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Arvind Kejriwal ignores EC notice, repeats ‘accept money offered by other parties but vote for AAP’ remark

OpIndia Staff
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Arvind Kejriwal ignores EC notice, repeats ‘accept money offered by other parties but vote for AAP’ remark

Delhi Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal gets himself in the centre of a controversy yet again as he urges voters to accept money from Congress and BJP but vote for the Aam Aadmi Party, during a series of road shows launched by his party ahead of May 12 polls.

This remark of his comes hours after he was served a notice by the Delhi CEO seeking his response over allegations made by the leader of the opposition, Vijender Gupta that pamphlets were being distributed by the party asking voters to take bribe from the Congress and the BJP but cast their votes in favour of AAP in the May 12 polls. The convener of AAP was also served a similar notice.

A senior official from the Delhi CEO’s office said, “We sent a notice to Arvind Kejriwal, convener of AAP, seeking his response on the matter. Kejriwal was asked to reply by Wednesday, 5 pm. But as the letter was dispatched late, we would wait for his reply till Thursday.”

Kejriwal, in his desperation, to win the ongoing elections, conveniently ignored the notice served to him hours before and shamelessly went on to repeat the same remark while addressing a cluster of slums in Wazirpur as a part of his road show in Chandni Chowk parliamentary constituency.

“Election se pehle doosri party paise baatne ayenge. Tab kya karoge? Paise sab se le lena par vote jhadoo ko de dena. “Election mein vote kisko diya hai kisiko pata nahi chalega, toh vote jhadoo ko dena.” (Before the elections, other parties would come and distribute money. What would you do then? Take all the money but cast your vote in favour of the broom (AAP’s election symbol). No one will come to know in whose favour you have cast your vote), Kejriwal said on Wednesday.

Kejriwal has earlier too faced the Election Commission’s resentment twice over this same remark, but somehow has failed to rectify himself.

In 2015 during the Delhi assembly elections, speaking at a rally at West Delhi’s Nawada area, Kejriwal had stirred a similar controversy when he asked voters in Delhi to take the money offered by the BJP and the Congress but “fool” them by voting for the AAP.

Similarly, during the Goa polls, in 2017, Kejriwal had unashamedly made the same remark saying, “If Congress or BJP candidates offer money, do not refuse it. Accept it as it is your own money and there is nothing wrong in getting it back. If they do not offer money, go to their offices and ask for it. But, when it comes to voting, press the button against the name of the AAP candidate.”

In December 2017, the returning officer had approached the Judicial Magistrate First Class in Mapusa with a plea that an offence under section 171 (B) (inducement to voters) and 171 E (bribery) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) be registered against Kejriwal.

Moreover, a local court in Goa has issued a notice to him in 2018 regarding his bribery remarks during Goa assembly elections. However, Kejriwal remaining unaltered by all the brouhaha over his previous bribery remarks repeats the same gaffe this election season.

Child rights body writes to EC over video clip where Priyanka Gandhi giggled as children abused Modi

OpIndia Staff
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Child rights body writes to EC over video clip where Priyanka Gandhi giggled as children abused Modi

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has written to the Election Commission (EC) regarding the video where Congress General Secretary and Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s sister Priyanka Gandhi is seen giggling and laughing as children abused PM Modi.

In its letter, the NCPCR stated that they are in receipt of a complaint which has a video video where children are actively participating in an election campaign. “The children can be seen making derogatory remarks and using abusive languages in the presence of Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi,” stated the letter. The commission mentioned that as per a letter issued dated January 20, 2017, it had asked the EC to “ensure that children are not involved for election purposes and also, had recommended to all national parties to not to use children for distribution of posters/pamphlets, participate in slogan shouting, rallies etc.”

The NCPCR has forwarded the complaint to the EC for necessary action.

A few days back, a video surfaced on social media where Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who chickened out of battling PM Modi in Varanasi, was seen watching in amusement as little kids, coached by Congress workers, were abusing Prime Minister Modi.


