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NC leader Omar Abdullah demands a separate post of Prime Minister for Jammu and Kashmir

OpIndia Staff
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NC leader Omar Abdullah demands a separate post of Prime Minister for Jammu and Kashmir

National Conference (NC) leader and former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah has revealed his Party’s true colours few weeks ahead of Lok Sabha elections by demanding a separate post of Prime Minister and hence more autonomy for the State of Jammu and Kashmir as reported by News 18 India.


Abdullah has demanded that pre-1953 position should be restored in the state when there used to be a Prime Minister of the state in place of Chief Minister. Greater autonomy for the state of J&K has been an old demand of the National Conference. The Party had tried to fulfil this demand in the year 2000 when there was an NC government in Jammu and Kashmir. A resolution was adopted by the majority in the J&K Assembly, amidst opposition from BJP, Congress and Panthers’ Party, in which the report of State Autonomy Committee (SAC) was accepted. The committee had recommended sweeping changes in the Centre-State relations and greater autonomy for the State. However, the resolution was rejected by the Central government.


Making a reference to a statement of BJP National President Amit Shah where he allegedly said that Article 35A will be removed by the year 2020, Omar Abdullah warned that the State is being attacked in various ways and several conspiracies are being hatched by some powers who are trying to erase the identity of the State.

National Conference will be contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in alliance with the Congress Party.

Watch: You can’t find solution if you ask wrong questions, Rivaldo explains why Kashmir issue is ‘unsolved’

Fourth Battle of Panipat: The significance of Narendra Modi’s barb at Rahul Gandhi’s choice of constituency

K Bhattacharjee
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Fourth Battle of Panipat: The significance of Narendra Modi’s barb at Rahul Gandhi’s choice of constituency

Rahul Gandhi, who was on a hunt for a safe seat after Union Minister Smriti Irani laid siege to the Nehru-Gandhi Parivar bastion of Amethi, has decided to contest from Wayanad in Kerala as his second seat.

Despite what some would have you believe, the truth of the matter is that Wayanad is a Hindu minority constituency which is believed to be a safe bet for the Congress President due to its demography even by Congress leaders.

Prime Minister Modi, too, remarked on it in his speech at Wardha. He said that the Congress party branded the Hindu community as terrorist which has accepted the entire world as its family. Narendra Modi, who is making his bid to become the first non-Congress politician to complete two successive terms as Prime Minister, then proceeded to assert that it’s because of this that the Congress President had to run away from a ‘majority’ seat and take shelter at a ‘minority’ seat.

With this, the tone of the elections appears to have been set. Narendra Modi, in his campaign, will not focus only on ‘Vikas’ alone but also on the civilizational narrative. The Prime Minister’s comments on Rahul Gandhi’s constituency is the biggest attempt to lend a civilizational narrative to the Battle for 2019 after BJP President Amit Shah compared it to the Third Battle of Panipat.

During his first term as Prime Minister, although the NDA government has been unable to assuage too many ‘core’ concerns, a credible effort has been made towards emphasizing on India’s Hindu identity.

The biggest legislative push towards addressing Hindu concerns came not on the Ram Mandir issue but on guaranteeing citizenship to Hindus and other minorities from neighbouring countries where they face great oppression. A crackdown has been conducted also on foreign-funded NGOs that seek to undermine India’s territorial integrity and culture.

Narendra Modi’s own constituency, Varanasi, is one of the most sacred cities for Hindus. Although Modi himself is unlikely to emphasize the contrast between the constituencies he and Rahul Gandhi will contest from, the symbolism of it will not be lost on those who pay close attention to details.

It was also during the tenure of Narendra Modi that the sacred Kumbh Mela was conducted in the most efficient manner. The administration was hailed widely for its conduct and the visuals from it only augmented the already enchanting aura of the Hindu festival.

