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Sonia Gandhi chairs meeting: Speculations of yet another Rahul Gandhi relaunch amidst applause by Congress leaders

Months after senior Congress leaders expressed their disappointment with the party’s rudderless leadership, the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi held a meeting with some of the dissenting leaders, the first attempt at rapprochement between both sides of the party.

The meeting saw participation from senior leaders such as Ashok Gehlot, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Ambika Soni, P Chidambaram, BS Hooda, Prithviraj Chavan and others, who arrived at Gandhi’s residence, 10 Janpath, this morning. Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi and Uttar Pradesh party in-charge Priyanka Gandhi were also present in the meeting.

The meeting was arranged last week after 7-8 key leaders of the 23 dissenting leaders—who had penned a letter to Sonia Gandhi in August this year—demanding sweeping changes in the party leadership, had met several times in Delhi over the past week. A list of potential attendees was sent to Sonia, out of which a select group was finalised to meet her, Indian Express reported.

According to the reports, former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath played a critical role in coordinating the meeting between the rebels and the Congress party leadership. Ms Gandhi had met Nath twice after she had returned from a fortnight’s break to Goa earlier this month. As per a Congress party source, the meeting was called in to discuss the future of the party, along with ironing out the differences existing within the party.

Randeep Surjewala proclaims 99.99 per cent in Congress want to see Rahul Gandhi as their leader

The meeting came a day after Congress leader Randeep Surjewala proclaimed that 99.99 per cent of the people in Congress believed that Rahul Gandhi is the right person to lead the party.

“It is my belief and the belief of the overwhelming majority, 99.99 per cent of the Congress leaders and workers that Rahul Gandhi is the right person to lead the Congress party and to take on the Modi government,” Surjewala said.

Ahead of the Saturday’s meeting, Surjewala said there was no dissension in the party and the meet was between the party members and not between two factions. “This is not a meet of any specific group of leaders. This is not a meet of any dissenters or rebels because we consider each leader, each worker of the Congress party as part of the family. And addressing the issues raised by some of the senior leaders, friends and colleagues, the Congress party had already decided to hold the election for the post of president of the Congress. That process is currently underway,” he said.

Speculations rife of another relaunch of Rahul Gandhi

However, as soon as the news of a meeting between Sonia Gandhi and rebel Congress leaders came out, some journalists citing sources alleged that the meeting culminated with Congress leaders once again zeroing in on Rahul Gandhi to assume the reins of the party.

It is pertinent to note that there have been numerous attempts made by the Congress leaders to launch Rahul Gandhi over and over again. After enduring an embarrassing defeat in the 2019 General elections, Rahul Gandhi had tendered his resignation from the post of Congress President, which was eventually taken over by Sonia Gandhi.

Earlier this year, reports surfaced alleging that after almost 7 months of sabbatical, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was all set to once again assume the mantle of Presidentship of the oldest political party of India. Elaborate plans were reportedly chalked out by the Congress leaders to reinstate Rahul Gandhi as the President of the party. The plans included presiding over an all- India tour, starting from Rajasthan, followed by Kerala, Jharkhand, Congress-ruled states and other poll-bound states.

23 Congress leaders wrote a letter to Sonia Gandhi in August and November demanding a complete overhaul of the party

However, the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, perhaps, threw a curve to their master plan and the Congress leaders had to contend with Sonia Gandhi’s leadership. A few months down, resentment within the party had once again shot up, prompting 23 senior Congress leaders, including 5 former Chief Ministers, many Congress Working Committee members, incumbent MPs, and several former Union Ministers, to tender a letter to interim Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi, calling for a complete overhaul of the party, from top to bottom.

The appalling performance in Bihar Assembly elections last month led to a fresh flare-up within the party, with the senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal publicly commenting that the time for introspection is over. Following Congress’ disappointing performance in Bihar, 23 senior Congress leaders had reportedly written a letter to interim Congress President Sonia Gandhi demanding that an immediate CWC meeting be called to discuss the poll debacle in Bihar. They have reportedly also demanded organisational elections for the party president’s post be held at the earliest in the view of the electoral drubbing. They had also raised questions on the vacation by Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra.

