Singer Sona Mohapatra has opened up about the abuse she faced at the hands of Bollywood superstar Salman Khan’s fans after she called out the ‘misogynist’ comments made by Salman Khan. During an interview ahead of the release of her documentary Shut Up Sona on Zee5, the singer talked about receiving death and rape threats online, and even having shit delivered to her office in lunchboxes.
During the interview to Etimes, Mohapatra said, “The hideous horrible trolling including death threats and literally shit coming in dabbas into my studio because I had called out Salman Khan for his misogynistic statements and that had gone viral. And that was a two-month long process where finally, the Minister of Women and Child Development had to put out a story where she said that we are launching a hashtag called ‘I am being trolled’ for better safety of women and children online because Sona Mohapatra has been facing vicious threats.”
Further, she added, “It was horrible and then we realised it was a consolidated digital army that was not necessarily just made up of fans. It further scared away women from being online. It was premeditated. There were a lot of paid bots that were in this whole game.”
She also revealed that her picture was morphed on porn websites during the course of this trolling attack on her.
When Sona Mohapatra called out Salman Khan
Mohapatra has called out Salman Khan on more than one occasion. In 2016, during the promotion of his film ‘Sultan’, the Bollywood star said that he felt like a ‘raped woman’ after the grueling shoot for the film. His father Salim Khan had even issued an apology for that comment.
Reacting to Salman’s comment, Sona Mohapatra said, “Women thrashed, people run over, wildlife massacred, and yet #hero of the nation. ‘Unfair’. India is full of such supporters. Heard that Salman tried to retract his statement after saying it indicating some self-awareness of how wrong it was. Saying sorry won’t hurt. The dear idol of millions, Getting your father to say sorry every day isn’t good enough. Teach your fans something good for a change?#India.”
Later, in 2019, Salman Khan was again in the crosshairs of Mohapatra when Priyanka Chopra left Salman’s film ‘Bharat’ to marry Nick Jonas. Following her decision, Salman said, “Usually people leave their husbands for this.” Taking umbrage at his remarks, Mohapatra said, “@priyankachopra has better things to do in life, real men to hang out with and more importantly, girls to inspire with her journey.”
Now, Sona Mohapatra is opening up about the incidents of severe trolling she faced after making those remarks in her documentary, which will start streaming on Zee5 from 1st of July.
On Thursday, Baba Biryani owner Mukhtar Baba who was arrested for funding ‘blasphemy’ riots in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur district confessed to the SIT that he along with his builder friends wanted to get hold of Chandreshwar Hata, the main area where stone-pelting erupted on June 3. During the interrogation, he also agreed that he and his builder friends had funded the violence to threaten the residents of Chandreshwar Hata and force them to vacate the property.
According to the reports, the investigating officers attained a video clip that showed people covered with white handkerchiefs directing a particular group towards the Hata. Mukhtar Baba on June 23 confirmed that those were his men and that they had planned the violence in his restaurant. He added that his builder friends had also joined the planning as they wanted the residents of Chandreshwar Hata to vacate the property. “The main target of violence in the New Road area was the Chandreshwar Hata area”, he said.
SIT President DCP South Sanjeev Tyagi along with Chief Investigator ACP Tripurari Pandey and other security agency officers interrogated Mukhtar Baba at Colonelganj police station on Wednesday. During the investigation, Mukhtar Baba also revealed all the names of his builder friends who were involved in the planning of the violence and had funded it. One of the names is Mohammad Wasi. According to the investigating officers, these builders including Mohammad Wasi will be arrested next.
Mukhtar Baba further said that the main accused Hayat Zafar Hashmi and his NGO named MMA Jauhar Fans Association were funded with Rs 5 lakhs for escalating the violence. “Of Rs 5 lakh, Rs 2 lakh were given in cash on June 1”, Mukhtar Baba stated on Thursday. Earlier on Wednesday, he had said that the stone pelters were offered Rs 500-1000 each to indulge in violence. He also revealed that the entire plan to stoke communal violence in the streets of Kanpur was hatched at his shop.
