Home Blog Page 5706

AAP says they are with Shaheen Bagh, does Arvind Kejriwal support Sharjeel Imam: Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi rally

OpIndia Staff
-
0
AAP says they are with Shaheen Bagh, does Arvind Kejriwal support Sharjeel Imam: Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi rally

Union Home Minister Amit Shah today called out Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s ambiguity over the ongoing Shaheen Bagh protests in Delhi. Shah said that Kejriwal should clearly express if he is against or in favour of the Shaheen Bagh protests.


Speaking at an election rally in Rithala,Delhi, Shah invoked Shaheen Bagh protest mastermind and the Wire columnist, Sharjeel Imam’s profoundly seditious argument against the territorial integrity of India.

“Imam talked about cutting-off Assam and the North-East from the rest of India. Modi government asked Delhi police to file a case of sedition against him. I want to ask Arvind Kejriwal, does he support action against Sharjeel Imam or not? Are you in support of those at Shaheen Bagh or not? Make it clear to the people of Delhi,” Shah thundered.

Read: Is Arvind Kejriwal beginning to panic about Shaheen Bagh?

“You (the AAP leaders) people say that you are with Shaheen Bagh. If you have the guts then go and sit with them. And let Delhi decide,” Shah said.

The remark from Shah comes after Arvind Kejriwal posted a tweet alleging that the BJP is responsible for the ongoing protests in Shaheen Bagh and does not want to resolve it. He also asked the BJP leaders to visit the venue and negotiate with the protesters who have been shouting anti-India slogans and promoting secessionist agenda.

Shortly afterwards, Kejriwal retorted back diplomatically stating that the remarks made by Sharjeel regarding Assam were of highly objectionable nature and being a Home Minister, Shah should have gotten arrested him immediately. Questioning Shah’s intentions, Kejriwal asked why Sharjeel was not arrested yet.


On Saturday January 25, 2020, a video of one of the co-organisers of Shaheen Bagh protest, Sharjeel Imam, had gone viral in which the Wire columnist made a clarion call to Muslims to organise and unite to cut-off Assam and the North-East from the rest of India. Sharjeel also unapologetically admitted in the video communal nature of the Shaheen Bagh protest.

Read: From The Wire to everything else, the Anatomy of an Islamist: Into the mind of Sharjeel Imam, mastermind of Shaheen Bagh

Soon after Sharjeel’s video went viral, arrest warrant was issued against Sharjeel for making seditious and inflammatory speech. He is currently on the run even as the UP police is on the lookout.

Earlier, Deputy chief minister and senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia declared his support for the protesters demonstrating at Shaheen Bagh. Speaking to the CNN News18 ahead of the 2020 Delhi elections, Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia categorically stated that the Aam Aadmi Party stands with the protestors of Shaheen Bagh, Delhi.

The assembly elections in Delhi are scheduled to happen on February 8, 2020 while the election results are going to be declared on February 11, 2020.

Asansol, West Bengal: One Gaurav Thakur sent to jail after communal tension following him and a Muslim girl eloping

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Asansol, West Bengal: One Gaurav Thakur sent to jail after communal tension following him and a Muslim girl eloping

The communal tensions between two communities in Asansol district of West Bengal soared after a Hindu boy eloped away with a Muslim girl, says a report published in Jagran. The lovers ran away to the boy’s maternal uncle’s house in Jharia district of neighbouring Jharkhand after their families came to know about their love affair.

On January 21, the father of the girl filed a complaint in the Asansol South police station that his juvenile daughter has been kidnapped by a 19-year-old Hindu boy named Gaurav Thakur. He alleged that his daughter is just 17-years-old and was a ninth student when she was abducted by Thakur.

According to Swaroop Mukherjee, a police officer of Asansol South police station, the father alleged that his daughter went missing on January 20 when she had gone out to fetch some goods from a nearby shop but did not return. He stated in his complaint that Gaurav and his brothers, resident of Nurruddin Road, Named Pada, Asansol, abducted his daughter with false motives. He also stated that when he went to Gaurav’s residence to inquire about his daughter’s whereabouts, he was abused and threatened with dire consequences.

