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Madhya Pradesh: Twitterati showers praises at Shivraj Singh Chouhan as he gracefully concedes defeat

OpIndia Staff
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Madhya Pradesh: Twitterati showers praises at Shivraj Singh Chouhan as he gracefully concedes defeat

BJP party veteran Shivraj Singh Chouhan, popularly known as ‘mama’ in the state of Madhya Pradesh, who led the party to three back to back victories in Madhya Pradesh, has gracefully conceded defeat to the Congress party and bowed out with immense gratification, taking full responsibility of the defeat.

After the assembly election results were out on Tuesday and the total seat tally did not favour the BJP in Madhya Pradesh, BJP decided not to stake claim to form the government in the state.

Madhya Pradesh had by far seen the most nail-biting finish, as no party reached the clear majority mark of 116 seats required to form the government in the 230-member house. While the incumbent BJP won 109 seats, the opposition Congress party won 114 seats, two short of the majority mark.

The BJP stalwart, outgoing chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday took sole responsibility for BJP’s defeat in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections. “It’s true we didn’t get the majority (in the elections), and if anyone is responsible for the defeat, it is Shivraj Singh Chouhan,” saying this, the outgoing chief minister tendered his resignation to the Governor Anadiben Patel. Chauhan also congratulated Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath for the victory.


“Kya haar mein, kya jeet mein, kinchit nahin bhaybhit main, kartavya path par jo bhi mila, yeh bhi sahi woh bhi sahi (Victory or defeat, nothing scares me. I will accept whatever comes my way in the path of duty),” Shivraj Singh Chouhan recited a few lines from a poem by Shiv Mangal Singh “Suman” before gracefully resigning from his post.

Twitterati defining the party veteran as a ‘BJP stalwart in Vajpayee mould’ and the ‘people’s chief minister’, poured out with extreme adoration for maintaining the dignity of the office and accepting defeat with as much grace.


People took to Twitter to applaud his dedication and hard work crediting him for transforming Madhya Pradesh in the last 15 years.


The 59-year-old BJP leader first became the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh in November 2005. During that time he was a Lok Sabha MP, but the party had decided to make him CM of Madhya Pradesh after the resignation of then CM Babulal Gaur. Serving Madhya Pradesh for over 12 years back to back, he broke the record of his predecessor and senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, who ruled the state for two consecutive years from 1993 to 2003.

Smashing Brahminical patriarchy to quashing FIR: Jack Dorsey says he held placard without understanding meaning

OpIndia Staff
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Smashing Brahminical patriarchy to quashing FIR: Jack Dorsey says he held placard without understanding meaning

Twitter chief Jack Dorsey has moved the Rajasthan High Court for getting the FIR filed against him for holding a placard which read ‘smash Brahminical patriarchy’ quashed. Dorsey had stirred up controversy after he held up a placard which read the said message during his closed door meeting during his maiden trip to India. The Rajasthan High Court has stayed the arrest of Dorsey

The Jodhpur Court had earlier this month ordered filing of an FIR against him in a defamation case on basis of a petition filed by Vice President of Vipra Foundation’s youth wing, Rajkumar Sharma.

Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter, during his visit to India, became a part of a bizarre incident after he endorsed a far-left Hinduphobic slogan by holding a placard that said “Smash Brahminical Patriarchy”. This had caused a huge furor in the country after several people accused the Twitter CEO of promoting caste divide and attempting to incite people by showing its hatred towards one particular community.

After a massive outcry over the social media, Twitter had issued a statement regarding the shocking incident of Brahmin bashing and had to apologize to people profusely for hurting the sentiments. Twitter had also issued a statement regarding its CEO posing for a photo with a placard claiming that it was not a statement from their CEO but merely a reflection that they hear from all sides.

However, Sanghapali Aruna, claiming to be a Dalit activist and the founder of Project Mukti, who incidentally had presented the bizarre poster to Dorsey has rejected the clarifications issued by the Twitter and had asserted that the poster which had presented to Jack Dorsey was precisely about the Caste issue rather than rhetorical.

