On Monday (June 20), a Janata Dal (Secular) MLA named M Srinivas assaulted a college principal in full public view in Mandya city of Karnataka. The incident took place during the legislator’s visit to the Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar ITI College.
Srinivas was reportedly infuriated at the principal for not providing a satisfactory answer to his query about the ongoing development work for the computer lab. The victim has been identified as Nagananda.
In a video that has now gone viral on social media, he was seen slapping the Principal several times. The JDS MLA first reprimanded the college principal in front of his co-workers and then proceeded to assault him.
JanataDal MLA M Srinivas slaps the Principal of Nalwadi krishnaraja college in Karnataka in infront of everyone
The incident left Nagananda in a state of shock. Onlookers were seen trying to pacify a disgruntled Srinivas. Although the college Principal did not file a complaint, the President of the Government Employees Association (Mandya) Shambhu Gowda has informed that the matter will be raised before the District Commissioner.
He took all details about the incident and also extended his full support to Nagananda. Netizens have also slammed the JDS MLA for assaulting and humiliating a college Principal.
Congress leaders assault cops, throw tantrums
The former ally of JD(S), the Congress party, has been in the news for assaulting police officials on duty. On June 16 this year, Congress’ Renuka Chowdhury grabbed the collar of a police Sub-Inspector in Telangana.
On June 21, Netta D’Souza was seen spitting at police officials during a protest against the newly launched Agnipath scheme. D’Souza is the Acting President of the All India Mahila Congress.
While the Congress leader had been claiming to fight for the rights of ‘men in uniform’, she was seen treating police personnel with utmost disrespect.
Amid the political crisis Shiv Sena is facing in Maharashtra, the party’s chief whip Sunil Prabhu issued a notice to all the Shiv Sena MLAs to be present in an important meeting that will be held at 5 pm today (22nd June 2022). The notice said that if any MLA fails to attend the meeting, the party will consider that the MLA has quit the party voluntarily. The meeting will take place at chief minister Uddhav Thackeray’s residence.
Shiv Sena’s Chief Whip, #SunilPrabhu issues a letter to all party MLAs, asking them to be present in an important meeting that will be held today evening. Letter states that if someone remains absent, it’ll be considered that the said MLA has decided to quit the party voluntarily
The notice adds that if someone remains absent from the meeting without proper reason and prior information, they should keep in mind that action will be initiated to cancel their membership as per provisions of the constitution of the party. It is notable that around 40 Shiv Sena MLAs are currently in Guwahati, and it is unlikely that they will attend the 5 PM meeting. The rebel Shiv Sena MLAs along with some independent MLAs reached Guwahati from Surat early morning today, and are staying at 5-star hotel Radisson Blu.
However, rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde has rejected tjhis notice issued by the party whip. Calling the notice legally invalid, Shinde appointed his own chief whip for his faction of Shiv Sena.
In response to this notice, Eknath Shinde, who currently has more than two-thirds of the MLAs of Shiv Sena with him, has tweeted that MLA Bharat Gogavale is appointed as the new whip of the Shiv Sena MLAs. He tweeted, “MLA Bharat Gogavale is appointed as the chief whip of the Shiv Sena legislative party. therefore the orders issued about the MLA meeting today by Sunil Prabhu are illegal.”
शिवसेना विधिमंडळ मुख्य प्रतोद पदी शिवसेना आमदार श्री.भरत गोगावले यांची नियुक्ती करण्यात आली आहे. सबब, श्री.सुनील प्रभू यांनी आजच्या आमदारांच्या बैठकीबद्दल काढलेले आदेश कायदेशीरदृष्ट्या अवैध आहेत.
