Ahead of the upcoming elections in the State of Karnataka, a popular Pakistani entertainer by the name of Sehar Shinwari has come out in support of the Congress party.
In a tweet on Saturday (May 6), she prayed for the victory of the grand-old party in the Karnataka elections with a 2/3 majority. “BJP will face the worst ever defeat,” Shinwari expressed hope in Congress.
Screengrab of the tweet by Sehar Shinwari
A day later on Sunday (May 7), she announced that Congress Scion will come to power next time.
Screengrab of the tweet by Sehar Shinwari
Recently, she hailed Rahul Gandhi for being a ‘man of steel’ and ‘educating’ Sanghis (a term used routinely by left-liberals and Islamist to mock the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh) and brainless.
On May 4 this year, the Pakistani entertainer wrote, “As long as BJP is in power, I don’t see any peace between India and Pakistan. Now its duty of India janta to use their power of vote and vote out this anti-peace party.”
“Vote for Shri Rahul Gandhi Ji in Karnataka elections and see the magic. He will bring back the glory of Mysore again,” she batted for the Congress scion.
Screengrab of the tweet by Sehar Shinwari
On May 7, Sehar Shinwari put three conditions before India to be able to bring negotiations with Pakistan. They included the removal of the BJP from power, withdrawal of the Indian Army from Junagadh and Kashmir and re-payment of 7 trillion USD to Pakistan, allegedly promised during the Partition.
Shinwari’s tweets have largely been anti-Narendra Modi and pro-Rahul Gandhi. Ahead of the 2019 General Elections, she had rooted for Rahul Gandhi as Prime Minister of India.
Screengrab of the tweet by Sehar Shinwari
Interestingly, the Pakistani entertainer also supports ‘Khalistan’ Pakistan’s ISI-supported propaganda that seeks a separate ‘country’ Khalistan for Sikhs. She has also tried to create a Hindu vs Sikh divide.
Although she calls herself an actress, there are no media articles, no videos on YouTube which acknowledge her as an actress. Pakistan is known to deploy PsyOps to drive an international narrative against India.
At this point, one cannot say for sure whether ‘Sehar Shirwani’ is a real account of an actual female actress who did a one-off role in an obscure serial back in 2017.is just some honeytrap/propaganda account run by Pakistani intelligence agencies for some ulterior motives?
Shaista Parveen, the wife of slain gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad, has been declared ‘mafia’ by the Uttar Pradesh police. The police, reportedly, mentioned Parveen as a mafia criminal in their FIR.
As per reports, the FIR was filed on May 2 at the Dhumanganj police station in Prayagraj by SHO Rajesh Kumar Maurya, after police raided the house of Shaista Praveen’s close relative Zafarullah’s son Atin Zafar, where Shaista had stayed. Atin Zafar was arrested for providing shelter to Shaista Praveen.
SS of the copy of the FIR which names Shaista Praveen as a ‘mafia’ criminal
The police also revealed that she was in Prayagraj on the day her husband Atiq Ahmed and brother-in-law Ashraf were buried in the Kasari-Masari cemetery.
She had reportedly disguised herself in order for her to secretly attend the burial. Shooter Sabir, who is also wanted in the Umesh Pal shootout case and carries a reward of five lakh rupees on his head, was also there with Shaista. However, due to the police’s strict surveillance, Shaista’s plan to attend her husband’s burial failed.
According to the information that surfaced during the police investigation, Shaista Parveen arrived in Khuldabad a day after Atiq Ahmed’s murder and stayed at the residence of a close relative, Zafarullah. Sabir, who is wanted and carries a reward of five lakh rupees on his head, was also there with Shaista. This was revealed by Zafarullah’s son Atin Zafar during police interrogation.
Shaista Parveen is an absconding accused in the Umesh Pal murder case. She carries a reward of Rs 50000 rupees on her head. She was actively involved in planning the murder and instructing the killers including her son Asad Ahmed who was killed in an encounter on 13th April 2023.
According to reports, Shaista Parveen has written a letter to chief minister Yogi Adityanath and urged him to spare her two younger sons. She said that they are not at fault and that they are being unnecessarily trapped in this. She also asked for an appointment to meet with Yogi Adityanath. The two minor sons are currently held in a juvenile home after they were detained by police following the Umesh Pal murder.
Atiq Ahmed and Ashraf Ahmed were accused in the Umesh Pal murder case. Umesh Pal was a witness in the Raju Pal murder case of 2005. Umesh Pal was killed by Atiq Ahmed’s henchmen on 24th February 2023. Asad Ahmed led this killing.