Minister Ramdas Athawale launches Muslim Gau Raksha Sangh, says it will bring communal harmony

OpIndia Staff
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Minister Ramdas Athawale launches Muslim Gau Raksha Sangh, says it will bring communal harmony

Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Ramdas Athawale has termed the formation of Muslim Gau Raksha Sangh a revolutionary step that will bring Hindus and Muslims closer, as per reports.

While speaking at the launch of Muslim Gau Raksha Sangh today in New Delhi, Athawale said that cow protection needs to be adopted to bring about a change in the country. “If you want a change in the country, cow protection needs to be adopted. Awareness against cow slaughter needs to be created as it is banned by the law,” he said.

Irfan Sheikh, the founder of the Muslim Gau Raksha Sangh, credited Athawale for the idea of forming the group so that Muslims come forward for the protection of the cows. Athawale praised the Sangh and said that it was a significant step as the minority community had itself come forward to create awareness against cow slaughter.

Athawale condemned the incidents of violence in the name of cow protection and said that such incidents also happened when the BJP was not in power. “It’s not that incidents of lynching in the name of the cow are occurring in BJP rule. Such things happened in the past also when BJP was not in power. It cannot be accepted as there are other ways like seeking police help to stop cow slaughter,” he stressed.

Sheikh, who is also a journalist, told that they want to educate the children of Muslim community about cow protection. “Our main agenda is to educate children in the Muslim community for protection of the cow. We will hold workshops and lectures at schools for the purpose,” he said.

The Sangh will also confer “Gau Ratna Awards” to acknowledge the contribution of people in the field of cow protection.

Facebook campus evacuated over bomb threat, police find no explosive in search operations

OpIndia Staff
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Facebook campus evacuated over bomb threat, police find no explosive in search operations

A bomb threat at the Silicon Valley headquarters of Facebook Inc near San Francisco, on Tuesday, prompted police authorities to briefly evacuate the building taking prompt security measures. However, hours after a sweep of the structure began, there was no trace of any explosive.

The New York Police had received an anonymous tip about a bomb threat regarding Facebook’s campus in Menlo Park, California, and alerted local authorities at about 4:30 pm, said Nicole Acker, a spokeswoman for the Menlo Park police.

“The San Mateo County bomb unit was dispatched with explosive detection dogs that conducted a sweep of the building and found no suspicious packages or devices,” the authorities confirmed. “The building is all clear and secure.”

Nicole Acker further said that the evacuation was confined to a three-story facility on the campus which was not the headquarters building, though the company spokesperson said via email that “a few” buildings on the site have been evacuated.

However, both Facebook and police authorities have confirmed that everyone was safe.

Things have not been working too well for the social media giant in the recent past.

In a massive controversy which broke out in April this year, Facebook had stated that the personal data of nearly 87 million users may have been ‘improperly shared’ with political consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg had accepted the blame for the data breach.

Failing to protect user data, Facebook had severely faced criticism worldwide. The Government of India has also sent a notice to Facebook to provide details on the data of Indian users leaked to CA.

Recently, the Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) had imposed a penalty of 10 million euros($11.4 million) on Facebook, for illegally harvesting the data of its users for commercial purposes. The Authority had also asked Facebook to run an apology on its website and app.

Meanwhile, another Silicon Valley company to face a security threat in the recent past was YouTube. A woman had opened fire at its headquarters in San Francisco, wounding three people before she shot herself dead.

UK Home Office acknowledges receipt of extradition order against Vijay Mallya

OpIndia Staff
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UK Home Office acknowledges receipt of extradition order against Vijay Mallya

On 10 December, UK Westminster court ruled in favour of Indian authorities request for extradition of fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya. Now the UK home office has confirmed that they have received the court verdict.

British-Pakistani Home Secretary Sajid Javid will now contemplate on the order of the court and then decide whether further action on extradition should be taken or not. Secretary has two months to give orders, only after which the further process can take place. If Secretary finds the court’s order valid and gives a decision in favour of Indian authorities, then Mallya can appeal to High Court, to stall the process.

Further, if High Court also serves verdict against Vijay Mallya, he can appeal to Apex Court, but only if High Court or Supreme Court permits.

