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India and Russia conclude the bilateral INDRA NAVY maritime exercise in the Bay of Bengal

OpIndia Staff
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India and Russia conclude the bilateral INDRA NAVY maritime exercise in the Bay of Bengal

The tenth edition of INDRA NAVY maritime exercise between India and Russia has been concluded in the Bay of Bengal near Visakhapatnam coast, Andhra Pradesh.

INDRA, a joint bi-annual military exercise held from December 9-16, 2018 aimed to increase interoperability amongst the two navies, develop common understanding and procedures for maritime security operations.

The INDRA Naval exercise was held in two phases viz. Harbour Phase and Sea Phase. The Harbour Phase was held at Visakhapatnam from 9-12 December which included planning conferences, professional interactions and formal calls between Flag Officers and senior officers of the participating navies. The Sea Phase was conducted in the Bay of Bengal from 13-16 December focussing on Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), air defence drills, surface firings, Visit Board Search and Seizure (VBSS) operations and other tactical procedures.

Image Source: ANI
India-Russian Naval Exercise- INDRA-2018/ Image Source: ANI

The Indian Navy was represented by guided missile destroyer INS Ranvir, indigenous frigate INS Satpura, indigenous anti-submarine warfare (ASW) corvette INS Kadmatt, indigenous missile corvettes ships INS Kuthar and INS Khanjar and a fleet tanker INS Jyoti. In addition, one Sindhughosh-class submarine, Dornier maritime patrol aircraft, Hawk fighter aircraft and other integral rotary wing helicopters had also taken part in the exercise.

The Russian Navy had sent ships from its Pacific fleet based at Vladivostok and included guided missile cruiser Varyag, Udaloy-class destroyer Admiral Panteleyev and a replenishment ship Boris Butoma.

India-Russian Naval Exercise- INDRA-2018/ Image Source: ANI

Initiated in 2003, these exercises were tasked with boosting cooperation and interoperability between the Russian and Indian navies. “The INDRA NAVY exercise has matured over the years with the increase in scope, complexity and level of participation,” a statement released by the Indian Navy said.

“During the exercise, sailors of Russia’s Pacific Fleet and Indian Navy’s Eastern Fleet improved their practical skills of joint tactical manoeuvres, refuelling of ships from a tanker while in motion, an inspection of a suspicious vessel,” the Russian side said.

India-Russian Naval Exercise- INDRA-2018/ Image Source: ANI

Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba had visited Russia from November 26-29 to consolidate bilateral defence relations and explore new avenues for defence cooperation, the release said.

The exercise will be yet another milestone in strengthening maritime security cooperation between the two navies and will serve to reinforce the long-standing bond of friendship between the countries, the Indian Navy said.

India-Russian Naval Exercise- INDRA-2018/ Image Source: ANI

The Indian Armed Forces interact with Russian Armed Forces on many fronts. Recently, the tenth joint military exercise between Indian and Russia ‘EXERCISE INDRA 2018’ was conducted at Babina Field Firing Ranges, Babina Military Station Jhansi.

India and Russia also jointly conducted a biennial Air Force level exercise called ‘Avia Indra’  to enhance co-operation and understanding between Air forces of both countries in each other’s Concept of Operations. The first phase of Avia Indra-18 was held in Lipetsk, Russia from September 17 to 28, 2018. The second session of Avia Indra-18 will be conducted in Jodhpur, Rajasthan from December 10 Dec to 22, 2018.

Rajasthan Police ends up declaring a true incident as ‘fake news’ on Twitter

OpIndia Staff
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Rajasthan Police ends up declaring a true incident as ‘fake news’ on Twitter

In the last couple of days, a video is being shared on social media where a person is seen complaining to police about “Aurangzeb’s rule” coming to his state. Those sharing the video are claiming that the incident happened in Utambar, Rajasthan after Congress won the recently concluded assembly elections.

It is being claimed that Congress supporting Muslim workers intruded into the homes of Rajput community in Utambar, Rajasthan and misbehaved with girls.


Many social media users have been sharing this video of the incident as proof of Congress’ Muslim appeasement, as the incident is supposed to have taken place within 5 hours of Congress government being formed in the state (technically the new Chief Minister is yet to take the oath).

