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As Electoral Bond data is published, opposition uses old Electoral Trust data to accuse Serum Institute of donating to BJP to get vaccine order, here is how the claims are baseless

Raju Das
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As Electoral Bond data is published, opposition uses old Electoral Trust data to accuse Serum Institute of donating to BJP to get vaccine order, here is how the claims are baseless

The Election Commission of India on Thursday evening released the data of Electoral Bonds bought by various entities from the State Bank of India and the recipients of such bonds, complying with a Supreme Court order. Soon after the data was released in the form of two sheets, allegations and counter-allegations have started. Contrary to the believe of the opposition parties, the names of many companies, that they were accusing of donating heavily to BJP, do not feature in the list of the buyers of electoral bonds.

However, a Reuters report, published curiously earlier in the day before EC released the data, is being used by the opposition to allege that companies donated heavily through Electoral Bonds in return of favours from the govt. However, while the Reuters report is regarding donations to political parties by corporate houses, this has nothing to do with electoral bonds, and the report is based on already publicly available data.

Several opposition leaders and supporters particularly targeted Serum Institute for donating to the BJP, alleging that they used Electoral Bonds to make the donations. They alleged quid pro quo, claiming that the Modi govt bought the Covid-19 vaccine from the world’s largest vaccine maker in exchange for this donation.

Some of them alleged that the govt didn’t allow other vaccines because of the ₹50 crore donation from Serum. Several social media users also shared images of Adoor Poonawalla to allege links with the company with the BJP.

There are several issues with these baseless allegations. The first is that Serum Institute didn’t make any donations through electoral bonds, the company’s name does not appear in the list published by the EC based on data provided by State Bank of India. The screenshot of the donations that the social media users are sharing is from the Reuters report, which was about Electoral Trusts, not Electoral Bonds.

Electoral Trusts are different forms of making donations to political parties, where companies make contributions to the trusts, and the trusts contribute to the parties for election expenses. While Electoral Bond data was kept confidential before the Supreme Court ordered it to be published, the Electoral Trust data is regularly published by the Election Commission on its website. Donations made to Electoral Trusts are exempt from tax, and that is why it is popular with corporations to make political donations.

The screenshot was taken from the Reuters report titled Obscure trust links India’s top businesses with Modi’s election war chest, which alleged that an “obscure trust” named Prudent Electoral Trust was used by several companies to make donations to the BJP. The report itself states, “Reuters used public records from 2018 to 2023 to track flows from some of India’s largest companies,” which means they just compiled and published data available in the public domain, and it is not some new disclosure.

The report states that Prudent Electoral Trust received significant amounts of contributions from corporate houses like Bharti Airtel, ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel, GMR, Essar etc, and the Trust in turn donated to political parties, with the majority share going to BJP. As per Reuters analysis, BJP received 74.8% of the contributions by Prudent, while the rest went to the other parties.

Details of all the donations received and donations made by Prudent, and all other Electoral Trusts, are available on the Election Commission website. It shows that the Trust received ₹363.16 crore in the year 2022-23, while it donated ₹363.15 crore to various political parties. Apart from BJP, the trust distributed money to BRS, YSR Congress and AAP in the same year. BRS, which is present in only one state, received ₹90 crore from Prudent Trust in 2022-23.

The Electoral Trusts were introduced by the Congress government in 2013, through the Electoral Trusts Scheme. As per this scheme, 95% of the contributions received by a Trust must be distributed to parties in the same financial year. The scheme prohibits donations by cash, and the PAN number of the contributor is mandatory, making sure that black money can’t be routed to political parties.

At present, there are 13 such trusts listed on the ECI website. The site also contains annual reports of all the trusts from 2013-14 to 2022-23, giving details on donations received from corporations and donations made to political parties every year. Therefore, the Reuters report is not some new revelation, it has been in the public domain.

A cursory glance at the reports of the various trusts shows that the BJP is the major recipient of donations in white money through Electoral Trusts. But the fact remains that the scheme was introduced by the Congress government in 2013.

Serum Institute and vaccine order

Now coming to the allegation that Serum donated to BJP because of the COVID-19 order, this is a completely baseless and illogical accusation. The Trust report shows that Serum donated ₹50 crore to Prudent in August 2022, which could have been further donated to BJP. But this comes over two years after the Covishield vaccine was introduced, and after over two billion doses of the vaccines were administered to Indians.

The opposition is alleging that the govt didn’t approve other COVID-19 vaccines because of the donations from Serum, which is completely false. Several vaccines Covid vaccines have been approved by the Indian govt, including Covishield, Covaxin, Sputnik, Janssen, ZyCoV-D, Corbevax, Covovax, BBV154 and others. The one vaccine not approved in India, which is causing heartburn among left-liberals, is the Pfizer vaccine. And they are alleging that this is was not approved due to the donation.

However, the Pfizer vaccine was not approved because the company demanded legal immunity from any damage caused by the vaccines. Moreover, the mRNA vaccines by Pfizer and Moderna were very expensive, and as India had already started making vaccines in the country on a bulk scale, there was no reason to import expensive vaccines, that too after granting immunity to the company.

The claim that Serum will need to make donations to the ruling party to get the vaccine order is completely illogical. Perhaps the opposition has already forgotten the pandemic, but this was a time when countries were rushing to procure as many vaccines as they could. Companies generally pay kickbacks when there is competition among several bidders to get an order/contract.

But this was not the case with Covid vaccines in 2020 and 2021. Vaccines were just being developed and manufactured in limited quantities, with Western countries keeping the majority of them for themselves. India was one of the few countries to produce the vaccines, and large quantities were ordered by the govt from Serum and Bharat Biotech to administer to the citizens, apart from exporting to other countries. Even if the Indian govt didn’t order the vaccines, Serum could have sold their vaccines to other countries and international organisations like Gavi. They were not competing with other companies to sell their vaccines, but the governments were competing against each other to procure vaccines.

Electoral Bonds: Mahua Moitra whines about BJP getting donations, ignores her party TMC getting Rs 1609 crores with just one state government

OpIndia Staff
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Electoral Bonds: Mahua Moitra whines about BJP getting donations, ignores her party TMC getting Rs 1609 crores with just one state government

A day after the Election Commission of India released the data of Electoral Bonds bought by various entities from the State Bank of India and the recipients of such bonds, All India Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra took to social media criticizing the national ruling BJP party for being the biggest recipient of these bonds. She claimed that “55% of the total bonds” were received by the BJP and that the Centre was using national agencies to its benefit.

