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Gujarat categorically and vehemently rejects Congress second time in a row in Lok Sabha elections. Here is why

Aarti
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Gujarat categorically and vehemently rejects Congress second time in a row in Lok Sabha elections. Here is why

2019 Lok Sabha elections have concluded and TsuNaMo has swept over the country and Gujarat has given all 26 seats to their sons. The state did not let down the sons Prime Minister Modi and BJP President and now Gujarat MP Amit Shah.

When it comes to Gujarat things are different compared to other Hindi heartland states. It is Narendra Modi’s janmabhumi and karmabhumi. It’s here that he began his successful journey as an able administrator and made Gujarat a truly global state.

Gujarat state continues to repose its faith in BJP, Congress heavyweights lose

Congress party’s dream to revive its performance in Gujarat especially after seeing a bit of improvement in Gujarat state election 2017 didn’t materialise. It lost all 26 seats and failed to translate its state election performance into 2019 Lok Sabha votes for many reasons.

To begin with, the total voting turnaround for the state locked at 64.11%. Congress party’s heavy-weights, Paresh Dhanani from Amreli lost to BJP’s Naranbhai kachhadia in Amreli, Bharat Sinh Solanki former state party president from Anand lost to BJP’s Mitesh Patel.

Miffed by the poor performance state party president Amit Chavda, Hardik Patel, Siddharth Patel and Arjun Modhawadiya even contemplated of challenging Anand constituency’s results. However, if there’s anything that Congress party should be challenging right now is party’s way of working.

Another seat that held people’s interest from the start was Gandhinagar seat. After L K Advani announced not to contest, Amit Shah decided to contest from Gandhinagar. It was a landslide victory for him with more than 4.5 lakhs votes in Gandhinagar. In Rajkot BJP candidate Mohan Kundariya won with more than 3.5 lakhs vote against Congress’s Lalit Kagathara. BJP’s Darshana Vikram Jardosh from Surat, Rathva Gitaben Vajesingbhai from Chhota Udaipur, Poonamben Hematbhai Maadam from Jamnagar, Hasmukhbhai Patel from Ahmedabad East, Dr. Kirit Solanki from Ahmedabad West, Ranjan Bhatt from Vadodara all recorded a landslide victory.

Congress party’s myopic views on the state

Gujarat state assembly election 2017 was different from other state elections. It was for the first time in last fifteen years that BJP was fighting state election without Narendra Modi as the Chief Minister.

There was a rise of the local youth politicians in Jignesh Mevani, Alpesh Thakore (who later contested from Congress ticket) and Patidar leader Hardik Patel (who recently joined Congress. The BJP government in the state was facing over two decades of anti-incumbency where an entire generation had never seen a non-BJP government in the state.

The state’s entrepreneurial spirit was a faced with a change of acceptance with GST and demonetisation. It wasn’t anti-incumbency of over 20 years that was a cause of worry for BJP but the absence of an able administrator like Narendra Modi. These factors may have helped congress party but to interpret this as the state is warming up to Congress is debatable. The friction in congress party’s state leadership is known to all. Their leadership in the state was best displayed in their rifts and personal interest. Congress party in Gujarat from last fifteen years has even failed to come up as a strong opposition party.

National interest over state issues

Gujarat is a peace-loving state known for its inimitable entrepreneurial spirit. At all given times it wants peace and harmony in the state to prevail. Security and stability comes first and when it comes to national security state’s choice remains unquestionable.

They trust Narendra Modi that he will protect people’s interest and guard the nation. When Jaish-e-Mohammad terror camps was destroyed people cheered for him. People chose to go with the national interest over the issues picked up during state election also because the intent of the local leaders was now known.

People could see through the young faces interest and what they were trying to achieve by joining hands with congress. It comes as no surprise that most patidars in the state care zilch about reservation and most of them have given up on Hardik Patel, especially after he joined Congress. People of the state are disenchanted with local young leaders after their intent came out clear.

It is also interesting to note how Congress party’s both campaigns, Vikas gando thayo che – vikas has gone mad (used in state assembly elections) and Chowkidar chor hai (Lok Sabha elections) gave BJP their two campaigns that echoed the pride of Gujarat (Hun Chu Vikas) and (Mein bhi Chowkidar Hoon).