The appointment of Yogi Adityanath as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh itself was perhaps the greatest shift of the Overton Window in India. It is hard to imagine any other era in independent India when a saffron-clad Mahant of a sacred Hindu Temple with an unapologetic commitment towards preserving the Hindu identity of India could be appointed as the Chief Minister of a state. It was also a subtle hint towards Hindus that their concerns are heard and their sentiments respected.

In his personal capacity, Narendra Modi has never shied away from celebrating his Hindu identity. His visit to the Kumbh merely a couple of days before the airstrikes at Balakot, his visit to auspicious Hindu Temples with world leaders, making Yoga an international phenomenon, the revival of Ayodhya and the grand celebration of Diwali there under his able lieutenant Yogi Adityanath all points towards his commitment towards his Hindu identity.

As we get closer to the elections, Prime Minister Modi is likely to emphasize the distinction between the two parties in their commitment towards the Hindu community. Narendra Modi is an astute politician and he realizes that the BJP’s thumping victory in 2014 ought to be credited to the United Spectrum of Hindu Votes (USHV) that his party succeeded in knitting together, although he may not say it in public. If the BJP is to repeat the magic of 2014, then it has to repeat its earlier feat, which has been made considerably more difficult with the alliance of caste-based political parties in Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere.

Rahul Gandhi’s candidature from a constituency where Hindus are in the minority is likely to have repercussions elsewhere and the BJP will look to hone in on the message. Moreover, the state unit of Kerala is particularly infamous for anti-Hindu acts it has committed in the past. Members of their Youth Congress slaughtered a calf in the middle of the street and ate its flesh, an MLA from Kerala posted a video of himself consuming beef to express solidarity with cow slaughter. It is unlikely that the BJP or the Prime Minister will forget to mention these transgressions combined with Rahul Gandhi’s candidature from a Hindu minority constituency.

Wayanad has also been battling Islamic radicalization as there are many youths who have joined ISIS. There have been multiple cases of youths joining the Islamic terrorist organization to realize its ambition of establishing an Islamic caliphate around the world. Habeen Rehman, from Kalpeta which falls under Wayanad Parliamentary Constituency, was arrested by the NIA in connection to the Kasargod module case. On the whole, Kerala has seen great radicalization among its youth and a great many have left India to join the Islamic State. Therefore, the respective constituencies that Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi would represent are fundamentally different by their very nature. One is a flourishing site of the Hindu Civilization while the other is battling the menace of Islamic radicalization.

‘Vikas’ is important but so is identity, especially when one has to navigate through the minefield of caste-based alliances. Moreover, at various junctures during his tenure, as illustrated above, Prime Minister Modi has given subtle hints that he is aware of India’s position in the world and respects his Hindu identity. Therefore, going into 2019, the Trump Card for the BJP again will be evoking the Civilizational consciousness Narendra Modi has carefully nurtured during his first term as Prime Minister.

Income Tax officials attach separatist leader Geelani’s Delhi property for not paying taxes worth Rs 3.62 crores

OpIndia Staff
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Income Tax officials attach separatist leader Geelani’s Delhi property for not paying taxes worth Rs 3.62 crores

Few days after Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani faced a penalty of Rs 14 lakh imposed by the Enforcement Directorate under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) for illegally possessing foreign exchange of $ 10,000, now a property belonging to Geelani located at Khirki Extension, Malviya Nagar has been attached by the Office of Tax Recovery Officer.


Geelani is prohibited from transferring the property as he failed to pay a tax amount of Rs 3,62,62,160. Last month Separatist Hurriyat leaders Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and  Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s son Naseem Geelani were issued summons by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to appear in New Delhi for interrogation in relation with a terror funding case.

As per reports, the I-T officials have sealed the house for failure to pay income tax for the assessment years 1996-97 to 2001-02. The action taken by the TRO is reportedly in accordance with section 222 of the I-T Act.

In a massive crackdown on the separatist Hurriyat leader in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack, the security cover of 18 Hurriyat leaders was withdrawn by the government calling it a wastage of resources. Residences of Hurriyat leaders including Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, Naseem Geelani, and Mohammad Yasin Malik were also raided.

