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‘Apolitical farmer protest’ leader Rakesh Tikait seen riding a ‘Congress Tractor’ in Jodhpur

OpIndia Staff
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‘Apolitical farmer protest’ leader Rakesh Tikait seen riding a ‘Congress Tractor’ in Jodhpur

Though Rakesh Tikait, the leader of the ‘apolitical farmers protest’ has repeatedly declared to keep the agitation off-limits for political parties, he himself has been regularly seen departing from this strategy. Tikait, who has been continuously describing his platform as completely non-political, was on Friday spotted with several Congress leaders in Jodhpur.

On March 12, the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait was in Kharia Khangar in Bhopalgarh subdivision in Jodhpur, as part of his ‘Mahapanchayat’ rally, a five-state tour being executed by Tikait to drum up support for the farmers’ protest, when he was welcomed by scores of Congress leaders, including former Congress MP Badriram Jakhar, former district chief Munnidevi Godara, former deputy district chief Hiralal Mundel, former RAJSICO President Sunil Parihar, former municipality chief Babulal Tak, Ranaram Nain, VP Singh Kud, district Rajlani’s Sarpanch and Congress member Paras Gurjar, etc.

The BKU leader was not only seen leading a gathering of Congress leaders but was also seen riding a tractor that bore a Congress party banner welcoming Tikait to Jodhpur.

The poster had senior Congress leader and former MP Badriram Jakhar’s name written on it. After the picture of Rakesh Tikait riding the ‘Congress tractor’ went viral on the microblogging site, social media users called out Tikait for his deception and double standards.

Tikait, of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, has five rallies planned in Rajasthan in this month. It is evident that through these farmers’ meetings Tikait is actually trying to build up his own political base.

Earlier today, Rakesh Tikait reached Kolkata airport where he was received by TMC’s Dola Sen in poll-bound West Bengal. Here too, Tikait was seen spending time with various TMC leaders and appealing to people to vote against the Bharatiya Janata Party in the upcoming Assembly elections in West Bengal. According to reports, Tikait and other ‘farmer leaders’ are also slated to visit Nandigram on Saturday evening, while they will go to Singur and Asansol on Sunday.

What becomes extremely apparent here is that Rakesh Tikait, who was a forgotten man until the current protests were launched, has only been using the ongoing farmer’s agitation as a tool to, resurrect his political career, even if, in the process, he had to mastermind farmer tractor rally that led to an insurrection on 26th January, he had no qualms in doing so.

While Rahul Gandhi questions the rise in Adani’s wealth in 2021, Gautam Adani had registered highest wealth gain during UPA too

OpIndia Staff
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While Rahul Gandhi questions the rise in Adani’s wealth in 2021, Gautam Adani had registered highest wealth gain during UPA too

Although the Congress party does not identify itself as completely left-wing party, the party brought economic liberalisation after all, party leader Rahul Gandhi is trying very hard to project himself as an anti-rich politician. After running the entire 2019 Lok Sabha election blaming the Modi government of giving Rs 30,000 crore to Anil Ambani through the Rafale fighter deal, the former Congress president has decided to accuse PM Modi of helping his ‘two friends’ Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani ahead of the assembly elections.

Therefore, when reports emerged that Gautam Adani gained the highest amount of wealth in this year so far, it was a perfect moment for Rahul Gandhi to use the news to attack the Modi government. Quoting a news report saying that Adani’s gain in wealth this year is even more than gains made by Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, Rahul Gandhi wanted to how Adani made his money. “How much did your wealth increase in 2020? Zero. You struggle to survive while he makes ₹ 12 Lakh Cr and increases his wealth by 50%. Can you tell me why?” Rahul Gandhi tweeted on Saturday.

While he didn’t mention anything else, it is evident that he wants to insinuate the Adani Group chairman saw the rise in his wealth due to the help of ‘friend’ Narendra Modi. Because, that is what he is alleging non-stop for last several months. Be it election rally, or meeting farmers, fishermen or students, he only says one thing these days, that PM Modi is helping his two friends.

