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Dear Priyanka Chaturvedi, you asked for one instance when Alt News’ Md Zubair peddled fake news. Here are 20 such incidents for you

OpIndia Staff
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Dear Priyanka Chaturvedi, you asked for one instance when Alt News’ Md Zubair peddled fake news. Here are 20 such incidents for you

On June 21, Shiv Sena leader Priyanka Chaturvedi got into an argument with a netizen after he called Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair a fake-news peddler. Chaturvedi had replied to a News18 post where the media house had announced that one of their anchors, Shreya Dhounadial left the channel. Chaturvedi wished her the best for the future and said she was one of the sane voices on the channel.

A Twitter user, karanjohar4, questioned her what if she joined Republic TV, to which Shreya said, “over my dead body, sir.” Another Twitter user, AravAmbastha, questioned, “What if she joins @zoo_bear to peddle fake news or @AlJazeera.” Arav’s reply did not get an answer from Shreya, but Chaturvedi seemed to have gotten irked by his tweet. She said, “Please help me find one fake news from @zoo_bear, if not, then request you to shut up and sit down.”

Priyanka Chaturvedi stood in support of Alt News’ Zubair. Source: Twitter

Her ‘challenge’ on a public platform opened Pandora’s box, and multiple Twitter users came up with posts and threats showing how Zubair had been allegedly caught lying to his tooth multiple times. Zubair, who is liberals’ favourite, often gets scolded by netizens for spreading misinformation and fake news in the name of fact-checks. Recently, Twitter user The Hawk Eye exposed how Mohammed Zubair, who dog whistled Islamists against Nupur Sharma over remarks on Prophet Muhammad, had himself made derogatory posts against Hindu Gods and Hinduism. Soon after he was exposed for his Hinduphobic posts, he deleted his Facebook page. Days later, Zubair also removed his disparaging tweets against Hindu Gods and Hinduism.

However, being the blue-eyed boy of the liberals, the Left intelligentsia continues to pull in his support, even if that entails whitewashing fake news and propaganda peddled by him. Chaturvedi, too, tried the same, but she might not have expected what would hit her next. We, at OpIndia, would like to point out 20 such cases where Zubair was caught spreading fake news. All these incidents are in public, but the liberals conveniently choose to gloss over them.

