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El Salvador: Opposition and media call President Nayib Bukele a ‘dictator’, he says he is, declares that in Twitter bio

OpIndia Staff
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El Salvador: Opposition and media call President Nayib Bukele a ‘dictator’, he says he is, declares that in Twitter bio

Nayib Bukele, 40-year-old President of El Salvador, has declared himself a ‘dictator’ in his Twitter bio that now reads, “Dictador de El Salvador”, which translates to “Dictator of El Salvador”. Earlier, it used to say, “Papá de Layla”, which means “Layla’s Dad”, referring to his only daughter. The recent change in the bio came after the opposition and media called him a dictator.

President Nayib Bukele changed bio to ‘Dictator of El Salvador’ (Left) from ‘Layla’s Dad’ (Right) recently

On September 15, thousands of Salvadorans came out on the roads to protest against the government’s decision to introduce Bitcoin as legal tender. They also protested against the reforms introduced in the judicial system that the critics deemed as a threat to democracy. The protestors were seen holding placards denouncing a ‘dictatorship’, ‘respect the constitution’ and ‘no to Bitcoins’.

Bukele, in a tweet, condemned the protests and called them out for the destruction of property. He said, “They say the ‘vandalism’ was done by ‘infiltrators,’ but there is vandalism at ALL their protests.” He also added a video of a masked woman who was kicking down a glass security wall. He also blamed the “international community” for fueling the protests by providing funds for the same.

The judges had also joined the protests against the law that deemed judges above the age of 60 or with 30-years of service to be laid off. Reports suggest that it would affect one-third of the judges serving in different courts. The protestors also raised voice against the ruling of the Supreme Court that allowed Bukele to seek a second successive term though the constitution of El Salvador allows only one term. It has been alleged that the ruling was passed by the judges appointed by Bukele.

Bukele has been called dictator before

This is not the first time Nayib Bukele has been called a dictator. In January 2021, he briefly changed his profile picture to an image of Sacha Baron Cohen from the movie the Dictator. The brief change happened after being called a dictator multiple times for ruling that came in favour of extending his term as President from five years to six years.

Bukele had minted every opportunity in the past to turn things in his favour, especially the significant drop in homicides during his term since 2019, when he became the President of the country. During his tenure, he has granted additional powers to police and military to control crime, which was, in fact, one of the promised that he had made during elections and paved the way for his win.

Bukele describes himself as the “coolest President”. However, he has been accused of using state agencies to ‘harass’ journalists and investigate opposition parties. A new constitution is being draft for the country, which is expected to be revealed later in 2021. Bukele has said once that he wanted to ensure that his opponents never return to power.

However, his popularity is on the rise in the country for several reasons, including the drop in crime rate and Covid-19 management.

Gujarat: Heroin worth Rs 9000 crore smuggled from Afghanistan seized at Mundra port

OpIndia Staff
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Gujarat: Heroin worth Rs 9000 crore smuggled from Afghanistan seized at Mundra port

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) have recently confiscated containers carrying heroin worth an estimated Rs 9,000 crore from Mundra Port in Gujarat’s Kutch. The drugs were reportedly smuggled from Afghanistan. The shipment was loaded in Iran’s port and had 7 Iranian nationals onboard.

According to the reports, the officials discovered the contraband after stopping a consignment for inspection. On carrying out the examination, they found drugs worth crores being imported under the name of “talcum powder”.

Initial investigation has linked the smuggled contraband to one Aashi Trading firm based out of Andhra Pradesh’s Vijayawada. As per reports, DRI had got a tip-off about the consignment and has been working to seize it for the last five days. Mundra port is managed by the Adani Group.

The investigating agencies found that the consignment was declared as “talcum powder” by the Vijayawada based firm. As per sources quoted by news reports, the exporting firm has been identified as one Hassan Hussain Ltd., based in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Initially, the value of seized heroin was estimated to be Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000 crores. However, after thorough inspection, it was determined that heroin imported from Afghanistan was worth Rs 9,000 crores.

Vijayawada company raided

After the role of the Vijayawada-based firm came to light, the police immediately rushed to the company’s office and detained its representatives. The company representatives have reportedly said that the firm is involved in the transport business and it has got nothing to do with the impounded heroin discovered by DRI officials in Gujarat.

