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Rahul Gandhi’s Minimum Income Guarantee could kill all other subsidies and be the mother of all scams

Abhishek Banerjee
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Rahul Gandhi’s Minimum Income Guarantee could kill all other subsidies and be the mother of all scams

Rahul Gandhi has announced that the government will provide minimum income support to the poorest 20% of Indian families. Here are some simple, common sense thoughts on where this 3.6 lakh crore disaster would lead.

(1) Common people are going to lose every other subsidy on gas, fertilizer, electricity, crop prices, MNREGA and health

Suffice to say that India doesn’t have 3.6 lakh crores just sitting around. The money will have to come from somewhere. From where? Obviously, they are going to have to remove every other subsidy. That could mean no more subsidy on gas cylinders, no more subsidy on electric connections and the government won’t be able to pay for health or education.

Worse, the government will probably have to end MNREGA, end the minimum support price for crops and end all fertilizer subsidies. Where does that leave the Indian farmer and the rural poor? This would also mean an end to government programs that provide cheap foodgrains to the poor. And also an end to cash transfer schemes such as pensions for the elderly in many states.

Think about all farmers who receive cheap or subsidized electricity. That’s coming to an end for sure.

The hope for Rs 72,000 per year will probably end up costing the poor their gas subsidy, their electricity subsidy, the minimum support price, the fertilizer subsidy and access to cheap foodgrain.

‘Pie in the sky’ is always the most expensive of all.

(2) Implementing the scheme in any form will lead to babus creating the greatest scam in history.

Here’s how. Remember that Rahul is not promising a specific amount of money, merely the DIFFERENCE between Rs 12,000 per month and your household income.

In other words, a household which already earns Rs 11,500 a month will be entitled to just Rs 500 per month.

The question is: how do you make the poorest of the poor in our society provide documented proof of income?

It is not hard to see where this is leading. This will have to be done on a “declaration basis”: the income of a poor person will be whatever the sarkari babu allows him or her to put down on the form.

Imagine this:

A poor person earns just Rs 5,000 a month. As per the scheme, he is supposed to receive Rs 12,000 minus Rs 5,000 or Rs 7,000 a month. He arrives at the government office to ask for Rs 7,000 of “income support”.  The sarkari babu in charge has two options: he could just accept the person’s claim at face value and hand the person Rs 7,000. Or he could say that the claim “needs verification” and keep it pending forever. 

Anybody who has lived in India knows what will happen next. The poor person will be asked for a bribe in order to “pass” the claim. There goes at least 2000 of the 7000 the person was supposed to receive.

Multiply this number with the crores of supposed “beneficiaries”. This could be a scam the likes of which the world has never seen.

Remember that these are supposed to be the poorest and weakest in our society. Leaving them at the mercy of the sarkari babu is almost horrifying. Stripping these people of their gas, electricity, fertilizer, crop support, health and education subsidies and making them stand in line to pay bribes … it’s just cruel.

(3) The scheme will actually cost at least WAY more than 3.6 lakh crore and will likely bankrupt the country

This happens in at least 4 different ways:

(a) Think about it. If you declare an income of Rs 11,000 a month, you get just Rs 1,000. If you declare income of Rs 1,000 a month, you get Rs 11,000. There is no proof needed to establish your income and you will have to a hefty bribe to the officers anyway for them to pass your claim.

So what happens? Crores of people will end up declaring tiniest possible amounts of income in order to get maximum benefits. The calculation of 3.6 lakh crore goes for a toss because crores of people will declare an income of ZERO in order to claim the full Rs 12000.

So here’s the *real* calculation (at least):

5 crore families

12000 per month

12 months per year

Comes to 7.2 lakh crores per year. And we are just getting started.

(b) Remember that the amount is paid per family. Rahul says the scheme will benefit 25 crore people living in 5 crore families. So the assumption is 5 people per family. Let’s assume that means 3 adults and 2 kids.

But who decides what is a family?

If the 3 adults in the family are together making Rs 6,000 a month, their family gets just Rs 6,000 per month as income support.

It isn’t hard for the 3 adults to figure this much out: if each of them decides to declare themselves a “family” with an income of Rs 2,000 each, each adult will now get Rs 10,000 per month as income support. Each adult! That means the three adults can now make Rs 30,000 per month from this income support scheme.