Gaurav and his alleged girlfriend belong to two different religions. Hostility between the two communities increased after it was found that the couple is absconding. Realising that the situation is tensed, the police sprung into action and vigorously commenced its search operation to nab the lovers.

As soon as police caught wind of their whereabouts, it raided the house of Suresh Sharma and Sunil Sharma, the maternal uncles of Gaurav Thakur, in Jharia on the night of 25 January. Both, Gaurav and his alleged girlfriend were caught from the house. The police hoped that the heightened communal tension in Asansol will ease off as the alleged lovers had been caught.

Legal action has been taken against Gaurav, based on the complaint filed by the girl’s father. Gaurav has been sent to jail on kidnapping charges. While being a minor, the girl has been handed over to her family.

On the other hand, Gaurav’s mother, Jyoti Devi has alleged that this is not a case of kidnapping but that of a love affair. She has accused police of acting under the duress of the girl’s family and relatives.

Kapil Sibal threatens media, warns against linking him to revelations regarding PFI funding anti-CAA riots and payments made to him

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Kapil Sibal threatens media, warns against linking him to revelations regarding PFI funding anti-CAA riots and payments made to him

The Enforcement Directorate has claimed in a report that the PFI spent about 120 crores in a month to orchestrate the violent riots in the country after the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act, naming eminent lawyers Kapil Sibal, Indira Jaising and Dushyant Dave also as the beneficiaries of PFI’s funding. The report, as is to be expected, has triggered a massive political row.

The senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal has now issued a clarification claiming that the payments made by PFI were the lawyer fees owed to him in the Hadiya case. He has also questioned the conduct of the media in the entire controversy. He said, “Media has put up a story that ED told them that CAA protests are funded by PFI and part of that funding has come to some advocates, including me. I wish both the media and those who leaked these stories did a bit of homework because they wouldn’t have leaked it otherwise.”

“But I think there is a motive behind it. The motive is very simple and that is to destroy people’s reputation by spreading lies, lies and more lies. This seems to be a part of their propaganda machine, supported by this government and taken over by media ‘bhakts’ on social media,” Sibal added. Sibal did not stop there and went on to threaten the media with defamation suits if they linked his name in the controversy after his clarification or if their posts targeting him on the matter still remained on social media.

Read: Nexus between Congress and Islamists in stoking anti-CAA riots? PFI spent over 120 crores, transferred huge sums to Kapil Sibal and Indira Jaising: Read details

Sibal said, “If you run this story again and link my name to this, I will consider this defamation and if any media runs this news, if a journalist who had done this story during the day if the tweets remain in their account, I will take them to Court. I will take them to Court as soon as possible and in the Criminal Court as well. It is my warning to them that this should be over by this evening.”

The BJP, however, does not appear to be buying Sibal’s defence. Party spokesman Sambit Patra said on Twitter, “Kapil Sibal says that money received from PFI was for the Hadia case. But wasn’t the Hadia case a case between a husband and wife and how did PFI get involved? He also says that he doesn’t check the source of money received. Is this statement even real, coming from a lawyer?”

Kapil Sibal appears to have a habit of sorts of threatening people to question his dubious or inappropriate conduct. In the past, he had threatened to sue OpIndia as well for raising pertinent questions about his financial dealings. Prior to the Lok Sabha elections of 2019, he had issued a thinly veiled threat to bureaucrats that the Congress party is keeping a close watch on officers showing loyalty to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Mumbai: News Nation video journalist attacked by ‘Shaheen Bagh’ inspired anti-CAA protest in Nagpada, camera broken

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Mumbai: News Nation video journalist attacked by ‘Shaheen Bagh’ inspired anti-CAA protest in Nagpada, camera broken

On Monday, a video journalist associated with news channel News Nation was reportedly attacked and beaten up by unidentified assailants when she had gone to cover the Anti-CAA protests in South Mumbai’s Nagpada area at around 4:15 AM.

Reportedly, the camera was broken and the cameraman assaulted. A First Information Report (FIR) was lodged against 3 unidentified men at Nagpada police station.