However, this is not the first time that Gautam Adani is number one in terms of the increase in his wealth. It happened in earlier also, and earlier it happened during the Congress-led UPA government. In the year 2011, the chairman of the Adani Group was the highest wealth creator in the country, with his wealth doubling to Rs 33,211 crore. At that time, Dr Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister of India, while Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat.

In 2007, Gautam Adani was listed as 13th richest Indian in the list of Forbes 40 richest Indians. By 2011, his rank had reached 7th, with $ 8.2 billion net wealth.

Contrary to what Rahul Gandhi would want people to believe, Indian multinational conglomerate Adani Group is creating wealth for decades, it didn’t start doing business after Narendra Modi led NDA govt came to power in 2014.

Moreover, it may be noted that the wealth of business leaders like Musk and Adani are mostly based on the share markets. The value of their wealth is estimated based on the value shares they hold in their companies. Therefore, their wealth is a factor of how the market values their companies. It is largely dependent on the performance of the companies, and the business outlook of the sectors in which they operate.

After Yashwant Sinha joins TMC, netizens wonder which party Subramanian Swamy might join

OpIndia Staff
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After Yashwant Sinha joins TMC, netizens wonder which party Subramanian Swamy might join

On Saturday, former BJP leader Yashwant Sinha joined the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress ahead of the West Bengal assembly elections. Yashwant Singh, who had quit the saffron party in 2018, has been critical of the BJP after he was sidelined by the party leadership post the 2014 general elections.

Ever since then, Sinha has been admonishing the Narendra Modi-led government on various issues and had also gone to the extent of joining hands with radical left-wing elements such as Prashant Bhushan to oppose BJP and its policies. Since leaving the party, he had joined the efforts demanding an investigation into the procurement of the Rafale jets, but the Supreme Court rejected the petitions as they lacked merits.

After losing political relevance and all the goodwill he had earned through years, Sinha, desperate for some sort of limelight, has now begun his second innings in politics by joining the TMC.

As Sinha joined TMC, several social media users debated the possibility of other side-lined leaders from the BJP quitting the party to join other political parties to kick start their already dead political career. One name that was discussed extensively is none other than BJP MP and Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy.

Netizens pointed out that Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy could be the next person who could jump the ship amidst his deteriorating relationship with the BJP. Subramanian Swamy has been at the crossroads with the BJP and has been lately critical of its policies. Time-and-again, Swamy has taken a swipe at the NDA-led administration to express his displeasure over several policy issues.

Subramanian Swamy’s relationship with the BJP turning sour

Subramanian Swamy, off late, has been extremely critical against his own party and has not wasted any chance to take pot-shots against the Modi government. Taking to Twitter, just a few days back, Swamy had claimed that Modi had reached his moment of truth as the claims of India being the world leader has been punctured.

Targeting the government over its decision to join the QUAD initiative, Swamy, who is often accused of being sympathetic to China, said that as a leader, Modi must choose between BRICS or QUAD, or he will end up as the bat in Panchatantra.

Subramanian Swamy

During the India-China border clash that erupted last year, Swamy had indulged in politics to criticise the Modi government. Citing a dubious report from far-left news outlet The Hindu, Swamy had mocked PM Modi by calling a Chowkidar.

Subramanian Swamy

In September last year, Subramanian Swamy had also fired his guns against the party’s Information and Technology (IT) cell head Amit Malviya for running a campaign against him. BJP leader Subramanian Swamy had also given an ultimatum to the BJP President Jagat Prakash Nadda, saying that if Amit Malaviya is not removed from the BJP IT cell by Thursday, then he will have to defend himself.

Swamy’s confrontation with Amit Malviya had indicated that not everything was smooth between the Rajya Sabha MP and the saffron party.

Subramanian Swamy peddles conspiracy theories, attacks Modi government often

Shockingly, during the Red Fort riots, Swamy peddled conspiracy theories against the Modi government, saying that there were rumours that Prime Minister Office orchestrated the Red Fort siege. He had speculated that PMO acted as an agent provocateur in the Red Fort drama. However, Swamy acknowledged that the rumours could be fake.

