Controversial journalist Rajdeep Sardesai thinks that among others, Prime Minister Narendra Modi should also thank Masood Azhar for contributing to the BJP win.
Rajdeep Sardesai’s snide remark was on a show on The Lallantop, a ‘new age channel’ owned by the India Today group. Sardesai could be heard saying “Amit Shah ko thank you card dena chahiye, Rahul Gandhi ko, Congress party ko, Masood Azhar ko, jis tarah se unhone apni atankwadi gatividiyan ki. Phir ek thank you card hai media ko, Election Commission ko…”
Sardesai said that PM Modi should thank the party president Amit Shah, Congress President Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party for contributing to his victory. He even said that Modi should thank Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar for his terrorist activities.
He was referring to the Pulwama terror attack which claimed lives of 40 CRPF jawans in February this year which was carried out by the Pakistan-based terror organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad. Sardesai is implying that it was because of the terror attack that the BJP swept the Lok Sabha elections.
Rajdeep has for the longest time been a faithful soldier of the Congress party within the media. He lies regularly, demonises Modi and even has a long illustrious career of spreading propaganda. He has paltry respect for other journalists who don’t wish to behave like ruffians like himself (one recalls his punching fiasco at Madison Square Garden) and conduct interviews with dignity when it comes to PM Modi while he himself crawls in front of the Dynasty.
Clearly, Narendra Modi coming back to power has not really sunk in well for Sardesai.
In their first warm-up game ahead of the Cricket World Cup on Saturday, India lost quite comfortably as New Zealand eased to 6 wickets win with over 12 overs to spare.
After winning the toss and batting first, Indian team could manage only 179 as their top order was blown away by Trent Boult’s swing and middle order falling against Neesham’s medium pace.
One positive feature for the Indian team was the partnership between Ravindra Jadeja and fellow left arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav. They combined for a 62 runs partnership off 57 balls, giving some sort of respectability to the score.
Jadeja’s form was really heartening as he scored a fine half century at better than run a ball. Initially circumspect against the pace bowlers, Jadeja took on the spin duo of Santner and Sodhi to great effect to race to his half century.
Jadeja has always been a useful batsman, with 3 first class triple hundreds as Sunny Gavaskar loves to remind us on commentary, and he can give you 10 overs with the ball pretty much every game. His biggest strength however remains his fielding. Jadeja is arguably the best ever fielder India has ever produced, saving 15-20 runs in the outfield every game, a very safe pair of hands, and someone who can change the course of the match with a direct hit every now and then.
Despite all that, it is difficult to see Jadeja fitting into the first choice XI when the tournament begins.
Jadeja can’t make it to the side as an all-rounder as Hardik Pandya gets the nod ahead of him due to his better hitting abilities. In fact, most of the ODIs Jadeja played recently were due to the fact that Pandya was missing due to injury or Koffee. Squeezing in another all-rounder really weakens the batting line-up as Number 6 is too high in a 50 overs game for both Pandya and Jadeja, more suited to 7 and 8 respectively.
Only other way for Jadeja to make it to the XI is in place of Kuldeep or Chahal, but he lacks the wicket taking abilities of those 2, one of the reasons Jadeja and Ashwin were side-lined for the 2 wrist spinners.
However, if Jadeja can produce another solid performance against Bangladesh in the next warm-up game, it will be difficult for the team management to ignore him. Even if he doesn’t get into the playing XI right at the start of the tournament, his form will give a lot of confidence to them that they have such players on the bench to call upon if needed.
What do you think, should Jadeja be in India’s first choice XI?
Recently communal tension ensued in Bhagat Singh Bazar area under Kotwali police station limits, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, after a video showing some Muslim men beating up people inside a shop went viral on Social media, reports Patrika.
