New Delhi, Jan 15: AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal will file his nomination for the Assembly election from the New Delhi constituency on Wednesday.

Kejriwal claimed that many “mothers and sisters” of the national capital would accompany him to the election office and bless him.

The former Delhi Chief Minister said that before filing the nomination, he would visit the Valmiki and Hanuman temples to seek divine blessings.

In a post on social media platform X, the AAP chief said: “Today will be filing nomination for the polls. Many mothers and sisters will be accompanying me to bless me. Will visit Hanuman and Valmiki temples to seek blessings before filing nominations.”

Kejriwal will file the nomination from the New Delhi Assembly constituency. The BJP has put up Parvesh Verma as its candidate from the constituency and Sandeep Dikshit is the Congress nominee.

Meanwhile, the Centre has given the go-ahead to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to prosecute Kejriwal in a money laundering case.

The Union Home Ministry has granted permission to the ED to prosecute Kejriwal under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with the excise policy case.

In December, Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena gave the nod to the agency to prosecute Kejriwal.

Kejriwal and AAP have been accused of receiving bribes from the ‘South Group’, a cartel which controlled the sale and distribution of liquor in the national capital and allegedly benefitted from the excise policy framed by the Delhi government for 2021-22.

Kejriwal, who is currently out on bail, has denied the charges against them and accused the BJP of misusing central agencies to “harass” political rivals.

The high-decibel electioneering saw AAP, BJP and Congress in a triangular contest accusing each other of corruption and cheating people.

Besides facing allegations of corruption in the excise policy case, Kejriwal has been drawing criticism for alleged lavish spending on his official residence when he was the Chief Minister of the national capital.

The Sheesh Mahal row is one of the major issues on which the political parties are gheraoing the AAP Convenor.

Election to the 70-member Assembly will be held on February 5 and the counting of votes on February 8.

New Delhi, Jan 15: A thick fog enveloped the national capital and surrounding areas early Wednesday morning, severely affecting visibility and causing widespread transportation disruptions. At least seven flights were cancelled, while 184 others were delayed. Additionally, 26 trains heading to Delhi were running late, with six train schedules altered due to the low visibility.

The thick fog caused visibility levels to plummet to near zero in several areas disrupting air, road, and rail traffic.

This comes a day after the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an orange alert in the national capital, warning of dense to very dense fog.

Road traffic also slowed down as dense fog made commuting difficult across Delhi and other cities in the NCR.

In a statement around 7:30 a.m., Delhi Airport urged passengers to stay informed about their flight status. “Although landings and take-offs continue, flights that do not meet the CAT III (Category III Instrument Landing System) standards may experience delays. We advise passengers to check with their airlines for the latest updates. We regret any inconvenience caused,” said Delhi Airport in repeated advisories.

Budget airlines IndiGo and SpiceJet also issued warnings to travellers, urging them to monitor their flight schedules due to the heavy fog affecting air travel.

The IMD predicted the minimum temperature for the day would dip to 9 degrees Celsius.

Meanwhile, the maximum temperature was forecast to reach around 19 degrees. The weather department also warned of a generally overcast sky throughout the day.

The IMD has forecasted further fog during the evening and night, with cloudy skies expected throughout the day. There is also a chance of light rain later in the day or night, further complicating the weather conditions.

The average air quality in the national capital remains in the “poor” category.

Dense fog and cold wave have become recurring phenomena in northern India, further complicating the already difficult winter conditions. Residents are being advised to take extra precautions while travelling.

New Delhi, Jan 14: Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday derided and taunted Kejriwal’s model of governance in the capital while launching a campaign to ‘expose’ its empty and hollow promises of transforming Delhi into a world-class city.

The Congress MP visited Delhi’s Rithala area on Tuesday to showcase the glaring gaps between the AAP government’s promises and reality on the ground. Undertaking the survey of a stinking area, marked with open drains and littered with filth, the Congress leader made a series of taunts at the AAP dispensation.

“Dekho, dilli dekho, yeh hai chamkati hui dilli. Paris jaisi dilli… sab jagah yahi haal hai” (See the city, this is Delhi, this is shining Delhi, the Delhi which looks like Paris), he was heard saying on camera.

In the run-up to the Delhi Assembly elections, broken roads, open sewers and stinking drainage systems have turned out to be major poll planks and all parties are raising this issue to the hilt.

Congress party also posted on X, “Arvind Kejriwal had promised to make Delhi shine like Paris. But, all his claims turned out to be hollow. Today, the people of Delhi are forced to live in clogged sewers, overflowing drains and immense filth.”

Rahul’s fresh pitch on the city’s poor and dilapidated roads and open sewers is a tactful drive to expose the AAP government on its broken promises and also recall the historic development drive undertaken during the Congress government, under the then CM Sheila Dikshit.

“Congress party’s promise is – we will return clean and beloved Delhi to the people of Delhi. We did it, we will do it again,” the party said in X post.

The verbal duel between AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal and Congress brass got a fresh twist after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi joined the campaign trail, with his first political rally in the Seelampuri area on February 13.

Rahul hit out at the AAP dispensation over issues like inflation, and ignorance of Dalit and minority communities and accused it of making false promises and spreading false propaganda.

In a quick retort, Kejriwal said that he won’t comment on Rahul’s remarks despite abuses.

“His fight is to save the Congress party, my fight is to save the country,” he posted on X.