The charity commissioner in Ahmedabad, Gujarat has ordered the freezing of the back account of NGO ‘We The People Charitable Trust’, Times of India has reported. The order comes after MLA Jignesh Mevani was collecting funds in its name. A show cause notice has also been issued to the NGO.
The charity commissioner has pointed out that an NGO already existed under the name ‘We The People Charitable Society’ and demanded to know why action should not be taken against the Trust for registering itself under a name very similar to the one that already existed.
The authority said that similar names lead to confusion and the matter has been with in the Emblems & Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950. Jignesh Mevani had sought funds in the name of the Trust for an oxygen pant and oxygen concentrators.
An enquiry revealed the Mevani is not a trustee of the organisation. A reply has been sought from the Trust on whether Mevani was authorised to make such an appeal but a response has not yet been received, as per the report.
Highlighting the fact that many illegalities have been committed in connection with Remdesivir injections and oxygen cylinders, an inspector has been ordered to investigate the documents, reports and resolutions passed by the Trust.
Jignesh Mevani, meanwhile, has alleged political persecution. “The trustees have not yet received any notice and without granting an opportunity of hearing, the bank account was sought to be frozen,” he was quoted in the report as saying. He added, “There is something fundamentally wrong with the intentions of the authority. The trustees are being targeted because they are helping me.”
Earlier, we had reported how fundraisers by the Hemkunt Foundation, Rana Ayyub and Jignesh Mevani were possibly violating FCRA laws in the country.
After playing petty politics over the oxygen crisis in the national capital, the AAP government has begun diverting attention from its poor vaccination efforts by shifting goalposts. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Monday slammed the central government for not providing them with the number of ‘ordered’ jabs making it difficult for them to carry out the inoculation process smoothly.
Sisodia claimed that the Delhi government ordered for 1.34 crore doses of vaccine from the manufactures for people in the 18-44 age group but the Centre allotted only 3.5 lakh doses to them for the month of May.
Sisodia parroted the claims made by Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal that when the central government decided in April that states can directly place orders with vaccine manufacturers, the Arvind Kejriwal government ordered 1.34 crore doses for the people in the 18-44 age group.
कभी चुनाव, कभी कुम्भ और कभी विदेशों में वैक्सीन बेचने के चक्कर में देश का बेड़ा गरक करने वाली भाजपा के झूठे प्रोपगंडा का जवाब- ⁃दिल्ली सरकार ने अप्रैल में ही कंपनियों को 1.34 करोड़ वैक्सीन का आर्डर दिया था। ⁃जवाब में केंद्र सरकार ने कहा कि दिल्ली को मई में केवल 3.5 लाख वैक्सीन pic.twitter.com/bRHX2qhZeA
Tweeting the copies of the letter, he said the Centre has now told them that Delhi can have only 3.5 lakh doses in May.
In his Tweet, the Deputy CM of Delhi lashed out at the Centre saying that the “BJP is practising politics of lies and falsely accusing the Delhi government of ordering 5.5 lakh vaccine doses only”.
The deputy CM maintained that the central government has refused to provide them with the ‘ordered’ dose of vaccines.
BJP hits back at AAP govt for its petty politics
In response to these allegations, BJP hit back saying that the Delhi government was resorting to blatent lies to wriggle out of the quandary. They accused Kejriwal govt of being responsible for the “unparalleled Covid-19 crisis” in the city. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra also shared the copies of the two letters to prove that the claim being made by the Kejriwal government is indeed false and merely an attempt to malign the central government.
He said that in the letter, the Delhi government had in clear words expressed only its intent to procure the vaccines from the two manufacturers.
Patra said that the letter dated April 26 to the Govt of India clearly stated that the Delhi Govt plans to procure 67 lakh doses of Covishield and Covaxin from Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech respectively. It no where talks about placing the orders for the vaccines, cleared Patra.
“Read both these letters released by AAP Govt, carefully, you would find that these are not ‘letters of placing the ORDER’ of 1.34 crore vaccines as said by CM Kejriwal. At best these letters are “Letters of INTENT” ( …we are planning to procure) Can’t pass these as orders!” said the BJP spokesperson.
A closer look at the letter makes it evident that what Sambit Patra said is indeed correct. The letters mention that the AAP Govt in Delhi is “planning to procure”. No where does it mention that they have placed an order with the manufacturers, as they are now claiming.
