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Manmohan Singh was a weak PM, we can’t change that fact in the movie: Anupam Kher on The Accidental Prime Minister

OpIndia Staff
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Manmohan Singh was a weak PM, we can’t change that fact in the movie: Anupam Kher on The Accidental Prime Minister

Reacting to Congress party’s opposition for the movie The Accidental Prime Minister, Anupam Kher has said that Rahul Gandhi should scold his supporters for opposing the movie. The movie is a biopic on former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh, and it is based on a book with the same name by Sanjaya Baru, who was media advisor to the former PM. Anupam Kher plays the role of Dr Manmohan Singh in the movie.

Yesterday, Maharashtra unit of Youth Congress sent a letter to the producers of the movie demanding to censor it, and a threat to not allow its release if their demand is not met. It was also reported that the newly elected Congress government in Madhya Pradesh is planning to ban the movie in the state. After the trailer of the movie was released on Youtube yesterday, several Congress leaders have attacked the movie, saying it distorts the facts.

Reacting to these developments, Anupam Kher has said that the movie is based on a book which was published in 2014, and nobody protested against the book. He said that the movie shows the incidents as described in the book, and facts can’t be changed to satisfy people. Kher said that Rahul Gandhi talks about freedom of expression so often, and he should control his party workers. He added the more protests are done against the movie, more publicity it will get.

He said that if a movie is made on Jallianwala Bagh or The Holocaust or any other historical incident, the facts can’t be changed. And they have done the same thing with the movie. The movie was announced two years ago, filmmakers have obtained the necessary certificate from the censor board for the movie before releasing the trailer, and now just 15 days before the release date, Congress party wants to censor it, he said.

In an interview with Arnab Goswami on Republic TV, Anupam Kher said that the incidents shown in the trailer are based on actual incidents happened in the recent past, and nobody can deny that. He stressed that the book was not written by an outsider, it was written by an insider, the media advisor of the PM, who was very close to Dr Singh.

The Accidental Prime Minister
Screengrab from the trailer of The Accidental Prime Minister

He said, if a movie showed a party vice-president tearing apart on ordinance brought by his own government, people would say this is too much filmi drama as such things can’t happen, but Rahul Gandhi did exactly that, and that is what shown in the movie. Similarly, all the other scenes shown in the movie are based on actual incidents, and Congress party can’t deny them, as they are a matter of public domain.

When asked that whether he was doing a caricature of Manmohan Singh, by showing him as a weak person controlled by party high command, Kher said that this is a known fact, which is also depicted in the book by Baru. Talking about the reference to nuclear treaty shown in the trailer of the movie, Kher reminded that it is a well-known fact that Dr Singh had to fight with his party to get the deal cleared.

Talking about the scene when Manmohan Singh offers to resign, Anupam Kher said that during his research for the role, several persons told him that Dr. Singh did offer to resign, which was reported in media also, apart from being mentioned in the book by Sanjaya Baru. The movie depicts the fight between Manmohan Singh and the party, which may not suit some people, but that is the history, he said.

Addressing to Manmohan Singh, Anupam Kher said that when you see the film, you will be happy with the way you are portrayed in the movie. He said that Manmohan Singh will like the movie so much that he will come and hug Kher, and appreciate his work. He has also tweeted saying that after Dr Singh sees the movie, he will also agree that it is 100% accurate depiction.


He said that after the movie is released, Manmohan Singh will become a popular leader. Kher also said that he has worked very hard for the role, to get the mannerism and speech of Dr Manmohan Singh right. He stressed that the movie is an authentic portrayal of the former prime minister, and no facts have been changed as accused by the Congress party. “Dr Manmohan Singh who was not only Congress’ PM, he was the PM of the country and as a citizen of the country I have the right to portray him, keeping it in mind that I have to do it in a delicate and sincere manner,” he added.

Anupam Kher also said that The Accidental Prime Minister should be nominated for the Oscars.

The Accidental Prime Minister: How a film trailer spooked Congress loyalist media

Editorial Desk
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The Accidental Prime Minister: How a film trailer spooked Congress loyalist media

Trailer of the film The Accidental Prime Minister starring Anupam Kher was released yesterday. The film is based on the book of the same title written by Sanjaya Baru, media advisor and chief spokesperson of former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh from May 2004 to August 2008.

