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Census 2022: MHA appoints 10 directors for census operations, citizens allowed to self-enumerate

OpIndia Staff
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Census 2022: MHA appoints 10 directors for census operations, citizens allowed to self-enumerate

On Friday 11th March 2022, the union ministry of home affairs appointed ten directors for census operations in the upcoming national census of 2022. These ‘Directors of Census Operations’ are appointed in various states. Sikkim, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu (Pudducherry), and Gujarat (Daman Diu and Dadra, Nagar Haveli) will now get a Director of Census Operations each. Office of the Registrar (General) and Census Commissioner India (ORGI) will also have a Director of Census Operations as declared by the ministry of home affairs.

In the gazette notification about this appointment, it is said, “The President is pleased to appoint the officers of Indian Administrative Service as Director of Census Operations or Director of Citizen Registration in various Directorates of Census Operations under Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India on central deputation.” The government has not yet announced the new dates for the launch of the Census and the process is on hold since 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The MHA has published another gazette notification in which it has amended the Census Rule, 1990 to allow the data collection in paper and electronic form during the decennial Census exercise. The amendment says that ‘without prejudice to any other provisions of these rules, a person may fill-up, complete, and submit the census schedule through the self-enumeration’.

So, according to this change, citizens of the country, if they wish, can do online self-enumeration in the upcoming census. This is because the government has revised the census schedule and rules to provide this facility to the citizens. However, the actual door-to-door registration will also continue. The housing list phase of the census and the process of updating the NPR were scheduled to be held across the country from April 1 to September 30, 2020, but were postponed due to the corona outbreak.

As per the earlier schedule, the reference date for the census was March 1, 2021, and in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand it was October 1, 2020. On 10th January 2020, the government of India had released the notification for the census 2021. It contained the details of the 31 questions that will be asked during the exercise. The census work is still pending. As the Directors of Census Operations are being appointed now, the government may soon announce the new schedule.

Read how violence gripped Uttar Pradesh after Akhilesh Yadav won elections in 2012: For 36 hours, SP goons ran amuck

Jhankar Mohta
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Read how violence gripped Uttar Pradesh after Akhilesh Yadav won elections in 2012: For 36 hours, SP goons ran amuck

The results of the recently concluded 2022 UP Assembly elections were declared on the 10th of March, and BJP, led by incumbent CM Yogi Adityanath won a 2/3rd majority. BJP defeated its main rival, the Samajwadi Party for the second time in a row as Yogi Adityanath broke several records.

Prior to Yogi Adiyanath becoming Chief Minister, Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party was at the helm of affairs from 2012 to 2017. The state was gripped with widespread political violence throughout his tenure as bahubalis ruled the roost. In fact, when Akhilesh Yadav’s win was confirmed in 2012, the state experienced deadly violence for at least 36 hours, primarily at the hands of Samajwadi goons.

According to a 2012 India Today report, in those 36 hours, at least three people were killed and dozens of Dalit homes were set on fire in incidents of violence across the state. Most of these incidents involved Samajwadi Party members and the targets were the supporters of previous CM Mayawati.

The spate of violence started on the day the Samajwadi Party was declared the winner of the elections, as some party workers assaulted and damaged the equipment of journalists in Jhansi.

Some members of the Yadav and Bind communities set fire to Nats’ homes in Makdumpur village in Sant Ravidas Nagar district. The hut of Khushboo, a woman, where Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi had stopped for a while on November 2, 2011, was also set ablaze.

“I was attacked and my house was set on flames last night because I didn’t vote for the SP,” Khushboo had alleged back then.

In Bhambia village in Sitapur district, a dozen Dalit houses were also set on fire. Locals claimed that it was carried out by people celebrating Samajwadi Party’s victory.

Following a clash between BSP and SP workers, a rice mill owned by former minister Ram Achal Rajbhar was also set on fire in Ambedkar Nagar’s Sammanpur area. Sammanpur SHO Neeraj Rai was suspended for failing to perform his duties during this violence.

Two men were killed in Allahabad’s Naini area, while Munna Lal, a BSP-backed village chief, was killed in Agra’s Mansukhpur. The assailants, according to villagers, were SP employees.

The violence, however, did not stop here. In Firozabad, a youth was killed by a bullet during a fight between supporters of a defeated SP candidate and police.