— Eknath Shinde – एकनाथ शिंदे (@mieknathshinde) June 22, 2022
Eknath Shinde has the support of more than two-thirds of the Shiv Sena MLAs. He said in Guwahati that he now has a strength of 46 MLAs in all and that he is not involved in any discussions with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
He said, “Right now we have 46 MLAs with us, including 6-7 Independent MLAs. The rest of them are Shiv Sena MLAs. This number will rise in the time to come. As of now we have neither received any proposal from BJP nor are we holding any talks with them.” Meanwhile, Eknath Shinde reiterated that he is a Shiv Sainik and his companions will continue to be Shiv Sainiks.
Right now we have 46 MLAs with us, including 6-7 Independent MLAs. Rest of them are Shiv Sena MLAs. This number will rise in the time to come. As of now we have neither received any proposal from BJP nor are we holding any talks with them: Rebel Shiv Sena MLA Eknath Shinde
He added, “As far as the current political situation is concerned, I’d say that we are Balasaheb Thackeray’s Shiv Sainiks and will continue to be Shiv Sainiks. As of now, we are not holding any talks with Shiv Sena or CM. We have not decided on the future course of action.”
As far as current political situation is concerned, I’d say that we are Balasaheb Thackeray’s Shiv Sainiks and will continue to be Shiv Sainiks. As of now, we are not holding any talks with Shiv Sena or CM. We have not decided on the future course of action: Eknath Shinde
Eknath Shinde further said, “All of us MLAs are together now. We are activists who believe in Babasaheb’s thoughts. We all have the same feeling. We have a strength of more MLAs than required. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has to decide if he is going to resign or not. We have scheduled a meeting in the evening to decide the next direction. After that meeting, we will inform our decision.”
Meanwhile, hours after Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari got infected with coronavirus, news has appeared that chief minister Uddhav Thackeray has also caught the coronavirus infection and he will address the evening meeting through video conferencing. Shiv Sena rebel minister Eknath Shinde is currently in a hotel in Guwahati with 45 other MLAs. 5 to 6 MLAs out of these are independents won from the Shiv Sena quota while others are Shiv Sena MLAs.
Shiv Sena had won 56 MLAs in the 2019 Maharashtra assembly elections. With the recent demise of one of its MLAs, the party is left with 55 MLAs. As Eknath Shinde has taken 45 MLAs with him, the party is now left with hardly 10-12 MLAs. BJP leader Nilesh Rane took a jibe at this and tweeted, “The conditions are such that only 11 or 12 MLAs have stayed back there with Shiv Sena. Uddhav Thackeray does not know how to run the party. He should take these 11-12 and make an IPL team called Matoshri 11.”
शिवसेनेचे 11/12 आमदार शिवसेने सोबत राहतील अशी परिस्थीती आहे, पक्ष चालवणं उद्धव ठाकरेंचं काम नाही. हे 11/12 घेऊन IPL team साठी तयारी करा… मातोश्री 11 बनवा.
Eknath Shinde had left Maharashtra soon after the recent elections of the Maharashtra Legislative Council were over. After voting on 20th June 2022, Eknath Shinde with MLAs supporting him went to Surat. From Surat, he reached Guwahati where all the rebel MLAs are staying in a hotel.
On June 15 this year, the Election Commission announced the date for the election of the 15th President of India. As per rules, the election must be held before the expiry of the term of the incumbent President.
Given that President Ram Nath Kovind will vacate his office on July 24, the Election Commission has fixed the date of the election as July 18, 2022. The Opposition has declared Yashwant Sinha as their Presidential candidate while the BJP-led NDA has fielded tribal leader Draupadi Murmu, the former governor of Jharkhand.
The votes for the Presidential election will be conducted on July 21 this year. It must be mentioned that the President of India is indirectly elected by the people through the elected representatives.
The presidential election schedule declared by the EC
Article 54 of the Indian Constitution states, “The President shall be elected by the members of an electoral college consisting of the elected members of both Houses of Parliament; and the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the States.”