From the trailer, it appears like a dramatised version of how the PMO operated from 10, Janpath during the ten years of UPA rule, something most people believe. However, the movie has rustled up quite a few people.

While youth Congress and other Congress leaders make noise, Congress wishes to take the high moral ground by not banning the movie. However, friendly media which benefited under the patronage of Sonia Gandhi was more than willing to mock a movie that has not even been released yet simply because it seems to mock their masters.

From writing sensational source-based fiction masquerading as journalism, many of these ‘journalists’ turned film critics overnight.


And then they proceeded to question the credibility of the author on whose book the film is based.


Rohini was particularly rattled.


While others decided to call it a propaganda film.


Wonder why they didn’t call ‘Sui-Dhaaga’ which was released earlier this year a propaganda film for the Make in India campaign.

Abusive troll Swati Chaturvedi also didn’t want to be left out of the jokes. She’s upset with the lack of ‘authentic’ Italian accent by the actor playing UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.


Another journalist-turned-politician was upset at the ‘factual errors’ in the depiction of the fictionalised version of a book based on real-life incidents. Which is amusing, considering most of these people have had no issues with so-called historians distorting history and portraying Mughal emperor Aurangzeb as a messiah of peace, rather even encourage it, but a film dramatising a person’s memoir is mocked at and ridiculed.


It is no surprise that the media received massive patronage from the Congress party. In fact, one would imagine that many people who would not even be employed to write the classified ads of a newspaper are today journalists because of a friendly political regime. These friendly journalists have tried their very best to create an illusion of superiority around the Gandhi family.

They have written several op-eds about the resurgence of Rahul Gandhi and others talking about the ethereal grace of Sonia Gandhi. The Congress scams and improprieties have been pushed under the rug and their lies and hypocrisies are almost never called out.

In case of The Accidental Prime Minister, while Congress leadership is pretending to distance itself, its party men have been left free to rabble-rouse while media loyalists are trashing and mocking the movie because it perhaps goes against the very hands that feed – the Gandhi family.

A comprehensive farm relief plan by the centre likely soon: Reports

OpIndia Staff
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A comprehensive farm relief plan by the centre likely soon: Reports

Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing a rally in Himachal Pradesh yesterday hinted towards a comprehensive farm relief plan envisaged by the centre. PM Modi also took the opportunity to claim that the loan waivers alone cannot completely alleviate the distress among the farmers.


Mounting a fierce attack on Congress, PM Modi said that the election hack of farm loan waivers was used by Congress to mislead the farmers. Articulating his views on the big election bait, for the first time after the BJP’s defeat in the three recent state elections, PM Modi claimed that Congress had made similar promises of farm loan waivers in 2008 but against total farm loans of 6 lac crores, only 60,000 crores were waived off. He also alleged that 35 lacs of the total beneficiaries then had no farmlands or had no farm-related loans, a bog scam even highlighted by the CAG that did not get media coverage because there were already bigger scams being unearthed in other sectors during the UPA rule.

According to a source quoted by the New Indian Express, Modi held a high-level meeting to create a broad plan that would comprehensively address concerns of farmers. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, BJP chief Amit Shah and Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh were present at the meeting. Precedents of successful farm relief models implemented in the past in states like Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand were discussed. The source claimed that a relief plan can be announced as early as the first week of January 2019.

Another source quoted by the TOI claimed that the government is deliberating on implementing direct benefit transfer(DBT). The government is weighing on executing the direct benefit transfer scheme modelled on the Telangana system. The source also claimed that the cost of the implementation of such a scheme might run into tunes of Rs 1.25 lakh crore which might be shared between the centre and the states.

Another option the government might employ is ‘price deficiency payment’ wherein the government pays the farmer if the price of the crop falls below the MSP. The centre is contemplating over replicating ‘Bhavantar scheme’ to pay the difference between the MSP and the market rate. The NITI Ayog has also reportedly suggested such a scheme.

Each farmer will need to register the crop name and acreage sewn in the nearest APMC Mandi and if the prices fall below the MSP linked price, the difference will be provided to the farmer via direct benefit transfer in Aadhar linked bank account.