#मेरठ : थाना कोतवाली के भगत सिंह मार्केट में आधा दर्जन दबंगो ने दुकान में घुसकर कपड़ा व्यापारी को जमकर पीटा, दूसरे समुदाय के युवको ने दुकान में घुसकर बोला हमला, लोहे की रोड से व्यापारी और सेल्समेन को पीटा, 23 को मतगणना होने की वजह से पुलिस ने दबाया मामला. @meerutpolice@Uppolicepic.twitter.com/5nZrz5BFLs
— UttarPradesh.ORG News (@WeUttarPradesh) May 25, 2019
The incident took place when Sachin, who works in a shop named Dev collection in Bhagat Singh Bazar got into a verbal fight with a boy named Samar. The next day, Samar, along with few of his men went to the shop and attacked Sachin and the shop owner, Devraj.
As seen in the above video a group of men with skull caps entered a shop and attacked the shop keepers with rods and punches. The crowd is being seen dispersed after a few locals intervened.
The incident took place on May 22, a day prior to the Lok Sabha elections were declared. The video went viral on social media and this led to communal tension in the area.
BJP leader Kamal Dutt Sharma reached the Kotwali police station and demanded police intervention. Following this, police personnel have been deployed in the area.
Uttar Pradesh is not new to such episodes of communal clashes. Previously too Meerut and other areas in UP have been a witness to several such incidents. In another incidence of communal violence which ensued in between the Lok Sabha polls, three Muslim men shot at three Dalit men in Uttar Pradesh’s Bijnor district, over an argument between the two groups.
Similarly, in February, a minor conflict between some people belonging to the Dalit and the Muslim communities in Durveshpur village of Sardhana, Uttar Pradesh, escalated into communal violence.
After registering an impressive victory in the Vidhan Sabha and Lok Sabha polls in Andhra Pradesh, Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) chief Jagan Mohan Reddy met PM Modi in New Delhi today before taking his oath as Andhra Pradesh CM on May 30.
In a stunning election victory, YSRCP won 22 out of the 25 Lok Sabha seats from Andhra Pradesh, completely demolishing TDP, whose chief Chandrababu Naidu was attempting to unite the opposition against the NDA alliance. TDP was completely routed as it managed to bag paltry 3 seats.
Delhi: YSRCP chief Jaganmohan Reddy met Prime Minister Narendra Modi today. V Vijaya Sai Reddy and other leaders of YSRCP were also present. pic.twitter.com/227596XZEx
In the Vidhan Sabha elections in the state, which happened simultaneously along with the Lok Sabha, YSRCP registered a landslide victory. YSRCP stormed to power winning 151 seats in the 175-member assembly. Telugu Desam Party of Chandrababu Naidu got a severe thrashing in the state polls as well where it could only win 23 seats. 1 seat was won by actor Pawan Kalyan’s party.
Jaganmohan Reddy meets PM Modi
Jagan Mohan Reddy has said that he will persist with the demand of special category status for Andhra Pradesh, and it is expected that he raised the matter during his meeting with the PM. It is being speculated that YSRCP may provide issue-based outside support to the NDA government in the centre. Reddy invited PM Narendra Modi for his oath-taking ceremony on 30th May.
After the election results, Jagan Mohan Reddy’s party took a swipe at Chandrababu Naidu claiming that Chandrababu illegally purchased 23 MLAs but on May 23, he managed to get only 23.
చంద్రబాబు అక్రమంగా కొనుగోలు చేసిన ఎమ్మెల్యేల సంఖ్య 23. చివరకు మే 23వ తారీకున బాబుకు వచ్చిన ఎమ్మెల్యేల సంఖ్య కూడా 23. దేవుడు అంత గొప్పగా స్క్రిప్ట్ రాశాడు- వైయస్ జగన్ #APWithYSJagan#YSRCP
Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP was a party of NDA alliance until 2017 when he broke off his ties with the alliance over the demand of getting special status for the Andhra Pradesh state. He then proceeded to solicit various opposition parties in order to cobble up a united opposition. But after PM Modi’s spectacular victory in the Lok Sabha elections, all his efforts went in vain as BJP emerged as a single largest party winning 303 seats on its own.
Yeduguri Sandinti Jaganmohan Reddy is the son of former CM of Andhra Pradesh Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy. In 2009, he was elected to the Lok Sabha on a Congress ticket. Following the death of his father in 2009, most leaders in the state unit wanted him to be made CM of Andhra, but it was rejected by the Congress high command. In 2010, he resigned from Congress due to differences with central leadership, and later formed YSR Congress Party.