According to the NIA, among other incriminating evidence like property papers, financial transaction receipts and bank account details, letterheads of different terrorist organisations and documents related to recommendations for a visa for admission in Pakistan educational institutions were also recovered.

Economy doomed? Sensex touches all time high and govt collects highest ever GST in March

OpIndia Staff
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Economy doomed? Sensex touches all time high and govt collects highest ever GST in March

Opposition parties and a section of media keeps trying to project that the economy has suffered badly during the Modi government, but the data keeps proving them wrong. Today two different data points reveal a state of the economy which does not match with the narrative that opposition is trying to build up.


The total gross GST collection in March 2019 was ₹1,06,577 crore, which was highest since the introduction of GST. Out of total GST collection of ₹1,06,577 in March, CGST is ₹ 20,353 crore, SGST is ₹ 27,520 crore, IGST is ₹ 50,418 crore and Cess is ₹ 8,286, finance ministry informed.

An official statement issued by finance ministry said that this reflects an increase of 15.6% over GST collection in March 2018, which was ₹92,167 crore.


The average GST per month during the financial year 2018-19 was ₹ 98,114 crore, which is 9.2% higher than the average for FY 2017-18. These figures indicate that the revenue growth has been picking up in recent months, despite various rate rationalization measures.

Source: Ministry of Finance

The fact that GST collection has gone up despite the reduction in rate on various items, means that the business activities in the country are increasing at a steady rate, and more businesses are being brought under the tax regime.

The BSE Sensex also hit an all-time hit today, reaching the 39,110.68 and crossing the 39,000 for the first time. In the last 5 years, Sensex has gone up from 22000s to the current level, growing steadily over the years. The share markets are displaying bullish trends due to a positive outlook about the economy. The country has also experienced strong FII inflows, reflecting in the stock exchange indices. The Rupee has also recovered in recent times, and markets are expecting a rate cut from RBI.

Congress lies about Wayanad seat not being Hindu-minority to hide consequence of their historic Hinduphobia

K Bhattacharjee
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Congress lies about Wayanad seat not being Hindu-minority to hide consequence of their historic Hinduphobia

Rahul Gandhi was on the hunt for a safe seat in the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections after Smriti Irani laid siege to the Nehru-Gandhi Parivar bastion of Amethi. To that end, he chose Wayanad in Kerala as his preferred second seat.

Many have commented on the significance that the Congress President had chosen to compete from a constituency where Hindus are in the minority. Even a party leader had made the admission on a sting tape that the great share of the Christian-Muslim vote in the electorate made the constituency very much a safe bet for Rahul.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, too, was flummoxed by Rahul’s candidature from the constituency and suggested that he should have contested from a constituency where the BJP had a serious chance of winning. Other Communist leaders have expressed similar sentiments and remarked that by contesting from Wayanad, Rahul Gandhi is fighting the Left and not the BJP.

On social media, many people have made the same observation. That Rahul Gandhi was contesting from a constituency where Hindus are in the minority, especially since his party is infamous for inventing the myth of Hindu Terror, was the subject of endless discussion and debate.

Priyanka Chaturvedi, the spokesperson of the Congress party, intervened on her party’s behalf to defend her party President’s choice for a safe seat. In her reply to the Executive Editor of News18, who had asserted that Hindus are in the minority in Wayanad, Chaturvedi accused him of lying.


As it turns out, Chaturvedi was obviously either misinformed or completely ignorant of the actual demography of the Wayanad Lok Sabha Constituency. The data she mentions in her tweet states the demography of the Wayanad District which is different from the Wayanad Parliamentary constituency.

The Wayanad Parliamentary constituency is comprised of 7 Assembly constituencies drawn from three districts: Thiruvambady from Kozhikode, Mananthavadi, Sulthan Bathery and Kalpetta from Wayanad, Eranad, Nilambur and Wandoor from Malappuram. Therefore, quite clearly, the demography of the Wayanad constituency is different from the demography of Wanayad district as mentioned by Priyanka Chaturvedi.