The kids, who were seemingly coached by Congress functionaries chanted ‘chowkidar chor hai’ as Priyanka Gandhi watched on in amusement. Further in the video, one can see the children abuse further. The kinds in unison chant, ‘neem ka patta kadvah hai, Modi s**l* bha**wa hai”. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra smiles sheepishly and reluctantly, as a token gesture tells the children that this is a bad slogan and they should focus on the good slogans. After this, the kids go back to chanting ‘chowkidar chor hai’ and ‘Rahul Gandhi zindabad’.

It is rather shocking that while parents at home generally teach children basics of respect for the highest chair of the country, Congress has stopped to the level of using children for their own unsubstantiated lies and propaganda.

Star TV confirms that they have not given Congress the permission to use their logo and tagline in political campaigning

OpIndia Staff
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Star TV confirms that they have not given Congress the permission to use their logo and tagline in political campaigning

Congress, which has been losing its electoral foothold in the country ever since 2014, has been upping its election game while the country votes to elect their government in 2019. While Rahul Gandhi was recently forced to apologise to the Supreme Court for attributing the ‘chowkidar chor hai’ remark to the SC, he has been running pillar to post answering summons and notices for his lies. Amidst all of this, a poster of the Congress party surfaced, that had the face of Rahul Gandhi with Rajiv Gandhi in the background. The poster prominently used the logo of Star TV and also its slogan.

The poster is made by a Twitter handle called @BandeMeinHaiDum. One would think that this is just a random Twitter handle, like thousands of others and hence, the poster should not be taken seriously.

However, the handle @BandeMeinHaiDum is followed by the official Twitter handle of Congress Haryana.

Website ‘Boom’ conducted an analysis of several Facebook and Twitter pages that are part of the official campaign of the Congress party. One of those pages was @BandeMeinHaiDum. Boom found that this page does not declare anywhere that it is a part of the official Congress campaign, however, its ad expenditure on Facebook was sponsored by DesignBoxed, which is a political campaign management company hired by Congress.

Pallavi Ghosh, who is a known Congress loyalist, had also covered how ‘Bande main hai dum’ is a part of the Congress campaign with videos and memes being shared around that theme.

Not only did the poster come from a handle that is a part of the official Congress campaign and is followed by Congress Haryana, but the poster also got further legitimacy when Pallavi Ghosh herself shared the poster on Twitter.


The poster clearly uses the Star TV logo and the tagline used by Star TV, ‘rishta wahi soch nahi’. The logo and tagline of any brand is its copyright and they hold absolute intellectual property rights over it. Unless expressly allowed, the logo and tagline of a channel like Star TV cannot be used for political campaigning by any party.

Several people took to Twitter to ask Star TV whether they had officially partnered with Congress for the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections and whether they had given their express consent for the Congress party to use their logo and tagline to promote Rahul Gandhi.


A Television channel partnering with and giving consent to a political party to use their intellectual property for campaigning would have been a serious concern for several people.

OpIndia reached out to Star TV to get a clarification on the issue. We asked the channel whether they had given the Congress party consent to use their logo and tagline as a part of their political campaigning and to promote Rahul Gandhi.

Star TV spokesperson responded to OpIndia and said:

“We confirm that no permission has been given by Star India for use of its trademark or logo in support of any political campaign.”
With Star India confirming that the channel has not given Congress the permission to use their trademark or logo in support of any political campaign, Congress would be in clear breach of the intellectual property right law for using the logo and tagline, ‘rishta wahi soch nayi’, of Star TV.

Rahul Gandhi gets EC notice for his ‘Modi made law which allows shooting down tribals’ lie

OpIndia Staff
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Rahul Gandhi gets EC notice for his ‘Modi made law which allows shooting down tribals’ lie

Congress President Rahul Gandhi was served a notice by the Election Commission for violation of the Model Code of Conduct over his objectionable remarks. Gandhi scion had made a libellous remark claiming that Narendra Modi has legislated a law allowing ‘shooting down’ of tribals. The Election Commission on Wednesday shot off a show cause notice to Congress President giving him 48 hours to explain himself.