As such, the polling takes place in the Parliament House, State Legislative Assemblies and the Union territories of Puducherry and Delhi. A total of 4896 elected representatives, including 4120 MLAs and 776 MPs (543 from Lok Sabha and 233 from Rajya Sabha) will take part in the election.
The polling is held through a system of proportional representation and a single transferable vote system (explained in detail later).
The nomination process
A candidate, willing to contest for the post of President, must meet the eligibility criteria. He must be a citizen of India, should be above 35 years of age and should not hold any Office of Profit under the Government of India or that of any State.
Such an eligible candidate will require the backing of 50 proposers and 50 seconders. It implies that he must file his nomination along with the signatures of any 50 members of the 4896 elected representatives (proposers).
The candidate will also need the support of 50 additional members of the electoral college (seconders). The concept of proposers and seconders was introduced in 1974 by the Election Commission to prevent candidates with low chances of winning from filing nominations.
Interestingly, an elected representative can serve as the proposer or seconder for only 1 candidate.
The voting mechanism
Unlike direct elections, a vote of an MP or MLA is not counted as one. The value is determined based on the population of a State in accordance with the Census data of 1971.
Value of a vote of an MLA = Total population of a particular State (1971 census)/ Total members in the State Assembly X 1000
For instance, Uttar Pradesh had a population of 83,849,905 in 1971 and has 403 MLAs in the Vidhan Sabha. Hence, the formula can be re-written as (83849905/403 X 1000). Thus, the vote of each MLA from Uttar Pradesh comes to around 208.
As evident from the formula, the value of the vote of an MLA is higher in a more populous state as compared to a state with a scanty population. This explains why the vote value of MLAs in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh stands at 7 and 8 respectively. This is also known as proportional representation.
Now, the total value of votes for the state of Uttar Pradesh = Value of each vote of an MLA X Total number of MLAs i.e. 208 X 403 = 83824.
When the same process is repeated for 29 States and 2 Union territories, we get the sum total of the vote value of all MLAs as 5,49,495.
Value of the vote of each MP = (Sum of the Total value of MLA votes/ Total MPs) =5,49,495/776 = 708
Thus, the total vote value of all 776 MPs = 708 X 776 = 5,49,408
As such, the total vote value of the Electoral college = the Sum of the Total vote of all MLAs and MPs = 5,49,495+ 5,49,408 =10,98,903
It must be mentioned that the above calculations include the total vote value of MLAs of Jammu and Kashmir. Reportedly, the newly formed Union Territory has not been included in the Electoral College for the 2022 Presidential elections.
The counting of votes
A Presidential candidate is elected based on a single transferable voting system, which is exercised through a secret ballot. Under this system, the members of the Electoral College rank candidates in the order of their preference.
If there are 7 candidates in the fray, then the electors will rank them in their order of preference. In any case, they must provide their first preference else the vote will be declared invalid.
If an elector does not provide preferences other than the first, his vote will still be considered valid. To determine the winner, the total number of valid votes is divided by 2 and 1 is added to the total.
Assuming that there are 5 lakh valid votes, a Presidential candidate will require at least [(5,00,000/2) +1] =2,50,001 votes. A candidate with the minimum number of votes is eliminated first. However, the votes cast in his favour are not discarded and instead transferred to the other candidates (based on the second preference of the electors).
If a candidate manages to reach the vote quota, he is declared the winner. However, if the vote quota is not achieved, then, the candidate with the least number of votes is again eliminated and his votes are transferred to other candidates (based on the third preference of the electors).
2017 Presidential election results via Business Today
During the 2017 Presidential elections, the number of valid votes cast was 10,69,358. As such the vote quota was [(1069358/2)+1] =5,34,680. Given that Ram Nath Kovind received 7,02,044 votes, he was declared the winner.
BJP’s current Presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu can secure up to 5,39,827 votes in the upcoming polls, assuming that all MLAs and MPs in the NDA alliance vote for her. The vote value of all NDA MPs stands at 3,23,556 while that of its MLAs is around 2,16,271.
