FirstUp: Kejriwal summoned by ED, Chandigarh mayoral polls… The big news today

It is already the middle of the third week of January. After three more days, the much-anticipated inauguration of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya will take place. The idol of Ram Lalla has already been brought inside the temple.

Thursday (18 January) will see several major developments unfold. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the liquor policy case.

Chandigarh mayoral polls will be held today. Here’s a roundup of the big news that is expected to make headlines during the day.

Delhi CM summoned by ED

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has been summoned by the ED for the fourth time today. He has already skipped the central probe agency’s previous three summons, calling them “illegal”.

The political circles are abuzz with speculations that Kejriwal could be arrested after the ED’s questioning in connection with the Delhi government’s now-scrapped excise policy case.

The Delhi CM has earlier said that he was ready to cooperate in the investigation but claimed the agency aimed to arrest him and stop him from election campaigning.

Senior AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh are already behind bars in the alleged scam case. It remains to be seen if Kejriwal will heed ED’s fourth summon.

Quick Reads

View All

India, EU on cusp of historic trade deal: What’s agreed, what are the sticking points?

Republic Day 2026: Meet the founding mothers of the Indian Constitution

Ram Lalla’s idol to be placed in sanctum sanctorum

The idol of Ram Lalla will be placed in the sanctum sanctorum today. Ceremonies before the main event on 22 January are already underway in Ayodhya.

According to the general secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, Champat Rai, the Ram temple will be opened for darshan to the public from 23 January.

The Pran Pratishtha ceremony next week is expected to attract thousands of pilgrims and tourists to the temple town in Uttar Pradesh.

Chandigarh mayoral polls

Chandigarh is holding its mayoral polls today. As per the news agency PTI report, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has allied with Congress for the elections, with the former contesting the mayor’s seat and the Grand Old Party fielding candidates for senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor posts.

It is going to be a two-way fight with observers believing the AAP-Congress alliance has an edge over the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

In the 35-member Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, the BJP has 14 councillors, the AAP has 13 and the Congress seven. One councillor is from Shiromani Akali Dal.

Arvind Kejriwal to visit Goa

Arvind Kejriwal will begin his three-day visit to Goa on Thursday. As per AAP Goa chief Amit Palekar, the Delhi CM will be accompanied by his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Singh Mann and MPs Raghav Chadha and Sandeep Pathak during the visit.

They will meet the party’s Goa MLAs and other state functionaries and volunteers, reported PTI. Notably, the visit comes on the day Kejriwal has been summoned by the ED.

Defamation suit filed against MS Dhoni

The Delhi High Court will hear the defamation suit filed against Indian cricketer MS Dhoni by his two ex-business partners, Mihir Diwakar and his wife Soumya Das.

Recently, Dhoni accused the couple of duping him of around Rs 16 crore by not honouring a contract to establish cricket academies, as per his lawyer.

Diwakar and Das, directors of the sports management company Aarka Sports, filed the lawsuit against the former Team India cricket captain, seeking a permanent injunction and damages against him, many social media platforms and media houses.

The duo also appealed to the court to restrict them from making, publishing, or circulating defamatory, ex-facie false and malicious statements against them.

Delhi water supply to be affected

Delhi is already reeling from bitter cold and intense fog these days. If that was not enough, several areas in the National Capital might face water shortages.

According to Delhi Jal Board (DJB), water supply will be affected in several areas for more than 10 hours due to the installation of a flowmeter and maintenance work at the Sonia Vihar Water Treatment Plant.

“Due to installation of flowmeter in South Delhi rising main at Sonia Vihar WTP and other maintenance works, the water supply in South Delhi main from Sonia Vihar Water Treatment Plant shall remain affected for 16 hours. The water supply will not be available on January 18 from 10 am to morning of 19 January,” the DJB’s notice said on Tuesday.

The affected areas are Kallash Nagar, Sarai Kale Khan, Jal Vihar, Lajpat Nagar, Moolchand Hospital, Greater Kailash, Vasant Kunj, Devli, Ambedkar Nagar, Okhla, Kalkaji, Govindpuri, Shyam Nagar Colony, Okhla Sabzi mandi, Amar Colony, Dakshin Puri, Panchsheel Park, Shahpur Jat, Kotla Mubarak pur, Sarita Vihar, Sidhartha Nagar, Apollo, Malviya Nagar, Chhatarpur and parts of the NDMC area.