However on Twitter, the verified handle of Rajasthan Police, on December 16th, 2018 appeared to have declared the incident as “fake news”


This declaration of the incident as “fake news” was assumed by most Twitter users as a proof that such an incident never happened in Utambar. Rajasthan police instead claimed that the video was old and the incident had happened in Jharkhand, however the text of the message specifically talked about an incident in Utambar, Rajasthan.

While the user whom Rajasthan police accused of spreading fake news and warned of action by cyber unit, deleted his tweet, many other users pointed out that the incident claimed in his tweet was not fake.

UPDATE: The Twitter user who had deleted his tweet appeared to have attached a wrong video, however, the screenshot used by Rajasthan police in their warning did not include thumbnail of the video, in absence of which, a real incident (as seen in the text part of the screenshot used by Rajasthan police) was being tagged as ‘fake news’ by Rajasthan police and believed so by many users.

Twitter users pointed to factors like the person speaking in Marwari, which is a dialect spoken in parts of Rajasthan and not in Jharkhand.


OpIndia decided to dig further and we found that there were news articles in the vernacular media that matched the incidents in the shared video, or as claimed by the user who was warned by the Rajasthan Police.

According to one Dainik Bhaskar report dated 14th December, after claims of assault and molestation, various supporters under the leadership of BJP leader Babusingh Rathore protested and took out a 4-kilometre march. The report says that Babusingh Rathore and his supporters also met Ranveer Singh, presumably the father of the girls, and examined the injuries of their two daughters.

Picture credit: Dainik Bhaskar

Therefore, the Dainik Bhaskar report confirms that the incident, which Rajasthan police ended up tagging as ‘fake news’ on Twitter, indeed took place in Utambar, Rajasthan.

According to another Dainik Bhaskar report dated 17th December, the name of the ones arrested in this case are Firoz Khan’s son Huzur Khan Bhojakor, Alawataya’s son Elidwanwan Rawat, Rauf Khan’s son Fakir Khan Rawat and Mojboor Khan’s son Hameed Khan. They also found two jeeps used in the incident.

In the 14th December Dainik Bhaskar report, it is said that the police had assuaged sentiments of the village after giving an assurance that the accused would be arrested within 7 days.

OpIndia also talked to the investigating officer who confirmed that such an incident had taken place. He, however, said that the incident was more political in nature than communal. He confirmed that perpetrators accused of molesting girls were arrested.

The IO said that after the elections results of 11th December 2018 where Congress swept the polls, Congress workers were celebrating the victory when things got heated. Complaints were filed against the people involved in the victory procession and the police had reached the spot late at night, around 10 PM.

When asked about the molestation charge, the IO said that medical tests have been conducted on the girls and they did have injury marks on their hands. He also asserted that the police was working swiftly and had already made 7 arrests in the case. The officer further informed that a counter FIR has also been fired in the case.

The tweet by Rajasthan police caused many to confuse the incident with another video being shared on social media, which indeed is old and from Jharkhand. Many had shared a video where ‘Babri Masjid leke rahenge‘ slogans were raised in a Congress bike rally and insinuated that the incident happened after Congress’ victory in Rajasthan. However, that video was an old one and not of the recent Assembly Elections. That was clearly a fake news.

In this particular case, the incident did happen. Despite numerous users pointing out that Rajasthan Police that the incident narrated in their own screenshot was real, the police had not clarified about it.

UPDATE: A day after OpIndia pointed out how their incomplete screenshot was creating confusion and ending up branding a real news as fake news, Rajasthan police finally clarified that their tweet was about the video – whose thumbnail they had missed in their screenshot, and thus created confusion about another video that was also genuine – was old. However, for some reason, the Rajasthan Police’s Twitter handle still did not explicitly mention that the incident in Utambar was indeed genuine as corroborated by the Rajasthan Police.

Sajjan Kumar enjoyed ‘political patronage’, ‘large scale efforts’ to protect him’: Delhi High Court

OpIndia Staff
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Sajjan Kumar enjoyed ‘political patronage’, ‘large scale efforts’ to protect him’: Delhi High Court

Sajjan Kumar, a veteran Congress leader, has been convicted in the 1984 Sikh massacre case and has been sentenced to life imprisonment. Witness in the case, Cham Kaur, has asserted that she personally saw Sajjan Kumar order the brutal murder of 5 Sikhs.