The ongoing protest against WFI chief Brij Bhushan Singh by top wrestlers saw a new development on May 8th as farmers joined the demonstration at Jantar Mantar, Delhi after breaking through police barricades.
To avoid any potential disturbances, authorities set up multiple barricades. However, on Monday, farmers breached the barricades to join the wrestlers who are calling for action against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the Wrestling Federation of India chief and BJP MP, over accusations of sexual harassment.
In the video shared by ANI, one could see BKU members breaking barricades at the wrestlers’ protest.
“A group of farmers were escorted to Jantar Mantar . At entry barricades they were in a hurry to reach the dharna site in which some of them climbed the barricades which fell down & were removed by them. Police team kept the barricades at the back aside to facilitate their entry”, DCP New Delhi Pranav Tayal said.
“The protestors have reached the dharna site and the meeting is going on peacefully”, the senior police official said.
#WATCH | Farmers break through police barricades as they join protesting wrestlers at Jantar Mantar, Delhi
The wrestlers are demanding action against WFI chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh over allegations of sexual harassment. pic.twitter.com/k4d0FRANws
Only a day before, members of BKU (Ekta Ugrahan) including women, had organised a protest at the Tikri border after they were stopped by the police from entering the national capital. Even at that time, they had broken the barricades set up by the police.
Since April 23rd, Indian wrestlers, among them Olympic medalists Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia, and Vinesh Phogat, have been staging a sit-in at Jantar Mantar to protest against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who has been accused of sexual harassment. Today marks the 15th day of their demonstration.
The development comes days after Samyukta Kisan Morcha declared its support for the wrestlers’ protest, which followed an alleged late-night scuffle at Jantar Mantar. The wrestlers even threatened to return their medals and awards. The SKM is a faction of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, which led the year-long agitation against the recently-repealed farm laws.
Farmer leaders including BKU’s Rakesh Tikait and Samyukta Kisan Morcha’s Baldev Singh Sirsa have pledged their support to the protesting wrestlers.
According to a statement released by the SKM, prominent leaders from Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh will visit the protest site to show their support for the wrestlers who are demonstrating.
Wrestler protests
The wrestlers, including Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik, and Vinesh Phogat, have been protesting against the President of the Wrestling Federation of India Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, claiming he sexually harassed female wrestlers. They are demanding the resignation and arrest of Singh.
On Sunday (May 7) morning, the Executive Editor of the propaganda outlet, The News Minute, courted controversy after he endorsed the idea of sending half of the Indians to ‘re-education camps’ – a system (gulag) reminiscent of the Soviet State between the 1920s and mid-1950s.
Sudipto Mondal was enraged at the sight of lakhs of people, waiting in anticipation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s roadshow in Bengaluru. As such, he suggested that those individuals do not belong to a ‘civilised society’ for the virtue of supporting the BJP.
While reacting to a tweet (archive) by PM Modi thanking Bengalureans for their overwhelming show of support, the Executive Editor of The News Minute wrote, “One day we will have to forgive half our population just like Rwanda and Germany did and start a reeducation program for people who we know do not belong in civilised society.”
Screengrab of the tweet by Sudipto Mandal
Re-education camps and Communist regimes
Despite being well aware of the dark history of ‘re-education camps’, Sudipto Mondal evoked the examples of Rwanda and Germany and hoped that half of India is ‘civilised’ through such programmes.
For him, a large chunk of India’s population is unfit to be a part of civilised society due to their association/ likeness to the BJP and then ought to be indoctrinated otherwise.
It must be mentioned that re-education centres have been used by Communist regimes from time to time to punish and control political dissidents and anyone perceived as a threat.
Soviet Russia had a network of forced labour camps, which were in operation from the 1930s until the 1950s. They were known as the ‘Gulag’. Within this system, there were specific ‘re-education’ camps which were designed to brainwash political prisoners who were believed to have deviated from Communism.
The Gulag system was established under the regime of Joseph Stalin. Prisoners in these camps were subjected to long hours of work in dangerous and difficult conditions, with little food or medical care.
The re-education programmes were often conducted through a combination of physical and psychological coercion, including beatings, torture, and forced confessions.
Prisoners were also exposed to propaganda and ideological indoctrination, which aimed to convince them of the superiority of the Soviet State and the need to abide by those values.