Mulayam Singh Yadav, then chief of the Samajwadi Party, was quick to warn his party members that failure to maintain discipline would tarnish the party’s image. “If you people don’t maintain discipline, you will not be able to make me Prime Minister in future. We had worked very hard to win the assembly elections. So please don’t do anything which maligns the government,” he had reportedly told his supporters in Saifai. Unfortunately for Mulayam, a certain someone rose from Gujarat to become the PM.

Akhilesh Yadav, the party’s state president at the time and the man set to become the next Chief Minister, had then called the incidents of violence a conspiracy by those who had been swept away by his party in the polls, primarily some BSP officials.

“No one from the Samajwadi Party (SP) is involved in these incidents. You can get it verified from your own sources as well, but if anyone from the party is found involved, stern action would be taken against them, however strong they might be,” Akhilesh had maintained.

In fact, it may be recalled that Yogi Aditynath has time and again mentioned that the previous SP government had pushed the state of Uttar Pradesh into violence. During his election campaign in February 2022 in Fatehpur Sikri, BJP’s Yogi Adityanath had held the party responsible for the Muzaffarnagar riots and the “killing” of Lord Ram devotees in the past. He was referring to the firing on “kar sevaks” in 1990, when the Samajwadi Party was in power.

As per the reactions of the people on the ground, this image of Samajwadi Party as the party of goons, and Yogi Adityanath’s image of a law and order guy, has played a major part in these elections. Will Samajwadi Party try to change their image, or are they happy with this goons tag, we will find out in 2024 when UP will once again be the PM deciding state.

Karnataka Congress leader CM Ibrahim resigns, blames poor response from senior leadership: What he said in his letter to Sonia Gandhi

OpIndia Staff
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Karnataka Congress leader CM Ibrahim resigns, blames poor response from senior leadership: What he said in his letter to Sonia Gandhi

Senior Congress leader from Karnataka, and Member of Karnataka Legislative Council, CM Ibrahim has resigned from the party. In a letter addressed to party president Sonia Gandhi, he stated that he is resigning from the primary membership of the party with immediate effect.

The letter reads, “Madam Jee, from the past 12 years in my several letters addressed to you, I had placed before you several grievances of the party and you had indeed replied that you will take necessary remedial measures. But so far, I do not see any changes.”

Complaining about the selection of the opposition leader in the Karnataka legislative council, Ibrahim stated, “…if elections would had been held to select the opposition leader or if an opinion had been taken from all our party MLCs, then I would have been definitely elected since 18 members were supporting me, but the party selected Mr BK Hari Prasad, the most junior member as the opposition leader in the Legislative Council.”

Further adding about no response from the senior leadership, he stated, “Whenever I have raised some basic questions regarding the functioning & development of the party, I have not received proper response.” He also stated that, despite his status as a senior leader, he is unable to communicate with Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, and that the General Secretaries in charge are unconcerned about conveying his messages.

Thereon he also added that he has submitted his resignation to the Karnataka Legislative council. As per some reports, he is expected to join Janata Dal (Secular). According to Ibrahim, the Congress party would not win power in Karnataka and it would be downgraded to third place.

The performance of Congress has been declining for a long. The party lost poorly in the recent assembly elections of 5 states. Notably, in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress party won only two seats and received only 2.3 percent of the vote. Even worse, the party has forfeited deposits on 97 percent of the seats it ran for in the state.

The Congress Working Committee is scheduled to meet tomorrow at 4 p.m. at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) office in Delhi, the party said on Saturday.

Maharashtra: Former CM Devendra Fadavis issued notice by police in phone tapping case, asked to appear on March 13

OpIndia Staff
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Maharashtra: Former CM Devendra Fadavis issued notice by police in phone tapping case, asked to appear on March 13

Mumbai police have sent a notice to Maharashtra’s opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis asking him to be present at the cyber police station in the Bandra Kurla complex at 11 AM on 13th March 2022. Devendra Fadnavis has informed in a press conference about this and said that he will be there at the cyber police station on the said date and time.

Fadnavis has been issued the notice in the alleged illegal phone taping case and the case of transfer of IPS officers. Last year, a case was registered at the BKC cyber police station in Mumbai against unidentified persons for allegedly illegally tapping phones and leaking confidential documents. Last month, IPS officer Rashmi Shukla as booked in the case, after it was alleged by the Maharashtra govt that she had leaked confidential documents related to the case.

