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Uttar Pradesh: Woman given triple talaq by husband over phone for not giving birth to a son

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Uttar Pradesh: Woman given triple talaq by husband over phone for not giving birth to a son

In Uttar Pradesh, a Muslim woman was allegedly given triple talaq by her husband over phone for not giving birth to a male child. The woman was reportedly earlier beaten up by her husband and expelled from the house. She has been living at her parental home.

According to reports, the woman has filed a complaint on the Chief Minister’s portal. She has two daughters and wants to live with her husband.

Assaulted by in-laws for giving birth to daughters

As per reports, victim Hasibunnisa from Vishnupura of Guaribazar police station area was married to Fariyad Ahmed of Vardpur village of Siddharthnagar about a decade ago. During her decade-long marriage with Ahmed, she gave birth to two daughters. The woman has alleged that her in-laws used to harass her for not giving birth to a son. Her husband used to beat her too. In June this year, her husband again assaulted her and expelled her from his house.

After being expelled by her husband, she took her daughters along with her and went to her maternal house and started living there hoping that her husband would come to take her back. However, to her shock, her husband had allegedly called her to pronounce triple talaq. Aggrieved by her husband’s act she went to SP office to file a complaint. Inspector-in-charge Ashwini Rai said that her complaint had been received and the matter was being investigated.

Incidents of triple talaq have been emerging despite the government enacting a law to criminalise it after the Supreme Court declared the practice unconstitutional.

Man gave triple talaq to wife after she got a vaginal infection

Earlier this month in Gujarat, a man allegedly gave triple talaq to his wife after she was diagnosed with a vaginal infection. The woman was pregnant and had developed a vaginal infection as she could not maintain proper hygiene due to pressure of household chores despite medical advice. The victim had complained that not only had her husband ignored her worsening health and dumped her at her parents’ house, he had also been asking her family to bear the expenses of his new marriage to another woman.

Bihar Education Minister Mewa Lal Chaudhary resigns after protests from the opposition over corruption charges against him

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Bihar Education Minister Mewa Lal Chaudhary resigns after protests from the opposition over corruption charges against him

Bihar Education Minister Mewa Lal Chaudhary has submitted his resignation just 3 days after he was appointed as the minister in the newly formed Nitish Kumar govt. The resignation came following allegations of corruption relating to the appointments during his tenure as the Vice-Chancellor of Bihar Agricultural University.

After Mewa Lal Chaudhary was inducted into the ministry, opposition parties in the state had slammed the decision and had demanded that he should be removed for the post due to allegations of corruption against him. Mewalal Choudhary is allegedly facing corruption charges in the recruitment of assistant professors and scientists at Bihar Agricultural University.

Corruption convict Lalu Prasad Yadav had taken a dig at the Nitish Kumar for inducting someone accused in recruitment scam.

Leader of opposition Tejashwi Yadav also slammed the govt for making Mewa Lal Chaudhary the education minister, who is facing several charges of corruption.

Opposition leaders also pointed out how BJP leader had demanded arrest of Chaudhary a few years ago.

Denying the accusations levelled against him, Chaudhary said that an accusation was only proved on the filing of charge sheet or after the order of a court but none was there against him. He was suspended in 2017 from the Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) after an FIR was registered against him over alleged irregularities in appointments during his term as the Vice-Chancellor of Bihar Agricultural University.

Chaudhary’s struggle with the national anthem

Along with corruption charges, Chaudhary had also to face embarrassment for struggling to recite the national anthem after he was inducted in the Bihar ministry. A video of Mewa Lal Chaudhary has been doing rounds on social media in which he can be seen singing the national anthem incorrectly. In the video, Chaudhary is standing next to the national flag and singing the national anthem fumbling at times. He even added few random words to the national anthem and then ended it abruptly.

The video was shared on Twitter yesterday by the official handle of Tejashwi Yadav-led Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD). The RJD mocked Chaudhary for not knowing the national anthem and lashed out at Chief Minister Nitish Kumar asking, “Do you have any shame left, Nitish Kumar Ji? Where is your conscience?”

