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New GOP senator tears into Dems ‘seeking to delay’ Pete Hegseth DOD confirmation

FIRST ON FOX: New Republican Sen. Jim Banks of Indiana laced into Democrats over what he said are attempts to delay confirmation hearings for Trump nominees, in particular that of the Department of Defense pick Pete Hegseth.  Banks urged Senate Committee on Armed Services Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., to move forward with Hegseth’s scheduled confirmation hearing on Jan. 14 as planned and not to be swayed by Democrats’ requests.  “As you are aware, Senators who are going to oppose the Hegseth nomination no matter what are seeking to delay and deny President Trump his Secretary of Defense being confirmed quickly. If they are successful, this will harm America’s national security during the crucial transition of power later this month,” he wrote to Wicker on Wednesday.  TRUMP DETAILS STRATEGY TO GET NECESSARY VOTES WITH ONE-BILL APPROACH TO BORDER, TAXES The Republican’s letter comes after fellow committee member, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., sent his own correspondence to Wicker, arguing the committee needs more information and documentation from the nominee to properly consider him.  “I am deeply concerned that the Senate Armed Services Committee is considering the nomination of Pete Hegseth for this critically significant position without full information regarding his capacity and experience to lead our military and steward a budget of nearly $850 billion,” Blumenthal said, referencing allegations that Hegseth mismanaged finances while leading a veterans’ nonprofit.  The Connecticut Democrat added, “I do not see how this committee can, in good conscience, consider Mr. Hegseth’s nomination without a full review of his conduct while leading these organizations – the only civilian management experience of his career.” SENATE DEMS TO JOIN REPUBLICANS TO ADVANCE ANTI-ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION BILL NAMED AFTER LAKEN RILEY Blumenthal said he requested additional documents of Hegseth’s be reviewed, “including credit card transactions and other uses of resources.”  Additionally, the Democrat claimed Hegseth “refuses to make himself available to meet with me and my Democratic colleagues in advance of his nomination hearing.”  However, a source familiar told Fox News Digital that Hegseth reached out to Democrats in early to mid-December to meet. The only Democrat who was willing to was Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., who sat down with him last month.  BORDER STATE DEMOCRAT RUBEN GALLEGO BACKS GOP’S LAKEN RILEY ACT AHEAD OF SENATE VOTE The others, the source said, waited until days before the scheduled Jan. 14 hearing to respond. As is the case for these types of nominees, Hegseth is scheduled to be in hearing preparation in the days leading up to it.  In his letter to Wicker, Banks blasted Blumenthal’s request. “Senator Blumenthal’s letter to you and the rest of the Committee is the latest attempt to accomplish their goal. In his letter, he raises unsubstantiated and anonymous accusations against Mr. Hegseth about his time as a leader of two organizations that advocated for America’s veterans. Senator Blumenthal’s letter purposely omits the fact that veterans who have worked with Mr. Hegseth professionally are on the record supporting his nomination,” he wrote.  RFK JR. TO MEET WITH SLEW OF DEMS INCLUDING ELIZABETH WARREN, BERNIE SANDERS The Republican acknowledged that Blumenthal has the right to question Hegseth on the floor and ultimately oppose his confirmation. But, “He does not have the right to delay the Armed Services Committee’s important work for the national security of the United States,” Banks said.  Wicker did not immediately provide comment to Fox News Digital.

Delhi-NCR pollution: GRAP 3 curbs back as air quality dips, know what’s closed now

Delhi’s air pollution levels showed an increasing trend and the 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) stood at 357 at 4 pm.