The Maharashtra government had constituted a three-member high-level committee headed by the then Director General of Police (DGP) Sanjay Pandey to investigate the phone tapping cases for the period of five years from 2015 to 2019. The report submitted by the committee says that phone tapping was done during the tenure of then Pune Police Commissioner Rashmi Shukla.

The notice has come three days after the Mumbai Police had detained Maharashtra BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis and other leaders of the party as they had staged protests at the Azad Maidan demanding the resignation of State Minister Nawab Malik who is presently in the judicial custody of Enforcement Directorate for further investigations regarding the PMLA case registered against him. In the press conference on 12th March 2022, Devendra Fadnavis said that the cyber police station of Mumbai police has called him regarding the same.

Fadnavis said, “The Mumbai Police have sent me a notice, asking me to be present at the cyber police station of BKC at 11 am tomorrow. I’m definitely going there tomorrow. I have been given such a notice because of the situation of the state government after I have exposed their conspiracy against the opposition. The state government, the police, or some officials from the police department are no longer able to respond to that. Therefore, they have called me. I will definitely be present at the cyber police station in BKC at 11 am tomorrow.”

He further said, “Today is March 12, we all know that the Mumbai bomb blast took place on March 12, and even after three decades now, its repercussions and wounds remain in our minds. Today, on the one hand, I pay homage to all the Mumbaikars who were martyred in the bomb blast on March 12, 1993, and at the same time, I regret that those who dealt with the accused in the bomb blasts continue to remain in the Maharashtra Cabinet even after going to jail.”

Devendra Fadnavis also informed, “In March 2021, I held a press conference at the BJP office and brought out the Maha Vikas Aghadi government’s mega scam of transfers in the home department. I had all the information about this scam. I went to Delhi the same day and presented all this information to the home secretary of the country. Recognizing its seriousness, the court has since handed over all the investigations in this regard to the CBI. When all this investigation went to the CBI, the state government filed an FIR to suppress its scam. There is an FIR asking how did the information under the Official Secret Act leaked? I was asked for a reply from the police in connection with this FIR. I had given them an answer that I would inform you about it. In fact, it is my prerogative as leader of the opposition in the first place. I can’t be asked where my information came from.”

Fadnavis added, “Secondly, I have given all this information directly to the home secretary of the country. I didn’t let any of that information come out. On the contrary, the information that came out was given to the media by the ministers of the state government that day, the evidence of which I have. However, I will go there myself and whatever inquiry the police make, I am going to give them all the appropriate answers. This is because I have also been the home minister of the state.”

Devendra Fadnavis concluded by saying, “The Supreme Court gave all this information to the CBI, and now due to the court’s decision, the state government had to hand over the official pen drive or all that information, transcripts to the CBI. Therefore, there is no meaning in this case.”

Devendra Fadnavis, on 8th March 2022, had handed over a pen drive containing video proofs of the conspiracies allegedly formulated by the current Maha Vikas Aghadi government of Maharashtra against the leaders of opposition including Devendra Fadnavis and Girish Mahajan of BJP. He has alleged that the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra is unable to digest the truth that Fadnavis has brought out and therefore the state government is opening a file that was kept pending for more than six months.

BJD MLA Prashant Jagdev runs over villagers in an inebriated state, angry mob attacks him: What happened

OpIndia Staff
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BJD MLA Prashant Jagdev runs over villagers in an inebriated state, angry mob attacks him: What happened

Biju Janata Dal and Chilika MLA Prashant Jagdev reportedly mowed down several people near the Banpur block office in Khordha on Saturday. According to the reports, the BJD MLA Prashant Jagdev, who was allegedly in an inebriated state, ran his car over a crowd near Banpur village. At least ten people have sustained severe injuries, and several others picked up minor injuries after Jagdev ploughed his vehicle through the villagers.

The incident occurred on Saturday afternoon when several villagers, reportedly supporters of the BJP, were marching towards the panchayat office for the chairperson election. Prashant Jagdev travelled on the same road to reach the panchayat office. The BJD MLA, who was stuck amidst the crowd, drove his car on them, injuring several BJP supporters.

A video of the incident has also gone viral on the internet. In the video, it was seen that a white SUV rammed into the villagers and mowed down them.

More than ten people, including four women and two police personnel, were injured.

Following the incident, a tense situation occurred in the village after the villagers stopped the MLA’s car and vandalised it. The locals pulled the BJP MLA out of the car and beat him up, leaving him injured. The police rescued Prashant Jagdev from the angry mob and tried to calm down the villagers.