“One country. One Guru. One ED. One IT. One CBI. One Political Party. 55 percent of all donations. Go figure,” she commented indicating that the national ruling BJP party had been ‘unnecessarily’ targeting the opposition parties by using the national agencies and its powers.

However, Moitra forgot to mention that the party to which she belongs, the All India Trinamool Congress is the second largest beneficiary with Rs 1,609 crore, followed by Congress (Rs 1,422 crore) and BRS (Rs 1,215 crore). The party that is in power in just one state has managed to benefit to the extent of Rs 1,610 crores which accounts for 13% of the total amount.

Addtionally, the BJP has got less than 48% of the total bonds, not 55% as claimed by Mahua Moitra.

What are electoral bonds?

Electoral bonds are a relatively new notion in political fundraising in India. Electoral bonds, which were introduced in 2017, allowed individuals and corporations to anonymously donate an unlimited amount of money to any political party. Until a landmark decision by the Supreme Court in mid-February to abolish the seven-year-old election funding system, just weeks before the Lok Sabha elections in April-May this year, donors purchased bonds in fixed denominations from the State Bank of India (SBI) and handed them over to any political party, which could cash them using a bank account. The bonds did not compel the recipient political parties to disclose the donor’s name to anyone, even to the Election Commission of India (ECI).

According to the electoral bond scheme, an electoral bond was issued in the form of a promissory note that was bearer in character. According to the Association for Democratic Reforms, a bearer instrument does not bear the name of the buyer or payee, hence no ownership information is recorded, and the holder of the instrument is considered to be the owner.

Concerns over electoral bonds prompted proposals for reforms to increase openness and accountability in political fundraising. Some even have urged tougher rules and disclosures to prevent the misuse of these tools. Notably, as per the data released by the Election Commission of India, the donations to the TMC increased after the party swept the West Bengal Assembly elections in 2021.

Image via @LekhakAnurag on X

How much did TMC redeem during 2021 elections?

According to data, the TMC redeemed Rs 1609 crore in electoral bonds between April 2019 and January 2024. In October-November 2020 and January 2021, the party redeemed 65 electoral bonds totaling Rs 43.4 crore; this was also the first year of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Assembly elections were conducted in West Bengal from March 27 to April 29, 2021. In April, the AITMC redeemed 171 electoral bonds for Rs 55.44 crore, an increase over the months preceding the elections. However, in July 2021, after the party returned to power in a landslide, it redeemed 337 electoral bonds totaling Rs 107.56 crore.

In October 2021, redemptions totaled Rs 141.92 crore, whereas in January 2022, it was Rs 224 crore. Following that, there was a temporary fall in poll bond redemptions. In April 2022, the AIMTC repaid bonds worth Rs 18 crore. In July 2022, the figure increased to Rs 66.5 crore. And in October 2022, the party redeemed poll bills of Rs 143 crore.

Netizens took cognizance of the post written by TMC MP Mahua Moitra against the BJP and accused her of exaggerating the numbers. Moitra claimed that BJP had received 55% of the gains, however, the actual gains received by the national ruling party is just 46%.

posts asking Mahua Moitra how did her party get Rs 1609 crores with just one state under their rule

Interestingly, many other netizens stated that the BJP is at present ruling several Indian states and is also at the Centre which reasonably justifies the benefit it has availed via the electoral bonds. However, they pondered how TMC, a regional party that is in power in just one state managed to benefit to this extent, surpassing the Indian National Congress (Rs 1,422 crore) and BRS (Rs 1,215 crore).

In the latest development, the Supreme Court declared on Friday (March 15) that the State Bank of India (SBI) must publish electoral bond numbers in addition to the information it has already disclosed about bond purchase and redemption.

A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Justice BR Gavai, Justice JB Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra reassembled today to hear an application filed by the Election Commission. In its application, the ECI demanded the return of sealed cover documents provided by the commission to the court in accordance with its interim order.

In a historic decision on February 15, the Chief Justice Chandrachud-led court ruled that anonymous electoral bonds violate the right to knowledge under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.

Not only that, but this constitution bench asked the State Bank of India, the bank that issues electoral bonds, to stop issuing them immediately. Furthermore, the bank was required to report information of any such bond purchases made following the court’s interim decision on April 12, 2019, to the Election Commission of India within three weeks, with a deadline of March 6, 2024.

Further on Friday (March 15), it categorically stated that the State Bank of India (SBI) has to disclose electoral bond numbers as well, in addition to the details it has already disclosed regarding the purchase and redemption of the bonds.

Lok Sabha Opinion Poll: BJP-led NDA to secure a hat-trick, set to surpass 400 seats, I.N.D.I. Alliance to only cross 100 seats

OpIndia Staff
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Lok Sabha Opinion Poll: BJP-led NDA to secure a hat-trick, set to surpass 400 seats, I.N.D.I. Alliance to only cross 100 seats

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Abki baar, 400 paar” is likely to come to fruition according to different opinion polls and surveys conducted by various news channels. Now, News18 mega opinion poll is also indicating the same thing. According to the poll, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), led by the Bharatiya Janata Party, is expected to secure a historic third consecutive term at the centre and meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “400 paar” objective for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

The largest opinion poll in India projects that the party will secure a record-breaking 350 seats, giving the NDA a 411 seat majority in the 543-member Lok Sabha. Sixty-one seats will be captured by the remaining NDA members including Telugu Desam Party and Janata Dal (United).

Image via CNBC TV18

With 77 seats in Uttar Pradesh, 28 seats in Madhya Pradesh, 10 seats in Chhattisgarh, 38 seats in Bihar and 12 seats in Jharkhand, the poll predicts that the BJP-led NDA will take over the Hindi heartland along with 25 constituencies in Karnataka. Furthermore, there will probably be a significant increase in the number in other regions including Andhra Pradesh where the tally will climb to 18 seats, 25 seats in West Bengal, 13 seats in Odisha and 8 seats in Telangana.

Gujarat, the home state of PM Modi, is also projected to be retained by the ruling alliance with all 26 seats. Additionally, the NDA is predicted to pull a surprise or two in Kerala with 2 seats and Tamil Nadu with 5 seats, the two states where the party is working relentlessly to establish itself.

Image via CNBC TV18

The I.N.D.I. Alliance of opposition parties consisting of Congress, Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) among others are poised to gain 105 seats in the lower house. After its unprecedented low of 44 in 2014, the Congress might only receive 49 seats which would be its second-worst performance in Lok Sabha polls.

The findings indicate that other parties not in the opposition’s coalition or the NDA, like the YSRCP, BSP, BRS, BJD, AIADMK, and others could get about 27 seats in total. According to the opinion poll, the NDA will obtain almost half of all votes cast.

