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‘Get the f*ck out’: Top Philippines diplomat calls China an ‘ugly oaf’ that wants to ‘father’ a Chinese province on a ‘handsome guy’

OpIndia Staff
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‘Get the f*ck out’: Top Philippines diplomat calls China an ‘ugly oaf’ that wants to ‘father’ a Chinese province on a ‘handsome guy’

Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Philippines, Teodoro Locsin Jr., lashed out at China on Monday and called them an ‘ugly oaf’. He also used expletives to drive home his point regarding maritime disputes on the backdrop of accusations against the Chinese coastguard of “belligerent actions” against Filipino boats.

The top diplomat said, “China, my friend, how politely can I put it? Let me see… O…GET THE FUCK OUT. What are you doing to our friendship? You. Not us. We’re trying.” “You’re like an ugly oaf forcing your attentions on a handsome guy who wants to be a friend; not to father a Chinese province. He doesn’t have a uterus,” he added.

'Get the f*ck out': Top Philippines diplomat calls China an 'ugly oaf' that wants to 'father' a Chinese province on a 'handsome guy'
Source: Twitter

Locsin Jr. stated further, “If he tried to give birth to a Chinese province it would be a ball of crap at best and the end of the regime. What is it so hard to understand about Duterte’s UN declaration that the Arbitral Award made all maritime features Philippines; no one else’s?”

The dispute pertained to the Scarborough shoal which is a resource rich region in the South China Sea. The foreign affairs department of Philippines has lodged a diplomatic protest against China’s actions against their coastguard during patrols and training exercises last month.

It said that China’s actions were a “blatant infringement of Philippine sovereignty.” The Philippines Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana had earlier demanded a complete withdrawal of over 200 Chinese vessels from a South China Sea reef which is claimed by the Philippines. He claimed that the vessels were manned by militias and accuses China of a “clear provocative action of militarizing the area.”

Relations between the two countries had warmed for a while but now, it again appears to be on the decline.

IPL 2021: KKR v RCB match postponed after two KKR players test positive for COVID-19

OpIndia Staff
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IPL 2021: KKR v RCB match postponed after two KKR players test positive for COVID-19

Today’s IPL encounter between Kolkata Knight Riders(KKR) and Royal Challengers Bangalore(RCB) in Ahmedabad has been postponed by the BCCI after two KKR players—Varun Chakravarthy and Sandeep Warrier tested positive for COVID-19.

This is the first time in the Indian Premier League that the match has been postponed even though some of the players, as well as support staff, had contracted the virus earlier. The match was scheduled to be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Monday (May 3). The new date of the fixture will be announced soon.

According to the reports, the decision was taken due to COVID-19 concerns in the KKR and the RCB camp after Varun Chakravarthy and Sandeep Warrier tested positive for the virus. As per a BCCI official quoted by ANI, the positive test results made RCB wary and they were not inclined to take the field in the current scenario.

While other members of the KKR team and support staff have tested negative but since the second RTPCR report of them cannot be out before evening, the match could not have gone ahead, the official said.

Meanwhile, Sydney Morning Herald reported that Australian fast bowler Pat Cummins, who also plays for KKR, is also unwell and currently under self-isolation.

Earlier, before the start of the tournament, Delhi Capitals players Axar Patel had tested positive for COVID-19. Similarly, KKR player Nitish Rana and several groundsmen of Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai had tested positive for the virus.

Concerns have been raised by several overseas players after the dramatic rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in the last few weeks. Adam Zampa, Kane Richardson, Andrew Tye and Liam Livingstone are four of the overseas players who have left the tournament midway citing bio-bubble fatigue. 

However, India on Sunday registered a slight dip in the number of daily coronavirus cases as it recorded 3,68,147 new cases of infection and 3,417 deaths in the last 24 hours.

Uttar Pradesh: CM Yogi appeals to businessmen to rise to the occasion and help fight the coronavirus pandemic

OpIndia Staff
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Uttar Pradesh: CM Yogi appeals to businessmen to rise to the occasion and help fight the coronavirus pandemic

On May 2, Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister, Uttar Pradesh, had a virtual meeting with the entrepreneurs and businessmen and appealed to them to rise to the occasion amid a surge in Covid-19 cases in the state. He sought cooperation from the traders and entrepreneurs in the battle of saving lives and livelihood. He asked them to assist in night curfew and weekend lockdown. CM Yogi also urged them to contact the CM office in case someone harasses them.