Letter written by the Delhi Govt to Bhsrat Biotech on April 26
Letter written by the Delhi Govt to Serum Institute on April 26
Interestingly, when Manish Sisodia shared the above screenshots, he underlined ‘procure 67 (Sixty Seven) lakh doses of Covaxin and Covishield’, but conveniently left out the word ‘planning’, which elucidates that the Delhi govt had not placed an order with the manufacturers of the vaccines but were mulling over it.
“Right after our order, the Centre sent us a letter saying Delhi can get only 3.5 lakh doses in May including 92,840 doses of Covaxin and 2,67,690 doses of Covishield. The vaccine companies had not responded by then. BJP is lying that we ordered only 5.50 lakh doses. We had ordered 1.34 crore doses,” Manish Sisodia claimed, despite the letters written by the Delhi Govt speaking a different story altogether.
Arvind Kejriwal’s shenanigan over medical oxygen
It becomes crucial at this point to recollect, how, Arvind Kejriwal and his party had made a major hue and cry about oxygen supplies in the city, pinning the blame on the centre for the crisis. The matter was taken to such extremes that the Delhi HC and then the Supreme Court had to intervene.
For a good amount of time Kejriwal maintained that Delhi needed a daily supply of at least 976 MT of oxygen to emerge out of the crisis in the national capital. It accused Centre of not providing them with adequate medical oxygen. When central government requested an audit to know the real demand for Oxygen in Delhi, the Kejriwal govt turned down the request.
But after the city-state was supplied with 730 MT of oxygen following court orders, the CM suddenly took a U turn and said that national Capital’s oxygen shortage problem was resolved and that they have enough oxygen to open thousands of new oxygen beds.
Chanchal Chowdhury, a National award-winning actor in Bangladesh, was abused and bullied on social media by Islamists after they learnt that he is a Hindu by faith. He has acted in several films such as ‘Debi’, ‘Aynabaji’, ‘Monpura’, ‘Rupkothar Goplo’ and others.
On Sunday (May 9), the critically acclaimed actor had updated his profile picture on the occasion of International Mother’s Day. He had posted a heartwarming picture with his mother, accompanied by the caption “Maa… (heart symbol)’. Islamists were quick to spot the vermillion mark on his mother’s head, a distinct feature that distinguishes Hindus from Muslims.
It must be mentioned that several Bangladeshi Muslims bear Hindu names. At times, the Hindu names are prefixed with words such as ‘Mohammed’ to signify a Muslim identity. The surname of ‘Chowdhury’ that is suffixed to the actor’s name, for instance, is used by Hindus and Muslims alike. The surname in question was given to the landlords during the British era. As a result, many Muslims believed that Chanchal Chowdhury followed the Islamic faith.
Islamists abuse Hindu actor, ask him to convert to Islam
However, on learning that he is a Hindu, the rabid Islamists did not shy away from spewing vitriol against him. While some Muslims expressed surprise after discovering his religious affiliation, others asked him to convert to Islam. Some Islamists even resorted to the choicest of expletives and attributing vile names to his mother. “If I wouldn’t have seen this picture, then, I would have remained under the impression that you are a Muslim,” wrote one Al-Sady Prial.
Abuses that the actor got
“I won’t give a heed to actors such as you after learning that you are a Hindu. I did not know earlier that you are a Hindu,” wrote another Islamist.
Abuses that the actor got
Another Islamist named Entazul Haque remarked, “Everyone is born Muslim. But, when their forefathers start worshipping idols, they become Hindus. Islam is the only true religion. Everything else is fake. Carrying the burden of such a religion is nothing but foolishness.”
Abuses that the actor got
Chanchal Chowdhury speaks out after being abused for being a Hindu
Following the barrage of hate comments (many of which stand deleted), the Bangladeshi actor pinned his own comment. It read, “Brothers and sisters, what is your loss or gain if I am a Muslim or Hindu? The biggest identity of every individual is that he is a human. Distasteful questions about religion and discussions must be stopped from all quarters. Come, let’s become humans first. “
Screengrab of the pinned comment by Chanchal CHowdhury
On Monday, he took to Facebook yet again to recite a poem titled, ‘Dhormo (religion).’ “Who has given you the right to ‘save’ religion? Why do you commercialise religion? All religions speak of serving humanity. Do you feel superior after commercialising yours?” Chanchal Chowdhury read an excerpt from the poem.