India Today group’s The Lallantop spreads fake information about APMC markets in Gujarat and new farm laws

Amidst ongoing farmers’ protests, several videos containing misleading information are making rounds on social media. A video by India Today group’s The Lallantop is going viral that has an interview with a farmer who is participating in the protest at New Delhi. The 17-minute long original video on YouTube has an interview with two farmers. The farmer alleges that there are no APMC markets in the Kutch district, and the farmers have to sell their produce at a lower price.

Are there no APMC markets in Katch?

Claim: Singh, who shifted to Gujarat in 2010, claimed that he did not know that there are no APMC markets in Gujarat. He said he first tried to grow and sell wheat and cotton but could not find buyers. He had to take samples to the local dealers and said that the dealers gave a much lower price compared to other states. He then said that he tried growing pomegranates, but the market price was so low he had to feed it to the animals.

Fact: A 2-minute snippet of the video was shared on Twitter by the cartoonist Manjul. Netizens have refuted the claim that there are no mandis in Bhuj. A simple search on Google showed the address and contact details of the Bhuj APMC Mandi.

On further search, according to the list [PDF] available at the Gujarat State Agricultural Market Board website, Kutch has eight APMC markets, with one located in the Bhuj region. Interestingly, Kutch is gaining popularity for export-quality fruits, mainly Dragonfruit and Pomegranate. As per the reports, Australia has allowed imports of pomegranate from India in September 2020. Over 150 farmers are cultivating high-quality Dragon Fruit in Kutch, which is now being served in India’s hotels.

Jio will control prices like it did with telecom

Claim: Another farmer Davinder Singh from Ferozpur Punjab, made a strange claim. He said everyone has seen how Jio has disrupted the telecom market. Now, Reliance will enter the Agriculture Sector and will disrupt it too. He claimed that the prices would rise exponentially because of the private players in the sector. He claimed that private companies would pay a higher price in the first few years, attracting farmers to sell crops in private markets.

Davinder Singh further speculates that the government will shut down the APMC markets on the pretext of the loss, after which the private players will start decreasing the price for the crop, and the farmers will suffer. He also alleged that the farmers would be at a loss under contract farming because they will not understand the legal language. The private players will add clauses that will give benefit to them instead of the farmers.

Fact: As per the Agriculture laws, there is a provision under which the government will control the price if it increases by 100% in perishable and 50% in non-perishable products. The prices will be compared to the cost of the commodity in the last twelve months or five years. The government is not going to stop procuring the produce under the Public Distribution Scheme (PDS). The government has procured all-time high Kharif produce from the farmers. MSP for the next produce for 2021 has already been set, and the government has spent 67,248.22 crores on the procurement of Kharif produce.

Similar claims were made from Gurudwara Bangla Sahib by Katha Vachak Banta Singh Ji, which OpIndia rebutted recently. Several opposition leaders and union leaders are also making similar claims. So much so the farmers have announced a boycott of Jio products, including SIMs and phones. Recently, Reliance has filed a complaint at TRAI alleging that its competitors Airtel and Vi are spreading rumours against the company that it is anti-farmer. Airtel had denied the claims.

It may be that while it may be easier to capture big market share in telecom, as it has only a few players, it can’t be compared with the farm sector. Even now, there are a large number of private players in the sector, apart from retailers like Reliance, there are food processing companies which buy farm products. Therefore, the fear that one day Reliance will control the Indian farm sector is baseless.

NSUI in-charge Ruchi Gupta quits party over delay in organisational changes, blames Rahul Gandhi’s aide KC Venugopal

The Congress party saw another high-profile exit on Saturday after the joint secretary in-charge of the party’s student wing – National Students’ Union of India, Ruchi Gupta quit the Congress party due to the way party functioned and also for the delaying organizational changes.