Speaking to the business class from his government residence, CM Yogi said that the businessmen have always supported the society and country in all odds. At the time when the state and the country are facing a crisis due to the second wave of Covid-19, the business class should come forward to work with the government through their energy and cooperation. He urged them to actively contribute to the ongoing fight against the Covid-19 surge in the state and the country. “We will once again succeed in this fight and defeat corona,” he said.

Do not neglect the risk of infection: Yogi

During the conversation, CM Yogi said that the infection is 30-50 times stronger this time. The situation has increased the demand for medical oxygen in the state. Though the state government’s efforts are being proven effective to address the demand to some extent, he urged the businessmen and entrepreneurs to work on new innovations in the field of oxygen production and oxygen concentrators.

He added that the government of Uttar Pradesh would provide all possible help in such ventures.

‘Contact CM office if someone harasses you’, said CM

CM Yogi Adityanath said that the circumstances are affecting both life and livelihood in the state. Weekly lockdowns and night curfews have been implemented to break the Covid-19 chain. While urging the businessmen to cooperate, he said if someone harasses them, they should immediately contact the local administration.

In case they are not satisfied with the action taken by the local administration, they can contact Chief Minister’s office, and help will be provided immediately, CM said.

GST returns increased during a pandemic

CM Yogi said that though there are several restrictions in the state, GST returns have increased in recent times. So far, 16 lakh merchants have been registered with GST.

He appealed to the merchants who have not got their GST numbers yet to get the registration done at the earliest.

‘There is an atmosphere of security in the state’: Yogi

CM Yogi referred to the policy of zero tolerance towards crime and criminals and said that there is an atmosphere of security that the BJP government has created in the state.

There is a provision of an insurance cover of Rs 10 lakh under the Suraksha Bima Yojana for traders, from which the traders are benefiting.

Uttar Pradesh is currently fourth worst affected state in terms of total COVID-19 cases in India with over 13 lakh people having tested positive. As of now, the state has little less than 3 lakh active cases. Over 13,000 people have lost their lives in the pandemic.

TMC workers loot shop of BJP karyakarta after trends showed Mamata Banerjee’s victory, video goes viral

OpIndia Staff
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TMC workers loot shop of BJP karyakarta after trends showed Mamata Banerjee’s victory, video goes viral

A video has gone viral on the internet where people can be seen looting a shop. According to claims on social media, the video was shot in West Bengal after initial trends suggested a TMC victory in the state. It is being said that the shop was looted because it belonged to a BJP worker.

The shop was apparently located in Howrah’s Shibpur.

Another video has now come to the fore where a Muslim woman can be heard saying that the shop belonged to her brother and that he was a BJP worker. Another Muslim woman seen in the same video was weeping because the shop was looted.

There has been an outbreak of violence in West Bengal following TMC’s victory over the BJP. Avijit Sarkar was lynched to death allegedly by a TMC mob. Within hours of winning elections, TMC gheraoed the party office of BJP in Hastings, burnt down party office in Arambagh and attacked BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari who defeated Mamata Banerjee.

7 seats with highest win margins and 7 seats with lowest win margins: What does it say about Hindu and Muslim consolidation in Bengal

Nupur J Sharma
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7 seats with highest win margins and 7 seats with lowest win margins: What does it say about Hindu and Muslim consolidation in Bengal

The West Bengal Assembly Elections 2021 proved to be a massive upset for the BJP. While BJP did increase their tally massively from a mere 3 seats in 2016 to 77 seats in 2021, the Hindutva undercurrent that most people had predicted fell completely flat as the results showed a landslide victory for TMC with 211 seats.

The underlying reason for BJP not being able to win the state clearly seems to be the lack of Hindu consolidation, as much as expected, in the state. That fact is rather evident from the detail that the 7 seats with the lowest margins (below 1,000 vote margin) were mostly overwhelmingly dominated by Hindus and the 7 seats that had the highest winning margin were seats mostly with over 25% Muslim population, some, even with as high as 70% Muslim population. Barring a couple of exceptions.

If one looks at the table below, there were 7 seats where the win margin was less than 1,000 seats.