These figures exclude any increment in total votes by way of cross-voting from the Opposition quarters. The NDA alliance is reportedly 9,625 votes short of the halfway mark. However, it is unlikely to be an issue due to proportional representation and a single transferable voting system. Also, with Naveen Patnaik’s open support to Draupadi Murmu, the BJD MLAs and MPs are also likely to vote for her. Additionally, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren and former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray have declared support for Ms Murmu too.
While the political crisis in Maharashtra has shifted to Assam with rebel Shiv Sena MLAs camping at a hotel in Guwahati, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma has refused to comment on the development. While talking about the ongoing devastating flood situation in the state, he avoided media questions on the political development saying that hotel guests in the state are welcome at this moment as the govt earns revenue through tax paid by them.
Himanta Biswa Sarma was talking to reporters before departing for Kampur in Nagaon district on a train to review the flood situation, after attending a high-level meeting on the issue. When journalists asked him about the Shiv Sena MLAs arriving in Guwahati from Surat, he said, “We have now good hotels in Guwahati, there is Radisson, there is Taj, therefore everyone should come to Guwahati so that business in the city increases. One person staying in a hotel means we will get GST, we will earn.”
Touching the issue of political crisis in Maharashtra, he said, “If Guwahati becomes the political epicentre of all the states, centre or even foreign countries, I will welcome it. Only hotels here should remain booked”.
When the journalists questioned the arrival of the Maharashtra MLAs in Assam when the state is suffering from one of the worst floods in several decades, Himanta Biswa Sarma responded to it with saying this is the time the state needs more tax-paying tourists. He said, “This is the time the state govt needs money. If the hotels rooms are full at this time, we will get tax.”
He added that generally Assam sees fewer tourists during the flood season, and therefore hotel guests in the state at this time are welcome. He said, “At present the entire state is flooded, we are facing financial trouble, therefore if tourists from entire India come to Assam, we will earn income”.
“If Lakshmi arrives, will you chase away Lakshmi?” the CM asked.
When the journalists insisted on his comments on discussions with the MLAs, he continued to evade the issue, saying the state that does not welcome Goddess Lakshmi can’t achieve progress.
“Generally, people do not come to Assam during flood, but by coming and staying here, these 40 MLAs have shown that people can come here during floods also, stay here in Assam and conduct business. This is a positive sign for the state, what is there to no like it?” Sarma further added.
Assam CM informed that he is not scheduled to meet the Shiv Sena rebel MLAs, and he has nothing to discuss with them. He added that he is leaving for Kampur after meeting the press, and he is busy with flood related work. However, he may pay a courtesy visit to the MLAs for 5 minutes on his way as 2-3 MLAs are his friends, he added.
Himanta Biswa Sarma said that he has no comments to offer on the Maharshtra issue and he has not studied the situation also. He reiterated that he is busy with flood control work, and is not involved in the political issue at present.
With the NDA electing Droupadi Murmu as its Presidential Candidate, one is reminded of Pratibha Patil, the first woman to become the President of the Republic of India. While Murmu is already being hailed as a humble, grassroots face and is likely to become the first tribal woman President, Patil’s tenure is remembered to this date for all the wrong reasons.
From her jet-set foreign trips with family entourages to personal possession of diplomatically exchanged gifts, Pratibha Patil always reflected an aristocratic demeanour during her presidency.
Exquisite Foreign Trips
The former Congress leader, who was most presumably elevated for being a Sonia Gandhi loyalist, Pratibha Patil served as India’s President from 2007 to 2012. Her tenure has been one of the most insignificant ones and was more known for spending way too much of taxpayers’ money on her foreign travels.
Her foreign trips with her family members cost the exchequer as much as Rs 205 crore. Patil would frequently take her entire family including her grandchildren on foreign holidays on public money. Apart from this, she was regularly accompanied by her husband, her son’s family and her daughter’s family on state visits.