Venezuelan opposition leader María Machado has urgent message for President-elect Donald Trump

After meeting with President Biden at the White House on Monday, Edmundo Gonzalez, the man who won Venezuela’s presidential election in July, traveled to Argentina and then Panama with the ballots to prove that he, not Nicolás Maduro, is Venezuela’s democratically elected leader. “We elected by a landslide, a good man and Edmundo Gonzalez. We have the proof of that victory, and the whole world knows it,” María Corina Machado, a top leader in the Venezuelan opposition, told Fox News. “We won.” Maduro’s inauguration is slated for Friday. The Venezuelan opposition has called for massive street protests to peacefully demand that Maduro, whose mafia-style autocratic leadership has nearly bankrupted the oil-rich nation, not be inaugurated. 2 AMERICANS ARRESTED IN VENEZUELA ON EVE OF MADURO INAUGURATION OVER ‘TERRORISM’ CLAIMS “What we need is for all American institutions understand that Venezuela is the most important conflict in the Western Hemisphere for national security of the U.S.,” Machado said via Zoom from her safe house in Venezuela. “We can be the best ally the United States will have in the Americas, first of all, because we also are desperate to solve the migration problem in our region. We want those Venezuelans to come back in billions and voluntarily. And that will happen when they’ll see there’s a future in their country.” Machado had the following message for President-elect Donald Trump: “Venezuela has a huge energy potential that will never be taken advantage of… We’re going to turn Venezuela from the criminal hub of the Americas into the energy hub of the Americas and have a strong partnership with the United States.” Gonzalez, who Venezuela elected president in July, also met with incoming National Security Advisor Cong Michael Waltz of Florida while in Washington. Maduro has warned Gonzalez will be arrested if he returns to Venezuela.  VENEZUELA’S MADURO TO START THIRD TERM IN OFFICE AMID RIGGED ELECTION: ‘BLATANT VIOLATION’ “I want you to know how important it is also for the safety of the American people,” Machado explained. “Solving this conflict in Venezuela, I believe that what happens in the next days in Venezuela depends not only the democracy, the future of our democracy, but the future of democracy in the region.” Machado said the fall of the Assad regime in Syria is a cautionary tale for those in the military and judiciary who still support Maduro. The regime has sent secret police units to encircle her family members’ homes, sent a drone over her mother’s house and kidnapped President-elect Gonzalez’s brother-in-law on Tuesday. “Maduro has lost everything but fear and repression. Maduro lost all popular support, all legitimacy, and even he’s weakened or isolated internationally. What has he left? Russia, Iran, Hezbollah,” Machado, a former member of Venezuela’s National Assembly, asked. The Maduro regime also arrested two Americans one day after Gonzalez met with President Biden at the White House, accusing them of being mercenaries sent by the U.S. government.  The State Department issued the following statement: “We are concerned about the reports of U.S. citizens detained in Venezuela. We are working to gather more information.  Due to privacy and other considerations, we have no further comment on these cases. Any claims of U.S. involvement in a plot to overthrow Maduro are categorically false. The United States continues to support a democratic solution to the political crisis in Venezuela.” The State Department spokesman went on to warn U.S. citizens not to travel to Venezuela, because “Maduro and his associates have shown in the past, they may detain and jail, without justification or due process, U.S. citizens who enter Venezuela.”

‘Highly qualified’: Former state AGs urge Senate to confirm Bondi to lead Justice Department

FIRST ON FOX: A group of more than 60 former Democratic and Republican attorneys general sent a new letter to Senate leaders Thursday urging the confirmation of Pam Bondi to head up the Department of Justice, praising what they described as Bondi’s wealth of prosecutorial experience— including during her eight years as Florida’s top prosecutor—that they said makes her especially qualified for the role.  The letter was previewed exclusively to Fox News Digital and includes the signatures of more than 20 Democratic attorneys general or attorneys general appointed by Democratic governors.  The group praised Bondi’s work across the party and state lines during her time as Florida’s attorney general and as a state prosecutor in Hillsborough County, where she worked for 18 years.  “Many of us have worked directly with Attorney General Bondi and have firsthand knowledge of her fitness for the office,” the former attorneys general said in the letter. “We believe that her wealth of prosecutorial experience and commitment to public service make General Bondi a highly qualified nominee for Attorney General of the United States.”  MORE THAN 100 FORMER JUSTICE DEPT OFFICIALS URGE SENATE TO CONFIRM PAM BONDI AS AG The letter praised what signatories described as Bondi’s “unwavering” commitment to public safety and the rule of law in her time in the Sunshine State, where she sought to crack down on violent crime, protect consumers and combat the opioid crisis— which was at its height when she was elected as attorney general in 2010. Bondi “was and remains a valued and respected member of the State Attorney General community,” they wrote. “Thus, we are confident that she will serve with distinction as United States Attorney General.” The letter comes just hours after the Senate Judiciary Committee announced the official dates for Bondi’s confirmation hearing later this month. TRUMP’S AG PICK HAS ‘HISTORY OF CONSENSUS BUILDING’ Bondi is expected to be confirmed in the Republican-majority chamber. Earlier this week, a group of more than 100 former Justice Department officials sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee urging her confirmation. Still, the new letter of support from the state attorneys general comes just hours after the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., issued a statement Wednesday evening expressing fresh reservations about Bondi following their meeting — citing in particular Bondi’s work defending President-elect Donald Trump in his impeachment proceedings and following the 2020 election. “The role of the Attorney General is to oversee an independent Justice Department that upholds the rule of law and is free of undue political influence,” Durbin said in a statement.  “Given Ms. Bondi’s responses to my questions, I remain concerned about her ability to serve as an Attorney General who will put her oath to the Constitution ahead of her fealty to Donald Trump.” 