In its investigation, the police found that the plan was to smuggle the drugs to southern states from Gujarat. However, they are yet to conclude what the original plan of the smuggling racket was. They are yet to determine if the plan was to first transport the drugs to Vijayawada and from there to other south Indian cities or directly to Chennai via Vijayawada.

The investigation is currently underway and the authorities are probing all possible angles. The executives of Aashi Trading Company are held in custody and are being probed over the seizure of such a massive amount of drugs found in Mundra port.

The seizure of drugs from Afghanistan came hot on the heels of arrests made by Guntur police a few days back, which involved a gang selling synthetic drugs online. Police are also in shock to learn about Vijayawada being the location from where Rs 9,000 crore of heroin was ordered. Sources believe all the facts of the case will come out only after the police and DRI authorities conduct an in-depth investigation into the incident.

TMC impact? Babul Supriyo loses more Twitter followers in one day than he had gained in previous one month

OpIndia Staff
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TMC impact? Babul Supriyo loses more Twitter followers in one day than he had gained in previous one month

Newly minted TMC leader Babul Supriyo has lost more Twitter followers in one day than the gains he made during the previous one and a half months. The MP from Asansol, who abandoned the BJP to join TMC recently, lost as many as 2145 followers on Sunday and the decline has continued on Monday.

Between the 4th of August and 18th of September, Babul Supriyo gained 1464 followers. Then on the 19th of September, Sunday, he lost 2145 followers on Twitter. On Monday so far, he has lost 174 at the time of writing this report.

In fact, his follower numbers saw a decline on Sunday for the first time in 25 days.

Babul Supriyo loses Twitter followers
The third column indicates followers gained or lost in a day (Source: Social Blade)

Consequently, weekly followers count for Babul Supriyo showed a distinct decline on the 20th of September.

Babul Supriyo loses Twitter followers
Source: Social Blade

The followers count has slipped from 343,255 on the 13th of September to 341,078 on the 20th of September.

Source: Social Blade

People have been calling for users to unfollow Babul Supriyo since he joined the Trinamool Congress. They were angry with him over what they consider to be treachery.

Babul Supriyo has admitted that he joined the TMC because he was made an offer that would permit him to resume his normal public life. “Mamata Banerjee presented with a fantastic opportunity so that I could continue my public life in West Bengal and can resume my public life with grace and purpose… And I can continue singing. There’s going to be a lot of flak, a lot of memes… But the opportunity is worth the challenge,” he said.

Babul Supriyo admits he joined TMC because Mamata Banerjee made an offer that would allow him to sing and resume normal public life

OpIndia Staff
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Babul Supriyo admits he joined TMC because Mamata Banerjee made an offer that would allow him to sing and resume normal public life

Former BJP politician Babul Supriyo has already drawn flak just two days after joining the TMC. In his latest statement, the now TMC member was heard rooting for Mamata Banerjee as the next Prime Minister. According to the Member of Parliament (MP) from the Asansol constituency, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee is among the top frontrunners for the prime ministerial post in 2024.

“I want that the captain of our party Mamata Banerjee becomes the Prime Minister in 2024. Opposition plays an important role in a democratic system. Nobody can deny the fact that Mamata Banerjee is among the top frontrunners for the prime ministerial post,” media reports have quoted Supriyo as saying.

Heaping praises on the Trinamool Congress party supremo within two days of him joining, Supriyo said that Mamata Banerjee offered him a role in the TMC which allowed him to sing. “Mamata Banerjee presented with a fantastic opportunity so that I could continue my public life in West Bengal and can resume my public life with grace and purpose… And I can continue singing. There’s going to be a lot of flak, a lot of memes… But the opportunity is worth the challenge,” he said.

Babul Supriyo had faced strong criticism by BJP supporters for his sudden decision to join TMC, as he had announced that he is quitting politics. He that taken to Twitter to justify his political decision.

Violence in West Bengal under Mamata Banerjee’s regime

Meanwhile, considering that Mamata Banerjee has the qualities to replace Prime Minister Narendra Modi and take on the task of running the entire country is quite wishful thinking considering the West Bengal CM has made no serious attempt to curb violence and put her house in order in the past decade. In fact, her party members have unabashedly carried out bloodshed and mayhem in the state, with no regard for the rule of law.