Image via CNBC TV18

Breakdown of state-wise results

Uttar Pradesh: According to opinion poll forecasts, the BJP-led NDA is expected to win a record 77 out of 80 seats in the most important political state while the Mayawati-led BSP, which is running alone, is predicted to win just one seat, while the I.N.D.I. Alliance would only manage two seats. This will be the BJP’s best-ever showing in UP if the forecasts come to pass. A record 71 seats were won by the BJP in Uttar Pradesh in 2014 and 62 seats in the 2019 general election.

Bihar: It is anticipated that the BJP-JD(U) coalition will win 38 of the 40 seats in Bihar, while the opposition bloc will only gain 2 seats. The prediction is similar to the 2019 outcomes, in which the NDA secured 39 of the state’s 40 seats.

Maharashtra: The BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP ruling coalition in Maharashtra is likely to win another election, according to the opinion survey. The poll predicts that the NDA will win 41 of the 48 seats in the state, while the opposition alliance will only gain 7 seats.

West Bengal: Predictions indicate that the TMC is projected to win 17 of the 42 seats in the state, while the BJP is expected to win 25. It stated that the Congress is probably going to draw a blank. It’s interesting to note that 42% of the vote is what both the BJP and the TMC are predicted to secure in terms of vote share. Of the 42 seats in 2019, 22 were won by the party led by Mamata Banerjee. The BJP gained 18 seats in 2019 as opposed to just 2 in 2014.

Tamil Nadu: The DMK-Congress coalition is anticipated by the opinion poll to win 30 out of 39 seats in the southern state, which would be a modest decrease from its result in 2019. The opinion survey noted that the BJP, which has yet to form an alliance in the state, is anticipated to win five seats for the first time.

Madhya Pradesh: The opinion poll projects that the BJP will replicate its 2019 performance in the Hindi heartland state, taking 28 of the 29 seats and in contrast, only one seat is predicted for Congress. The BJP won every seat in the state in 2019 except for one, as the Congress managed to hang onto Chhindwara, former Chief Minister Kamal Nath’s stronghold, which is presently held by his son Nakul Nath.

Karnataka: The opinion survey indicates that the NDA would win 25 of the 28 seats in the crucial southern state, matching its tally from 2019. The Congress is predicted to receive just three. This time, the BJP is running for office in coalition with the JD(S).

Kerala: The opinion poll predicts the Congress-led UDF to win 14 of Kerala’s 20 seats, while the incumbent LDF is predicted to win just 4 and BJP is set to win 2 seats. According to the opinion poll, LDF would receive little more than 32% of the vote, while the opposition bloc was predicted to receive 47% of the vote.

Punjab: The BJP-led NDA is predicted to win three seats in the state, while the Congress, which was overthrown in 2022, is predicted to gain seven. According to the opinion poll, the AAP, which won the state election with a resounding victory, is predicted to win just one seat if its 2019 result is replicated.

Andhra Pradesh: The NDA alliance, led by the BJP, is predicted to win 18 of the 25 seats in Andhra Pradesh. It stated that the YSR Congress, led by Jagan Reddy and which secured a historic mandate in 2019, would secure a mere 7 seats in 2024. For the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP, TDP, and Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena have forged an alliance.

Telangana: According to the opinion survey, the BJP is expected to secure eight out of seventeen seats in Telangana. The poll projects that the ruling Congress will win six seats in the state, while BRS will only have two. The K Chandrashekar Rao-led TRS secured nine of Telangana’s seventeen seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, while the BJP only managed to secure four.

Rajasthan: The opinion survey indicates that the BJP-led NDA is on course to win all 25 seats in Rajasthan, the Hindi heartland state, in yet another landslide. According to the opinion poll, the Congress, which was defeated in the assembly elections last year, would once more draw a blank. It predicted that 61% of the state’s votes would be won by the BJP and its allies. The NDA, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party, had won all 25 seats in the state in the previous general election. It received an astounding 59% of the vote.

Odhisha: The opinion poll predicts that the ruling BJD will win eight seats in Odisha, while the BJP will win thirteen. If the forecasts come to pass, the BJP, which has been gaining ground in the state, will receive a major boost. In the 2019 elections, Odisha witnessed a fierce contest between the BJD, led by Naveen Patnaik, and the BJP. The state’s 20 seats were won by the ruling BJD, while the BJP increased its share of seats from 1 in 2014 to 8 in 2019.

Jharkhand: The opinion poll indicates that the BJP-led NDA would win 12 of the state’s 14 seats, matching its performance from 2019. Congress and JMM will share the remaining two. The BJP-led NDA won 12 of the state’s 14 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, while the Congress and JMM each got one seat. The BJP secured 11 seats out of the NDA’s share, while its ally AJSU secured one.

Chhattisgarh: According to the opinion poll, the BJP would gain 10 seats in Chhattisgarh in 2024 compared to its current total of 9. The BJP had a strong showing in the Hindi heartland state in the 2019 elections, taking nine of the eleven seats. The other two were won by the Congress.

Assam: The opinion poll predicts that the BJP would win every seat in Assam. It forecasted the saffron party to win 12 of the 14 seats, while Congress will receive none. The opinion poll predicted that regional parties AIUDF and BPF will win the final two seats. In the previous general election, the northeastern state saw the BJP win nine of the fourteen seats, while the Congress only managed to secure three. There was only one victory for the AIUDF under Badruddin Ajmal.

Uttarakhand: Pre-election opinion poll indicate that the BJP will win all five seats in Uttarakhand, continuing its unbeaten streak from 2019. It predicted that the saffron party would garner a staggering 62% of the vote, surpassing its results from 2019. The BJP secured all five seats in the mountainous state in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Its vote share was almost twice as high at 61%.

Gujarat: The opinion poll predicts that the BJP will win 26 of the 26 seats in Gujarat, making it another perfect sweep. In both 2014 and 2019, the saffron party won all 26 seats, leaving the Congress with nothing. Additionally, the BJP received an astounding 62.2% of the vote, almost twice as many as the Congress’s 32%.

Delhi, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh: The poll indicates that the BJP would secure all 10 seats in Haryana, 7 seats in Delhi, and 4 seats in Himachal Pradesh. Notably, the BJP had won all three of the northern states in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as well.