Besides Cham Kaur, another key prosecution actress, Sheela Kaur, identified Sajjan Kumar as the person who was instigating crowds at Sultanpuri.

In its damning observations, the Delhi High Court said that there were ‘large-scale efforts’ to protect Kumar.


The Court further observed that cases were often not even registered and even on occasions when they were registered, they were not investigated properly.


Most damning observation, however, was that the accused enjoyed ‘political patronage’ and ‘escaped trial’.


Today’s judgment reversed the 2013 verdict of the Karkardooma trial court that acquitted Kumar but convicted five others in the case.

The case pertains to the murder of five Sikhs in the Delhi Cantonment area during the massacre of 1984. The appeal was filed by those convicted, the CBI and the family of victims.

The Delhi High Court had admitted the appeal against the trial court verdict in August 2013. The trial court had acquitted him after observing that Kumar deserved the “benefit of doubt” as a key witness had not named him as an accused in her statement to a panel.

In April 2012, the CBI told a Delhi Court that Sajjan Kumar incited crowds to murder Sikhs. The Court was also told that the massacre was “backed by both the Congress government and police”. “There was a conspiracy of terrifying proportion with the complicity of police and patronage of local MP Sajjan Kumar,” the CBI prosecutor told the Judge. The prosecutor also said that witnesses had heard Sajjan Kumar tell a crowd “not a single Sikh should survive”.

In a bitter instance of irony, Sajjan Kumar has been convicted for his role in the 1984 Sikh Massacre on the same day that another Congress veteran accused of participating in the massacre, Kamal Nath, is set to take oath as the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh.

Kamal Nath was accused of leading a mob outside the Rakabganj Gurudwara during the massacre. Two Sikhs were burnt to death there. His presence at the Gurudwara was confirmed by a policeman and a journalist who offered formal testimony. Kamal Nath said that he was there on Rajiv Gandhi’s insistence. However, the Nanavati Commission did not find any definitive proof of his involvement.

History appears to have finally caught up with Sajjan Kumar as he has been instructed to surrender by the 31st of December. His conviction has been welcomed by the families of victims and the Sikh community. Celebrations broke out as soon as his conviction was announced by the Delhi High Court.

After TMC slams DMK’s Stalin for ‘Rahul as PM’ endorsement, Akhilesh, Maya, Mamata to skip swearing-in of new Congress CMs

OpIndia Staff
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After TMC slams DMK’s Stalin for ‘Rahul as PM’ endorsement, Akhilesh, Maya, Mamata to skip swearing-in of new Congress CMs

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief, Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo, Mayawati have reportedly planned to skip attending the swearing-in ceremonies of Congress CM-designates, Kamal Nath, Bhupesh Baghel and Ashok Gehlot in the three states where the Congress has recently won the assembly elections.

The decision of skipping the oath-taking ceremonies comes as a surprise, considering that the BSP has extended support to Congress in both Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan while SP has given its backing to the Congress in Madhya Pradesh. As per reports, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee also will not attend the oath-taking ceremonies in any of the three states.

This comes as a stark contrast to the oath-taking ceremony of Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy, where all these leaders, including many other regional party leaders, had not only attended the ceremony but also had made grand statements of an powerful ‘united opposition to dethrone BJP from the center.

After several days of discussion, Congress has finally chosen the CM candidates for Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chattisgarh respectively. While Kamal Nath has been selected to lead Madhya Pradesh, senior leader, Ashok Gehlot will head Rajasthan and Bhupesh Baghel has been chosen to be the CM of Chhattisgarh by Congress’ top leadership. The most popular face of the Congress party in Rajasthan, Sachin Pilot has been, however, offered the post of Deputy CM.

While announcing her support to the Congress in both states, SP supremo, Mayawati had earlier, however, cleared that her party does not support Congress’ ideologies and policies and that the support extended was mere to prevent the BJP from grabbing power in both the states of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Akhilesh Yadav had also reiterated the same, saying, his party’s support to the Congress in MP was only for the sake of keeping the BJP out. “We have lent support to the Congress in MP for the sake of democracy and secularism,” he had said.