20 instances when Alt News’ Mohammed Zubair peddled fake news

  1. There was an incident where Zubair shared an edited video alleging that an elder named Abdul Samad was forcibly asked to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram. The incident was from Loni, and the accused in the case were Arif, Adil and Mushahid. During the investigation, the police found that nothing as such had happened, and it was not a communal incident.
  2. In February 2021, he published a tweet claiming a Pujari collected 20 lakhs in the name of donations for Gau Sewa and ran away with the money. The image that he posted with the tweet was an old report. The idea behind posting that image was to mislead people by proving its association with the ongoing nationwide fundraiser campaign for the construction of Bhavya Shri Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.
  3. In November 2020, he shared a clip of the Lallantop website where a person was seen counting the flaws of the Modi government. The man had called himself a fan of PM Modi. However, upon investigating, it was found that the man was a candidate for the Communist Party of India.
  4. In October 2020, Zubair published a tweet suggesting that a group of people were planning to attack one of Tanishq’s showrooms while chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram. At that time, there was an ongoing controversy because of the Tanishq ad. Upon investigation, it was found that there were no threats of attacking the showroom, and the protest was peaceful.
  5. After the Hathras incident, a video of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi made it to social media, where they were travelling to Hathras and laughing while they were on their way. Zubair “fact-checked” it and used a photograph from the 2019 elections to declare that the brother-sister duo were not laughing.
  6. In February 2019, he shared a video of Vishwa Hindu Parishad from Gonda suggesting that anti-national slogans were raised at a protest rally against the Pulwama terror attack. Later, Gonda Police clarified that the VHP video was being used to mislead the public and added no such slogans were raised during the event.
  7. When Islamists pelted stones on the Police in Jamia library in February 2020, AltNews claimed the students did not have stones but wallets in their hands. Zubair carried it forward on social media, but when the reality was exposed, he stopped replying to people.
  8. During the lockdown, he shared a photograph of two Jain monks with people around them with folded hands. He tried to imply that they were violating the lockdown. However, in reality, the two monks were distributing food packets to people and feeding animals. Zubair cunningly hid another photograph from the event where food packets were clearly visible.
  9. In June 2020, AltNews and other media houses tried to project that a man was gunned down in Amroha while trying to enter a temple on account of his caste. However, later Amroha Police clarified that there was no reference to the caste of the youth in the matter. There was an ongoing enmity over money between the two groups that led to a clash and the unfortunate death of the youth.
  10. During the lockdown, he came in support of a Maulana named Raukab Noorani Okarvl, who had spread misinformation about the Covid-19 vaccine. Zubair defended him and said the man was from Pakistan and not from India. He added, “By the way, I remembered that nano chip reports in currency notes after seeing this video.”
  11. In a Tweet, Zubair had claimed that while Mexico runs educational channels on Television, Doordarshan was busy telecasting PM Modi’s Mann Ki Baat. Interestingly, it looked like Zubair never checked Doordarshan channels before posting the tweet. Several netizens pointed out there are over three dozen government channels in academia. He deleted the tweet after getting exposed. Doordarshan added many channels and programs during Covid to help students take classes during the lockdown.
  12. He once had shared a report from Solapur suggesting fire broke down in the city. He had shared the video in April, while in reality, the video was from February. The Tweet that he had retweeted was also two months old.
  13. He had once claimed that the comments on PM Modi’s Mann Ki Baat were switched off due to fear of protests by students. However, in reality, the comments on all the videos on PMO India’s channel had been off for years. The comments section was on videos on the YouTube channel of Narendra Modi and BJP that had the same video.
  14. During Covid, when reports of Mahant Gopaldas being Covid came out positive, he shared an edited photograph claiming RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat was sitting next to him. His claims were debunked.
  15. When Bhoomi Pujan for Bhavya Ram Mandir was scheduled in August, reports came out that a digital billboard in Times Square in the USA would play an ad for Ram Mandir. Zubair had claimed that the event was cancelled, but later the video was played in Times Square.
  16. On his troll page ‘Unofficial Subramanian Swamy’, he had claimed that BJP was stealing EVMs from strong rooms. FactHunt fact-checked the claims, after which he put the blame on one of the admins of the page.
  17. During farmers’ protests, he shared a photograph and claimed that the farmers were being treated like terrorists by the police. Later it was found that the photograph was from 2013 when UPA was in power at the centre. The photograph was first published by Kavita Krishnan.
  18. After an attack in Sri Lanka, a minister wrote a letter stating intelligence officers were already aware of the possible attack. When Twitter users and prominent personalities like Abhijit Majumdar and Anand Ranganathan shared the letter, Zubair called it fake in a bid to protect the terrorists. Interestingly, the letter was published by the minister himself on Twitter.
  19. OpIndia had published reports regarding the innocence of Vishal Jangotra in the Kathua case, which was criticized by Zubair. Later the court found that he was innocent.
  20. In January 2022, he mixed up districts with assembly constituencies to defend the Samajwadi Party, which had used old Islamic names of the constituencies in candidate lists. Mohammed Zubair posted two candidate lists published by SP and BJP for UP assembly elections and alleged that both parties used old names for districts renamed by the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP govt. However, in reality, he was “confused” between the constituency names and district names.

Netizens remind Priyanka Chaturvedi of instances when Zubair had spread misinformation and fake news

Netizens also came up with posts of their own showing Chaturvedi how Zubair had lied to his teeth in the past.

In 2020, Twitter user iAnkurSingh shared a thread of fake news peddled by Zubair and his organization. Ankur shared that threat in the comments under tweet by Chaturvedi.

Twitter user BefittingFacts shared a screenshot of a post by Zubair where he had admitted of publishing misleading posts.

Twitter user FabulousGuy shared seven screenshots in a collage where Zubair admitted to publishing false news.

This list of fake news peddled by Zubair is just the tip of the iceberg. There are countless instances where he misled his followers with fake news.

Britain comes to a standstill thanks to the biggest rail strike in over 30 years

OpIndia Staff
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Britain comes to a standstill thanks to the biggest rail strike in over 30 years

Britain is facing its biggest rail strike in over 30 years as over 40,000 union workers walked out on Tuesday bringing England, Scotland and Wales to a screeching halt. The workers decided to stage a walkout for 3 days this week after talks between workers’ union and rail companies over increased pay broke down.