Sidelined by the high command of the BJP, Swamy was once again found clutching at straws in February to undermine the central government when he took a jibe at petrol prices in India by invoking the Ramayana. He said that petrol cost Rs. 92 in “Ram’s India”, Rs. 53 in “Sita’s Nepal” and Rs. 51 in “Ravan’s Lanka”. While some might believe it was a clever jibe, the fact is it was far from the truth.

Subramanian Swamy shares a ‘WhatsApp forward’

A few weeks later, Subramanian Swamy had also launched a crusade against the Union Budget that was presented by Nirmala Sitharaman even though it has earned praise from all quarters of the political spectrum.

It is no secret that Swamy has not taken well to being side-lined from the party. Unable to affect any real changes, he can be often spotted on social media peddling misinformation.

Social media users says Swamy will quit the party soon

Speculating that Swamy might be at the end of his political journey with the BJP, many netizens speculated that Subramanian Swamy might also follow the likes of Yashwant Sinha to join any opposition party.

Social media users asked Swamy whether he would join the TMC just like Sinha.

As Swamy has often praised Mamata Banerjee, other social media users claimed that he might soon join TMC. He said Swamy might negotiate and present her with a five village offer too.

Aparajit Bharat mentioned that Swamy has a history of changing political party based on his convenience, and he might do the same shortly.

Another user, Jiten Gajaria, had a different point to make. He said TMC would not take Swamy as he is a ‘bigger motor mouth’ than Mamata. Gajaria said Swamy would make Mamata sound soft and sensible.

BJP leader Tajinder Bagga asked Swamy whether the rumours were true.

Well, one has to wait and see whether Subramanian Swamy will be disciplined by the BJP or will he jump the ship to join any other party. Only time and Subramanian Swamy can provide an answer.

FIR filed against Akhilesh Yadav and SP workers for assault on journalists, SP files counter-complaint against two reporters

OpIndia Staff
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FIR filed against Akhilesh Yadav and SP workers for assault on journalists, SP files counter-complaint against two reporters

An FIR has been registered against SP leader and former Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav for an incident where journalists were assaulted at a press conference in Moradabad. Apart from Yadav, 20 members of the Samajwadi Party also have been named in the FIR. The FIR has been registered at the Pakbara police station in Moradabad district under sections 147, 323 and 342 of the Indian Penal Code.

Along with that, a separate FIR also has been lodged against the journalists, as two separate complaints were submitted in connection with the same case.

The case against the former CM and his party workers were registered after a group of journalists had submitted a complaint against them. On the other hand, SP had also lodged a complaint against the journalists, blaming them for the incident. The journalists’ association has named Akhilesh Yadav and Samajwadi Party workers in its complaint. And, Samajwadi Party has named two journalists in its FIR.

Uttar Pradesh ADG (Law and order) Prashant Kumar said that the FIRs were lodged based on complaints from both parties. “The cross FIRs were lodged based on complaints from both sides. Further action will be taken based on the merits of the cases. An investigation is underway,” he said. The ADG added that police is scanning the CCTV footage of the venue, and the incident is being probed.

On Thursday, a ruckus had broken out between a group of journalists and the supporters of Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav at a hotel in Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh. The former Chief Minister was in the city to attend the wedding of an MLA and had conducted a press conference at the said hotel on Thursday evening.

A video of the incident had gone viral on social media, where Akhilesh Yadav was seen pushing and shoving through the crowd. He was also heard yelling at the journalists saying “BJP ke liye kaam mat karo” (Don’t work for the BJP). When the journalists sought answers from the Samajwadi Party chief, his supporters and security personnel assaulted, pushed and shoved the reporters.

During the ruckus, a reporter named Fareed Shamsi took a severe blow to his nose from Yadav’s security guard’s rifle.