‘He is an ordinary man’: Lawyer defends Kejriwal while challenging summons on ED complaints; forgets the 13000 sq ft mansion of this ‘Aam Aadmi’

OpIndia Staff
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‘He is an ordinary man’: Lawyer defends Kejriwal while challenging summons on ED complaints; forgets the 13000 sq ft mansion of this ‘Aam Aadmi’

On Friday, March 15, Delhi Rouse court resumed hearing Delhi CM and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal’s plea challenging a lower court’s summons to him on two complaints filed by the ED for evading its summons in a money laundering case related to the alleged excise scam. Senior advocate Ramesh Gupta, who was representing Kejriwal at the hearing, attempted to explain the AAP leader’s rationale behind ignoring the ED summons and tried his best to portray Arvind Kejriwal as an ‘Aam Aadmi’ in the process.

However, in his earnest efforts to showcase him as an ‘ordinary man’, Kejriwal’s lawyer forgot that the details of ‘Aam Aadmi’ Arvind Kejriwal’s 13000 sq ft ‘humble abode’ renovated at a cost of almost Rs 45 crore of tax payer’s money is all in the public domain.

“Inse (Kejriwal) zayada ordinary aadmi kya hoga? suit tak nahi pehena aaj tak inhone. Wo shirt pehenta hai wo bhi pant k bahar rahti hai. Joote nahi daale. Ye din m teen baar kapde nahi badalta. He is an ordinary man“, (Who can be more ordinary than him. He has till date never worn a suit, nor has he ever worn shoes. He wears only shirt and pant, that too never tucks in his shirt. He does not change his outfits thrice a day. He is an ordinary man), said Gupta, defending Kejriwal’s defiance in court.

Gupta also alleged that ED was seeking the Chief Minister’s physical presence only for publicity. Questioning why the Enforcement Directorate wasn’t okay with Kejriwal getting an exemption from personal appearance, Gupta said, “Ye kya karna chahte hain? Juloos nikaalna chahte hain? Ye log do din pehle notice deke kehte hain aa jao…” (What do they want to do? They only want publicity in the name of the Chief Minister’s visit. They issue summons and ask him to appear within two days), his lawyer asked.

Gupta further contended that the summons order is subject to revision and that Kejriwal’s in-person attendance would be detrimental to the Chief Minister in such a scenario.

Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju, representing ED, retorted strongly to Kejriwal’s lawyer’s allegations that the probe agency was summoning the Delhi CM only for publicity. “Stop playing to the gallery. we are not doing anything for publicity,” he retorted.

Kejriwal’s attorney further asserted that the Investigating Officer who submitted the complaint with the court was not the same as the officer who had issued the first three summonses, meaning that the complaint is legally prohibited under Section 195.

He contended that in order for the court to consider the complaint, it must determine if the public employee “concerned” has filed a written complaint, as required by Section 195.

In addition, Kejriwal’s attorney, Gupta, claimed that the Chief Minister’s appearance would be futile and cause problems for everyone involved, given that the maximum sentence for the offence for which he was being accused was one month.

Regarding the summons being issued by different officers of ED, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju said, “Kindly look at Section 195. It uses the phrase “public servant concerned”, not the one who issued summons. They (the person who issues summons to Kejriwal and the one who filed the complaint case in court) are simultaneous IOs,” the ASG said.

The ASG also said the provisions governing the filing of complaint cases have to be viewed practically.

“If there is an Investigating Officer today and he dies tomorrow, does that mean no complaint case can be filed? Suppose one public servant retires or goes on holiday. What then,” the ASG demanded.

ASG further clarified that Kejriwal had been summoned not in his capacity as Chief Minister but as an individual required to provide evidence pertinent to the investigation.

To this, Gupta argued in court, “CM is a public servant and Arvind Kejriwal is a public servant. They say he was summoned in his personal capacity but I will demonstrate from the record that the summons were sent to him in a case which was registered pursuant to an excise Policy which came into being when he was CM.”

Gupta calls Arvind Kejriwal an ‘ordinary man’, forgets his 13000 sq ft mansion which cost Rs 45 cr of taxpayers’ money

On May 4, 2023, the images of the sprawling mansion of AAP chief ‘aam admi’ Arvind Kejriwal went viral on social media.

As per a report by Times Now, the mansion is located at 6 Flagstaff Road in the Civil Lines area of the National Capital. Dubbed as the ‘Sheesh Mehal’ of the Delhi Chief Minister, it is spread across a 13000 square feet area.

An investigation done by Times Now Navbharat found that the official bungalow of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal in Civil Lines was renovated at a cost of almost Rs 45 crore.

The report, termed “Operation Sheesh Mahal,” said that Rs 44.78 crore of taxpayer funds were utilised for the renovations, raising questions about the Aam Aadmi Party’s commitment to promoting austerity.

What is the case

Arvind Kejriwal has challenged the summons issued to him by Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court before the sessions court in connection with the Delhi excise policy case.

After the Enforcement Directorate filed a new case against the Chief Minister for failing to appear in the court on the summons, the judge summoned Kejriwal to appear on March 16.

Previous to this, the investigation agency had filed a motion in a local court to prosecute Kejriwal for failing to appear at the first three summons in the money laundering case.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has so far issued eight summons to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a money laundering probe related to irregularities in the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 case.

The ED wants to record Kejriwal’s statement in the case on issues like the formulation of policy, meetings held before it was finalised, and allegations of bribery.

Two senior AAP leaders — Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh — are already under judicial custody in the case. Sisodia, who was the then Delhi Deputy Chief Minister, was arrested by the CBI on February 26 following several rounds of questioning and on October 5, the ED arrested Singh, who is a Rajya Sabha member.

Uttar Pradesh: Tabrez poses as police official ‘Aryan Prasad’ to trap Dalit girl, gets caught on wedding day

OpIndia Staff
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Uttar Pradesh: Tabrez poses as police official ‘Aryan Prasad’ to trap Dalit girl, gets caught on wedding day

In the Kushinagar area of Uttar Pradesh, a Muslim man named Tabrez reportedly posed as ‘Aryan Prasad’ and trapped a Dalit girl in a love affair. He also attempted to marry her and sexually exploited her under a false identity, as per reports.

The incident came to light on 25th February after which the family members of the girl informed the police. The police have arrested the accused and investigations in the case are underway. According to the reports, the accused person from Khushinagar introduced himself to the girl as a Hindu named Aryan Prasad, the son of Jaihind Prasad. He then expressed his interest in developing a relationship and made her believe that he was a policeman.

The accused dated the girl for around a year after and eventually proposed marriage. The family members of the victim met the accused and agreed to the wedding after the latter ensured them their daughter’s well being. He also made them believe that he had a lot of money and that their daughter would be very well taken care of. The family members of the girl are also said to have agreed to the wedding given the accused’s ‘Hindu identity’. The accused identified as Tabrez had introduced himself as Aryan Prasad, son of Jaihind Prasad.

The accused Tabrez Alam had claimed before the girl and her family that he works with the police department in Gorakhpur and is financially well off.