ConstituencyLeading PartyTrailing PartyMuslim %Hindu %Margin
DinhataBJPTMC316957
BalarampurBJPTMC991423
DantanTMCBJP1288623
KultiBJPTMC2179679
TamlukTMCBJP1486793
JalpaiguriTMCBJP1189941
GhatalBJPTMC1486966

4 of those 7 seats were won by the BJP and 3 were won by TMC. However, the important information that is contained in the table is that all of those constituencies that had less than a 1,000 vote margin were mostly overwhelmingly dominated by Hindus except for one seat.

In 6 out of 7 seats, there seems to be hardly any Hindu consolidation. In a seat, Balarampur, where the Hindu population is over 90%, BJP managed to win with a narrow margin of only 423 votes. In other seats like Tamluk and Jalpaiguri where the Hindu population is over 86 and 89% respectively, TMC won with a narrow margin of 793 and 941 seats respectively.

One exception in the lowest margin category, which has 7 seats, is that of Dinhata. In Dinhata, with 31% Muslims, BJP managed to take the seat away from TMC in 2021. In 2016, TMC had won this seat with an almost 22,000 vote margin. In 2021, BJP seems to have won the seat with a narrow margin of just 57 votes.

This, however, does not necessarily mean that the Muslims of Dinhata voted for BJP. It could also be that with a 31% Muslim majority, the Hindus felt more under threat and therefore, compelled to vote BJP into power as compared to other seats where Hindus were in an overwhelming majority and therefore, felt no immediate threat to their life and property.

Other than the one seat of Dinhata, the other seats with a low win margin failed to see overwhelming Hindu consolidation for the BJP or the TMC.

However, the story is vastly different when one looks at the seats with the highest winning margin. We will consider only the 7 top seats since there are only 7 corresponding seats where the margin was less than 1,000.

ConstituencyLeading PartyTrailing PartyMuslim %Hindu %Margin
SujapurTMCINC2278130163
MetiaburuzTMCBJP2872119604
BhagabangolaTMCCPI(M)7921106008
RaghunathGanjTMCBJP732798313
MuraraiTMCBJP613998246
MalatipurTMCBJP326891949
Basirhat UttarTMCRSMP287289351

The highest margin seats, the highest being Sujapur with a 1,30,163 vote margin, had a 22% Muslim population. All of these 7 seats were won by TMC, with some seats with over 70% Muslim population.

All the candidates who won from these 7 highest margin seats were Muslim candidates.

ConstituencyLeading CandidateLeading PartyTrailing CandidateTrailing Party
SujapurMd Abdul GhaniTMCIsha Khan ChoudhuryINC
MetiaburuzABDUL KHALEQUE MOLLATMCRAMJIT PRASADBJP
BhagabangolaIDRIS ALITMCMD. KAMAL HOSSAINCPI(M)
RaghunathGanjAkhruzzamanTMCGolam ModaswerBJP
MuraraiDR MOSARRAF HOSSAINTMCDEBASISH ROYBJP
MalatipurABDUR RAHIM BOXITMCMOUSUMI DASBJP
Basirhat UttarRAFIKUL ISLAM MONDALTMCMD BAIJID AMINRSMP

From this table, however, it is important to note that the BJP candidates who trailed were Hindus and not Muslims, thereby indicating that BJP did not necessarily field Muslims from seats where they knew there would be heavy Muslim consolidation.

The obvious conclusions from the data above is that there was no Hindutva consolidation in Bengal as much as BJP had hoped for. In fact, a large swath of Hindus even voted for the TMC. A seat where BJP managed to wrest control from the TMC, with a high Muslim concentration with a very narrow margin is where Hindus perhaps realised that they were under immediate threat from the Muslims. However, the highest margin seats make it evident that there was massive Muslim consolidation in favour of TMC. In fact, the hopes that Muslim votes would be divided between TMC, Abbas Siddiqui and Owaisi have not panned out at all.

While BJP did multiply their total vote percentage to 38.12% from 10.2%, the Hindu mobilisation and Muslim vote division that BJP was banking on did not work out the way they had hoped.

Delhi govt requests to deploy Army in the national capital amid raging Chinese coronavirus pandemic

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi govt requests to deploy Army in the national capital amid raging Chinese coronavirus pandemic

Delhi Government has written a letter to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh seeking the help of the Army to set up, operationalise and manage some Covid-19 health facilities in the national capital amidst the rampaging coronavirus outbreak.