Notably, on June 21, the Kanpur Police had nabbed Mukhtar Baba who was absconding since June 3. He had reportedly crowdfunded the violence and given huge amounts of money to Zafar Hayat Hashmi, the prime accused in the case. Reports mention that Mukhtar Baba, on the day of violence had also fed the rioters and stone-pelters with Biryani. However, his son Mahmood while talking to OpIndia refused to accept the claims.
Some of the local leaders meanwhile reported that Baba Biryani is illegally built on land that actually belongs to a temple and that Mukhtar and his accomplices had been plotting violence for a long time to maintain their illegal occupation. Mukhtar Baba who comes from a very ordinary family has become rich and influential in the area due to this restaurant. According to the government records, the land on which the restaurant stands today belongs to the Ram-Janki temple. Mukhtar Baba’s father had a puncture repairing shop in 1968 on the same land.
The fact surfaced when the state administration was tracing all the illegal properties owned by the under the Enemy Property Act. Ram Janki Trust property was first gifted by a Pakistani Aabid Rehman to Mukhtar Baba’s mother who by will transferred it to her son. The main temple and 18 other Hindu shops were razed down to establish the present Biryani restaurant.
Kanpur Violence
Days after BJP Spokeswoman Nupur Sharma received death threats for allegedly committing ‘blasphemy’ against Prophet Muhammad, severe violence erupted in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur district with Islamists giving a call for a shutdown in the area to protest against Sharma. The protest turned violent as hundreds of Islamists joined the protest after the Friday prayers and began pelting stones at the Police and the civilians.
The Police in the case has arrested more than 40 miscreants and has razed down illegal properties owned by prime accused Hayat Zafar Hashmi and his associates. The Police also found incriminating chats from Hashmi’s phone and probed his bank accounts to trace the funds received from the Gulf countries to allegedly back the violence. So far 7 FIRs have been registered and around 1000 unidentified persons have been booked in the case.
The Supreme Court Friday, upheld SIT’s clean chit to then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in 2002 Gujarat riots. The SC was hearing a plea filed by Zakia Jafri, widow of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, who was killed during the violence at Gulbarg Society in Ahmedabad on February 28, 2002, challenging the clean chit given by the SIT to PM Modi and 62 others for their alleged role in the violence.
Supreme Court dismisses plea filed by Zakia Jafri, widow of former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, challenging the clean chit given by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to the then state CM Narendra Modi and several others in the 2002 Gujarat riots.
While delivering its verdict, the apex court said that the “appeal is devoid of merits”. A bench headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar refused to order a probe into allegations of a “larger conspiracy” behind the Gujarat riots.
Last year, the court had reserved its order on a petition filed by Zakia Jafri against the Gujarat High Court’s order, rejecting her plea against the SIT decision.
During the hearing, the SIT informed the bench, that apart from the present petition, no one had objected to its investigation into the 2002 Gujarat riots. The SIT had termed the allegations of Hindu groups planning the train burning to frame Muslims as ‘absurd’.
Senior attorney Mukul Rohatgi, who represented the SIT, informed the bench that if the trial court and the Gujarat High Court’s ruling on Jafri’s appeal are not upheld, it might lead to an endless process because of the intentions of some people like social activist Teesta Setalvad, Petitioner Number 2 in the case.
Kapil Sibal on behalf of Jafri told the court that they have not argued about any alleged involvement of the former chief minister and that their focus is on a larger conspiracy that was not looked into by the Special Investigation Team (SIT).
Zakia Jafri had lodged a petition in the apex court on October 5, 2017, challenging the Gujarat High Court’s judgment which upheld the clean chit given to politicians and officials by the SIT in its conclusion, citing lack of “prosecutable evidence” against them. The Gujarat High Court maintained the investigation of the Special Investigation Team, giving a clean chit to 64 people including Narendra Modi. According to Ms Jafri, the Gujarat High Court “erroneously” upheld the Magistrate Court order absolving all accused.
Ehsan Jafri and 68 others were brutally killed by the mob in the aftermath of the Godhra train burning. The mob barged into the Muslim-dominated Gulberg Society of Ahmedabad and killed 69 people. In 2006, the police filed a case against Modi, some ministers and officials in response to a complaint filed by Zakia.