The actual demography of the Constituency has Muslims as the majority making up 56% of the electorate while Hindus are only 34%. The Christian community is 9% of the electorate. Therefore, it’s factually correct to assert that the Congress President has chosen to contest from a constituency where Hindus in the minority after his party peddled the Hindu Terror narrative for years.

Source: TOI

Thus, we have a situation where a Congress leader admits during a sting that the high share of the minority vote in the constituency made it a safe bet for Rahul Gandhi. People realize that the demography is heavily skewed in favour of Congress by virtue of its composition. The party spokesperson then attempts to peddle a false narrative by twisting facts.

The Islamization of the Congress party has been happening for a while now, over the course of a couple of decades perhaps, and with the Congress President choosing a Muslim majority constituency as a safe seat marks the completion of the process. As is to be expected, the ‘Pliant Media’ will try very hard to shield the Congress President and deny the obvious by twisting facts on the matter. However, Rahul’s candidature from Wayanad is as significant a moment as the crossing of the Rubicon.

The path for Rahul Gandhi towards contesting from a Hindu minority constituency was obviously laid when the Hindu Terror narrative was invented by the Congress for political gains. It’s a natural consequence of the Hinduphobia that Congress and its ecosystem generated that the scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty has been relegated to contesting from a Hindu minority constituency. Not long back, it was even reported that Rahul Gandhi had claimed that Congress was a Muslim party.

The troubling part of the matter is the Congress has always sided with the fundamentalist sections of the Muslim community that is a significant threat to communal harmony. Senior leader Kapil Sibal represented one of the Muslim petitioners in the Ram Janambhoomi dispute and actively tried to delay judgment on the matter. They are often seeing toeing the Pakistani line. When in power, the Congress party tried to pass the Communal Violence Bill which maintained that members of the Hindu community could not be victims of communal violence. They passed the 93rd amendment which puts Hindu-run schools at a serious disadvantage.

Digvijay Singh, another extremely senior party leader, attended the launch of a book that blamed the RSS for the Mumbai Terror attack. They framed Hindus for terror attacks which were most probably committed by Islamic terrorists. They opposed the Triple Talaq Bill which seeks to liberate Muslim women from a terrible tradition. They opposed the Citizenship Amendment Bill which would give the horribly oppressed Hindus from Pakistan the opportunity to lead their lives with their dignity intact in India. A toxic combination of Hinduphobia and Islamic fundamentalism has become the identifying feature of the Congress party despite its shrieks of allegiance to Secularism.

The Kerala unit of the Congress party is even more extraordinary in its opposition to respecting Hindu sentiments. Who could ever forget that members of the Youth Congress slaughtered a calf in the middle of the street and ate its flesh? They claimed to have the approval of the state President! Merely days later, a Congress MLA from the state posted a video of himself eating beef for the sake of mere politics.

The toxic and radical mixture of Hinduphobia and Islamic fundamentalism, the brand of politics which the Congress party has adopted over the years, finds its natural culmination with their party president contesting from a constituency where Hindus are in the minority. Rahul Gandhi’s candidature from a Hindu Minority constituency is only testament to that fact.

PM Modi told a channel’s CEO that his journalists have Modi hate in their blood. Here is how he was right

OpIndia Staff
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PM Modi told a channel’s CEO that his journalists have Modi hate in their blood. Here is how he was right

A day after PM Modi called out a CEO of a news channel for having deep-rooted hatred towards him, a journalist with the same news channel was caught parroting Congress’ campaign line live on television. A journalist with TV9 Bharatvarsh, the Hindi channel of TV9, was caught referring to the ‘Main Bhi Chowkidar’ campaign as ‘Chowkidar Chor Hai’ campaign.