As per News Nation, their journalists had gone to cover the anti-CAA protests where attacked the media crew without even understanding them. The protestors had gathered at “Mumbai Bagh” on lines of Shaheen Bagh in Delhi where the media crew had gone to cover them. On wee hours of Monday morning, the ‘protestors’ in Mumbai’s Nagpada attacked the crew and broke their camera.

This is not the first time that a journalist has been manhandled while reporting on Anti-CAA protests. On January 24, the Senior Consulting Editor of News Nation, Deepak Chaurasia. was heckled by a mob protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) at Shaheen Bagh, Delhi.

Read: Deepak Chaurasia, who was assaulted at Shaheen Bagh, gives befitting reply to The Wire employee who downplayed attack

The mob interrupted the reporting by physically assaulting Chaurasia and the video journalist accompanying him. The camera was also destroyed. The violent attack on Deepak Chaurasia was condemned by many, including the President of News Broadcasters Federation, Arnab Goswami. Many left-wing propagandists masquerading as journalists, however, tried to downplay the incident and resorted to victim-blaming.

FIR filed against Pro-Congress fake news peddler Flynn Remedios by former Miss India Natasha Suri for uploading objectionable pictures of her

OpIndia Staff
-
0
FIR filed against Pro-Congress fake news peddler Flynn Remedios by former Miss India Natasha Suri for uploading objectionable pictures of her

Supermodel and Former Miss India World Natasha Suri has filed an FIR against pro-Congress fake-news peddler Flynn Remedios for tagging her name into objectionable content, reports Orissapost.

Reportedly, Natasha accused Remedios of putting up adult content tagging her name on his portals Indiascoops.com and Indiaspeaks.live, and also sent the same to various other websites for publication. Indiascoops.com is the same website which Remedios had used earlier to spread anti-Modi fake news regarding Yoga day video and Rafale deal. These articles by Indiascoops were shared extensively by ex-Congress IT cell head Divya Spandana and SC lawyer Prashant Bhushan amongst others.

Read: Journalist tells model to ‘act’ being molested by a politician, puts ‘audition’ clip as real news on his website

Natasha along with her lawyer Madhav V Thorat filed the FIR against Remedios at Dadar police station earlier this month. A complaint was given to Cyber Crime Investigation Cell (CCIC) in Bandra-Kurla Complex December 24 but the FIR was lodged only in January at Dadar Police Station.

As per Suri, the harassment started in November 2019 when somebody started creating fake news articles and started tagging her on social media posts. These posts would have objectionable pictures of girls in a bathroom with their faced blurred. “The name of some girl called Natasha Suri Singh. This is a non-existent name, but this man Flynn Remedios was doing this for some reason. I am his new target,” Natasha alleged.

“He started sharing these fake news articles under the garb of Natasha Suri Singh, and because there is only Natasha Suri right now, who is a model, all these instantly got linked with me. He made some fake Twitter accounts and created some horrendous news articles and some bathroom pictures, and circulated it on his portal. He has taken out pictures with no heads from porn sites and written @NatSuri on them. It’s all appearing under my Google name,” added Natasha.

Natasha confirmed that the FIR got filed because even the police realised that the accused was an actual threat and dangerous. “He is unnecessarily dragging me into so many controversies that I am not a part of,” said former Miss India World Suri.

The supermodel said that Remedios also stoked controversy by running an article on his portals which stated that she has accused Bigg Boss 13 contestant Sidharth Shukla of molestation. The supermodel added that it is important to take these criminals to task in order to protect your honour and dignity.

Natasha won Femina Miss India World title in 2006 and was in the Top 10 at the Miss World contest. She made her acting debut in 2016 with the Malayalam film ‘King Liar’ and has worked in a few web-series including Inside Edge.

This is not the first time that Congress supporter Flynn Remedios is accused of publishing defamatory material. Remedios runs a fake news website IndiaScoops.com which is often shared by Congress leaders and Senior Supreme Court lawyers like Prashant Bhushan.