Sitaram Yechury claims Abbas Siddiqui, who wanted Allah to send virus that killed 50 crore Indians, will save India: Here is everything he said

OpIndia Staff
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Sitaram Yechury claims Abbas Siddiqui, who wanted Allah to send virus that killed 50 crore Indians, will save India: Here is everything he said

Ahead of the upcoming polls in West Bengal, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has joined hands with rabid Islamist forces in the State. With an eye to gain political mileage and strengthen its hold over the Muslim vote bank, it has allied with Pirzada Abbas Siddiqui and his Indian Secular Front (ISF).

In an interview with Jyoti Malhotra of The Print on Thursday (March 11), CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury was seen desperately trying to justify the party’s decision. On being asked about the rationale behind forging an alliance with Furfura Sharif Pirzada Abbas Siddiqui, Sitaram Yechury justified, “They are saying that it is an Indian secular front. Now, our target is to keep the BJP from the reigns of power. Now, what people do in their personal lives do not bother (matter) in politics.”

He then tried to deflect the conversation to the BJP by asking a counter-question to the interviewer as to why BJP gets overwhelming support of saints and Hindu pandits. “What about Yogi Adityanath,” he asked. Jyoti Malhotra replied that Yogi Adityanath in his personal capacity has the right to contest elections and hold public office. “So, why doesn’t Abbas Siddiqui have that right?”, Yechury tried to draw parallels between the two.

(Video Courtesy: Youtube/ The Print)

CPI (M) leader accepts that Abbas Siddiqui is communal

Malhotra emphasised, “This is because the speeches that he has made are openly communal. You know that.” In a bid to dodge the question, the CPI (M) leader engaged in whataboutery yet again. However, in doing so, he indirectly admitted that his ally Abbas Siddiqui is ‘communal.’ “…And UP CM doesn’t (engage in communalism)? The sauce for the goose is the sauce for the gander. Jyoti, please understand. You can’t have different yardsticks,” he said.

Sitaram Yechury engages in whataboutery to justify his ally

The interviewer further prodded, “Do you accept that Abba Siddiqui’s speeches are communal?” Yechury went into a defensive mode and justified, “What he does in his personal life is his (choice)…We believe that your religion, allegiance to any Faith is your personal belief. It has to remain at that level, which has to be protected by the State and the Constitution. Their cannot be mixing up of religion with politics or running of the State administration.”

Interestingly, the Marxist leader claimed that the President, Prime Minister, UP Governor and UP Chief Minister have been sitting for the construction of the Ram Mandir, even though individuals are free to practice their own Faith in their personal capacity. Yechury drew up the analogy to suggest that Abbas Siddiqui was free to practice his own Faith. However, the objection to the alliance between the Left and Siddiqui’s party is problematic not because of the religion of the cleric but the genocidal remarks he had made about his fellow Indians.

CPIM allied with Siddiqui to save India, claims Yechury

Jyoti Malhotra then clarified, “BJP never said that it will not mix religion and politics. At the Brigade ground rally, there was a banner that said that ‘we are the alternative, we are secular’. When you ally with someone like Abbas Siddiqui, you are certainly not secular.” In his defence, Yechury suggested that since Siddiqui was from Indian ‘Secular’ Front, therefore, he must be secular himself.

On being asked whether he was repeating the BJP model, the Marxist leader’s justification was that the Left would ally with anyone who would save India. “We are not doing this because somebody else is doing something. We are saying that we are aligning with those forces who want to save India from this completely destructive direction which will undermine the Constitution that created this independent India.”

Abbas Siddiqui and his radical Islamist views

While the opposition of Sitaram Yechury to BJP can be attributed to political compulsion, the idea behind saving India seems ironical. During the outbreak of the deadly Coronavirus in the world, a video of Abbas Siddiqui shot on February 26 last year had gone viral on social media. He was seen addressing a large gathering of followers and praying to Allah to kill 50 crore Indians with the virus.