As can be seen in the above clip, the said journalist referred to ‘Main Bhi Chowkidar’ campaign as ‘Chowkidar Chor Hai’ campaign not once, but twice. Group Editor with TV9 Bharatvarsh claimed that it was a slip of tongue on the journalist’s part and apologised for the same.


However, Twitter users then questioned Kapri on how it could be a slip of the tongue when usually the lines which the reporter reads out are fed on a teleprompter.


This is not the first time Kapri has been caught on the wrong foot. Earlier during the Kumbh Mela, Kapri had posted a picture of Jawaharlal Nehru claiming that Nehru had taken a dip during the 1954 Kumbh Mela. However, the image was actually of the time Nehru took a dip in the river after the immersion of the ashes of his father in 1931. Kapri was so adamant that he refused to believe a book which was in fact written by a Congress leader. Prior to that, Kapri was caught spreading fake news about Bulandshahr. When caught, he unapologetically went on to attack Uttar Pradesh Police.

Yesterday, at an event of the same news channel, TV9 Bharatvarsh, a video had emerged showing PM Modi talking to TV9 founder and CEO Ravi Prakash. In the video, Modi says, “You have filled your new channel with such people who have abuses for me in their blood”. Shocked, Ravi Prakash replies, “We are bringing change in that”. To that, Modi laughs and says “Don’t do this, let the poor people live, let it continue as it is. If their soul dies, it will not be fun”.

Alert social media users also noted that when PM Modi was making the comment, the channel’s editor Vinod Kapri was present right there, who is known for his hatred for Modi. It has been speculated that PM Modi’s comments were directed at Kapri, who is a known fan of Congress president Rahul Gandhi, and whose hatred for Modi is out in open through his social media posts.

Accused of domestic violence and rape, the controversial ‘activist’ Talib Hussain joins Mehbooba Mufti’s PDP

OpIndia Staff
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Accused of domestic violence and rape, the controversial ‘activist’ Talib Hussain joins Mehbooba Mufti’s PDP

Known for making contentious statements, Mehbooba Mufti, the chief of PDP, has stirred yet another furor by inducting controversial ‘activist’ Talib Hussain into the fold of PDP. Taking it to Twitter, the former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir posted a tweet welcoming Hussain into the party and hailing him as an upright tribal activist who fought for rape victims in the state.


However, the man hailed as a conscientious rights activist by Mehbooba Mufti has a chequered history of grave allegations leveled against him. Talib Hussain, who came into the limelight after spearheading an agitation seeking justice for the eight-year-old girl, brutally gang-raped and murdered in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir in 2018, was himself booked for alleged domestic violence and attempt to kill his wife over dowry.

Talib’s wife, Nusrat Begum, with her two little daughters, went with a written complaint along with court orders to the police station along with her father, Mohammad Tahir and nearly a dozen neighbours last year alleging that her husband used to physically assault her for dowry.

However, this is not the only incident where Talib is accused of a serious crime. Talib was arrested by the police last year in August on the charges of rape by his own cousin. He is accused of raping the woman while she was grazing her cattle in the forests of Chawda. According to the complainant, armed with a knife, Hussain had intercepted her, thrashed and raped her in the forest.

After almost a month and a half, she shared her ordeal with her husband following which a complaint was lodged in the police station. Talib was arrested from Tral in Jammu and Kashmir and a case had been registered against him under section 376 (rape) of Ranbir Penal Code (RPC) and 4/25 Arms Act.

Talib was arrested by the police and had been lodged in the Samba jail for a time. He was later released on bail.

In another incident, a student of JNU had alleged that “The hero of Kathua protests” had brutally raped her in Delhi on 27th April 2018. The victim states that ‘the activist’ insisted on the victim coming to meet him and when she did, (after 40 phone calls), took her to an apartment in the Batla house area where he raped her brutally, despite her repeated attempts to fight him off. The victim had alleged, without taking Talib’s name, that he had not only caused her great physical harm but also profound mental trauma.