A case was registered against Flynn Remedios last year in January 2019 after he had attempted to lure a model to character assassinate a BJP leader Vinod Shelar. Flynn had allegedly lured the woman by telling her that she was auditioning for the reality show Bigg Boss, gave her a script to read which contained sexual harassment charges against BJP leader. This video had then gone viral and Shelar had filed a complaint with the Malad Police Station.

In September 2018, Remedios had used his soft-porn website Indiascoops.com to spread fake news. In fact, Remedios even seems to be creating ‘fictional’ people to create fake sleazy stories on rapes and molestation. We had exposed earlier how the website indiascoops.com had four stories of ‘leaking nude images’ of models and starlets by an obscure Tamil film director who exists only on his website.

Kolkata Mayor’s R-Day message from municipal corporation’s official page shares distorted map of India, faces criticism

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Kolkata Mayor’s R-Day message from municipal corporation’s official page shares distorted map of India, faces criticism

Firhad Hakim, a prominent Trinamool Congress leader and the mayor of Kolkata, stirred up controversy on Sunday. The official Facebook page of Kolkata Municipal Corporation had posted the mayor’s Republic Day message along with a distorted map of India. The regions of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) and Aksai Chin were seen missing from the Indian Kashmir.

PoK is under Pakistan’s illegal control whereas Aksai Chin is illegally occupied by China. However, India never left its claim on these two regions. The nation considers both as integral parts of it.

Having said that, the Facebook post has stirred the hornet’s nest with many calling out the TMC leader for his anti-India post on Republic Day. Deputy Mayor, Atin Ghosh, conceded that the post was wrong.

The Communist Party of India -Marxist (CPIM) had demanded the resignation of the mayor. The party’s Assembly leader, Sujan Chakraborty, had asked Mamata Banerjee to hold the mayor accountable and take strict action against him.

Bengal BJP’s Twitter handle lashed out at Hakim and CM Mamata Banerjee asking if they endorsed the stand of Pakistan on Kashmir. Sayantan Bose, State BJP general secretary, alleged that such distortion was executed by Hakim on the behest of Imran Khan. He further added that the move was a part of a larger conspiracy to turn West Bengal into West Pakistan.


Netizens too minced no words and came down hard at the TMC leader. They have accused him of furthering the cause of Islamisation in India, appeasing his community members and being a closet Pakistan supporter.


Hakim, however, pleaded innocent and stated that an internal investigation is underway. Hakim claimed that there must be a ‘conspiracy’ behind the social media post and it may have been ‘hacked’.

This is not the first time when the Mayor of Kolkata has been in the news for the wrong reasons. He had earlier called a Muslim-dominated area of Kolkata as “Mini-Pakistan.”

In order to pacify Muslim rioters, during the anti-CAA riots that had seen extensive vandalism, arson and damage to public properties, Hakim had claimed such acts by  Muslims will ‘help BJP to come to power in Bengal’ and then the Muslims have to ‘keep their heads down’, like they allegedly do in UP.

‘This is how the Christoislamist lobby behaves’, says journalist abused on social media for speaking out against Azaan in Chennai’s Marina Mall

Editorial Desk
-
0
‘This is how the Christoislamist lobby behaves’, says journalist abused on social media for speaking out against Azaan in Chennai’s Marina Mall

Sanjay Pandey, a journalist who has been associated with FirstPost and Reuters in the past, on Sunday shared a short video on Twitter where the Azaan can be heard playing in the background. He said that the Azaan was being played through the internal sound system of the Marina Mall where the video was recorded. He noted that the mall’s usual music resumed after the Azaan was completed.


In the caption, Pandey said that he wondered if it was even legal in the first place. In the video shared he says, “This is insane and ridiculous. I have never heard anything like this; at least in India. I don’t know what kind of mindset is this. Next time you’ll see Church prayers and Bhagavad Gita playing in malls. Welcome to Secular India.” Immediately, Pandey was showered with abuses and some even told him to ‘Get the f**k out’ of Chennai.

OpIndia got in touch with Pandey to understand the situation. He told us that he had gone to the Marina Mall to watch a movie and the incident happened after he had come out after the show was over. “I am a journalist and I have travelled to every nook and corner of the country. I have worked in all the four metros. I have never had such an experience. This is something new. And this is an indication that we are probably headed towards a situation where such things will happen more and more frequently. They are basically trying to normalize it.”