The wedding was scheduled for the 25th February. All the relatives of the groom and the bride were invited to the wedding. However, on the day of the wedding, nobody from the groom’s side showed up. On asking, the accused said that his mother has become suddenly ill and the other relatives could not make it to the event either.

The accused convinced the family members of the victim to the wedding and assured them about the situation. He had reportedly arrived in a decorated car by himself. The wedding rituals then began. During the wedding, the accused gifted jewelry and clothes to the woman claiming that they were made up of gold. The girl’s relatives started suspecting that something was off, after realisng that the ‘gold’ jewelry was fake.

As confrontation ensued between the groom and the girl’s family members, the grooms wig fell off, exposing the fact that even his appearance was fake.

The family members then interrogated him thoroughly and saw his Aadhaar Card to learn that he was a Muslim and that his name was Tabrez. The police were then informed and an FIR in the case was registered. The police who immediately arrived at the spot arrested the accused and confirmed that the accused had weaved a well-planned trap to marry the Hindu girl.

Further investigations into the case are underway.

Is electoral bonds data between March 2018 and March 2019 missing? How ‘journalists’ and Congress trolls spread fake news after SBI disclosure

Shraddha Pandey
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Is electoral bonds data between March 2018 and March 2019 missing? How ‘journalists’ and Congress trolls spread fake news after SBI disclosure

On 14th of March 2024, the State Bank of India (SBI) released the data on Electoral Bonds bought by various entities from the State Bank of India and the recipients of such bonds in compliance with the Supreme Court order. As soon as the data came out the anti-Modi ‘journalists’, trolls and political parties resorted to fake news peddling. They claimed that the electoral bonds data from March 2018 to March 2019 is ‘missing’ as SBI’s electoral bonds disclosure documents do not include data of this timeframe.

Arvind Gunasekar, who claims to be a ‘journalist’ and is a JNU alumnus claimed that SBI disclosed the electoral bonds data only between April 2019 to January 2024 asserting that the data from March 2018 and 2019 is ‘missing’.

“SBI has shared electoral bonds data only between April 2019 to January 2024. Data from March 2018 – March 2019 missing. Electoral bonds worth over 2,500 crore were sold between March 2018 – March 2019,” Arvind Gunasekar wrote on X (archive).

A Congress-supporting troll @nher_who with over 2 lakh followers on X made similar claims in a post and wrote, “If you are wondering where’s the data of Adani and Ambani. Here’s a fact : Electoral bonds worth over 2,500 crore were sold from March 2018 to March 2019. SBI hasn’t shared the data of that period. No prizes for guessing why.”

Another Congress supporter Ankit Mayank questioned if the electoral bonds data from March 2018 to March 2019 is “actually missing” or the SBI and the Election Commission is “deliberately” hiding it.

“Electoral bonds data from March 2018 to March 2019 is missing. Electoral bonds worth over ₹2,500 crore were sold during this period. Big question – Is the data really missing or SBI & ECI are deliberately hiding it for some reason?,” Mayank posted.

One “Samajwadi Prahari” wrote, “Electoral bonds data from March 2018 to March 2019 is missing. Electoral bonds worth over ₹2,500 crore were sold during this period. Big question – Is the data really missing or SBI & ECI are deliberately hiding it.”

Meanwhile, an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) affiliated troll “AAP Ka Mehta” wrote on X, “IMPORTANT – DATA OF ELECTORAL BONDS INCOMPLETE SBI has shared electoral bonds data only between April 2019 to January 2024 only !! Data from March 2018 – March 2019 missing. Electoral bonds worth over 2,500 crore were sold between March 2018 – March 2019. Who benefited?? So, Data of Bonds before Lok Sabha 2019 is MISSING!!”

Is electoral bonds data missing or is SBI hiding it?

Now the question arises here, is electoral bonds data from March 2018 to March 2019 missing? If it is not missing, why do the State Bank of India electoral bonds disclosure documents not include it? The answer to this lies in the Supreme Court’s recent order directing SBI to publish the electoral bonds data on its website.

In its order, the Supreme Court directed SBI to share details of electoral bonds bought between 12 April 2019 and 15 February 2024. SBI only complied with the court order and released the data for the specified period. Thus, the electoral bonds data between March 2018 and March 2019 is neither “missing” nor “deliberately hidden” by the SBI. The anti-Modi/anti-BJP lobby is making unfounded claims in its desperate bid to imply that SBI and somehow even the Election Commission are complicit in hiding the electoral bonds data to “save BJP”.

“In order to give full effect to the judgment which was rendered by the Constitution Bench, this Court directed the State Bank of India, which was the authorized Bank to deal with Electoral Bonds under the Electoral Bond Scheme to submit details of the Electoral Bonds purchased by the contributors and redeemed by political parties between 12 April 2019 (the date on which an interim order was passed by this Court directing the Election Commission of India to collect details of the contributions) till 15 February 2024 (the date of the judgment),” the Supreme Court order reads.

Excerpt from Supreme Court order directing SBI to submit details of electoral bonds (Source: sci.gov.in)

Interestingly, although the SBI’s disclosure document does not mention electoral bond purchase data between March 2018 to March 2019, the data is not ‘missing’. In fact, it is already out in public. As we reported earlier, since the launch of the scheme in 2018, bonds worth around ₹16,000 crore were sold by the State Bank of India between March 2018 and January 2024. BJP’s share in it was around 55% or approximately ₹6,565 crore. Congress received around 1,123.3 crore, or around 7%. TMC received around ₹1,101.33 crore, around 7%.

Notably, even though the BJP has been the major beneficiary of the electoral bonds scheme, the non-NDA parties have also significantly benefitted from this scheme with a major share of donations coming to them via electoral bonds.

As reported earlier, the SBI published the electoral bond data in two sheets on 14th March. One gives the details of purchasers of the Electoral Bonds from 12 April 2019 to 11 January 2024, and the other gives the details of political parties that encashed Electoral Bonds from 12 April 2019 to 24 January 2024.

The BJP received more than Rs 6,061 crore in electoral bond funding, making them the highest benefactor. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) secured Rs 1,610 crore, while the Congress received Rs 1,422 crore. The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has received Rs 1,215 crore in electoral bond funding, followed by the Biju Janta Dal (BJD) with Rs 776 crore.

The frustration of opposition parties and their supporters is obvious since the names they hoped to see on the Electoral Bonds list were absent. While many expected Adani Group and Reliance Group to appear significantly on the list, the two are not even included. This appears to have prompted them to turn to lies and misinformation to bring down the BJP and target even SBI.