‘The Accidental Prime Minister’: Congress believes in ‘freedom of speech’ only when it serves the Gandhis

Editorial Desk
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‘The Accidental Prime Minister’: Congress believes in ‘freedom of speech’ only when it serves the Gandhis

Rahul Gandhi has always been vocal about the supremacy of freedom of speech and expression. He had repeatedly asserted that Prime Minister Modi doesn’t believe in the tenets of the constitutions and is someone who would muzzle the constitutional rights of freedom of expression at the first given opportunity.

Right before the Punjab elections, in fact, a movie that showed Punjab as a drug-addled cesspool found massive support from Rahul.


Right before the election, Congress party and its lackeys promoted the movie to the hilt. Many believed that the movie exaggerated the problem in Punjab, however, that did not stop Congress from using it to political ends. Surprisingly, there has not been a peep out of Rahul about Punjab’s drug problem after the state was won by the party. It later emerged that the numbers touted at the time about Punjab’s drug problems might have not been completely accurate.

Then, movie Mersel which supposedly spread canards about demonetisation was also upheld as a beacon of freedom of speech by Rahul Gandhi. He asserted that Modi was interfering in the film.


Now, however, Congress is up in arms about a movie called ‘The Accidental Prime Minister’. The movie is based on Sanjaya Baru’s book and shows how the then Congress government was remotely controlled by Sonia Gandhi.

Youth Congress has demanded that the movie is censored. The trailer of the movie was released on Youtube, and it seems the youth Congress is not happy with the portrayal of various characters movie. They have written that ‘facts have been played with and presented in an incorrect manner’. They also say that the way Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi and Congress party is shown in the movie is not acceptable to them.

While the Madhya Pradesh government has denied banning the movie, Congress seems to be more than happy to let their party goons threaten, create a ruckus and disrupt movies that go against the party or the “image” of the Family.

Congress had shown its hypocrisy similarly during the release of the movie Indu Sarkar. They had resorted to violence and a distraught Madhur Bhandarkar had called Rahul Gandhi out on his hypocritical stand on freedom of expression.

The film Indu Sarkar was a fiction based on the 19-month long Emergency imposed by former Prime Minister and Rahul Gandhi’s grandmother Indira Gandhi in 1970s. Despite Bhandarkar’s assurances that the film was not a biopic on Gandhi’s life, Congress workers and leaders came down heavily on him. Outraged by this, Madhur Bhandarkar had then taken on Twitter to call out Rahul Gandhi’s hypocrisy.

Then, miffed at the portrayal of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in the Netflix series ‘Sacred Games’ as ‘fattu’ (coward), a Congress leader from Kolkata filed a complaint against the makers of the show.

Through it all, Rahul Gandhi had mostly maintained a stoic silence, all the while, supporting the ones who said ‘bharat tere tukde honge, Inshallah Inshallah” and more recently, the urban Naxals who had been arrested for their role in Koregaon Bhima violence and their involvement in a plot to assassinate the Prime Minister.

It seems evident that Congress is more than happy to muzzle the voices of those who don’t serve their agenda while glorifying the ones who do even if it means encouraging sedition or Naxalism.

Their most favoured excuse seems to be that the expression that doesn’t suit their agenda somehow “distorts” history. This coming from the very people who distorted history for decades is rather peachy. To the ones who thought that it was alright to glamorize a tyrant like Aurangzeb for the sake of secularism all the while, demonising Hindu greats like Maharana Pratap and Chhatrapati Shivaji, history is what suits their larger narrative. For the Congress party, it has always been evident that any event that can act as an ode to the Gandhi family is deemed to be called “history”, while any event, however accurate, should be trashed as “propaganda” because absolutely nothing should compromise on the illusion of greatness that sympathetic elements created around the Gandhi family.

When the Modi government wanted to convert the Teen Murti Marg as an ode to all Prime Ministers of the country and not just Nehru, Congress cried fascism. They said that BJP wanted to dilute “Heritage”. They talked tall on Heritage while their wily lawyers went to court and denied the existence of Lord Ram.

For the Congress, any fact that interfered with their carefully crafted lie is a “distortion” of History and perhaps, that is the reason why this movie is being opposed vociferously. As for the Congress’ stand on Freedom of Expression, a party that imposed the Emergency and has hundreds of instances of muzzling freedom of speech to their credit, hypocrisy seems like a word that cannot truly encompass their duplicitous stand on the matter.