After the controversy came to the public limelight, several netizens in Bangladesh came forward to show solidarity with the Hindu actor. With hashtags such as #stopcyberbullying and #hokprotibad, the progressive minds came together to counter-attack the regular harassment by Islamists on social media. Director Chayanika Chowdhury said, “Chanchal Chowdhury is my brother, our brother. I am seriously having doubts about our conscience as a nation. This is enough.”
Actor Fazlur Rahman pointed out, “Ignorant fanatics always go too far in the name of religion.” Another actor Rawnak Hasan remarked, “I condemn those who make these radical and obscene comments. I demand exemplary punishment of these cybercriminals.” A victim of cyber attacks, Ashna Habib Bhabna lamented, “Our silence has been their strength.”
Rising hatred against Hindus in Bangladesh
During the official 2-day visit on PM Modi to Bangladesh, Islamists attacked Hindu Temples to protest against him. Violent protests have been underway in Bangladesh over the visit by the Indian Prime Minister and some protesters have died during attempts by the police to enforce law and order.
At the same time, three rooms of the 400-year-old Paruarkul Ashtagram Maha crematorium and Radhagobind Ashram were burnt down by unidentified miscreants in Mohammadpur Upazila of Bangladesh’s Magura district. Parts of three houses, chariots and idols were also reduced to ashes in the fire which was later brought under control.
Earlier, it was reported that Facebook services were down in Bangladesh in light of the violent protests. Border Guards have been deployed to enforce law and order on the streets. The Hefazat-e-Islami is a hardline Islamist organisation, whose members have been accused of persecuting Hindus in the past.
World has understood that vaccine is humanity’s only saviour against the deadly Coronavirus along with Covid appropriate behavior. India is among a handful of countries in the world which have developed their own vaccines and running world’s largest vaccination drive. India is the fastest country globally to administer 17 crore vaccines to its citizens.
This number is equivalent to vaccinating half of America’s population and 2.5 times of UK’s population. Uttar Pradesh’ Yogi government has contributed significantly to this number. As of today, Yogi government has administered 1.37 Crore doses, including 13.6 lacs dozes in 18+ category through its 6076 vaccination centers across all the 75 districts.
In the first and second phase of vaccination, hesitancy and doubt created around the vaccine caused wide-spread fear around the Covid vaccination. Akhilesh Yadav, the president of Samajwadi Party, in a press conference sent a very irresponsible and unscientific message to his followers, that this is ‘BJP’s vaccine’ and ‘I will not take this vaccine’.
In the 2017 assembly elections, 3.5 crore voters of Uttar Pradesh voted for the BJP and around 1.8 crore voters voted for Samajwadi Party. By his irresponsible political statement around the Covid vaccine, Akhilesh Yadav has played with the lives of crores of people.
Following the footsteps of his leader, Ashutosh Sinha, an MLC from Samajwadi Party went a step further and said, the vaccine may cause impotency and no worker of Samajwadi party should take this vaccine and no citizen of Uttar Pradesh should take this vaccine.
On one hand Yogi government is making all the possible efforts to vaccinate a sizable population of Uttar Pradesh, which can lead to heard immunity, Akhilesh Yadav and his party are working hard to create doubt and hesitancy around the vaccine. But Citizens of Uttar Pradesh have sniffed the dirty smell of politics in Akhilesh Yadav’s anti-vaccine statements and shown their anger on social media.
Speaking on Covaxin, India’s home-grown Covid-19 vaccine, Dr Anthony Fauci, White House chief medical adviser and America’s top pandemic expert commented that Covaxin can neutralise the B.1.617 variant of the deadly Covid virus. As per Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), only a miniscule 0.02% to 0.04% people got infected after taking first and second dozes of the vaccine respectively.
Doctors have widely commented that, the patient who tested Covid positive, even after the 1st doze of the vaccine, got very mild symptoms in most of the cases, as the vaccine teaches our immune system to make antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. But these scientific facts bear no importance in front of the politics of Samajwadi Party, whose leaders are calling upon citizens of Uttar Pradesh NOT to take the vaccine.
Good news is that even after Akhilesh Yadav’s and other Samajwadi Party leaders’ repeated attempts to create doubt about the indigenous Covid vaccines, youth of Uttar Pradesh are registering on the CoWin app with full enthusiasm since the 18+ category was opened in the third phase of the vaccination drive and vaccination slots are getting booked rapidly. Simultaneously Yogi government is taking all the required steps to make up for this increased demand by floating a global tender for 5 crore vaccines for the state of Uttar Pradesh, over the vaccines being supplied by the central government for the states.