Yeah, so remember that 7.2 crore outlay needed for “5 crore families”? Each adult in each of the 5 crore families will declare themselves a separate family.

Overnight, therefore, the “5 crore families” will swell to “15 crore families”.

So take that 7.2 lakh crore outlay calculated above and multiply it by 3: comes to 21.6 lakh crores!!

We are still not done.

(c) This number of Rs 21.6 lakh crores will zoom even further, for obvious reasons. People who are just above the Rs 12,000 threshold will have an incentive to claim to they are also below the threshold. Remember that again these are among the poorest in society and have no real documented proof of income.

So take that “5 crore families” and make it “10 crore families”. Now split each family into three “families” as explained above.

The new figure: Rs 43.2 lakh crores.

(d) And we are still not done! I leave it to your imagination the number of fake bank accounts that will be created in order to access this scheme several times over. Remember that as per SC judgement, Aadhaar number is no longer needed for bank accounts.

So we end up with a simple estimate for Rahul Gandhi’spromise: Rs 45 lakh crores.

In 1971, Indira Gandhi coined the slogan “Gareebi Hatao”. But poverty was not removed. It was made deeper than ever.

In 2014, half of the Indians still didn’t have toilets. Half of the Indians still didn’t have cooking gas. There were 3 crore households without electricity.

Why? Why did this happen despite 50 years of the Dynasty rule?

For the Dynasty, 2014 was the darkest moment ever. India was kept frozen in poverty for use at just this very moment. So that a promise like this could be made to mobilize voters and help the dynasty recover from its darkest hour.

So what if it costs Rs 45 lakh crores?

What’s the worst that could happen to India?

India would go bankrupt and starving? All the gains since 1991 would be wiped out?

Who does that help? Who does it help if India returns to the depths of pre-1991 poverty?

Didn’t the Dynasty enjoy near uninterrupted power from 1947 to 1991?

Remember that India’s worst-case scenario is also the Dynasty’s best case scenario.

Abduction and forced conversion of Hindu girls: Sushma Swaraj questions Imran Khan’s ‘Naya Pakistan’

OpIndia Staff
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Abduction and forced conversion of Hindu girls: Sushma Swaraj questions Imran Khan’s ‘Naya Pakistan’

Two underage Hindu girls Raveena (13) and Reena (15) had been abducted from their home in Pakistan’s Sindh on the eve of Holi. The girls have since been forcefully converted and married off to older Muslim men. The case has generated widespread outrage among the minority Hindus of Pakistan who have been struggling for their rights under apathetic governments in Pakistan.

The FIR in the case could only be registered after the Hindus in the region took to streets in protest. The videos of the girls being converted and married have been doing rounds on the social media and Islamic clerics have been claiming that the girls, aged just 13 and 15, have converted to Islam under their own free will and were married to Muslim men.

India’s minister for external affairs Sushma Swaraj had taken cognisance of the issue earlier and had asked the Indian High Commission in Pakistan for a detailed report of the incident.

Pakistan’s government has so far been callous and apathetic over the incident. While the local police, who only lodged an FIR after protestors took to streets, have so far been unable to rescue the girls and unite them with their family, Ch Fawad Hussain, Pakistan’s I&B minister had tried to warn Sushma Swaraj for ‘trying to interfere in internal issues’ of Pakistan. Swaraj had replied that his agitation is only betraying his guilty conscience.

Today, Sushma Swaraj has taken the issue further and has implored Pakistan’s PM Imran Khan to take action over the issue. In a series of tweets, Swaraj has stated that the age of the girls is not disputed and they are just 13 and 15 years old. She has stated that even in Imran Khan’s Naya Pakistan, girls of such tender age cannot be treated as individuals who can decide on religious conversions and marriage.

Sushma Swaraj via Twitter

It is notable here that in 2016, the Sindh Assembly had introduced the Forced Conversion Bill to protect the rights of minorities. It was passed jointly by members of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League. However, the bill could not see the light of day as the Governor was pressurised not to ratify the bill.

There have been numerous such cases of Hindu girls being abducted, then forcefully converted and married. The police and the government machinery, instead of taking action against the abductors, usually delay the matter and when the girls are found, the local Islamic cleric produces a certificate of conversion and marriage, making it legally nearly impossible for the families of the girls to take them back.