Election Commission Notice to Rahul Gandhi

The EC had received a complaint from Om Pathak, BJP, regarding the objectionable comment made by Rahul Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi had said, “Ab Narendra Modi ne naya kanoon banaya hai. Adivasiyon ke liye naya kanoon banaya hai, usmein ek line likhi hai ki adivasiyon ko goli se maara jaa sakta hai. Kanoon mein likha hai ki adivasiyon par akraman hoga, aapki zameen chhinte hai, jungle lete hai, jal lete hai aur phir kehte hai ki adivasiyon ko goli maar di jaa sakti hai”. (Now Narendra Modi has brought in a new law. New law for Adivasis has a line which states that Adivasis could be shot at. In the law, it is written, Adivasis could be attacked, they snatch away your land, your jungle, water and then say that adivasis could also be shot at.)

Election Commission Notice to Rahul Gandhi

The EC, after examining the video clip and the transcript, found the statement to be in violation of the Model Code of Conduct. The EC has given Rahul Gandhi 48 hours to provide an explanation in this regard, failing which, the EC will take a decision without further reference to him.

Rahul Gandhi, in his attempt to tarnish the Modi government, is trying to instil fear among a marginalised community. This is also the same language the Naxals use to induce fear among the tribals against the government. The Naxals have often resorted to distortions, lies and half-truths to incite tribals into picking up the arms in opposition to the establishment. Rahul Gandhi’s recent utterances will be used as fodder by the Naxals to further provoke the Adivasis into joining their ranks and also help them in justifying their violent methods among their local population.

Sadhvi Pragya barred from campaigning for three days by the Election Commission for her Babri demolition remark

OpIndia Staff
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Sadhvi Pragya barred from campaigning for three days by the Election Commission for her Babri demolition remark

The Election Commission (EC) has barred BJP Lok Sabha candidate from Bhopal constituency, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur from election campaigning for three days due to the remarks made by her about Babri Masjid demolition. The ban which will come into effect from 6 am tomorrow, has been imposed by the EC for violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) by Sadhvi.


Sadhvi had acknowledged that she had played an instrumental role in the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, and that she was proud of it. In an interview, Sadhvi had said that there were some waste products (referring to Babri Masjid) on Ram temple so they removed it. She added that Ram Mandir will be built at the disputed site in Ayodhya. She was served a notice by the EC for making those remarks about Babri Masjid demolition.

“The Commission has carefully gone through the contents and averments made in the aforesaid reply of Sadhavi Pragya Singh Thakur and found it provocative and also on religious lines that have the propensity of spreading hatred among various communities”, the EC said in its order. The order said that “Commission has barred her from holding any public meetings, public processions, public rallies, road shows and interviews, public utterances in media (Electronic, print, social media)in connection with ongoing elections for 72 hours starting 6 am on 2 May 2019.”

Earlier, Sadhi had levelled allegations against former Anti-terror Squad (ATS) chief Late Hemant Karkare of subjecting her to extreme custodial torture. However, following the controversy over her remarks on Karkare she had to apologise. Despite her apology, an FIR was also registered against her by a Congress leader. She was also served a notice by the EC for her remarks on Karkare.

The Election Commission warned Sadhvi not to repeat the misconduct in the future. The EC order says that the poll body did not find the explanations provided by Sadhvi satisfactory and that she has violated the MCC.

Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur is contesting against Congress candidate Digvijay Singh from Bhopal, where the polls will take place on 12th May during the 6th phase of the elections.

Masood Azhar’s designation as global terrorist draws contradictory reactions from the usual suspects

OpIndia Staff
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Masood Azhar’s designation as global terrorist draws contradictory reactions from the usual suspects

The Indian Ambassador to the United Nations, Syed Akbaruddin had today announced today that the dreaded terrorist and the founder of the Jaish-e-Muhammad terror outfit, Masood Azhar has been officially designated as a global terrorist on the United Nations Sanctions List.