To sum up, the people of the state have reposed their faith in BJP and national interest and security remains the top priority for the people of Gujarat. And, when it comes to protecting their interest who better than Narendra Modi, who they know, love and believe in.

‘Clouds prevent radar from detecting accurately’, after Army Chief, now Air Marshal Raghunath Nambiar defends PM Modi’s Radar remark

OpIndia Staff
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‘Clouds prevent radar from detecting accurately’, after Army Chief, now Air Marshal Raghunath Nambiar defends PM Modi’s Radar remark

Today a top Air Force official came forward to defend Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s comments about clouds affecting the efficiency of radars. During an interview with a TV channel on 11th May, PM Modi said that on the day Indian Air Force conducted the air strike on terror camps in Balakot in Pakistan, it was a rainy weather. While deliberating on whether to go ahead with the strike in such weather, Modi had said the weather may beneficial for Indian Air Force jets as the clouds may disrupt the radar of Pakistan.

This comment by Modi was widely mocked by so-called intellectuals, left-liberal commentators and opposition parties. It was asserted that radar signals are not affected by weather, and PM was displaying his ignorance about this technical aspect. But after that several people with knowledge about the field had clarified that Modi was absolutely right, and radar signals are in fact disrupted by cloud.

Now Air Marshal Raghunath Nambiar, the Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Air Command, has said that it is true that strong clouds can prevent radar from detecting aircraft accurately. He said, “That is true up to some effect that very strong clouds and very strong convective conditions in clouds prevent the radar from detecting very accurately”, while speaking to news agency ANI.

The Air Marshal was responding to a question on remarks made by Army Chief General Bipin Rawat who had defended Modi’s comment in this matter yesterday. The General had said, “there are various kinds of radars working with different technologies. Some have the capacity to see through, some don’t have the capacity to see through. Some kinds of radar cannot see through clouds because of the manner in which it is operating. Sometimes we can, sometimes we can’t.” The Army chief had made the comment while talking to media in Kerala on 26th May. He had added that the Balakot air strike was conducted to ensure that terrorists being trained across the border do not survive to carry out action against India.

On February 26th, Mirage 2000 fighter jets of Indian Air Force had entered Pakistan and bombed a Jaish-e-Mohammad terror camp located at Balakot. It was done after the terror attack on a CRPF convoy at Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir on 14th February, which was conducted by a Jaish suicide bomber.

More humiliation for Congress: Salman Khurshid, Raj Babbar amongst those who lost their deposits as only Sonia Gandhi wins in UP

OpIndia Staff
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More humiliation for Congress: Salman Khurshid, Raj Babbar amongst those who lost their deposits as only Sonia Gandhi wins in UP

The humiliation for the grand old party just does not seem to end. 21 out of the 22 candidates who fought the elections on Congress ticket in Western UP lost their deposits. As per the Election Commission, any candidate who fails to secure 1/6th of the total votes polled (around 16.67%), loses the deposit of Rs 25,000.

Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee President Raj Babbar and former Union Minister Salman Khurshid lost their deposits. The only candidate in western Uttar Pradesh who managed to save his deposit was the Imran Masood, who once wanted to ‘chop Modi into pieces‘.

Congress candidates from Agra, Mathura, Aligarh, Hathras, Bareilly, Badaun, Aonla, Shahjahanpur, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Bulandshahr, Gautam Budh Nagar, Moradabad, Sambhal, Bijnor, Nagina, Amroha Rampur and Kairana have all lost their deposits. Congress-backed candidates who fought on Pilibhit and Etah seats also lost their deposits.

Congress candidates lost their deposits even in Prayagraj and Phulpur constituencies. Phulpur was first represented in the parliament by former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Rahul Gandhi’s great grandfather. His great-grandaunt, Vijayalakshmi Pandit, too held on to Phulpur seat after Nehru’s death. In fact, in Uttar Pradesh, except for former Congress President Sonia Gandhi, every other Congress candidate has lost.