An RTI filed by activist S C Agrawal stated that Pratibha Patil went with at least 10 of her kins to travel across places in India. Patil’s relatives were to be treated as Presidential guests upon her order. In her foreign travels, she used to take her grandchildren to countries like Poland, the UK, Russia, Spain and other countries. Patil’s exquisite travels caused much furore during her tenure, a criticism she royally ignored.
Personal possession of foreign gifts
Another RTI was filed by the same activist when it was found that Pratibha Patil had taken gifts exchanged during diplomatic visits to her personal possession. While gifts received by the President are to be deposited with the official treasury of gifts in the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Patil had packaged over 150 gifts received by her from her foreign counterparts to her hometown in Amravati, Maharashtra.
The gifts included a stone box presented to her by the US President, a candle set from the British PM, a wooden framed photo from the President of Vietnam, a memento from the FIFA president, a gold medallion and a silver medallion of Nelson Mandela besides a gift box from China. These were displayed at a school exhibition organised by Vidya Bharati Shaikshanik Mandal headed by Patil herself.
When Pranab Mukherjee took over as the President after Patil’s tenure ended, the office of his secretary asked Patil to return all the gifts as soon as possible. Pratibha Patil, even after her tenure ended, continued to be engulfed in controversy over her exorbitant expenditure on a personal lifestyle managed by public money.
A post-retirement house in Pune
In the 340-room Rashtrapati Bhavan, India’s ex-President APJ Abdul Kalam managed himself in a mere two – a bedroom and his office. However, Pratibha Patil showcased a behaviour quite opposite to her predecessor. During her tenure, The Rashtrapati Bhavan housed not only Patil’s family but a host of her other relatives as well. As guests, their lifestyle was taken care of by the public exchequer as well.
After her retirement, Patil built herself a mansion in the cantonment area of Khadki in Pune. For her post-retirement house, she demanded a plot of over five acres to build her lavish 4,500 sq. ft. house. Controversy erupted when it was found that Patil was adamant to build a house for herself, which was on a defence land.
Pune-based organisation ‘Justice for Jawan’ alleged that Patil’s house was to be built on the land by destroying two British-era bungalows meant for armed forces servicemen. It is to be noted that Patil’s house was also being built on government money, when she claimed accommodation under the President’s Emoluments and Pensions Act, 1951.
Anup Awasthi, a former navy officer informed, “A number of times, the war widows had tried to meet Patil to return the gallantry medals that had been awarded to their husbands as a protest against the government’s apathy towards war widows. But she did not even bother to meet them.”
The first female President of India, Pratibha Patil’s tenure was always heralded in one controversy or another. Her reflection as a ceremonial head of the state, which she took quite personally, was anything but humble.
Congress has called Legislators from Gujarat to go to Delhi on Wednesday 22nd June 2022 to take part in the ‘Satyagraha’ at party headquarters amid protests over Rahul Gandhi’s questioning by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central government’s Agnipath scheme.
The call is given by the party’s central leadership at a time the time when the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra is in the middle of a grim crisis as Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde has revolted against his party leader and chief minister Uddhav Thackrey, and has moved to Guwahati with more than 40 other MLAs. Congress is one of the three partners in the MVA alliance.
Gujarat Congress MLAs in Delhi after call from All India Congress Committee (AICC) to join ‘Satyagraha’ at party headquarters in Delhi against ED questioning of party MP Rahul Gandhi in National Herald case and Agnipath Scheme.
On Tuesday, Congress MLA and deputy leader of the opposition in the state Assembly, Shailesh Parmar said, “The All India Congress Committee has asked us to reach Delhi by Wednesday morning. We will be given the information regarding the program tomorrow morning. Most of the party’s 64 MLAs will reach Delhi and join the program as directed by the party’s central leadership.”