PM Modi praises book by young authors, ends up crashing their website due to high traffic

OpIndia Staff
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PM Modi praises book by young authors, ends up crashing their website due to high traffic

What happens when the extremely popular Prime Minister of the largest democracy praises two young authors and shares the link to the book’s website? Well, it crashes the server! This is what has happened today with authors Harsh Madhusudan and Rajeev Mantri.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a tweet that he has been reading their book “A New Idea of India” and urged people to read it too. He wrote, “Over the past few days, I have been reading, ‘A New Idea of India: Individual Rights in a Civilisational State’ by two bright minds @harshmadhusudan and @RMantri. Their work makes rich contributions to intellectual discourse. I hope you read it too…”

Within minutes of the PM sharing his tweet, the book’s website mentioned in the tweet was bombarded with unexpected traffic, and it crashed. Mantri informed in a tweet that he is working with the hosting service providers to fix the server. He wrote, “The book website linked to by the Prime Minister has gone down due to the surge in traffic, we are working with the hosting provider to fix it! Please bear with us.”

A New Idea of India: Individual Rights in a Civilisational State

The book by authors Harsh Madhusudan and Rajiv Mantri is a representation of individual rights and identities from a civilisational point of view in a ‘New India’ that is gradually breaking free of the shackles of Nehruvian socialism and asserting its ancient identity with a modern global attitude for growth.

“In 1991, India started a gradual withdrawal from this path, but it is only in 2019, with Narendra Modi’s second successive win in the general elections, that this philosophy (of Nehruvian socialism that resulted in corruption and stagnation) is finally being replaced by a worldview that acknowledges India as an ancient civilisation, even if a young republic, and that sees citizens as equal for developmental and other purposes. A New Idea of India constructs and expounds on a new framework beyond the rough and tumble of partisan politics,” the book’s introduction says.

The book has been receiving wide acclamations and praise from several prominent intellectual minds of modern India. The book is available in both hardcover and Kindle formats on Amazon for a price of Rs 602 and Rs 499 respectively.

Facebook user slapped with defamation suit, police notice for using the terms ‘Dhritarashtra’ and ‘Penguin’ for Maharashtra govt

OpIndia Staff
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Facebook user slapped with defamation suit, police notice for using the terms ‘Dhritarashtra’ and ‘Penguin’ for Maharashtra govt

Even as the Maharashtra govt cases flake for targeting people for their social media comments criticising the state govt, such actions by the Uddhav Thackeray government continues. In the latest incident, one Facebook user has been slapped with a defamation case of Rs 10 lakh for comparing the Maharashtra CM with Dhritarashtra, and also for referring to the govt as penguin govt.

The latest victim is Balakrishna Deekonda, a resident of Kamathipura in Mumbai, who has landed on trouble for his Facebook posts criticising the Maharashtra govt. The chief minister and the state government has sent him a statutory notice accusing him of defaming, degrading the reputation of the CM and his govt. The notice has been sent by one Shreedhar R Sadula, a Shiv Sena worker, who is a Gat Pramukh in Motilal Nehru Nagar, Antop Hill area in Mumbai.

The notice sent through Mumbai based advocate Prakash U Sutar quotes several posts by Deekonda, saying that they are defamatory and degrading statements for the CM and the govt. The notice attaches copies of the ‘offending’ posts by Deekonda. In one such post, he had said on 25th August, “Anyway Penguin govt is for few more days”, while sharing a survey report published on Mumbai Mirror saying that 64% respondents are not happy with Uddhav Thackeray, and 70% wanted to end the lockdown.

The two Facebook posts for which Balakrishna Deekonda is facing action

In another post on 18 April, Balakrishna Deekonda had shared an opinion article by The Print titled “Uddhav Thackeray has failed to handle Covid crisis. Bring in Army to save Mumbai”. While sharing link to the article, he had written, “200+.. Dritharashtra?”

The notice states that Deekonda had willingly defamed and degraded the chief minister and the state govt in the eyes of public with ulterior motive, and for that he must apologise in one local newspaper, one national newspaper and on the Social Media platform where he had posted the comments.

Along with apology, the Maharashtra CM is also seeking damages of Rs 10 lakh from Deekonda, which is to be deposited with Tata Memorial Hospital. If the same is not done, civil and criminal proceedings will be initiated against him, the notice said.

The notice reiterates that as he has degraded the reputation of Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray and the state govt, he must seek apology and pay the damages, otherwise he will have to face consequences.

Following the legal notice sent to Deekonda, Wadala TT Police Station issued a notice to him, asking to appear before the police. The notice asks him to contact the police station on phone as soon as he receives it, and to appear before them withing 3 days of receiving the notice.