National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) will stage the walkout on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday this week, while a separate London underground strike is also taking place on Tuesday. With the inflation hitting double digits in the UK thanks to high food and fuel prices, the workers are demanding a 7% hike in their pay, while the rail companies are offering them a 2% increase.

The last time such a massive strike was seen, was back in 1989 when the workers got an 8.8% increase following their strike. RMT is also concerned about the loss of jobs following the Network Rail modernization program.

The strike has thrown normal life in Britain into disarray as only 4,500 out of the usual 20,000 daily services are running thanks to the strike. With the London underground also shut, commuters were chaotically looking for other forms of transport, resulting in a heavy rush in buses, and on the road.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that the Britain rail strike will severely impact businesses that are recovering from Covid restrictions, and this strike will only hurt the people the unions claim to be helping. Johnson said, “By going ahead with these rail strikes, they are driving away commuters who ultimately support the jobs of rail workers, whilst also impacting businesses and communities across the country.”

However, RMT dismissed Johnson’s remarks and said that their demands are totally justified during the current cost of living crisis.

TMC VP Yashwant Sinha deletes old abusive tweet after being declared Presidential candidate of ‘United Opposition’

OpIndia Staff
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TMC VP Yashwant Sinha deletes old abusive tweet after being declared Presidential candidate of ‘United Opposition’

Soon after being declared as the official Presidential Candidate of ‘United Opposition’, Trinamool Congress leader Yashwant Sinha deleted an erstwhile abusive tweet. Sinha had made the tweet in response to a comment by a Twitter user in April 2022.

Screengrab of the Tweet by TMC leader Yashwant Sinha

On Tuesday, TMC Vice President Yashwant Sinha was declared the candidate for the upcoming Presidential Elections which are due on July 18. Sinha was backed by Mamata Banerjee, NCP Supremo Sharad Pawar, the Congress and other parties who unanimously backed him as their choice for the President.

Soon after Sinha was declared as the Opposition’s candidate for the Presidential elections, an old tweet of his caught the attention of Twitter users in which he was seen retorting back to a user with a Hindi slang ‘Ch*tiya’. In April this year, Sinha made an incoherent tweet where he talked about the ‘rising’ fuel prices and compared it with the mood of the nation.

Screengrab of the Tweet by TMC leader Yashwant Sinha

To that, one Twitter user asked him what is he trying to say, while referring to the MP as ‘ch*tiya’. To which, the TMC leader appeared to have lost his cool and answered back that he wanted to say by his incoherent message that the Twitter user who could not decipher his cryptic tweet was a ch*tiya. Ch*tiya is a sexually derogatory term which is often used as an insult.

Sinha’s abusive tweet caught the attention of netizens who wondered how would this justify as the behaviour of a probable head of the state.

After getting caught in the ire, Yashwant Sinha tactically stepped back and deleted the tweet silently. Sinha’s abusive tweet was not available on Twitter since this afternoon. However, This is not the first time he has been abusive. Back in 2014, he had said that any ch*tiya can become the chief minister of Jharkhand.

CBI arrests Joint Drugs Controller for accepting Rs 4 lakh bribe to clear Biocon Biologic’s diabetes drug, company denies allegations

OpIndia Staff
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CBI arrests Joint Drugs Controller for accepting Rs 4 lakh bribe to clear Biocon Biologic’s diabetes drug, company denies allegations

The Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday arrested Joint Drugs Controller S Eswara Reddy for accepting a bribe of Rs Rs 4 lakh to clear phase three trial of ‘Insulin Aspart’, an underdevelopment diabetes drug. The Insulin Aspart is a product of Biocon Biologics under development to manage Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.

According to the reports, the bribe money was paid by Dinesh Dua, Director of Synergy Network India Pvt Ltd on behalf of Biocon Biologics, a company founded by Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw. Joint Drug Controller posted at the CDSCO headquarters in New Delhi, Dr Eswara Reddy was bribed to get regulatory clearance for an insulin injection manufactured by Biocon Biologics Ltd. The Police also arrested Director Dinesh Dua in the case.

The CBI was informed about the bribe case through a complaint that sought legal action against the meddled approval of the drug clinical trial. The CBI officials then launched a trap operation to catch middleman Dua who was giving bribes on behalf of Biocon Biologicals and Dr S Eswara Reddy red-handed. However, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and her company Biocon Biologics have denied the charges.