The grand old party is holding demonstrations in support of Rahul Gandhi, who is being interrogated by the Enforcement Directorate in relation to the National Herald money-laundering case. Another Congress MLA CJ Chavda said, “Small staffers of ED are questioning our leader which does not look good and the party leaders will join the protest.”
Rahul Gandhi is being questioned by ED since 13th June 2022 in the National Herald case. The Congress party is protesting since then in front of various offices of the central government in different states. Many such demonstrations by Congress members took a violent turn where public transport vehicles were vandalized and tyres were burnt. Congress leader and former minister Renuka Chowdhury grabbed a police sub-inspector by his collar during one such protest in Hyderabad of Telangana. Sonia Gandhi was also summoned by Enforcement Directorate for questioning in the same case. But she skipped the interrogation after being down with the Covid infection.
Political crisis in Maharashtra deepens as Eknath Shinde and other MLAs rebel against Shiv Sena
Meanwhile, there is a significant political turnaround in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in which Congress is one of the three partners. The other two are Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party. In the recently held elections of the Maharashtra state Legislative Council, Congress could not secure the victory for the two candidates it fielded. While Bhai Jagtap could win the seat, Chandrakant Handore had to lose. Bharatiya Janata Party’s extra candidate Prasad Lad won the fifth seat for his party due to the heavy cross-voting by MLAs from Shiv Sena and Congress.
Soon after this election, Eknath Shinde left the state, first for Surat and then to Guwahati along with more than 40 other MLAs, causing a major shift in the political equations of the state. While Congress has no definite future for its partnership government in Maharashtra, it has called in its MLAs in Gujarat to Delhi for protesting against ED.
On June 21, a transgender (eunuch) accused another transgender of forced conversion. A complaint has been filed at Georgetown Police Station in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. The victim, identified as Pankaj Kumar, reached the Police Station with a group of eunuchs and sloganeered, demanding justice. The Police are investigating the matter.
A poor woman, who resides in the Allahpur Police Station area, alleged that one of her children is a eunuch. She stated that a eunuch from the Shahganj area in Prayagraj enlisted her transgender child as one of her disciples. The woman alleged that a Maulana from Patthar Gali forcefully converted her child into Islam at the behest of other eunuchs. She further alleged that her child was fed objectionable things. He was allegedly physically and mentally tortured, she added. When her child tried to escape, they filed a complaint against him, accusing him of theft. As per the complaint, the victim was beaten up.
Kinnar Welfare Board chief Vaishnavi Nand Giri said in a statement that a complaint had been filed in the matter. She said it was a serious matter and demanded strict action against the accused. She further added that it was wrong to forcefully convert anyone and change their religion against their will.
In the past, too, multiple cases have emerged where Muslim eunuchs were accused of forcefully converting their Hindu counterparts. In March 2022, IBN24 reported that Muslim eunuchs were allegedly forcing Hindu eunuchs to convert to Islam if they wanted to stay within the community.
Prevalence of forcible conversions into Islam
Cases of forced conversions into Islam have been prevalent across the country, wherein the victims are intimidated, threatened with life or blackmailed into renouncing their faith and embracing Islam. In Uttar Pradesh, too, the cases of forced conversions into Islam have risen sharply, with the UP ATS having busted a big religious conversion racket last year.
In 2021, the Uttar Pradesh ATS arrested two men identified as Umar Gautam and Mufti Qazi Jehangir involved in illegal religious conversions. According to police, women, and physically challenged children were their targets. The duo was arrested in the Jamia Nagar area in Delhi.
Prashant Kumar, Uttar Pradesh ADG (Law and Order), had said that the arrested men were running a conversion racket that was being funded by Pakistan’s spy agency ISI.
Umar Gautam who is a convert himself revealed that they converted around 250-300 people every year. During the interrogation, Umar also informed that they targeted people from the economically weaker section of the society including women, children and the disabled. They were also getting the women married so that they do not return to their original faith.