The use of re-education camps in the Gulag system was widely criticised for human rights abuses, and violations of basic principles of justice and fairness. An estimated total of 1.2-1.7 million people died at such centres.
Young men in a gulag, image via David Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies
The Gulag system began to decline in the 1950s under the leadership of Nikita Khrushchev, who initiated a process of “de-Stalinization” and began to release many of the prisoners who were still held in the camps.
While the gulag system came to an end in Soviet Russia, such re-education camps ply in Communist-ruled China even today to subjugate the Uyghur Muslims and ‘integrate’ them with the majority Han community.
Sudiopto Mondal’s disdain for ‘half of the people of the country’ was based on the fact that they voted for or supported the saffron party and thus more than willing to let them civilise themselves in ‘re-education camps’
Controversial views of The News Minute Editor
And this is not the first time that the Executive Editor of The News Minute has used such drastic examples to further his agenda.
In May 2021, he went on to fearmonger about ‘Hindutva ideologues’ stopping at nothing other than death squads and gas chambers. Sudipto Mondal deliberately chose to downplay the ‘Holocaust‘ that claimed the lives of 6 million Jews to make a snide remark at the ruling dispensaton in India.
Screengrab of the tweet by Sudipto Mondal
On multiple occasions, Sudipto Mondal has demonised the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as ‘terrorists.’
Screengrab of the tweet by Sudipto Mondal
The Executive Editor of The News Minute has also mocked the Bajrang Dal for rescuing cattle, which were being transported to illegal slaughterhouses. “Bunch of terrorists,” he wrote.
Screengrab of the tweet by Sudipto Mondal
Through his tweets, the Executive Editor of The News Minute appears to be obsessed with caste and the fact that the propaganda outlet has a non-Brahmin chief and a Dalit deputy.
Screengrab of the tweet by Sudipto Mondal
Screengrab of the tweet by Sudipto Mondal
Screengrab of the tweet by Sudipto Mondal
The News Minute has courted several controversies in recent years. In May last year, it attempted to rationalise Islamist slogans calling for the death of Hindus at a PFI rally.
It also tried to justify the killing of a Hindu man by an Islamist on Holi, attacked Hindu traditions under the pretext of covering sexual harassment allegations and peddle fake news on multiple occasions (here, here and here).
The Supreme Court Monday (May 8), refused to grant any relief to Bihar-based YouTuber Manish Kashyap challenging the invocation of the National Security Act by the State of Tamil Nadu and said that he may approach the High Court. The apex court also dismissed his plea seeking to club the FIRs registered against him in Bihar and Tamil Nadu for allegedly spreading fake videos of attacks on migrant labourers in Tamil Nadu.
CJI: " You cannot spread disquiet in stable states like this !"#SupremeCourt REFUSES plea by Youtuber Manish Kashyap seeking clubbing of First Information Reports (FIRs) for making fake videos of attacks on Bihari migrants & to quash NSA charge #SupremeCourtofIndiapic.twitter.com/aakvYvs5Cy
Kashyap faces six FIRs in Tamil Nadu and three in Bihar in connection with the matter.
The Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice PS Narasimha and Justice J.B. Pardiwala ordered, “We are not inclined to exercise jurisdiction under Article 32” and said in the order that Manish may approach the High Court.
Notably, senior Advocate Maninder Singh, appearing for the Bihar-based YouTuber, argued that he made the films based on media reports published by some mainstream newspapers and that if he is being held under the NSA, then journalists from other newspapers must also be detained under the NSA.
“If this boy has to be in jail, all journalists have to be in jail then”, Singh submitted saying that the same thing was reported in the Hindi vernacular newspaper Dainik Bhaskar. He sought that the bench combines all FIRs filed in Tamil Nadu and transfer them to Bihar, where the first FIR filed in relation to the subject was filed.
When the bench declined to hear the case, Maninder Singh cited a previous Supreme Court ruling that interfered with the detention of Manipur journalist Kishorchandra Wangkhemcha under the NSA.
The bench, however, remained unfazed and the CJI stated orally that the Kashyap videos created panic about a stable state.
CJI questions application of NSA in the Manish Kashyap case calling it ‘vengeance’
Notably, in the previous hearing, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud questioned Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, who appeared for the state government, regarding the invocation of the NSA against the YouTuber. “Mr Sibal, why NSA for this?”, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud has asked. “Why this vengeance against this man?” he asked further.