According to the reports, Ruchi Gupta, considered to be a key aide and confidante of Rahul Gandhi, resigned from her post as NSUI’s national in-charge and from the party. Gupta has blamed the party’s general secretary (organization) KC Venugopal, another close confidante of former party chief Rahul Gandhi.

In her message, Gupta has stated that Venugopal is responsible for continuous delays in organizational changes and the matter cannot always be escalated to the level of the party president. Reportedly, Gupta was disappointment over the delay in the approval of state unit appointments.

“Dear all, I am writing to you to announce that I have resigned. As you know, important organisational changes have remained pending for very long: the national committee took 1 year 3 months; state president orders have remained pending for months. These continuing delays by the GS(O) are damaging the organisation but in the present circumstances, it is not possible to escalate repeatedly to Congress President,” she wrote in her resignation message.

Congress needs to be rebuilt, Rahul Gandhi should take the leadership, says Ruchi Gupta

Taking to Twitter, Gupta said it was regret to announce that she has resigned from the party. “I am grateful to Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi for giving me this opportunity”, she added. Interestingly, she also shared her article published in The Hindu, titled ‘Chalking out Congress’ enduring revival’.

In her article, Ruchi Gupta has stated that the Congress party needs to immediately address issues of party organization, address grassroots level connect and establish a strong top-down leadership. Further, Gupta has written about how the Congress is still politically relevant and its revival is dependent on the way the party is rebuilt.

“None of the above can be done without a strong and interventionist Congress President. Political parties — the Congress in particular — are defined as much by internal conflicts as external. Politics is dynamic with constantly opening and closing pathways to power,” Gupta wrote.

It reads, “Without a strong leader at the top to take and enforce decisions, the Party will continue to be pulled in different directions,” Gupta wrote. “Moreover, only the active facilitation of the Congress President can create space for substantive deliberation required right now — both as a political process to draw everyone together and to form a political platform expansive enough to accommodate the Congress’s historical big tent positioning.”

She added that the leadership to the party can only be provided by Rahul Gandhi. “If any other leader had to emerge in the party, he would have done so over the last year. Instead, different factions prefer status quo rather than allowing one group to ascend and upset the balance of power for everyone. Organisational power thus continues to reside in Mr Gandhi. The way then to revive the Congress and consolidate this power is one and the same — it’s full and frontal exercise,” she wrote.

One Fahim Pakistani threatens Bareilly judge with murder, UP Police registers case: Here is what happened

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A case has come to the fore where a person from Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad district has written a letter to the Additional District Judge in Bareilly Uttar Pradesh, in which he has threatened him and his family members with murder if he fails to grant bail to a criminal named Chunnilal, who was jailed in a corruption case.

The Judge, Mohammad Ahmed Khan, passed on the information to the magistrate of the High Court who in turn informed the Uttar Pradesh police. Based on the complaint, a case under section 506 of the IPC was registered at the Kotwali police station against one Fahim Pakistani, the person who allegedly issued the threat. The police are now on the lookout for the accused.

According to reports, Fahim Pakistani, in the letter, asked the Judge to immediately grant bail to Chunnilal or face repercussions. The accused wrote that he was a close aide of Chunnilal and could do anything for him. He informed that it was on Chunnilal’a instructions that he had once killed a computer operator working in the Widow pension office.

He furthered that he had identified the window in the Judge’s house, through which he would shoot the judge and his family members if his demands were not met. The letter also mentioned that if the judge carried out the said task he would be treated or else would be killed.

The Bareilly judge urged SSP to provide him with security cover

Speaking about the purported letter, the Judge said that he and his family were living under constant fear. He asked the SSP to provide him with armed security personnel for his and his family’s protection. Meanwhile, a team from Kotwali police station has left for Moradabad to nab Fahim Pakistani.