Biocon Biologics denies allegations of graft

“We deny the bribery allegations made in certain media stories. All our product approvals are legitimate and backed by science and clinical data. We follow the due regulatory process for all our product approvals by DCGI. We are co-operating with the investigation agency”, the company spokesperson tweeted.

Along with Reddy and Dua, the CBI officials also have charged Associate Vice President and Head-National Regulatory Affairs (NRA), Biocon Biologics Limited, Bangalore, L Praveen Kumar, as well as Director, Bioinnovat Research Services Private Limited, Delhi, Guljit Sethi in the case under the relevant sections of IPC.

BJP likely to send its 106 Maharashtra MLAs to Ahmedabad, Devendra Fadnavis along with top party brass likely to meet rebel Eknath Shinde, group

OpIndia Staff
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BJP likely to send its 106 Maharashtra MLAs to Ahmedabad, Devendra Fadnavis along with top party brass likely to meet rebel Eknath Shinde, group

Amidst the political turmoil in Maharashtra, reports of the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) moving all its 106 MLAs to Ahmedabad have emerged. Reportedly, Maharashtra BJP leaders are likely to meet Rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde and the other Shiv Sena MLAs who have camped in Surat since last night.

After Shivsena bigwig Eknath Shinde’s rebellion against the party and the MVA alliance caused a huge churn in Maharashtra politics, reports of the BJP entering the scene have finally come to the fore. As many as 35 MLAs are rumoured to be with Shinde who has camped at Le Meridian hotel in Surat, reported ABP Majha.

Maharashtra Leader of Opposition and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, who is in Delhi after scrpting a successful victory in Rajyasabha and Maharashtra Legislative Council elections, will now be reaching Ahmedabad to meet the rebel Shiv Sena faction led by Shinde. According to Republic, the BJP is likely to send all its 106 MLAs from the Maharashtra Assembly to Ahmedabad as well.

Eknath Shinde has reportedly refused to meet Milind Narvekar, Uddhsv Thackeray’s aide sent to Surat to hold consultations with the rebels. Reportedly, Shiv Sena leaders from the Shinde camp could be airlifted from Surat to Ahmedabad to meet Devendra Fadnavis. According to earlier reports by ABP Majha, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP President J P Nadda could also land in Ahmedabad to hold talks with the Shinde faction alongside Fadnavis.

As reported by Republic, Gujarat state BJP leaders are in contact with Eknath Shinde and rapid developments are taking place in Surat.

This is a developing story, more updates will be published further.

Pakistan horror: Newborn baby beheaded, head left inside Hindu woman’s womb by govt hospital staff in Sindh province

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan horror: Newborn baby beheaded, head left inside Hindu woman’s womb by govt hospital staff in Sindh province

On Sunday, June 19, the staff of the government-run Rural health centre (RHC) in the Sindh province in Pakistan reportedly cut off a newborn baby’s head and left the severed head in the mother’s womb, putting the woman’s life in jeopardy.

The woman was identified as 32-year-old Hindu woman from Bheel community. She was rushed to a neighbouring hospital in Mithi, but there were no medical facilities available to treat her. Her family eventually took her to Jamshoro’s Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS), where the newborn’s severed head was removed from the mother’s womb, saving her life.

Professor Raheel Sikander, who heads the gynaecology unit of LUMHS told the media, “The Bheel Hindu woman, who belongs to a far-flung village in Tharparkar district, had first gone to a Rural Health Centre (RHC) in her area but with no female gynaecologist available, the inexperienced staff caused her immense trauma.”

In a botched procedure on Sunday, a RHC staff cut off the unborn baby’s head and left it in the mother’s womb, he added.

Sikandar further informed the baby’s head was entrapped inside and the mother’s uterus had been ruptured and they had to open up her abdomen surgically and take out the head to save her life.

Pakistan government orders inquiry after reports goes viral

Only after the news of the horrifying incident went viral did the Pakistani government intervene and directed authorities to form a medical investigation board to investigate the tragedy and find the perpetrators.

According to reports, the Director-General of Sindh Health Services Dr Juman Bahoto has also ordered separate inquiries into the case.