ICE looking into expanding migrant detention facilities, ACLU says

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) says that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is looking to expand its migrant detention facilities with the start of the new Trump administration just days away, according to a report.  Trump has vowed to carry out the largest deportation operation in the history of the U.S. and part of that program is expected to involve the use of ICE detention facilities, some of which the ACLU says raise concerns over migrant safety.  ICE detains approximately 37,000 people each day via a network of more than 120 immigration detention facilities nationwide, per an ACLU Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, citing ICE documents. The ACLU says that the Trump administration plans to ramp up those numbers to 100,000 per day.  NEW YORK VOTERS WANT STATE TO SUPPORT TRUMP DEPORTATIONS, POLL FINDS Although ICE owns five detention facilities of its own, the ACLU says ICE relies on other entities such as non-profits and inter-governmental agreements with private prison companies to hold the majority of people in its custody. In the ACLU FOIA lawsuit filed in September, the ACLU sued ICE for information on a possible expansion of migrant detention facilities around the country. According to Border Report, citing documents received by the ACLU, facilities in six states responded to the ICE request, including facilities in and around Harlingen and El Paso, Texas, as well as in San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Nevada and Salt Lake City, Utah. The facilities that are being considered in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley include the Willacy County Jail in Raymondville, which is run by the GEO Group; the Brooks County Detention Facility in Falfurrias; the Coastal Bend Detention Center in Robstown; and the East Hidalgo Detention Center in La Villa. RACHEL MORIN’S MOM PLEADS SENATORS ‘HEAR OUR CRIES FOR HELP’ IN MASS DEPORTATIONS HEARING TESTIMONY ACLU senior attorney Eunice Cho told Border Report that it’s important for the American public to know exactly what ICE is planning to do, both in terms of enforcement and in terms of detention of people from our immigrant communities. The GEO Group and CoreCivic operated the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, which was shut down last year, but Cho says CoreCivic says it would be willing to reopen the facility, a potential move that worries migrant advocates who have alleged mistreatment of immigrants at the facility. “We have serious concerns about expanding immigration detention in South Texas. Many of these facilities… have very serious histories of conditions, violations and abusive conditions in those detention facilities,” Cho told Border Report.  She says the ACLU wants more information on exactly what ICE plans to do. “We are concerned, of course, with the potential growth of the immigration detention system,” Cho said. Fox News Digital has reached out to ICE and the ACLU for comment.  The exact details of President-elect Trump’s deportation plan aren’t exactly clear, although both he and incoming “Border Czar” Tom Homan have said that criminal migrants will be targeted first. Trump has also appointed hardliner South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to serve as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Homan, meanwhile, has said that family detention centers for migrants are also “on the table.” Family detention ended in 2021, soon after President Biden took office, and that included closing three ICE facilities with about 3,000 beds, according to Fox 5 DC.