In his letter, Manish Sisodia asked Singh for Army’s assistance in running COVID-19 facilities with 10,000 oxygenated non-ICU beds and 1,000 ICU beds, citing the burden on the city’s already overwhelmed health infrastructure.

“Since the entire health infrastructure machinery is overwhelmed with the management of the existing hospitals and the upcoming Covid hospitals, it will be a timely help to the people of Delhi if the ministry of defence, with the considerable resources at its command, is tasked with the responsibility to provide and man the additional Covid health facilities as per the current projections,” Sisodia wrote.

Sisodia drew attention to the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the country, alleging that at least 10 per cent of the new cases will require some form of hospitalisation and the Army could step in to rapidly augment the capacity needed to address the new cases.

“As of now, Delhi has 16,272 non-ICU oxygen beds and 4,866 ICU beds, and the Delhi government is creating an additional 15,000 oxygenated non-ICU beds and 1,200 ICU beds, which will be operational in the next 10 days. But as Delhi is recording over 25,000 new cases every day and about 10 per cent of these new cases require some form of hospitalisation, the additional health infrastructure will soon be at its capacity,” Sisodia wrote.

Sisodia also thanked the Centre for augmenting Delhi’s oxygen supply, along with applauding the work undertaken by the DRDO, ITBP, and other organisations in helping the capital fight with this resurgent wave of the coronavirus outbreak. The deputy CM also asked the government to provide cryogenic tankers for the transport of Liquid Medical Oxygen. The government of Delhi, with necessary assistance from the government of India and other state governments, is improving the transport infrastructure by sourcing cryogenic tankers even from abroad, he said.

Sisodia also said that Delhi is in need of 40,000 D type medical oxygen cylinders and requested the ministry to provide medical and paramedical teams to supplement the medical manpower of Delhi.

Delhi is in throes of a ferocious second wave of the coronavirus outbreak, with around 25,000 new cases being reported on a daily basis from the last several days. Besides the growing number of cases, Delhi’s predicament was compounded by the scarcity of oxygen, beds and vital drugs to fight the COVID-19 infection. The hospitals are already running at an overstretched capacity. About 12 people at Delhi’s Batra hospital died on Saturday after the hospital ran out of oxygen supply for 1.5 hours.

Maharashtra: BJP snatches victory from NCP in Pandharpur bypolls

OpIndia Staff
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Maharashtra: BJP snatches victory from NCP in Pandharpur bypolls

A by-poll that was necessitated in Maharashtra’s Solapur district following the death of Bharat Bhalke the late NCP MLA due to post-Covid-19 complications in November last year was swept by the BJP. 

The Pandharpur seat which was considered an NCP bastion owing to Bhalke’s strong presence in the temple city has been won by the BJP candidate Samadhan Autade. 

Autade defeated his nearest NCP rival, Bharat Bhalke’s son Bhagirath Bhalke by a margin of over 3,700 votes to win the by-election to Pandharpur-Mangalvedha Assembly seat in Solapur district. 

With this victory, BJP’s tally in the state assembly has increased to 106, pulling down NCP to 53. The result was a jolt to the MVA as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra Ajit Pawar himself along with state NCP chief Jayant Patil had extensively traveled the constituency, addressing rallies. However, the duo did not manage to bag victory for their party. 

Calling it as an indicative verdict by the people against the MVA, the state BJP chief Chandrakant Patil said, “This (contest) was the litmus test for Uddhav Thackeray’s MVA. People are angry with the coalition government. The government disconnected the electricity connections, did not help farmers, nor deposit the compensation due to various calamities into the bank accounts of the affected families. On top of it, there is no implementation of the financial package account for the poor and economically weaker sections affected due to lockdown.”

“People have lost faith in the MVA government and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray cannot run the government. It was proved with today’s outcome,” he added.

Thrilled by the win, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis was seen charged after the victory at a meeting held at Pandharpur, the video of which has now gone viral on social media.

The Leader of opposition in his animated speech said that voters in by-polls held after the 2019 assembly elections are willing to give a chance to the BJP so the party can show the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi their place. He alleged that the MVA is plagued with inquiry, malpractices and corruption and that it is time to bring about a change.

Fadnavis congratulated the winning candidate and thanked the party workers for the win through a Tweet.