Sanjay Jha’s cryptic tweet: What did he mean and who is it aimed at?

OpIndia Staff
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Sanjay Jha’s cryptic tweet: What did he mean and who is it aimed at?

National Spokesperson for the Indian National Congress, Sanjay Jha, has sent Twitter into a frenzy after he made a cryptic tweet on social media. He tweeted, “Coming in the second half of 2019: The Mental Prime Minister. :-))”.

Via Twitter

 After carefully considering all possibilities, we reached the conclusion that the cryptic tweet could mean only one of these three things:

  1. Sanjay Jha believes Rahul Gandhi has psychological issues

Infighting has been extremely common in the Congress party in recent times. There were reports of severe infighting between various factions within Congress during the run-up to the Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections. Even after results came in and they won, the party took several days to quell the infighting amidst their ranks before announcing their Chief Ministerial appointments for the two states.

Therefore, it could very well be that Sanjay Jha has had some trouble with Gandhi Parivar. Considering the fact that the party is extremely hopeful of its chances in 2019 after winning the three Assembly Elections, Jha may have taken the opportunity to take a dig at his party president.

2. Sanjay Jha has given up on 2019 Lok Sabha Elections

It could also be that Sanjay Jha believes the Bharatiya Janata Party’s victory in the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections is certain. Therefore, he is mocking Narendra Modi by calling him ‘mental’. But there’s a significant problem with this theory. If Jha was indeed referring to Narendra Modi, one expects to him say ‘coming back’. Also, it does not make sense for him to refer to Narendra Modi in such a manner as he is the Prime Minister even now. Hence, there was no need for him to add the context of Lok Sabha elections.

3. It’s an incoherent rant

Congress President Rahul Gandhi is the most accomplished politician when it comes to saying things that make no sense whatsoever. It could very well be that close proximity to Rahul Gandhi has affected Jha as well. Not that he used to make a lot of sense earlier but the cryptic tweet was definitely deep into ‘Rahul Gandhi territory’ unless it was directed at Rahul Gandhi.

Conclusion

Unless Jha was taking a dig at Congress President Rahul Gandhi, the tweet makes no sense at all. If indeed this is so, then it appears that Jha’s uncanny resemblance to Steve Jobs is limited to facial features alone. Also, it is not the first time that Sanjay Jha has scored a massive self-goal. Earlier, he had implied Karti Chidambaram as a fugitive financial fraudster, same as Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya.

Social Media reactions

As expected, social media was quick to latch on to Jha’s tweet.


Regardless of the person it is aimed at, it is extremely shameful for a national spokesperson of a political party to address the Prime Minister of India in such a fashion. The tweet is also hurtful towards those suffering from psychological issues, people who already suffer from a host of debilitating conditions. It is improper and unacceptable that a senior politician is perpetuating stigmas against mental health.

2018 witnesses highest number of unprovoked ceasefire violations by Pakistan so far

OpIndia Staff
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2018 witnesses highest number of unprovoked ceasefire violations by Pakistan so far

India’s Ministry of External Affairs summoned and lodged a strong complaint with a Pakistan High Commission official over the repeated violation of the 2003 ceasefire agreement.

According to the MAE, despite repeated calls for restraining, Pakistan forces have carried out over 1962 incidents of unprovoked ceasefire violations in which 50 Indians have lost their lives this year.

Until July 2018, Pakistan had reportedly violated the ceasefire along the International Border and the Line of Control more than 1432 times, which stands highest in the last eight years. India shares a 198 km long International Border with Pakistan in the Jammu region and a 724 km long Line of Control with Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.

In 2016, Pakistan had violated the ceasefire 449 times and in 2017, the number stood at 771 times. It is notable here that the International Border is guarded by the BSF while the LoC is guarded by operational divisions of the Indian Army.

Referring to the last two incidents of unprovoked violation of ceasefire on December 21 and 26, 2018, the MEA lodged a strong protest, also asking Pakistan to fulfil its bilateral commitment of not allowing its territory to be used as a launchpad for terrorists to attack India in any way.

