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Prashant Kishor announces he is quitting his career as political strategist, expresses desire to pursue an alternate career

OpIndia Staff
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Prashant Kishor announces he is quitting his career as political strategist, expresses desire to pursue an alternate career

As the nation awaits the state assembly elections results with piqued interest in West Bengal, TMC’s political and poll strategist Prashant Kishor has declared that he is quitting I-PAC, his political advocacy company and pursue another career.

In an interview to NDTV, Prashant Kishor announced his decision to hand it over to his colleagues. He said he wants to take some time out and look at an alternate career. He also said that he has not met his family in months.

This comes as a shocker as the trends seem to indicate Mamata Banerjee led Trinamool Congress will emerge victorious in West Bengal. Kishor had also challenged that he would leave Twitter and his current career if BJP crossed the double digital mark. With none happening, it is surprising that Kishor has taken the decision to quit his political advocacy career even before the counting ends.

In March, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh had declared Prashant Kishor to be his political advisor for the state assembly elections to be held next year.

It is not clear if Kishor will continue with the post in his personal capacity or quit the political space altogether. 

As trends show TMC victorious, opposition leaders congratulate Mamata, Congress celebrates its own defeat

OpIndia Staff
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As trends show TMC victorious, opposition leaders congratulate Mamata, Congress celebrates its own defeat

As the counting of votes continues in West Bengal, the Election Commission data and trends indicate Mamata Banerjee led Trinamool Congress is coming back to power. Opposition parties are now congratulating Mamata Banerjee on the victory.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal took to Twitter to congratulate Banerjee over her landslide victory. He said, “Congratulations @MamataOfficial didi for landslide victory. What a fight! Congratulations to the people of WB.”

Mamata Banerjee
Source: Twitter

NCP supremo Sharad Pawar also sent out a congratulatory tweet to Mamata Banerjee for her victory and said that the two parties should continue working for the welfare of the people.

Mamata Banerjee
Source: Twitter

Shiv Sena leader, Sanjay Raut, lauded the ‘Tigress of Bengal’ for her victory using the ‘Oh Didi’ phrase which otherwise the TMC finds offensive.

Mamata Banerjee
Source: Twitter

In a perplexing event, several Congress leaders can be seen celebrating their defeat on Twitter. 

Congress’s MLA from Chhattisgarh Shakuntala Sahu took a jibe on Prime Minister Narendra Modi despite Congress itself making no mark in the state elections.  

Mamata Banerjee
Source: Twitter

Calling Modi a roadside romeo, Congress Social Media Head from Karnataka Srivatsa in his Tweet said, “Everytime Modi said ‘Didi o Didi’ like a roadside romeo, BJP lost 5 seats in Bengal.”

Source: Twitter

Congress leader Acharya Pramod has been active on Twitter to not only attack the BJP for trailing in West Bengal but has also to make offensive comments on Hindu Gods in an attempt to take on the opposition. 

Source: Twitter

Congress’s South Delhi candidate Vijender Singh tweeted saying that people’s verdict is supreme. It is not clear whether the message was for the Indian National Congress or the Bhartiya Janta Party.

Source: Twitter

Victory celebration in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu

Meanwhile, TMC and DMK supporters have already hit the streets to celebrate the victory of the party in complete violation of Coronavirus protocols and social distancing guidelines as initial trends show them victorious.

In a shocking incident, TMC workers have also reportedly gheraod the BJP office in Hastings, Kolkata.

After the predicted decisive victory for TMC, there have been fears that BJP workers and those who supported and voted for the party might face backlash from the TMC and its workers. That the workers are now congregating in front of the BJP office has many worried about the consequences that might be faced by BJP workers post the predicted victory.

Demography is destiny indeed, but Assam shows the way: What Bengal BJP can learn from Assam

K Bhattacharjee
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Demography is destiny indeed, but Assam shows the way: What Bengal BJP can learn from Assam

The counting of votes in the Assembly Elections across five states are currently underway. The Left Front is set to retain power in Kerala, it’s a tight contest in Tamil Nadu but DMK appears to be heading towards a comfortable victory and the BJP alliance in Puducherry looks set to win Puducherry. But it is West Bengal and Assam that we will be focusing on here.