In the 2002 Godhra riots case, Supreme Court-monitored SIT was formed to look into the allegations of one Zakia Jafri and as part of the process in March 2010.
In September 2013, The SIT gave a clean chit to Modi against Jafri’s allegations. The Ahmedabad court too rejected a protest petition filed against the clean chit given to Narendra Modi in the 2002 riots case.
On October 5, 2017, the Gujarat High Court also upheld the order by the Ahmedabad Metropolitan Magistrate Court that had accepted the closure report submitted by the SIT.
On the evening of June 21st, when the news came out that Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and JP Nadda went to meet Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, a couple of Telugu media channels started speculating that he will be made the next President. By night, we knew that the NDA has announced Droupadi Murmu as the Presidential candidate.
One of the staunch Pro-TDP (and therefore anti-BJP) Telugu newspaper/channel, ABN Andhrajyothy, was severely upset that Venkaiah Naidu was not the chosen one. They printed a story on how Modi has consistently ignored him despite Venkaiah Naidu standing by Modi during his toughest times. Not content with just printing their baseless story, they hosted a debate on their prime-time show – “Is the dominance of North-Indian political parties crossing all limits?”
There were a total of 5 people on the panel, including the host, the popular Venkata Krishna (VK). The only political party representative invited was from the BJP. VK and the other three apolitical panellists all held the same views – views that have been baselessly parroted by a tiny but loud minority for over 5 years and that is basically calling for dividing India into two – North India and South India.
The program begins with a monologue from the host, VK. In a very sombre tone, he asks what use Nationalism is if inequalities exist in the country. He changes tone and now exhorts that “excellent resources of some states are being looted by some particular states”! And because you are now left wondering who looted what, he asks us specifically “who is getting the gas resources from Andhra Pradesh’s Krishna-Godavari basin?” And then emphatically claims that “Andhra Pradesh should be getting a royalty of 2 lakh crores per year. Is anyone giving that?” Before you can digest this information, he jumps topic and asks why Karnataka and Tamil Nadu should continually fight for the Kaveri waters (apparently, this is a North-South problem because the central government hasn’t solved this so far!)
While you are still trying to make a connection to the various points that he has listed in just under 3 minutes, he goes on to introduce his loaded panel, 3 of whom repeatedly and angrily expressed the same views, most of the time filled with lies. It is worthwhile to note that all through the program, this map kept flashing on their screen.
The map flashed on the screen during the debate
Two of the panellists were severely upset that “South India’s son”, Venkaiah Naidu, has not been made the President of India and termed this as a deliberate insult to South India by North Indian parties. You would expect the host to tell them that six sons of South India held the post of the President of India (2 of them were even from the erstwhile state of Andhra Pradesh).
One of the panellists even questioned why North Indian politicians didn’t make Droupadi Murmu the Vice-Presidential candidate instead of the Presidential candidate. You would expect the host to tell him that Droupadi Murmu is from Odisha, which by no stretch of the imagination in North India.
The panellists also fell back on their oft-repeated rants on Gujarat and Gujaratis, yet again forgetting that Gujarat is by no stretch of imagination neither a North-Indian state nor a Hindi state! One of them thundered “Why will they spend 3000 crores for a Gujarati’s statue and not for a Telugu’s statue?” You would expect the host, VK, to tell them that 90% of the costs of the Statue of Unity project were borne by the Gujarat government and not the Government of India.
The panellist continues – “They are only now spending 3 crores for a 30 ft statue of Alluri Seetharama Raju. This discrimination by North Indian parties is startling”. You would expect VK to thunder and ask what stopped the state government of Andhra Pradesh from building similar memorials for our heroes?
Another one thundered “Why is every policy in this country being formulated with only Adani and Ambani in mind? Are the resources of this country the exclusive property of Gujaratis?” You would expect VK to list the long list of great industrialists from South India who have contributed immensely to our country. Instead, VK joins them in spreading more lies – “75% of posts in this government are occupied by Gujaratis. 25% are by the remaining”.