In the past Rahul Gandhi and other Chief Ministers of the Congress ruled states also tried to create doubt about the indigenous vaccines and that has created vaccine hesitancy among people in phase 1 and phase 2 of vaccination, which is proving detrimental in the second wave of Covid now. It’s unfortunate that many politicians see the tragedy as a political opportunity and don’t leave any chance to create confusion, panic and misinformation.
As soon as Yogi Adityanath recovered from Covid-19, he is on the run – personally checking availability of beds, oxygen, medicine supplies in hospitals, visiting the vaccination centers across the state and creating solutions with local, national or international help as needed.
When people of Uttar Pradesh are in trouble, Akhilesh Yadav has locked himself comfortably in his palatial house in Lucknow and just peddled negativity through social media. If you check the Facebook or Twitter wall of Akhilesh Yadav, his every post is cashing on the pain of the Covid patients. After being rejected repeatedly by the people of Uttar Pradesh in the 2017 assembly elections and 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Akhilesh is dreaming of a better performance in 2022 state elections, riding on the miseries of the Covid Patients. And that’s why probably he does not want Covid situation to improve in Uttar Pradesh and hence he and Samajwadi Party want to derail the Corona Vaccination drive in Uttar Pradesh.
But people of Uttar Pradesh are wise enough to imagine their miserable condition if a non-serious and un-scientific politician like Akhilesh Yadav would have been heading the state in such times. Mainstream media may never concede but UP’s fightback against Covid has been phenomenal in last very difficult 10 days. Another state in similar situation – Maharashtra was out of control for over a month, when its population is almost half of UP and historically it’s a resourceful state.
Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa on May 7, 2021 wrote a letter to Liesl Elder, senior official at the Oxford University, in order to draw attention to the harassment suffered by Rashmi Samant.
Condemning the vitriolic attack on Rashmi Samant by the varsity’s faculty member, Dr Abhijit Sarkar, the Karnataka CM wrote that such systematic targeting of Indian overseas students was a matter of grave concern and as Chief Minister, it made him worried.
Letter written by Karnataka CM to the Oxford University
Yediyurappa said that Dr Abhijit Sarkar had stalked Rashmi Samant and attacked her and her family for their Hindu faith. He also said that the attacks on her were “highly objectionable and discriminatory”. He also accused Sarkar of defaming coastal Karnataka by calling it Islamophobic.
The Karnataka CM evoked the 1981 declaration of the General Assembly of United Nations’ Human Rights Commission Art.2(1) which states that “No one would be subject to discrimination by any state, Institution, group of persons, or person on the ground of religion and other beliefs”.
The CM said that Indians are ranked second in the number of overseas (non-EU) students in the United Kingdom and also, the state of Karnataka in the year 2019 donated to the University to establish a professorship in Anthropology.
He urged the University to ensure the safety of Rashmi Samant and her family and take expeditious and stringent action against people harassing her.
The Oxford racism row
Rashmi Samant was hounded by leftists and anti-Hindu propagandists after becoming the first female Indian elect of Oxford University Student’s Union on February 11. She was forced to resign within days after being abused, bullied and targeted for being a Hindu and over her views against British colonisation.
In a coordinated attack, her old social media posts were dredged up, accusing her of being racist, anti-semitic, Islamophobic, transphobic. Besides this, Rashmi was also targeted for being a Hindu. One of the faculty members in Oxford – Dr Abhijit Sarkar had even dragged Rashmi’s parents into the controversy, attacking them for having a Lord Shri Ram display picture on their social media accounts while claiming that Rashmi’s student council elections were funded by Prime Minister Modi.
He had even accused Rashmi of being Islamophobic by alleging that she came from coastal Karnataka, which the faculty member termed as “a bastion of Islamophobic far-right forces”. Following the controversy, netizens from across the world had demanded the dismissal of Hinduphobic faculty AbhijitSarkar and had trended hashtag #DismissAbhijitSarkar on Twitter.
EAM raises the issue in Parliament, vowes to champion the fight against such intolerance
On March 15, days after the controversy erupted, the Union External Affairs Minister (EAM) had also raised the matter in the Upper House of Parliament. He had, in strong words, said that India could never ever turn its eyes away from racism and added that he would champion the fight against such intolerance.