Prayagraj seat, which was once represented by film actor Amitabh Bachchan, a close friend of Rahul Gandhi’s father Rajiv Gandhi, was also lost by Congress. Bachchan had won Allahabad seat after defeating former UP chief minister Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna. Twenty-five years later, his daughter won it back for the BJP.

Earlier we had reported how the Congress had emerged as a ‘vote cutter‘ party in Uttar Pradesh, which was once considered to be its stronghold. In as many as 9 seats in UP, the victory margin was less than the votes won by Congress and its allies.

Amusingly, Congress in-charge for Uttar Pradesh West, Jyotiraditya Scindia, too lost his seat in Madhya Pradesh’s Guna.

Congress has made grave mistake in not showing Rahul Gandhi the door

Ashish Shukla
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Congress has made grave mistake in not showing Rahul Gandhi the door

Congress has made a big mistake by trying to swim ashore for 2024 on the shoulders of Rahul Gandhi.

Rahul Gandhi stays as Congress president when his party lost 170 out of 180 seats it was in a direct contest against the BJP in 2019 General Elections.

In the Hindi heartland where it has state governments, it bagged none in Rajasthan, one in Madhya Pradesh and two in Chattisgarh.

Flushed down the drain in 18 states.

Most of its biggies—Jyotiraditya Scindia, Salman Khurshid, Shiela Dikshit, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Harish Rawat, Digvijay Singh, Sushil Kumar Shinde, Veerappan Moily, Mallikarjun Kharge—cast aside like garbage. Salman Khurshid, Raj Babbar and others in Uttar Pradesh even lost their deposit.

Even Gandhi himself locked out of doors of Amethi.

On Saturday, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) prostrated at the feet of Rahul Gandhi and vowed rather the dust gathers over them than Gandhi scion walk s out of the room. A.K. Antony didn’t “agree that it was a disastrous performance! P. Chidambaram became emotional that his Tamil Nadu and South, in general, could feel betrayed; and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who history would remember less as an economist and more as a sycophant, urged Gandhi not to make a hasty decision.

Today, you ask people of India, even those within the Congress fold, and 9 out of 10 would say Rahul Gandhi must go. We don’t even need to bother—the 2019 verdict says it. Only 54 lakh votes in Uttar Pradesh which Gandhis call their home, say it (damn, they couldn’t beat even Apna Dal). Allies like Jignesh Mewani and Chandrashekhar Azad and not Mamata, Akhilesh or Mayawati say it. But the CWC is the presiding deity. They alone can blow the conch. They alone distribute the Prasada (prayer-sweets).

Think about it. Why would Rahul Gandhi and all the President’s Men (read CWC) act as a coterie? Quite a few of them have been defence, finance or home ministers of this country. They know they are an object of derision in the country. Know that the party is on reed sticks in the high tide of times. Know that it’s on way to becoming irrelevant in Indian politics. Why then stick to the man who symbolizes everything which is bad for the Congress?

The answer is simple. Survival. Not of the Congress or the Country but self. Quite a few are on bail. Sons and sons-in-law are a call away from lockups. Together they could at least be heard. The Congress ecosystem would at least give them space in compromised Lutyens Media. Without Rahul or Priyanka or Sonia, who do you think would reserve front page for Anand Sharma or Ghulam Nabi Azad? How would P. Chidambaram have his column in Indian Express? Who would hear to their swagger on “saving democracy” or “freedom of speech”? Where would they find favourable judges or bureaucrats? Who would rustle up mombati-gangs or award-vapsi brigade?

Let’s look at the CWC composition. It has 25 members, three being Sonia, Priyanka and Rahul himself. Ahmed Patel, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Ambika Soni etc are hardly credible. You wouldn’t have heard of Avinash Pande or Dipak Babaria. Have you? Ok so what about Gaikhangam or Tamradhwaj Sahu? Congress could call it CWC, India views it as rubber-stamp.

The only people rejoicing in Rahul Gandhi staying put must be Lutyens Media. They need Gandhis for survival. Some of you would jump on the names of Shekhar Gupta or Sagarika Ghose; Rajdeep Sardesai or Barkha Dutt; Ravish Kumar or Vir Sanghvi etc. But singling them out is unfair. It’s the ecosystem, the filth which breeds fleas, pests and cockroaches.