One of the major casualties of 2019 general elections has been Aam Aadmi Party which managed to retain only one seat, Sangrur. The party which should be in introspection mode and take stock of what went wrong seems to have shunned itself from any sort of critical feedback.
AAP MLA from Chandni Chowk, Alka Lamba took to Twitter to share how she has once again removed from the party’s WhatsApp group after she questioned Kejriwal. Lamba took to Twitter to announce that she will quit the party in 2020 when the national capital goes in for state assembly elections.
2013 में आप के साथ शुरू हुआ मेरा सफ़र 2020 में समाप्त हो जायेगा।
मेरी शुभकामनाएं पार्टी के समर्पित क्रांतिकारी ज़मीनी कार्यकर्ताओं के साथ हमेशा रहेगीं, आशा करती हूं आप दिल्ली में एक मजबूत विकल्प बने रहेगें।
आप के साथ पिछले 6साल यादगार रहगें-
आप से बहुत कुछ सीखने को मिला।
आभार।
She even suggested Kejriwal that if he wants to win Delhi, he should focus on Delhi and step down as party chief and let AAP MP Sanjay Singh take over the party reins.
मैं पार्टी के भीतर नही हूँ,इसलिये पार्टी के बाहर से ही एक शुभचिंतक की तरह सुझाव देती रहूँगी,मानो-ना मानो आप की मर्जी।
अगर #दिल्ली जीतनी है तो अरविंद जी को दिल्ली पर फ़ोकस करना चाहिये और संविधान के मुताबिक़ पार्टी कन्वीनर का पद संजय सिंह जी को सोप देना चाहिये,संगठन का अनुभव भी है।
She even tweeted that AAP MLAs are not really heard by the party chief.
CM ग्रुप में जब आप विधायकों के संदेश पढेगें तो पढ़ कर पता चलेगा कि बेचारों की अंदर सुनी नही जाती,बाहर बोल नही सकते,बस घुट रहे हैं,#दिल्ली दुबारा जीतनी है तो अपनी मत सुनाइये,विधायकों और कार्यकर्ताओं की सुनिये,
उम्मीद के आज के सम्मेलन में बिना डरे विधायक और कार्यकर्ता बोल पायेगें।
“If you want to win Delhi again, then don’t just listen to yourself but listen to MLAs and workers,” she said. Lamba also added that she hopes that the MLAs will speak fearlessly in the review meeting which will be held later today.
In a much-expected turn of events Congress President Rahul Gandhi, in the CWC meeting, conducted yesterday to introspect the Lok Sabha debacle faced by his party, passed the buck on to few Congress veterans for putting their personal interests ahead of the party.
As reported by Times of India, Rahul lambasted at the senior leaders for not utilising his narratives, like the Rafale deal and the associated slogan “chowkidar chor hai”, to the optimal, against BJP and Narendra Modi, which caused the Congress the loss. He apparently even asked for a show of hands of the members present to know who all followed his suit.
If one is to believe the sources, Rahul in the CWC meeting, accused the party leaders of not taking forward the issues that he had raised in the campaign to build a strong narrative against BJP and asked for a show of hand by CWC members who had followed his suit.
Flustered by the loss, Rahul lashed out at some senior leaders like Ashok Gehlot, Kamal Nath and P Chidambaram for pushing for tickets for their sons. His intervention came after Jyotiraditya Scindia argued that Congress needed to groom strong local leaders. Scindia, who was also the General Secretary for UP-West, lost his Guna seat in Madhya Pradesh.
Rahul pointed out that Congress had done badly in states where it was in power. He said chief ministers, Ashok Gehlot of Rajasthan and Kamal Nath of Madhya Pradesh insisted on tickets for their sons even when he was not in favour of accepting their requests. He also mentioned former Union minister P Chidambaram’s name in this context.
Meanwhile, coming as a major embarrassment for the party, Congress despite winning the last Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh’ Assembly elections, failed miserably in the Lok Sabha elections. While in Rajasthan, it failed to secure even a single seat out of the 25 seats in Madhya Pradesh it managed one out of the 29 seats contested. Not only this but Congress had lost deposits in dozens of seats across the country and had scored big zeros in 17 states in the recent Lok Sabha elections.