It is being said that the BJP candidate also had immense support of the powerful Mohite-Patil clan which assured his victory.

China mocks India’s COVID-19 outbreak, removes post after backlash

Jinit Jain
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China mocks India’s COVID-19 outbreak, removes post after backlash

A social media post by an account linked with the Chinese Communist Party mocked India’s COVID-19 outbreak. The post, which was uploaded on Chinese social media website Weibo, juxtaposed two photographs—the country’s successful launch of a space module with the grim picture of cremation pyres in India.

The Communist Party’s Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission on its official Sina Weibo account posted photos of the Tianhe module launch and its fuel burn-off with what appeared to be a picture of a mass outdoor cremation in India, and captioned “China lighting a fire versus India lighting a fire”. The post also included a hashtag denoting the new COVID-19 cases in India which touched the 4 lakh mark on Saturday last week.

Th controversial Weibo post mocking India’s funeral pyres, via Twitter

However, the callous post by the CCP Commission sparked a massive online furore following which it was removed from the social media website. A number of Chinese citizens responded to the post, criticising the Commission for uploading an insensitive post amid the rising number of COVID-19 cases in India.

Hu Xijin, the firebrand editor of the nationalist Global Times, who is otherwise critical of India, also questioned the Commission for ridiculing the COVID-19 outbreak in India. “Hold high the banner of humanitarianism at this time, show sympathy for India, and firmly place Chinese society on a moral high ground,” Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of Communist Party-backed Global Times newspaper, wrote on Weibo commenting on the deleted post.

The Commission for Political and Legal Affairs is a powerful wing of the CPC. It is entrusted with the responsibility of supervising police officers, prosecutors and courts. It is currently headed by Guo Shengkun, a member of the political bureau of the CCP’s central committee.

After the backlash from online users, China’s foreign ministry swung into a damage control mode. It said the post could not be found on Weibo. “Regarding the relevant picture mentioned in your question, we currently cannot find it on the relevant Weibo account,” it said.

“We hope everyone gives attention to the Chinese government and mainstream public opinion supporting India’s fight against the epidemic,” China’s foreign ministry said. The official added that more supplies will be sent to India in the upcoming days underscoring China’s support through practical action.

The Weibo post came on the heels of Chinese Premier Xi Jinping’s message to the Indian PM Modi, expressing his condolences on the resurgent second wave of the coronavirus pandemic in India. Xi also expressed his willingness to provide assistance and expand anti-pandemic cooperation with India to defeat the second wave of the COVID-19 outbreak.

It is pertinent to note that while Chinese Xi Jinping expressed his condolences to India and asserted to help her in its fight against the pandemic, the People’s Liberation Army(PLA) who was involved in a longstanding standoff with the Indian Army, moved to strengthen its positions in the friction areas along the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh.

They thrashed my puppies to death: Watch two harrowing videos by BJP’s Avijit Sarkar before he was thrashed to death by TMC goons

OpIndia Staff
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They thrashed my puppies to death: Watch two harrowing videos by BJP’s Avijit Sarkar before he was thrashed to death by TMC goons

Hours after the Trinamool Congress (TMC) won the West Bengal Vidhan Sabha elections, the party hoodlums went berserk and targetted the BJP workers in the State. On Sunday (May 2), a BJP worker named Avijit Sarkar took to Facebook to narrate the harrowing tale of violence that he was subjected to by the TMC goons.

The video was uploaded just hours before he was lynched to death by the miscreants. “I don’t know how to come live (on Facebook). They hurled bombs right in front of my eyes and vandalised my house and the party office. My only mistake is that I am a BJP worker.,” he recounted.

Avijit Sarkar had informed that he was a dog-lover and had adopted several street dogs, which he found on the streets in a helpless state. Pointing towards his dog, “I had brought her from Sealdah. She had given birth to some puppies. They slaughtered the puppies mercilessly.” The BJP worker broke down into tears.

In a subsequent video, a teary-eyed Avijit Sarkar narrated, “They are destroying my house, NGO office – one after the other. Look at my dogs. She had given birth to 5 beautiful puppies. I had uploaded their pictures on Facebook.” He said that the attack took place in Ward no. 30 in the Beleghata neighbourhood in Kolkata under the supervision of TMC leaders Paresh Paul and Swapan Samandar.