Manish Kashyap, a YouTuber from Bihar, was held on April 6 under the National Security Act (NSA) in Bihar after he circulated alleged fake videos showing assaults on migrant labourers in Tamil Nadu. Kashyap surrendered as the Bihar Police conducted raids on the possible hideouts of the accused.
It was reported earlier that Kashyap had tweeted a ‘fake video’ of the attacks on migrant workers from Bihar in Tamil Nadu which went viral over social media. The video was however created by the main accused Rakesh Ranjan Kumar, a native of Gopalganj district in rented accommodation in Patna. The videos were debunked as fake by the police department.
The recent killing of a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-affiliated local cleric Maulana Nigar Alam for his ‘inflammatory remarks’ in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Mardan, has become controversial due to its possible consequences for party chief Imran Khan who has seldom tried to pose himself equal not only to the Prophet but Allah also.
Maulana Nigar Alam, 40, while addressing a rally under the guidance of PTI Mardan in the Sawaldhir area to express solidarity with Imran Khan on May 6, said, “Imran Khan is a truthful person and I respect him like the Prophet”. The remarks, considered as blasphemy, enraged people gathered at the rally. They attacked Maulana Nigar. The police, however, reached the venue and locked him in a shop.
Following this, talks were held with the clerics, but the people, mostly PTI activists took the form of an enraged mob, broke the shutter of the shop, and took Alam out. They started kicking him and beating him ruthlessly with sticks and ultimately, lynched him to death.
Various sections of Pakistani Muslims wonder why Islamic radicals like Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and others do not take cognizance of such kind of sacrilegious narrative being developed by Imran Khan and his followers so far.
The damage to the PTI has been done and the Mardan lynching serves as a serious warning. Imran Khan and his party have so far been ignored by the Muslim fanatics in real terms and Islamists appeared to be sparing him.
However, Pakistan intelligence agencies and sensible media persons as well as Imran Khan himself have strong apprehensions of an assassination attempt on him.
The PTI recently staged a drama in which a young boy was equating Imran’s parents with Prophet Muhammad’s parents. Possibilities of an attempt on his life by hardcore Islamists and other elements in disguise of religion cannot be ruled out.
Pakistan journalist Talat Hussain termed the incident as “Bitter harvest of Fitna”, while Rifatullah Orakzai said that he has seen the video in which Maulana has not mentioned the name of Imran Khan.
(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)
A vehicle crashed into a crowd on Sunday in Brownsville, Texas resulting in the deaths of eight people, believed to be migrants, and at least 11 others sustaining injuries, US-based Fox News reported.
A report in The Hill cited police as saying that the collision did not appear to be accidental. The incident took place after a car ploughed into a crowd at a bus stop located close to Brownsville’s Ozanam Center, a shelter for migrants and homeless people in the community.
Brownsville is one of the border cities witnessing a surge in migrants trying to cross into the US from Mexico border.
As per information from the Brownsville Police Department, eight victims died while 11 others were transported to hospitals in the area for treatment.
The driver, who the police confirmed is a Hispanic man, has been arrested and charged, but investigations are ongoing, according to Fox News. As per officials, all eight people who died in the crash were migrants.
No additional information has been released about the driver who has been taken into custody and is at present receiving medical treatment at an area hospital and is under 24-hour supervision. The suspect is also being tested for drugs and alcohol.
Judge Eddie Trevino Jr. of Cameron County said the driver has been charged with reckless driving, the police are awaiting the results of a toxicology report.
According to Judge Trevino, it was unclear whether the driver had lost control or had intentionally run over the group.
Further investigation is ongoing. More charges are likely to be filed, Fox News reported. When the attack occurred, the victims were waiting at a city bus stop next to the centre at roughly 8:30 am on Sunday.
The Hill stated that seven people had died at the scene and an eighth person died on Sunday evening. According to US media, witnesses near the intersection reported seeing several bodies covered in the street, as well as a group of women praying nearby.
The Hill quoted Shelter Brownsville’s Ozanam Center director Victor Maldonado stating that he had reviewed the shelter’s surveillance video on Sunday morning after receiving a call about the crash.
“The city bus stop is across the street from the shelter and is not marked. There was no bench, and people waiting there were sitting along the curb, Maldonado said. He said most of the victims were Venezuelan men, ” the publication citied.
This comes a day after a gunman opened fire on shoppers at a mall in Allen, Texas, on Saturday killing eight people and wounding seven others. Police shot and killed the gunman, identified as Mauricio Garcia, 33, of Dallas Texas.