After BJP gained significance in the state, the ruling Trinamool Congress has waged a bloody campaign against the party. Several BJP workers have been killed allegedly by TMC cadres in the last few months. In fact, the ‘Khela hobe’ slogan, coined by Mamata Banerjee ahead of the West Bengal Vidhan Sabha polls, promptly became a war cry for Trinamool Congress goons to loot, maim, slaughter, and rape rival BJP workers. 

Babul Supriyo takes massive U-turn, joins TMC

On Saturday, September 18, the official Twitter handle of the TMC announced that the former union minister joined the Mamata Banerjee led party in presence of senior TMC leaders Abhishek Banerjee and Derek O’Brien.

Less than two months ago, Babul Supriyo had said that he is exiting politics, saying that he will also resign from the Lok Sabha. However, he has resigned as MP yet. He had taken the decision after he was dropped from the union ministry in the recent cabinet reshuffle. He was the Minister of State for Environment, Forest, and Climate Change in the Modi government, but he was dropped from the govt during the cabinet reshuffle on July 7.

However, his joining the TMC today has meant that he has not quit politics, and he had only left BJP. After ‘quitting politics’ and BJP, he had claimed that he will not be joining any other party. He had even dismissed rumours that he was joining TMC, but he has taken a massive U-turn now.

Russia: 18-year-old Timur Bekmansurov guns down 8 people in Perm State University, several injured

OpIndia Staff
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Russia: 18-year-old Timur Bekmansurov guns down 8 people in Perm State University, several injured

As many as eight people have been gunned down and several injured after an eighteen-year-old student opened fire at Perm State Research University in western Siberia, Russia.

The attacker has been identified as one Timur Bekmansurov, a student of the same university. As per a Russian news agency report, he has been neutralized by the security agencies and a hunt for his probable accomplices is on. 

“One of the attackers has been neutralized, we are checking the information about possible accomplices. Students could have mixed something up out of fright, shots have already stopped,” said the governor. 

Visuals of the attack

While the students and staff locked themselves in the rooms, the university urged those who could leave the campus to do so. In a bid to escape, several students were recorded jumping off the university building window. 

A dozen have reportedly been injured either by gunfire or by falling from windows.

A crisis room has been created in the university while the Health Ministry informed that nine ambulances have been deployed at the university.

The attacker’s plan

A local news website in Russia has published some unconfirmed social media posts suspected to be made by the shooter. In these posts, the shooter described his plans and motivation for the attack in detail. 

The post read, “What happened was not a terrorist attack (at least from a legal point of view). I was not a member of an extremist organization, I was nonreligious and apolitical. Nobody knew what I was going to do, I carried out all these actions myself.”

He also confessed that he was “overflowing with hate” and had been planning the shooting for a long time.  

Chhattisgarh: Former Minister and BJP leader Rajinder Pal Singh Bhatia committed suicide, police say

OpIndia Staff
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Chhattisgarh: Former Minister and BJP leader Rajinder Pal Singh Bhatia committed suicide, police say

Rajinder Pal Singh Bhatia, former minister of Chhattisgarh from the Bharatiya Janata Party, has committed suicide on Sunday. Bhatia was found hanging at his home at Chhuriya town in Rajnandgaon in the evening of 19th September. He was 72 years old.

Rajnandgaon Additional SP Pragya Meshram said that a suicide note was recovered from the scene. According to the note, Bhatia committed suicide due to health reasons.

“Bhatia lived with his younger brother and his family. He was alone in the house on Sunday and when the family members returned, they found him hanging from the ceiling fan in his room,” a senior officer had told the Indian Express. “We are questioning the family members too.”

Rajinder Pal Singh Bhatia had been infected by Covid-19 in March this year and has been unwell since then, BJP leaders say. Bhatia was the Minister of State for Commerce and Industry between 2003-08 in the Raman Singh led government.

He had a fallout with the party in 2013 after being denied a ticket for the assembly polls, following which he contested as an independent from the Khujji constituency. However, later he returned to the BJP.

NDTV share hits 10 per cent upper circuit over rumours of buyout: Here’s what it means

OpIndia Staff
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NDTV share hits 10 per cent upper circuit over rumours of buyout: Here’s what it means

NDTV shares on Monday zoomed to hit its upper circuit of 10 per cent after rumours started doing rounds that Adani Group is going to buy the company.

As of 1:19 PM on September 20, the share price of NDTV was hovering around Rs 79.85, up by Rs 7.25 or 9.99 per cent today, which is its upper circuit limit.