With such grave allegations levelled against the so-called ‘rights activist’, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti’s encouraging welcome for such an allegedly notorious miscreant into her party displays that she has little sympathy for the victims of domestic violence and rapes who have raised their voice against the injustice meted out to them by this so-called ‘activist’.

‘Journalist’ Rajdeep Sardesai shamelessly twists PM Modi’s comment on Congress’ ‘Hindu terror’ bogey

OpIndia Staff
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‘Journalist’ Rajdeep Sardesai shamelessly twists PM Modi’s comment on Congress’ ‘Hindu terror’ bogey

The left-leaning Media and its ‘journalists’ like Rajdeep Sardesai, have been openly and pathologically biased against Prime Minister Narendra Modi ever since he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat. The unabashed hatred is such that senior “journalists” shamelessly twist his statements and words to further a narrative that per them, goes against Narendra Modi and favours their agenda.

Today, Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on the Congress party and its scion Rahul Gandhi. The PM said that the very people who coined the term ‘Hindu terror’ and branded a peace-loving people as terrorists are today running away from a Hindu majority seat (Amethi) and contesting from a Hindu-minority seat (Wayanad).

This attack was as scathing as one could have expected from PM Modi in the run-up to 2019 elections. However, staying true to their pathological anti-Modi hatred, some “journalists” couldn’t digest the full-frontal assault on their favourite dynasty.

Rajdeep Sardesai, the “journalist” who had once said that the Parliament attack back in 2000 actually “excited him” took to Twitter to shamelessly twist PM Narendra Modi’s statement.

Rajdeep Sardesai’s tweet

Rajdeep Sardesai said that the Prime Minister was playing “us vs them” politics by saying that “Rahul Gandhi did not dare contest from a seat where WE are in majority but where WE are in minority”. He specifically wrote that this was PM Modi’s statement and even put the word ‘we’ under single quotes to emphasise the use of the word.

He then said that he thought the Prime Minister represents “all of us” and hinted that perhaps this statement of the Prime Minister is an attempt to divide people on the basis of ‘us vs them’.

However, the word that Rajdeep Sardesai laid so much emphasis on was never used by the Prime Minister in his speech while making these statements.


If one listens to the speech by Prime Minister Modi, he mentions how the Congress demonised Hindus by blaming them for terrorism and coining the phrase “Hindu terror”. He says that this narrative was demolished by the courts and thus, Congress does not have the courage to fight from a constituency where Hindus are in majority.

This is not something that the Prime Minister has concocted either. In a sting video that was put out by Times Now, Congress leader had himself admitted that Rahul Gandhi was choosing Wayanad as a second “safe seat” because it was a constituency with a minority Hindu population.

It is thus intriguing why Rajdeep would so blatantly twist the Prime Minister’s statements when a video of his speech is available. Rajdeep not only twisted his statements but even highlighted the erroneous part by putting the word ‘we’ in single quotes.

Perhaps Rajdeep assumes that the handful of people who still consider him a credible voice are so uneducated and uninformed that they would lap up the garbage he regurgitates every now and then, or, his Modi hate is so deafening that he fails to paraphrase a statement correctly. Either way, Rajdeep has done what he does best: Brush away the concerns and sentiments of Hindus to play his politics and ensure that he scores a brownie point with the Dynasty he loves to revere.

Rajdeep’s shamelessness is rather legendary, to put it mildly, as is his love for the Gandhi family. Earlier, he had muddled up the meaning of ‘benami property’ in order to exonerate the Gandhi son-in-law Robert Vadra. He had even lied about Goa tourism being on the decline when actually, the numbers indicated otherwise. In his illustrious career that we had tracked, Rajdeep Sardesai can easily be awarded for being a serial fake news disseminater and shoddy journalist. One also recalls how he had shamelessly lied about the Supreme Court’s judgement about Rafale. 

Through the years, Rajdeep Sardesai has worked extra hard to demonised Narendra Modi and pander to the Gandhi family. This latest example is just another addition to the long list of a saga called the Sardesai Shenanigans.