“They destroyed my house, right in the presence of Narkeldanga police officials. They thrashed my innocent puppies to death. Aara ki Manush? (Are they even humans?) I don’t know how to come live. I am informing everyone (about my ordeal) through this video. Why are they committing atrocities on me? I don’t mind if anyone supports any political party or wins the election. But they are ruthlessly destroying my house, and NGO office,” he concluded.

Opindia has learnt that Avijit Sarkar was beaten to death after uploading the two testimonials on Facebook. Following the victory of the Trinamool Congress, several BJP workers and supporters had expressed fear that Mamata Banerjee’s return to power might jeopardise their livelihood and existence.

TMC goons engage in arson, vandalism, and violence after elections

Within hours of winning elections, TMC gheraoed the party office of BJP in Hastings, burnt down party office in Arambagh and attacked BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari who defeated Mamata Banerjee. On Monday (May 3), News18 journalist Payal Mehta had shared the CCTV footage of one such deadly attack. In visuals caught on camera, the violent mob attacked the house of a BJP worker on Sunday evening in the Kasba locality of South Kolkata. At about 15 seconds into the video, a Trinamool Congress flag could be spotted. The goons initially tried to kick open the door of the house. However, when this failed, they threw punches and attacked with bricks and sticks.

On Sunday (May 2), TV9 journalist Anindya shared another disturbing incident from the Beleghata area in Kolkata where violence was carried out against BJP workers. “Violence breaks out in Beleghata, Kolkata. It’s barely 7 km from the icons Park Street. Media isn’t allowed anywhere near there. BJP cadres are targeted,” he tweeted. In another incident, the house of a BJP booth agent was set ablaze in Bishnupur, after the election results showed a comfortable TMC victory. In visuals shared by Anindya, smoke could be seen rising from the building that was set on fire.

Shiv Sena accuses Rahul Kanwal of lying about Sena goons threatening Adar Poonawalla for vaccines

OpIndia Staff
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Shiv Sena accuses Rahul Kanwal of lying about Sena goons threatening Adar Poonawalla for vaccines

Shiv Sena has written a letter to the India Today Group, refuting the allegations levelled against them by journalist Rahul Kanwal who had allaged that Shiv Sena goons had threatened SII CEO Adar Poonawalla for vaccines.

Calling it “absolutely untrue” and “defamatory”, Sena demanded that the India Today group takes action against Rahul Kanwal.

“…to attach another party president’s video to Shiv Sena and to deliberately defame us through misinformation speaks volume of the political bias of the anchor. It reeks of malice ans misinformation campaign, may be to divert the national debate on an important day of election result and as the country rages through COVID-19 pandemic,” the letter said.

In its letter, Sena also reminded the India Today Group how another journalist from one of their TV channels expressed prejudicial views against a senior Shiv Sena leader in the past. This is assumed to be in reference to a news show on Aaj Tak when anchor Anjana Om Kashyap called Aaditya Thackeray Shiv Sena’s Rahul Gandhi.

Sena defended its demand of action against Kanwal by highlighting a previous incident when the Group had punished a journalist for broadcasting fake and misleading news. The journalist in question is believed to be Rajdeep Sardesai, who was taken off-air by the India Today group in January 2021 for two weeks after he spread fake news about the death of rioter Navreet during the Republic Day riots.

“We also expect an express apology from him on the same platforms that he has voiced this fake news on,” the letter said.

Rahul Kanwal says Adar Poonawalla sent him videos of Sena goons gheraoing his factory and demanding vaccines

The CEO of the Serum Institute of India Adar Poonawalla has temporarily moved out of the country after facing threats from the most powerful men in India after Rahul Gandhi and other opposition members have constantly fear-mongered and demonised him.

Calling out the perpetrators, India Today’s Rahul Kanwal, in a shocking revelation, has said that the most powerful men and others issuing threats to Poonawalla happen to be none other than the ruling party of Maharashtra: Shiv Sena.

While conversing with his colleague covering election results, the anchor got into a monologue describing the COVID-19 situation and temporary migration of Adar Poonawalla. It is then that Rahul Kanwal revealed, “…And I actually saw this. He (Adar Poonawalla) sent me some videos of some Shiv Sena locals showing up outside his factory, giving him the choicest of gaalis (abuses) and saying ‘humko pehle do’ (give us the vaccines first) and this is bizarre.”

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