Panellists after panellists were simply going all over the place in trying to sound intellectual in their arguments. “Why can’t the country have 5 Deputy Prime Ministers for 5 different regions?” shouted one of them. “Why has the Supreme Court not established benches in 5 parts of the country?”, continued the other. You are still left wondering what this has got to with North Indian politicians. You would expect that VK would actually tell these clueless panellists that the current CJI is from South India and that the country has had Prime Ministers who were from South India, but then you realise that VK is also as clueless.
About 25 minutes after the “debate” begins, the BJP spokesperson was given a chance to speak. And within just a minute, he gets interrupted. He is never allowed to finish anything he begins to say. He wants to cite the improvement in Railways in Southern states (because VK explicitly brings in Kanimozhi’s recent ill-informed comment in Parliament on Railway allocations) but he is shouted down. He calls the premise of this whole debate wicked and evil, and immediately VK bursts out – “How dare you call this evil? We are in a democracy; I can have feelings of suffocation and want the division of the country. But you cannot and should not call this evil.” Yes, he actually said that.
We all remember PM Modi’s famous jibe comparing Renuka Chowdary’s cackling in Rajya Sabha to Soorpanaka. VK asks if Modi was implying that a South Indian female politician belongs to the “Community of Rakshasas”? Well, doesn’t VK know that it was Venkaiah Naidu who was presiding over the proceedings when this happened? Given the whole premise of this debate was around Venkaiah Naidu, how does VK get away with such nonsense?
However, the seeds for this illogical debate have been planted back in 2017 by English media such as The Wire and The News Minute. They claim that South India is superior to everyone else in the country because “After all, 20% of the population contributes a full 30% of India’s tax revenues.” By this logic, the humungous infrastructure development in the North-East should not have been taken up by the Government of India because you see, they don’t contribute much to the tax revenues. “The South also delivers a fourth of India’s GDP.”, we were told. So what? Should every state start making this claim now? Should Maharashtra go and say that it contributes more than Madhya Pradesh so it should be made a separate country? Or just within South India, should Karnataka say it contributes more than Kerala and therefore should be a separate entity?
“It is becoming almost untenable for Tamil Nadu and Kerala to thrive in the Indian union as rational, self-interested sub-units.”, screamed the author in The Wire in the year 2018. Almost all of these articles bring up the point of population control that was effectively done by the Southern states as compared to Northern states and therefore South states are suffering for actually doing good work. The panellists in yesterday’s TV debate also screamed at the top of their lungs about this point.
Well, guess what? The Modi government made significant and far-reaching changes to the devolution formula in “proposing measurable performance-based incentives for States” in the 15th Finance Commission report (applicable for 2020 to 2025). A total of 9 parameters were decided on which such incentives will be decided, and this included “Efforts and Progress made in moving towards replacement rate of population growth”. A very detailed article on the revolutionary changes bought in by the 15th Finance Commission can be read here. And it is also significant to note the very derisive tone of the English media in criticizing these same changes.
Politicians and media affiliated with TDP in Andhra Pradesh picked up these articles back then and made a lot of noise around them. Pawan Kalyan was at the forefront in furthering these illogical pieces (he is now in alliance with the BJP!). The panellists in the TV debate also bought up the manner in which the state was bifurcated by the “North Indian” parties – none of them could get to bring themselves to criticize the Congress and Sonia Gandhi directly for this. In fact, the debate didn’t even have politicians from any party except the BJP.
Going by these debates, we will even tend to forget that the East and West cease to exist! Recently, Prashant Kishor emphatically claimed that the “Hindi heartland has now extended to Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka”. The TV panellists in the debate included Odisha and Gujarat in North India. Your mind really boggles at how the analysts are altering basic concepts of geography, language, and common sense!
All these “analysts” also make the fundamental assumption that the 5 southern states (they always exclude Puchucherry) function as one entity and the role of the BJP and Congress is negligible. Tamil Nadu has a problem, they want to make it a South India problem. Kerala has a problem, they make it a South India problem. Both the national parties (and also the Communists) are big players in some of these states – do the analysts really think the people are so ignorant that they cannot see through this basic fact?