Amid the ongoing political crisis in the state of Maharashtra where Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde along with more than 40 MLAs has turned rebellious against the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, an old clip of Shiv Sena Supremo Balasaheb Thackeray from the year 2010 has gone viral over the social media. Balasaheb Thackeray in the video can be heard criticizing the Congress party and calling it the party of eunuchs. It is notable that Eknath Shinde has said that Shiv Sena has diverted from the path of Balasaheb’s ideology.
Addressing the annual Dusshera rally at Shivaji Park back in the year 2010, Thackeray had launched a severe attack on the Congress party and had said that there were many eunuchs in the Congress and all were just busy bowing in honor of the Italian lady (Sonia Gandhi).
“Congress madhe itke hijade hijade ahet, chavauycha tari konala? Sagle jhuktaet tya Sonia Gandhi chya samor. Hi hijadyanchi aulad jo paryant ya deshavarti rajya kartie, Congress paksha mhanun, to paryant ya deshala changle divas yeu shaknaar nahi. (Congress party has so many members who are eunuchs. All are busy bowing in front of Sonia Gandhi. The country will never see good days until this army of eunuchs which calls itself as Congress party is ruling over India)”, he had said.
Thackeray had also slammed Congress for tampering with the votes. He had alleged that the party had won the then elections by manipulating the voting machines. He stated that after Mughal and British rule, now the country was headed by an Italian. Referring to Sonia Gandhi, he said she was a hostess in a hotel and had asked the crowd rhetorically whose leadership had they accepted.
In the 45 minutes long speech, Thackeray further stated that Jawaharlal Nehru had wrecked the country by giving preference to Islamists. He said that Kashmir was still burning and there was discussion still ongoing on whether it was part of this country. Slamming the party for not punishing terrorist Afzal Guru, Thackeray then had predicted doom if Congress continued to rule the country. “Saat Varsh zale Afzal la fasshi nahi. Ka? Dor milat nahi? Kaay! Hijadyancha rajya ahe Hijadyancha (It’s been seven years and Afzal has not been hanged. Why? They can’t find a rope? No doubt eunuchs are ruling the country)”, he had reiterated. (7:00 onward)
It is important to note that Shiv Sena Supremo Balasaheb Thackeray had addressed the crowd in Mumbai in presence of his son Uddhav Thackeray and grandson Aaditya Thackeray who hold the positions of state Chief Minister and Environment Minister respectively at present. The duo as stated by Shiv Sena rebel leader Eknath Shinde have stepped far away from the ideologies of Balasaheb Thackeray by creating an alliance with the Congress party and NCP in the year 2019.
Eknath Shinde who is in Assam’s Guwahati at present, clearly stated on Wednesday that Shiv Sena was stepping far away from its policies of Hindutva and that was disrespecting the ideologies of party founder Balasaheb Thackeray. He also added that the Shiv Sena formed by Balasaheb Thackeray was different from the one that is led by CM Uddhav Thackeray. In a recent update to the ongoing Maharashtra political crisis, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut has tweeted that the political developments in the state are hinting towards the dismissal of Vidhan Sabha. Meanwhile, the BJP had directed all its MLAs to stay put and not travel to foreign countries as their presence will be required in Mumbai.
A controversial poster directed at Sanjay Raut has been put in front of his house allegedly by Deepmala Badhe, a Shiv Sena corporator. The poster contains the Shiv Sena spokesperson’s photo with a Hindi Shayari amid the ongoing political turmoil in Maharashtra.
Maharashtra | A banner, reading ‘Your arrogance would last 4 days, our kingship is inherited’, seen outside the residence of Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut in Mumbai.
The poster likely put up by Shiv Sena corporator Deepmala Badhe which bears her name says, “Teri Ghamand to char din ki hai pagle, Hamari Badshahi to Khandani hai,” (Your arrogance would last four days, oh fool, our kingship is inherited).