Apart from this, New Delhi raised an alarm over the rise in the number of terrorist infiltration attempts across the Line of (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir and said that Islamabad was backing terrorists who are targeting Indian civilians and security forces.

As reported, Pakistan had earlier submitted a comprehensive action plan to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to stifle the funding of militants groups, fearing to be black-listed. But predisposed by its impulse, Pakistan has double-crossed India ever since, umpteen number of times. In fact, the 2018 figures of ceasefire violations reveal a horrific 230 per cent rise compared to 2016 – it is also the highest count in over a decade.

In 2016, there were 449 incidents of ceasefire violations in which 13 civilians and 13 security personnel were killed and 83 civilians and 99 security personnel were injured. In 2015, the number of ceasefire violations was 405, 583 violations were recorded in 2014 while 347 in 2013, 114 in 2012, 62 in 2011 and 70 in 2010 were recorded.

Owing to Pakistan’s unscrupulousness, every passing year has been witnessing an escalation in the unrest. Pakistan often uses unprovoked firing as a cover for terrorists attempting to infiltrate into India.

Incessant ceasefire violations by Pakistan have completely derailed the lives of the locals dwelling in the border area, leaving India with no option but to retaliate. Innocent civilians are often the victims in the firings. In May, an 8-month old baby was killed in firing from the Pakistani side.

Ghaziabad: Gangster Act to apply on habitual offenders in cow slaughter cases

OpIndia Staff
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Ghaziabad: Gangster Act to apply on habitual offenders in cow slaughter cases

The Ghaziabad police chief has asked the SHO to track all the cases of cow slaughter registered in the last five years and book the charges under the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986 also called Gangster Act as reported by Times of India. The Act aims to prevent and cope with gangsters and anti-social elements.

Recently cattle carcasses have been found at a number of places. The direction was issued on Thursday, three days prior to which four cattle carcasses were found near a cremation ground in Loni’s Sakalapura village. Three people identified as Irfan, Kaab and Asif were arrested in relation to the case. Two knives and a meat chopper were discovered by the police from them. The accused have reportedly told the police that they had slaughtered the cows near Bnathla canal on Sunday night with the help of 7-8 accomplices.

“Their modus operandi was to steal stray cattle in a pick-up van and slaughter them in secluded places. They would sell the beef through local meat shops. The accused have been booked under the Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act. Their past history is being checked and the Gangster Act will be invoked against them after an investigation. We are trying to catch their accomplices,” told Loni SHO Sanjay Verma.

“Prior to the Loni incident, cattle carcasses were found in Masuri and other areas. A law and order situation arose in Bulandsheher recently in a similar incident. Police have been asked to remain alert and deal with any situation swiftly and tactfully”, said Ghaziabad SSP Upendra Kumar. According to reports, the cases under the Gangster Act will be filed against habitual offenders. In case charges are framed under this Act, getting bail becomes difficult and the police can apply for longer custody.

In a meeting held on Wednesday between the SSP and other officers, the SSP had directed the officers to identify the sensitive villages in the district and hold meetings with their heads. The officers were also directed to hold special drives from December 27-31 to complete the investigation of long-pending cases in the district.
It is notable here that after Yogi Adityanath assumed office as CM of UP, he has attempted to address the menace of cattle smuggling and illegal slaughter in the state. Last year in June, he had ordered stricter action and thorough vigilance in cases of cattle smuggling and slaughter. The UP police had been ordered to apply the National Security Act and Gangster Act against organised incidents of smuggling and slaughter. UP also saw a crackdown on illegal slaughterhouses operating in the state.

When Indira Gandhi forced a nationalised bank to give unsecured loan to party owned entity, defaulted

K Bhattacharjee
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When Indira Gandhi forced a nationalised bank to give unsecured loan to party owned entity, defaulted

The Associate Journals Limited (AJL) is the company that is at the heart of the alleged National Herald scam. Congress President Rahul Gandhi and his mother, Sonia Gandhi, are accused to have been involved in massive ‘cheating and breach of trust’ along with their aides in the acquisition of AJL by Young Indian Pvt Ltd (YIL), as assets worth crores of rupees had been allegedly transferred for purposes other than originally intended for a paltry sum.