Assam and West Bengal are two states where minority vote-share impacts BJP’s chances of victory majorly. In Assam, the percentage of minority vote share is actually greater than in West Bengal. And yet, it is in Assam that BJP has managed to secure a comfortable victory while facing a rout in West Bengal.

According to the official website of the Election Commission of India (ECI), the Trinamool Congress is leading in 201 seats while the BJP only in 78 (as of 1.40 p.m.). The corresponding vote-shares are 48.55% for the TMC and 37.40% for the BJP.

The BJP might seek to take some consolation from the fact that it is set to see an exponential increase in its seat share these elections but there is really no way to spin this. The saffron vote-share has actually gone down from the 2019 General Elections, where the BJP managed to secure over 40% of the votes.

The answer is clear, the kind of Hindu consolidation that was observed in 2019 just did not occur in 2021 in favour of the BJP. A significant enough section of its Hindu votes went over to the TMC instead.

The questions that need to be answered is why did it happen and the underlying factors behind it. And for that, the BJP needs to look at what it did right in Assam. In Assam, the BJP’s strategy was consolidation of Hindu votes without a hyper focus on individual group identities in its narrative.

It was the polar opposite in West Bengal with the party focusing on the Matua community and the Mahisya community greatly. The result was that Hindu consolidation did not happen on the ground and the hyper focus on these identities did not pay off in the polls.

Mamata Banerjee appears to be sweeping Matua and Mahisya dominated constituencies as well. It is true that the concerns of individual identities need to be address to secure elections but in West Bengal, there was a hyper focus on such identities without an overarching Hindu centric narrative.

In Assam, leaders made no qualms about banking on Hindu consolidation to win elections. A great deal was focused on the fact that the anti-CAA sentiment in Upper Assam was going to cost BJP severely. But it did not.

Because the narrative was that differences between Assamese Hindus and Bengali Hindus could be sorted by political arrangement between the two, which was not possible with the growing Muslim community in the state.

The fact of the matter is that the BJP did not go hard enough on Hindu consolidation in Bengal. It is also unclear as of now the extent to which not implementing the CAA affected the election outcomes in the state.

There will be those sympathizers of the party who will blame the voters of Bengal for the results. But such conversations are futile. In a democracy, not a single vote is owed to any political party. Every political party must earn its vote.

A significant share of people (around 3-4%) who voted for the BJP in 2019 voted for Mamata Banerjee this time around. Why was it the case? That is for the parties to analyse the results and find out but it’s pointless to blame voters for the same.

In 2019, the vote in Bengal was polarised along religious lines and in 2021 it was not. As a consequence, BJP lost massively in 2021 and even had their strongholds breached. In Assam, both in 2019 and 2021, the vote was polarised along religious lines and hence, the party won.

Some will argue that it was the Lok Sabha elections in 2019 where Prime Minister Modi himself was on the ballot and this time around, it is the Assembly Elections. But the fact remains that many issues in these two states that were relevant in 2019 are relevant this time around as well.

The CAA, illegal immigration and the influence of minority vote-share were equally significant now as they were in 2019. Going forward, the path forward for the BJP is clear. Instead of a hyper focus on individual identities, the part must tread the path of unabashed Hindu vote consolidation.

There is also the case that the BJP did not have strong local leaders in West Bengal. But indeed, Dilip Ghosh and Suvendu Adhikari are extremely popular. And yet, the BJP has lost massively in these constituencies as well. The party surely has to spend significant time on a great deal of introspection on the setback, which it undoubtedly is.

As trends show TMC victory in Bengal, workers gherao BJP office in Kolkata, burst cracker in front of police in Asansol when asked to stop

OpIndia Staff
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As trends show TMC victory in Bengal, workers gherao BJP office in Kolkata, burst cracker in front of police in Asansol when asked to stop

As per initial trends, TMC is ahead in the state of West Bengal in at least 200 seats. As trends showed a landslide victory for Mamata Banerjee led TMC, the workers of the party have now reportedly gheraod the BJP office in Hastings, Kolkata.

After the predicted decisive victory for TMC, there have been fears that BJP workers and those who supported and voted for the party might face backlash from the TMC and its workers. That the workers are now congregating in front of the BJP office has many worried about the consequences that might be faced by BJP workers post the predicted victory.

