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Fear of losing British-Indian votes and money? UK Labour Party backtracks on its Kashmir stand, says issue bilateral

OpIndia Staff
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Fear of losing British-Indian votes and money? UK Labour Party backtracks on its Kashmir stand, says issue bilateral

Receiving severe backlash from the Indian diaspora in Britain for passing a resolution on Kashmir mirroring Pakistan’s stand, the UK’ Labour Party has now retracted its previous statement. In a complete turnaround, the Labour Party’s chairperson, Ian Lavery, has called Kashmir a ‘bilateral issue’ and said that it should be resolved by India and Pakistan. It states that the Labour party is opposed to external interference in the political affairs of any other country.


The statement said it recognises that the language used in the emergency resolution passed by them in the month of September has caused displeasure in some sections of the Indian diaspora and in India itself and regrets the same. In the statement, the chairman of the Labour Party said that it holds the Indian diaspora community in the highest regard and appreciate the contributions made by Indians to the UK’ economy.

It furthered that the party will not adopt any anti-India or anti-Pakistan stand and would stay neutral on the Kashmir issue. The earlier resolution, however, called for a ‘mediation’ over the issue and was highly critical of India over the so-called ‘human rights violations’ that Pakistan keeps repeating ad-nauseam.

Taking severe offence at the openly anti-India stand over the Kashmir issue displayed by the Labour party, the Indian diaspora in Britain had decided to reject the Labour party electorally in the upcoming elections and had decided to actively campaign for the incumbent Conservative Party in the UK general election.

According to the reports, the Indian diaspora had decided to put their weight behind the Boris Johnson led Conservative party also known as the ‘Tories’ in the 48 marginal seats that go to polls on December 12. The Indian groups are campaigning for the ruling party and asking Indian-origin voters not to vote for the Labour party.

The Indian diaspora campaign against the Labour Party had come as a response for its anti-India stand. On September 25, the Labour Party had passed a resolution that supported “international intervention in Kashmir and a call for UN led-referendum.” The motion was submitted by UK Labour’s British Pakistani politician Uzma Rasool.

Indian foreign ministry had taken notice of the resolution and had immediately condemned it, calling it ‘pandering of vote bank interests’ by Labours politicians from Pakistani-Muslim dominated regions.

Read: UK’s Labour Party passes resolution on Kashmir mirroring Pakistan’s stand, India calls it ‘pandering vote bank interests’

The resolution passed by the Labour party had asked Corbyn to meet the high commissioners of both India and Pakistan to ensure there is “mediation” and restoration of peace and normality to prevent a potential nuclear conflict. The Labour party’s stand on Kashmir is contrary to India’s position on Kashmir. India has categorically told the international community that its move on Kashmir was an internal matter. India has always maintained that any dialogues with Pakistan will be bilateral only.

Read: Congress meets anti-India, antisemite Jeremy Corbyn who supports terror groups and Islamists: All you need to know about him

Notably, prominent Pakistan-origin people associated with the Labour Party, and even several Labour party MPs in the UK were part of anti-India protests where Pakistanis attacked the Indian High Commission in the UK in September 2019 on abrogation of Article 370 in J&K.

Since the British Indians constitute a considerable number and also contribute significantly towards the business and economy in Britain, their vote in the upcoming elections and could be a gamechanger if they vote en masse for one single party in the UK elections. Fearing political ramifications of mirroring Pakistan’s lines, Labour Party has probably been compelled to eat’s its own words.

Rajasthan University declines permission to Indian Council of Historical Research for a seminar on Veer Savarkar

OpIndia Staff
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Rajasthan University declines permission to Indian Council of Historical Research for a seminar on Veer Savarkar

The Rajasthan University has denied the Indian Council of Historical Research permission to organise a seminar on the Indian freedom fighter Veer Savarkar. The denial comes on the heels of the Rajasthan Congress government’s recent move to remove “Veer” from references to VD Savarkar in the textbooks.

The Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) is an autonomous body of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, which had been established by an Administrative Order of the then Ministry of Education. The council has provided financial assistance to the historians and direction to the research scholars in their diverse topics of historical research through accomplished historians and scholars of the country.

In one such event launched by the council on Monday, the body had sought permission from Rajasthan university to have a seminar on Veer Savarkar- ‘The Truth about Savarkar’, a part of council’s multi-city talk series programme, supported by the history-rewriting wing of the RSS affiliate, Akhil Bharatiya Itihas Sankalan Yojana. However, the University of Rajasthan turned down their request, asking them to change the topic of their discussion.

The bedrock of the multi-city talk series is to counter the false propaganda and lies being peddled about Savarkar and about his writings on the 1857 war of independence, said an ICHR official.

However, the Rajasthan University refused to grant permission to the ICHR stating that “some aspects of Savarkar were deeply controversial”. The University asked the Council to choose some other topic for the seminar.

The head of the department of history and culture, Rajasthan University, Pramila Poonia asserted that they had not refused them entirely but sought a month’s time to deliberate over the issue and involve other stakeholders in arriving at a decision. She said that some facets of Savarkar were profoundly controversial to them and they did not want to incite any problem.

Read: Here are the 5 most popular lies that leftists peddle against Veer Savarkar

In the run-up to the Maharashtra Assembly elections, the BJP had campaigned for Bharat Ratna to the Hindutva hero. This did not sit well with the Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot who was quick to slam the party as a fascist political party with no regard for anyone’s sentiments.

However, many professors at ICHR believe that systematic and coordinated attempts were made to character assassinate Veer Savarkar and thus discredit his propounded Hindutva ideology. Raghuvendra Tanwar, professor, Kurukshetra University, while speaking at ICHR contended that there was a conspiracy to keep Savarkar out of mainstream politics, which was designed by the British because he was endeavouring the political revival of Hindutva.

Another historian who spoke at the event, Himanshu Rai, castigated left for having a partisan view on Savarkar. He slammed the writings of authors Tanika Sarkar, Shamshul Islam and AG Noorani, on Savarkar as “divisive”. Rai contended that the left despised Savarkar because even while serving his jail term, Savarkar initiated the process of Shuddhi, of encouraging prisoners not to convert.

Karachi faces locust attack, Pakistani minister urges people to eat them in Biriyani

OpIndia Staff
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Karachi faces locust attack, Pakistani minister urges people to eat them in Biriyani

After a swarm of locusts from Balochistan’s coastal areas infested Karachi, Pakistan, its minister of agriculture Ismail Rahu came up with a very creative solution to tackle the problem.


Offering a solution to this enduring problem, he suggested citizens of Karachi take advantage of the locusts by preparing delicious dishes such as biryani and Kadhai. He said that the citizens should rather add these free-flying proteins to their biryanis, Kadhais and BBQs instead of getting scared of them.

In a video clip, Sindh minister of agriculture was heard saying: “They have come all the way here so the residents should eat them.”

From the last 2 days, Karachi has been getting massive swarms of locusts passing through every corner of the city. Many people took to Twitter to share the horrifying view.


The Pakistan Agricultural Ministery has attempted to pacify the angered residents, who have blamed the ministry for this menace, by assuring that fumigation process will soon be carried out to control the attack. Pakistan had last experienced a locust attack on a similar scale last in 1961.

Experts in Pakistan have reportedly stated that the swarms of locusts have rushed in from coastal Balochistan due to heavy rains in South Sindh and Balochistan in monsoon. The ministry of food security has also assured Karachi citizens that the species will pose no threat to food crops.

Sharjah-based ex-Indian Kalpana aka Kajal, who is one of the four wives of Pakistan businessman, now faces identity crisis

OpIndia Staff
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Sharjah-based ex-Indian Kalpana aka Kajal, who is one of the four wives of Pakistan businessman, now faces identity crisis

Uncertainty and insecurity loom over a former Indian national, who changed her nationality about 19-years-ago to marry a Pakistani man, as Pakistani authorities delay in renewing her Pakistani national identity card.