That’s why I feel we would only get more of 2014-2019 in the next five years. A floating Rahul Gandhi is good for the bugs. Be prepared to read the same muck in your newspapers. As long as you buy the newspaper which has Rahul Gandhi on its front page every day, this fraud would survive. When you call them out, Rahul Gandhi would lose his spell over his men. India can then attend to its business.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s myopic excuse for loss: Rahul was left alone, other leaders didn’t chant ‘chowkidar chor hai’ enough

K Bhattacharjee
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Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s myopic excuse for loss: Rahul was left alone, other leaders didn’t chant ‘chowkidar chor hai’ enough

In the aftermath of the 2019 Lok Sabha Election results, not much has changed within the Congress party. In a series of events that appears to have become the norm in the party, party president Rahul Gandhi offered to resign from his post, however, all the senior leaders rejected his resignations.

Scam accused P Chidambaram, even claimed that party workers from the South will commit suicide if Rahul Gandhi resigns from the post. The Congress President, on the other hand, blamed senior leaders such as Gehlot, Kamal Nath and Chidambaram for prioritizing their sons over the party.

Priyanka Vadra, too, shared similar sentiments. According to a report by Hindustan Times, the Congress President’s sister believes her brother was left alone to fend off for himself. She also appears to believe that the reason the party suffered such a disastrous loss is that other senior leaders did not chant ‘Chowkidar Chor Hai’ with enough conviction.

“Where were you when my brother was fighting all by himself and alone?” Priyanka is reported to have said. She said further, “No one supported Congress President in taking forward the narrative of Rafale and ‘chowkidar chor hai’.”

Priyanka appears to be accusing the senior leaders of the party of undermining the leadership of her brother by not backing him up. The success rate of Rahul Gandhi’s rallies was indeed woeful, to say the least. He held 124 rallies in 115 constituencies, the Congress party won a mere 19 of those seats.

Source: India Today

The success rate of Priyanka’s own rallies, the great game-changer according to the Lutyens Club, was even worse. She campaigned in 38 constituencies, her party lost in 36 of them. The only two seats where Congress did win was Rae Bareli, Sonia Gandhi’s constituency, and Wayanad, Rahul Gandhi’s constituency. Therefore, apart from the extremely safe seats, the Congress party lost every constituency where Priyanka Gandhi campaigned.

Source: India Today

One can attribute the pitiable performance of the Congress party where the Nehru-Gandhi parivar campaigned to a myriad of factors. However, both Rahul Gandhi and his sister appear to believe that they were hard done by the senior leadership of their own party.

One wonders at this point if the siblings suspect deliberate sabotage. While the Congress President directly accused the senior leaders of prioritizing their own sons over the affairs of the party, his sister claimed that her brother was left alone to fight the BJP on his own.

It does reveal the lack of authority Rahul Gandhi has over his own party. It is a sad reflection of his utter inability to take control of affairs. It also reveals that Rahul Gandhi and his sibling do not command the same degree of respect and obedience from senior leaders like their mother used to command.

In any military, the Commander has to earn the loyalty of his soldiers on his own merit. The same is the case in political parties. BJP President Amit Shah has earned the trust and respect of the cadres of his party by proving it to them that his strategies and plans work on the ground. Rahul Gandhi cannot boast of such a feat. Hereditary privilege can earn one a position of power but it can’t help one secure the loyalty and trust of his followers. That has to be earned by his own merit.

It appears clear that the senior leaders of Congress do not trust the leadership of Rahul Gandhi. Under such circumstances, his continued hold over the reigns of the party seems tenuous. The only reason he continues to be party president is that there appears to be a consensus that only a Nehru-Gandhi could hold the party together. Only when the consensus no longer has any legitimacy will there be a change of leadership at the head of the party.

Love Jihad in Meerut: Minor Hindu girl forcefully converted to Islam and married off, police arrests three accused

OpIndia Staff
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Love Jihad in Meerut: Minor Hindu girl forcefully converted to Islam and married off, police arrests three accused

A minor Hindu girl residing in Brahmpuri area, Meerut Uttar Pradesh, who was abducted a fortnight back had been forcibly converted and married thereafter, reports Patrika.