The euphoria of TMC workers was also visible in Asansol. After the Election Commission asked the officials and police to ensure that no congregations are allowed post election results, the Bengal police was seen instructing TMC party workers to stop their celebrations and maintain protocol amidst rising COVID-19 cases.

Instead of paying heed to what Bengal police was asking them to comply with, the TMC workers were seen bursting a fire cracker right next to the police officer to intimidate the officer.

The development comes amidst growing Coronavirus cases in the State. As of May 2, West Bengal has reported 11,66,59 active cases and a total of 11,447 fatalities.

As initial trends show TMC winning West Bengal, party workers celebrate and violate COVID-19 protocol: Watch

OpIndia Staff
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As initial trends show TMC winning West Bengal, party workers celebrate and violate COVID-19 protocol: Watch

On Sunday (April 2), Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers hit the streets to celebrate the victory of the party in complete violation of Coronavirus protocols and social distancing guidelines.

As per reports, the jubilant celebration on the street by TMC workers began as initial election result trends suggested the victory of the incumbent government in West Bengal. At one point, when the TMC tally crossed 200, party workers gathered in the streets in Kalighat in Kolkata. In visuals shared by ANI, they were seen dancing to the tune of loud music, playing ‘Holi’, waving party flags, and breaching Coronavirus protocols.

Visuals shared by India Today journalist Rahul Kanwal also showed a grim picture of the social distancing violation in the State. TMC workers were seen flouting SOPs right outside the residence of party supremo Mamata Banerjee. Interestingly, the cops deployed at the site were seen managing the traffic flow instead of stopping the TMC supporters from celebrating. This is despite the fact that a complete lockdown has been enforced in the State capital of Kolkata. The party workers were spotted without masks and standing in close vicinity of each other.

On being reminded by an India Today reporter that the Election Commission (EC) has barred the political party from mass gatherings and celebrations, a TMC worker justified, “We are not celebrating. Others requested me to put on some colours and I did. A little bit of celebration here and there cannot be stopped. If the public wants to celebrate, what can I do about it?” The TMC workers were also seen blocking the roads and disrupting traffic flow.

The development comes amidst growing Coronavirus cases in the State. As of May 2, West Bengal has reported 11,66,59 active cases and a total of 11,447 fatalities.

LIVE UPDATES: Mamata Banerjee loses to Suvendu Adhikari from Nandigram, Himanta Biswa Sarma wins by from Jalukbari

OpIndia Staff
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Counting of votes for Assembly elections 2021 has begun across West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry. The high octane elections concluded on 29th April 2021 as West Bengal voted for the last phase. The elections were also one of the largest exercise in democracy amid the raging coronavirus pandemic.

Stay tuned as we bring you live updates. Please wait for the live blog to load below:

Not one input predicted the intensity and ferocity of the Covid-19 second wave, says Science & Technology secretary

OpIndia Staff
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Not one input predicted the intensity and ferocity of the Covid-19 second wave, says Science & Technology secretary

After breaking global records in the month of April, India recorded its first dip in new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours. Talking about the severity of the second wave of the pandemic, Department of Science & Technology secretary Ashutosh Sharma in an exclusive interview to The Economic Times suggested that no input was alarming as far as science is concerned.

Dismissing election rallies and the Kumbh as the reason for a sudden surge in new Covid-19 cases, Sharma said “Election rallies and others may have contributed a small fraction but please look at the totality and context of the overall behaviour seen in the country, even among enlightened sections of people. It had become pervasive.”

Sharma added that the Covid-19 supermodel committee had raised an informal alert in March as the modelling and various other studies could not predict the scale, intensity and ferocity of the second wave and the new mutant of the Covid-19 virus. The numbers expected were to be less than a lakh per day during the second wave.

In a committee meeting with the Niti Aayog and Dr VK Paul in early April, the prediction was of India hitting the peak in the third-fourth week of April with an intensity of less than a lakh per day, Sharma informed. 

Talking about the studies and predictions, Sharma added “Clearly what was predicted was far short of the reality, probably because inputs to the model changed — mutations in the virus which probably required less loading for the disease to take hold.”

On the science behind the virus

When asked if the messaging pertaining to the pandemic could have been better, Sharma insisted that there was no faulty messaging. 