Source: Google

Since stock prices are mostly sentiment-driven, they fluctuate due to positive and negative news, a circuit filter is set up to ensure that there is no extreme price movement and investors are protected from any unwanted surprises. The filters also help limit price variation to a certain extent by stock operators.

The upper circuit limit is the highest price a stock can reach on a particular day. When this limit is touched, there will be only buyers and no sellers. Likewise, the lowest price that a stock can hit is the lower circuit limit and when a stock hits this limit, there will be only sellers and no buyers.

Rumours of NDTV being acquired by Adani Group

The inexplicable surge in the share price of NDTV could be attributed to the rumours that are flying around about its possible acquisition by the Adani Group, which had recently announced its entry into the media industry. However, OpIndia cannot independently verify the speculations.

“Buzz in Delhi: Adani Group going to buy an old TV Channel which always attacked him & signing will be in London-some say Rs.1600 cr total deal value. But the guy currently heading will only get around Rs.100 cr & saved from cases & major shareholder will take Rs.750cr,” tweeted journalist J Gopikrishnan.

According to Gopikrishnan, the speculations surrounding Adani’s entry into the media industry say that a deal worth Rs 1600 crore is finalised between the group and NDTV. As per the modalities of the deal, the current head of the company would get only Rs 100 crores and emancipation from various cases that plague the company. He further added that the major shareholders will get Rs 750 crores.

The Adani Enterprises had recently roped in veteran journalist Sanjay Pugalia as the CEO and editor-in-chief to lead the group’s media initiatives. Pugalia had earlier been associated with Quint Digital Media, CNBC-Awaaz, Star News, Zee News and was among the team that founded AajTak.

On his appointment, Adani Group released a statement: “We look forward to leveraging Sanjay’s wide-ranging experience in media, communications and branding across the Adani Group’s diverse range of businesses and in our Nation Building initiatives.”

NDTV has not had a stable financial performance. Its channels have consistently ranked among the lowest in terms of TRPs. The company’s promoters are also involved in investigations related to tax evasion. However, the company’s stocks have inexplicably performed well in last 24 months, with its stock rising about 130 per cent in the last one year.

But the recent spike in the stock price could be chalked up to the positive sentiments after rumours of the company’s buyout started doing the rounds on the internet. The investors perhaps believe that the acquisition could help rebrand the company and shake off its negative image among the viewers. The buyout could also relieve the company of the chronic tax liabilities it continues to face.

NDTV accused of tax fraud, financial irregularities

NDTV in recent times has been embroiled in controversies over alleged financial irregularities. NDTV is facing multiple cases related to violation of FDI norms, Income Tax violation, and non-compliance with disclosure norms. CBI is probing a case against NDTV in relation to a Rs 375 crore loan from ICICI Bank and a corresponding wrongful loss of Rs 46 crore to the bank. 

There is a chain of borrow, repay and borrow where the Roys took a series of loans in 2008 as they sought to buy back a large chunk of NDTV shares from the market, allegedly violating foreign direct investment (FDI) rules in a 2007-09 investment, a charge denied by the company.

In August 2019, NDTV founders Prannoy Roy and his wife, Radhika Roy, were prevented from leaving the country after authorities had suspected that the accused Roys could run away from the country amidst massive tax fraud allegations against them.

More recently, in December 2020, Markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) had imposed a penalty of Rs 25 crore on news outlet NDTV and Rs 1 crore each on its promoters. SEBI had imposed fines on NDTV and its promoters Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy for “violating various securities” norms by hiding information from shareholders regarding certain loan agreements.

Dalit unions call Congress’ move to make Charanjit Singh Channi Punjab CM ‘poll stunt’, Mayawati criticises move too

OpIndia Staff
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Dalit unions call Congress’ move to make Charanjit Singh Channi Punjab CM ‘poll stunt’, Mayawati criticises move too

The Congress on Sunday picked Charanjit Singh Channi, as Punjab’s next chief minister, after the sudden resignation of Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday. The Dalit unions in the state are, however, not quite pleased with the Congress party’s game plan to lodge a Dalit leader as the face of the state, with less than six months to go before the assembly polls in Punjab. They have termed Congress’ move as an election stunt, Indian Express has reported.

Slamming Congress’ decision to choose Charanjit Singh Channi amidst all the other deserving candidates like Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Navjot Singh Sidhu and Ambika Soni the Dalit unions said the party was trying to kill two birds with one stone since Channi is both a Dalit as well as a Sikh.