Mian Mithoo, the religious preacher of the Bharchoondi mosque, is said to be one of the main culprits who has carried out the systematic abductions, conversions, and marriage of many Hindu girls in the region. However, Mian Mithoo enjoys government patronage and is believed to be close to all political leaders and even army generals.


As per reports, despite promises made by local authorities in Sindh to find the girls and reunite them with their families, the police and officials are unable to locate the girls and or find any trace of their whereabouts.

Conned by Congress and with narcissism at play in the party, JDS is fighting for its relevance in Karnataka

Shashank Bharadwaj
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Conned by Congress and with narcissism at play in the party, JDS is fighting for its relevance in Karnataka

An octogenarian-opportunistic father, a mediocre son, often conned by the Congress and routinely ridiculed by the BJP. So far, this is the story of Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy.

It began with the victory for Congress-JDS coalition in Bellary in November last year, giving a sense of false hope to CM Kumaraswamy. Like many other leaders in the coalition, Kumaraswamy believed that the by-poll victory had overcome the issues of an internal rift within the alliance, which could give him some sort of flexibility in the administration of the state.

However, the victory for the Congress party in the three North Indian Hindi heartland states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh altered the equation between Congress and JDS forever. Congress victory in these states had two major implications on Karnataka politics. One was Congress chose to exert more pressure on the coalition government and secondly, Congress party, with the initiative of Congress leadership, began to snatch away the political capital that JDS enjoyed within the state, especially in Old Mysore region by weakening the JDS party itself.

With three states in its kitty, Congress had got its political and financial foundation to fight the incumbent NDA coalition led by Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha elections. This has led to Congress party being more assertive in Karnataka without having any apprehension of losing power in the state. Perhaps, CM Kumaraswamy may not have anticipated such a turnaround for the Congress in these states.

Apart from Punjab, Karnataka was the only big state where Congress had some sort of political power in the country, which it had to secure at any cost ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The compulsion for the Congress to be in a coalition government in Karnataka started fading out following assembly elections in three states. Once Congress in Karnataka understood the desperation of the JDS to be in power, it began to be authoritative, further pushing Kumaraswamy and his party into a corner.

Four months later, with the announcement of Lok Sabha elections, the faultlines within the coalition have begun to reveal itself. The Congress party has literally ‘conned’ the JDS party with a one-sided alliance, which is set to benefit mostly Congress and further damage JDS in its own backyard of Old Mysore region. Even though JDS did not have any choice other than an alliance with the Congress, the seat-sharing agreement has further pushed the JDS into a serious crisis.

The Congress-JDS coalition had finally reached a seat-sharing arrangement with Congress seizing 20 seats and 8 seats were left to its junior partner JDS. Out of the eight seats, JDS was given three seats out of six seats in Old Mysore region- Hassan, Mandya and Tumkur, one seat in Central Karnataka-Shimoga, one in Mumbai Karnataka- Vijayapura, two in Coastal belts- Udupi-Chikkamagaluru and Uttara Kannada along with the Bangalore North Lok Sabha constituency.

Unsurprisingly, three out of the eight seats of the JDS will be contested by the members of HD Devegowda family, with former Prime Minister HD Devegowda himself contesting from Tumkur, while his two grandsons are contesting from Mandya and Hassan Lok Sabha constituencies. In Shimoga, another BJP stronghold, the battle is going to be between two sons of former state Chief Minister as JDS has fielded Madhu Bangarappa against BY Raghavendra, son of former CM BS Yeddyurappa.

The Congress party happily ceded two of the three coastal belt seats to the JDS in exchange for seats in Central and Hyderabad Karnataka. Coastal Karnataka is the bastion of the BJP, while JDS has no vote-base in these regions whatsoever. The JDS is in such a bad state in these regions that they had to get a Congress leader on ‘loan’ to field him as a JDS candidate in Udupi-Chikamagalur seat. In both Vijayapura and Uttara Kannada, the JDS cadre is too thin to take on the BJP, which traditionally has a strong organisational structure in these regions.

Interestingly, JDS has already forfeited its share of Bangalore-North constituency to Congress as they were unable to find a candidate. In Tumkur, the incumbent Congress MP has now turned rebel against the party after he was denied a ticket and he is all set to take on HD Devegowda.