According to US Census Bureau, Texas has the second-largest Indian-American population in the US as of 2020. In 2010, there were 230,842 Indian Americans in Texas, making up 0.9 per cent of the population.
According to the data shared by the Open Doors, about half of the Indian students are pursuing higher education in six US states including New York, California, Texas, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Arizona. Texas had 19,382 Indian students in 2021.
(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)
On Sunday, May 7, Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) detained the former city president of Samajwadi Party, Abdul Khaliq Ansari, from Meerut for his alleged links with the banned terrorist organisation Popular Front of India (PFI). Ansari lived in Bulandshahar for over 20 years and visited Meerut for treatment of his wife when ATS arrested him. The raids started on May 6 and continued for over a day. A Lucknow-based lawyer was also detained along with two PFI members with Rs 50,000 award on them.
Ansari continuously shifted from one party to another during his political career. Earlier, he was the city president of SP. Recently, he left SP and joined SDPI, the political wing of PFI. However, he left SDPI in a week and then joined the farmer union. His son claimed he has no connection to SDPI as he has already resigned from the party.
UP ATS action against PFI
Notably, UP ATS conducted state-wide raids on at least 30 locations spread over 20 districts on May 7. ATS field units from Noida, Meerut, Saharanpur, Kanpur, Lucknow, Moradabad, Gorakhpur, Bahraich, Azamgarh, and Varanasi conducted the raids.
Uttar Pradesh | Raids are being conducted by UP ATS in Lucknow, Meerut, Moradabad, Varanasi, Azamgarh, Saharanpur, Ghaziabad and other cities across the state, so far about 55 people have been detained. UP ATS is interrogating 55 people related to PFI and its affiliated…
They detained at least 70 people linked to PFI, including a 75-year-old activist and lawyer from Lucknow. The police also arrested two people with an award of Rs 50,000 each. They have been identified as Parvez Ahmad and Raees Ahmad.
Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested two people identified as Parvez Ahmed and Raees Ahmed, who were carrying a reward of Rs 50,000 each. Both the accused were absconding and were involved in spreading the radical ideology of the banned organization PFI in Varanasi:… pic.twitter.com/LCacLrl31s
In a statement, the police said, “The duo (Parvez and Raees) were spreading the PFI’s extremist ideology and had two other cases under sections 121-A (waging, or attempting to wage war, or abetting waging of war, against the Government of India) of the Indian Penal Code … During the time of CAA-NRC (protests), Raees Ahmad was in touch with PFI leaders from Assam and other states and was actively involved in anti-national activities.”
ATS Statement on the arrest of Parvez and Raees. Source: ATS/Twitter/TrueStoryUP
Raees was active during CAA-NRC protests in Assam and other states. Both accused have participated in PFI events in Delhi, UP, and Kerala, among other states. They also encouraged youth to join PFI and helped expand its roots nationwide. They consistently changed their locations and remained underground for long.
The lawyer who was detained for questioning has been identified as Mohammad Shoaib, who is the founder of Rihai Manch, a platform that provides legal assistance to those who are accused of terror links. He was detained on Sunday morning and was released in the late evening after questioning. Following the action taken by the ATS, Shoaib’s wife filed a complaint at Aminabad Police Station. In her complaint, she alleged that around 12 people came and took away her husband. In a video statement, she said, “They said that he (Shoaib) had been called to the Aminabad police station for 10-15 minutes and will be released soon. Three people were in uniform, while seven were in civilian clothes. I can’t say who they were. He has not taken his medicines.”
ATS Statement on the raids. Source: ATS/Twitter/TrueStoryUP
Later, ADG (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar said, “He (Shoaib) has been taken for questioning in connection with action against the PFI. He will be released if he is not involved.” Notably, he has been detained by the police on several occasions earlier as well. He was booked for rioting by the police during anti-CAA-NRC protests on December 19, 2019, at Hazratganj Police Station. He was among the 28 people served notice by the UP government to pay damages worth Rs 63.37 lakhs in the Hazratganj area. He was arrested for rioting and released on bail after a month.
Police have reportedly identified around 211 people who have past associations with PFI in UP. In a statement, the police said the raids started on Saturday to take action against the suspects.
Out of 70 suspects detained by the ATS, 11 were from Shamli, ten from Ghaziabad, nine were from Lucknow, and eight were from Varanasi.
ATS said in a statement that the detained suspects are being questioned. The investigation agencies also looked into their social media activities and electronic gadgets. Further action will be taken based on the questioning and electronic evidence.