The Indian government had been trying hard to extradite Vijay Mallya after he ran away to the UK on March 2, 2016. Mallya faces charges of defaulting on loans to the tune of Rs 9000 crores. The extradition trial which began at the London court on December 4 last year, was aimed at proving the fraud case against Mallya and convincing the court that he will be subject to a fair trial in the country. After extensive written and oral submissions made by both Indian government and Mallya, the court decided that there is no merit in accusations made by Mallya against Indian government about the unfair trial, and ordered that the proceedings for his extradition to India may be initiated by the UK government.

Mallya’s lawyers had also claimed that Indian prisons won’t be able to take care of his health due to the inadequacy of sufficient medical facilities there. Judge Emma Arbuthnot rubbished the claims and asserted that Indian authorities have provided an ample amount of assurance that Mallya’s health will be well taken care of by medical care available at Barrack 12 of Mumbai’s Central Jail on Arthur Road.

On 31st July this year, the court had asked Indian authorities to submit a “step by step video” of the jail compartment where Mallya would be kept. Subsequently, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a nearly 10 minute-long video highlighting various facilities, such as a television set, private toilet, a washing area, availability of proper natural light, access to library and a courtyard to take a walk, before the London court.

Lawyers defending Mallya’s extradition also raised allegations that CBI Special director Rakesh Asthana is a corrupt officer, and that his actions against Mallya were politically motivated. However, The judge said that there was no truth in those allegations and they were not backed by substance.

“I find that there is no evidence that Mr Asthana has acted corruptly. I noted the Supreme Court cleared Mr Asthana of the allegations made against his integrity.” Judge said.

“If after considering the case, the Home Secretary thinks extradition should go ahead he has to order the extradition within two months of the date the matter was referred to him,” said a spokesperson for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which argued on behalf of the Indian authorities.

BJP may be weaker than it was in 2014, but Congress is not as strong as projected either

Nirwa Mehta
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BJP may be weaker than it was in 2014, but Congress is not as strong as projected either

The high-stakes assembly elections concluded yesterday and BJP ended up being routed in three high profile states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The Congress friendly media has dubbed it as an undisputed victory for Rahul Gandhi.


Some even had a word or two of caution for the Congress President.


But before they go about patting back of Rahul Gandhi and Congress, they should not forget that Telangana and Mizoram also gave their verdict. Mizoram, which was the last remaining Congress-ruled state in the Northeast has shown the door to Congress with the regional party Mizo National Front (MNF) emerging victorious with 26 seats out of the 40-seat Assembly.

Telangana, where the regional party KC Rao’s Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), which had won 63 out of 119 seats in 2014 state assembly elections, took up its tally to 88 seats. Here, too, Congress ended up with 19 seats along with its alliance partner Telugu Desam Party (TDP) which got 2 seats.

While BJP, too, has gone from 5 seats in previous elections in Telangana to 1 seat, it has managed to get its first ever seat in Mizoram. While the BJP has little to celebrate, the ambitious ‘mahagathbandhan’ may also not prove to be a cakewalk for the grand old party, as yet.

If Mizoram and Telangana are anything to go by, regional parties are giving a tough fight to the national parties in state elections. Karnataka state assembly elections too showed how with double the seat tally at 80 seats, Congress had to play the second fiddle to HD Kumaraswamy as the regional party played the kingmaker.

In Madhya Pradesh, while Congress emerged as the single largest party with 114 seats, just 2 short of the magic figure of 116 seats, Congress needed the support of the BSP and SP to stake claim to form governments. BSP chief Mayawati, while extending support to the Congress said that she is doing this only to defeat the BJP. That despite not agreeing with Congress’ ideology and leadership, she would support Congress even in Rajasthan, if needed, ‘to keep BJP out of power’.

Another regional party leader who has shown displeasure on Congress leading the ‘United Opposition’ with Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate is Trinamool Congress’, Mamata Banerjee. Banerjee, too, whose supporters have already started campaigning for her as Prime Minister for 2019 on social media, chose not to congratulate Congress and stuck to BJP bashing. She was in Delhi yesterday to meet the Opposition leaders to formulate a strategy for 2019.

RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, reacting to the results credited it as a victory of the public.