The realities in Mandya and Hassan are interesting too. The two grandsons of HD Devegowda will be contesting in JDS bastion, which is touted to be a contest to decide the future successor of the party. In Hassan, Prajwal Revanna, son of de-facto Chief Minister HD Revanna announced his candidacy which prompted HD Kumaraswamy to ‘parachute’ his son to Mandya to make sure that his son gets to be the successor of the party. In fact, Prajwal Revanna is fighting a tight battle in the Hassan against the once non-existent BJP, while HDK’s son Nikhil, who had a devastating acting career is set to take on Sumalatha, wife of actor-turned-politician MH Ambareesh. HD Devegowda, who had gifted his seat to Prajwal Revanna to contest from Tumkur, thinking winning Tumkur would be a cakewalk, has now realised that it was a blunder as Congress leadership has yet again outmanoeuvred him by instigating the incumbent MP to contest against the former Prime Minister.

The Congress party has actually played an intelligent game in the state by agreeing on a practical seat-sharing deal with the JDS. Congress understanding its inability to win against BJP in few seats ceded those seats to its junior partner JDS in exchange for seats in Central and North Karnataka as Congress believes that they have a fighting chance in these regions.

In Old-Mysore region, the Congress did not want to give away too much leverage to the JDS and has manoeuvred tactically by giving support to some of the rebel Congress leaders to make it tough for the JDS candidates to secure a clean victory. With the entry of Sumalatha into Mandya and unwillingness of the Congress cadres to support JDS candidates in Old Mysore region especially in Hassan and Tumkur, the JDS may suffer huge setbacks in its own bastion.

The Congress is actually aware of the fact that it is not going to reap larger gains in the Lok Sabha elections as historically BJP has always outperformed both the JDS and Congress in the state. However, Congress party seems to be conscious and hopeful regarding the outcomes of these Lok Sabha elections and its impact on state politics in the future.

Meanwhile, the BJP has found itself to be on a comfortable side as it is not only survived by the chaos within the coalition but also to a Pro-Modi wave that exists in the state currently. The voters of the state are sensing a pro-Modi wave much larger than 2014 which is even evident even in JDS fortress-like Hassan. It is evident with the fact that a former Congress strongman has decided to quit his party to contest on a BJP ticket against the JDS.

Despite the fact that the BJP party in the state is in doldrums, the Modi factor has insulated them from any serious downfall. It is not unknown today that the BJP does not have a formidable leadership in the state, which was displayed recently during the failed attempts to lure MLAs from the Congress-JDS coalition to form a BJP government. Nevertheless, BJP with its strong organisational structure and the large presence of cadres in the states will be expecting to win at least 16-18 seats. With growing resentment within the coalition, it is not surprising if BJP gets an additional two or three seats from Karnataka.

The biggest casualty to emerge out the 2019 Lok Sabha elections may well be the Janata Dal as the prospects of party increasing its tally from the current two seats looks dim. Addition to this, the future of the coalition government will also have an impact after the Lok Sabha elections as Congress may further exert pressure on the JDS coalition.

Former HD Devegowda, who had snatched the erstwhile ‘Janata Dal’ from the likes of Ramakrishna Hegde and Jayadevappa Halappa Patel, eventually built the current Janata Dal-Secular and evolved himself to be a ‘King Maker’ in the state. The ‘Narcissism’ which HD Devegowda brought into the state politics with promotion his sons, seems to be creating a challenge to the party’s own existence. With just days to left for the polls, it is rather interesting to not only know that how much will this rift within the coalition impact the polls but also know whether JDS will be still relevant in the state politics.

Amethi: Resentment grows against the party and the Nehru-Gandhi family, locals say they do not want to empower Muslims in this region

OpIndia Staff
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Amethi: Resentment grows against the party and the Nehru-Gandhi family, locals say they do not want to empower Muslims in this region

In what is a major embarrassment for Rahul Gandhi, a once Congress loyalist Haji Haroon Rashid has decided to contest against the party president from Amethi. Rahul Gandhi, who is facing a tough battle from BJP’s Smriti Irani, has already started scouring for a second ‘safe’ seat to contest elections from.

