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Shailaputri: The manifestation of Maa Durga worshipped on the first day of Navratri

OpIndia Staff
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Shailaputri: The manifestation of Maa Durga worshipped on the first day of Navratri

The first day of Navratri marks the beginning of the festive season. Nine different incarnations of Goddess Durga are worshipped on nine different nights. The nine different forms are: Shailaputri, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skandamata, Katyayini, Kaalratri, Mahagauri and Siddhidhatri. Today, on the first day of Navratri, Maa Shailaputri, the incarnation of Maa Durga is worshipped.

Maa Shailaputri is known as the daughter of the mountains and is also one of the avatars of Goddess Parvati. Legend says that in the previous birth, She was Sati, daughter of Daksha, married to Lord Shiva. Once Daksha organised a big Yagna, but did not invite Shiva. Sati, still went there, thereby seeing how all gods were invited except Her husband. Sati could not bear the insult to Her husband and immolated Herself in the fire of the Yagna. When She took rebirth, She was born as the daughter of the Himalaya, hence the name “Shailaputri”.

Like her previous birth, in this birth as Parvati, She marries Lord Shiva.

Maa Shailaputri rides a bull and carries a lotus in Her left hand and a Trishul in Her right hand.

India Forward: Khadi sales see phenomenal growth and record highs

Ashutosh Muglikar
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India Forward: Khadi sales see phenomenal growth and record highs

Since the time Narendra Modi has taken the charge as the Prime Minister, he has consistently promoted the use and adoption of Khadi products at various forums. He has highlighted its use and potential even at his monthly Mann Ki Baat Programme. After four years in the government, it is clearly seen that the efforts are bearing fruit.

The latest financials of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) shows that the sales have grown at a staggering pace of 24.71% to INR 2503 crores for the financial year ended 31st March 2018.

It is pertinent to note that the average sales of Khadi products during the years 2004-14 stood at INR 900 crores approximately. This number jumped to INR 1828.3 crores (average) for the next three years and is now at 2503 crores.

This phenomenal growth can be attributed to the personal push by the Prime Minister himself and the backing up of words via actions to build a network of 325 new Khadi institutions which churned put new and improved products. Khadi brings along a host of benefits with the main beneficiaries being the village artisans. It remains to be seen where these numbers reach ultimately and how the masses adopt the “Indian” cloth in their everyday lifestyle.

Telangana: elderly Naxal couple with cash reward on heads surrender after 31 years of being active cadre

OpIndia Staff
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Telangana: elderly Naxal couple with cash reward on heads surrender after 31 years of being active cadre

A Naxal couple, who were wanted criminals and carried a cash reward on their head had surrendered before the Hyderabad police citing ‘political differences’ and other reasons. The couple had joined the Naxal movement in 1981 and had been actively involved in recruitment and propaganda activities.

According to reports, the surrendered couple are known to be Koti Purushotham alias MK, 68, and his wife Koti Vinodhini, 63, who were members of Regional Committee for almost 31 years had carried a reward of Rs 8 lakhs and Rs 5 lakhs respectively. While Purushottam worked as a headmaster in a school, his wife worked as a teacher and they both had reportedly kept their jobs as a cover for their Naxal activities.

Interestingly, these two Naxal leaders had been arrested once in March 1991 and were released as an exchange for an abducted Youth Congress leader three months later.

Anjani Kumar, Hyderabad Police Commissioner said that the couple was managing the Agitation Propaganda Committee, a publishing unit of the CPI (Maoist). The husband-wife duo joined the PWG, which later became CPI(Maoist) and became underground cadre. They had recruited nearly 60 others to the movement and sent them to forest for training, the Police Commissioner said.

Reportedly, Purushotham despite being a ‘committed cadre’, became disgruntled about the party as he felt that he was not used appropriately and his contributions were ignored by the CPI(Maoist), the commissioner said. The police officials also said that his wife’s health and other ‘internal differences’ within the party made them leave the ideology and join the mainstream.

The coherent approach executed by the present government in tackling left-wing terror seems to be yielding results, as there is a large number of desertions in the ranks of Naxal forces, who are now surrendering for a better livelihood. The left-wing terror groups are in despair and surrendering after the massive onslaught by the government throughout the country-both in urban and tribal areas.

Coming down hard on Naxals, both in tribal and Urban areas has been one of the major achievements of the present government. We had earlier reported that how extensive and targeted action on Naxals by security agencies combined with wide-spread socio-economic development has resulted in the massive desertion of Naxals and joining the mainstream for better livelihood opportunities.