Masood Azhar’s listing in the United Nation’s list of the global terrorists is considered a remarkable feat as India had been trying for over a decade to conscript Azhar in the UN terror list. Being an all-weather ally of Pakistan, China had consistently stalled India’s move to designate Azhar as a global terrorist by using its ‘veto’ in the UNSC and citing a trivial ‘technical snag’ to indefinitely delay his listing.

With Azhar finally being listed on the UN Sanctions List, many have hailed PM Modi’s adept foreign diplomacy and the BJP government’s relentless efforts in getting the JeM chief banned. However, this hasn’t gone down well with the usual suspects who are left red-faced after the momentous diplomatic victory scored by PM Modi. ‘Neutral’ journalists and assorted public celebrities who were until yesterday calling it Modi’s failure in getting Azhar listed are suddenly disparaging the Indian government’s achievement.

Some of them who had earlier said that India had ‘reduced’ interest in raising Masood Azhar issue with China were quick to admonish journalists celebrating the UN listing saying that his listing won’t bring him back to Indian Jails and there’s nothing to celebrate.


Another journalist, Harinder Baweja held BJP responsible for bringing suicide bombing to India after escorting Azhar to freedom. With India tightening its noose around Azhar with his global listing, Baweja tried to downplay Indian government’s feat by asserting that ‘True Victory’ will mean when Pakistan acts stringent action against Masood Azhar.


Self-proclaimed Professor and an avowed Congress supporter, Ashok Swain earlier censured the government for displaying ‘hubris’ and moving the proposal without taking in confidence Russia and China. However, after India got Azhar finally blacklisted, Swain seemed to belittle this achievement by crediting ‘Easter Attacks’ in Sri Lanka responsible for China to change its stance on Azhar’s listing. However, only Ashok Swain can explain how Azhar is related to the attacks in Sri Lanka.


Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath went a step ahead and suggested that there is a motive behind blacklisting Azhar during the elections in India. He noted that the decision came during the elections, but he does not know if this has something to do with the elections, indirectly implying that the UNSC sanctions committee may have taken the decision to benefit BJP.


It is but natural to see the usual suspects getting apprehensive about India’s diplomatic win to secure Azhar’s listing on the UN Sanctions List. They, perhaps, fear that this development will immensely benefit PM Modi in the remaining 3 phases of the elections left and shore up his Nationalistic credentials. This explains why they are downplaying India’s achievement and contending that such a move wouldn’t be beneficial to India.

“People who vote for secular parties get better academic results”, says Karnataka minister referring to SSLC results

OpIndia Staff
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“People who vote for secular parties get better academic results”, says Karnataka minister referring to SSLC results

In what seems to be most bizarre manifestations of ‘secular’ politics, senior JDS leader HD Revanna, brother of Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy has claimed that those people who vote for secular parties like JDS in elections will get better results academically, reports TV9.


In a reference to the SSLC or Class 10 results which were announced in the state on Tuesday, HD Revanna, the de-facto Chief Minister of the state has now claimed that results in the regions of Dakshina Kannada have gone down in the state rankings as people here voted for the BJP while regions like Hassan and Ramanagara, both bastions of the JDS secured first and second position respectively as they voted for secular parties.

“Due to God’s grace and the guidance of HD Devegowda, the education in the Hassan district has improved and resulted in achieving the first rank. Ramanagara has also secured the second position. The people of Dakshin Kannada which votes for BJP has gone down to the fifth position. If they had voted for secular parties, they would have stood in the first place. This proves that education is being neglected in that region”

The Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board (KSEEB) had released the Karnataka 10th SSLC (Secondary School Leaving Certificate) examination results on Tuesday. In a first, Hassan district miraculously stood at the top with 89.33% pass percentage followed by Ramanagara, which recorded a pass percentage of  88.49%.

Traditionally, the coastal regions of the state comprising of Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Uttar Kannada used to be the best-performing districts in terms of academic results in the state. The region is known for the state’s best educational institutes and usually stands top in not just SSLC results but also in various other academic examinations.