As per reports, Rashid, whose father had proposed Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi’s candidatures back in 1991 and 1999 respectively, has decided to fight as an independent candidate against Congress scion. “What is the point? That they just want our votes? They are scaring us and the BJP? They should focus on development,” said Rashid.

Another local said that the Congress and the Nehru-Gandhi family do not wish to empower the Muslims in the region because Muslims are more in number. “They know that if we become strong, in future we could become a threat to them that a Muslim from here could become an MP,” said an Amethi resident. Another local, voicing his resentment, said that they have given 70 years to Congress and they didn’t do anything. What will they do now?

As per a Times Now report, as many as 70% of the Muslim population in Amethi, is believed to be extending support to Rashid, which could be a cause of worry to Congress since earlier it was a strong Congress voter base.

Amethi has been a Congress seat for decades now since Sanjay Gandhi won it in 1980. Rajiv Gandhi won it in 1981 after Sanjay Gandhi’s death. He even won in 1984, 1989 and 1991. Following his assassination, Sonia Gandhi contested from Amethi in 1999 and won which she vacated for her son Rahul Gandhi in 2004 who won it in 2004, 2009 and 2014.

In 2014 election, however, Rahul Gandhi faced a tough challenge in Amethi from BJP’s Smriti Irani, who got over 3 lakh votes as against Rahul Gandhi who managed 4.07 votes. The margin this year is expected to be even less and if ground reports are to be believed, Rahul Gandhi may, in all probability, lose Amethi.

Elections in Amethi are scheduled for May 6 and the counting will take place on May 23.

Facebook arbitrarily suspends account of activist Anshul Saxena, fails to restore account despite no wrongdoing

OpIndia Staff
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Facebook arbitrarily suspends account of activist Anshul Saxena, fails to restore account despite no wrongdoing

The social media giant, Facebook, has allegedly resorted to arbitrarily suspending the account of social media user Anshul Saxena, who often debunks left-wing propaganda and supports nationalist causes.

On March 20, Anshul Saxena had tweeted about the deletion of his Facebook account after he had written about an art event scheduled to be held in Bangalore. The art exhibition named ‘Nudity with Mangalsutra’ was scheduled in Bangalore to depict a theme which disrespected Mangalsutra wearing Hindu women by portraying them in despicable positions, bringing disrepute to Hindu customs and traditional symbols.


After Anshul Saxena raised an objection to such art exhibitions being held, Facebook allegedly resorted to deleting his account initially. However, according to Anshul’s tweets, Facebook had also given him the option of ‘appeal’ and further assured him of restoring his account in a short span of time. Anshul Saxena had also accused Facebook of deleting his own personal account which had nothing to do with the page which criticised anti-Hindu accounts.


However, it has been six days since the deletion of his account, Facebook is yet to restore his account. Even though Facebook had assured Saxena of restoring his account immediately, it has not been restored so far yet. According to Anshul, Facebook has not issued any clarification with respect to the arbitrary deletion of his account.

It has often been alleged that Social Media giants censor users for debunking left-wing propaganda. In fact, the allegations are not just against Facebook alone. The micro-blogging site Twitter has been accused of censoring right-leaning accounts arbitrarily as well.

Recently, Twitter officials were also summoned by Parliamentary Committee on IT headed by BJP MP Anurag Thakur asking them to present their views regarding the issue of bias towards the right-wing twitter accounts.

‘Hundreds of students broke into my house, kept my wife confined for hours’, alleges JNU Vice-Chancellor

OpIndia Staff
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‘Hundreds of students broke into my house, kept my wife confined for hours’, alleges JNU Vice-Chancellor

Vice-chancellor of JNU Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar has alleged that several hundred students from the university broke into his official residence in the university campus and kept his wife confined in the house for several hours.


The VC of JNU informed that he was away in a meeting at that time and his wife was alone in the house. He said she was terrorised by the students. “Is it the way to protest”, he asked on Twitter.


Delhi police confirmed that students had organised a march to the residence of Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar today but denied that the protesters entered the house. They claimed that the students did try to enter the house but they were stopped by the security staff. Delhi police also claimed that after this, most students went back to their hostels, but a few of them were still there. Police said that the situation is under control now.


Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar, who is also the Professor of Electrical Engineering in IIT Delhi, is facing opposition from students and teachers of JNU for his reform measures. He has introduced measures like minimum attendance, biometric attendance for teachers, which have been proved to be very unpopular in the university.