This decision coming from the SP and BSP heads, somehow, further clears the perception of political parties like these, who have joined the so-called ‘Mahagathbandhan’, which the Congress is skillfully trying to constitute to take on BJP in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. This coalition, however, comes across as a stark compromise various parties with different ideologies are making just with the sole purpose to defeat Modi.

For this reason, perhaps, none of the major political parties who are pretending to support Congress for the outside, have ever accepted Rahul Gandhi as the next Prime Ministerial candidate.

Earlier too, articulating the long-drawn ambition of Mayawati to become India’s Prime Minister after the 2019 general elections, the BSP had completely disregarded Rahul Gandhi as the next PM face.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav had too, earlier dropped hints that his party may not be in line to support Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s candidature for the Prime Minister’s post before the elections.

Yesterday, TMC, whose supremo has always been supportive of a ‘united opposition’, had lashed out at DMK chief, MK Stalin, who endorsed Congress chief, Rahul Gandhi for the prime ministerial post of the country.

Mamata Banerjee’s party has reportedly said that the entire opposition is taking Stalin’s remark very seriously and also stated that the prime ministerial candidate could only be decided post-2019 election results.

Earlier, NCP leader Sharad Pawar had also hinted that his party does not endorse the idea of Rahul Gandhi as a PM candidate and stated that it should be decided only after the elections.

With so much under-current within all these parties teaming up, it would be interesting to see whether the so-called ‘Mahagathbandhan’ will be able to withstand these internal pressures in their quest to fight BJP before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections or would come tumbling down like a pack of cards.

Congress leader Ashwin Joshi threatens to beat BJP supporters, harass people to ‘send a message’

OpIndia Staff
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Congress leader Ashwin Joshi threatens to beat BJP supporters, harass people to ‘send a message’

Congress candidate from Indore-III constituency, Ashwin Joshi, while addressing party workers at party’s city office, reportedly said that he would beat the BJP workers who ‘planned his defeat by deploying unfair means and practices’. Joshi had lost the Indore-III seat to BJP veteran leader Kailash Vijayvargiya’s son Akash by more than 5000 votes.

Video clips of Joshi’s statement have been circulating on social media.


He reportedly asked his party workers not to give refuge to BJP supporters and asked them to prepare a list of people and even police officials who, according to him, were working against Congress. “I wanted to ask those, who will become ministers, not to give shelter to those people supporting BJP, Whom I will beat up”, Joshi said.

“We should ensure that those police officers and other officials, who favour us, should stay here. Besides, those advocates who support us should be recruited on government posts,” he said. “A list of the goons and those involved in betting and selling illicit liquor should also be prepared and these people should be externed from Indore,” he added.
Joshi had alleged after the election results came out that Vijayvargiya had distributed money in slum areas to win the elections and that his complaints made in this regard were not addressed. He incited his party workers to harass the people who deceived the party so that a message is sent across.
“Start harassing them to the extent that people get a message that what happens to those, who cheat us”, reportedly asked his party workers.
Congress won recent state assembly elections in the state. Congress secured 114 MLA seats in the 230 seat assembly.

Congress veteran Sajjan Kumar sentenced to life imprisonment for 1984 Sikh massacre

OpIndia Staff
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Congress veteran Sajjan Kumar sentenced to life imprisonment for 1984 Sikh massacre

Delhi High Court has pronounced Congress veteran Sajjan Kumar guilty in 1984 Sikh massacre case and sentenced him to life imprisonment. As per reports, the HC had reserved its order on a plea by CBI against a trial court judgement hat had acquitted Sajjan Kumar and convicted five others. Sajjan has been ordered to surrender by 31 december.


A bench of JusticeS S Muralidhar and Vinod Goel pronounced the sentence in the case related to the murder of five Sikhs in Delhi’s cantonment area after the assasination of former PM Indira Gandhi in October 1984.

As per reports, in 2013, the trial court had convicted former councillor Balwan Khokkar, former MLA Mahendra Yadav, Kishan Khokkar, Girdhari Lal and Captain Bhagmal in the case and had aquitted Sajjan Kumar.