Largest buyer of electoral bonds is Santiago Martin of Future Gaming: Here are his links to CPIM, DMK, Congress and TMC

OpIndia Staff
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Largest buyer of electoral bonds is Santiago Martin of Future Gaming: Here are his links to CPIM, DMK, Congress and TMC

On Thursday (14th March), the Election Commission published detailed information about the companies that purchased electoral bonds to make donations to political parties. The most significant buyer on the list was Future Gaming and Hotel Services, owned by scam-tainted Santiago Martin.

It has come to light that the entity had made political donations to the tune of ₹1,368 crore between 12th April 2019 and 24th January 2024.

Also known as the ‘lottery king’, Santiago Martin has close ties with several political parties including the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in Kerala, Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (DMK) in Tamil Nadu, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal and the Congress party.

Ties with CPIM

In 2007, Santiago Martin donated ₹2 crores to the Communist party mouthpiece Deshabhimani through four electoral bonds of ₹50 lakhs each. When the matter became public, the party came under fire from all political corners.

In a bid to save its face, the CPIM led by Prakash Karat decided to ‘return’ the money after having accepted it in the first place.

In 2016, senior advocate MK Damodaran, who is close to Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, represented Santiago Martin in a case filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

MK Damodaran, who became the legal advisor to the Kerala CM, also appeared for the scam-tainted businessman in March 2018 in connection to the lottery scam.

Connections with DMK

In October 2010, Advocate General of Tamil Nadu P. S. Raman represented Santiago Martin in the Kerala High Court. Following an uproar by the Kerala government, the then DMK supremo Karunanidhi intervened and Raman was forced to withdraw.

In February 2011, the owner of Future Gaming and Hotel Services spent 50 crores and helped produce the 75th film of Karunanidhi as a scriptwriter.

Reportedly, the movie titled ‘Ilaignan‘ was in a state of limbo for 3 years before the scam-tainted businessman revived it. Karunanidhi was paid ₹45 lakhs as the scriptwriter of the movie.

“In return, the chief minister allows him to run his illegal lottery business without any hitch, say cinema veterans,” a report published by India Today read.

It was reported in January 2023 that Santiago Martin’s son-in-law Aadhav Arjuna was roped in by the Dravida Munnetra Kazagham as the chief election strategist of the party in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Arjuna is believed to have close ties with the son-in-law of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Sabareesan. In February this year, he joined the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) as the Deputy General Secretary. VCK is an ally of the Congress in the I.N.D.I. Alliance.

Ties with Congress and TMC

It is interesting to point out that veteran Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi had also defended scam-tainted Santiago Martin in the Kerala High Court in September 2010.

Following opposition from the Left, he was forced to withdraw from the case. At that time, the then Congress media chairman Janardan Dwivedi had stated, “The party has taken serious note of the issue, even though he (Singhvi) has declared that he has withdrawn from the case.”

In September 2021, ‘journalist’ Rohini Singh had hinted at a nexus between a ‘regional party’ and a ‘tainted lottery mafia’.

In December of the same year, she tweeted, “Forget Adani and Ambani. The man to watch out for is lottery king Santiago Martin and who all he funds. Interesting times ahead in Indian politics.”

A report by G2G News stated that Future Gaming and Hotel Services had paid ₹12000 crores in Goods and Services Tax (GST) in West Bengal between 2017 and 2021.

“Future Gaming is one of the prompt taxpayers in the country. By paying huge taxes on time, every time, its contribution towards building a stronger nation is commendable,” it quoted from the website of the entity.

The Santanio Martin-owned firm has been organising the ‘Dear Lottery’ in West Bengal for quite some time.

In November 2022, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) informed that Trinamool Congress (TMC) Minister Anubrata Mondal and his daughter had won the lottery 5 times in three years.

Santiago Martin and his ‘lottery scam’

Santiago Martin is accused of causing a loss of ₹910,29,87,566 (~ ₹910.29 crores) to the Sikkim government through the fraudulent sale of lottery tickets in the State of Kerala between April 1, 2009 and August 31, 2010.

“Martin and his associate companies and entities made unlawful gains with a corresponding loss to the government of Sikkim to the extent of ₹ 910 crore on account of inflating the prize-winning tickets claim for the period from 01.04.2009 to 31.08.2010,” the ED said in a statement in May 2023.

At that time, the central agency seized his movable properties (mutual funds and fixed deposits) worth ₹157.7 crores and documents of immovable properties to the tune of ₹299.16 crores.

In December 2021, the Enforcement Directorate attached ₹19.59 crore worth of his properties under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Two years earlier in 2019, raids were conducted by the IT Department on 70 premises of ‘Lottery Martin’ across the country.

A former daily-wage labourer in Yangon in Myanmar, Santiago Martin went on to establish a ₹7000 crore ‘lottery’ business. He has been under the radar of investigative agencies since 2011 for financial fraud and money laundering.

Fake claims of Adani owning Navayuga surface again after ECI publishes Electoral Bonds data, Opposition trolls clutch at straws to smear Gautam Adani

OpIndia Staff
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Fake claims of Adani owning Navayuga surface again after ECI publishes Electoral Bonds data, Opposition trolls clutch at straws to smear Gautam Adani

The Election Commission of India on Thursday released the data on Electoral Bonds bought by various entities from the State Bank of India and the recipients of such bonds. The data was published in two sheets, one gives the details of purchasers of the Electoral Bonds from 12 April 2019 to 11 January 2024, and the other gives the details of political parties that encashed Electoral Bonds from 12 April 2019 to 24 January 2024.

However, sadly for the main Opposition voices in India, the names they most expected to find in the Electoral Bonds list were absent. While it was anticipated by many that Adani Group and Reliance Group would feature prominently in the list, the two behemoths are not even mentioned.

The anticipation was so high that just a day before the publication of the list, Adani Group shares had plummeted, with analysts saying that this was due to panic selling by investors anticipating that the company made significant donations to political parties using electoral bonds. Reports mentioned that panic selling of Adani shares caused the Group’s share prices to fall.

After the usual noise peddlers on social media discovered that their intended target, the Adani Group doesn’t feature in the donors list, they started clutching at straws, resorting to lies and misinformation to somehow find a way to claim Adani was one of the biggest donors.

In their hurry, they found a lie that was already busted long ago, that Navayuga Engineering Company Limited is a subsidiary of Adani, and donations by Navayuga somehow mean donations by Adani.

fake claims of Adani owning Navayuga
Fake claims on Adani
fake claims on Adani

The same screenshot which highlighted Navayuga was shared by many with pictures of Gautam Adani, claiming that Navayuga Engineering is a subsidiary “owned by Gautam Adani”.