Incidentally, the AJL was involved in another case of apparent financial misconduct by the Congress party. During the Emergency, the Punjab National Bank (PNB) had provided the company with an overdraft of Rs. 10 lakh disregarding all norms and procedure. The Shah Commission, which was constituted to look into the excesses committed by the Indira Gandhi government during the Emergency, made some several damning observations.

Firstly, T.R. Tuli was appointed the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of PNB after sidelining another person who was chosen for the job by the Finance Minister and the Home Minister in consultation with the RBI. The appointment was done after Indira Gandhi insisted on it. The Commission noted that well-established conventions were violated to ensure Tuli’s appointment and dubbed it ‘abuse of authority’.

“…the Commission is of the view this is yet another instance where the then Finance Minister Shri C Subramaniam was virtually compelled to fall in line with the suggestion made by then Prime Minister, Smt. Gandhi and that such compulsion amounted to the abuse of authority by the former Prime Minister. It clearly resulted in a subversion of well-established conventions,” the Commission observed.

It is important to note that until the overdraft was sought, AJL didn’t even have an account at PNB’s Parliament Street branch. An overdraft is normally issued to an esteemed and trusted customer who has an impeccable record. AJL opened an account on the 20th of March, 1976 and two days later, a cheque of Rs. 10 lakh was issued to the company. And all of this happened after Tuli gave the manager his verbal approval.

Under the original agreement, AJL was supposed to mortgage Herald House for a term loan of Rs. 15 lakh to repay the original Rs. 10 lakh overdraft. However, when the Manager of the PNB Branch approached AJL for the same, the latter claimed that Herald House could not be mortgaged due to ‘technical difficulties’.

The Commission observed, “It would appear that thereafter Associated Journals were making efforts to raise the sums required to pay the clean overdraft from the Punjab National Bank by offering ‘herald House’ as a security by way of a second mortgage to the Syndicate Bank and for some reason or the other they did not, in fact, succeed in raising the requisite funds and in repaying the Punjab National Bank.”

And so it happened that when the Shah Commission started its inquiry into the matter, AJL had still not repaid the overdraft. The Commission observed that Tuli’s decision was influenced by Indira Gandhi’s connections to AJL. It said, “since National Herald-publisher Associated Journals Limited was connected with the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, it must have weighed a little in his mind to deal with the case on a priority basis expeditiously.”

Tuli’s testimony, however, was the most damning aspect of the whole fracas. When he was asked by the Commission about whether his decision was motivated by the ‘advice’ of a Minister, he replied, “Yes Sir, that is a big consideration for me.” Furthermore, he revealed that he had not even checked the balance sheet of the company before issuing the overdraft without any security at all.

The Minister being referred to here is P.C. Sethi, Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers, who had called Tuli to his residence and asked him to help AJL with money to enable it to take delivery of imported machinery in Bombay.

The Commission’s concluding remarks on the matter were damning. It stated, “The Commission is of the view that Shri Tuli had subverted established procedure in permitting this overdraft without security to M/s. Associate Journals Limited.”

In short, Tuli was appointed as the CMD of PNB at the insistence of Indira Gandhi after disregarding well-established norms and procedures. Then, he “abused his authority” and disregarded well-established procedures to issue the AJL an overdraft of Rs. 10 lakh without any security due to the company’s association with the then Prime Minister. Furthermore, a Minister had called him to his house and ‘advised’ him to help the AJL. And to our knowledge, it is not clear whether the overdraft of Rs. 10 lakh was ever repaid at all.

The Punjab National Bank has also been in news recently for the Nirav Modi-Mehul Choksi financial fraud. The fraud was being perpetuated since 2011. When a whistleblower, the former Director of Allahabad Bank, raised his voice on the matter in 2013, he was threatened and forced to resign after only 11 months. Then Finance Secretary, Rajiv Takru, himself had created pressure on the whistleblower. Allegations also surfaced that former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram had himself signed the termination letter.

It was also alleged by Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman that one of Nirav Modi’s companies named Fire star diamond international Pvt Ltd was acquired from Advait Holdings, one of whose shareholders since 2002 is Anita Singhvi, the wife of Abhishek Singhvi.

