-related activities. The LG’s office has directed the Delhi Police Commissioner to monitor vehicles entering the city from neighbouring states. Police forces in neighbouring Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan have also been alerted to prevent any potential illegal activities.

In another serious allegation, Mr Dikshit claimed that Punjab intelligence officers were stationed near Congress candidates’ residences in Delhi. The LG’s office has directed the Delhi Police Commissioner to investigate this claim and submit a detailed report within three days.

The BJP shot back, accusing Mr Kejriwal of settling illegal immigrants in the national capital for votes.

“Arvind Kejriwal and his party’s government are continuously settling illegal voters in Delhi. Today we showed 6 examples…Arvind Kejriwal does the work of settling illegal voters in Delhi before every assembly election. In 2015, 14 lakh votes were increased, in 2019, 9 lakh votes were increased and the same conspiracy is being hatched in Delhi now but the Bharatiya Janata Party will not let this conspiracy succeed. We have complained to the Election Commission, we will do it today also,” said Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva.

The AAP has alleged that the investigations are politically motivated, accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of using the LG’s office to sabotage its electoral prospects. 

“This order has not come from the L-G’s office but from Amit Shah’s office. The BJP wants to stop the Mahila Samman Yojana in Delhi because they do not respect women. BJP has accepted defeat in the Delhi elections,” AAP said. 

The party claimed that over 22 lakh women have already registered for the Mahila Samman Yojana.
 

New Delhi:

In a last minute intervention, Delhi LG VK Saxena overturned the postponement of elections for the last vacant seat of the standing committee and directed the MCD commissioner Ashwani Kumar to submit a report by 10 pm Thursday.

Mr Saxena directed that the deputy mayor be made the presiding officer for the elections if the mayor refuses to hold the elections.

In case the deputy mayor also refuses, the senior-most member of the House will preside over the elections, he ordered.

Earlier in the day, following disruption over frisking of councillors, the election to MCD Standing Committee was postponed by the Mayor, who adjourned the meeting of the House till October 5.

Mayor Shelly Oberoi claimed it was for the the first time a security check of the councillors had happened, and called it undemocratic and insulting for the members of the House.

The LG order read, “The Commissioner is hereby directed to submit a report of conduct of elections of the sixth member of standing committee by 10 pm today ie on 26.09.2024 positively.

“In case the Mayor is unavailable or refuses to preside over the meeting. the Deputy Mayor may be requested to preside over the meeting for conduct of elections.

“In case both are unwilling or unavailable, the seniormost member in order of seniority may be requested to discharge this function.” Following the order, MCD commissioner issued an instruction for the conduct of the elections for the 6th member of the standing committee.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Lt Governor VK Saxena Thursday ordered the termination of the seven teachers appointed at the Delhi Tamil Education Association in 2022 allegedly on forged documents, and also approved a CBI inquiry into the matter, the Raj Niwas said in a statement. Mr Saxena has also asked for scrutiny of records of recruitment at government-aided schools over the last 10 years and constituted a committee to study the appointment process in these schools, the statement said.

The action by the LG came over the recommendation of the Delhi government’s Directorate of Vigilance that found an alleged “collusion” between the Education Department and the school management in the said appointments, it said.

No immediate reaction was available from the Education Department and the school management concerned.

While terminating the seven TGT and PGT teachers, the LG approved the recommendation of the vigilance department for a CBI probe into their appointment at the Delhi government-aided school allegedly through the use of forged documents, it said.

“The LG agreed with the proposal of the DoV, which found a prima facie collusion between the officials of the Directorate of Education and the Delhi Tamil Education Association (DTEA), where 51 candidates were appointed to various posts in the year 2022.

“However, it was found that 7 selected teachers for TGT and PGT posts had submitted fake experience certificates,” read the statement.

The forged experience certificate was crucial in securing the job as each year of experience gave one extra mark to the candidate, it stated.

As per the terms and conditions of the Education Department, the school management was required to verify all the certificates of the selected candidates.

“While the certificates needed to be verified by seeking and obtaining appointment letters, details of payments made along with bank details, copy of attendance register of the school showing their attendance, none of these criteria was fulfilled by the school management,” it alleged.

The matter was placed before the Delhi chief secretary who directed to carry out the physical verification of the experience certificates issued by the respective schools.

The experience certificates submitted by three candidates were found to be “fake”. However, experience certificates of the remaining four candidates were verified by the respective schools, but not supported by documentary evidence, it said.

The CBI is already investigating a similar criminal case involving another government-aided school, Vedic Sanskrit Senior Secondary School, Khera Garhi, in the capital where appointments were made on the basis of alleged “fake” documents, it said.

The committee formed by the LG to study the recruitment process in government-aided schools and suggest measures to streamline the process, headed by the additional chief secretary (general administration department) will have a special secretary (Finance) and secretary (education) as members while the director (education) will be its convener, added the statement.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)