Recently, Pahad Singh, an ex-Naxal commander, in an interview to OpIndia has revealed a lot of sensational aspects of the Naxal terror network operating in both tribal and urban areas.  Interestingly, Pahad Singh went on to identify Arun Ferreira, one of the arrested Urban Naxals and claimed that he had met him in a meeting of the banned CPI-Maoist.

Income Tax raids at 16 locations of AAP minister Kailash Gahlot in Delhi and Gurugram

OpIndia Staff
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Income Tax raids at 16 locations of AAP minister Kailash Gahlot in Delhi and Gurugram

The Income Tax Department (ITD) on Wednesday has conducted raids on multiple premises associated with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot in connection with an alleged tax evasion case. The IT officials have conducted searches in at least 16 locations in Delhi and Gurgaon. Reportedly, the places linked to the AAP leader are being raided by a team of 30 Income tax officials.

Income tax department has conducted raids on 16 places located in Delhi and Gururgram and search is underway in Brisco Infrastructure and Developers Limited and Corporate International Financial Services Ltd, which are allegedly linked to AAP Minister Gahlot. The searches are being conducted as part of a tax evasion probe against two construction firms linked to the minister and others, the officials said.

Shortly after the raids, tweeted with AAP’s Twitter handle, “We are giving cheap electricity to the public, giving free water, providing good education and health. Government services are reaching the house and they are raiding the houses of our ministers and leaders by the CBI, ED”.


Kailash Gahlot is the minister for transport, law and revenue in Arvind Kejriwal cabinet. He represents Najafgarh Assembly constituency in the Delhi Legislative Assembly.

Congress plans another temple run for Rahul Gandhi ahead of polls in Madhya Pradesh

Jinit Jain
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Congress plans another temple run for Rahul Gandhi ahead of polls in Madhya Pradesh

The result of the upcoming elections in 5 states whose dates have been recently announced by the Election Commission is going to be a vital plank on which different political parties would like to mount their strategies for the approaching decisive Loksabha 2019 battle. Madhya Pradesh Congress has, therefore, started its poll preparation by attempting to woo Hindu voters by staging another temple run for Rahul Gandhi.

If banners are anything to go by, Congress has taken a decisive shift in Madhya Pradesh by projecting its PM candidate Rahul Gandhi as ‘Shiv Bhakt’, ‘Ram Bhakt’ and ‘Narada Bhakt’ simultaneously in order to pander to the differing sects under the overarching fold of Hinduism. Tending to depart from their usual hack, the Congress party didn’t invoke secularism as their election campaign in MP kickstarts.

Congress struck with its projection of Secularism from 2003 to 2018 but remaining out of power for the last 15 years has taught them a thing or two. In 2003, under Digvijaya Singh, the party had brought ‘Habib Tanveer’ to stage ‘Poonga Pandit’ throughout the state. The party lost terribly even as the BJP accused them of disparaging Hindus and instigating communal riots by demeaning Hindu pandits through ‘Poonga Pandit’. Their strategy didn’t change much in 2008 and 2013 resulting in their embarrassing losses against the BJP’s Shivraj Singh Chauhan on both the occasions.

Congress has promised to develop MP into a religious hub if voted to power. Senior Congress Minister and their alleged CM candidate Kamal Nath said, “BJP uses religion only for political gain but Congress will truly develop the state into a religious tourism hub.”

A senior Congress leader said, “In last 5 years Rahul Gandhi has learned to answer the BJP in its language. He is actively countering BJP’s Hindutva with more Hindutva. No one can now say he is an anti-Hindu. He is strategically attacking Narendra Modi not only on the issues of corruption, inflation, and unemployment but also on Hindutva.”

According to the sources, Rahul Gandhi is going to embark on a ‘Holy Trail’ in MP, starting from Chitrakoot after offering puja at Kamtanath Temple. Rahul Gandhi is supposed to follow the path that Lord Ram took while he was in exile. The Congress delegation under Harishankar Shukla with sadhus is presently tracking the route.

Congress would do well to not underestimate the intelligence of the people of Madhya Pradesh. Earlier, in past, when Rahul Gandhi went on a temple spree in Gujarat and Karnataka and China, his blatant attempt to feign saffronisation was debunked and his campaigns were marred with controversies.

On visiting Somnath Temple in Gujarat, Congress President Rahul Gandhi registered his name under the non-Hindu column. In another instance, just a week back, Rahul Gandhi’s party expelled a party worker for chanting “Har Har Mahadev”. Congress President Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi are also accused of corruption in the National Herald case and are currently out on bail.

