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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

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.”

300 injured personnel, properties worth crores: RTI query reveals damages caused by 26 Jan rioters

Anurag
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300 injured personnel, properties worth crores: RTI query reveals damages caused by 26 Jan rioters

On January 26, thousands of alleged farmers protesting against the recently enacted agriculture laws barged into Delhi for their tractor rally. They damaged not only public property and raised two flags with the Sikh symbols on the Red Fort but also injured several dozen police personnel.

In the aftermath of the riots that happened on Republic Day 2021, several protesters and farmer leaders, including Deep Sidhu who were present at the Red Fort were arrested. However, several others are still at large, like andolanjeevi Yogendra Yadav and Rakesh Tikait. Now, RTIs filed by RTI activist Vivek Pandey has revealed how much damage was caused after the said riots.

Pandey filed an RTI (Right To Information) with the Delhi Police to get details of damage reported at all Police Stations in the Delhi region. In the RTI, he asked:

  • Details of number of vehicles burned in this rally
  • Details of loss of property in this rally
  • Details of amounts of loss of property in this rally
  • Details of number of policemen are injured in clash between farmers and Police
  • Details of number of farmers are injured in clash between farmers and Police
RTI application submitted by Vivek Pandey

RTI reply revealed damages worth crores

He received replies from all the Police stations except one. Pandey shared the RTI details with OpIndia, and here are the details that we found about the damage alleged farmers caused during the riots.

A total of 299 police personnel were injured during the riots. Out of these, 115 police personnel were injured in the Outer District, 37 in Dwarka, 19 in Central and 24 in the North district were injured.

One item that stood out in the RTI replies was magazine of an INSAS rifle with 20 live rounds that went missing during the riots.

RTI reply revealed one magazine of an INSAS rifle went missing during the riots

A total of 236 Iron Barricades were damaged across Delhi by the rioters. Two jarsi barricades and 7 RCC barricades were also damaged. In one of the replies, the department mentioned that it had purchased iron barricades at Rs.17,688 per piece during the 2019-20 financial year. Going by the estimate, Delhi Police suffered a financial loss of approx Rs.42 lakhs in just damaged iron barricades.

A total of 11 DTC buses were damaged. On average, a bus may cost anywhere between Rs.18 lakh to Rs.45 lakh depending on the quality of the bus. Assuming these were the low-cost buses, even then the there was damage worth 1.98 crores in cases the buses were deemed non-repairable.

Other damaged items as per RTI replies from all stations include two chairs, one table, one tent parda missing, two Police buses, two-door frame metal detectors (DFMDs), one KM long central verge steel railing, 27 PVC cane shield, 38 helmets, one bulletproof jacket, 45 ropes, Over 140 meters of long-chain, over 160 meters of short-chain, 30 locks, 33 PVC canes, 40 plastic lathis, 27 bamboo lathis, 20 bundles of barbed wire, backside of one gipsy, one riot control vehicle Vajra, 27 government vehicles (including police vehicles), nine private cars, two loud hailers, eight tyre killers and ten body protectors.

It has to be noted that several cases were forwarded to Crime Branch, Delhi Police. Thus, the exact number of injured police personnel might be higher. Especially the incidents that took place at Red Fort are being investigated by the Crime Branch. As it is an ongoing investigation, Crime Branch could not provide details of the damage or the police personnel injured at Red Fort. Those numbers are missing from this report.

Crime Branch’s reply to the RTI

About January 26 riots in Delhi

Kisan Unions had called for a tractor rally on January 26, 2021. Though initially, Police had denied permission for the rally, it was permitted with several conditions. One of the main condition was that the rally would be commenced only on the permitted route. The leaders of Kisan Unions agreed to the conditions.

However, on January 26, a large group of alleged farmers entered Delhi from unpermitted routes and started rioting when Delhi Police tried to stop them. A group among them managed to reach Red Fort and hoisted two flags with the Sikh holy symbol Nishan Sahib. One of the flags was hoisted on the flag pole designated for Indian National Flag that is hoisted on August 15 every year to mark Independence Day.

There were visuals of one of the protestors throwing away Tricolour while trying to hoist the alien flag. The protestors at several places tried to mow down the police personnel with tractors. Police personnel were attacked with lathis, stones, swords and other sharp weapons by the protestors. RTI replies reveal that around 299 police personnel were injured, which is lesser than the actual number as some data was not revealed due to ongoing investigation.

New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern may remain silent on China’s atrocities on Uyghur Muslims. Here is why

Nirwa Mehta
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New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern may remain silent on China’s atrocities on Uyghur Muslims. Here is why

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Monday said that while New Zealand and China do not agree on certain issues, it will not derail their relationship. This statement comes as New Zealand is under pressure from internal as well as international allies to take a firm stand against China’s atrocities against the Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang province.

China is New Zealand’s largest trading partner. Since November 2020, New Zealand’s export to China has been greater than next four trading partners: Australia, America, UK and Japan. In fact, since February 2020, export to China saw a growth of $369 million while its export to other trading countries saw a decline. As per reports, exports of primary products like meat, dairy, fish and logs to China are all up in New Zealand.

Last year, when Australia took a firm stand against China and demanded an independent inquiry into origin of the COVID-19 pandemic which originated in Wuhan, China, China retaliated with tariffs and various import restrictions from Australia. It is believed that these sanctions cost Australia AUD 47.7 billion last year. Interestingly, Beijing this year upgraded a free trade agreement with New Zealand that had been in discussion for years. 