Sharjah based Kajal Rasheed Khan, who changed her name, religion and nationality to marry Mohammad Rasheed Khan, applied for the renewal of her Pakistani Identity Card on July 31. However, Pakistani authorities are delaying the same as her documents are still “being verified”. Normally the process which takes about 10 days have still been pending with the Pakistani authorities for over 3 months now, as a result of which Kajal’s bank accounts are now frozen in Karachi.

Kalpana, a Hindu girl, who married Mohammad Rasheed Khan in 1996 in Mumbai, thereafter converted to Islam and changed her name to Kajal. Interestingly, 60-year-old Rasheed Khan, who has four wives including two each from India and Pakistan and 10 children, had come to the UAE from Karachi in 1989 and opened a supermarket in Dubai.

Incidentally, one of his Indian wives lives in India with two daughters.

Kajal, whose existing Pakistani ID card is valid until 2023, had to apply for the new smart ID card to operate her bank accounts in Pakistan, which were frozen. Kajal’s husband Rasheed says that while all documents are submitted, there is no progress from Pakistani authorities’ side.

“I fail to understand why my wife’s application is on hold as it is just a renewal of the ID card. She already holds valid Pakistani passport and Pakistani citizenship certificate,” he was quoted as saying.

Kajal, who lives with Rasheed, is an architect by profession. She has a letter issued from the Pakistan Consulate General in Dubai confirming that she had surrendered her Indian passport and was issued with a Pakistani passport in 2001. Still, due to the Pakistani authorities sheer negligence, she now fears to lose her identity in a country which she preferred to be hers.

Purana Qilla may have been the site of Mahabharata’s Indraprastha: ASI to carry out another round of excavations

OpIndia Staff
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Purana Qilla may have been the site of Mahabharata’s Indraprastha: ASI to carry out another round of excavations

The Archaeological Survey of India has been granted permission to excavate at the fort of Purana Qila in its bid to unearth hidden artefacts beneath the historical site, as per a report in the New Indian Express. Along with Purana Qila, eight other heritage sites in Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Andhra, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana were given the final nod for re-excavation on November 1.

According to an official, the decision for excavation has been taken and budget allotted to carry out the digging. he further added that the site to be dug is yet to be marked following which it may take 4 to 6 weeks for the work to start on the ground. The official confirmed that the fresh excavation would be done at a different location from the previous one.

The ASI believes that a village named Indrapat existed at the site until 1913, which is the direct descendant of Mahabharata’s ‘Indraprastha’, founded by the Pandavas as their capital.

Purana Qilla, the 16th-century fort, was built by Pashtun ruler Sher Shah Suri and second Mughal emperor Humayun. The fort is standing on a site with thousands of years of history. The ASI has already carried out excavation works inside the fort and its premises three times in the past. Twice by noted archaeologist BB Lal (1954 and 1969) and once under the supervision of Vasant Kumar Swarnkar.

Swarnakar had stated to The Indian Express last year that the Purana Qilla site is a place which has cultural deposits from last 2500 years under various layers.

The digging had found out Artefacts such as sickles, parers, terracotta toys, kiln-burnt bricks and painted grey bowls and dishes belonging to the pre-Mauryan period of the third century BC and are displayed at the Archaeological Museum inside the fort complex.

The findings and artefacts unearthed in the excavations comprise painted grey ware, belonging to 1500 BC, and earthen pottery articles from Maurya to Shunga, Kushana, Gupta, Rajput, Sultanates and Mughal periods.

Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari recommends President’s rule in the state

OpIndia Staff
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Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari recommends President’s rule in the state

After it became clear that no party will be able to form a government in the state of Maharashtra, the Governor of the state, Bhagat Singh Koshyari has sent a report to the centre that President’s rule should be imposed in the state.

A statement issued by the Raj Bhavan said, “The Governor of Maharashtra Shri Bhagat Singh Koshyari having been satisfied that as the government of the State of Maharashtra cannot be carried out in accordance with Constitution, has today submitted a report as contemplated by the provisions of Art.356 of the Constitution”.