Explaining the science behind it, he added “Mathematical models also clearly and emphatically said that the behaviour of the virus was linked to that of the people. While scientific studies are still on, the strains look more infective. It is argued that the transmission is happening through aerosol. It is still under study how much viral load is leading to the onset of disease.

Comparatively, a small fraction is showing severe symptoms but it is not clear how that selection happens. Comorbidity and obesity are indicators. So was age but now it is shifting to a younger population that was not infected before — like fire to fuel. Several ongoing global studies and at our labs will give greater insight over time.”

Citing this as a difficult time, Sharma advised to stay away from the blame game.

On action points and imports

Informing about increasing medical oxygen capacity, Sharma revealed that the work is in progress to repurpose oxygen plants, identify additional startups and industries for oxygen production and build new designs to bridge the supply and demand gap. “However, the real bottleneck just now is supply and logistics. That is being addressed by expert groups,” he informed.

Favoring the imports, Sharma clarified that they had no inkling that the scale would be so huge and the intensity so high. Hence considering the unprecedented scale and the timely need for supplies, imports at a time of crisis is what all countries do, he informed. 

Advising people to stay masked, Sharma concluded saying that there is a need to be constantly prepared and enhance expertise and infrastructure in research, in modelling and crisis response.

Rajdeep Sardesai explains why TMC needs to treat Congress with Rasogullah if it wins Bengal, Rahul Kanwal shuts him down

OpIndia Staff
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Rajdeep Sardesai explains why TMC needs to treat Congress with Rasogullah if it wins Bengal, Rahul Kanwal shuts him down

On May 2, the process of counting votes for assembly elections in four states and one Union Territory in underway. During West Bengal’s election result coverage, India Today’s journalist Rajdeep Sardesai commented that Trinamool Congress should treat Congress with Rasogullah if it wins Bengal.

Sardesai said, “What has happened clearly is that as the campaign went on in the sixth, seventh and eighth round, every time you see a greater polarization. By the time Malda, Murshidabad comes the polarization is so complete that the traditional Congress voter says Congress is not going to win I will give it to Mamata. I want to defeat the BJP. So the Congress also stopped campaigning. The Congress was in any way the defeatist mode in Bengal. And Mamata has benefitted from the Congress defeatism and therefore she needs to give Rasogullahs to Congress.”

To which Rahul Kanwal replied, “You are giving too much credit to the Congress. The Congress was never in the race.”

It is evident that Mamata Banerjee remains a popular local leader in West Bengal, however, while Rajdeep Sardesai was desperate to extend a face-saving rationale to Congress, Rahul Kanwal hit the nail on the head when he said that Congress was never in the race.

Rajdeep Sardesai’s history is filled with embarrassing moments

This is not the first time Sardesai has made comments that seem to have embarrassed his colleagues. Recently, during January 26 riots coverage, he did a lot of misleading and fake reporting, which was criticized heavily. The situation went so bad that he had to disconnect with India Today for a while.

West Bengal Assembly Election results

By 12:00 PM on May 2, according to Election Commission, TMC is leading on 194 seats while BJP is leading on 80. Three rounds have been completed so far, and the actual results should be out by 6 PM, Sunday. You can check our live coverage here.

UP Panchayat Elections: Police lathi charge polling agents in Firozabad, counting begins late in many places

OpIndia Staff
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UP Panchayat Elections: Police lathi charge polling agents in Firozabad, counting begins late in many places

The Police in Firozabad, Uttar Pradesh were forced to lathi charge polling agents during the counting of votes in the Panchayat Elections that are underway. Visuals show the Police struggling to control the massive gathering and ensuring social distancing amidst the rising cases of Covid-19.

Voting for the Panchayat Elections in Uttar Pradesh ended on Thursday. The polling was held over 4 phases for the 8.69 lakh posts in the state. Gram panchayat, gram pradhan, block panchayat and zila panchayat seats went to the polls.

There are chaotic scenes at other places as well including Mainpuri, Ghiror and Kishani. The counting began later than the proposed time in many places, as per reports.

The elections have been marred by the specter of Covid-19. Around 135 teachers involved in the Panchayat Elections have reportedly lost their lives. The Allahabad High Court sent a notice to the Uttar Pradesh Government over the same after it had earlier mandated that the polls be concluded by April 30.