Scindia sidelined? Rift between Scindia and Kamal Nath, Digvijay duo over allocation of portfolios

OpIndia Staff
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Scindia sidelined? Rift between Scindia and Kamal Nath, Digvijay duo over allocation of portfolios

Though 48 hours have passed since ministers have been sworn in Madhya Pradesh, the deadlock between the allocation of the portfolio continues with Congress bigwigs locking horns with each other over the distribution of various departments, according to reports.

The Congress bigwigs Kamal Nath, Digvijay Singh and Jyotiraditya Scindia are said to be having differences of opinion on the allocation of certain important departments like that of the Finance, Home and Transport Department.

Kamal Nath, who has been recently sworn in as Madhya Pradesh Cheif Minister, though is said to be ready with his list of departments, sources say that few ministers are hellbent on getting certain departments which are causing the delay and internal rift within the party.

According to reports, Jyotiraditya Scindia, who spurned the offer of deputy chief minister’s post in the Kamal Nath government, have been persistent on giving an important portfolio to his supporter, while Kamalnath and Digvijay want to bring their own ministers on board.

Its worthy to note hear that Jyotiradtiya Scindia himself was a strong contender for the post of Madhya Pradesh Cheif Minister until the Congress ultimately chose their family loyalist Kamal Nath over him.

Sources said the while Scindia has been determined to get Tulsi Silawat positioned for the Home and Transport Department, Kamal Nath wants this important portfolio to go to Rajpur’s MLA Bala Bachchan. Whereas emphasizing on experience and the superiority, Digvijay Singh is stuck on the idea of giving the Home Department to Dr Govind Singh. Apart from this, Digvijay Singh is advocating his son and Raghogarh MLA Jayawardhan Singh to be heading the finance department.

Because of these differences in opinions, it is being speculated that CM Kamal Nath is looking at the party’s high command for its consent and is likely to get his list approved from Delhi.

Taking a jibe at the functioning of the newly-formed Congress government in Madhya Pradesh, former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan alleged that the delay in the allocation of portfolios to the ministers is a “matter of concern”.

Talking to the media at his residence, Chouhan said, “I extended my wishes to the new government, but it is a matter of concern the way the formation of the cabinet was delayed and now portfolio distribution is being delayed.”

“We are seeing media reports and various Congress leaders are insisting for particular departments causing a delay in the allocation. The quota of different camps (of Congress) was fixed. This delay is historic and never happened in the state,” he claimed.

Chouhan further said that though it was the CM’s right to allocate portfolios, but in Madhya Pradesh, it was Digvijay Singh who has been speaking and taking decisions on this matter. “It is the chief minister’s prerogative to allocate portfolios, but Digvijay ji- veteran Congress leader Digvijay Singh- was replying on such issues claiming this work would be done today” he said.

Himachal Pradesh: Shimla tensed after severed cattle head found

OpIndia Staff
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Himachal Pradesh: Shimla tensed after severed cattle head found

On Thursday, Rohru market in Shimla woke up to communal tension after people discovered a severed cattle head leading to violent protests by Hindu groups against the Muslim community.

Reportedly, the incident occurred on Wednesday evening, when few people found cow carcass in an under-construction building in Rohru market. Following this, people belonging to various Hindu organisations assembled near the market to protest and in the event damaged a few shops belonging to Muslims. The situation turned tense after more than 5000 people had assembled at the market to protest against beheading of the cattle allegedly done by people belonging to the Muslim community.

A large police force was rushed to the spot immediately after mob vandalised properties belonging to few Muslims. The police resorted to lathi-charge to bring the situation under control. The area was completely shut down as Rohru market was gripped with severe tensions following the incident.

Shimla Deputy Superintendent of Police Pramod Shukla speaking to the media said that the situation is tense but it is under control. The local police had sought the help of Shimla police and a battalion of police had been deployed at the spot. A forensics team would determine whether the severed head was that of a calf as alleged, police said.

The police have registered an FIR against more than 20 people under IPC sections related to attempts to outrage religious feelings and promote enmity between different groups. The police will also lodge a case against the protesters who had allegedly vandalised the shops.

To bring the situation under control the police officials held discussions with members of the two communities. ASP Manmohan Sharma urged the people to maintain peace. “We have increased patrolling in the area to maintain peace. The situation is under control,” he said.

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