Akhilesh Yadav, too, took a dig on the BJP instead of congratulating the Congress, which was their alliance partner back in 2017 Uttar Pradesh state assembly elections.


Similarly, Aam Aadmi Party’s Arvind Kejriwal too chose to remain silent on ‘Congress’ victory’.


Recently, another regional party head DMK’s MK Stalin had reached out to Kejriwal and asked him to bury his hatchet with Congress to make the ant-BJP front stronger.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen’s Asad Owaisi yesterday lashed out on Congress and Rahul Gandhi and said that in 2019, there would be a non-BJP and non-Congress government at the Centre.


Ripping into Rahul Gandhi, Owaisi had called for a ‘Congress-Mukt Bharat’ after the 2019 elections.

Keeping all these points in mind, over and above fighting the BJP at the Centre in 2019, Congress also has to deal with the coalition, which is already not too keen on Rahul Gandhi leading. Barring Chhattisgarh, where BJP was facing over a decade of anti-incumbency, Congress needed the support of other regional parties in Karnataka, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh where it failed to get a clear majority while in direct competition with the BJP.

While it is clear that the BJP is weaker and on a thinner ice than it would have liked, the Congress is not strong either. That is where the regional parties and other smaller parties get to take the calls. Like back in the 1990s when HD Deve Gowda and Inder Kumar Gujral were made prime ministers.

In 1996 general elections, Congress, led by P V Narasimha Rao won only 140 seats, after losing 104 more seats than previous elections, making BJP led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the single largest party with 161 seats. However, since no party had a clear majority, the ‘United Front’ of Congress and non-BJP parties decided to form the government.

The manner in which Congress had to make way for HD Kumaraswamy (HD Deve Gowda’s son) for forming a government in Karnataka in May this year, Deve Gowda was unexpectedly made the Prime Minister avoid re-elections.

If Congress has not forgotten the 1996 elections, they would very well know they are on a sticky wicket here. With regional and smaller parties already calling the shots, Congress may have to work a lot harder.

One has to remember that the regional parties may not necessarily want to ally with a strong or resurgent Congress. Congress is the cash cow and a weak Congress means the regional parties not only get the funds but also the machinery needed to fight elections. What they get is also the foundation numbers that a weak Congress brings to the table with regional parties being the kind makers who can draw a hard bargain. A resurgent Congress is more than useless for regional parties. On the other hand, strong regional players are also useless for the Congress considering they would only draw a harder seat-sharing bargain thereby undermining Congress’ superiority.

In the end, the Mahagathbandhan only works if all the players are individually weak. With this win of Congress and the regional players getting stronger, the Mahagathbandhan is in for a bumpy ride.

India cannot turn into Islamic Nation, only Modi can understand gravity and do needful: Meghalaya HC

OpIndia Staff
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India cannot turn into Islamic Nation, only Modi can understand gravity and do needful: Meghalaya HC

“I make it clear that nobody should try to make India as another Islamic country, otherwise it will be a doomsday for India and the world. I am confident that only this Government under Shri. Narendra Modiji will understand the gravity and will do the needful as requested above and our Chief Minister Mamataji will support the national interest in all respect”. Justice S R Sen of Meghalaya High Court said in a judgement issued on December 10.

Hearing a case of refusal to issue domicile certificate to person by the Meghalaya government, the court said that difficulties faced by the residents to get the Domicile Certificate and the Permanent Residence Certificate have become a great issue today, which need to be seen in the context of the partition of India. While saying that no Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhist, Parsis, Christians, Khasis, Jaintias and Garos should be denied citizenship in India, the judgements go into the detail of the history of India’s partition.

Justice Sen said that partition of the country was done in hurry by politicians, which had led to many problems now. He said that “the demarcation of the boundary between Pakistan and Hindustan as well as the Referendum is totally unfiltered and our political leaders were too much in a hurry to get the independence without considering the future generation and interest of the country, thus, creating all the problems today”. He says that the Boundary Commission appointed for partition of the country did not do any work and drew an imaginary line to divide India into two pieces.

The court also says that “India achieved independence through bloodshed and the worst sufferers were the Hindus and Sikhs who had to leave their forefather’s property, birthplace with tear and fear”. Although rehabilitation of Sikhs was done, the same was not done for Hindus, it adds.