MAGA Republicans defend TikTok as ‘conservative platform’ as fate hangs in balance with Supreme Court

MAGA Republicans are offering an outpouring of support for TikTok ahead of a ban looming over the social media platform that is set to take effect later this month.  “Trump won the election because he listened to first-time voters like myself and joined TikTok to get his message to us directly,” RNC Youth Advisory Council Chair Brilyn Hollyhand told Fox News Digital of the impending ban. “He didn’t need paid influencers or cringey trends like his failed opponent. All he had to do was go where Gen Z was, TikTok, and lay out his plan.” Representatives of TikTok, which is owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance, are set to deliver arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to request the nation’s highest court to delay a ban on the app that is set to take effect a day ahead of the inauguration. President Biden signed legislation into law in April that gave TikTok’s parent company until Jan. 19 to sell it or face a U.S. ban. If the Supreme Court does not halt the ban, U.S. TikTok users will no longer be able to download the app, and internet providers will be prohibited from allowing access to the site.  WILL TRUMP WHITE HOUSE RESCUE TIKTOK FROM LOOMING BAN? PRESIDENT-ELECT HAS DONE A 180 ON THE APP The looming ban originated out of concern that American users’ data is gathered by the Chinese government, but MAGA Republicans and content creators who spoke with Fox Digital balked at the reasoning as insincere.  “I have done, if not, the deepest possible dive on all of the concerns associated with the platform, especially for my daily show when I share my opinions and commentary on what’s going on in culture and politics,” TikTok creator and TPUSA commentator Isabel Brown, who has more than 500,000 followers on TikTok, told Fox Digital in a phone interview. “And we’ve confronted this potential ban of the platform for at least nine months to a year now … the complaints that I’m hearing, from particularly politicians, largely center around national security.” TRUMP SAYS FATE OF TIKTOK SHOULD BE IN HIS HANDS WHEN HE RETURNS TO WHITE HOUSE “But I have a very hard time believing that the true argument to censor TikTok is based in a national security concern when we still have documented evidence of virtually every single American social media company. Meta, Twitter, YouTube, etc, selling your data under the table to your own government and/or the Chinese Communist Party and even the Russian government as well.”  “Heck, we even have records of Airbnb selling American data to the Chinese Communist Party. So there doesn’t seem to be a lot of willingness to truly protect the cyber and personal information security of American citizens from the government en masse, it seems to only be focused on TikTok as a platform itself,” Brown continued.  TIKTOK DIVESTMENT COULD BE ‘DEAL OF THE CENTURY’ FOR TRUMP, HOUSE CHINA COMMITTEE CHAIR SAYS President-elect Donald Trump’s supporters praising TikTok comes after the former and upcoming president made big inroads with Gen Z, especially young male voters, in the last cycle. A Fox News Voter Survey published after the election found that men aged 18-44 supported Trump at 53% compared to Vice President Kamala Harris at 45%.  “​​We’re talking about an app that nearly 200 million Americans, 75% of whom are Gen Z, use every single day as our primary source of news, and according to some studies, even as our primary web browser search tool, so more than Google … and I have found that the opportunity for virality – to have a conversation with as many people as possible – on Tiktok is unparalleled on any other social media platform,” Brown said.  A Republican strategist told Fox News Digital that TikTok is by all intents and purposes a “conservative platform.”  “By all means, TikTok is a conservative platform now – if you take a look at how Trump dominated his competition, there’s no argument against the value this platform has, and I don’t think there’s a world where Trump doesn’t fulfill his promise to save it,” the strategist said.  The GOP insider added that “the fact that [Sen. Mitch] McConnell and [former Vice President Mike] Pence want to ban this thing means it needs to be saved.”  Ahead of the new year, Sen. Mitch McConnell filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court, urging justices to reject ByteDance’s request to delay the ban.  “The topsy-turvy idea that TikTok has an expressive right to facilitate the CCP censorship regime is absurd,” McConnell’s counsel Michael A. Fragoso wrote in the friend of the court brief. “Would Congress have needed to allow Nikita Khrushchev to buy CBS and replace The Bing Crosby Show with Alexander Nevsky?”  While former Vice President Mike Pence’s nonprofit, Advancing American Freedom, filed a similar amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court last month.  “The CCP does not respect free speech, either in China or in America. The First Amendment is not, and should not be read as, a means of granting the Chinese government the power to do what the American government could not: manipulate what Americans can say and hear,” the group wrote.   Advancing American Freedom President Tim Chapman told Fox News Digital that Trump’s first administration “had this right the first time” when Trump initially worked to ban TikTok before the former and upcoming president reversed his opinion on the app.  “The Trump administration had this right the first time when they planned to ban TikTok through executive authority for the very same concerns that exist today. Political strategists salivating over clicks and followers does not mean that the national security implications have changed,” Chapman said.  TRUMP JOINS TIKTOK, THE APP HE ONCE TRIED TO BAN AS PRESIDENT Emily Wilson, political commentator and host of podcast “Emily Saves America,” told Fox News Digital that she can see both sides of the argument surrounding the looming TikTok ban but that instituting a ban would be “hypocritical against free speech.” “The