In a similar case, a Karnataka Magistrate had received bomb threats demanding the release of actresses Ragini Dwivedi and Sanjana Galrani accused in the Sandalwood drug case. Besides, the threat letter had also demanded the release of ‘innocent people’ arrested for their involvement in the Bengaluru riots in DJ Halli and KG Halli. The letter asked the Judge to grant bail to the accused and JCP Sandeep Patil to stay away from the investigation.

Mumbai Court orders investigation in criminal defamation suit filed by Javed Akhtar against Kangana Ranaut

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Metropolitan Magistrate RR Khan at Andheri today directed the Mumbai police to conduct an investigation into the criminal defamation suit filed by lyricist Javed Akhtar against actress Kangana Ranaut. Akhtar had filed a defamation case against Ranaut for making certain statements against him on national television. The Metropolitan Magistrate has directed the police to submit their report by January 16 next year.

Advocate Niranjan Mundargi appearing for Javed Akhtar said that his client’s name was unnecessarily dragged into an unconnected sensitive matter while her interview was about the death of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput. Mundargi said that Ranaut had allegedly said that Akhtar was part of a “Bollywood suicide gang” who could “get away with anything”. Referring to the witness that was mentioned by Ranaut in her conversation about Akhtar, Advocate Mundargi requested the court to invoke section 202 of the Criminal Procedure Code and either summon the witness to court for recording statement or direct the police to conduct an investigation in the matter.

Considering that Ranaut was not currently within the jurisdiction of the court, the court directed the police to submit the investigation report to the court.

Ranaut’s statement against Javed Akhtar

In an interview given to Republic TV earlier this year, Kangana Ranaut had said that the likes of Javed Akhtar who pretend to be atheists, in reality, keep an eye on people within the industry to check whether they are pro-Islam or not. She had alleged that these people filter Islam-friendly people in the industry and promote them.

In another interview with Republic TV, Ranaut had alleged that after her controversy with actor Hrithik Roshan, Akhtar had called her to his house and asked her to apologise to Roshan warning her that if she did not do so she would have to commit suicide.

Akhtar had filed a defamation case against Ranaut under sections 409 and 500 of the IPC. He had said that Ranaut’s interview was viewed by lakhs of people on Republic TV channel as well as YouTube. He said that the interview was covered by several media channels including Times Now and ABP News.

BJP will form govt with more than 200 seats: Amit Shah challenges Mamata Banerjee in her turf as TMC leaders join BJP

During his two-day visit to the poll-bound state of West Bengal, Home Minister Amit Shah launched a scathing the ruling TMC party and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Addressing a public gathering in Midnapore, the Home Minister said that the BJP will get resounding success in the State Assembly elections due next year.

Shah said that his party will get more than 200 seats in the Assembly elections. “When results of Vidhan Sabha election will be declared, BJP will form the government with more than 200 seats”, he said. Shah took a dig at Mamata Banerjee over the recent ‘exodus’ of top TMC leaders from the party.

Responding to Banerjee’s allegation on BJP of inducing TMC leaders to defect from the party, Shah questioned her decision to leave Congress to form the TMC was ‘defection’ too. Shah predicted that more TMC members might leave her party ahead of elections and that she would be left alone. “Senior party members are leaving TMC. Didi accuses BJP of including party members to defect. But I want to ask her when she quit Congress to form TMC, was it not defection? This is just the start. She will be left alone by the election”, Shah said.

Senior leader Suvendu Adhikari along with other leaders is likely to meet the Home Minister today. Ten TMC leaders have resigned from the party so far amid the speculations them joining the BJP during Shah’s visit. Burdwan Purba MP Sunil Mandal, Former minister and Tamluk MLA Suvendu Adhikari, Kanthi Uttar MLA Banasri Maity, Kalna MLA Biswajeet Kundu, East Bardhaman MLA Saikat Panja, Barrackpore MLA Shilbhadra Datta, Ghazole MLA Dipali Biswas, Nagrakata MLA Shukra Munda, Purulia MLA Sudeep Mukherjee, Former MP Dasharath Tirkey, Ex-minister Shyamapada Mukherjee and Former MLA Satyen Roy are among the leaders who had submitted resignations from the party.