In a tweet later today, JNU VC Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar said that while the students’ behaviour last night is condemnable, neither he nor his wife wants to file a police complaint. “We have forgiven them,” he tweeted.

Posters declaring Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as Ram Bhakt emerge in Ayodhya ahead of her visit to the city

OpIndia Staff
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Posters declaring Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as Ram Bhakt emerge in Ayodhya ahead of her visit to the city

Congress is leaving no stone unturned to cash on the new found Hindu identity of the Gandhi family just a couple of weeks ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. After posters portraying Congress President Rahul Gandhi as the incarnation of Lord Shiva and a descendant of Parshuram emerged during 2017 Gujarat election campaign, now posters of Rahul Gandhi’s sister and Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra have surfaced in Ayodhya declaring her a Ram Bhakt.

The posters have been put up across the city of Ayodhya to welcome Priyanka Gandhi to the city. This comes days after Rahul Gandhi was depicted as Lord Ram in posters by party workers in Bihar.

 

Both Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi have been visiting Hindu temples and offering prayers as part of their election campaign. The party had used its soft Hindutva politics during the Assembly elections last year as well. From claiming the existence of  Brahmin Samaj’s DNA in Congress’ blood to promising Gaushalas, Congress used every trick in the book to impress the Hindu voter.

Last month Congress workers had erected hoardings depicting Rahul Gandhi as Lord Ram and PM Modi as Ravana in Madhya Pradesh. The hoardings had the slogan of Chowkidar he chor hai printed on it. In another poster seen in Patna, Rahul Gandhi was shown as Lord Shiva, Priyanka Vadra as Goddess Durga and Narendra Modi as Mahishasura. It is interesting to see how the leaders of a party that had once called Lord Ram a myth, are desperately trying to prove their bhakti for Lord Ram clearly in an attempt to woo the Hindu voter.

‘Despite being in power for two-third of the last 48 years, Congress has left behind a legacy of poverty’: Arun Jaitley

OpIndia Staff
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‘Despite being in power for two-third of the last 48 years, Congress has left behind a legacy of poverty’: Arun Jaitley

Today Congress president Rahul Gandhi announced the Minimum Income Guarantee Scheme as a poll promise for the Lok Sabha elections. The party is promising Rs 72000 per year to 20% population of the country. Reacting to this announcement, union minister Arun Jaitley has written a blog on his Facebook page describing how Congress has been ineffectual in eliminating poverty notwithstanding the considerable number of years of being in power and how Modi government has been able to offer much more to the poor than empty promises made by Congress. Below is the reproduction of his blog:-