He stated that the investigation committees will look into what happened, particularly the lack of a gynaecologist and female personnel at the RHC in Chachro.

Dr Juman Bahoto added that the inquiry panel will also examine reports that stated that some hospital staff took pictures and shot videos of the woman while she was lying on a stretcher fighting for her life. “Apparently, some members of the staff took her photos on a mobile phone in the gynaecology ward and shared those pictures with different WhatsApp groups,” Juman added. 

Pakistan-origin Australian woman murdered with an axe by her father-in-law in Sargodha while her father watched

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan-origin Australian woman murdered with an axe by her father-in-law in Sargodha while her father watched

A Pakistan-origin Australian woman named Sajida Tasneem was brutally hacked to death by her father-in-law, Mukhtar Ahmad in Karachi, Pakistan. Tasneem was allegedly gagged and then hit on the head with an axe, leading to her death. The incident reportedly occurred on June 11 at the home she shared with her in-laws near the city of Sargodha in Pakistan. Her father Sher Muhammad Khan was a witness to the brutal act.

Mukhtar Ahmed, according to reports, was enraged by the prospect of Sajida Tasneem, an engineer by profession, returning to Australia with her children. He is said to have killed her after the two got into an argument about the same.

Sher Muhammad Khan, Tasneem’s father, who was a witness to the incident, told The Guardian, that his daughter’s father-in-law Mukhtar Ahmad had taken away Tasneem’s passport after the latter got into an argument with him about her desire to relocate back to Australia to give her children a better education. Ahmed in a fit of rage first gagged her with a piece of cloth and then attacked her with an axe. Tasneem fell to the ground and died in front of her own father.

She Muhammad Khan told the police that Tasneem’s husband, Ayub Ahmed, forced her to travel to Pakistan with her three children from their home in Perth, Australia. After she reached Pakistan, Ayub Ahmed himself returned to Australia. Tasneem too expressed her desire to her father-in-law to return to Australia with her children.

Sher Muhammad Khan said that on the day of the incident when he arrived at his daughter’s house in Karachi’s Sargodha district at around 1.45 pm, he heard Ahmad abusing and shouting at Tasneem on the first floor. When he went upstairs, he found the duo in the bathroom. His daughter’s mouth was gagged and the father-in-law Mukhtar Ahmad was repeatedly attacking her. Ahmed also threatened to kill Khan if he tried to intervene. “I feared for our lives and did not move,” recalled Khan adding that Ahmad then hit Tasneem on the head with an axe, after which she died at the scene.

After Tasneem fell to the ground and died on spot, Ahmed quickly fled the crime scene. Sher Muhammad Khan immediately called the local Superior Town Police Station to report about the crime. Based on his complaint the police lodged an FIR and started investigating the case.

The Karachi police, meanwhile, have arrested Mukhtar Ahmed and also recovered the axe which he used to kill his daughter-in-law. Tasneem’s mother-in-law, Fatima Bibi, and two other relatives who are also suspects in the case remain at large.

Police deputy superintendent, Syed Saqlain Jaffer was quoted by The Guardian as saying, “the crime tool, the axe through which the murder was committed, has also been recovered. It shows the involvement of Ahmad. The investigation is ongoing. We are investigating the presence of other family members at the crime scene.”

Jaffer added that Tasneem’s three children were now with him and the Australian embassy had been contacted for further formalities.

A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it had made contact with the family to offer its condolences.

Guru Rahman: The educator under scanner for allegedly inciting violence over the Agnipath scheme

Dibakar Dutta
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Guru Rahman: The educator under scanner for allegedly inciting violence over the Agnipath scheme

Days after violent protests rocked Bihar over the newly launched Agnipath scheme, the State police conducted raids on the coaching centre and the residence of an online educator named Dr Motiur Rahman Khan.

Popularly known as Guru Rahman, he is accused of inciting violence at Danapur Railway station. On June 17 this year, a frenzied mob of army aspirants laid siege on the railway station and set trains on fire.

They damaged bikes, cycles, and benches and threw stalls on railway tracks. In the aftermath of the violence and vandalism, the police arrested 5 people for destroying public property.

In his defence, Rahman claimed, “I was opposing Agnipath because children throughout the country were opposing it as neither anyone understood what the scheme is nor anyone tried explaining it. But I have always appealed for non-violence.”