Just five days after Mamata Banerjee took oath as the third time Chief Minister of West Bengal, a crackdown on social media posts has begun. As per a report by The Print, the West Bengal Police claims to have identified 550 “fake” posts on social media related to post-poll violence out of which 150 posts were blocked, 34 cases registered and 21 arrests made in connection to the cases.
Among the FIRs filed, complaints have also been registered against senior BJP leaders Suvendu Adhikari, Kailash Vijaywargiya and Agnimitra Paul.
What seems like a priority for the newly elected Mamata Banerjee government, the Chief Minister while addressing the press on Monday said, “BJP’s IT cell” has been posting “fake news” because the party is not able to accept their defeat in the elections. “There has been no genocide. We saw only one genocide that took place in Cooch Behar’s Sitalkuchi on the polling day.”
Allegedly a request has also been sent to the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to take action against 50 posts that were “highly inflammatory in nature”.
BJP IT Cell Head’s response
The BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya termed the crackdown on social media users as a “trick to divert attention using fissiparous arguments”.
In a statement to The Print, Malviya said, “Murder of BJP workers and supporters amidst large scale retributive political violence unleashed by TMC cadres and Mamata Banerjee’s studied silence on the bloodletting in the state is a grim reality.”
“She should focus on reining in her cadres and allow the administration to act against the marauding mobs, who are looking towards her for instructions, instead of trying to divert attention using fissiparous arguments,” he added.
Cyber wing of CID, Kolkata police on a watchout
The cyber cells of the state’s CID and the Kolkata Police have been put on the job to find “fake and hate posts” and take appropriate actions.
A senior officer informed, “The cyber wing of the state’s CID and Kolkata Police are working round the clock to maintain a vigil on such posts. The CID has also appealed to the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to take action against at least 50 posts, which are highly ‘inflammatory’ in nature.”
“We have identified around 550 fake and hate posts on several social media platforms. We wrote to several agencies, including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, requesting them to remove or block such posts. As of now, at least 150 such posts were blocked or taken down by the agencies,” added the officer.
Apart from senior BJP leaders, an FIR has also been registered with the Kolkata Police against actor Kangana Ranaut for her “inflammatory” post referring to political violence in Bengal, confirmed the officer.
Claiming “only two incidents actually happened” while talking about the rape case, the officer said that these incidents are not connected with politics. However, a probe into the matter is still on.
NCW Chief denied extension of stay in West Bengal
Meanwhile, National Commission for Women (NCW) chief Rekha Sharma on Thursday announced that she had been refused a one-day extension of her West Bengal visit which seeks to help women affected by the post-election violence in the state.
“Yesterday I extended my visit to Kolkata for a day but State Gov. didn’t want me to, so they sent this message to me as if I was here for a pleasure trip,” wrote Rekha Sharma in a Tweet. “In this 2 days trip met many women, saw so much pain in their eyes, and recorded horrible stories,” the NCW chief added, giving a plausible explanation as to why she would extend her official visit.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister of West Bengal continues to assert that the BJP and its wings and supporting organizations are behind the alleged “fake” messages of the post-poll violence and claimed that the state witnessed no violence post the result day.
Ironic, as Banerjee on May 06 declared compensation to the kin of the victims who died in the attack. While declaring the compensation, Banerjee accepted that as many as eight BJP karyakartas have lost their lives in the brutality.
Maharashtra BJP MLA Mihir Kotecha on Monday revealed that a woman residing in Vikhroli, Mumbai received the vaccination certificate of the first dose without even getting inoculated.
A Lady from #Mulund got a appointment for her 1st dose at @mybmc Vikhroli centre.she coudnt go,shockingly she recd her vaccine certificate in evening.i demand MCGM Commissioner conduct a through audit of vaccine. #VaccineScam in Mumbai. @Dev_Fadnavispic.twitter.com/E2ZloVLj6L
The Mulund MLA, while speaking to media, informed that a woman had approached him after getting a provisional certificate for the vaccination even though she had not taken the first dose. “She was unsure whether she would get the first jab again. This smells like a big vaccine scam, a thorough probe should be done,” he said.