Read: Youths stabbed after supporting Sonu Nigam’s views about loudspeakers at religious places

He continued, “They have normalized five times Azaan from Mosques, nobody objects to it now. And if somebody objects like Sonu Nigam, they have to shave their head. Also, get threats from people. I have talked to my friends from Dubai, it doesn’t happen there also.” Pandey further said that he doesn’t even tweet too much and he had tweeted for the first time in more than a year because he felt it was something that more people should know and care about. “A mall is not a religious affair, it’s a business establishment. In today’s society, a mall is probably the most secular place that you can think of.”

Pandey said that after recording it for thirty seconds, he went and talked to a few people in the mall and asked them whether it happened on a daily basis. He said that he was told that it is indeed the case. He said that in order to ensure that the Azaan was not coming from a nearby Mosque, he checked to see if there were any nearby and he found out that it wasn’t the case. He also tried to talk to the manager but he wasn’t able to. He talked to a few security guards but they said they could not speak on the matter. He also said that initially, they admitted that the Azaan was indeed connected to the internal sound system but backtracked later.

Read: Azaan played in a ‘secular’ Durga Puja pandal in Kolkata sparks outrage, TMC leader Paresh Pal amongst key organisers

The journalist was taking the slew of abuse lightly thus far. Pandey said that he ‘pretty much expected the abuse’. He said, “The way that the Leftists and Christoislamists lobby behave, it’s their way or the highway… But I believe if something is wrong, then I have to say it. And if the abuses come my way, I take it in my stride. This is helping me understand the psyche of these people and what they think about this country.” Pandey also said that he was not a Sanghi as he has never been associated with the Sangh, contrary to what the abusive people in the comment section were alleging.

Pandey also believes that the culture of inclusiveness in the country is being destroyed by the influx of money from the Gulf countries. “The Radical Islam that has been exported to our country, it has ruined the culture of inclusiveness. There is so much venom in people.” He also mourned the disappearing civility in public discourse. “People are ruining their relationships, just because of disagreements on social media. I do not usually tweet but this was something that caught me by surprise and I couldn’t restrain the urge to share it and let the world know this is what we have come to. What’s next?”

Update: In a tweet to Pandey, the Chennai mall has justified playing azaan five times a day on mall loudspeakers as it also celebrates festivals like Christmas, Diwali and Pongal which fall once a year. Azaan is a call to pray for Muslims and not a festival, like Christmas, Diwali and Pongal. 

Kejriwal activates damage-control mode, asks BJP to negotiate with seditious organisers of the Shaheen Bagh protests

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Kejriwal activates damage-control mode, asks BJP to negotiate with seditious organisers of the Shaheen Bagh protests

The expose of communal undertones and secessionist agenda of the Shaheen Bagh protests seems to have compelled Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to recalibrate his electoral strategy for the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections.

As the seditious nature of the protest came to the light, an edgy Kejriwal, who had until now been non-committal on the issue of Shaheen Bagh protest, fearing backlash from his supporters, posted a tweet pinning the entire blame of the quagmire on the BJP.


In an attempt to legitimise the demands made by Shaheen Bagh protestors, Kejriwal put the onus of settlement on the BJP, asking them to quickly reach a solution so that the road blockades can be removed and commuters can be relieved of the distress they are facing due to the month-long protest. This statement of Kejriwal comes days after Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had publicly declared that he stood in solidarity with Shaheen Bagh protesters. In fact, a video had also surfaced where AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan was spotted next to Imam. In the video, it can be clearly seen Khan asking whether people want to protest or prepare for Friday prayers in Mosques.

Kejriwal asserted that the distress and hardships commuters have to go through due to the ongoing Shaheen Bagh protests is not because of the mindless protesters wantonly encamping on the roads but it is because of BJP’s “bad politics” for not wanting to negotiate with the demonstrators.

The AAP supremo has asked the BJP leaders to visit Shaheen Bagh and have a discussion with the organisers of Shaheen Bagh, one of whom had revealed his seditious plans to divide the country.