As per reports, the raid on Guru Rahman’s house and coaching centre was conducted by Bihar police in collaboration with the Income Tax Department. Times Now reported that the online educator had called for a ‘Kranti’ (revolution) in a social media post on June 17 (the day of violence at Danapur railway station).

He has been accused of inciting students to come out of their homes and hit the streets. In a video published on June 16 on a Youtube channel named ‘Live Cities Media Private Limited’, the online educator could be heard telling students to disrupt railway services.

He later corrected himself and appealed to not burn trains or indulge in violence and vandalism. Guru Rahman cast aspersions about the privatisation of the railway sector and also claimed that some of the ‘misguided’ Agniveers can wreak havoc on the country with ₹11 lac fund and arms training.

He called for the repetition of the JP Andolan of 1974. It may be recalled that Jayprakash Narayan had mobilised students in Bihar and held demonstrations against the misrule of the Bihar government.

“I am the son of Bihar. I will not run away. I extend my support to all protesting students,” Rahman was heard as saying. “The youth will topple the government,” he had warned.

After the orgy of violence engulfed the State of Bihar, Rahman was seen vehemently condemning the sad state of affairs during an interview with Bihar Tak.

He however discounted the role of army aspirants in acts of vandalism and arson and claimed that anti-social elements had instead infiltrated the peaceful movement.

As per an article by The Better India, Guru Rahman runs a coaching institute by the name of Adamya Aditi Gurukul. He reportedly prepares students for competitive exams and boasts of producing several IAS, IPS, IRS and CTO officers.

He holds a triple MA degree and a PhD in ancient history and culture. The online educator has also been conducting physical classes for the past 28 years. Rahman has a Hindu wife named Amita and two children, Adamya Aditi and Abhigyan Arjit.

He has named his coaching institute after his children. He claims to have taught over 10,000 students (who hail from underprivileged backgrounds) and takes between ₹11-₹100 rupees as fees. Guru Rahman is now under the scanner of the law enforcement authorities for his alleged role in inciting violence over the Agnipath scheme.

Role of influencers, coaching centres in provoking army aspirants

Opindia had earlier reported how influential Youtubers and coaching institutes from Bihar were adding fuel to the fire of unrest and chaos by weaponising misinformation and inciting aspirants to take to the street in protest.

A prominent journalist named Manish Kashyap, associated with Sach Tak News, was seen provoking students by falsely claiming that recruitment for the Agnipath scheme will be done through private agencies.

SK Jha, an educator who boasts of 6.8 lakh subscribers on Youtube, was seen fear-mongering students and asking them to emulate the JP Andolan of 1974. “Whoever has given the idea of this scheme to the government, I will make his effigy and burn it down… The State is under fire. We had given you the responsibility. Do your duty,” he had warned.

Another educator named Kajal, associated with Future Times coaching, also misled the students through a Youtube video. She claimed that the Indian government changed the definition of youth and narrowed it down to individuals between 17.5-21 years of age.

She also claimed that the youth recruited under the Agnipath scheme will be akin to a ‘short tour’. “You are brainwashing children,” she asserted. The educator also accused the Indian government of comprising security over petty politics.

Maharashtra MLC Elections: What exactly happened, and what does it mean politically for the BJP and MVA? Explained

Suyash
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Maharashtra MLC Elections: What exactly happened, and what does it mean politically for the BJP and MVA? Explained

In many ways, Maharashtra Vidhan Parishad (Legislative Council) election results have charted the future course of Maharashtra Politics and the fate of the incumbent MVA Government. The MLC elections resulted in the BJP winning unexpected 5 seats out of 10 whereas, in spite of having adequate numbers, the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance could only manage to win 5 seats out of 6 candidates fielded.

While the BJP won all the five candidates it fielded, it only had enough numbers in the assembly to get four nominees elected to the Council comfortably. BJP leaders Praveen Darekar, Ram Shinde, Shrikant Bharatiya and Uma Khapre won with comfortable margins with the BJP having a total of 106 seats in the assembly, along with some support from the independents.

The victory of the BJP’s fifth candidate Prasad Lad came as a surprise. He secured 28 votes – two votes more than the minimum number of 26 required to get elected as an MLC member. Subsequently, despite having 162 MLAs by its side, the MVA alliance managed to bag only five seats with Shiv Sena’s Sachin Ahir and Amshya Padavi, NCP’s Eknath Khadse and Ramraje Nimbalkar and Congress’ Bhai Jagtap going beyond the magic figure of 26 votes each.