It is rather shocking that HD Revanna chose to use the issue of SSLC results, which involve students who are not even eligible to vote, to push his ‘secular’ politics to target the BJP.

This is not the first time that HD Revanna has caused such a controversy. Recently, during the Mandya Lok Sabha elections, he had made an extremely insensitive and sexist remark against actor-turned-politician Sumalath, wife of MH Ambareesh. HD Revanna had made shocking remarks over the widowhood of Sumalatha by questioning Sumalatha’s intent to contest polls just after her husband’s death causing huge embarrassment to CM HD Kumaraswamy.

Last year, HD Revanna was also caught throwing biscuit packets at the flood victims who were catching them hungrily. It was reported that some of the people declined to eat the biscuits which were thrown at them, while some others ate the biscuit packets as they were hungry and desperate.

India’s dossier to the UN on Masood Azhar mentioned Kashmir and Pulwama categorically, any suggestion to the contrary is a lie

Nupur J Sharma
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India’s dossier to the UN on Masood Azhar mentioned Kashmir and Pulwama categorically, any suggestion to the contrary is a lie

The United Nations has designated Masood Azhar as a terrorist today. The significance of this move is apparent since after 10 years of China opposing this move by India, under the Modi government, China finally conceded and did not use its veto power to block India’s attempt to list Masood Azhar, the Pakistani Islamic terrorist to be listed as a global terrorist.

While India rejoiced the move, several vested interested proceeded to spread lies and canards about this historic diplomatic win for India, in their unbridled hatred for PM Modi.

Omar Abdullah, the former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and the current head of National Conference tweeted, in the quintessential Kejriwal ‘is it true’ style, that listing of Masood Azhar as a global terrorist was only possible because all references to Pulwama and terrorism in Kashmir were dropped by India.


Such an assertion by Omar Abdullah aims to undermine India’s diplomatic win that has resulted in a huge embarrassment for Pakistan and China. Instead, Omar attempted to ensure even this diplomatic win for India is somehow belittled by saying that Pakistan, through China, got its way in getting India to drop all references of Pulwama and terrorism in Kashmir.

But are Omar Abdullah’s assertions true? Did India really drop the reference of Pulwama and terrorism in Kashmir to ensure the listing of Maulana Masood Azhar as a global terrorist?

OpIndia has acquired a portion of the diplomatic dossier that was submitted by India to the United Nations and the assertions made by Omar Abdullah are patently false.

Mention of terrorism in Kashmir in the diplomatic dossier submitted by India

The diplomatic dossier submitted by India mentions terrorism in Kashmir and Jihad in Kashmir several times, contrary to what Omar Abdullah is claiming.

The first mention is in the background of Masood Azhar itself where the dossier talks about Azhar collecting funds to wage Jihad in Kashmir.

The dossier goes on to say that he started churning out Jihadi propaganda in support of the Al Qaeda, the Afghan Taliban and terrorist groups fighting in Jammu and Kashmir.

In fact, while talking about the hanging of Afzal Guru, the dossier says that Azhar issued threats to India in rallies organised in Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.

The dossier says that Azhar has intensified his terrorist operations against the Indian government, security forces and civilians, predominantly in Jammu and Kashmir. In the same section, the dossier also talks about how he has been collecting funds for Jihad in Kashmir and other regions like Afghanistan.

The dossier then talks about the Jaish-e-Mohammad’s fund collection campaigns called “Jehad Fund” that is used for terrorists and to fund their expenses including clothing, arms etc. It then refers to ‘Infaq Fi Sabil Allah Muhim” that is a campaign to collect funds for Jihad in Kashmir.

In the next paragraph itself, the dossier mentions how ‘high-value operatives’, particularly trained terrorists belonging to their family are infiltrated into Jammu and Kashmir to conduct massive terror attacks.

Mention of the dastardly Pulwama terror attack

Omar Abdullah has also asserted that India agreed to drop all mention of the dastardly Pulwama terror attack of 14th February 2019 after which, India conducted the Balakot airstrikes annihilating several terror hideouts and camps of Jaish-e-Mohammad deep inside Pakistan territory.