Gujarat: Deputy CM Nitin Patel asks for action against Alpesh Thakor even as Gujarat Congress continues to support him

OpIndia Staff
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Gujarat: Deputy CM Nitin Patel asks for action against Alpesh Thakor even as Gujarat Congress continues to support him

Gujarat Deputy CM Nitin Patel, reprimanded Congress MLA Alpesh Thakor, of indulging in violence and instigating it. He also told media in Gandhinagar, that strict action should be taken against people like Alpesh Thakor and his Thakor Sena, especially by Congress.

“He (Thakor) had given orders to Thakor Sena members to assault North Indians. His outfit indulged into violence against North Indian community in Gujarat,” said Patel saying that Thakor is trying to gain political mileage out of the incident. “Congress has been trying to play dirty politics and misleading people of Gujarat. They have tarnished image of Gujarat at national level,” said Nitin Patel.

However, Congress is brazening it out as Gujarat assembly leader of opposition and MLA from Amreli, Paresh Dhanani defended Alpesh Thakor and his Thakor sena for trying to incite a mob to take to violence against non-Gujaratis in parts of the state.

“When Gujarat government has failed to ensure employment to local youth and is pretending that 80% of jobs were secured for local youths in industries, it is their responsibility to see that youth is not diverted,” said Paresh Dhanani. He even said that Alpesh Thakor should not be held responsible for the violence.

Yesterday, we had reported how Alpesh Thakor was recorded trying to instigate violence against migrant workers demanding reservation for jobs for Gujaratis against non-Gujaratis and had even issued a deadline for them to leave Gujarat. He also warned that they will come to check places if all migrant workers have left the place or not. He also warned Gujarat government that if demands are not met “….then tyres will burn, trucks will be stopped and trucks will be broken.”

Vijay Rupani led Gujarat government, has been convincing migrant workers of safety from violence, and also have arrested hundreds in connection with violence against migrants.

The indefatigable, the defiant, the man of honour: What it means to be Pon Manickavel

K Bhattacharjee
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The indefatigable, the defiant, the man of honour: What it means to be Pon Manickavel

Art collectors, activists, celebrities and industrialists in possession of dubious artefact are in a panic these days. They are in a panic because they do not know how to regularize their artefact and the Idol-Wing of the Tamil Nadu Police has sent shock-waves with their crackdown on entrepreneurs Ravir Shah and Kiran Rao.

Inspector-General of Police of the idol wing CID A.G. Pon Manickavel has issued a crisp stern warning: Produce proof or certificates if they wish to retain the artefact or surrender the undocumented idols. Failure to do any of these would invite criminal action if caught.

Those in possession of undocumented artefact would do well to heed Manickavel’s warning. His track record does speak volumes of his capabilities. Earlier this year in June, two 1000-year old bronze idols of Rajaraja Chola and his wife, Lokamadevi, were recovered by the idol-wing after they were stolen from the Brihadeeswarar Temple 50 years ago and Temple officials allegedly did not report it. It is perhaps the crowning jewel in the illustrious career of Manickavel. During his career, Manickavel has helped crack over 50 cases and recovered 20 idols including the ones mentioned above and continues to be an inspiration to many in the Police force.

Another of his significant accomplishments was busting the smuggling racket in Puducherry. In December 2016, a team of the idol wing headed by Manickavel had raided a house in Colas Nagar and recovered 11 panchaloha idol worth crores. One of the idols recovered was of Lord Nataraja and the antique alone was valued at Rs. 31 crores then. In addition to it, idols of Mahishasura Mardini, Somaskandar, Kalyanasundara, Lord Shiva, Parvathi and Amman were among the panchaloha idols seized from the house.

It appears, however, that considerable attempts are were being made to undermine Manickavel. After a stint at the idol wing, Manickavel was shunted out to as IG Railways but the Madras High Court intervened to retain him in the idol wing. He was eventually given full additional charge as IGP, Idol Wing, by the Tamil Nadu government in September 2017. However, things haven’t been particularly cordial between Manickavel the state government. Despite his excellent track record, the government wanted to transfer all cases which were thus far being investigated by the Idol Wing to the CBI. The Madras High Court, however, had stayed the operation of the government order which was issued in this regard.