All the critically injured locals and the BJD MLA have been shifted to a local hospital in Banpur. Meanwhile, the BJD MLA will be likely shifted to another hospital for further treatment.

“Around 500 to 600 people were assembled in front of the block office for the chairman election. However, Jagdev rammed his vehicle into the crowd in an inebriated condition and injured many of them. Some of the injured are in critical condition. This kind of hooliganism and irresponsible behaviour is not expected from an MLA,” said a local resident.

The incident has drawn sharp criticism from across Odisha, with the Opposition demanding stern action against the suspended BJD leader.

Yogendra Yadav admits that he and Rakesh Tikait created a ‘conducive pitch’ to defeat BJP by organizing farmer protests but SP ‘did not bowl well’

OpIndia Staff
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Yogendra Yadav admits that he and Rakesh Tikait created a ‘conducive pitch’ to defeat BJP by organizing farmer protests but SP ‘did not bowl well’

On March 10, the day the votes for the 2022 Assembly elections were counted and the results were announced, NDTV journalist Ravish Kumar, like many other media outlets, hosted a programme in which he discussed the Assembly election results with Yogendra Yadav and other rent-a-cause activists. Since then, a snippet from the programme has been widely shared in which the Yogendra Yadav is heard admitting that he and Rakesh Tikait had created a conducive ‘pitch’ to defeat the BJP by organising a farmers’ movement, but the opposition ‘did not bowl well’ to benefit from it.

In the viral video, Yadav is heard telling NDTV’s Ravish Kumar that the farmer’s movement played a vital role in building the foundation for the opposition parties to defeat BJP in UP but the opposition parties did not play well. He said that the entire Samyukt Kisan Morch (SKM) made a strategy prior to the Uttar Pradesh elections and it was decided unanimously that they will ‘punish’ the BJP in the state of Uttar Pradesh in the upcoming elections. “Rakesh Tikait and I toured the entire UP. But remember, we are not the players. Talking about cricket, our work was like that of the ‘pitch roller’, we laid a conducive pitch for the fast bowlers and seamers but bowling is not our job.”

Yadav essentially implied that the Samajwadi Party, the BJP’s main rival in Uttar Pradesh, did not play its role properly despite, they having made all necessary preparations through the farmer’s movement.

Yogendra Yadav, speaking about the political situation in Punjab where the AAP swept the 2022 Assembly polls defeating the incumbent Congress party, stated that the farmer’s movement’s main goal was to completely discredit all of the state’s established political parties, and it acted as a major catalyst in doing so. “I’m not sure who benefited the most from this, but some of our friends ‘got down to the field without pads’ (unprepared). We said it’s not our job to bat or ball; our job is to prepare the pitch… we can tilt (manipulate) the pitch a little, which we did.” At this point, another panellist interjected saying, “Sometimes a baller balls a yorker on the field, but the mistimed delivery results in a full toss…”

In another segment from the same show, Yogendra Yadav admitted that the ‘farmers’ protest was more of a political stunt than an organic protest for farmers’ rights. He said that they are not connected to the people who ball and bat, their work is to solely prepare the pitch, as was the case in West Bengal also.  Yadav went on to say that in Bengal, they went door to door urging people to vote against the BJP. “We laid the groundwork, but that does not take away credit from the Trinamool Congress party, which played brilliantly. We did the same thing in Uttar Pradesh…we can only prepare the pitch, but the players must play”, he said.

In another snippet, Yogendra Yadav inadvertently admited that the farmers’ protest was actually a “Chunavi Andolan” (election protest).

Yogendra Yadav had a meltdown as soon as initial trends started predicting BJP’s clear victory in UP

We had earlier reported how on March 10, while analysing the election results along with Prannoy Roy other rent-a-cause activists, Yogendra Yadav started having a meltdown as soon as the initial trends began to predict the BJP’s clear victory in UP.

While the discussion was on, Yogendra Yadav resigned to fate and made a strange comment, giving us a window into the chaos that must be erupting in his head with Yogi set to come back as the CM.

Reportedly, Yogendra Yadav on NDTV said that “The result of a support for dismantling of the republic with the support of the public”. Essentially, saying that the results prove that the people are helping PM Modi, CM Yogi and BJP to dismantle the “republic” which is India.