The Dalit unions opined that this was Congress strategy to consolidate the divided Dalit vote into a single bloc before the state goes into polls next year.

“It is merely an election stunt. Channi is a Dalit as well as a Sikh. Punjab will go to the polls in another four to five months and a code of conduct will be imposed 40 days before the elections. So what can the new face do? He will just say I am a new person, trying to understand things,” said Zora Singh Nasrali, president of Punjab Khet Mazdoor Union.

The general secretary of the Mandi board Tarsem Singh Sewewala said: “Till the time policies are not changed, a Dalit CM or a Jat Sikh CM will not make any difference. Now we will ask the newly chosen CM to chair the September 23 meeting with our Sanjha Morcha. This will be a litmus test for him and will show how caring he is about Dalits.”

“However, already Punjab has 34 elected Dalit MLAs. What difference have they made to our condition? Making a Dalit CM is to target our vote bank. Every political party is targeting us, so is the Congress,” Sewewala added.

BSP chief Mayawati calls Congress move a ‘poll gimmick’

Dalit leader and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati has also slammed the Congress for its decision to induct Channi as the new Punjab CM just before the state is scheduled to go into polls. The former CM of Uttar Pradesh called it Congress’ poll gimmick for the upcoming Punjab assembly elections. Mayawati was quoted by ANI as saying that the appointment of Channi merely for a few months ahead of Punjab polls is a gimmick.

“I have also come to know through media that the next Punjab assembly elections will be fought under the leadership of a non-Dalit. This means that Congress still does not fully trust the Dalits. Congress is also scared of the SAD-BSP alliance in Punjab”, added Mayawati.

It is notable here that Congress general secretary Harish Rawat had announced earlier that the next assembly elections will be fought under the leadership of PCC president Navjot Sidhu. Even former PCC president Sunil Jakhar had called it ‘baffling’.

Congress playing ‘Dalit vote-bank Rajneeti’

Castigating the Congress party for playing Dalit vote-bank rajneeti, Bhagwant Samao, the president of Mazdoor Mukti Morcha, Punjab said: “Shiromani Akali Dal did an alliance with Bahujan Samaj Party eyeing Dalit vote bank. They also announced that they will make a Dalit deputy CM while AAP too made a similar announcement. BJP, too, announced that they would make a Dalit CM. So, Congress has made a Dalit CM for few months to settle their internal feud. They are trying to give a message that while other parties have made announcements, they have already made a Dalit CM. It is Dalit votebank rajneeti. If Channi was so concerned, did he ever visit any of the dharnas where Dalits have been protesting? It hardly matters to us who the CM is.”

It should be noted that Punjab has the largest percentage of Dalits in India (32%). While the majority of this group was traditionally a Congress vote bank, it has gradually gotten divided. The Aam Aadmi Party received a large portion of the Dalit vote in the 2017 assembly elections. This time also, the AAP and the Shiromani Akali Dal are expected to split the Dalit vote bank (SAD). So basically, Congress is hoping that by giving the state its first Dalit chief minister, it may tip the scales in its favour in the 34 reserved seats in the 117-seat legislature.

Charanjit Singh Channi accused in #MeToo, illegal construction and illegal mining cases

Meanwhile, Charanjit Singh Channi has taken oath as Punjab Chief Minister, Monday. Channi is an MLA from the Chamkaur Sahib Assembly constituency.

In October 2018, Channi was accused of sending inappropriate messages to a woman IAS officer. The matter was ‘resolved’ to the woman officer’s satisfaction, reports said. The woman officer had alleged Channi had sent her multiple messages to which she had objected but he continued to send them. When one message was sent late at night, she had decided to object and escalate the matter.

Turns out he had sent an Urdu couplet to the woman officer ‘by mistake’ which she objected to. He, however, later apologised for the same.

When Bholath MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira was the opposition leader in March 2018, he accused Channi of being involved in illegal mining, a claim the minister strenuously disputed.

In another incident, the now Punjab CM was accused of illegally constructing a road from a park outside his official residence in Sector 2, Chandigarh. Within hours, the road was razed by the Chandigarh administration.