Adani Group does not own Navayuga Engineering

The claims that Navayuga Engineering is owned by Adani are false. The lies had earlier surfaced during the incident of the Silkyara tunnel collapse in Uttarakhand in November last year. Navayuga Engineering was one of the companies involved in the construction of the Silkyara tunnel. Leftists and their trolls on social media had peddled the lie that Navayuga Engineering is “owned by Gautam Adani”.

Many Leftist media portals and ‘journalists’ associated with them had also made the claim. The Wire had cited a past business transaction, where Adani Group had bought stakes in the Krishnapatnam Port Company in Andhra Pradesh, to claim a “link” with Adani.

However, the Adani Group, in a media statement in November last year, had made it clear that they do not own any of the companies associated with the construction of the Silkyara tunnel. The statement clarified that no Adani Group company or subsidiary is associated with the tunnel work and the claims and allegations of Adani owning any of the the companies are false.

Some of the fake news peddlers have tried to cite an old JV of Adani Group to falsely claim that Adani “owns” Navayuga. If a large conglomerate enters into a JV with another company for a particular project, they do not become the “owners” of the company. Joint ventures are common in the business world, especially in large construction projects. Adani Group has already clarified that they do not own the Navayuga Engineering company, and the said company is not a subsidiary of them.

Attacking Adani and Ambani has been an old habit of the Congress party and many Opposition party leaders, in the absence of any credible issue to accuse the Modi government of corruption.

‘Chota mota blast’ fame Sreenivasan Jain, who recently whitewashed torture, conversion of Hindu women, joins Qatari mouthpiece Al Jazeera to spread more Hinduphobia

OpIndia Staff
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‘Chota mota blast’ fame Sreenivasan Jain, who recently whitewashed torture, conversion of Hindu women, joins Qatari mouthpiece Al Jazeera to spread more Hinduphobia

On Thursday (14th March), controversial news anchor Sreenivasan Jain shared information about his association with Al Jazeera English. Sreenivasan Jain, who dubbed the plot to kill PM Modi as a ‘chota mota bomb blast’, had called it quits after a 3-decade stint at the leftist propaganda news outlet NDTV on 28th January 2023.

In his X post, Sreenivasan Jain shared a video snippet from his upcoming show on the Al Jazeera English channel. He wrote in the caption, “Thrilled to announce that starting this week, I’ll be presenting The India Report, a new four-part series produced by Meenakshi Ravi on Al Jazeera English that looks ahead to the elections. Here’s a teaser for episode 1, on the dramatic rise of Hindutva.”

In this video, he said, “I am in the north Indian town of Ayodhya. It is January, the start of an election year, where a grand ceremony that is as religious as it is political is underway. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is front and centre at the opening – a grand opening – of a temple to the Hindu God Ram. Not long ago, the presence of the Prime Minister at a mega-religious event would have been seen as controversial – a break from India’s secular traditions.”

He further said, “All the more because the temple is coming up on the ruins of a 400-year-old mosque demolished 3 decades ago by Hindu activists sparking Hindu-Muslim riots across India. But the event today, marked by celebratory media coverage and these cheering crowds embodies a dramatic shift for India from a secular nation to a majoritarian state.”

He added, “In this episode of the India report, I’ll be examining the rise of Hindutva the Hindu supremacist ideology espoused by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ruling BJP. We will explore the factors that have propelled Hinduism to the centre of India’s national identity and how it has also given rise to bigotry and sectarian violence. And more fundamentally could India’s Hindu revivalism ensure an election win and a third successive term for Narendra Modi?”

It is pertinent to note that nowhere in the video or the tweets by Sreenivasan Jain was it mentioned that the disputed structure which was claimed to be a mosque itself stood at the site of a Ram Temple demolished and desecrated thousands of years ago.

Anti-Modi anti-Hindu history sheet of Sreenivasan Jain

Sreenivasan Jain had been mired in controversies throughout his career as a news anchor. In July 2022, he furnished a surety bond of ₹50,000 to secure bail for dubious fact-checker Mohammed Zubair, whom he described as a ‘close friend.’ 

In August 2021, he cast aspersions about India’s indigenously developed Covid-19 vaccine, Covaxin. He made a startling claim that Dr N K Arora, Chairperson of the National Vaccine Advisory Group, said that the initial batches of Covaxin ‘were not of the right quality’. He later deleted his tweet.

However, the true highlight of his career was his attempt to downplay a vicious plot to assassinate Prime Minister Narendra Modi by Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Ishrat Jahan. He had claimed that terrorists such as Ishrat Jahan, gunned down by the Gujarat Police during an encounter, did not come to kill the then Gujarat Chief Minister but to do a ‘chota-mota‘ (small-time) bomb blast.

Under the garb of informing the viewers about the CBI investigation into the encounter, the former NDTV journalist had insinuated that since Ishrat Jahan had come to only execute a small-time terror attack, she ought to have been treated well by the Gujarat police. While conveying that the terrorist deserved a ‘fair trial’, he tried to paint terrorism as a ‘no-big-deal’ issue. His vicious attempt to provide intellectual coverfire to a slain terrorist has been the key highlight of his stint at NDTV.

It is further worthy to note that Sreenivasan Jain had recently co-authored a book which attempted to “debunk” the plight of Hindu women who were being exploited and tortured in the name of Love Jihad. OpIndia has documented several such cases where Muslim men had pretended to be Hindu to trap Hindu women and then later force them to convert to Islam once their identity was revealed. There have also been several cases where Muslim men had exploited, raped, and tortured Hindu women in a relationship to pressurise them into converting to Islam.

In a case documented by OpIndia, on 16th July 2023, a 22-year-old Hindu girl filed a police complaint saying that she was brutally tortured by her ‘husband’ Amin Sheikh and mother-in-law Reshma Sheikh. The girl said that she was physically and sexually assaulted and forcefully converted to Islam after which she filed a police complaint against the duo under sections 37692)(n), 366, 323, 506, 504, and 34 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. 

As per the FIR copy obtained by OpIndia, this case seems to be a pure instance of Grooming Jihad. The victim in the year 2022 was introduced to the accused by a mutual friend named Shahbaz in a computer class. Soon the victim and the accused became good friends and in February 2022, Amin proposed to the girl. However, the girl refused to accept the proposal after which she was threatened to accept the relationship. The accused said that he would commit suicide and blame the girl for it if his proposal was not accepted.

The accused then introduced the girl to his family and one day deceptively called her at his home when he was all alone. The girl was not willing to stay in the relationship however, she was threatened to cooperate. On arrival, the accused closed the doors and sexually assaulted the victim. He also shot derogatory videos of her to use them to blackmail her further. 