The first rule of political, and especially electoral analysis, is to not blame the voters. However, Yogendra Yadav’s frustration seems to have driven him to do exactly that. He blamed the people for voting the way they did, alleging that the voters were against India itself by voting for Yogi Adityanath.

Murder accused Olympian Sushil Kumar allowed to give fitness classes in Tihar Jail, former JNU student Umar Khalid joins as a learner

OpIndia Staff
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Murder accused Olympian Sushil Kumar allowed to give fitness classes in Tihar Jail, former JNU student Umar Khalid joins as a learner

Olympic champion Sushil Kumar has been granted permission to teach fitness and wrestling to inmates at Tihar jail. Sushil Kumar, who is facing trial for his role in the murder of wrestler Sagar Rana is currently lodged in Delhi’s Tihar jail. He has already started teaching wrestling and fitness to inmates at the prison complex.

The Tihar Jail administration stated that they had planned to accommodate Sushil Kumar in sporting activities in the past, but the idea was abandoned because of the third wave of Covid-19 in Delhi. As per ANI, the DG (Prisons) said, “we have allowed Sushil Kumar to give fitness and wrestling coaching to those prisoners who are interested, 6-7 prisoners are receiving coaching from him.”

According to prison officials, at least ten detainees have joined Kumar’s lessons, including former JNU student Umar Khalid, who is currently lodged in Tihar jail facing trial for his role in anti-Hindu riots in Delhi in 2020.

On May 23, 2020, Sushil Kumar was detained by a unit of the Delhi Police Special Cell in connection with the Chhatrasal Stadium incident that resulted in the death of wrestler Sagar Rana. He is accused of murder, kidnapping, and criminal conspiracy in connection with the violent conflict between two factions on May 4 at Delhi’s Chhatrasal wrestling academy. Rana, who was engaged in the fight, died in hospital from his injuries. Ajay Sherawat, a physical education instructor at Chhatrasal Stadium, was also detained with Kumar as an accused. Ajay is the son of Suresh Kumar Sherawat, a Congress councilor from Vikaspuri.

So far, the Delhi Police has apprehended 18 suspects in the case. Sushil Kumar was designated as the primary offender in the initial charge sheet, which was submitted by the police on August 2, last year. According to the charge sheet, Sushil Kumar murdered Rana last year because his ego had been injured by rumors of his declining popularity and he wanted to re-establish his influence among young players.

Abhisar Sharma opening an omelette stall, Ajit Anjum to sell chicken pakoda: Here is what we know about these viral claims

OpIndia Staff
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Abhisar Sharma opening an omelette stall, Ajit Anjum to sell chicken pakoda: Here is what we know about these viral claims

Alleged journalists Abhisar Sharma and Ajit Anjum are viral on social media for the past 2 days over their alleged predictions related to election results in Uttar Pradesh. As per these viral screenshots, Abhisar Sharma had said that he will open an egg omelette stall in Delhi if Yogi Adityanath returns to power, while Ajit Anjum had promised to sell chicken pakoda.

An artist’s imagination of an Abhisar Omelette stall
New chicken pakoda shop in Delhi?

Did Abhisar Sharma vow to open an omelette stall?

While most of the users online wondered when were these two practising journalism for them to quit it, quite a few also took the opportunity to mock the duo. The hashtag #चल_अभिसार_ओमलेट_लगा was trending on Twitter as multiple social media users queued up to taste the omelette from the stall to be launched by Abhisar Sharma.

However, Abhisar, who shot to prominence when he wondered why doesn’t Indian Railways mount a headlight on the trains to warn people about a train’s arrival, has denied posting this tweet. As per a fact-check conducted by Boomlive, the tweet is photoshopped and he did not promise to open an omelette stall. However, that has not stopped netizens from having fun at his expense.

Did Ajit Anjum vow to sell chicken pakoda?

Similarly, the demand for chicken pakodas from Ajit Anjum’s stall was very high on social media.

Disappointingly, much like Abhisar’s omelette, Ajit Anjum’s chicken pakoda stall also doesn’t seem to be in the works. As Opindia covered in February there are no plans for such a shop right now. Apparently, Ajit Anjum will continue to ask about the type of daal being cooked at various protest sites.

If true, journalism’s gain would have been food industry’s loss, however, as the facts stand, that is not happening right now.