During the whole fracas regarding the transfer of cases to the CBI, Pon Manickavel was busy doing what he does best: catching idol smugglers. In a scene that appears to be straight out of a Bollywood movie, a team led by Manickavel chased a car in auto-rickshaws and managed to recover a stolen panchaloha idol of Amman. Four people were arrested as well.

There is a rot within the system as well that Manickavel’s work has comprehensively exposed, despite it being rumoured, that the idol wing was supposed to be a ‘punishment posting’ for him. There is complacency, disregard and complicity involved in the manner in which the idol wing has been treated thus far with inadequate man-power and a lack of proper infrastructure to function efficiently. There is also a sentiment that the state government is dragging its feet when it comes to the persecution of idol smugglers.

Manickavel has also played a significant role in exposing the corruption within the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR & CE) Department for which he had to suffer a severe backlash. In August, a senior official of the HR & CE department was arrested by the idol wing in connection with the misappropriation of funds. According to officials, two idols which were supposed to contain 5.75 kg of gold combined did not contain even a single gram of gold in them.

The HR & CE officials in turn had decided to protest against Manickavel for what they deemed as harassment. “Even before we start interrogating anyone in the case, we are being accused of harassment. In the absence of actual examination of the accused/witnesses, the complaint of harassment by a few is false and malicious. Such an allegation is intentional and is being levelled by some HR&CE officials who could be involved in the wrongdoing,” said a senior officer in the Idol Wing. The matter is currently in the Court.

The HR & CE department has been an object of intense criticism for Manickavel. He has expressed his lack of confidence in the institution on several occasions. Once he said in Court, much to the embarrassment of the officials, “Idols worth several hundreds of crores of rupees are preserved in rooms fitted with locks costing just Rs 250.” On another occasion, after he had informed the Court that idols weren’t being maintained properly by the department, the Court asked, “If the idols are kept locked up without any maintenance, what is the purpose of having such a department?”

Manickavel has also been ruthless with people within the Police force. With a reputation for being a strict disciplinarian who on occasions sends policemen home for being shabbily dressed, it hardly comes as a surprise. In 2008, Manickavel was informed by an idol smuggler himself that Khader Basha, who was Inspector then, and Subburaj, who was Head Constable, had allegedly illegal dealt with six bronze icons which were recovered from him. They were subsequently arrested.

Unsurprisingly, Manickavel has had to deal with his share of allegations of wrong-doing and corruption against him. Thiru S.R.Jangid, IPS, formerly Deputy Inspector General of Police, Chengalpattu Range, had accused him of misappropriation of case properties, involvement in a heinous crime, direct involvement in a case of assault and covering up the case by dishonest means and other related crimes.

The matter was a subject of departmental proceedings. However, the charged memo for the series of events which occurred in 2002 was issued only in 2009. The Central Administrative Tribunal eventually quashed the charge memo. When the decision of the Tribunal was appealed against in the Madras High Court, the Court observed in December 2014, that the Tribunal had reached its judgment based on due consideration of all relevant facts and they deemed the order just and proper. On the matter of an inquiry into the said charges, the Court stated that all inquiry and final orders are not passed within 8 months, the inquiry will be considered dropped.

More recently, in February 2018, a petitioner had approached the Court accusing Manickavel of contempt of a court order. However, he eventually apologized for levelling such serious allegation against the Police Officer and submitted that he was withdrawing all allegations against him.

People who have closely followed the cases of heritage theft in India have nothing but effusive praise for Manickavel. Temple Activist T.R. Ramesh said about him on Twitter, “TN HRCE Officials are ready to face hell in their next births but no possibility of conviction in this birth. Pon Manickavel’s honesty drives them desperate.”

Manickavel has acquired the stature of an icon in the state owing to his numerous exploits. A movie based on him is currently on the works and is titled after his name, ‘Pon Manickavel’. The director of the movie, AC Mugil, has admitted that he is a fan of the Police officer and Prabhu Deva will play the character in the movie. “I have met Pon Manickavel sir in person and I’m a big fan of his honesty. Prabhu Deva plays an upright police officer in the film which also has a few scenes from the real-life incidents but can’t reveal more details as we have just started the shoot”, Mugil told FirstPost.

Manickavel endured a great many hardships during his career and constant attempts were made to undermine his authority and work. Despite everything around him, he persisted with his efforts and achieved significant success and earned the respect of his compatriots and those around him.

He is due to retire in November this year and we can be fairly certain that many people in positions of great power will breathe a sigh of relief when that happens. And that is a true measure of greatness when people you have fought your entire life are glad that you are no longer in the fight.