Several other persons are facing actions by Maharashtra govt for their comments criticising the govt. Some of them include Sameet Thakkar, who was arrested three times for the same comments, Sunaina Holey, arrested twice for her tweets, advocate Vibhor Anand, who was arrested from Delhi, and several others.

It may be noted that in May this year, Maharashtra state govt had issued prohibitory orders, making criticism of the govt a crime. After that, Shiv Sena had formed a team to track down social media posts criticising the govt, and to take legal action on them.

West Bengal: BJP office in North 24 Parganas district burnt down, party blames TMC

OpIndia Staff
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West Bengal: BJP office in North 24 Parganas district burnt down, party blames TMC

In a shocking incident, the BJP office in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district was set ablaze allegedly by Trinamool Congress workers on Wednesday night.

According to the reports, the BJP office in Babanpur area of Mohanpur Gram Panchayat was burnt down last night. The BJP workers alleged that TMC is behind the incident and it is using cheap tricks as they are scared of the BJP.

“TMC wants us to fear but we’re united & won’t stand down. TMC is using cheap tricks as they’re scared,” said a BJP worker.

Ahead of the 2021 West Bengal elections, incidents of political violence have been rising in the state with a series of political killings and attacks on BJP workers. The attack on BJP office comes amidst the BJP’s efforts to increase its foothold in West Bengal ahead of next year’s assembly elections.

“Pishi’s miscreants set fire to the BJP party office in Noapara Gramin Mandal. In a desperate attempt to retain power TMC is pursuing political violence-murder(s) of BJP leaders and workers, burning of party offices and other forms of terror. TMC will be uprooted soon”. The official Twitter handle of BJP in Bengal has tweeted.

BJP worker beaten to death in West Bengal

Just yesterday, a BJP worker was beaten to death in the Tufanganj area. The BJP has alleged TMC’s role in the killing as well. 

A BJP worker in Bengal’s Cooch Behar was beaten to death in a clash between members of two community clubs over continuing Kali Puja celebrations. The deceased, Kalachand Karmokar, was a polling booth level secretary of the BJP. The party has alleged that Karmokar was killed by goons shielded by the ruling dispensation Trinamool Congress.

Political violence against BJP continues in West Bengal

On July 13, 2020, BJP MLA Debendra Nath Roy from Bengal’s North Dinajpur district was found hanging near his house in a closed tea shop in the village of Rajiganj. State BJP president Dilip Ghosh had claimed that he was murdered for political reasons and had demanded a high-level inquiry into the matter.

In another incident in June, a BJP worker was found hanging from a tree near his house in Bengal’s East Midnapore district. The BJP leaders had alleged that he was killed by the TMC workers after he had refused to join them. The deceased Purnachandra Das was a booth president of BJP in the Ramnagar area of the East Midnapore district.

Recently, a BJP worker named Rabin Paul was lynched to death in the Pathar Ghata village in Kalna in West Bengal. During the incident, he was first beaten mercilessly by the TMC supporters and then taken to another place in the village where Paul was allegedly thrashed by the TMC Deputy Chief. 

On September 13, the body of a BJP worker named Ganesh Roy was found hanging on a tree in Goghat in Hoogly district of the State. Roy was well-known in the area as an active BJP worker. His son has alleged that Roy was murdered by the party workers of the Trinamool Congress. He claimed that they hung his body on the tree after killing him.

Later on October 5, BJP’s former councillor Manish Shukla was gunned down in Titagarh in North 24-Parganas. Manish Shukla was hit by several bullets fired by the attackers who were wearing helmets. A few days later, the West Bengal police had arrested a ‘TMC activist’ for harbouring killers of BJP leader Manish Shukla and had recovered bikes, carbines and pistols.

‘Writer’ Ravinder Singh makes Hinduphobic ‘gaumutra’ jibe as he mocks coronavirus vaccine

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‘Writer’ Ravinder Singh makes Hinduphobic ‘gaumutra’ jibe as he mocks coronavirus vaccine

‘Writer’ Ravinder Singh on Thursday was caught using the language of the terrorists as he made the ‘gaumutra’ jibe while mocking coronavirus vaccines.