In the video, the cleric was heard referring to anti-Hindu Delhi riots and saying, “Recently I have got the news that mosques are being set on fire, mosques are being burnt for the last two days. I think something is going to happen within a month. May Allah accept our prayers. May Allah send such a terrible virus to India that ten to twenty to fifty crore people die in India. Am I saying something wrong? It is absolutely blissful.”

Recently, Abbas Siddiqui was seen fuelling separatism in the State. “In the next election, we will free our homeland even if it requires shedding our blood for it,” he threatened. His violent rhetoric bore an uncanny resemblance with the slogan “Ladke lenge Pakistan (We will fight until we get Pakistan)” of the separatist leaders of the Muslim League in 1946. Siddiqui’s incendiary rhetoric, fear-mongering and calls for ‘divine intervention for death of Hindus have been conveniently ignored by the Left.

Circus of the damned: Mainstream media welcomes new digital media guidelines but begs to be exempt, left leaning outlets are heartbroken

K Bhattacharjee
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Circus of the damned: Mainstream media welcomes new digital media guidelines but begs to be exempt, left leaning outlets are heartbroken

Members of Digital News Publishers’ Association (DNPA) met I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar recently over the new guidelines for Digital Media and requested that news websites associated with traditional media houses be exempted from the new rules as they already follow norms set by the Press Council of India.

One of the participants told The Economic Times on the condition of anonymity, “We told the minister that our websites follow the same regulations set by the Press Council of India (PCI) and/or News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA). The newsrooms are the same, and the editors approving the content for websites are also mindful of the norms newspapers and TV follow. We already have similar systems in place. So why put us through these regulations?”

After the meeting, the DNPA issued a statement saying, “DNPA made suggestions that preserve freedom of the press and emphasised that all its members are bound by, and follow, regulations of PCI and/or NBSA.” Dainik Bhaskar, India Today Group, NDTV, Hindustan Times, Indian Express, The Times of India, Amar Ujala, Dainik Jagran, Eenadu, and Malayala Manorama are the leading media houses of the organisation.

The amusing aspect of it is NDTV, fake news peddler in chief among traditional media houses, is part of the DNPA as well. It is perhaps the first time that the NDTV has welcomed any move by the NDA Government at the center. Such are the times we live in. The India Today Group, which boasts of propagandist luminaries such as Rajdeep Sardesai and Rahul Kanwal, is among its ranks as well.

The Ministry said in a statement, “The participants while welcoming the new rules stated that TV and print news media have been following the laid down norms of the Cable Television Network Act and the Press Council Act for a very long time. Further for publishing the digital versions, the publishers do follow the existing norms of the traditional platforms. They felt that they should be treated differently than those news publishers who are only on the digital platform.”

Thus, it appears that the meeting was constructive and all sides are happy with the discussions that transpired. Left-leaning digital media outlets, however, are not happy with the development. They feel that they have been thrown under the bus by the traditional media houses.

Dhanya Rajendran of The News Minutes expressed ‘hope’ that a clarification will be issued over the matter.

Jency Jacob, Managing Editor of Boom, called DNPA’s statement “shameful’ and said “not sure why it was needed”.

Supriya Sharma of Scroll asked why the association members called themselves ‘Digital News Publishers’.

Abhinandan Sekhri of Newslaundry was not too happy about it either.

The only thing that appears surprising here is that people associated with leftist media portals are surprised with the DNPA’s conduct over the matter. It is not clear why they expected their cooperation in the first place.

There does not appear to be an instance where the DNPA told them specifically that they would support their stance regarding the new regulations for Digital Media. The Leftist portals appear to be outraged that the DNPA is looking out for the interests of its own members.

On the part of the DNPA, their request makes sense. It is natural that they would want concessions for the member media houses. It is the very objective of interest groups, to ensure that the interests of its members are served.

The sheer level of entitlement that the leftist digital media outlets suffer from is mind-boggling indeed. On odd days, they curse and rant against the traditional media houses and call them ‘Godi Media’ despite the latter’s dedicated anti-Modi campaign that very often involves malicious fake news. One cannot blame the MSM for being annoyed and angry with the left-leaning media portals.