While the program was on, the host VK got upset with live comments that said what he was doing amounted to Desh-Droh. He derisively asked if any of those commenting like this even know what is “Desh”? This arrogance and know-it-all attitude is so very typical of editors and self-declared intellectuals. It is time we expose and shame these charlatans for furthering a divisive agenda in our nation.
Amidst the ongoing political turmoil in Maharashtra, rebel Shiv Sena MLA Eknath Shinde informed that he has the support of 50 MLAs, which is enough to oust the Maha Vikas Aghadi from power.
He made the revelations during an exclusive telephonic conversation with TV9 Marathi. Shinde confirmed that about 40 of the MLAs are from the Shiv Sena. It implies that the rebel leader has the numbers to bypass disciplinary action under the anti-defection law.
“About 40 of them are from Shiv Sena. Those who have faith in our role will join us. We want to carry the legacy and ideology of Balasaheb Thackeray forward.” he emphasised.
Besides the Shiv Sena MLAs, about 60 Members of the Legislative Council (MLCs) from Thane are also set to join Eknath Shinde’s rebel camp, reported News 18.
Disqualification notice served to 12 rebel MLAs, a counter letter submitted to Deputy Speaker
While speaking about the disqualification notices issued by the party, Eknath Shinde said, “What was done yesterday is illegal, they have no right. We are the people in the majority and numbers are important in a democracy. That is illegal, even they cannot do such suspension.”
It must be mentioned that the Sena had requested the Deputy Speaker of Maharashtra State Assembly to disqualify 12 rebel party leaders, including Eknath Shinde, for skipping the legislative party meeting held on Wednesday (June 22).
कोणाला घाबरवण्याचा प्रयत्न करताय? तुमची बनवाबनवी आणि कायदा आम्हालाही कळतो! घटनेच्या 10 व्या परिशिष्टाप्रमाणे (शेड्युल) व्हीप हा विधानसभा कामकाजासाठी लागतो, बैठकीसाठी नाही. यासंदर्भात सुप्रीम कोर्टाचे असंख्य निकाल आहेत.#RealShivsainik
— Eknath Shinde – एकनाथ शिंदे (@mieknathshinde) June 23, 2022
“Who are you trying to scare? We know your make-up and the law too! According to the 10th Schedule to the Constitution (Schedule), the whip is for assembly work, not for meeting. There are numerous Supreme Court decisions in this regard,” Eknath Shinde tweeted.
Following the disqualification notice to the Deputy Speaker, 37 rebel Sena leaders wrote to the Deputy Maharashtra Speaker wherein they reaffirmed Eknath Shinde as leader of legislative party.
Shiv Sena ready to leave Maha Vikas Aghadi: Sanjay Raut
As the fall of the Maha Vikas Aghadi becomes imminent, Sena leader Sanjay Raut announced that the party is willing to break its alliance with Congress and the NCP. He added that such a demand will only be entertained if a formal request is made to Uddhav Thackeray.
He also demanded that the rebel MLAs, currently camping in Assam, must return to Mumbai within a day’s time and meet the Shiv Sena chief. “Shiv Sena is ready to step out of Maha Vikas Aaghadi. Your demand will be considered. Come back within 24 hours,” Raut emphasised.
He further stated, “Those MLAs who are out of the State at this movement feel that Shiv Sena should step out of the alliance with Congress and NCP, they must come to Maharashtra and Mumbai and officially make this demand to Shiv Sena chief. I am making this statement with responsibility. We will talk with Uddhav-ji and accept your stand.”
A year after the coup that made President Kais Saied assume total authority, he is now set t approve a draft constitution that proposes to drop Islam as Tunisia’s State religion. As per reports, the draft constitution is to be submitted to a referendum on June 25.
“The next constitution of Tunisia won’t mention a state with Islam as its religion, but of belonging to an umma (community) which has Islam as its religion, the President told journalists at Tunis airport, as reported by Morocco World News.
It is notable here that Tunisia, the northern African nation has a majority Muslim population and so far its constitution had adopted Islam as the State religion. President Saied seeks to separate State from religion. Also, Tunisia does not follow Sharia law, its legal framework is based on mostly European civil code.