South Africa’s sports minister joins calls for Afghanistan cricket boycott

McKenzie urges his country’s cricket governing body not to honour the Champions Trophy fixture against Afghanistan on February 21. South Africa’s Sports Minister Gayton McKenzie has given his support to calls for a boycott of Afghanistan at the ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan, adding his voice to those of British politicians who have called on England not to play the South Asian nation at the tournament next month. “Cricket South Africa, the federations of other countries and the ICC (International Cricket Council) will have to think carefully about the message the sport of cricket wishes to send the world, and especially the women in sports,” he said in a statement on Thursday. “It is not for me as the sports minister to make the final decision on whether South Africa should honour cricketing fixtures against Afghanistan. If it was my decision, then it certainly would not happen.” England and South Africa share the same group with Afghanistan in the one-day international (ODI) competition and are under pressure to boycott the fixtures in response to the Taliban government’s crackdown on women’s rights since returning to power in August 2021. Advertisement South Africa are scheduled to open their Champions Trophy schedule against Afghanistan in Karachi on February 21 but McKenzie urged his country’s cricket governing body not to honour the fixture. “As a man who comes from a race that was not allowed equal access to sporting opportunities during Apartheid, it would be hypocritical and immoral to look the other way today when the same is being done towards women anywhere in the world,” he added. More than 160 British politicians have signed a cross-party letter to the England and Wales Cricket Board, calling for a boycott of England’s fixture against Afghanistan in Lahore on February 26. ECB chief executive Richard Gould responded by calling for a uniform approach from all member nations towards Afghanistan’s participation in international cricket. Australia are the other team scheduled to take on Afghanistan, in Lahore on February 28. Cricket Australia indefinitely postponed a bilateral men’s Twenty 20 series against Afghanistan last March citing “deteriorating human rights for women and girls in the country under Taliban rule” but they did play them at the World Cup in India in late 2023 and at the T20 World Cup last June. Cricket Australia chairman Mike Baird last month said he was “very proud of the position we’ve taken” after they were accused of hypocrisy. “We’ve taken a position, and we’re proudly standing up where we think we should,” he said. Adblock test (Why?)

Scenes of destruction from Los Angeles wildfires

[unable to retrieve full-text content] A drive along streets in the US state of California shows the kind of destruction left by several wildfires.

How big are the California wildfires – and why did they spread so fast?