Earlier yesterday, the situation in the state of Maharashtra was in limbo as Shiv Sena failed to produce the majority needed to form a government in the state. After being assured of supporting the Shiv Sena-NCP government from outside, the Congress party, in a last-minute volte-face, denied extending their support to the Shiv Sena. NCP also didn’t send the required letter of support to Shiv Sena. The Sena then sought 48 hours from the governor to prove the majority by procuring the letter from NCP and Congress.

The Governor then asked the third-largest party in the state-NCP to prove majority. Although they have been given time till 8.30 PM today, it is unliky that they will be able to produce the requisite number of MLAs to stake a claim to the government.

Pulling back the support, Congress had claimed that it needs to consult with its MLAs and NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, while remaining silent on support to Shiv Sena. Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Ahmed Patel and KC Venugopal are slated to meet Sharad Pawar on Monday over the formation of government in the state. Rumours are doing the round that NCP is now mulling over the idea of a rotational chief minister post with the Shiv Sena.

The alliance between the BJP and Shiv Sena bitterly broke after the Sena demanded a rotational chief minister position, contending it was part of the 50-50 formula predecided with the BJP. The BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, however, said that no such arrangement was discussed with Sena before the elections. Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray then snapped ties with the BJP, saying that they have other options open in front of them to fulfil his promise given to Balasaheb Thackeray of installing a Shiv Sena chief minister in Maharashtra one day.

Citing the inability of the political parties to come together to form a government in the state, the Governor sent a report to the Home Ministry, advising the imposition of President’s rule in the state. It is expected that the union government will soon take a decision regarding the imposition of President rule in Maharashtra.

Maharashtra: Shiv Sena to move Supreme Court against governor for declining to extend time, Kapil Sibal to represent the party

OpIndia Staff
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Maharashtra: Shiv Sena to move Supreme Court against governor for declining to extend time, Kapil Sibal to represent the party

The Shiv Sena is preparing to approach the Supreme Court against Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s decision refusing to give more time to Sena to prove their ability to form the government in Maharashtra. It is being reported that Sena is going to rope in senior lawyer and Congress leader Kapil Sibal to present its case in court.

Shiv Sena, which pulled out its nominee Arvind Swant from the Union Cabinet yesterday, had hoped to form a government with support from the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress. However, moments after Shiv Sena leaders led by Aditya Thackeray met the Maharashtra governor to inform that it is willing to form the government, both NCP and Congress clarified that they have not sent any letter of support for Shiv Sena. A press release issued by the Congress also mentioned that the party was talking to Sharad Pawar, while didn’t mention anything about Shiv Sena.

The governor had given a deadline of 7.30 PM today to Shiv Sena to inform its willingness and ability to form the government. Accordingly, Sena leaders met governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and informed that they are willing to form the government, but needed two more days to show its ability to do so.

After Sena failed to show the requisite letters of support to the Governor, the third-largest party, Sharad Pawar’s NCP, was invited to form the government in the state. But it is unlikely that NCP will also be able to form government, as Shiv Sena may not support them, and NCP – Congress combine does not have required numbers.

According to latest reports, the Maharashtra governor has recommended President’s rule for the state, even though the deadline given to NCP to stake claim has not expired yet.

Defence analyst slams Nidhi Razdan’s claim that she countered Pakistan at UK Kashmir event, exposes her lies and anti-India statements

OpIndia Staff
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Defence analyst slams Nidhi Razdan’s claim that she countered Pakistan at UK Kashmir event, exposes her lies and anti-India statements

After an OpIndia report that detailed how Nidhi Razdan had made ill-informed, anti-statements in a UK event based on Kashmir, Nidhi had launched a tirade and claimed that she, in fact, countered the propaganda of Pakistan at this event held in the UK. Defence analyst Abhijit Iyer Mitra had claimed earlier that Nidhi had found support for her statements even from banned terror outfit JKLF.