Maharashtra | Yesterday a lady approached me for getting a provisional certificate for vaccination despite not taking her 1st dose. She was unsure whether she would get the first jab again. This smells like a big vaccine scam, a thorough probe should be done: BJP MLA from Mulund pic.twitter.com/kkLJaLPqKM
Hinting at a scam, the MLA has demanded an audit of every vaccine given to Mumbaikars suspecting there could be more cases like hers.
Informing that he will soon write to the Maharashtra Chief Minister and Home Minister if the matter isn’t probed, Kotecha warned, “Any officer of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation found guilty should be terminated.”
However, Yashwant Jadhav, the Chairman of BMC Standing Committee refuted the allegations and claimed that there is no question of any inquiry based on ‘random complaint’.
We do work & they (BJP) hurl accusations. They must go out & help people. If they want to nit-pick, offer solutions too. There is no question of inquiry on the basis of some random complaint: Yashwant Jadhav, Chairman BMC Standing Committee on Mulund BJP MLA’s allegations pic.twitter.com/bhIJKzvpFh
As of now, the state of Maharashtra has stalled the vaccination drive for 18-44 years of age citing a shortage of vaccine.
State Health Minister Rajesh Tope in a statement to the media informed that the government has decided to prioritise the second dose of the 45+ age group people with the remaining stock of vaccines.
“There is a dearth of vaccines, hence we’re considering holding off vaccination drive temporarily for 18-44 age group. 2.75 lakh vaccine doses are left for this age group that’ll be now used for 45 years and above group. Administering the second dose is a priority,” he added.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Minister Aditya Thackeray in a tweet claimed that the government is looking at other avenues to procure vaccine doses to strengthen the vaccination drive in the state.
“Looking at the need for adequate vaccines to ensure that vaccination is swift and efficient, after discussing the issue with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, as guardian minister of Mumbai, we have asked BMC to explore possibilities of global procurement of vaccines,” he said in a tweet.
Looking at the need for adequate vaccines to ensure that vaccination is swift & efficient, after discussing the issue with CM Uddhav Thackeray ji, as guardian minister of Mumbai, we have asked @mybmc to explore possibilities of global procurement of vaccines. (1/n)
Days after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed an FIR against Anil Deshmukh on charges of bribery, the Enforcement Directorate has now filed a case against him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Deshmukh is a leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the former Home Minister of Maharashtra.
As per reports, the ED had filed an enforcement case information report (ECIR) against him in connection to the allegations of accepting bribery made by ex Mumbai top cop Param Bir Singh. As such, Anil Deshmukh might be summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for interrogation. The case was made out based on the details of the corruption case filed by the CBI on April 24. The central agency has however not specified the ‘quantum of illegal gratification’ but sources said that it will probe his financial transactions.
After the ECIR was filed, both the NCP and Congress leaders have alleged that it was a case of ‘political revenge.’ They claimed that the action against Anil Deshmukh was taken to divert attention from PM Modi’s supposed mismanagement of the Coronavirus pandemic. The Nationalist Congress party had claimed that BJP wanted to defame the Maha Vikas Aghadi and the party.
माजी गृहमंत्री @AnilDeshmukhNCP यांच्यावर ईडीने गुन्हा दाखल केल्याचे वृत्त आहे. राजकीय हेतूने व सत्तेचा वापर करून त्यांना बदनाम करण्यासाठी हे कारस्थान सुरू आहे, अशी प्रतिक्रिया राष्ट्रवादी काँग्रेसचे राष्ट्रीय प्रवक्ते आणि अल्पसंख्याक मंत्री ना. @nawabmalikncp यांनी दिली आहे. pic.twitter.com/Bp9nsWDEM4
In a statement, NCP leader Nawab Malik claimed, “Right from Singh’s allegations to the filing of the case by the ED, it is all politically motivated and aimed at defaming him (Deshmukh) by misusing power. It is clear that the BJP is playing politics using the CBI, ED and other Central agencies…Whatever the legal aspects, Deshmukh ji will cooperate in the probe.”
CBI filed a corruption case against Anil Deshmukh
Earlier on April 24, the CBI had filed a case against the NCP leader for corruption and misuse of power. The central investigative authority had informed that Deshmukh and other unidentified individuals took undue advantage of their official position.
A preliminary investigation by the CBI, as directed by the Bombay High Court, found that Deshmukh was privy to the information that all ‘sensational and important cases of the police’ were being handled by the tainted cop Sachin Waze. The central agency had searched residences of Anil Deshmukh in Nagpur, Mumbai, Thane and Pune.