Read: Radical Islamists say Muslims must stand by Shaheen Bagh mastermind Sharjeel Imam, defend his decision to cut off Assam

On Saturday January 25, 2020, a video of the Shaheen Bagh mastermind and the Wire columnist, Sharjeel Imam had gone viral in which he was seen calling upon fellow Muslims to unite and cut-off Assam and the North-East from the rest of India. In his speech, he also ridiculed the secular appropriation of the Shaheen Bagh protests and enunciated in clear terms that the protests were Muslim in nature.

With elections approaching, Delhi CM, who was hitherto dormant in raising his discomfiture with regards to public inconvenience caused by month-long Shaheen Bagh protests, cunningly tried to appear as a champion of public grievance by voicing his concern for the commuters facing distress while at the same time steer clear of offending the protesters. It is to this end that Kejriwal shielded the anti-CAA protesters while blaming the BJP for the continued protests.

Is Arvind Kejriwal beginning to panic about Shaheen Bagh?

Abhishek Banerjee
-
0
Is Arvind Kejriwal beginning to panic about Shaheen Bagh?

A recent tweet by Arvind Kejriwal is quite telling. Arvind Kejriwal has finally mentioned Shaheen Bagh in a tweet

Untitled

However, Arvind Kejriwal has done so not to express support or any particular sympathy for those protesters. Rather he points out that the prolonged dharna has blocked the public road, causing inconvenience to ordinary people. He accuses the BJP of letting the protest drag for political reasons. He then demands that BJP leaders should speak to the protesters and get them to open the road.

There is a lot to decode in this tweet, the first being the cavalier attitude of Kejriwal towards the Shaheen Bagh protesters and their demands. He doesn’t even want to discuss them. His tweet is focused purely on getting the public road to reopen.

In other words, his ground feedback suggests common people don’t care about what Shaheen Bagh has to say. That common people are prickly about an arterial road being closed because of the ruckus.

Read: Days before Delhi polls, AAP extends its support to anti-CAA Shaheen Bagh ‘protestors’

The second point is that he says BJP is doing dirty politics over Shaheen Bagh. Translation: he knows that the prolonged protest is actually going in BJP’s favour. That common people are not sympathetic to the Shaheen Bagh drama, that they likely see it as anti-national and they are putting the blame at the door of ‘secular’ parties and their surrogates.

Hence the desperation of Kejriwal to turn this around and blame BJP somehow.

Add this to the fact that the AAP campaign has so far maintained near-total silence over Shaheen Bagh. Except for one costly indiscretion by Manish Sisodia. When Kejriwal spoke on it three days ago, he again focused on the inconvenience caused to ordinary people and not the protests themselves.

Untitled
Economic Times article

On the other hand, the BJP has been extremely vocal in talking about Shaheen Bagh. Not just in terms of inconvenience to people, but directly taking on the protesters and their demands.

Untitled
The Hindu article

There’s only one reasonable conclusion here. Both sides know that Shaheen Bagh has become a serious issue. The BJP knows it is helping them. The AAP wants people to speak as little about Shaheen Bagh as possible because they know just as well that it is helping their adversary.

In other words, the ground feedback in both camps is the same.

This is not surprising. As the Shaheen Bagh (and assorted, sporadic anti-CAA protests) have continued, the worst of anti-national rhetoric has come to the surface. The hate was always thinly veiled, to begin with. But as the government has not relented, the protesters in their frustration have spewed more and more of their inner venom.

Read: After Congress, AAP leaders booked for anti-CAA violence, ‘protestors’ question absence of Rahul, Priyanka and Kejriwal at Shaheen Bagh, Jamia

One wanted to cut off the North East from India. Said openly that non-believers should live their lives as per terms set by Muslims. Just as disturbing as his words were the calm, almost scholarly manner in which he spoke. This was not a rabble-rouser on a street corner making an untoward remark in the heat of the moment. This was a well educated Islamist expressing his well thought out opinion on how he sees the future of India. Torn into pieces and subjugated to Islamism. Chilling.