Ban on PFI
In September 2022, the Home Ministry under the Government of India banned PFI under UAPA. Since then, the security agencies have conducted multiple raids against PFI and arrested several cadre members concerning cases involving anti-India and terror activities.
Two weeks after Tucker Carlson quit Fox News, it has now come to light that the news channel is paying a whopping $20 million (~₹160 crores) a year to prevent the American political commentator from joining a rival network or starting his own media empire.
As per a report by Axios, Tucker Carlson is bound by this contract until January 2025. It implies that the prominent news show host cannot seek new work until the end of the 2024 US Presidential elections.
While discussing the contract, Carlson’s lawyer Bryan Freedman stated, “The idea that anyone is going to silence Tucker and prevent him from speaking to his audience is beyond preposterous.”
Citing sources, Axios reported that the news show host wants to get out of the contract to be able to start his own media empire. Tucker Carlson has been approached by the likes of media outlets such as ‘Rumble’ and ‘Newsmax.’
He also had a discussion with billionaire Elon Musk about working together but they reportedly did not discuss specifics. The American show host is planning to start a direct-to-consumer media outlet, wherein viewers can pay to watch him on TV.
Meanwhile, a friend of Carlson told Axios, “His team is preparing for war. He wants his freedom.” Tucker Carlson has also expressed interest in moderating a Republican Presidential primary debate, which is not authorised by the Republican National Committee.
?BREAKING: Tucker Carlson to Unleash Hell On Fox News, Plans To Launch His Own Media Empirehttps://t.co/z11x8DNnOH
He has reportedly discussed the matter with ex-US President Donald Trump. According to Andy Lee, who works as an entertainment lawyer with Foley & Lardner, the earning potential and relevance of show hosts decrease when they are away from the public eye for an extended period of time.
“It’s not always just a question of money, because being off the air for an extended period can have an adverse effect on a career,” he told The New York Times.
It must be mentioned that the news host had been a political analyst on Fox News since 2009 and had appeared on various programs before launching his own show in 2016.
On Sunday, 7th May 2023, amidst the ongoing political tension between Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Congress leader Sachin Pilot, Gehlot claimed that three BJP leaders, including former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, had helped him save his government during the revolt by Congress MLAs led by Sachin Pilot in 2020. Speaking at an event in Dholpur, Gehlot mocked the rebel Congress MLAs and suggested that they should return the money they had allegedly taken from the BJP if they wish to carry out their duties without any pressure.
He credited the survival of his government to Vasundhara Raje, former assembly speaker Kailash Meghwal, and MLA Shobharani Kushwah.
He said, “Amit Shah, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Dharmendra Pradhan conspired together to topple my government. They distributed money in Rajasthan and they are not taking the money back now. I am surprised that they are not demanding the money back from them.”
Ashok Gehlot further said, “I have even told the MLAs that whatever money they have taken, Rs. 10 crores or Rs. 20 crores, if you have spent anything, I will give that part or I will get it from AICC (All India Congress Committee).”
Gehlot also accused Union Home Minister Amit Shah of using intimidation tactics if the money was not returned, citing an example of how he allegedly divided Shiv Sena in Maharashtra. Gehlot emphasized that it was his duty to lead the party for a third time, ensure that everyone is united, and focus on the upcoming assembly elections later this year.
Ashok Gehlot claimed that Vasundhara Raje helped him save his government as a reciprocal measure because earlier he didn’t support the toppling of the BJP government led by Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. Gehlot added that he didn’t support that move of his party because it was unfair. It is notable that in 1996, the Congress party tried to topple the BJP govt led by Shekhawat by offering money to a few MLAs when the CM had gone to the USA for treatment, but it was not successful.
Former Congress leader Bhanwar Lal Sharma had led the attempt by managing to get the support of a small number of BJP MLAs and Independents who were supporting the BJP govt and had kept the MLAs captive so that they can’t revert their position. But a BJP MLA he contacted, Rangji Meena, turned out to be loyal to Shekhawat, who escaped the captivity and made an ISD call from an STD booth to the CM to inform him about the ongoing attempt to overthrow his govt. As a result, the party took swift action, the CM returned to India against the advice of doctors, and the BJP govt was saved.
In July 2020, Sachin Pilot, then Deputy Chief Minister and 18 other Congress MLAs revolted against Gehlot. The crisis was resolved after the intervention of the party’s high command. Sachin Pilot was removed from the post of Deputy Chief Minister and State Congress President.