Pakistan: Hindu family held hostage for fetching drinking water from mosque, tortured for ‘violating sanctity’

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan: Hindu family held hostage for fetching drinking water from mosque, tortured for ‘violating sanctity’

After an eight-year-old Hindu boy was charged with blasphemy, a Hindu family was thrashed and held hostage for fetching water from a mosque in Pakistan’s Punjab province. 

Reportedly in an incident from last week, Alam Ram Bheel was picking raw cotton along with his wife and other family members. When the family went to a nearby mosque to fetch some drinking water from a tap, they were thrashed by local landlords and their men. 

While the Hindu family was returning home after unloading the cotton, they were picked up by the landlords and held hostage at an outhouse. Ram’s family was again subjected to torture for ‘violating the sanctity’ of the mosque. 

The family was later rescued by some local residents. 

Police refused to register a case

Ram who held a sit-in outside the police station claimed that the police initially refused to register his case as the perpetrators were related to a local Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) parliamentarian.

PTI’s south Punjab minority wing secretary-general Yodhister Chohan also dusted his hands off the incident saying he preferred to stay away due to the influence of a ruling party MP. 

However, the police finally registered a case under sections 506, 154, 379, 148 and 149 of the Pakistan Penal Code. Deputy Commissioner Dr Khuram Shehzad said he would first meet the elders of the Hindu community on Monday before taking any action.

Minor boy charged with blasphemy

The minority Hindu community with a population of just 75 lakhs in Pakistan is subjected to regular persecution. In the month of August, an eight-year-old Hindu boy was booked under charges of blasphemy. He was charged for the crime after he was accused to have urinated on the carpet of a Madarsa.

The boy had been taken into ‘protective custody’ following the incident and he had spent a week in jail before receiving bail. His family has gone into hiding following retribution. 

Suresh Chavhanke points to dog and says ‘Owaisi is here’, Rakesh Tikait appears to agree in viral clip from interview

OpIndia Staff
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Suresh Chavhanke points to dog and says ‘Owaisi is here’, Rakesh Tikait appears to agree in viral clip from interview

Suresh Chavhanke has interviewed anti-farm law protests leader Rakesh Tikait on his channel Sudarshan TV. The complete interview will be telecast at 8 pm on Monday. Prior to that, Suresh Chavhanke has been sharing clips from the interview on his Twitter account. One such clip has gone now gone viral.

In the viral clip, Chavhanke points to dogs which had entered the scene of the interview and pointed out to Rakesh Tikait that Owaisi was here, presumably Asaduddin Owaisi, the leader of AIMIM. But he could have also referred to Akbaruddin Owaisi, the brother of the AIMIM supremo, it is not entirely clear.

Chavhanke says, “Look at this (pointing towards the dogs). Wherever I interview, Owaisi pays a visit. Look here, Owaisi has come… You can watch any ‘Chalte Chalte’ you want.” The Sudarshan TV Editor then apologised to the dogs for insulting them. Tikait chimes in saying, “They are loyal.”

The ‘farmer leader’ did not appear too bothered by Chavhanke’s jibe at Owaisi and even appeared to agree with him, although the context of it all is not clear and his precise reaction will be known only when the complete interview is aired on Monday.

There has been occasion in the past when dogs have appeared on the scene while Suresh Chavhanke was conducting an interview. When dogs appeared during his interview with Azam Khan, he had called man’s best friend ‘descendant of Owaisi’. It is not entirely clear when the descendants of Owaisi became Owaisi himself.

Asaduddin Owaisi and Rakesh Tikait found themselves at loggerheads recently after the latter called the former BJP’s ‘chacha jaan’. “Owaisi and BJP are a team. He is BJP’s chacha jaan. He has the blessings of the BJP. He will abuse them, but they will not file a case against him. BJP will take his help. Farmers will have to understand their moves. Owaisi is double-faced. He will ruin the farmers. They will hatch conspiracies during elections. But as suggested by Zila Panchayat elections, people in Baghpat are revolutionary,” the anti-farm law protester said.

Shaukat Ali, AIMIM’s UP chief, hit back at Tikait saying that he wanted to become a political leader using shortcuts. Owaisi responded, saying, “This man (Tikait) is a liar … I have been booked under Section 153-A (Promoting enmity on religious grounds) a few days back … These Chachajaan and Abbajaan comments are described as dog whistle politics and he should stop resorting to such tactics.”

Tikait, who was accused of involvement in the Muzaffarnagar riots, was found chanting ‘Allahu-Akbar’ at a rally recently.

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