New Zealand embassy apologises after being questioned for appealing to Congress for oxygen, right after party’s Philippines embassy stunt: Details

OpIndia Staff
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New Zealand embassy apologises after being questioned for appealing to Congress for oxygen, right after party’s Philippines embassy stunt: Details

Note: The report has been updated with a comment from the New Zealand Prime Minister.

A day after the Youth Congress pulled off a publicity stunt by pretending to supply oxygen cylinders to the Philippines embassy, the New Zealand embassy has now reached out for help to Youth Congress National President Srinivas BV.

In a tweet on Sunday (May 2), the New Zealand embassy in India bypassed the Ministry of External Affairs and sought oxygen supply from the youth wing of the Opposition Congress party. “Srinivas BV, could you please help with oxygen cylinder urgently at the New Zealand High Commission? Thank you,” the tweet read.

Screengrab of the tweet by New Zealand embassy

Srinivas B V then reached the New Zealand High Commission with oxygen cylinders along with other Congress workers. “We have reached New Zealand High Commission with oxygen cylinders. Please open the gates and save a soul on time. #SOSIYC”

Screengrab of the tweet by Srinivas BV

In another tweet, he informed, “Update- New Zealand high commission opened gates of the embassy and accepted cylinders. Also, they thanked the #SOSIYC team for this quick relief as patient inside embassy was critically ill.”

Screengrab of the tweet by Sreenivas BV

Netizens question the New Zealand embassy for its theatrics

Netizens were quick to question the action of the New Zealand embassy on social media. BJP MP Tejasvi Surya tweeted, “MEA has clarified that Embassy of Philippines has 0 COVID cases. Looking at IYC’s stunt of trying to give oxygen to that Embassy, a social media handler of the Embassy of New Zealand tweeted without putting request to MEA. HC of NZ has now apologized to MEA for this misinformation.”

Veteran journalist Kanchan Gupta asked whether the Ministry of External Affairs was contacted by the New Zealand High Commission prior to asking the Youth Congress President. “But for whom is @NZinIndia trying to “arrange for oxygen cylinders urgently”? Who needs them? Was @MEAIndia contacted?” he inquired.

He further questioned, “Did @NZinIndia open its gates? The New Zealand High Commission must tell 1. Whom did they ask the oxygen for? 2. Did they contact MEA prior to public appeal? 3. If yes, what was MEA response? [I won’t even ask where are IYC folks getting O2 in Delhi even as ICUs are running dry.]”

Screengrab of the tweet by New Zealand High Commission

Following the controversy, the New Zealand embassy in India deleted its initial tweet. “We are trying all sources to arrange for oxygen cylinders urgently and our appeal has unfortunately been misinterpreted, for which we are sorry,” it apologised in a tweet.

Update: [3rd May, 2021] New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Adern has now issued a statement over the matter saying that a local individual required an oxygen cylinder. However, she said that ‘normal channels’ should have been used for the same and pointed out that their High Commission had already apologised over the matter.

Congress pulls off publicity stunt outside Philippines embassy, EAM slams party

On Saturday (May 1), Congress leader Jairam Ramesh took to Twitter to thank the Youth Congress for supposedly responding to an emergency call for oxygen supply by the Embassy of the Republic of Philippines. He tweeted, “While I thank @IYC for its stellar efforts, as an Indian citizen I’m stunned that the youth wing of the opposition party is attending to SOS calls from foreign embassies. Is the MEA sleeping @DrSJaishankar ?” Jairam Ramesh had shared a video posted by Srinivas B V, the National President of the Youth Congress.

In the said video, a few people could be seen unloading an oxygen cylinder from a vehicle outside the Philippines embassy. A day later on Sunday, Union Minister for External Affairs (EAM) S Jaishankar responded to the claims made by senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Twitter. He informed that the MEA verified the matter with the Philippines embassy and found that they had no Coronavirus cases. “MEA checked with the Philippines Embassy. This was an unsolicited supply as they had no Covid cases,” he wrote.

S Jaishankar further emphasised how the Congress party was denying oxygen cylinders to needy patients in its pursuit of petty politics. “Clearly for cheap publicity by you know who. Giving away cylinders like this when there are people in desperate need of oxygen is simply appalling,” he pointed out. The Union Minister for External Affairs concluded, “Jairamji, MEA never sleeps; our people know across the world. MEA also never fakes; we know who does.”

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