Saying that he wanted accountability in the organisation, Rahul reportedly accepted responsibility for the defeat in the elections and announced that he was quitting as the party chief.
Amusingly, though Congress President Rahul Gandhi had indeed offered to resign, the CWC, that is chaired by himself, had unanimously rejected the resignation and asked him to reconstruct the party.
Amongst all the meltdowns of opposition parties and Modi critics, the most amusing one has been of TMC chief Mamata Banerjee. The West Bengal Chief Minister has now 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, she says she had done a “little more than she should have” for her voters and wanted to devote her time to the party instead.
She added that she will continue going to iftar parties if she is invited, even if it appears like her attempt at Muslim appeasement. She added that she will continue to “tolerate a cow’s kick as long as it gives milk.” Meaning, she would continue Muslim appeasement if it continues to benefit her.
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.
BJP MP from Amethi Smriti Irani has left for Amethi to meet the family of Surendra Singh, a BJP karyakarta in Amethi who worked tirelessly to help her win the ‘family seat’ of the Gandhis. Speaking to the media, Singh’s son said that some Congress workers were not too happy with Singh celebrating Smriti Irani’s victory.
Son of Surendra Singh, ex-village head of Barauli, Amethi who was shot dead y’day: My father was a close aide of Smriti Irani&used to campaign 24/7. After she became MP, Vijay Yatra was carried out. I think some Congress supporters didn’t like it,we have suspicions on some people pic.twitter.com/JKeWj2RsMo
Singh was a former village head of Barauli, Amethi and was shot dead by unidentified assailants at his residence, last night. His son said that he worked tirelessly to campaign for Irani and after she won a ‘Vijay Yatra’ (victory march) was carried out. He said that some Congress supporters didn’t like it and that they suspect involvement of some people.
OpIndia had reached out to Amethi MP Smriti Irani, but she was not in a state to give any response and OpIndia respects that.
Singh was the former village head of Baraulia village under Jamo police station limits in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh.
Amethi: Surendra Singh, former village head of Baraulia village under Jamo police station limits, was shot dead by unidentified assailants at his residence, last night. More details awaited. pic.twitter.com/Z40mUXmPUw
Surendra Singh was sleeping outside his house after returning from a function when unidentified miscreants on motorbikes open fired at the BJP Karyakarta on late Saturday night. Injured Singh was rushed to the district hospital which referred him to a hospital in Lucknow. Surendra Singh succumbed to his injuries at the trauma centre in Lucknow.
Singh was part of the BJP team that worked on the ground in Amethi ahead of the elections. Irani reportedly identified him as a key party worker. After the Lok Sabha elections results were declared on May 23 Smriti Irani had changed history be defeating Congress president Rahul Gandhi on his home turf of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh by a margin of 55,120 votes. Irani polled a total of 4,67,598 votes.
However, the motive behind Surendra Singh’s murder is still unclear. The police are looking into multiple angles, including whether it is a case of old enmity or political rivalry.
Note: This is a developing story. We will update it as and when more information on this is available.
The Congress Working Committee (CWC) is meeting today in Delhi. The party which has just suffered another humiliating defeat, lost deposits in dozens of seats across the country and has scored big zeros in 17 states in the recent Lok Sabha elections, met today to mull over what went wrong.
The Congress, which first rejected the media reports of Rahul Gandhi ‘offering to resign’ has now clarified that Congress President Rahul Gandhi had indeed offered to resign but the CWC, that is chaired by himself, has unanimously rejected the resignation and asked him to reconstruct the party.
The resolution passed by the CWC is as follows:
With utmost humility, the Congress Working Committee accepts the mandate of the people of India expressed through the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections.
The CWC expresses its gratitude to the 12.13 Cr voters who have stood behind the Congress party. The Congress party is committed to dawn the role of a constructive opposition, raising people’s issues and holding the government accountable to people of India.