As AAP sweeps the state, Punjab offers a clean slate of politics but not without tall challenges: Read how

Anurag
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As AAP sweeps the state, Punjab offers a clean slate of politics but not without tall challenges: Read how

The results of the Punjab Assembly elections came as a significant shock for the traditional players. Every prominent leader, including Capt Amarinder Singh, Prakash Singh Badal, Navjot Singh Sidhu, sitting CM Charanjit Singh Channi (from both seats), lost elections. It is a clear sign that the moment voters see a possible alternative to the traditional parties, they may take the chance. Aam Aadmi Party went with the slogan “Ik Mauka AAP Nu”, which literally means “One chance to AAP”, and it won.

Several factors made it possible for AAP to win Punjab. The party has done extensive groundwork in the state, and the strategic support they provided to farmer protests played an essential role in the win. The controversy over support to separatist elements too played in favour of AAP. In addition to what AAP has done to win the elections, the lack of substance in the traditional parties also helped AAP. The fight within the Congress party, Shiromani Akali Dal’s bad track record, Capt Amarinder Singh’s separation from Congress, Sidhu’s irresponsible behaviour close to elections and the negative wave against Bharatiya Janata Party in the state redirected more votes to AAP.

As of now, Punjab’s political arena has a clean slate, and in the next five years, it will be up to the political parties how they can use it. For AAP, being in the majority, that too with 92 seats means almost nil opposition. Overpowering 27 MLAs in opposition is not going to be a difficult task for the party, but that is not the challenge that they are going to face. There are a lot of challenges associated with Punjab that are going to give sleepless nights to the AAP government.

Law and order in a border state

Punjab shares a 547 KM long border with Pakistan. In the past couple of months, there have been multiple incidents where security forces caught weapons, ammunition and drugs being smuggled from the other side of the border. Also, the tiffin box bomb incidents, a bomb blast in a court in Ludhiana, drugs smuggling and a visible increase in pro-separatist sentiments in the state have been directly linked to Pakistan. Amidst all these challenges, the party that is going to rule the state has literally no experience in handling law and order.

AAP often blames the BJP-led central government for the law and order problem in the capital state, where they have been in power for three consecutive times. The Delhi Police comes directly under the central home ministry. But the case is different in Punjab. Here, AAP will be directly responsible for any glitch in law and order. From controlling drugs and illegal arms to putting a plug on the separatists in the state is going to be extremely tough for them.

The issue of sacrilege

While you are not in power, it is easy to give statements and ridicule the government for inaction over incidents of sacrilege in Punjab. Both SAD and Congress failed to address the issue, and it reached the point that Punjab saw four incidents of lynching linked to sacrilege in 2021 itself. Out of which three happened in Punjab (Gurdaspur, Amritsar and Kapurthala), and one has people involved from Punjab (Singhu Border Murder Case).

Bhagwan Mann, who is all set to take oath as Chief Minister on March 16, has openly talked about the incidents and targeted the state governments for their inaction. However, now they are going to rule the state, and it is not going to be easy for them to ignore the sacrilege incidents from the past. Also, the state government has to be highly vigilant about such incidents in future as a mob with the “instant justice” mentality is not good.

AAP promised action against culprits in such incidents in their 10-point Punjab Model, but how far they are going to be successful in controlling such incidents, only time can tell.

The tall promises and the debt burden

AAP has promised a reduction of electricity bills, Rs 1000 every month to every woman above the age of 18 among, and more. These promises will require funds that Punjab does not have. At present, the state is under a debt burden of around 2.5 lakh crores. According to State Election Commission, there are 1.1 crore women registered as voters in Punjab. That means even if we consider this data as the absolute number, AAP has to spend approx 1,100 crores every month, which converts to 13,200 crores every year. In a state that has over 2.5 lakh crore debt, such promises are not going to be easy to fulfil.

The future of BJP in Punjab

Honestly, when it comes to Assembly elections, BJP never had a stronghold in the state. The party always contested with SAD and did not have much say in the administration. Now, when the alliance with SAD is over, and all the major players of SAD and Congress are out of the picture, BJP has a strong chance to build its base in Punjab.

In the recent elections, BJP got a 6.6 per cent vote share, and AAP had a 42 per cent vote share. In Lok Sabha 2019 elections, NDA had a 37.08 vote share, and AAP had merely a 7.38 per cent vote share. Though in Lok Sabha 2019 elections, BJP was in alliance with SAD, people vote for the party or alliance that they want at the centre and not for the regional parties. Hence, if BJP wants, in the next five years, it will not be difficult for them to gain momentum in Punjab and increase their seats and vote share in the 2027 Assembly Elections.