No political party has betrayed India for more than seven decades other than the Congress Party. It gave to the people of India many slogans and very little resources to implement them.
The Nehruvian era pushed India to the 3.5% rate of growth. When the world was moving fast and opening up, we decided to regulate our economy. Indiraji understood slogans better than economics. Inflation, unemployment, corruption and erroneous policies hindered India. A large part of economic reforms unleashed in 1991, was to undo what she did. In 1971, she gave her legendary slogan ‘Garibi Hatao’. Her economics was not about increasing production and generating wealth but only about redistribution of poverty. She supplemented her 1971 slogan while promising in election after election, the welfare of the largest number. Shri Rajiv Gandhi had a historic opportunity to remove poverty. Initially, he showed a desire to do so. But his Government got caught in unsavoury controversies preventing any significant and major changes.
In 1971, ‘Garibi Hatao’ slogan was given by Indiraji. For two-thirds of the last 48 years, her party has been in power. Yet, they left behind a legacy of poverty.
The UPA Government, between 2004-2014, conferred a large number of ‘rights’ without resources to implement them. The legendary bank loan waiver was announced at Rs.70,000 crore – a one time measure. Of this only Rs.52,000 crore was actually allocated, a significant part of which went to the businessmen of New Delhi (Ref. CAG Report). The MNREGA was a rural scheme where Rs.40,000 crore used to be promised every year and the actual spent was in the nature of Rs.28,000 to Rs.30,000 crore.
Today, the Congress President has announced that those whose income is below Rs.12,000/- per month, would be given a subsidy to ‘attain’ that income subject to Rs.6,000/- per month. This announcement is an admission of the fact that neither Indiraji nor her son and certainly not the UPA Government controlled by her descendants, was able to remove poverty. The Congress in general and the Gandhi family in particular, since ‘Garibi Hatao’ slogan was given, has ruled India for more than two-thirds of that period. If it has failed to even address poverty during this period, why should India believe it? Even though the details of the scheme are now known, it was said that the payment will be by DBT. The Congress Party’s internal economist has said that there will be no additional burden on the fiscal deficit.
The loan waiver bluff
The Congress Party in Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Karnataka promised a loan waiver. In most places, the promise remains unfulfilled. The party, thus, has a long legacy of slogans with no resources. It has a history of bluff announcements. Karnataka so far has spent only Rs.2600 crore, Madhya Pradesh Rs.3000 crore and Punjab Rs.5500 crore. The farmers are still waiting.
The income support
The landless and poor, amongst the villagers, get an MNREGA payment. Minimum wages for labour have been raised by 42%. Today even most industrial workers get more than Rs.12,000/- a month. The minimum starting salary in Government after the Seventh Pay Commission is Rs.18,000 a month. A small and marginal farmer, besides home, road, toilet, electricity, cooking gas subsidies, crop insurance, MSP payment, will also get income support.
The Opposition’s sabotage of the pro-poor initiatives
If the Congress Party and its friends have so much concern for the poor in India, why is it that its States are going slow in certifying the list of small and marginal farmers who are entitled to receiving the instalment of PM KISAN? Why are some of the States such as West Bengal, Odisha and Delhi, amongst others, not implementing the Ayushman Bharat? What is the fault of their poor farmers that they want to make them pay?
How the Narendra Modi Government supports the poor?
In the last five years, the Government headed by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi introduced the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) through the banking system. Besides subsidies for food, fertilizer, kerosene, 55 Ministries handed over subsidies to the poor through the DBT which was enabled by AADHAAR. Congress opposed AADHAAR in Parliament and challenged it before the Supreme Court. Ironically, they now want to use the same mechanism. How much is today being given to the poor through AADHAAR, DBT or otherwise? If all other payments are also made through DBT, what will the total amount to?
The simple arithmetic is if multiple bank transfers to the five crore poor families, the existing payment to which is mostly being done. The above averages Rs.1,06,800 annually as against Rs.72,000 which is the Congress now seeks to promise through the DBT mechanism.
Note: In addition to the above, Rs.5.34 lakh crore, there are several other schemes which provide several thousands of crores more to the poor. What is given towards Awas, cooking gas, electricity, sanitation and many other Government’s social schemes is additional. If the Congress Party’s announcement is tested on simple arithmetic, Rs.72,000 for five crore families works out to be Rs.3.6 lakh crore, which is less than 2/3rd of what is being given – A bluff announcement.

In a big boost to AgustaWestland case, CBI court approves middleman Rajiv Saxena’s plea to turn approver

OpIndia Staff
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In a big boost to AgustaWestland case, CBI court approves middleman Rajiv Saxena’s plea to turn approver

The Special CBI Court has today approved Dubai-based accountant Rajiv Saxena’s plea to turn approver in AgustaWestland case. Saxena is one of the accused in the AgustaWestland kickback case. The order was pronounced by Special CBI Judge Arvind Kumar.

In his application under Section 306 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, Rajiv Saxena had prayed for pardon in the case in exchange of full and true disclosure.

The Enforcement Directorate had ‘vehemently supported’ the application before the CBI Court. The Investigating Agency had stated that Rajiv Saxena had shown an inclination to ‘unravel the truth’ and that he would be an important witness in the case.

According to reports, recently Saxena had submitted a diary and a pen drive to the Enforcement Directorate, which have details of the Rs 423 crore alleged kickbacks paid in the VVIP chopper deal.

Rajiv Saxena had also submitted his statements before the court after he turned approver. He had earlier claimed before ED that his “exposure in the case was minimal” and that he merely acted as a front for other beneficiaries.

The agency, which believes that Saxena has extensive information on the bribe that was paid to certain politicians and bureaucrats in India, is also hoping that Saxena would also reveal significant details on the role of Christian Michel and Gautam Khaitan who are the co-accused in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal.