Sajjan Kumar and others have been pronounced guilty of leadinga mob and killing five Sikh men, namely Gurpreet Singh, Kehar Singh, Raghuvender Singh, Kuldeep Singh and Narender Pal Singh, all members of the same family in the cantonment area on 31 October, 1984.

As per reports, the Delhi HC has also slapped a fine of Rs 5 lakhs on Sajjan Kumar and 1 lakh each on the other accused in the 1984 Sikh riots case.

The court verdict against Sajjan Kumar has come on a day that Kamal Nath, another person who is accused of leading a mob that killed a father and son in Gurudwara rakabganj area, is scheduled to take oath as the new CM of Madhya Pradesh today. Akali Dal leader Manjinder Sirsa had announced that the Sikh community will protest againt Kamal Nath’s appointment as CM by Congress leadership.

Cham Kaur, the witness n the case, had deposed in court that she saw Sajjan Kumar ordering the brutal murder of the five Sikh men.

Ghaziabad: Stray dog, mother of five puppies, raped and dragged to death by Nafees and Tauseef

OpIndia Staff
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Ghaziabad: Stray dog, mother of five puppies, raped and dragged to death by Nafees and Tauseef

In a barbaric incident, two youth from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh have allegedly raped a stray dog and later tied the dog behind their scooter to drag her to death. As per reports, the dog was brutally dragged for almost 3 kilometers before the accused were finally stopped by locals.

Ruchin Mehra, a social activist stated to The Pioneer that the accused men had tied the dog behind a scooter and dragged her. Local residents reportedly objected and tried to catch the culprits but one of them managed to flee. Mehra has stated that the skin of the animal was fatally ripped of from body due to the dragging.

As per reports, the arrested culprit is named Nafees, a resident of the Saheed Nagar area in Ghaziabad. Nafees reportedly confessed to the crime of raping the dog several times before dragging her in the streets. Another accused Tauseef is also a resident from the same locality and has fled after the incident.

Reportedly, the accused during the interrogation has revealed that the dog had bitten several people in the locality, therefore, the two men decided to teach the dog a lesson and went on tie the dog to their scooter and dragged her. NGO People For Animals has registered FIRs against the culprits.

Several such heinous acts of bestiality and barbaric torture on animals have been reported in recent months. In November, a male dog was killed after four men in Mumbai had raped and tortured the animal, allegedly in a drunken state. In Madhya Pradesh, a man named Chhotu Khan was arrested in August after he allegedly raped a cow in Suthaliya town.

In Baghpat of Uttar Pradesh, a youth named Arif was also arrested for allegedly raping and killing a four-month-old calf. Prior to that, it was reported from Mewat, Haryana, that eight men had raped and killed a pregnant goat.

2019: Why BJP needs to build its own Vijaynagar and supporters need to defend it with all they have

Abhishek Banerjee
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2019: Why BJP needs to build its own Vijaynagar and supporters need to defend it with all they have

I am currently on vacation in Hampi and yesterday I happened to pick up the book “Vijaynagar: A Forgotten Empire”. It is written by one Robert Sewell, a British civil servant and was first published more than 100 years ago. Here is a page that I found to be very telling.

IMG_20181216_135406.jpg

When Muslim invaders reached the Krishna river, the Hindus of South India gathered under the banner of the Vijaynagar Empire, which offered them protection for two hundred and fifty years.

It is a good thing that this is a reprint of a book that was originally published one hundred years ago. That’s why you get this frank admission of facts. The clear acknowledgement of the kind of daily terror and oppression that made up the daily lives of Hindus for eight hundred years.

Can you imagine a modern-day JNU type historian approaching the same subject? They would cover it up under so many banalities (and outright lies) of Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb that you would wonder why invaders even had armies when all they wanted to offer was the richness of their culture, music and literature.

Besides, the Break India forces that seek to build up regional pride in the South as a form of opposition to Hindutva should read this for a bitter dose of real history. The South of India is the historic fortress of Hindus. Take that.