Update: After his misrepresentation was pointed out, Rajdeep first quote tweeted his incorrect tweet with the correct statement of the Prime Minister.


However, he maintained his narrative twist. Later, he deleted his old tweet where he had maliciously twisted the PM’s words.

With Wayanad, Congress prepares for a future India where Hindus are a minority

Abhishek Banerjee
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With Wayanad, Congress prepares for a future India where Hindus are a minority

Rahul Gandhi is going to contest from Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala, in addition to Amethi. There’s more to the decision than meets the eye. Much has been written about the reasons behind this. Decades of backwardness in the Nehru-Gandhi bastion of Amethi. A spirited campaign by Smriti Irani, who remained committed to the area for the last five years, despite losing in 2014. The BJP picking up four of the five Assembly seats in Amethi in the Vidhan Sabha polls. All these factors came together to make Amethi a very slippery seat for Rahul Gandhi this time.

But why Wayanad?

Even a lot of journalists and intellectuals considered sympathetic to Congress have expressed surprise at the choice. Why would Rahul Gandhi go up against a Left candidate in Kerala, against a party that is basically an ally? Was Wayanad really the only possible “safe seat” for Rahul Gandhi? Even if Rahul wanted to move south and was looking for an easy victory, could he not have picked a seat, say in the Old Mysuru Region of Karnataka, the part of the state where BJP is extremely weak? Because BJP is a big, even the dominant force in Karnataka overall, it would not have looked so embarrassing for him.

Because there appears to be a second, deeper layer to the Congress Party’s decision.

With Wayanad, a Lok Sabha seat where Muslims make up 56% of the population, the Congress Party is preparing for a future India where Hindus are a minority.

First, I must put in a small remark debunking certain misinformation being circulated about the demographics of Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency.


As the Economic Times explains here, Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency consists of 3 Assembly seats from Wayanad District, 3 Assembly Seats from Malappuram District and 1 Assembly Seat from Kozhikode.

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As such, Muslims account for 56% of the population of Wayanad seat.

Why is the misinformation that Hindus account for 49% of Wayanad seat, using the demographics of Wayanad District instead of Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, being spread all around social and mainstream media? Why are ‘reputed’ media outlets and ‘journalists’ carrying this incorrect information? Is it a mistake or is it deliberate? I leave it to you to guess.

Let’s get back to the main point. By contesting from Wayanad, Congress is preparing ground for electoral politics in a future India where Hindus will be the minority.

Political parties are more like corporations than we realize. The world’s largest corporations are always on the lookout for the next big thing: it could be renewable energy or artificial intelligence. Without constant innovation and adaptation, any corporation would collapse. For example, the Kodak Corporation led almost every advance in photography for almost one hundred years since it was founded in 1888. But then Kodak failed to anticipate the digital camera and smartphone revolution in photography. They filed for bankruptcy in 2012.

The Congress is India’s most successful political party. It has ruled 58 out of 72 years since independence, a strike rate that could arguably make it the most successful party in a democratic system anywhere in the world.

But then they were pushed to their lowest ebb in 2014, down to 44 seats. To recover, the Congress needed a completely new idea, something that would keep the party going into the future.

In this respect, does Wayanad reflect the Congress’ astute observation that Hindus will be a minority in a future India? The Congress enjoys a lot of goodwill from the Indian Muslim community. By shifting to a Muslim majority constituency, is the Congress deciding to make the Muslim votebank the bedrock of its future?

Surely the Congress would have known that they would have to endure taunts from the BJP about “running away” to a constituency where Hindus are a minority. They must have known that the move would cause depression among their cadres in the Hindi heartland. But is the Congress taking a long term view of India’s electoral future?

Sure, the move may not make sense right now, but how about a time 15 years from now when Hindus have become minorities in a host of other states: Kerala, Assam, Bengal, possibly even Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. In large parts of Western Uttar Pradesh, Hindu population is barely above the 50% mark. In large parts of Bihar’s Seemanchal, Hindus are already a minority. What happens 15 years from now?