As per the report, the minor girl Lata (name changed), daughter of a businessman, after being abducted was taken to Deoband, where she was forcibly converted and then to Prayagraj, where she was later married off.

The Uttar Pradesh police recovered Lata from Prayagraj on Saturday. They have also arrested the accused along with two others involved in the crime. Fearing that the incident might take a communal angle the Uttar Pradesh police had swiftly taken up the case as soon as Lata’s family lodged a missing complaint. Before apprehending the accused the police had already arrested 15 people related to the case.

However, after the incident came to light communal tension prevailed in Brahmpuri area in Meerut.

The incident surfaced when Lata went missing from her house on 4th May 2019. The police who were in the hunt for the youth and the missing girl recovered her from a hotel room in Prayagraj where she was kept forcefully. The police arrested the youth along with his brother and brother-in-law. Fearing arrest, the youth was preparing to file for an anticipatory bail in Uttar Pradesh High court, but before he could, the police apprehended him.

According to SSP Nitin Tiwari, Lata confirmed that she was first taken to Deoband where she was forced to convert and then to Prayagraj where she was married. After this, she was sometimes kept in Hyderabad and sometimes in Mumbai. In-between she was also confined to a hotel in Chandigarh, confirmed Lata.

Since the girl belonged to the Hindu community, many Hindu organisations and Lata’s relatives protested outside the Brahmpuri police station. Communal tensions prevailed in the area, confirmed SSP.

Though rampant conversions in the recent past have been one of the prime reasons, Uttar Pradesh has also witnessed several incidences of communal disorder for a host of various trivial reasons.

Recently in another incidence, communal tension had erupted in Meerut after a video showing Muslim men beating up shopkeepers went viral.

Dear Gautam Gambhir, just like in cricket, in politics, timing is everything

Editorial Desk
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Dear Gautam Gambhir, just like in cricket, in politics, timing is everything

Prime Minister Narendra Modi came back to power with a thumping, blinding majority begging 303 seats. And as soon as the verdict was out, the usual suspects started their blinding fear mongering. The ‘Minorities under threat’ narrative as a sweeping generalisation was back.


This narrative is not new. Since Narendra Modi became the Chief Minister of Gujarat, minorities, as a general class of people, have been under constant “threat”. Just to further the narrative, several false cases were also reported, with the media firmly an active participant is furthering the narrative.

Just recently, India Times turned a simple case of road rage into an anti-Muslim hate crime.  The journalist reported that one Dr Narul was told that Muslims should leave India. It was not true. After an OpIndia fact-check, the headline and the story was changed by India Times.

On April 2, a law student named Umam Khanam had started a controversy after she had alleged that she was harassed by fellow students for being a Muslim during a college trip. That turned out to be false. In fact, fellow students described Umam as a Muslim fanatic with hate in her heart. 

In 2016, Barun Kashyap, a creative director with a production house, had made headlines when he claimed that he was abused and threatened by some gau-rakshaks (cow protectors) after they mistook his bag as made of cow leather. This was a lie. He admitted that he made up this story because he hated Hindus. 

One can imagine why most people while condemning violence, don’t endorse the “minorities under threat” narrative. Just like the “Muslims under attack” narrative, the “Church attack” narrative was also a farce.

This line of propaganda that has been going on for over a decade, has raised its ugly head yet again after PM Modi, despite the best efforts of the Congress ecosystem was re-elected recently. The minority fear mongering started yet again.

Amidst this, news surfaced that a Muslim man was beaten up and made to allegedly chant ‘Jai Shree Ram’ in Gurugram. The incident inspired widespread outrage, as it should have. The violence of any kind must be condemned unequivocally.

Gautam Gambhir, BJP’s winning candidate from East Delhi took to Twitter to condemn the incident too.

He tweeted, “In Gurugram Muslim man told to remove skullcap,chant Jai Shri Ram”.
It is deplorable. Exemplary action needed by Gurugram authorities. We are a secular nation where @Javedakhtarjadu writes “ओ पालन हारे, निर्गुण और न्यारे” & @RakeyshOmMehra gave us d song “अर्ज़ियाँ” in Delhi 6.