On even days, they want the same media houses to protect the interests of the leftist media portals. It seems they want to eat their cake and have it too. In fact, when the association was formed in 2018, Digital Media actively steered clear of it.

Nikhil Pahwa of Medianama expressed his unhappiness with the DNPA over recent events. But back in 2018, he did not see the need for norms to curb fake news. He had said, “Every publication has its own norms and editorial practices, just as we do. I don’t see the need for uniformity and a common code just as yet. We are not interested in signing up to a set of norms because that lays the groundwork for formal content regulation norms from the government, and suggests that our freedom of speech, which is restricted under Article 19(2) of the Indian constitution, is open to further control from the government. We don’t see the need for self-regulatory norms at this point in time, so I do not support this idea at this point in time.”

So after criticising and deliberately pouring insults on the formation of the association, they are now surprised that the DNPA is not looking after their interests. Colour me surprised. This is not in defense of DNPA in any manner. We are not vouching for their integrity, only admiring their ability to crawl when asked to bend.

After all, it is how those in the mainstream media have preserved their influence over the years. They can always be counted on to throw their friends under the bus if it can provide them with a competitive advantage.

Thus, we have a situation where mainstream media houses welcome the new regulatory framework for digital media websites but beg that they be exempted from it. It is quite convenient, indeed. It is now up to the government to decide whether their demands are legitimate or otherwise.

UP Police nab 3 persons for trafficking 15 minor children from Bihar to Delhi, rescue the children from a bus

OpIndia Staff
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UP Police nab 3 persons for trafficking 15 minor children from Bihar to Delhi, rescue the children from a bus

In a major development, the Uttar Pradesh Crime Branch has apprehended three people for trafficking 15 underage children to the National Capital from Bihar.

As per reports, the accused have been identified as Sayyaz Alam, Deepak Rishi and Vikrant Mandal. The child traffickers had gathered 15 children from different parts of Bihar under the pretext of offering them jobs. They claimed to have the consent of the family members of the victims, before boarding them on a bus. The accused were apprehended in Gorakhpur while they were trying to smuggle the children.

While speaking about the development, SP (Gorakhpur) Mahendra Pal Singh said that a case was registered against the three accused under the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, Section 79 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act and Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 370 (5) for trafficking. He informed that three men are residents of Bihar and were arrested by the Crime Branch from Tendua toll plaza in Gorakhpur.

Victims counselled, claimed that they were being promised a trip to Delhi

SP Mahendra Pal Singh said that the Crime Branch had received a tip-off about an incoming bus (UP 83/2955) from Bihar, smuggling underage children. As such, the police stopped the said bus at the toll plaza at around 12:50 am and rescued the children. The police officer informed that the victims have been handed over to ChildLine and are being provided counselling. They will be soon be handed over to their family members. During the counselling, the children said that the trio told them that they were being taken for a trip to the National Capital.

Accused have been smuggling children to Delhi for money

On interrogating accused Sayyaz Alam, he confessed to smuggling 6 children from Bihar to Jaipur. He admitted that he had two minor in his possession. It must be mentioned that Alam is a neighbour of the two underage children. In his defence, he claimed that the other children had come along with him in search of work with consent from their family members.

The other accused, named Deepak Rishi, also trafficked 4 children to put them in dairy shops. He claimed to have travelled with the children for the first time, in search of jobs. SP Mahendra Pal Singh said that the accused had been smuggling children to the National Capital in exchange for a commission.

How I discovered that Bengal is full of ‘meat-eating vegetarians’

Abhishek Banerjee
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How I discovered that Bengal is full of ‘meat-eating vegetarians’

As a deeply secular, liberal and progressive person, you can imagine how I have felt about this country since 2014. Sure, the BJP won the 2014 elections, but that was because of all those Hindi speaking states. Okay, Gujarat and Maharashtra may not be Hindi speaking states, but close enough. What about Karnataka? There is always an exception somewhere to every rule. Just like the first past the post electoral system. It was good for sixty years. Suddenly in 2014, it was the worst.