Structure of Maharashtra Vidhan Parishad

The Maharashtra Vidhan Parishad or the Legislative council (MLC) is the upper house of the state legislature. Out of the 78 members in the house, 66 are elected and 12 are nominated by the Governor of Maharashtra. However, a large chunk of seats is reserved for teachers, graduates’ constituency and for members elected from amongst the local bodies of Maharashtra. A total of 30 seats are elected by the members of the Legislative Assembly.

Elections in the Legislative Council are held every two years with one-third of the elected representatives replacing the next lot. Much like the Rajya Sabha, A Maharashtra Legislative Council Member also enjoys a period of six years in the house. Hence, the induction of MLCs in the Vidhan Parishad is directly linked to the party’s candidates in the Vidhan Sabha or the Legislative Assembly.

After the 2019 state assembly elections, the BJP bagged a total of 106 seats. Shivsena with 55 seats, NCP with 52 and the Congress with 44 seats along with the support of some independent candidates, formed the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) Government with a said figure of 162 MLAs. The Maharashtra Assembly comprises 288 seats and the number required to form a government is the halfway mark of 145.

What happened at the elections

For a party to induct a large number of its members into Maharashtra’s upper house, it is imperative that its MLAs vote for their party candidates in the MLC elections. However, this was easier said than done in the recently conducted Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections. Elections for the 10 seats (1/3rd of total 30 seats) to be elected by the sitting MLAs were held on June 20, yesterday.

The elections were held on a preferential basis, with BJP’s 4 candidates and two candidates each from the Congress and the Shiv Sena winning in the first round. Given the numbers, the BJP easily managed to win four candidates with Praveen Darekar (29 votes), Ram Shinde (30), Shrikant Bharatiya (30) and Uma Khapre (27) comfortably crossing the ’26 votes’ mark. In the first round itself, BJP bagged a total of 126 votes while it had only 106 MLAs in the Assembly.

In this case, it has been noted that the BJP got help from Independent candidates including Ravi Rana and Ashish Deshmukh deflecting to the Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP. There is also a high possibility that MLAs from Shiv Sena could have cross-voted for a BJP candidate in this round.

Two Shiv Sena candidates Sachin Ahir (26) and Amshya Padavi (26) won the election over the edge. While Shiv Sena has 55 MLAs in the assembly, it got only a total of 52 (26+26) votes in the first round. This opens up the possibility of 3 Shiv Sena MLAs voting for a BJP candidate. Alongside, Shiv Sena, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP secured its base to win two seats with Eknath Khadse bagging 29 votes and Ramraje Nimbalkar 28 votes. The NCP secured 4 extra votes so required from Independent MLAs.

In the second round, there was a nail-biting tussle between BJP’s fifth candidate Prasad Lad and Congress candidates Bhai Jagtap and Chandrakant Handore. With no substantial hold over Maharashtra Politics and having only 44 MLAs, it was difficult for the relatively laidback party to secure a minimum of 52 votes two make both of its candidates win.

While Congress’ Bhai Jagtap (Mumbai Congress Head) secured his base by winning 26 votes, Handore lost the election, securing only 22 votes. However, the emerging star of the election saga was BJP’s Prasad Lad who won 28 votes.

This time, BJP had no numbers to back the candidature of Lad, its fifth candidate. However, he bagged more votes than two of the Congress candidates in the second round. What backed Lad was a high percentage of cross-voting from other parties in his support. This means a number of Shiv Sena and Congress MLAs presumably voted for Lad instead of their party candidates. Apart from this, Fadanvis was successful in winning the Independent votes in favour of Prasad Lad.

It is being speculated that 3 votes, each from the Shiv Sena and the Congress could have been deflected in favour of a BJP candidate in the first round itself.

What happens next?

The BJP which won a total number of 123 votes in the recently held Rajya Sabha elections last week, has now secured a total of 134 votes in the MLC elections. With this, it is being speculated that a large chunk of MVA leaders may now be supporting the BJP, who could be seen secretively voting for the BJP in the Rajya Sabha and MLC elections.