Unfazed by the opposition among the ranks of those who support his coup, Saied moves forward with imposing his unilaterally written new constitution. Today he received Sadeq Beleid who 'handed to the President the draft for the constitution of the new Republic'.#Tunisiapic.twitter.com/6TbhY37hxE
— Sami Hamdi سامي الهاشمي الحامدي (@SALHACHIMI) June 20, 2022
Saied had dissolved the Tunisian parliament last year and assumed complete authority in July 2021. Many politicians are opposed to Saied’s idea of separating Islam from the State. “The greatest corruption in politics is tyranny, and the cure is to return to democracy and the separation of powers”, politician Rached Ghannouchi, the leader of the Islamic party Ennhada has stated.
Sadok Belaid, the former dean of the Tunis law school who headed the drafting committee, had made it clear that the new constitution of the country will have no reference to Islam. He had stated that over 80% of Tunisians are opposed to Islamist politics and are against any kind of extremism.
After the Arab Spring in 2011, Tunisia had adapted its current constitution formally in 2014, where it is written that Islam is the religion, and Arabic is the language of Tunisia.
Earlier this month, Saied had dismissed 57 judges in the country, accusing them of protecting terrorists and indulging in corruption. Thereafter judges had started a nationwide strike against Saied’s decision.
In Telangana, a report of another journalist being assaulted for merely doing his job has emerged. News magazine Organiser uploaded a video on the 24th of June 2022 where two men were seen, injured, talking about how they were assaulted by the driver of the local AIMIM MLA. The victim has been identified as journalist Mohammad Ali and his father.
According to Organiser, the incident happened in the old city of Hyderabad, which is an AIMIM stronghold.
In the video which is now going viral, two men are seen injured, with blood dripping down their faces. The younger man in the video identifies himself as Mohammad Ali. He says that he is a camera person with a news channel that he identifies as HS News Channel. He says in the video that he made a video about the lack of water supply in the area and was beaten up brutally by the local AIMIM MLA’s driver.
In the video, one can also see his father standing next to him with blood all over his face.
He further said that he was an honest journalist and does not do dishonest journalism.
Note: This is a developing story, more details are awaited.
The controversy surrounding former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma refuses to die down as the Kolkata police have issued fresh summons to her yet again. Nupur Sharma had made certain innocuous remarks about Prophet Mohammad in a TimesNow debate as a response to a Muslim panellist insulting the Shivling found at the Gyanvapi disputed structure.
As per reports, Sharma has been summoned by the Amherst Street Police Station in North Kolkata in response to a complaint lodged against her on June 7 this year. She has been asked to appear before the cops on June 25, 2022.
While speaking about the development on Thursday (June 23), a police official claimed that the comments of the former BJP leader had triggered violence in different parts of West Bengal. He informed that complaints were registered against her at police stations in the State capital.
Earlier, Nupur Sharma was issued a summon by the Narkeldanga police station. She was asked to appear before them on June 20, 2022, under Section 41A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
The cops have registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Nupur Sharma under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 34 (furtherance of common intention), 153A (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion).
Charges were also pressed under IPC Sections 295A (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and 298 (Uttering words with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person).
Nupur Sharma sought 4 week’s extension for physical appearance
The ex-BJP leader had sought 4 weeks’ time to physically appear before the Narkeldanga police. She had conveyed the message to the cops via email. Nupur Sharma had cited threats to her life to seek an extension for physical appearance before the Kolkata police.
She had earlier questioned the nature of the relationship between Prophet Muhammad and his child bride Ayesha after Islamists compared the sacred Shivling, found inside the Gyanvapi mosque, to a fountain.
Immediately after two more Shiv Sena MLAs reached Guwahati and joined the Eknath Shinde group in Hotel Radisson Blu, the rebel MLAs have sent a letter the deputy speaker of Maharashtra assembly reaffirming their position. In the letter signed by 37 Shiv Sena MLAs, they have stated that Eknath Shinde will remain as the leader of the legislative party, and Bharat Gogawale has been appointed as the chief whip of the party.
The copy of the letter has also been forwarded to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and Secretary to the Legislative Council Rajendra Bhagwat. In the letter sent to the deputy speaker, the MLAs have said that Eknath Shinde was appointed as the leader of Shiv Sena legislative party on 31 October 2019, and he continues to be on the same post. It was proposed by Mahad MLA Bharat Gogawale and seconded by Ambernath MLA Balaji Kinikar.