Justice Sen says that laws are made for the people and people are not made for laws, and laws cannot be effective until and unless the history and real ground reality is taken into consideration. Therefore, he requested the Prime Minister, Home Minister, Law Minister and Members of the Parliament to bring a law to allow the Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhist, Parsis, Christians, Khasis, Jaintias and Garos who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan to live in this country peacefully and with full dignity without making any cut off year and to give them citizenship without any question or requirement of any documents. He said that such people may be allowed to come to India at any point of time and the government should arrange for their rehabilitation and declare them citizens of India.

“Pakistan declared themselves as an Islamic country and India since was divided on the basis of religion should have also been declared as a Hindu country but it remained as a secular country”, the court said in the judgement. The judgement also called for a uniform law for all Indian citizens and said that anybody opposing the Indian laws and constitution cannot be considered as citizens of the country.

Justice Sen also directed that a copy of the judgement should be handed over to Prime Minister, Home Minister and Law Minister by 11th December for necessary steps to safeguard the interest of the Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhist, Christians, Parsis, Khasis, Jaintias and Garos who have already come to India and who are yet to come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan and other countries. “This Court expects that Government of India will take care of this judgment in the historical background and save this country and its people”, the judgement said. The judgement was also ordered to be sent to West Bengal chief minister and Meghalaya governor.

The judge noted that the ongoing process to update the NRC in Assam is “defective as many foreigners become Indians and original Indians are left out which is very sad”.

The judgement showed confidence that only this Government under Narendra Modiji will understand the gravity, and will do the needful as requested by the court.

The high court accepted the petition of Amon Rana and ordered Meghalaya government to issue him a domicile certificate so that he can apply to join the Indian Army.

It may be noted that the Citizenship amendment bill of 2016 brought by the Modi government seeks to implement the suggestions made in the Meghalaya high court’s order. The amendment seeks to provide citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Read full judgement below:

[googleapps domain=”drive” dir=”file/d/1pE05yS0mki6Mfwi1QlnpApBHnzCvrOlp/preview” query=”” width=”640″ height=”480″ /]

Former Army Chief General J J Singh resigns from Shiromani Akali Dal

OpIndia Staff
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Former Army Chief General J J Singh resigns from Shiromani Akali Dal

Former Army chief General J J Singh has resigned from Shiromani Akali Dal citing personal reasons. He tendered his resignation today.

Addressing his resignation letter to the Akali Dal Chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, he wrote that he was resigning with immediate effect due to personal reasons. “I wish to inform you with a heavy heart that I have resigned from Shiromani Akali Dal and from the position of president of Shiromani Akali Dal, Ex-Servicemen wing with immediate effect due to personal reasons,” he wrote.

Singh, who was the first Sikh to become Army Chief, has also served as the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh. He joined the Akali Dal in 2017 during the Punjab Assembly elections and had unsuccessfully contested against Captain Amarinder Singh from Patiala Assembly constituency. He had served as 22nd Chief of Indian Army (Jan 31, 2005, to Sept 30, 2007). He is a veteran of the 1965 and the 1971 wars. He had also participated in the Kargil war.

He is an alumnus of National Defence Academy. He has been decorated with various military honours including Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM), Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM), Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM). Singh, a keen mountaineer has also trained under the famous Nepali-Indian mountaineer Tenzing Norgay also known as Sherpa Tenzing at the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Darjeeling.

Singh wants to keep serving the people in future as well. “I want to serve the people and the country,” he told the media. He has also stated that he is keeping his political options open.

Even in victory, Rahul Gandhi remains a sore loser

OpIndia Staff
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Even in victory, Rahul Gandhi remains a sore loser

Despite winning the Assembly elections in the three States of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, Congress does not seem to get past its old complaints of EVM tampering.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi while addressing a press conference after the results of the elections came out, expressed concerns over the reliability of the EVMs. “Throughout the world, it is a generic question that EVM has problems. If the people are uncomfortable with EVM, it has to be addressed. The central issue concerning EVM still remains. There is a chip in EVM, which can be impacted and the whole election can be manipulated. The question of EVM is still on the table,” he said.