The elections of today do not involve a battle (outside Bengal, at least) but their ebb and flow is no different in character from the battles of the past. The media, the politicians, the so-called political analysts and even ordinary people consistently use battle metaphors to describe electoral contests. In this sense, 2019 is no less than a war and a civilizational one at that.

Amit Shah is doing the right thing, creating fear in the minds of BJP’s foot soldiers that a defeat in 2019 could set the ideological battle behind by 25 years. One should remember just how momentous the victory of 2014 was. It was the first time a non-Congress party crossed the majority mark in the Lok Sabha. It was the first time in history that the Congress was ever surpassed by a party in terms of vote share (Janata Party in 1977 was a mere conglomeration of diverse parties and doesn’t really count). In 1996, 1998 and 1999 elections when BJP emerged as the single largest party, the Congress still had more votes.

It is up to the BJP’s workers, its supporters and sympathizers to ensure that the 2014 victory is cemented by a follow up in 2019. That the 2014 win does not end up like that of Hemu over the Mughals in 1556. Securing an additional 0.5% of the votes would have won BJP both Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. Will these electoral battles end up like the famous freak arrow that hit Hemu in the eye at the Second Battle of Panipat and changed the course of India’s history?

Nevertheless, in order to survive a possible adverse outcome in 2019, the BJP must build up and protect its own “Vijaynagars”: fortresses that can give protection against the invasion of the “idea of India”. From 2004–2014, the Western belt of India running from Gujarat to Chhattisgarh through Madhya Pradesh formed this bulwark. But now Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh are gone and it is not clear what will happen in 2022 when BJP tries to win Gujarat for the seventh time in a row.

It is time for BJP to build new Vijaynagars. Where might these be?

The very first of these that comes to mind is the North East. This land has become the apple in the BJP’s eye and the thorn in the flesh of Indian ‘secularism’. They assumed that BJP could never go beyond what they condescendingly called the “cow belt” states. And a saffronized North East, which is seeing development for the first time in seventy years, is causing a deep itch in Lutyens Delhi.

But the BJP also needs big states and you can’t find those in the North East. Luckily there are two big Vijaynagar” opportunities that present themselves.

The first is Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP has crossed the 40% barrier in vote share. It now polls about 43% of the votes. Yes, the party might have some bad luck there in 2019 because the SP, BSP and Congress combine enjoys a 50% vote share, but these parties cannot possibly stick together all the way till 2022. Especially if they manage to get some kind of power in 2019. Even accounting for a loss of few % of votes due to incumbency, the BJP can sweep Uttar Pradesh in 2022 as soon as the grand alliance falls apart.

On another side note, pay no attention to some talking heads who have been trying to manufacture a contradiction between saffron clad Yogi and “Vikas”. Look no further than Madhya Pradesh, where Kamal 1984 Nath is set to become Chief Minister to the delight of every liberal soul in India. And Yogi Adityanath has never faced any allegation even close in seriousness to the kinds that Kamal 1984 Nath has faced. It is clear that India’s liberals don’t object to any perceived form of communal politics, they object to any form of Hindu assertion.

Ask Akshaya Patra in Karnataka, which is now facing an onslaught from the ecosystem despite serving more than 2 billion meals to schoolchildren. What could be more wholesome and more uplifting than that? They don’t object to any specific form of Hinduness, they object to Hindus as a whole.

The second place that could become BJP’s Vijaynagar is the state of Maharashtra. Four and a half years ago, the BJP made a historic jump from No. 4 to No. 1 in the state. And Devendra Fadnavis has barely even lost a round of municipal elections yet.

There is, however, a catch when it comes to Maharashtra. The elections in Maharashtra happen barely 3 months after Lok Sabha elections. As such, a poor national outcome for the BJP in 2019 would push the Assembly election into a honeymoon period of the new government. The BJP government in Maharashtra doesn’t deserve this. If the Assembly were dissolved now so that Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections could be held simultaneously, there is no doubt that Fadnavis would be at an advantage.

But, it is up to BJP President Amit Shah to manage a favourable deal with the Shiv Sena in the Assembly elections were they to be advanced to May 2019.