As the renowned historian, Oswald Spengler, once remarked, “Our duty is to hold on to the lost position, without hope, without rescue, like that Roman soldier whose bones were found in front of a door in Pompeii, who, during the eruption of Vesuvius, died at his post because they forgot to relieve him. That is greatness. That is what it means to be a thoroughbred.”

MHA takes cognisance of complaint against The Wire’s founder being invited to address IAS officers

OpIndia Staff
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MHA takes cognisance of complaint against The Wire’s founder being invited to address IAS officers

The Narendra Modi government has taken cognisance of a strong objection against the decision to invite Siddharth Varadarajan, the founding Editor of Leftist propaganda website The Wire, to speak at the prestigious Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy of Administration (LBSNAA). The Home Ministry has assured that it would be very careful in the future before inviting such people at prestigious governmental institutions and events.

According to a report by MyNation, the organisation Legal Rights Observatory (LRO) had questioned the rationale of inviting Siddharth Varadarajan to speak in such institutions and government events. The LRO had registered its complaint to both Home and Defence Ministry regarding the invitation to a person who has allegedly professed anti-India stand and sympathises with the violent Naxal movement.

Siddharth Varadarajan, an American citizen and husband of DU professor Nandini Sundar, who herself is accused of murdering a tribal in Chattisgarh Sukhma, have often known to have taken anti-India and often abused Indian armed forces. Varadarajan, who runs a website called ‘The Wire’ which is notoriously known for publishing fake news and anti-Indian propaganda, has been caught pants down several times for spreading misinformation on social media.

The Defence Ministry had also ordered Director General of Military Intelligence (DGMI) to probe against the decision to invite Varadarajan to speak at LBSNAA at Mussoorie to address the IAS officer trainees, the My Nation report claimed.

The Union home ministry’s left-wing extremism division said, “We have received your complaint regarding inviting people at IAS training academy. We assure you to take precaution in future in this regard.”

Meanwhile, LRO, a Delhi based legal organisation has called Varadarajan as an “active Maoist cadre” and also accused him as one of the main accused in the Shamnath Baghel murder case in Chattisgarh’s Bastar, along with his wife, Delhi University professor Nandini Sundar.

In its letter to the Defence Ministry, protesting against the decision to invite a person who has consistently abused the country and its armed forces, has highlighted some facts associated with the left-wing scribe Varadarajan. Following are the details LRO has written in its complaint to the ministry.

  1. Mr Siddharth Varadarajan is the husband of Delhi University professor Nandini Sundar who is main accused and conspirator in Shamnath Baghel murder case of Bastar in Chhattisgarh state. At present, her arrest is pending due to interim order by Hon Supreme Court of India. The deceased Shamnath Baghel was social worker from Maoists — Naxal infested region of Chhattisgarh and he was peacefully and democratically opposing violent communist Maoist insurgents unleashing terror in the region. As per FIR registered against Siddharth Varadarajan’s wife Nandini Sundar (case number: IA 14-2016 filed Nov 10th 2016 in WP Civil 250-2007), Nandini hatched a conspiracy to kill Mr Shamnath Baghel. After registering FIR, Nandini approached Hon Supreme Court to quash said FIR, but the court refused to do so citing evidence produced before the court.
  2. Surrendered Naxal-Maoist commander Podium Panda confessed in a press meet in Raipur and then before the high court that he had accompanied Nandini Sundar many times to meet top Maoist commanders in deep jungles of Bastar.
  3. The Wire, a website run by Siddharth Varadarajan, always publishes malicious news reports levelling baseless allegations of rapes, molestation, staged encounters against security forces engaged in anti-Naxal ops. That proves he is not a journalist but an active Maoist cadre and inviting him in public programme is a brazen act of promoting violent Maoist terrorist ideology.
  4. Siddharth Varadarajan’s website The Wire and Nandini Sundar both published mischievous allegations of rape on the minor girl against CRPF commando in anti-Naxal operation, but the medical test proved allegations wrong and the said victim girl too clarified that no one raped her. Nandini Sundar deleted the controversial tweet but The Wire still has the same report on its website.

Siddharth Varadarajan has often been found resorting to lies and propaganda to further their ideological agenda has been schooled by the social media users several times. Varadarajan’s controversial media portal ‘The Wire’ had also run a series of allegations with glaring loopholes and inconsistencies against the BJP President Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah over his business dealings. In response to the allegations, Jay Shah had slapped Rs.100 crore defamation case against ‘The Wire’.