At least five people have been killed and thousands of homes have been gutted in wildfires that have ravaged multiple parts of Los Angeles in California – the most populous state of the United States. More than 130,000 residents in different neighbourhoods of Los Angeles city have been ordered to evacuate as the fires, which erupted on Tuesday, continue to rapidly spread, fuelled by high winds. So how big are the fires at present, and how did they begin? What started the California wildfires? The first fire started in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood of Los Angeles at 10:30am (18:30GMT) on Tuesday, according to California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire). Investigators are still trying to find out the exact trigger for the worst firestorm in recent memory, but a combination of factors might have created conditions optimal for a fire. California generally experiences wildfires during June and July, and they can run until October, but the blaze has defied the calendar this year, erupting in January – the coldest of the winter months. Advertisement Southern California, the site of the fires, has been experiencing drought conditions and had not seen significant rainfall for months. Last year less than four percent of California was affected by drought compared with nearly 60 percent this year, according to the US drought monitor. Climate change has contributed to an increase in the frequency, season length and burned area of wildfires, according to a report by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). So, dry conditions aided by Santa Ana winds – dry and hot winds common in the area – most likely caused the wildfires. The dry desert air moves from the interior of the region towards the coast and offshore. It contributes to wildfires because it significantly reduces humidity in the environment due to its dry nature. This causes vegetation to become very dehydrated and susceptible to fire. Under these circumstances, any spark can start a fire, be it from a cigarette butt, vehicle or power line. Gusts up to 100mph (160km/h) were recorded at higher elevations on Tuesday night, according to AccuWeather meteorologist Danielle Ehresman. Besides dry vegetation, Los Angeles has other flammable materials such as low-hanging power cables and wooden telephone polls. Santa Ana winds have been associated with extreme wildfires in California in the past, including the Woolsey fire in November 2018, which killed three people and razed 1,600 structures. Experts, however, warn that weather conditions are dire this year. “We really haven’t seen a season as dry as this one following a season as wet as the previous one – all of that extra abundant growth of grass and vegetation followed immediately by a wind event of this magnitude while it’s still so incredibly dry,” Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at University of California, Los Angeles, said on a livestream on Monday. Advertisement How big are the California wildfires? Rapid spread The fire started in Palisades located on the Pacific Ocean, and from there the blaze spread rapidly to other neighbourhoods. The second fire broke out in Eaton at about 6pm (02:00 GMT) on Tuesday. A third fire also broke out the same day in Sylmar, in the San Fernando Valley northwest of Los Angeles, called the Hurst fire. Five more fires broke out in California on Wednesday: the Lidia, Sunset and Woodley fires in Los Angeles; the Olivas fire in Ventura and the Tyler fire in Riverside. (Al Jazeera) Amount of land burned According to Cal Fire, here is the current status of the major fires as of Wednesday night: Palisades: At least 6,970 hectares (17,234 acres) Eaton: At least 4,290 hectares (10,600 acres) Hurst: At least 346 hectares (855 acres) Lidia: At least 140 hectares (348 acres) Sunset: At least 17 hectares (43 acres) The Woodley fire burned 30 acres (12 hectares) of land while the Olivas and Tyler fires both burned 11 acres (4.5 hectares) each. Here is a comparison of aerial images of the Pacific Coast highway before and after the Palisades fire. And here is Altadena before and after the Eaton fire. Containment The containment percentage of a fire refers to the perimeter or containment line established around the fire by firefighters to prevent it from spreading further. A containment line can be any physical barrier around the fire, such as a shallow trench dug into dirt. The fires in California are barely contained, which means there is no prevention from them spreading further. The Palisades, Eaton and Sunset fires are all zero percent contained, while the Hurst fire is 10 percent contained and the Lidia fire is 40 percent contained. Advertisement The Woodley, Olivas and Tyler fires are 100 percent contained, according to Cal Fire. The first major US wildfire of 2025 is burning across multiple fronts in Los Angeles city and county, covering an area nearly twice the size of Manhattan [Al Jazeera] What has the government’s response been? The scale of the fires has gotten out of hand, according to the local firefighting department. California Governor Gavin Newsom said in an X post on Wednesday night that 7,500 firefighting personnel are currently on the ground. US President Joe Biden cancelled an upcoming Italy trip to focus on the federal response to the fire, the White House said. Biden posted on his X account that his team has provided 5 air tankers and 10 firefighting helicopters. However, the strong winds have hindered aerial rescue efforts. Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone told a news conference that firefighters from six other states including Nevada were being rushed to California. Additionally, 250 engine companies with 1,000 personnel were being moved from Northern California to Southern California. But resources are running thin. Water shortages in the Palisades have dried out some fire hydrants. Janisse Quinones, the chief executive of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, told a media conference that Pacific Palisades depends on three tanks containing about a million gallons (3.78 million litres) each. Quinones added that the demand

Arvind Kejriwal demands EC to bar Parvesh Verma from contesting Delhi assembly polls: ‘Find out how much money he has’

Former Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal, on Thursday, i.e., January 9, met with senior Election Commission (EC) officials and demanded that his nearest rival and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Parvesh Verma be barred from contesting Delhi polls.