As 2019 approaches, it is natural for BJP supporters to feel some version of the fear that Hindus have faced over the ages. Fear can be a productive emotion in as much as drives away complacency and forces people to do their best. As long as you don’t let it become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Sidhu in a soup for bringing stuffed partridge from Pakistan to ‘gift’ Punjab CM

OpIndia Staff
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Sidhu in a soup for bringing stuffed partridge from Pakistan to ‘gift’ Punjab CM

Controversies refuse to leave Congress leader Navjot Sindh Sidhu alone. On his return from Pakistan, Sidhu brought with himself a stuffed partridge which he presented as a gift to Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder. This has prompted two animal rights activists to complain to the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau seeking action against cricket-turned-politician for alleged violation of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Animal Welfare Board of India has now directed DG of Forests and Special Secretary Delhi, Additional DG of Forests (Wildlife) Delhi and Chief Wildlife Warden, Chandigarh to send a report within 3 days for action under Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.

The bird was gifted to Sidhu by a Pakistani journalist when he was in Pakistan for the groundbreaking ceremony of Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib corridor. On 12th December, Sidhu ‘gifted’ the partridge to Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh, which the latter reportedly refused to accept. Hunting of partridge is banned in India but the bird was already stuffed when it was brought from Pakistan, hence there is a lack of clarity whether the bird can be kept in India.

The Punjab CM office sent the stuffed bird to the wildlife department asking if it could keep it. As per reports, the stuffed partridge has been sent for further investigation to forest wildlife department but the department is not able to come to a decision.

Sandeep Jain, a volunteer at the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau while registering a complaint against Sidhu sought a probe on how the bird was brought from Pakistan and kept in Punjab for so long. “It’s illegal to keep an animal or a bird or their body parts without permission,” he said.

DMK chief Stalin proposes Rahul Gandhi as prime ministerial candidate to defeat ‘fascist Modi govt’

OpIndia Staff
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DMK chief Stalin proposes Rahul Gandhi as prime ministerial candidate to defeat ‘fascist Modi govt’

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president MK Stalin proposed the name of Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate for UPA in the coming general elections. Stalin made the proposal while addressing an event to inaugurate the life-size statue of M Karunanidhi at the DMK headquarters. Both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were present at the occasion, along with other UPA leaders.


Speaking at the event, M K Stalin said, “From the soil of Tamil Nadu, I propose the name of Rahul Gandhi for the prime ministerial candidate. I propose we’ll install a new Prime Minister in Delhi. I propose the candidature of Rahul Gandhi from Tamil Nadu. He has got the ability to defeat the fascist Modi government.” Attacking Modi government, the DMK leader said, “In the five years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rule, the country has gone 15 years back. If we give another chance to him, surely the country will go 50 years back. PM Modi is behaving like a king, that’s why we’ve all come together to safeguard democracy and country.”

The event organised to inaugurate the statue turned out to be a show of strength of UPA after Congress victory in assembly elections. Other than the Gandhis, other UPA leaders present in the event included West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati, Andra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, and several other high-level politicians from several parties. Movie star turned politician Rajinikanth also attended the program.

Stalin proposing Rahul Gandhi as Prime Minister candidate is significate since no other UPA constituent has openly supported the Congress president as the unanimous candidate from the coalition. Several leaders of UPA themselves fancy themselves as the prime ministerial candidate, and for that reason, UPA is unlikely to announce an official candidate before elections. Mamata Banerjee, Mayawati, Naidu and Shard Pawar are among the top contenders among UPA leaders. Even in Congress party, not everyone is sure about Rahul Gandhi as PM candidate. Two months ago former union minister P Chidambaram had said that Congress won’t project Rahul Gandhi as PM candidate in 2019 elections. Several senior Congress leaders think they can become Prime Minister if UPA comes to power, in case there is no consensus on Rahul Gandhi among the coalition partners. Some party leaders also hope to become Manmohan Singh of Rahul Gandhi, as the Congress president has not shown any intest in governance and administration so far.

Conceding that he may not be supported by all the allies, Rahul Gandhi had said earlier that while he would like to become the prime minister, the party was open to supporting any other candidate not supported by RSS.

After the announcement of M K Stalin, it will be interesting to how the leaders of Congress party and other UPA partners react to the development.

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