#Maharashtra | The letter has the signatures of 37 Shiv Sena MLAs and a copy of the letter has been sent to Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal, Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, and Secretary to the Legislative Council Rajendra Bhagwat. pic.twitter.com/95MtEbSfDA
Further, the MLAs have stated that Bharat Gogawale has been elected and appointed as the chief whip of the party. Along with this, the appointment of Sunil Prabhu to the post has been cancelled with immediate effect, the letter stated. The resolution was proposed by Kalyan West MLA Vishwanath Bhoir and seconded by Bhiwandi Rural MLA Shantaram More.
The letter contains the names and signatures of the 37 Shiv Sena MLAs currently staying at Hotel Radisson Blu in Guwahati. The last two names in the list are Dadaji Bhuse and Sanjay Rathod, who reached Guwahati today evening. This shows that the letter was already ready and other MLAs had probably already signed, and immediately after the two MLAs arrived, their signatures were taken and the letter was sent to Mumbai.
The letter was forwarded to the deputy speaker by Eknath Shinde, who said that he is sending a copy of the resolution passed on 23rd June reaffirming appointment of Shinde as leader of the legislative party and further appointment of Bharatshet Gogawale as the chief whip of the party.
With 37 MLAs, the rebel camp has now two-third of total Shiv Sena MLAs, and therefore they can’t be disqualified from the assembly. If the deputy speaker does not accept their demand, they can form a new party, and the speaker of the assembly will have to accept it. It is notable that the deputy speaker has already said that Shiv Sena’s move to remove Eknath Shinde from the post of leader of legislative party is valid. After Shinde moved to Surat with rebel MLAs on June 21, the party had removed him from the post, and named Ajay Choudhary as the new leader.
In the meanwhile, Eknath Shinde had also said that the party’s chief whip Sunil Prabhu ordering all MLAs to present for a meeting was illegal, as whips can be issued for assembly sessions only, not party meetings. “We know your tricks as well as the law. According to the tenth schedule of the Constitution a whip is required for legislative works and not for the meetings of the legislature party. There are countless judgements of the Supreme Court about this”, he tweeted.
Reacting to the party’s attempt to disqualify 12 MLAs including himself, Shinde added that the party can’t threaten to take action against 12 MLAs. He reiterated that they are the real Shiv Sena and real Shiv Sainiks of honorable Shiv Sena Supremo Balasaheb Thackeray.
कायदाही जाणतो, त्यामुळे असल्या धमक्यांना भीक घालत नाही. तुम्ही संख्या नसताना अवैध गट तयार केला म्हणून तुमच्यावरच कारवाईची आमची मागणी आहे.
— Eknath Shinde – एकनाथ शिंदे (@mieknathshinde) June 23, 2022
Shinde said that they don’t pay attention to such threats as they know the law, and they are demanding an action for creating an illegal group when they don’t have the numbers.
As the Eknath Shinde continues to get more rebel MLAs who are joining them in Guwahati, one the rebel MLAs Sanjay Shirsath have posted a video message sharing the thoughts of the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs who are currently staying in the Radisson Blu Hotel in Guwahati. This video, which was posted by Shirsath and also by Shinde, was shot in a restaurant of the five-star hotel.
In this video, Sanjay Shirsath said, “Yesterday, we all watched the video conference address by chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. We listened to his opinions and thoughts. We felt bad. We had never imagined that Uddhav Saheb will become so much sentimental in such a situation. But, there are reasons behind what has happened. This has not happened overnight. This is not a miracle that happened within a day. All these MLAs had informed this Uddhav Saheb countless times, that be it Congress or be it Nationalist Congress Party, they are trying to finish us. If you closely observe the results of the last ZP elections and especially the recent Gram Panchayat elections, Shiv Sena stood in the fourth spot. The first spot is secured by a party whom we abuse day in and day out. The second number is NCP, the third is Congress, and then on the fourth spot comes Shiv Sena. Everyone told you from the bottom of their heart that these people are finishing off Shiv Sena.”