Despite the Election Commission’s repeated assurance that EVM is a standalone machine which disables if any attempt of tampering is made, Congress remains unconvinced about its reliability. Last year in June, after political parties repeatedly questioned the infallibility of EVM machines, the Election Commission had thrown an ‘Open Challenge’ before the political parties to prove that EVMs could be rigged.  No political party which questioned the EVMs had turned up for the challenge. The representatives of the NCP and CPI-M who were the only ones to turn up at the event had merely stated that they were there to ‘understand the functioning’ of the EVMs.

Interestingly, Congress party raises the questions regarding EVM tampering only where it sees itself losing the election. As soon as the results of the Assembly Elections in the five State started coming out yesterday, the Congress party as usual resorted to the EVM tampering gimmick which is actually the brainchild of BSP Supremo Mayawati who used it after the Uttar Pradesh polls.

Even before the election results, seeing that it was going to be close call, Congress had already started raking up the EVM tampering issue. The party even approached the Election Commission with the complaint of EVM tampering in Madhya Pradesh. The Madhya Pradesh High Court had rejected a petition filed by Congress demanding the constitution of a SIT to examine the irregularities in the handling of EVMs.

A  similar petition was filed by Congress in the Chhattisgarh High Court seeking directions to the Election Commission to maintain proper security of the Strong Rooms.

In Telangana also, the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee submitted a complaint to the State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) on Tuesday as TRS surged towards victory in the State polls.


Recently the Congress Party had to face embarrassment when a sting done by India Today exposed the fallacy of Congress’ EVM tampering theory when its leaders were caught revealing that the EVM issue was maliciously used to defame the BJP.

Now when the Congress have won the Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh, the EVMs seem to have worked fine magically despite there being BJP governments in the three States as well as at the Centre. However, it seems that with the Congress President still talking about the EVM tampering issue after winning in three states, the Congress wants to keep the option of making the EVMs scapegoat open if they face election defeat in future.

Why Congress-mukt Bharat is still very much in progress

Abhishek Banerjee
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Why Congress-mukt Bharat is still very much in progress

As the BJP faces its biggest electoral setback in five years, it is easy for BJP supporters to give in to a sense of gloom and doom. It’s too soon for that.

Relax. Breathe. There are never full stops in politics. In every victory, there are seeds of defeat. In every defeat, there are seeds of victory.

Above all, I bet BJP supporters are asking: where did it all go? What happened to the dream? Will ‘Congress-mukt Bharat‘ become a reality or not?

Absolutely. Congress-mukt Bharat is unfolding in front of our eyes. Have no doubt about it.

In order to understand this, two key things are necessary. The first is to decode the peaks and troughs of electoral politics. The second is to understand what ‘Congress-mukt Bharat’ means.

You and I might want life to look something like this:

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But we all know from our lived experiences that it never works like that. So why should politics be any different? Take a look at this graph instead :

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This is a realistic graph of success in politics. There are peaks and then there are troughs. But the key is that the upcoming trough is around the same height as the previous peak. And that every successive peak is higher than the last one.

This is roughly the BJP’s trajectory. The Ram Temple movement took it to 120 in 1991 and then further ahead till Atalji achieved the peak of 160-180 in the late 90s. After that, the BJP declined in 2004 and 2009. But when it declined, the BJP’s number was around 110-130, in the same range as the peak of 1991.

In 2014, the BJP zoomed to 282, leaving far behind the Vajpayee peak of 182. It’s possible that 2019 might see a fall. Which is disheartening. But please remember that if BJP falls back to around 180, it is still beating the Vajpayee peak of 1996-1999.

Quite the opposite is happening with the Congress. For the Congress, each successive “peak” is now at the level of a trough from yesteryear.

The Congress used to be the party of 272 and beyond. For the Congress, 272 has long become a pipe dream.

What about 200 seats then? It might sound unreal today, but Rajiv Gandhi was so tremendously embarrassed by Congress winning “just 197 seats” in 1989 that he resigned. Instead, Janata Dal formed the government with 143 seats and V P Singh became Prime Minister.

Sonia Gandhi’s peak came in 2009 with 206 seats. Roughly the same as what Rajiv Gandhi got at his lowest point.