Speaking on Monday, Ardern said that she does not see differences with China ‘irreconcilable’ and that the links between the two countries remain strong. She said that while there are certain things on which China and New Zealand do not agree upon but that does not ‘derail’ our relationship. ‘It is simply a reality,’ she said. She added that there are still opportunities for New Zealand and China to work together on areas like international trade, climate change and response to COVID-19.

“Areas of difference need not define a relationship. But equally, they are part and parcel of New Zealand staying true to who we are as a nation,” she said.

Recently, New Zealand has been facing pressure from western allies over its reluctance to use the Five Eyes intelligence and security alliance to criticise Beijing. The group includes Australia, Britain, Canada and the United States along with New Zealand. In April this year, New Zealand had snubbed Australia and stood with China over WHO’s report on origin of COVID-19.

The study which was conducted by international experts in collaboration with Chinese scientists left many questions unanswered such as the exact source of the virus. This prompted the 14 countries to release a joint statement on Wednesday expressing concerns over the study which was not only delayed but also lacked access to complete, original data and samples. New Zealand however was the only Five Eyes country that refused to sign the statement condemning the research and study.

Justifying its absence from the list, New Zealand’s foreign ministry told Reuters in an email response, “New Zealand acknowledges that member states have expressed a number of concerns. New Zealand wants to make sure we conduct an independent analysis to ensure we understand the science before making any comment.”

BJP’s Mahila Morcha National President Vanathi Srinivasan defeats Kamal Haasan to win Coimbatore South seat

OpIndia Staff
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BJP’s Mahila Morcha National President Vanathi Srinivasan defeats Kamal Haasan to win Coimbatore South seat

What seemed to be a neck-to-neck fight, ended up in defeat for famed actor and founder of Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) Kamal Haasan in Tamil Nadu’s state assembly elections.

The actor who made his electoral debut with 2021 state assembly elections was expected by many to contest from Chennai but instead, he chose Coimbatore (South) as his constituency. He lost to BJP’s popular leader Vanathi Srinivasan.

Kamal Haasan in a Tweet thanked his supporters and said that he accepts the verdict of the people.

BJP leader and winner Vanathi Srinivasan also took to Twitter to thank her voters and supporters. Her Tweet read, “We have won! Thank you Kovai South for your support & blessings. I bow down to my voters, to my leaders, PM @narendramodi ji, HM @AmitShah ji, Nat’l President @JPNadda ji, GS(O) @blsanthosh ji & all @BJP4TamilNadu karyakarta for their hard work & dedication.”

Srinivasan received congratulatory messages from the top BJP honchos especially women leaders for her win. 

Kamal Haasan vs Vanathi Srinivasan

While Vanathi Srinivasan has been a popular figure in Coimbatore mainly for maintaining a distance from identity based politics, her opponent Kamal Haasan based his entire campaign on anti-Hindu and anti-Hindi narrative.

From regarding the national language Hindi as a ‘little child in diapers’ in comparison with older languages of the country to dismissing the existence of the word ‘Hindu‘ before Mughals, Haasan found himself in many such controversies just before the state elections.

Vanathi Srinivasan, the 50-year old BJP leader and Chennai High Court lawyer, was in a closely-contested fight with Kamal Haasan. Finally, Srinivasan managed to win by 1540 votes. BJP has managed to secure 4 seats in the legislative assembly, in a first in Tamil Nadu.

DMK wins Tamil Nadu

As per the Election Commission data, the state of Tamil Nadu has been swept by MK Stalin-led DMK with a comfortable majority reducing AIADMK+ to around 70 seats.

TMC goons go berserk after party’s victory in West Bengal, engage in violence, vandalism and arson

OpIndia Staff
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TMC goons go berserk after party’s victory in West Bengal, engage in violence, vandalism and arson

Soon after the Trinamool Congress (TMC) surpassed the BJP in Vidhan Sabha elections, the goons of the ruling dispensation unleashed violence against their political opponents. While the TMC had secured 213 seats, the BJP managed to win 77 constituencies.

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. It was only after a ‘sensible’ man in the group persuaded the visibly drunk goons to leave that the frenzied mob made their way out of the house.

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. #WestBengalElections2021,” 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.

As per the BJP, the Trinamool Congress goons had also set vehicles on fire near the residence of BJP candidate Kashinath Biswas in Kolkata’s Beleghata area. “Vehicles near Kashinath Biswas, BJP Candidate from Kolkata’s Beleghata put on fire. BJP has blamed TMC for this,” he had tweeted.

According to the TV9 journalist, BJP has accused the ruling dispensation of stone pelting at the residence of Ramji Prasad. He is the party candidate from Metiabruz constituency.

TMC cadre go berserk, burn BJP office and attack Suvendu Adhikari

As trends showed a landslide victory for Mamata Banerjee led TMC, the workers of the party had reportedly gheraoed the BJP office in Hastings in Kolkata. After the predicted decisive victory for TMC, there have been fears that BJP workers and those who supported and voted for the party might face backlash from the TMC and its workers.

Soon after, news came in that violence had erupted in Arambagh. A BJP office was burnt down to ashes. Anindya Banerjee, journalist with TV9 tweeted the visuals of a BJP office being burnt to the ground in Arambagh. According to him, BJP suspects TMC goons behind the incident, however, TMC has denied any responsibility for the violence.

After BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari was declared victorious from West Bengal’s Nandigram seat where he defeated TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress hoodlums went on a rampage. Adhikari’s convoy in Haldia came under violent attack by the TMC supporters. Calling it an act of vengeance, Adhikari shared the visuals of stone pelting at his car with people chasing it as far as possible.

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