The CWC commends the tireless efforts of the Congress President, office bearers, leaders, party workers, volunteers and Congress candidates, who toiled day and night to fight this vigorous battle in most challenging circumstances. The CWC also thanks all our allies and their respective leadership, who joined hands with the Congress party to fight this ideological battle.
Congress President, Shri Rahul Gandhi in his address to the CWC offered his resignation, as the party president. The CWC unanimously and with one voice rejected the same and requested the Congress President for his leadership and guidance in these challenging times. The CWC unanimously called upon the Congress President, Shri Rahul Gandhi to lead the party in its ideological battle and to champion the cause of India’s youth, the farmers, the SC/ST/OBC’s, the minorities, the poor and the deprived sections.
The CWC fully recognizes the challenges, the failures and the shortcomings, resulting in this mandate. The CWC recommends a thorough introspection and requested the Congress President for a complete overhaul and a detailed restructuring at every level of the party. A plan to this effect shall come into force at the earliest.
Congress party has lost the election but our indomitable courage, our fighting spirit and commitment to our ideology remain stronger than ever. We shall continue its fight against forces that thrive on hatred and division.
The CWC also noted that India faces a number of challenges as a new government takes over. The issue of surging oil prices post-sanctions against Iran as also price rise stares us in the face. The banking sector is in dire straits with uncontrolled and unchecked NPA’s soaring to nearly 12 lakh crores, over last five years, threatening the very stability of banking operations. Serious questions being raised on the financial viability of NBFC’s, wherein hard-earned savings of the people’s lives are invested. The downturn of the economy coupled with lack of private investment and a steep fall in consumption patterns, point towards a grave economic slowdown.
The looming job crisis has seen no solutions, jeopardizing the future of our young. The agrarian crisis continues unabated with large swathes of the country reeling under severe drought particularly Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra and Karnataka. Institutional integrity, which is the hallmark of our Constitutional Democracy, remains under a cloud. Social strife and tensions affect large portions of our populace.
CWC notes that these are issues to be urgently addressed by the next government. The responsibility and accountability to overcome these challenges are of the next government. The Congress party would continue to play a constructive role to overcome these serious challenges. CWC hopes that the government will address these issues as its top priority.
The CWC’s resolution reminds of an old Tweet shared by Shri Rahul Gandhi. It was written as a sly against PM Modi but has surely come back to haunt the Congress party.
Rahul Tweet
Congress has been sinking politically. The Gandhis clout over the grand old party as a family-owned business is crumbling the party from within. Not just Rahul, the repeated attempts to ‘launch’ Priyanka Gandhi has also failed. As some reports have pointed out, except for Wayanad and Raebareli, Congress has lost in every seat where Priyanka had campaigned.
However, the party continues to dance around its royal family like loyal courtiers of the fabled naked emperor.
— Kailash Vijayvargiya (@KailashOnline) May 25, 2019
He wrote that the violence in West Bengal persists despite the commencement of the Lok Sabha elections and also added that the people would respond to the violence by uprooting the current government.
The BJP Bengal twitter had also accused the same saying, “Even if Election is over, there’s no respite from violence perpetrated by TMC”.
নির্বাচন শেষ হলেও তৃণমূলের নির্বাচনী পরবর্তী হিংসা অব্যাহত।
আবারও তৃণমূলের গুন্ডাবাহিনীর হাতে খুন হলেন চাকদার বিজেপি কার্যকর্তা সন্তু ঘোষ।
Reportedly, the victim, Santu Ghosh, was a 25-year-old BJP worker who had switched from the TMC a few days ago. He was shot outside his house in the Nadia district. He was rushed to the hospital but he had succumbed to his injuries.
Incidents of violence have been reported despite the announcement of the election results. Clashes between the TMC and the BJP were reported after the polls, in which a BJP worker was allegedly shot at. A night before the final phase of the polls BJP leader Arjun Singh was allegedly shot at by TMC goons. Bombs were hurled and two vehicles were set on fire.
Following the widespread violence observed during the elections in West Bengal, the Election Commission had to take an unprecedented step of cutting short election campaigning for the seventh phase of Lok Sabha election in the state.