This tweet by Gambhir inspired widespread outrage from several quarters. While he was simply condemning a deplorable incident of violence and nobody should fault him for that, one must understand why Gambhir’s tweet did not go down well with several people who have been fighting the vilification of Hindus as violent, anti-Muslim “terrorists”.

Recently, several incidents of violence, even murders have been reported where BJP workers and leaders have lost their lives. After the people delivered their mandate, Smriti Irani’s close aide was brutally murdered in Amethi, a constituency where Smriti Irani defeated Gandhi scion Rahul Gandhi in his own bastion.

BJP workers were also killed in Indore, Madhya Pradesh (where Congress is in power as the state government), and Barrackpore, West Bengal (where ruling TMC regularly indulges in political violence).

Let us move away from political violence, because the incident mentioned by Gambhir was not political in nature, as such. The Gurugram man Gambhir mentioned was beaten up, deplorably so. Just hours ago, three Muslim men shot dead children of the hosts because they were not invited for an Iftaar party.

Recently in another incidence, communal tension had erupted in Meerut after a video showing Muslim men beating up shopkeepers went viral.

There are several “hate trackers” which are dedicated to peddling the same agenda that Gambhir, unknowingly and in good conscience perhaps, peddled with his tweet. They further the ‘Muslims under attack” narrative while being extremely biased.

Abhishek Banerjee, a columnist with OpIndia, had written about how IndiaSpend have regularly indulged in peddling this narrative. They had earlier filed a report how 87 people had died in cow-related violence since 2010, of which 97% of the crimes happened after Modi came to power.

We had earlier reported how Hindustan Times had also launched a biased ‘hate tracker’ which had similar biased reporting and factual flaws. IndiaSpend’s ‘fact-checker’ website also launched a ‘tracker’ which tried to track ‘cow-related’ crimes‘. That data was also equally flawed and biased.

One Babu Khan was beaten up in a mosque for participating in the Kanwar Yatra. But it was not included in ‘hate tracker’ because the religion of the victim as well as perpetrators is Muslim. However, when a Dalit man was allegedly slapped and harassed for converting to Islam by Hindus, it is still a hate crime.

In January 2018, the severed head of one Palakuri Ramesh Goud was found on a flagpost near a mosque, in an area thickly populated by Muslims. His body was traced about a kilometre away. This does not get included in the ‘hate tracker’ because ‘police did not find any communal angle to crime’. However, when Junaid was killed over seat dispute in a train, it gets included in ‘hate crime’ despite the fact that the court had given a verdict that it was not a hate crime.

What does it say when a person of substantial standing like Gambhir tweets about one stray incident to further the “secularism under threat” narrative when all of these other incidents don’t find mention at all? Forget the incidents that happened in the past, the murders after PM Modi was re-elected on 23rd also have not found a mention on Gambhir’s Twitter timeline.

Gautam Gambhir then said that his definition of ‘secularism’ comes from PM Modi himself who said ‘sabka saath sabka vikas’ and that he was not limiting himself just to this incident but violence in general. However, it is a fact that other recent incidents have not inspired the same reaction from him.


The ‘secular nation’ rhetoric falls flat when only violence against one group is outraged against and even murders, when not of Muslims, goes unnoticed. The cries for justice, become a little duller.

In politics, just like in cricket, timing is everything. Gambhir’s tweet using one stray incident to further the same fear-mongering that the Left-Liberals do does not bode well when the entire ecosystem is trying to peddle the same narrative based on nothing but conjecture. The fact that he condemned the incident is not contentious. He should have. Everyone should. But the fact that he used it to further a faulty narrative and also did not bother condemning the other incidents of violence and even cold-blooded murder is problematic.

McGrath picks up his top 3 teams for World Cup 2019

OpIndia Staff
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McGrath picks up his top 3 teams for World Cup 2019

The most successful bowler of the World Cup, Glenn McGrath, has picked his top 3 teams for the World Cup 2019.

In a post on Instagram, Glenn Mcgrath predicted that the England team has the best chance to win the World Cup.