Read: NDTV’s Nidhi Razdan attends UK ‘Kashmir’ event, gets endorsed by JKLF

Mitra responded to a Tweet by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy who had claimed that his sources had said that Nidhi Razdan had in fact not said what was being claimed. Mitra said that there were multiple sources confirming that Nidhi Razdan had, in fact, made the very statements as were being claimed.


The statements in question were quoted by PTI and Pakistani news portals. In fact, the statements quoted by OpIndia were credited to India Today, the very report that Nidhi Razdan had herself endorsed as the true picture of her statements.


Defence analyst Abhijit Iyer Mitra came out strongly to slam the anti-India comments made by Nidhi Razdan.


Abhijit says that the first fallacious comment made by Nidhi Razdan at the UK Kashmir event was that there is unprecedented communication blackout in the Kashmir valley. Abhijit says that in 91-92, there was a communication blackout for 6 months when terrorists had blown up a cable tower. Even in 2016, during the riots that followed forces neutralising terrorist Burhan Wani, there was a communication blackout.


Abhijit then slammed Nidhi Razdan’s comment that what was happening in Kashmir was against the principles of democracy. He said that democracy means protecting all civilian lives and not just those of a handful of stone pelters and rioters.

Further, Nidhi had said that ‘all political leaders are in preventive custody without having done anything’. To this, Abhijit said that the custody was “Preventive” which means that they were under custody so they would not disturb the peace.


Nidhi Razdan had also made another terribly ill-informed statement. She essentially said that post the abrogation of Article 370, there has been no violence and yet, there was a communication blackout. However, Abhijit too pointed out that she has conveniently forgotten to mention the vicious murder of migrant labours in Kashmir by terrorists.


Abhijit further added that Nidhi Razdan was way off the mark to say that the people of Kashmir were not consulted before the abrogation of Article 370 as only Sunni Muslims did not make up the ‘people of Kashmir’.

Read: Terrorists shot dead 6 daily wage earners from West Bengal in Jammu and Kashmir

Nidhi Razdan had also said that the leaders who picked up the Indian flag were under detention by India. Iyer pointed out that Geelani took the constitutional oath too and several terrorists took part in the past elections but that doesn’t absolve them of their actions against India.


Senior Former Diplomat Mark Lyall Gratt had claimed that India had deployed 5,00,000 troops in Kashmir. However, this lie was also not countered by Nidhi Razdan where she let the Pakistan propaganda flow easily without countering the lies being peddled against India. To the delights of the Pakistani establishment, Nidhi Razdan had also added that India’s credentials at the world’s largest democracy have been shadowed by the events in Kashmir.

Read: Half a million or 1 million? While media peddles fantastical claims, here are the actual number of troops deployed in Jammu and Kashmir

NDTV finding support in Pakistan is nothing new. Recently, Pakistan had shared an NDTV video to further their anti-India agenda. Earlier in March, NDTV’s star anchor Raveesh Kumar had urged media that they should not report the post-Pulwama India-Pakistan conflict, because it will ‘help BJP in the elections’. Raveesh’ statements were soon used by Pakistani media to further their anti-India narrative.

Recently, radical Islamist Zaid Hamid had used ex-NDTV anchor Barkha Dutt’s tweets to spew venom against India.

NDTV seems to fan its ‘Kashmir is in fear’ narrative so much that they are now bordering on an open call for violence. The clip by NDTV reporter that claimed an old Kashmiri man allegedly challenged India to ‘lift the curfew’ to see the real sentiment of Kashmiri people is nothing but another attempt to further their baseless fearmongering. The way NDTV, and for that matter, many media portals are going on about the issue, it seems as if they are just waiting, rather hoping for a riot to happen and people to die, just so they can claim that the central government has failed and thus help Pakistan further its narrative.

Read: NDTV’s Nidhi Razdan peddles another dangerous narrative about Kashmir, this time, about Hazaratbal shrine and Eid Milad

Today itself, Nidhi Razdan had furthered the Pakistan propaganda regarding India imposing curbs on Kashmiris offering prayers at the Hazratbal shrine.