This claim is also patently false.

In the dossier, India categorically mentions the Pulwama terror attack by JeM on February 14th 2019.

In fact, the dossier also mentions that Azhar has been under house arrest post the Balakot airstrikes conducted by India.

As is evident from the excerpts of the dossier, India has mentioned terror mounted by JeM in Kashmir abundantly and also the dastardly Pulwama terror attack.

Omar Abdullah then went on to assert that India ‘sold its men’ for a symbolic win since the United Nations ‘listing’ did not have a mention of Kashmir or Balakot.


However, the listing by the UN is always a brief profile of the terrorist and his terror activity across the world and not limited to any one country. Which is why the UN agrees to designate the terrorist as a global terrorist. It is erroneous for Omar or anyone else to claim that India ‘agreed’ to drop the mention of Kashmir or Pulwama, especially since in the dossier, India has categorically mentioned both Kashmir and Pulwama.

UNSC listing note on Mohammad Masood Azhar Alvi

It may be noted that India is not a member of the UNSC, and the proposal to list Masood Azhar was moved by France, USA and the UK. India’s role was limited to submitting dossiers relating to the terrorist, it had no role in the decision to list him or the listing note prepared by the committee.

More importantly, UNSC has mentioned that Masood Azhar is the founder of Jaish-I-Mohammad, which was already designated as a terror organisation by the UN in 2001. The listing for Jaish mentions that although the organisation is based in Pakistan, its members conduct terrorist activities primarily in Kashmir. The note on Jaish mentions several terror activities done by them in India prior to the listing in 2001.

After 10 long years, India has finally managed to get Masood Azhar, a dreaded global terrorist in the UN list of terrorists. It is indeed unfortunate that vested elements still continue to peddle their agenda at the cost of national security.

Tamil Nadu: Stolen idol returned after 100 years by grandson of former priest who had stolen it

OpIndia Staff
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Tamil Nadu: Stolen idol returned after 100 years by grandson of former priest who had stolen it

In 1915, a 700 hundred-year-old idol of Dhroupathi Amman was stolen from a temple in Madurai’s Melur by a temple priest. 100 years later, his grandson Murugesan returned the idol to the Idol Wing police on Sunday.

The temple priest, Karuppasamy, had stolen the idol following an argument he had with the other priests. He had dug out a wall of his house, placed the idol in there and plastered the surface. A case was filed with the British police force but they couldn’t find the idol.

Murugesan has said that ever since the idol was stolen his family had been suffering for generations. According to him, the death of his relatives and his own ill health is due to  “wrath of the goddess”. Six months ago, Murugesan finally revealed the secret that the idol was hidden in a wall of his ancestral house.

An officer from the Idol Wing said that Murugesan had told his temple priest that as a young boy he had seen his grandfather and father worship a wall in their house. Deputy superintendent of police, idol wing, V Malaisamy had said that ever since Murugesan made this revelation, the villagers were trying their best to retrieve their idol.

There was an initial hesitation to break the wall but the owner of the wall didn’t object as he himself had been planning to demolish the building. The police proceeded to break the wall after receiving a written complaint.

Records have shown that the idol had a specific third eye which upon inspection was found to match with the recovered idol. The 1.5 feet idol would be returned to the temple during its annual festival in the next month. The temple is located in Nagaikadai Street and is said to be over 800 years old.

Pon Manickavel, a special officer of the idol wing said that he would be visiting the location to conduct an enquiry.

Karnataka Minister GT Deve Gowda says “JDS workers might have voted for BJP”, irks Congress

OpIndia Staff
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Karnataka Minister GT Deve Gowda says “JDS workers might have voted for BJP”, irks Congress

Karnataka minister GT Deve Gowda on Wednesday sparked a row with the statement that his party workers in Mysuru and other parts of Karnataka might have voted for the BJP. Gowda is a senior JD(S) leader and minister of higher education in the cabinet of H. D. Kumaraswamy, who is leading a coalition government with Congress as its alliance partner.