McGrath also stated that team India also plays a similar brand of cricket and have equal chances to win. He couldn’t hide his biasedness by picking Australia as the third team to win the World Cup.

Though Australia won against India and Pakistan in their last 2 bilateral ODI series but picking them ahead of New Zealand and South Africa is a bit surprising as both the teams are ahead of Australia in ICC ODI Rankings.

Australia has won 5 World Cup titles whereas England, New Zealand and South Africa have won none.

McGrath has won 3 World Cups (1999, 2003 & 2007) and dismissed 71 batsmen, which is the most by any bowler in World Cup history.

I like Muslims, no? Will go for Iftar 100 times: TMC chief Mamata Banerjee over Muslim appeasement allegations

OpIndia Staff
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I like Muslims, no? Will go for Iftar 100 times: TMC chief Mamata Banerjee over Muslim appeasement allegations

After almost going into a shell for 48 hours, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee brushed off the allegations of appeasing Muslims meted out at her by BJP and indicated that she would continue to attend ‘Iftars’ as the community votes for her party.

Banerjee, while extending the invitation for an Iftar organised by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation in the month end towards the media said, “I am going to the Iftar party. You all also please come.”

She furthered, “I like Muslims, no? I will go there a hundred times. ‘Je goru dudh dei tar lathio khete hoi; (if a cow gives milk, one has to be prepared for its kicks also),” she said, meaning, she would continue Muslim appeasement if it continues to benefit her.

West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee has gone completely delirious after the shocking loss her government had to face at the hands of BJP in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections. BJP made successful inroads in Bengal by securing 18 seats while TMC managed 22 seats.

Mamata Banerjee had obviously not expected that BJP would not only sweep the general elections but would also successfully take away a major chunk of her vote share in Bengal, reducing her numbers from 34, which she secured five years back to 22.

Tipped over by BJP’s thumping victory, Mamata, amongst all the Modi critics and oppositions, has had the worst and the most amusing meltdown. The West Bengal Chief Minister floated conspiracy theories that a ‘foreign hand’ may be involved in BJP sweeping the elections.

The TMC chief also cast aspersions on the voting results and questioned BJP sweeping the states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi. She even alleged rigging of EVMs and involvement of a ‘foreign hand’. She also claimed that a journalist informed her that money was deposited in various bank accounts and people were paid as much as Rs 5,000 to cast their votes for the BJP.

Trinamool Congress Chief and West Bengal Chief Minister claimed that she offered to resign from the post of the chief minister to concentrate on reviving the party but her colleagues at TMC asked her not to do so.

“Ami chair ke chai na, chair er amake chai (I don’t need the chair, the chair needs me),” Mamata said after a party meeting to review the party’s disastrous performance in the Lok Sabha poll.

As per reports, Mamata has also got ‘feedback’ that some TMC leaders ‘took money’ to sabotage TMC’s prospects in West Bengal during the Lok Sabha elections. The party will hold the next review meeting on Friday.

Steve Smith: When I am out there I pay no attention to the crowd

OpIndia Staff
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Steve Smith: When I am out there I pay no attention to the crowd

Steve Smith says that he paid no heed to the boos by English fans in the warm-up match at Southampton. Smith, who is making a comeback into Intentional cricket after a year ban scored a marvellous hundred against England on Saturday.

Steve Smith was welcomed with boos at the start of his innings. He was booed again when he reached the hundred.

“It’s water off a duck’s back and it doesn’t bother me. I try to black it out,” said Steve Smith

“They call it ‘white noise’. When I’m out in the middle I don’t pay attention to the crowd or what they’re saying,” Smith said.

Steve Smith and David Warner were banned for ball tampering against South Africa last year. Most of the former Australian players called the ban too harsh.

Smith went on to say that he has got the support of his team members, “It’s like we never left in a way. I know I’ve got the support of my team-mates up on the balcony and for me, that’s the most important thing.”

The stand-in captain for England, Jos Buttler also praised his arch rival. Buttler believes that Smith was and still one of the world’s best batsmen.

“He’s the same player. He was a class player 12 months ago and he still is,” said Buttler.

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