Rajiv Saxena was picked up by UAE government security agencies in Dubai and was later extradited to India on January 30, 2019. After spending 12 days in ED custody, Saxena was remanded to judicial custody by the Court. Last week, Saxena was granted interim bail by the Court on medical grounds.

The ED did not oppose his bail application when he had agreed to turn approver in the case. After he turned approver, Saxena recorded his statements before a court on March 6, which the ED accepted and informed the court that it supported Saxena’s application for turning a witness.

The ED’s probe into the money trail, according to its charge sheet filed earlier, revealed that AgustaWestland International Ltd, the UK subsidiary of Finmeccanica, paid 58 million euros (around Rs 423 crore) as kickbacks through Gordian Services Sarl, Tunisia and IDS Sarl, Tunisia. The money was further layered through multiple transactions in companies registered in different jurisdictions.

The kickbacks were moved from one company to another as consultancy fees. From the Tunisian entities, the bribe proceeds were transferred to Interstellar Technologies Ltd and others in Mauritius and further to UHY Saxena and Matrix Holdings Ltd in Dubai.

Reportedly, the ED had alleged that Rajiv Saxena was a beneficial owner of Mauritius-based Interstellar Technologies Ltd and the proceeds of the bribe were transferred two companies in Dubai.

It was further reported that Rajiv Saxena has several accounts in Switzerland. OpIndia had acquired the list of accounts that Rajiv Saxena allegedly used for kickbacks received in the AgustaWestland scam.

The AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam has been nothing less of a blistering drama ever since middleman Christian Michel was extradited to India from Dubai. Several revelations came to light, from the names of “Italian Lady”, to “Italian Lady’s son R“. From how Christian Michel was lobbying for the Eurofighter and against the Rafale deal, to how he had unbridled access to the PMO under Congress regime, the CCS and even the investigative agencies.

India had signed a deal in 2010 under the UPA regime to buy 12 AgustaWestland AW101 helicopters for the service of the Prime Minister, the President and other VVIPs. It is alleged that some politicians and public servants had abused their official positions to reduce the service ceiling of the VVIPs helicopter from 6000 metres to 4500 metres to make AgustaWestland eligible for the contract and had awarded the contract for an amount of Euro 556.262 million in 2010. The deal was cancelled in 2013 after the scam was revealed.

Actor R Madhavan offers support to PM Modi to urge voters to cast votes in elections, gets trolled by ‘liberals’

OpIndia Staff
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Actor R Madhavan offers support to PM Modi to urge voters to cast votes in elections, gets trolled by ‘liberals’

Actor R Madhavan in a response to a tweet by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the micro-blogging site thanked Modi for his unrelenting passion for strengthening the democracy in this country and extended his support in assisting Modi in his endeavour.


PM Modi has been urging celebrities including actors and sportspersons to use their stardom to encourage voters to come out and exercise their right to vote in the upcoming general elections. Prime Minister Modi had tweeted that since the people of the country admire actors like Madhavan and Hrithik if they come out and help in increasing voter awareness, it would strengthen India’s democracy.


However, R Madhavan’s appeal to his fan base to come out and vote didn’t go down too well with those who like to identify themselves as ‘liberals’. The respectful titles he used to address the prime minister of the country were mocked.


Soon, the so-called liberals were hounding him, asking whether he’d say the same if other politicians had asked him to urge his fans to vote. Which is kind of silly to begin with because he was asking people to vote, not specifying whom to vote for.


Madhavan, like any sensible individual who knows how a responsible citizen should behave, replied he would have done the same had it been any other politician asking him to lend his voice for a cause.


At that point, the focus shifted to Madhavan’s way of replying which ‘dog whistled trolls’ to descend upon their timelines.


A visibly clueless Madhavan apologised if anyone felt abused, but held his ground. At that point, he was again hounded.


As bizarre as it sounds, R Madhavan had to face the anger from ‘liberals’ not because he asked people to go out and vote, but because he did so to support PM Modi who is urging everyone to go out and vote. This is the second time in ten days’ time that he had to face the wrath of the ‘liberals’ for voicing his views. A few days back, in reacting to a distasteful video posted by Congress when China blocked Masood Azhar from being named as a global terrorist for the fourth time, Madhavan had been critical. The criticism, too, had not gone too well with the ‘liberals’.

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