With BJP originally having 106 seats, it now enjoys relative support of 134 MLAs in total, given the election results. If a floor test has to be conducted today, the party is only short of 11 seats (to reach the magic number of 145) to form a government on its own. The Maharashtra Assembly which has 288 seats, has been reduced to the current strength of 285 with the death of a Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh Latke and two NCP ministers – Anil Deshmukh and Nawab Malik arrested.

The dynamic shift in the Maharashtra Politics has been attributed to Devendra Fadnavis, the leader of the Opposition in the assembly who managed to fetch 26 extra votes from the outside and 130 votes in total in the first preference round of MLC elections. With Shiv Sena bigwig Eknath Shinde alongside said 21 MLAs rebelling against the party, the real strength of the MVA alliance has come under scrutiny.

NSA Ajit Doval hails the Agnipath scheme as a game-changer, says ‘no question’ of rollback

OpIndia Staff
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NSA Ajit Doval hails the Agnipath scheme as a game-changer, says ‘no question’ of rollback

On Tuesday, National security Advisor Ajit Doval stated that the Agnipath recruitment scheme that led to unnecessary violent protests across the country, is not a standalone scheme and it should be looked at from a perspective. He added that the scheme was introduced as a part of the government’s priority to make the country secure and strong, adding that there won’t be any rollback.

“When PM Modi came to power in 2014, one of his prime priorities was how to make India secure and strong. That required many avenues, many steps – a multitude of them. It requires equipment, changes in systems and structures, changes in technology and change in manpower, policies and they have to be futuristic”, he said in an exclusive interview with news agency ANI.

He added that the entire concept of war is undergoing a great change which involves an invisible enemy. In such cases preparing for change was important, he highlighted. “Technology is taking over at a rapid pace. If we have to prepare for tomorrow, then we have to change”, he said.

Explaining the scheme and banishing the myths revolving around it, Doval said that the scheme has been introduced to provide an opportunity to every Indian youth who has the desire and motivation to fight for the country. He said that the scheme is also meant to use the young energy and talent to make the country strong.

He also clarified that the Agnipath recruitment scheme was not at all tinkering with the concept of regiments. “As far as regiments are concerned, nobody is tinkering with it. They (regiments) will continue. The regimental system has not ended”, he said adding that Agniveers would never constitute the whole army. “Those Agniveers who become regulars eventually will undergo intensive training, acquire experience over some time”, he stated.

Commenting on the violent protests that took place after June 14, especially in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the NSA said that there’s no way one can justify the vandalism of public properties. “I think that the protests, raising your voice is justified and is permitted in a democracy. But this vandalism, this violence is not permitted and will not be tolerated at all,” Doval said.

Meanwhile, the National Security Advisor also spoke on the Kashmir issue where Kashmiri Hindus are being attacked by terrorists. He said that India is dealing with the problem in Kashmir effectively. “They are a vulnerable section and need protection. The government has taken various steps in the past and probably much more has to be done and that is being done. The best thing is to go on offensive mode against terrorists and make sure they’re accounted for”, he was quoted.

He added that after the abrogation of Article 370, the mood and temper of the people of Kashmir changed. “People are no more in the favour of Pakistan”, he said. He also added that “India intends to maintain good relations with its neighbours, including Pakistan, but certainly the tolerance threshold for terrorism is very low”. He also said that India has long-pending territorial disputes with China and the country will never tolerate any type of transgression.

Lauding the Agnipath scheme and PM Modi for visualizing its long-term benefits for the country, he asked the youths who want to become ‘Agniveers’ to be positive and have faith in the nation and the leadership.

On June 14, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, along with the chiefs of three armed forces, launched the Agnipath scheme for the recruitment of youth in the armed forces. Following the launch, throngs of ‘youth’ protesters rushed to the streets and vandalised public property under the guise of ‘protests’ and marches. So-called armed forces aspirants damaged public property, set fire to trains, and brought life to a standstill in various Indian states.

In Uttar Pradesh, violent protests were executed in Varanasi, Firozabad Amethi, Ballia, Mathura, Agra, and several other areas. The rioters raised slogans against the scheme and demanded its repeal. They set a bogey of an empty train on fire and also vandalized a few other trains in Ballia, Firozabad, and Varanasi. Reportedly, the UP Police has registered 6 FIRs against the miscreants and has arrested around 260 people from various parts of the state.

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