Fact Check: Arvind Kejriwal lies again, claims Delhi govt is carrying out highest number of COVID tests in the country

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday tried to mislead the public by making claims stating the Delhi government is carrying out highest number of coronavirus tests, higher than any other state in the country.

Addressing the media, Delhi Chief Arvind Kejriwal said that Delhi has now overcome the third wave of coronavirus infections and is doing 90,000 coronavirus tests every day, which according to him was not only highest in the country but also more than the United States.

The Delhi Chief Minister added, “With the efforts of the people of Delhi, we have effectively and successfully surpassed the third wave of Corona. It appears that the third wave of Covid-19 in Delhi is now ending. Around 90,000 daily tests are being conducted in Delhi today. This is the highest number of daily tests in the country,” Kejriwal said.

However, the claim made by Arvind Kejriwal saying that the Delhi government has been carrying out the highest number of tests in the country, with 90,000 everyday is not true.

Fact-check:

According to official data released by various states, it is not Delhi which is conducting the highest number of tests in the country. The highest number of tests to detect fresh coronavirus cases is being carried out by Uttar Pradesh in the country and not Delhi.

On December 18, Uttar Pradesh has carried out 1,50,036 COVID-19 tests as compared to just 88,400 tests.

Image Source: COVID19india

Delhi is not even in the second place in terms of the number of COVID testing that is being carried out in the country on each day. Bihar and Karnataka conducted more tests than Delhi. Bihar, on Friday, conducted 1.22 lakh testing while Karnataka did as many as 1.04 lakh COVID tests.

Image Source: COVID19india

From the above, it is obvious that Arvind Kejriwal was clearly lying when it comes to number of COVID tests in the country.

Meerut: Muslim woman marries Hindu man, says she didn’t tell her family about it as she feared they would kill her

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In a case of interfaith marriage in Meerut in Uttar Pradesh, a Muslim woman married a Hindu boy. The Muslim woman named Farha, a resident of Jaidi Farm, married a Hindu man named Naman Madan, a resident of Shastrinagar. Farha changed her name to Mahi married Naman on Friday. According to reports, Naman’s father runs a confectionary store for which cakes used to supplied from Farhs’a home.

The couple got married in Hrishikesh

The couple had reportedly fled on December 13. Farha’s brother had filed an FIR at Nauchandi police station against Naman following that. The police found the couple in a hotel in Hrishikesh on Thursday. The couple had reportedly performed marriage in a temple in Hrishikesh. After conducting medical examination, the police recorded the statement of the woman before the Magistrate. The woman expressed her wish to stay with her husband. She was sent to the house of her in-laws after court order.

Woman said she feared that her family would kill her

Farha alias Mahi said that she had decided to stay with Naman out of her own will. After a courtship of one and a half year, the couple decided to get married. Farha said that she did not tell about her marriage with Naman to her family as she feared that her family would get her killed. She said that her husband’s family supported her and that she wanted to live with her husband.

Families of both Farha and Naman remained in Nauchandi police station whole day. Inspector Sanjay Verma told the families of the couple that the court order will be enforced. Farha distributed sweets in the police station and took the blessings of Naman’s parents. The couple visited the Navchandi temple.

NCP leader threatens Hindus to leave India, abuses Hindu women, says ‘All Hindus are my brothers’ after Hindus take up his ‘Dum hai?’ challenge

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An undated video has gone viral on social media where the president of NCP’s Nagpur City Minority Department could be seen indulging in hate speech against the Hindu Community. Using extremely foul language, Arbaaz Khan threatened Hindus and insulted Hindu women. He said that Hindus should leave India.

Arbaaz Khan was so arrogant that he even shared his residential address and challenged Hindus to show their guts. Unfortunately for him, Hindus do appear to have taken up the challenge and since then, another video has gone viral where he can be seen apologizing profusely.