Furthermore, if BJP has such intentions, there is no time to wait to build the strategy. They have to work from day one and continue to cherry-pick the issues that are close to the people of Punjab. They have to make sure the people of Punjab know if any central scheme is not available for them. They have to make sure to tell the farmers that it is the central government that they are getting payments for their produce from the central government and not from the state government. The next assembly elections in Punjab will be AAP vs BJP, and it is high time the state chapter of the saffron party start preparing for the fight.

Nepal PM Sher Bahadur Deuba thanks PM Modi for evacuating stranded Nepali nationals from Ukraine

OpIndia Staff
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Nepal PM Sher Bahadur Deuba thanks PM Modi for evacuating stranded Nepali nationals from Ukraine

On Saturday, Prime Minister of Nepal Sher Bahadur Deuba expressed gratitude towards the Indian government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for helping them to get back the stranded Nepali nationals from Ukraine amid the Russia-Ukraine war.

“Four Nepali nationals have just arrived in Nepal from Ukraine via India. Thank you Prime Minister Modi and the Government of India for the assistance in repatriating Nepali nationals through the Operation Ganga”, Sher Bahadur Deuba tweeted on March 12.

According to the reports, the Nepali government had sought the help of the Indian government on March 3 to get back its stranded nationals through Operation Ganga. As India asserted positively to the request, it evacuated 4 students of Nepal and brought them to India via the neighbouring country of Poland. The students were then sent to Nepal via a special flight safely.

Amid the Russia-Ukraine war, more than 600 Indian nationals were stuck in the conflict-ridden city of Sumy who was moved to a safer location by the Indian Embassy in Ukraine. Along with the Indian nationals, students from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal were also rescued. They were brought back to India through the humanitarian corridors in Kyiv, Sumy, Kharkiv and Maripol.

The human corridor in Sumy was announced only after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to the Presidents of Ukraine and Russia to provide a safe passage to evacuate the Indian nationals stuck in Sumy. Bangladesh’ PM Sheikh Hasina had also thanked India for evacuating nine citizens of her country from war-torn Ukraine.

It is important to note that India has always been ready to help the neighbouring countries during times of crisis. On February 28, the Indian envoy to UN TS Tirumurti at the UNSC meet had said that the country was ready to help those from the neighbouring and developing countries. “We stand ready to help those from our neighbours and developing countries who are also stranded in Ukraine and may seek assistance. We also support all UN humanitarian efforts”, Tirumurti had said.

Earlier, during the COVID crisis, India had helped Maldives, Nepal, and Bangladesh to get back their nationals from China. Also, in Afghanistan, recently when the Taliban forcefully took over the country’s charge, India had facilitated the evacuation of Nepali nationals from the country.

Operation Ganga

Operation Ganga, which was launched on February 26 to evacuate nearly 20,000 Indian nationals who were stuck in Ukraine amid the conflict, concluded on March 10. The last flight of the mission on Thursday brought back around 8000 stranded nationals from Ukraine. With this total 18,000 Indian nationals have been evacuated under the mission.

Several special flights had been running from Poland, Romania, and Hungary to bring the students home. Air India, Air India Express, IndiGo, and SpiceJet had also joined the mission operating multiple flights from Ukraine’s neighboring countries to Delhi and Mumbai.

Jyotiraditya Scindia, Minister of Civil Aviation had earlier informed that the Indian government had been working 24/7 to ensure that all Indians could get out of Ukraine safe. “There were 19760 odd children in Ukraine. Before the war broke out, through the advisories, about 4800 children had already left”, he had said.

It must be mentioned that the Ukrainian airspace was closed for civilian aircraft from the day the war between Russia and Ukraine broke out. As such, the Indian embassy in Ukraine had to coordinate with the embassies of neighboring countries in Poland, Romania and Hungary for the creation of safe evacuation channels. Under ‘Operation Ganga’, Indians were first taken in batches from Ukraine to bordering countries via buses/commute arranged by the embassy. They were then airlifted to Delhi or Mumbai through chartered Air India flights.

The Indian government had sent its 4 Union Ministers, namely, Hardeep Singh Puri, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Kiren Rijiju and General (Retd) VK Singh to Hungary, Romania and Moldova, Slovakia, and Poland respectively, to coordinate the Operation Ganga.

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