City: Delhi / NCR

With inputs from Sri Krishna, Delhi Considered a prestigious Lok Sabha seat, this constituency has been represented in the past by senior BJP leaders like Sushma Swaraj, late chief minister Madan Lal Khurana and senior party leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra who defeated former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here. Given this pedigree, the 2019 contest, however, is between little known sitting BJP MP Ramesh Kumar Bhiduri, 57, and two new comers: AAP’s Raghav Chadha, a 31-year-old chartered accountant who is the AAP’s treasurer and national spokesperson, and Olympic medal winner turned professional boxer Vijendra Singh, 33, for Congress. It is spread…

Avoiding election frenzy and the intense heat of Delhi summers, South Delhi MP, Ramesh Bidhuri is seen spending most of his time in his poll war room in Mehrauli. His complacence comes from BJP’s strong organisational hold over South Delhi which is enough for him to dismiss his political opponents who are busy taking part in road shows and rallies. Since his college days, Bidhuri has been active in the BJP. In 2003-08 he became the Vice President of BJP, Delhi unit. He won three consecutive terms as an MLA from 2003 to 2014 . He stood as the BJP…

Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma is the incumbent BJP MP from West Delhi Lok Sabha constituency. He is the son of BJP leader and former Delhi Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma. He had contested from Mehrauli constituency in the 2013 assembly elections, and defeated Yoganand Shastri, Speaker in erstwhile Delhi assembly. Personal Information Name: Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma Age: 41 Address: 20, Windsor Place, Near BSNL House, Janpath Road, New Delhi-110001 Phone: 9811361000 Constituency: West Delhi Party: Bharatiya Janata Party Term: 2014 – in office Twitter: @p_sahibsingh Educational Qualifications: Postgraduate Profession: Businessman Pending criminal cases: None Year Moveable Assets Immovable Assets…

Manoj Kumar Tiwari had a colourful past as a popular Bhojpuri actor and even a Big Boss contestant, before he joined politics. Tiwari joined politics in 2009, and got a ticket from Samajwadi Party to contest in that year's Lok Sabha election from Gorakhpur. However, he lost to Yogi Adityanath of BJP. By 2014, he had switched to the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party). He won the North East Delhi constituency in 2014 as a BJP candidate. In spite of high rhetoric and promises, Tiwari has failed to fully utilise the MPLADS funds allocated to him to develop his constituency, which…

On a day that India saw another round of voting in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, and people were engrossed in coverage of verbal slugfests between leaders, sensational comments by candidates and all the typical frenzy that accompanies the conduct of elections, the national capital quietly conducted the final phase of an election that is no less important for the Delhiite. The annual elections for the post of Mayor, Deputy Mayor and the vital three member standing committee (Sthayi Samiti) of three autonomous municipal bodies of Delhi (MCDs) concluded on Monday unanimously. With the ruling BJP enjoying a clear majority…

The three-year war of attrition between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government and Lt Governor Anil Baijal over installation of CCTV cameras across the capital appears to be over. Work has now begun on the plan to install 2000 cameras in each of Delhi’s 70 assembly segments, one of the flagship programmes of the Arvind Kejriwal government. The objective is crime prevention. As per police records, Delhi sees one murder, six robberies, as many rapes, nine molestations, 19 snatchings, 126 vehicle thefts and 17 fatal road accidents every day, besides the ever present threat of terrorist attacks. Making the security…

Election manifestos released recently by the BJP, Congress and CPI(M) seem to show some responsibility towards the declining environmental standards of the country. The Congress manifesto, for instance describes air pollution as a “national public health emergency”. The BJP manifesto promised to reduce pollution levels by at least 35% over the next five years in 102 cities. However, past experience shows that the promises made on paper remain largely unimplemented. Few elected representatives seem committed to improve air quality in their respective cities and constituencies. A recent report by Climate Trends titled, “Political Leaders Position and Action on Air Quality…

It was in March 2018, that the Delhi government while presenting its ‘Green Budget’ for the financial year 2018-19 committed to procuring 1000 electric buses for the roads of Delhi and outlined a timeline for its implementation. A year later, the first set of global tenders for 375 buses have just been issued, following a pilot project in the latter half of 2018. In the meantime, we have heard of several other cities launching e-buses, though any major city-wide transition or significant breakthrough in terms of adoption is yet to be reported. When will Delhi commuters finally see electric buses…

“If these machines had been brought in before, my children’s papa would not have left them. Now they are not of any use to me, but they will at least be useful for other women. Their men will not die in the sewers. No one should have to suffer the way I do.” So saying, a visibly distressed Rani Kumari became silent. When I first met Rani late last year, she was sitting on the steps at a conference venue in Delhi, where she had come for an event organised by the Safai Karamchari Andolan, a nationwide movement to eradicate…

After having lived in Delhi through the seventies for over a decade, every short trip I make to Delhi is one of a sense of loss. I do not recognize the Delhi that I grew up in anymore. With the exploding boundaries, the flyovers that dwarf the city, the mindboggling traffic and the crowds, and of course the smog, the pollution, I have stopped relating to the city that I loved so much. As I made a brief two-day visit to the city, I decided to recapture the magic, the stunning royal walk from India Gate to Rashtrapati Bhavan. Much…