After a few days, the accused called the girl and said that he was going to Dubai. He also expressed his will to marry her. He threatened the girl saying that he had derogatory photos and videos of her and that he would viral the videos from Dubai if she refused to marry. 

The girl got scared but could not utter a word as she was threatened to keep her mouth shut. After a month or so, the accused came back from Dubai and asked the girl to meet. He then forced the girl to send a text message to her parents informing them that she was now married to Amin. He then sexually assaulted the victim. 

The next day, the accused took the girl to a Masjid and forcefully converted her religion to Islam. He also married the girl and asked her to follow the traditions of Islam hereinafter. He forced her to eat cow beef, and consume drugs while his mother, Reshma Sheikh abused and physically assaulted the girl. She also forced the girl to offer Namaz and said that soon she would be sent to Dubai.

The victim then also learned that the accused was already married and had a daughter. She realized that she was being pushed into human trafficking. The accused however shifted the victim to a separate apartment and locked her from outside. As per the copy, the victim yelled for help and screamed from the windows of the building after which the neighbours called the police. The girl was safely recovered and later filed a complaint against the accused, his mother, Kazi Mufti Ismail who converted the girl to Islam, and two other associates of the primary accused who did the job of threatening the victim. 

She demanded strict action against the accused and his mother and said that the video of her torture had been recorded in the residential CCTV footage. She asked the Police to seize the CCTV footage and provide her justice. 

Despite hundreds of cases such as these, Jain, in his book, had essentially called the plight of Hindu women a figment of the imagination.

Islamist propaganda news outlet Al Jazeera

Sreenivasan Jain collaborated with the Islamist propaganda news outlet Al Jazeera which has a notorious history of anti-India anti-Hindutva stands. Recently, Al Jazeera claimed that the CAA is anti-Muslim. A day after Al Jazeera falsely claimed that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) notified by the Modi government was somehow anti-Muslim, the Press Information Bureau (PIB) debunked the lies of the Qatari State-owned propaganda outlet.

On Monday (11th March), Al Jazeera posted one of its dubious articles on CAA titled ‘India implements ‘anti-Muslim’ 2019 citizenship law weeks before election’ on its X (formerly Twitter) handle. The Press Information Bureau (PIB), a nodal agency of the Government of India under the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry, pointed out on Tuesday (12th March) that the claims made by Al Jazeera were misleading.

In January 2024, a Yemini-British journalist named Adnan Al-Ameri revealed how Al Jazeera carries out the agenda of the Muslim Brotherhood at the behest of the Qatari government. Al Jazeera also led the anti-India reporting campaign during the anti-Hindu riots in Delhi that took place in February 2020. Al Jazeera attempted to present Muslims as victims in the anti-Hindu riots.

Given Al Jazeera’s pronounced bias against India and specifically Hindus, one can only imagine the Hinduphobia and hate that the 4 part series, hosted by Sreenivasan Jain, would spread.

Bengal: Suvendu Adhikari’s brother and Tamluk MP Dibyendu, Barrackpore MP Arjun Singh likely to join BJP, say sources

OpIndia Staff
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Bengal: Suvendu Adhikari’s brother and Tamluk MP Dibyendu, Barrackpore MP Arjun Singh likely to join BJP, say sources

 In what will be a blow to the ruling Trinamool Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Dibyendu Adhikari, an MP and younger brother of Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, is likely to join the BJP in Delhi on Friday, sources said.

Apart from the LoP’s younger sibling, TMC’s Barrackpore MP Arjun Singh, who joined the ruling party in the state after its victory in the 2021 Assembly elections, is also likely to return to the BJP on Friday.

Dibyendu is currently a Trinamool MP from the Tamluk Lok Sabha constituency of Purba Medinipur district.

Earlier, the TMC lost old-timer and sitting MLA Tapas Roy to the BJP. After resigning his membership in the Assembly and also stepping down from all party posts, Roy accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the TMC leadership of leaving him to fend for himself and not reaching out during a raid by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED).

Earlier, during a visit to North Bengal, LoP Suvendu Adhikari said the region in the upper reaches of the state has long been a bastion of the BJP and has stood with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Speaking to reporters, Suvendu said, “The people of North Bengal have always stood with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Here, the people love him, respect him and consider him as one of their own. North Bengal has voted in favour of PM Modi since 2014. In 2019, his vote percentage increased and in 2021, his support base in North Bengal remained intact.”

Earlier, political analyst and election strategist Prashant Kishor, who has worked with the TMC and CM Mamata, said the BJP was on course to perform better than the ruling party in the state this time in the Lok Sabha elections. 

Barrakpore MP Arjun Singh wasn’t picked by TMC, shares post on Modi wave

Trinamool Congress MP Arjun Singh, who was denied a ticket to seek a fresh term in the Lok Sabha from the Barrackpore constituency of West Bengal, is all set to return to the BJP, dealing a blow to the ruling party in the state ahead of the upcoming electoral battle.

The BJP, which named 20 Lok Sabha candidates from West Bengal earlier, hasn’t yet announced its pick for Barrackpore.

Taking to his official handle on X, Arjun Singh on Thursday posted an image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a slogan in Bengali that translates to: “It’s Modi again, say everyone”.

Earlier on Wednesday, March 14, Singh hinted at his return to the BJP, saying that the TMC meted out ‘injustice’ to him.

The ruling party in the state, earlier, dropped Singh and fielded state minister and TMC MLA Partha Bhowmick, instead, from the Barrackpore seat for the Lok Sabha elections.

Singh started his political career by winning the Bhatpara Municipality Election as a councillor of the Congress before switching over to the TMC in 2001.

However, on the eve of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he quit the TMC and joined the BJP. Winning nomination from the Barrackpore seat, he trounced his TMC rival to make it to the Lower House.

However, a year after the BJP’s defeat to the TMC in the 2021 Assembly elections, Singh returned to the Mamata Banerjee-led party.

TMC announces list of candidates in all 42 seats of Bengal

Shattering the hopes of Congress for an alliance in the state, Mamata Banerjee had on 10th March 2024 announced the list of all 42 TMC candidates at a rally in Kolkata’s Brigade Ground. This was the first time that the party announced a candidates list from a public meeting, that too in one go.

Mamata Banerjee had made a mega show out of the candidate list as all 42 of them walked with her at the ramp built at the rally. Gujarat cricketer Yusuf Pathan will be contesting against Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Choudhury who has been winning the Berhampore seat since 1999. Actress Rachana Banerjee will face BJP MP Locket Chatterjee in Hooghly.

(With inputs from ANI)

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