But I have struggled to explain things that have happened after the 2014 election. First, the BJP swept all the states in the northeast. And now, the BJP has momentum on its side in states like Odisha and Telangana. The BJP is now polling a solid 15 per cent of the vote in Kerala and gaining ground in Puducherry. And then, there is Bengal.

Oh man, this hurts. Et tu, Bengal? All those decades we leftists spent in Delhi and New York glorifying the poverty of Calcutta and this is how you repay us? According to the 2011 census, Bengal had the highest number of beggars per lakh of population. I thought we were friends. You beg on the street. I take a photo of you begging and then go beg for an award at a film festival in Paris or Berlin. Our left-wing economists go to America to beg for Nobel Prizes. We are all in this together.

I was confused. According to my well accepted scholarly theories, the BJP was a party of Hindi speaking vegetarians. No, wait! Make that party of upper caste, Hindi speaking, vegetarian, cisgender, able-bodied males. Then how would I explain the BJP’s massive gains all over the northeast, Bengal, Odisha, Telangana, Karnataka and now even Kerala or Puducherry?

They say that when in doubt, read more. And that’s what I did. So I began reading up the works of everyone who already agrees with me. I pored over pages of the New York Times, the Washington Post and scanned articles by some beloved Indian journalists who were present at my last award ceremony. Surely I was not the only one suffering from the post-2014 stress disorder.

Some patterns began to emerge. Like ‘undeclared emergency.’ Even if I can’t see it, I can believe that it exists. This continued for a while until I chanced upon a report by the famous V-Dem institute based in Sweden. They have concluded that India is now an ‘electoral autocracy.’

That’s when I had my epiphany. When confronted with evidence that contradicts my assumptions, I don’t have to reject my assumptions. I can pretend that both are true at the same time.

How? By simply juxtaposing the labels. For example, if I were to say that India is currently under a state of emergency, I could get contradicted on facts. But if I admitted that India is not under emergency, it would contradict my beliefs. But what if I said ‘undeclared emergency’? Then, I don’t have to reject the facts nor do I have to reject my beliefs. I can keep them both. Because undeclared emergency does not actually mean anything, I win.

Similarly, if I say that India is an autocracy, nobody would believe me. After all, which autocratic country would allow protesters to occupy a highway and literally build pucca houses on it? But if I admitted otherwise, it would hurt my feelings. So how about I say ‘elected autocracy’? Because nobody knows what that means, they have to accept my version of the story.

Like ’eminent citizen.’ If I told someone that they are not a citizen, they would feel insulted. On the other hand, if I admitted that I am equal to other people, I would feel insulted. That is why I have always called myself an eminent citizen. As with so many other things, the Communists figured it out first. Think ‘People’s Republic.’ I choose a label I want and then I add a qualifier which nobody understands. Now, it can mean anything that I want it to mean.

Armed with these revelations, I had my solution. Everyone who votes for BJP is upper caste, Hindi speaking, vegetarian, cisgender and able-bodied male. Even the females (I get bonus woke points for realizing this). What about the Bengalis who are voting for BJP? They are simply ‘Bengali Hindi-speakers.’ And what of the BJP voting Bengalis who love their fish and meat? No problem. They are ‘meat-eating vegetarians.’

Problem solved. Article in The Washington Post coming soon…

Election Commission says West Bengal government’s report on Mamata Banerjee’s injury is ‘sketchy’, asks to submit a new report with details

OpIndia Staff
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Election Commission says West Bengal government’s report on Mamata Banerjee’s injury is ‘sketchy’, asks to submit a new report with details

The Election Commission of India is not satisfied with the report filed by the West Bengal government on the incident in Nandigram that caused injury to chief minister Mamata Banerjee. The ECI has said that the report lacks key details, and has asked the chief secretary to submit a revised report by the end of the day today.