Gowda’s statement has not gone down well with the Congress. While Congress and JD(S) are fighting the ongoing Lok Sabha elections together, his statement obviously exposes the unseen discord between the alliance partners.

The success of their alliance in the state prompted both parties to become allies for the general elections. Despite the seat-sharing agreement between the two parties, some members are believed to be disharmonious to each other. JD(S) and Congress were bitter rivals before they joined hands to form the coalition government in the state in May 2018.

“There were some differences between the two parties. Take Udbur for example. People fought there like any panchayat election. Those who were in Congress voted for Congress and those in JD(S) voted for the BJP. Similar things happened elsewhere too,” said Gowda while addressing the reporters in Mysuru.

Gowda added both parties could have fared better had they combined their strength. According to him, it would have helped limit the BJP to five out of 28 seats in Karnataka. He also suggested that the coalition should have been formed much earlier to ease the coordination and boost the results.

Gowda’s statement has triggered a strong reaction from the Congress with the state president Dinesh Gundu Rao expressing shock. Rao said this statement was not good for the coalition government. “I am not able to figure out how he (Gowda) had worked during the election because he has given contradictory statements. Such statements are not good for the coalition government,” Rao said.

“Such things would happen because those given responsibilities did not work sincerely. There seems to be lack of sincerity,” Rao added. He also rubbished Gowda’s statement about the delay in formalizing the alliance.

“We formed the coalition much earlier. There was no delay in forming the coalition. It was announced much earlier that Mysuru will be given to Congress as per the seat sharing agreement. “I don’t know in which context Gowda spoke,” Rao added.

Expressing its delight over Gowda’s remark, BJP said not only the JD(S) workers but Congress leaders and workers too have voted in favor of the saffron party. “GT Deve Gowda’s statement is the voice of the people. It is the opinion of the workers of both the political parties,” said BJP MLA and former deputy chief minister R Ashok said. Adding, “Not just JD(S) but Congress leaders and workers voted for BJP, especially in favor of Sumalatha Ambareesh in Mandya.”

To a question on the possibility of disintegration of the coalition government, Ashok asserted that his party is not making any efforts. However, he indicated some “unseen hands” from within the coalition are working to ensure the same. “Those ‘unseen hands’ are in the party with a symbol of ‘hand’. We (BJP) will not make any efforts to topple the government. Let them do it (toppling the government),” he added.

Gowda countered Ashok’s controversial remark by stating he was only referring to Udbur in Mysuru Lok Sabha constituency and not everywhere and expressed confidence about C H Vijay Shankar’s victory in Mysuru.

Congress and JD(S) candidates have pitted against each other, defying the orders from the high command making the case of ‘infighting’ between coalition members evident.

Nikhil Kumaraswamy, son of Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and grandson of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda contested in Mandya. However, some Congress and JD(S) workers are reported to have favored independent candidate Sumalatha, actress and widow of popular Kannada film actor-turned-politician, Ambareesh.

Sumalatha was backed by the BJP, which did not field its candidate in the constituency. Prajwal Revanna, son of PWD minister H D Revanna and grandson of Deve Gowda faced a similar challenge in Hassan. He was pitted against A Manju of BJP.

If sources are to believe, Deve Gowda also faced a similar rebellion of Congress workers in Tumakuru. Agitated by the behavior of Congress workers, JD(S) workers resorted to identical behavior by refusing to work for Congress party in Mysuru. These disgruntled workers had threated to vote for BJP instead of Vijay Shankar in the presence of GT Deve Gowda.

SM Krishna, senior BJP leader, and erstwhile Karnataka chief minister hinted at a major change in the pipeline within the state post the Lok Sabha elections.

Speculation about infighting and dissolution of the JD(S)-Congress state government has been a constant since Kumaraswamy took charge last year. We had also reported earlier about the insecurity of this government when rumors about Kumaraswamy’s brother and PWD minister HD Revanna’s meeting with BJP senior leadership in Bengaluru had surfaced.

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