Sharad Pawar, the chief of the Nationalist Congress Party and widely believed to be the chief architect of the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance in Maharashtra, is reportedly unhappy with chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. According to a report published in Marathi news daily Tarun Bharat, Sharad Pawar believes that he committed a big mistake by making Uddhav Thackeray the chief minister of Maharashtra.
The report states that after Uddhav Thackeray stopped responding to Sharad Pawar’s phone calls, the NCP chief confided in Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut that he made a big mistake by making Thackeray Maharashtra’s chief minister. The Marathi daily further conjectured that discussions in the political circles attribute Pawar’s disillusionment to Thackeray’s nature.
Speaking at a programme titled ‘West Bengal to Pandharpur’, which discussed the assembly election results in the five states, senior journalist Anil Thatte revealed that Sharad Pawar told Raut that he or Eknath Shinde would have been a far better choice for the post of Maharashtra’s chief ministership.
Thatte also put paid to the theories that Mamata Banerjee’s emphatic victory in Bengal could be replicated in other states, including Maharashtra. “Balasaheb did not win power on his own, Sharad Pawar can never be the Mamata Banerjee of Maharashtra. Neither it is possible for Uddhav Thackeray. Sharad Pawar has never been in power with more than 52-55 MLAs. It is impossible for Shiv Sena to ape Mamata Banerjee in Maharashtra, and nor Mamata can come here and become their saviour,” he said.
“Mamata’s political style is not digestible in Maharashtra. Also, Maha Vikas Aghadi does not have a capable leadership to stand up against Fadnavis. A rift in the ruling alliance in the state is inevitable. It will happen soon,” Thatte said.
Thatte’s proclamations come against the backdrop of Shiv Sena’s efforts to forge a national-level alliance against the Narendra Modi-led BJP. Earlier yesterday, Raut said that there is a need for opposition parties to come together and form a strong coalition.
“There is a need to have a strong alliance of opposition parties in the country. But there can’t be an alliance without the Congress party. It will be the soul. Leadership can be decided through consultations,” Mr Raut told reporters.
Maharashtra Shiv Sena MP and leader Sanjay Raut has filed a case in the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court, Mumbai asking Twitter India and Google India to take down the tweets and all other digital materials that carry allegations made by Marathi film producer Swapna Patker against him.
In his complaint, Raut claimed that the tweets made on him are misleading and could “harm the peace and harmony” of the country. Claiming that the Tweets are defamatory and that Patker’s Twitter account should be blocked, Raut added that the allegations can “create disharmony amongst political and community groups in India and especially the state of Maharashtra.”
Raut also urged the Court to issue a directive to all the websites and online platforms which carried the news pertaining to Patker’s allegations on Raut to take down the content within 24 hours of court order.
It is interesting to note that the complaint filed by Raut is under Section 69A of the Information and Technology Act, 2000 which deems only the Central government as a competent authority to block content on a digital platform that too only if the sovereignty or public order in the country is under threat. The Act mentioned in the complaint cannot be invoked for a private matter said the preliminary objection filed by the lawyer on behalf of Twitter India.
Advocate Anirudh Ganu representing Twitter Communications India informed OpIndia that both Twitter India and Google India have no control over the content on the platform and that the parent companies would have to be made Party to the complaint to legitimize the proceeding.
Advocate Ganu informed that the complaint reeks of misuse of power by Sanjay Raut who has not followed appropriate procedure and short-circuited the entire legal process to make his case.
Marathi film producer Swapna Patker, who was accused of making the ‘objectionable tweets’, was not even made a Party to the case. However, Patker has now filed an intervention plea to secure her freedom of speech and expression.
Prima facie, the complaint appears to be a pressure tactic than a legitimate case as the approached Court by the complainant has no authority over such matters, legal experts say.
Diffusing Raut’s claims of her Tweets being misleading and contentious, Patker said she has enough proof and evidence for all the allegations made and is ready to fight it in the Court.
The complaint by Raut comes after the news of him being involved in a harassment case went viral. Dr Swapna Patker, a renowned psychologist and producer of Marathi film Balkadu (biopic of Shivsena founder and leader Balasaheb Thackeray), in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi has alleged that she is being harassed, tortured and abused by Shiv Sena MP and Editor of Saamana, Sanjay Raut, since the past eight years.