The West Bengal Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay had submitted a report on the incident to the Election Commission, as per the instructions of the EC. In the report, the state govt had said that the CM was injured after the door of her car had hit her legs. The report also mentioned that a huge crowd was present at the spot in Nandigram when the incident happened.

Most importantly, the report didn’t mention anything about the CM being pushed by anyone. Just minutes after the incident, Mamata Banerjee had alleged that she was pushed by 4-5 people, and there was no police security around her. Following it, the TMC leaders had launched a massive attack against BJP and the Election Commission, accusing them of the ‘attack’.

However, a video message issued by Mamata Banerjee the next day from the hospital didn’t mention anything about being attacked, and had said that she was crushed by her car. It was after several eyewitnesses said that the CM was injured after the open door of her moving car had hit an iron pillar on the road, causing the door to hit her leg forcefully, causing the injury. Locals had said the Mamata Banerjee had kept the door open and kept the legs out of the car to greet the crowd standing on the roadside, which was confirmed by video footage of the incident.

The EC has asked the chief secretary to furnish details like how the incident took place and who could be behind it. “The report submitted by the West Bengal government appeared to be quite sketchy and without any details of the incident like how it happened or who could be behind it. We have asked the state administration to furnish more details,” an official of the poll panel told PTI.

Now the Election Commission has said that although the Chief Secretary’s report says that the CM’s leg was hit by the door, it does not mention how it happened. EC has said that the report is “sketchy”, as it lacks key details. The ECI wants to know the car door closed suddenly hitting the CM, was it hit by a pole on the road, whether it was accidentally pushed by the crowd, or whether it was a deliberate attack as the CM had initially alleged.

Shiv Sena forges an alliance with Asaduddin Owaisi led AIMIM for Amravati Municipal Corporation Committee elections: Report

OpIndia Staff
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Shiv Sena forges an alliance with Asaduddin Owaisi led AIMIM for Amravati Municipal Corporation Committee elections: Report

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Despite both parties being staunch rivals in the past and the tall claims of Shiv Sena being a Hindutva party, Uddhav Thackeray led Shiv Sena has entered into an alliance with Asaduddin Owaisi led AIMIM for the Standing Committee President polls in the Amravati Municipal Corporation, reports Swarajya.

According to the report, Shiv Sena will now contest the Amravati Municipal Corporation Committee elections in alliance with AIMIM.

Interestingly, in the last Amravati Municipal Corporation elections conducted in 2017, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) registered an emphatic win by securing 42 out of 87 seats. Shiv Sena managed to bag 9 Congress 16 and AIMIM 10.

Probably, in its last efforts to take away the reigns from the hands of BJP this time, Shiv Sena has got into this unholy alliance with AIMIM, which until yesterday was railing against the “communal” Shiv Sena in Maharashtra.

On March 12, during the release of its ally AMMK’s manifesto, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi had taken a dig at the Shiv Sena government in Maharashtra while slamming DMK for declaring itself secular. He questioned why then DMK had joined hands with the Congress that supported the “communal” Shiv Sena in Maharashtra.

“The Shiv Sena was pleased with the demolition of the Babri Masjid and the Congress had supported the celebration in Maharashtra”, Owaisi said taking a dig at the Hindutva proponent, Uddhav Thackray led party.

In 2019, after the Shiv Sena announced an alliance with Congress and NCP, in Maharashtra, Owaisi had slammed Shiv Sena over their stand on ‘Secular’ ideology after the formation of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra. Owaisi had mocked the parties by saying that “let them perform Nikah (marriage) first”. He had also refused to support the alliance.

The way this sudden U-turn by Asaduddin Owaisi can be attributed to his hankering to emerge as a national party, likewise, Shiv Sena’s flip flops can also be accredited to its desperation to keep BJP at bay in Maharashtra, for which Uddhav Thackeray-led party had snapped its ties with the BJP and formed an alliance with the ideological rivals-NCP and Congress, sacrificing its support for Hindutva on the altar of chief ministerial position.

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