Meanwhile, rebel leader Eknath Shinde, who has staged a coup by halting with more than 35 Shiv Sena MLAs, is currently staying at a hotel in Guwahati, Assam. Shinde has earlier suggested that him being a true follower of Balasaheb Thackeray, would never give up the cause of Hindutva, and he would stay with the Shiv Sena only if the party allies with the BJP.
Earlier yesterday, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray had dispatched two of his trusted aides—Milind Narvekar and Ravindra Phatak—to Surat to have a detailed discussion with Eknath Shinde and other MLAs to solve the internecine conflict that had the potential to unravel the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in the neighbouring state.
In his meeting with Narvekar and Phatak, Shinde and other MLAs reportedly insisted that Hindutva was paramount to them and that they would not compromise on it. As per reports, Narvekar also facilitated a call between Eknath Shinde and Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, which went on for 15 minutes and during which the latter assured the rebel Shiv Sena leader that his issues would be resolved.
With Sena MLAs openly revolting against the party, it seems that all is really not well within the Shiv Sena, and the precarious alliance of Maha Vikas Aghadi might finally be on the verge of an imminent collapse.
On June 22, the Twitter handle of fake news peddler and Islamic terror apologist CJ Werleman was withheld in India. If someone from India tries to open his account, a message that reads “@cjwerleman’s account has been withheld in India in response to a legal demand” appears on the screen. As per this message, his account has been banned in India following a request from either a court or a competent authority in the government.
CJ Werleman account withheld in India. Source: Twitter
Irked by the decision made by Twitter, Werleman has started ranting on Twitter. In a tweet, he blamed Twitter for operating on the behest of the BJP-led Government of India for his account getting blocked for the Indian audience. He said, “More proof @Twitter is operating as a protection racket for the Indian government: my account has now been withheld in India because of demands made by the far-right, Hindu fascist regime of Narendra Modi. How is this ok, @Verified, @jack, @elonmusk?? in response to a legal demand.”
CJ Werleman ranted on Twitter after his account was withheld in India. Source: Twitter
Werleman tagged Elon Musk and Jack, questioning the decision, and called Narendra Modi-led Indian government fascist. However, it is noteworthy that because of his anti-India actions, his account has been rightly withheld in India.
CJ Werleman has a long history of publishing fake news targeting India. The most recent example was from June 16, when he shared a misleading video to label Police as ‘Hindutva radicals’. He claimed that an ‘elderly Muslim’ man was ‘brutally’ assaulted by ‘Hindutva radicalized, cops.’ However, this video is taken out of context to spread as it is a two-year-old video of the UP Police enforcing the strict lockdown during the first wave of Covid-19 in 2020. The Uttar Pradesh Police clarified the video through the Twitter handle of Bareilly Police. The Bareilly Police replied to the tweet by CJ Werleman, asserting that this is an out-of-context video and shows police action towards a group of people who had violated Covid lockdown, but the reply was deliberately hidden by him.
CJ Werleman regularly blames ‘Hindutva mob’ for crimes done by Islamists, or when the crime has no religious angle. When a Dalit Hindu young man was killed by the family of his Muslim wife, Werleman had falsely claimed that the man was killed by Hindutva mob for marrying a Muslim.
He regularly shares old videos and incidents of petty crimes and even sometimes peddle blatant lies to claim to the outside world that the Indian government is selectively targeting only Muslims. He spreads hatred and lies against the Hindus of India.
He continues to spread such bogus news on a daily basis, yet Twitter, shockingly, does not flag his tweets as fraudulent. He claimed on his Twitter profile last year that a group of Hindu men desecrated and demolished a Muslim graveyard in Nathan, India. Which again turned out to be fake.
CJ Werlemen appears to have a particular grudge against Uttar Pradesh, probably because a saffron-clad monk is the Chief Minister of the state. In several tweets, he had mentioned Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath as a ‘Hindutva terrorist’.