#MeToo: ‘Will Congress paper throw him out’? Asks former employee of National Herald and victim of harassment

OpIndia Staff
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#MeToo: ‘Will Congress paper throw him out’? Asks former employee of National Herald and victim of harassment

India has seen several harrowing tales of sexual harassment surface recently. After comedians and actors, women started outing powerful Editors and colleagues from the media fraternity. In fact, some even stepped down from their posts.

Now, a former employee of Congress mouthpiece National Herald has spoken up narrate her tale of workplace harassment.

She has written about how Pinaki Bhattacharya of the now-defunct Sunday Mail used to ask her if she wanted to have sex and how her complaint was shrugged off as something which is normal in newsrooms.

She has also written about how Tarun Tejpal, who was protected by most of the left-liberals before he got caught in Goa like to kiss, hug or touch women employees. The now deceased Vinod Mehta had alleged caressed her hand constantly while interviewing her for a job.

Interestingly, she has also accused Uttam Sengupta who is now the Editor of Congress mouthpiece National Herald. National Herald is owned by the Gandhi family and is currently under ligitation for alleged scam perpetuated by the Gandhi family.

Uttam Sengupta, the Editor of Gandhi family owned National Herald who befittingly calls himself “chatukhor” on Twitter allegedly harassed the victim.

The victim has also alleged that she reported his harassment and intimidation tactics following which a “sham internal inquiry” took place at National Herald. Considering Uttam Sengupta still works at National Herald, no action was taken against him and the victim “left in disgust”.

She has also asked whether Congress would now throw Uttam Sengupta out. Interestingly, Sengupta has been retweeting a bunch of #MeToo tweets recently but most of his colleagues, friends and Sengupta himself have kept quiet about these allegations against him.

Not too long ago, Congress IT Cell member had also been accused of sexual harassment. The victim, in that case, had said that she did not expect justice from Divya Spandana, the Congress IT Cell head. Divya had, in turn, had supported the accused wholly. It was only obvious that the so-called internal inquiry was set to be a sham. Chirag, the accused, was later arrested.

The Congress party president who talks constantly about women empowerment even in unrelated events hasn’t spoken up and neither has National Herald issued a statement. We will update the article as and when a statement is made either by the publication or the accused.

Misa Bharti admits to rift between her brothers, calls it ‘media twist’ later

OpIndia Staff
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Misa Bharti admits to rift between her brothers, calls it ‘media twist’ later

Confirming to the reports previously surfaced about a possible rift between Lalu Prasad Yadav’s two sons, Tejashwi Yadav and Tej Pratap Yadav, the RJD supremo’s elder daughter Misa Bharti on Monday, October 8, 2018, while addressing party workers in Maner reportedly admitted that relations between her brothers have soured of late. She also hinted that there are some in the family who indulge in “stabbing her from the back”.

Seemingly dissatisfied, Misa Bharti reportedly claimed that there were forces within her family who stabbed her in the back. According to a report in Hindustan Times, Bharti said “I am a woman. If the enemy musters courage and wages a war face-to-face, I can become a Rani Laxmibai and fight back. But I cannot tolerate someone, whether a worker or a leader, backstabbing me,” she said. She also said, “Why to talk about others when there are explicit differences among brothers in my own family.” When Tejashwi Yadav was asked about Misa Bharati’s claim, he reportedly avoided answering the question stating that he hadn’t heard what she said.

RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav’s eldest daughter, Misa Bharti quickly covered up the gaffe by defending herself stating that every family has internal conflicts as all five fingers are not the same. “Even our family has witnessed a rift between two brothers but where do differences not come up? Five fingers of our hands are not equal. But the RJD is like a big family,” Bharti said. She later dismissed any rift between the brothers by claiming that the media had twisted her arguments and presented them out of context.


Spokesperson of the BJP Nikhil Anand expressed no surprise on the admittance of dispute between the Yadav brothers. He said that the RJD has always been about the Yadav family and the internecine conflicts between the siblings will work towards sabotaging their party’s prospects in the upcoming polls.


The conflict between Tejashwi Yadav and Tej Pratap Yadav gathered steam when the latter insinuated party members of ignoring and sidelining him in the party. It is notable here that as Lalu Yadav has been convicted in the fodder scam, other family members have also been under probe by several agencies. Misa and Tejaswi are both facing trouble as the I-T department has seized their benami properties. Rabri Devi and Tejaswi are also under investigation for their alleged involvement in the IRCTC scam.

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