In his apology, Arbaaz Khan said that the video is not recent and begs Hindus to forgive him. “The video of mine that has gone viral, I apologize for it and it is a fairly old video. I have made a mistake, please forgive my mistake. All Hindus are my brothers, I fold my hands in apology because I have made a mistake. Please forgive my mistake. I won’t say such a thing ever again, I am so sorry.”

It is not clear whether NCP has taken any action against Arbaaz Khan for his derogatory and vulgar comments. It remains to be seen whether their alliance partner Shiv Sena takes up the matter since they still claim to hold on to the Hindutva bandwagon.

10 MLAs from TMC, Congress and left join BJP in presence of Amit Shah in West Bengal, here is the full list

The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal is in a state of political turmoil, with several heavyweight lawmakers deserting the party. A long list of TMC leaders, along with 4 others from the Left and Congress, joined the BJP, in the presence of BJP leader Amit Shah in Midnapore.

Ending days of speculation, former minister Suvendu Adhikari finally joined BJP today in presence of Amit Shah at the rally in Midnapore. Several MLAs and party leaders from TMC, Congress and left parties joined BJP along with Adhikari. The major leaders who joined BJP in West Bengal are:

  • Burdwan Purba MP Sunil Mandal, TMC
  • Former minister and Tamluk MLA Suvendu Adhikari, TMC
  • Kanthi Uttar MLA Banasri Maity, TMC
  • Kalna MLA Biswajeet Kundu, TMC
  • East Bardhaman MLA Saikat Panja, TMC
  • Barrackpore MLA Shilbhadra Datta, TMC
  • Ghazole MLA Dipali Biswas, TMC
  • Nagrakata MLA Shukra Munda, TMC
  • Tamluk MLA Ashok Dinda, CPI
  • Haldia MLA Tapashi Mandal, CPIM
  • Purulia MLA Sudeep Mukherjee, Congress
  • Former MP Dasharath Tirkey, TMC
  • Ex minister Shyamapada Mukherjee, TMC
  • Former MLA Satyen Roy, TMC

Apart from these, several panchayat-level lawmakers and ardent followers of TMC MLA Suvendu Adhikary are also joining BJP. They include Kaberi Chattopadhyay, Snehashish Bhowmik, Akashdeep Singh, Tanmoy Roy, Ranjan Vaidya, Dev Mohapatra and Sukumar Das. The saffron party will also be joined by Congress leaders such as Sudip Kumar Mukherjee and Sanmay Banerjee.

Former vice chancellor of Gour Banga university Gopal Mishra also joined BJP today. A large number of politicians from TMC and other parties also joined the party.

Several senior TMC leaders have resigned from TMC

After the top TMC leader Suvendu Adhikari submitted his resignation on December 16 following a prolonged discontentment with the party, a string of party leaders submitted their resignations within the last 72 hours. The TMC leaders who have submitted resignations from the party include Silbhadra Datta, TMC MLA from Barrackpore Assembly constituency, Col. (Rtd) Diptangshu Chaudhary who resigned as the Advisor of the CMO’s Grievance and Monitoring Cell, Asansol MLA Jitendra Tiwari resigned as the Chairman of Board of Administrators of Asansol Municipal Corporation, Abhijit Acharya quit as the Vice-President of Paschim Bardhaman.

West Bengal BJP Vice-President Arjun Singh had claimed earlier today that 60-65 leaders are likely to quit the TMC by January 2021. Several TMC leaders including Suvendu Adhikari are speculated to join the BJP during Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to the state on December 19.

Amit Shah lands in West Bengal

Home Minister Amit Shah arrived in Kolkata early in the morning today on his two-day visit to West Bengal. Shah will be taking stock of the situation in the State ahead of the State Assembly elections due next year. He is scheduled to address a public meeting in Midnapore today. The Home Minister visited the Ramakrishna Ashram, paid homage to revolutionary Khudiram Bose, visited the Siddheswari temple, and had lunch at the house of a farmer in Midnapore.