Former Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday announced a new health scheme for senior citizens in Delhi ahead of the upcoming assembly election in February.

The AAP Chief announced that elderly citizens over 60 years of age will receive treatment free of cost in both government and private hospitals under the new scheme called Sanjeevani Yojana.  He said that there will be no upper limit on the cost of treatment. He mentioned that registration for the scheme will start in a day or two, and the AAP workers will come to people’s homes for registration, who will give the residents a card. He added that once AAP comes into power after the elections, the policy will be implemented.

His announcement comes after the face-off between the opposition BJP and the ruling AAP over non-implementation of the Centre’s Ayushmaan Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY). Nearly seven BJP MPs moved the Delhi High Court seeking directions to the Delhi government to implement the scheme.

Reportedly, the petitioners Harsh Malhotra, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, Praveen Khandelwal, Yogendra Chandolia, Manoj Tiwari, Kamaljeet Sehrawat and Bansuri Swaraj argued that citizens in the capital were facing high out-of-pocket medical expenses due to the non-implementation of the scheme.

Later on November 27, the Delhi High Court sought the Delhi government’s stance on implementing the scheme and said that steps must be taken to iron out the differences within the Delhi administration.

After the high court’s remarks, Delhi Chief Minister Atishi directed the health department to formulate a mechanism to incorporate the benefits of the Ayushman Bharat scheme without withdrawing the benefits of the Delhi government’s free healthcare facilities for the people.

She said that the exclusions under Ayushman Bharat do not align with this system, and that the government does not want to take away free medical care from anyone. Hence, directions have been issued to the Health Department to devise a mechanism that ensures no one in Delhi is deprived of the free healthcare services they currently receive while also incorporating the benefits of Ayushman Bharat, she continued.

PM Narendra Modi today accused the Congress and its rotten ecosystem of insulting BR Ambedkar for several years as he listed the party’s several sins towards the architect of the Indian Constitution. His statement on the Congress came as the party sought the resignation of Home Minister Amit Shah over his remarks on Ambedkar in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

Taking to social media platform X, PM Modi detailed how the Congress allegedly indulged in every possible dirty trick to obliterate the legacy of Dr Ambedkar and humiliate the SC/STs. He added that Ambedkar was known for championing the rights of SCs/STs.

He mentioned that if the Congress and its rotten ecosystem think their malicious lies can hide their misdeeds of several years, especially their insult towards Dr. Ambedkar, they are gravely mistaken.

Furthermore, listing the Congress’s sins towards Ambedkar, the Prime Minister said not only did the party deny him a Bharat Ratna, but also defeated him twice in elections.

He underlined that the list of sins includes getting BR Ambedkar defeated in elections not once but twice. Pandit Nehru campaigning against him and making his loss a prestige issue,  denying him a Bharat Ratna, denying his portrait a place of pride in Parliament’s Central Hall, he listed.

He stated that in the 1952 Lok Sabha polls, Dr Ambedkar lost to Congress candidate Narayan Sadoba Kajrolkar in Bombay (North). He faced defeat again in the 1954 by-election in Bhandara to Congress’s Bhaurao Borkar.

Narendra Modi also said that the worst massacres against SC/ST communities happened under the Congress. He added that for years, the Congress sat in power but did nothing substantive to empower the SC and ST communities.

The Prime Minister further highlighted several initiatives taken by the BJP government to fulfil the vision of Dr Ambedkar over the last decade such as removing 25 crore people from poverty, and strengthening the SC/ST Act.

Also, defending Amit Shah’s remarks in the Rajya Sabha during the Constitution debate, PM Modi said the Congress was doing theatrics after being stung and stunned by the Home Minister’s address. He asserted that Amit Shah exposed the Congress’s dark history of insulting Dr. Ambedkar. He claimed that the Congress are clearly stung and stunned by the facts the Home Minister presented, which is why they are now indulging in theatrics.

The tussle between BJP and Congress regarding BR Ambedkar began after Amit Shah said that it has become a fashion for Congress to take Ambedkar’s name.  The Home Minister said that if the Congress had taken God’s name so many times, they would have got a place in heaven.

Accusing Amit Shah of insulting Ambedkar, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge sought his resignation and a public apology. Furthermore, Congress and opposition MPs, including Rahul Gandhi also staged a protest in Parliament premises holding photos of Ambedkar.

Maratha Quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil said today that he would launch an indefinite fast on January 25 to increase pressure on Devendra Fadnavis government to accept the Maratha community’s demands for reservation in jobs and education under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category.

Manoj Jarange-Patil urged the members of the Maratha community to attend the protest in large numbers. He said that no one should stay at home, and they should come to Antarwali Sarthi (village). He added that they must show their collective strength. However, he mentioned that there will be no compulsion or pressure on anyone.

The Maratha Quota activist accused the state government of cheating and said it failed to fulfil its promises to the Maratha community. He said that the community will not spare the government if they don’t meet their demands during the ongoing winter session.

He further demanded that the state government implement the draft notification that recognises the Kunbis as related by birth or marriage to the Marathas (sage soyare) and grant reservations to the latter under the OBC category.

Manoj Patil also demanded that the state speed up the work undertaken by the Justice (retd) Sandeep Shinde Committee. The Mahayuti government formed the committee to expedite the process of granting Kunbi certificates to the Marathas, which makes them eligible for reservations.

Furthermore, the 42-year-old activist, stressed on the same demand, went on six hunger strikes last year. Notably, in February 2024, the Mahayuti government unanimously passed a bill providing 10% reservation for the Marathas in education and government jobs under a separate category.

Nonetheless, Jarange has been insisting on a quota for the community under the OBC head. The agrarian Kunbi community already receives quota benefits under the OBC category.

Previously, before voting in the Maharashtra assembly election, Patil withdrew his list of candidates and decided to support the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) against the Mahayuti alliance.

He  withdrew from the fray as he had not received a response from smaller allies representing castes like the Dalits and Muslims. He had been banking on them to field candidates as part of his plan. Additionally, he also said that he had realised that no election could be fought in the name of a single caste.