The other day there was another viral video. This time of an alleged journalist, known to be suave and well-spoken. Explaining calmly that the show of inclusiveness in the protest is a strategic choice and not an ideological one. Again, chilling.

At least we got to hear this aloud. We as a nation needed to see this. Because too many of us are still denying the reality and the intensity of the hate.

Read: As AAP grandstands and dares BJP to arrest Sharjeel Imam, video surfaces where AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan is seen with Imam

One can only guess that with every passing day, as the frustration mounts, the anti-CAA crowd will expose themselves further. More such videos will be coming for sure and they will all go viral. And rest assured all of this will go against AAP in Delhi.

Eminent liberals had already anticipated this a couple of weeks ago. Remember when they begged with Shaheen Bagh to wrap up their protests in view of coming elections in Delhi? As the election is getting closer, the nervousness in the secular camp appears to be mounting. And Kejriwal is finally panicking.

Brace yourself: Rahul Gandhi will ‘come of age’ yet again as Congress plans his ‘one more return’

Dibakar Dutta
-
0
Brace yourself: Rahul Gandhi will ‘come of age’ yet again as Congress plans his ‘one more return’

The Indian National Congress (INC) is hatching a plan to re-launch its 5th generation party dynast, Rahul Gandhi, to the throne of the President yet again, says a report by Economic Times.

The Gandhi-Nehru scion had resigned taking ‘moral responsibility’ after his party’s terrible performance in the second consecutive general elections in 2019.

Despite promising ₹72000 per year under the so-called NYAY scheme and weaving the imaginary tale of Rafale scam, the Congress Party failed to hold its ground in 2019 elections. After a harrowing defeat, the then President of the Congress, Rahul Gandhi, had tendered his resignation.

This was followed by drama, uncertainty over acceptance and rejection of his resignation letter. The party was already hung in the balance. For months at a stretch, the think tank could not come up with a successor, despite the presence of several young leaders in the party. Unable to come out of its inherent nepotism that holds the party together, Congress had finally declared Rahul’s mother Sonia Gandhi as its ‘interim president’.

Read: Rahul Gandhi and how the media has been making him ‘come of age’ for the past 10 years

To re-establish himself as a leader, Gandhi will reportedly begin an all- India tour, starting from Rajasthan, followed by Kerala, Jharkhand, Congress-ruled states and other poll-bound states. He will speak rural distress, unemployment woes and the alleged “failed promises” of the current political dispensation.

This new development has come to light in the backdrop of the change in the political climate. The orchestrated Anti-CAA protests held across India and the woes of a slowing economy must have renewed hope in the party dynast that it was the right time to strike the hot iron.

The ET report states that besides his own interest, the reluctance of party supremo Sonia Gandhi to hold on to the Presidential post has also made the Congress old guard rethink about Rahul Gandhi. Moreover, he faces stiff competition from his sister Priyanka Gandhi who is now being looked at as the “next big name” at the party.

AICC general secretary KC Venugopal has stated, “The party rank and file clearly wants Rahul Gandhi Ji to lead the Congress again. Though he is yet to respond, we are waiting for him to take that decision.”

The ET report, citing sources, has claimed that Rahul’s supporters are planning his ‘re-launch’ based on four trends:

  • Opposition parties wrestling states away from BJP
  • Rahul Gandhi showing a ‘renewed interest’ in the party’s decision-making process
  • Sonia Gandhi’s multiple expressions of reluctance to lead the party
  • Many supporters of Priyanka Gandhi starting to think that she may have a better future in the party and should, therefore, extend her work beyond Uttar Pradesh.

All four reasons and trends cited only reaffirm the growing concerns being expressed by political experts that Congress party is simply incapable of ditching the dynasts. Despite the presence of many experienced and capable leaders in the party, it is still fixated with its royal family.

Only time can tell whether Rahul Gandhi’s ascent to the party’s Presidential throne helps the Congress party reclaim its foothold in the country (like it did in MP, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh Assembly elections) or decimates the morale of party workers and vote share of the Congress like it did in 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
1...5,7055,7065,707...7,609Page 5,706 of 7,609