Remember that Hindus do not need to be an minority in absolute terms all across India for this long term Muslim votebank strategy to work. The regions that I mentioned above account for nearly 200 Lok Sabha seats. The Congress managed to form a government in 2004 with less than 150.

For Congress, Rahul’s move to Wayanad could be bit like investing in the electric car. Sure, electric cars might be more inconvenient than traditional petrol or diesel cars today, but we know that clean, electric vehicles will keep getting better and better. They are the future. Is Congress looking for ‘first mover advantage’ in preparing for an India where Hindu votes no longer matter?

It might be a mere toilet for you but for me it is about upholding the dignity of women: PM Modi in Wardha

OpIndia Staff
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It might be a mere toilet for you but for me it is about upholding the dignity of women: PM Modi in Wardha

In a blazing attack on the opposition, PM Modi came down hard on the rival parties in his rally in Wardha. Attacking the NCP, Modi asserted that the party is currently racked by a fratricidal conflict with its control rapidly ceding from Sharad Pawar. Modi also slammed Congress for coining the term ‘Hindu Terrorism’ and branding an entire community as a villain. PM Modi was in Wardha to continue his poll campaigning on Monday.

Hitting out at the NCP chief, Sharad Pawar, Modi alleged that there’s an ongoing fight within the Pawar family for wresting the command of the party and Sharad Pawar is visibly losing it to his nephews. Taking a dig at him, Modi said there was a time when Sharad Pawar use to dream about becoming the Prime Minister but suddenly, a few days back, he said he is happy with the Rajya Sabha and doesn’t intend to fight the elections.

Modi asserted that it was because Pawar had realised which way the wind is flowing. Modi also attacked Ajit Pawar for his offensive remark about the receding water levels in the dams in Maharashtra.


PM strongly denounced the NCP-Congress alliance in the state for being insensitive and negligent towards the demands of the farmers, forcing many of them to commit suicide. PM Modi said, ” The Congress and the NCP alliance in Maharashtra are like Kumbhkaran. When they were in power, each took turns to sleep for 6 months. When one of them wakes up in 6 months, the other one goes to sleep after eating the public money.”

He also blamed the alliance for stalling dozens of projects benefitting the farmers for years. Modi alleged that those who looted poor for 70 years can never think of the welfare of the poor. Modi also declared that it was NCP-Congress alliance which had given free access to the frenzied crowd in the Azad Maidan to trample upon the martyrs’ memorial.


Modi alleged that a couple of days back when a senior Congress leader mocked him that he has done ‘Chowkidari’ of toilets only, it has insulted the lakhs of Cleaners across the country who shoulder the responsibility of ensuring that the country remains clean.

Modi further added that he has no qualms with the Congress leaders calling him a Chowkidar of toilets because with it he also becomes a guardian of the honour of the women in this country. “This must be a mere toilet for you but for me, it is a mark of honour and dignity for the women in this country who earlier had to go out in open for defecation even after 65 years of India’s independence,” PM Modi said.


Excoriating Congress for coining the bogus term of ‘Hindu Terrorism’ Modi asserted that the Congress party has attempted to tarnish and defame Hindus in its attempt to vilify them. “1000s of years of history bears testimony to the fact that the Hindus have never resorted to Terrorism,” Modi affirmed.


Taking a swipe at Rahul Gandhi’s election candidature from Wayanad, a seemingly minority dominated seat, Modi said that it is because of this Congress betrayal to Hindus that has forced him to scamper away from the majority dominated seat and lay refuge in a minority-dominated seat in Wayanad.

PM Modi also talked about the achievements of the BJP government in the state. He said work on the Lower Wardha Irrigation scheme is in full flow which will benefit numerous adjoining villages. He also said that under BJP, MSP of Cotton, Soybean and other crops have risen by 1.5 times.

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