Sharing the video, he tweeted that they are not traitors, but real Shiv Sainiks, adding the some people are going to destroy Shiv Sena.
उद्धव साहेब आम्हाला समजून घ्या, आम्ही गद्दार नाही….काही लोक शिवसेना संपायला निघाले होते….आम्ही आज ही शिवसैनिक आहोत…आम्हाला आशीर्वाद द्या…#SanjayShirsatpic.twitter.com/fzN44qts5a
Sanjay Shirsath added, “You see in the constituency of any of the MLAs. Tehsildar, Talathi, and Police Officer, none of them are chosen from the good books of the local representatives. Then who will do the works of their public? And we have always shared these problems with Uddhav Saheb. Uddhav Saheb, you never responded on that. You never gave us that time. We used to tell this all to some secretary and they used to tell us that your message is communicated to Uddhav Saheb. Is this the way to run the political affairs?”
Sanjay Shirsath further said, “Uddhav Saheb, when you left the Varsha Bungalow (official residence of the chief minister of Maharashtra), at that time I noticed even the flowers on the vehicle. It felt like a farewell to a person who is leaving a place. A person is welcomed in this way when he is arriving, and not while leaving. I am one of them who think that the incident where my chief minister and party chief has to leave is bad.”
महाराष्ट्र राज्याचे मुख्यमंत्री आणि शिवसेना पक्ष प्रमुख मा श्री उद्धवजी ठाकरे साहेब यांस जाहीर पत्र लिहून तमाम शिवसैनिकांची व्यथा मांडणारे शिवसेना आमदार श्री संजय शिरसाठ यांची व्हिडिओ प्रतिक्रिया…. pic.twitter.com/Due5oDISAC
— Eknath Shinde – एकनाथ शिंदे (@mieknathshinde) June 23, 2022
Sanjay Shirsath repeated the things about funds he wrote in the letter to the party chief Uddhav Thackeray. He said, “Saheb, every time we used to ask you for the funds. We used to get so many calls from your office too. Even if you check the office properly, you will find at least fifty letters by every Shiv Sena MLA asking you for various requirements. No action was taken on any of the letters. We did not get any funds to work. And it is not your drawback but it is a part of your nature that you say like that – ‘Don’t ask me about the transfers and funds’. Then what should we ask you for? At other times you used to tell us, ‘Don’t ask me for these works. You grow yourself and build your own institutions.’ How do we do that Sir, without funds?”
Sanjay Shirsath further said, “I and many other Shiv Sainiks like me are MLAs today only because we were blessed by Balasaheb Thackeray. But even while fighting the elections many of us were in extreme trouble and you know it very well. When did we have funds? And even today, who amongst us has money? How do we build institutions? You wished that we grow and make our own institutions. But how?”
Sanjay Shirsath added, “Therefore I request you once again through this video. We will not take the other route. We are staunch Shiv Sainiks of the Shiv Sena Supremo. We have separated because we are fed up with the trouble caused by Congress and Nationalist Congress Party. You cannot call us betrayers. Because we are not. We are the soldiers of Shiv Sena Supremo. He had taught us to rebel when there is an injustice.”
— Eknath Shinde – एकनाथ शिंदे (@mieknathshinde) June 23, 2022
Sanjay Shirsath said, “Saheb, we never had a bad opinion about you. You worked very well during the corona pandemic period. We know about the health issues you had and we have even prayed for your better health when you were not well. We are a family. But it is not good to set our own home ablaze if you are angry at someone. Why do you do this?”
Asking the Shiv Sena party chief to break the alliance with Congress and NCP, Sanjay Shirsath said, “Will these leaders of Congress and NCP adjust with us? It is impossible, Saheb. You may not agree with our stand today, but somewhere within, you are supporting this stand of ours. And I am sure about it. We are here under the leadership of Shinde Saheb only because we now want to stand by the Hindutva thought given to us by Shiv Sena Supremo; the thought with which we learned to fight for a common man. Saheb, don’t call us rebels, instead, we are seeking your blessings. You just back us with your blessings and see how we fight ahead. That’s all we are expecting. Thank you.”