VHP demands new mosque at Ayodhya be named after patriots like APJ Kalam or Ashfaqullah Khan, not a ‘foreigner’ or ‘attacker’ like Babur

OpIndia Staff
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VHP demands new mosque at Ayodhya be named after patriots like APJ Kalam or Ashfaqullah Khan, not a ‘foreigner’ or ‘attacker’ like Babur

Days after the Supreme Court, in a landmark decision, handed over the Ram Janmabhoomi site in Ayodhya to the Hindu parties and asked the centre to allot 5 acres of alternate land at a prominent location in Ayodhya to the Sunni Waqf Board for the re-construction of a mosque, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Monday said that they would request the Centre not to allow the new mosque to be named Babri Masjid after Babur.


Terming the founder and first Emperor of the Mughal dynasty as an aggressor and foreigner on Indian soil, the VHP spokesperson Sharad Sharma, who looks after the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas Karyashala, where engraved stones for the Ram temple have been kept, said: “Babar was an aakranta (attacker) from a foreign country. We will approach the government to not allow this. There are a lot of good Muslims in India. Their contributions to India’s peace and development are huge..such as Vir Abdul Hamid, Ashfaqullah Khan and former President APJ Abdul Kalam. The new mosque should be named after any of them.

The VHP functionary also said that they demand that Union Minister Amit Shah be a part of the trust which will decide on the planning and construction of the Ram temple.

The Supreme Court has ordered the Central government to formulate a scheme within three months from the verdict for setting up of Trust to build the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. The apex court also ordered the union government to provide 5 acres of land at an alternative site at a prominent location in Ayodhya to the Sunni Waqf Board to rebuild the Babri Masjid which was demolished in 1992.

Read- A walk down memory lane: The ‘liberals’ and ‘seculars’ who mocked Ram Mandir

However, one of the Muslim petitioners said that that name of the mosque was not important. The primary issue was of consensus on whether or not to accept the land for the mosque.

While most of the citizens had welcomed the Supreme Court verdict in the long-pending dispute, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi had sulked after the decision ‘rejecting’ the 5 acres of land offered by the apex court saying, “We were fighting for our right, we don’t need 5 acres of land as a donation, we should reject this offer”.

Owaisi had admitted that he was hurt by the judgment of the Supreme Court as he had asserted that the latest verdict will throw open a can of worms as it will serve to bolster the morale of Sangh Parivar, who will now lay claim to other ‘Muslim’ sites where mosques are standing.

Bailable warrant issued against Shashi Tharoor in defamation case over ‘scorpion on Shivling’ remark

OpIndia Staff
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Bailable warrant issued against Shashi Tharoor in defamation case over ‘scorpion on Shivling’ remark

A bailable warrant has been issued against Congress leader and former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor in a defamation case over the ‘scorpion on a Shivling’ remark he had made against PM Modi last year. As per reports, the warrant has been issued by Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court after Shashi Tharoor failed to appear.


As per reports, the warrant was issued by the district court yesterday after neither Tharoor nor his counsel appeared before the court on the scheduled date. No exemption application has also been reportedly moved from Tharoor’s side.

The court has issued a bailable warrant for the sum of Rs 5000 and has also passed a notice for surety for the next hearing date of 27th November. The complainant, a BJP leader named Rajeev Babbar has also been fined Rs 500 by the court for failing to appear.

As per reports, the case against Tharoor was filed by BJP leader Rajeev Babbar after Tharoor’s controversial remark last year. Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court had on August 7 this year reserved its order.

Read: Shashi Tharoor says PM Modi is like ‘Scorpion on a Shivling, cannot even hit him with the chappal

A number of cases were filed against Tharoor after he made the remarks against PM Modi. Speaking at an event in Bengaluru on October 28 last year, Tharoor had quoted an unnamed ‘source’ in the RSS and had stated that PM Modi is like a scorpion that is sitting on a Shivling, it can neither be hit with a chappal nor can be removed with hand.

Cases were lodged by many BJP leaders against Tharoor in Delhi. In June this year, Tharoor was granted bail by Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal on a personal bond of Rs 20,000 after he appeared before the court and moved bail application.

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