On the contrary, Sonia Gandhi’s lowest point came in 2014 when Congress couldn’t even secure the post of leader of Opposition with 44 seats.

Looking towards 2019, how many seats is Congress hoping to win? What is Rahul Gandhi’s peak? Somewhere around 120 seats. Perhaps even less than that.

That would put Rahul’s peak at the same level as Sonia Gandhi’s low point in 1999 when Congress got 114 seats.

Forget about winning majorities, the Congress today no longer even tries to be the single largest party.

The results of the recent Assembly elections show the same trend. The Congress has fallen short of a majority in both Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. This is nowhere compared to the resounding BJP victories in Madhya Pradesh in 2003, 2008 and 2013. This means that the last time the Congress won a majority in Madhya Pradesh would be 1998.

The same story holds in Rajasthan. BJP won thumping victories in 2003 and 2013. The Congress managed to form governments in 2008 and 2018, but couldn’t win a majority in either case. Again, the last time Congress won a majority in Rajasthan was in 1998. In 2008, the Congress managed a win by a 2% vote margin. In 2018, they eeked out a 0.5% vote share gap. The downward trend couldn’t be more obvious.

This may feel slow. One may complain that ‘Congress-Mukt Bharat‘ is taking too long. But you must factor in the size of the task. The British spent over 62 years building the Congress Party as their successors. When British rule was set to end, the country was partitioned between the Congress and the Muslim League. The Republic that we see today was tailor-made by Nehru and the British for Congress rule.

This was followed by 40 years of near-uninterrupted power held by the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. Every road, every building, every public space was smothered with the brand of the Nehru-Gandhis. The concocted history of the Nehru-Gandhis is compulsory reading for every Indian child right from primary school. It will take time and patience to break a 100-year monopoly of the Congress Party.

Speaking of which, what is ‘Congress-mukt Bharat’ after all? It is time that BJP supporters understand what the term means… and more importantly, what it doesn’t mean:

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A state like Uttar Pradesh is ‘Congress-Mukt’. So are Bihar and Bengal. So is Tamil Nadu. Congress can never come to power in these states. The newest state to become ‘Congress-mukt’ in Andhra Pradesh. It is YSR Congress and TDP that are the main contenders there. Congress doesn’t count.

One might suggest that Delhi is ‘Congress-mukt’ as well because it has become an AAP vs BJP contest. But considering the fickle nature of an urban electorate, we have to observe the state for at least one more election cycle before it can be declared ‘Congress-mukt’.

All the years when CPIM was ruling Bengal, the state was never Congress-mukt because it was always the main opposition. Today, however, Bengal has become Congress-mukt because of the TMC vs BJP fight, with CPM increasingly irrelevant and Congress in 4th place or worse.

In that sense, the whole question of Congress-mukt does not arise when it comes to Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Even though BJP was ruling them, Congress was very much present in these states. Even if BJP had won 3-0 yesterday, these states would still not have been Congress mukt.

And Gujarat is not Congress-mukt either, despite BJP winning 6 elections in a row. A state like Karnataka is much closer to becoming Congress-mukt because the Congress has already made a tactical concession to JDS. In the coming days, Congress may give up even more.

Another state where ‘Congress-mukt Bharat’ is in progress is Odisha. Now that BJP is emerging as the real alternative to BJD, Congress is losing all hope of ever getting back to power.

As for Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, these states will never be Congress-mukt unless regional forces emerge that can replace Congress as the BJP’s main rival.

Until a few days ago, BJP supporters loved to show a map of India splashed all over with saffron, showing the extent of BJP rule. That map has gone sour since yesterday. But that map was never a good reflection of the state of the Congress-mukt Bharat project.

So, BJP supporters need to start focusing on a new map. Take the map of India and mark on it the states that are truly Congress-mukt and those which are not. Include UP, Bihar, Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Do not count Gujarat or Maharashtra or Assam. Now think about how the map of Congress-mukt states has changed over the years. You will find that it goes in only one direction: states become Congress-mukt and they never ever come back to the Nehru-Gandhi Dynasty. Congress-mukt Bharat is very much on. 

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