Ravinder Singh’s ‘GauMutra’ jibe

Responding to The Wire employee Rohini Singh’s tweet on coronavirus vaccines, Ravinder Singh said why would we (Indians) need vaccines when we have Gaumutra (cow urine) as cure. Singh was expressing concern whether state governments in India have reserved their share of vaccines when countries around the world are doing so. Ravinder Singh has written 9 book.

Hinduphobic Gaumutra jibe is language of terrorists

‘Gaumutra’ jibe is often used by Islamist terrorists before attacking Indians, especially Hindus. Last year, a Pakistan-backed Jaish-e-Muhammad terrorist in a suicide attack had killed as many as 40 CRPF soldiers in Pulwama, Kashmir. Following the attack, a video was released in which he could be heard saying he wanted to punish and kill the ‘cow urine drinkers’ in the name of Allah. The terrorist identified as Adil Ahmed Dar alias Waqas was seen admitting that he had joined the Jaish-e-Mohammad a year ago. In the video, he had referred to Indians as “Gae ka Peshab Peene Wale” (People who drink cow urine). 

Coronavirus vaccine in India

For coronavirus, it is the central government that will procure vaccines because of limited supply and the state government will then procure it from centre as health is a state subject. Whether the vaccine will be provided to people for free or at a cost will be decided by respective state governments. Usually, state governments have the authority to procure vaccines directly from manufacturing companies but it may not be possible for Chinese coronavirus due to limited capacity.

Purchase agreements are being drawn up for India to reserve vaccines are they are getting ready. As per a tweet by the BJP, India has reserved over 1.5 billion vaccines, higher than any other country or organisation.

So to answer Rohini Singh’s question, yes, government seems adequately prepared with the constraints it faces.

Further, it is not clear whether Rohini meant to ask state governments whether they have reserved vaccines from central government or from pharmaceutical companies. Since latter can be ruled out safely, one is left wondering what will the central government do sitting on heaps of coronavirus vaccines if it does not distribute them to states.

Moreover, Indian pharmaceutical industry in itself is quite capable of producing coronavirus vaccines for the entire world. In September this year, India-based world’s largest vaccine manufacturer Serum Institute to manufacture antigen for coronavirus vaccine which will increase their global manufacturing capacity to over 2 billion doses annually. PM Modi, too, has been consistently assuring citizens of procurement of adequate vaccines for the citizens of India.

Hence, while the world may seem gloomy because of the pandemic that originated in India, the ray of hope is that some of the brilliant minds are working to bringing and end to this nightmare.

Parliamentary panel headed by Meenakshi Lekhi grills Twitter, asks why vile tweets by Kunal Kamra not removed, seeks response in 7 days

OpIndia Staff
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Parliamentary panel headed by Meenakshi Lekhi grills Twitter, asks why vile tweets by Kunal Kamra not removed, seeks response in 7 days

A Joint Committee of Parliament for Data Protection on Thursday grilled micro-blogging site Twitter asking why it has failed to take any action against supposed ‘comedian’ Kunal Kamra for making vile comments against country’s judiciary and the Chief Justice of India.

According to the reports, Twitter was questioned by the parliamentary panel for inaction against Kunal Kamra and asked why has not Twitter removed Kunal Kamra’s offensive tweets targeting the Supreme Court.

The social media giant’s policy head Mahima Kaul was summoned before the Joint Committee on the Personal Data Protection Bill headed by the BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi.  

Speaking to Media, Lekhi said that Twitter said the post cannot be removed unless the court issues such orders. She further says, “We’ve asked for an answer in 7 days. Since there are no laws in India regarding these, we have to talk to the top executives of such service providers”.

The self-proclaimed comedian Kunal Kamra, known for his abusive behaviour on social media platforms, faces contempt cases over his vile tweets attacking the Supreme Court after it had granted bail to Republic TV chief Arnab Goswami in a 2018 suicide case.

The infamous comedian lost his cool when the Supreme Court of India granted interim bail to Arnab Goswami on 11th November. Kamra published a series of Tweets where he described the Supreme Court of India as ‘Supreme Joke of India’. As per the law, his tweets are subject to contempt proceedings.

Following that, several complaints were filed against him and a Mumbai-based lawyer Rizwan Siddiquee had also sought Attorney General KK Venugopal’s permission to initiate contempt of court proceedings against Kunal Kamra. Last week, Attorney General KK Venugopal had also granted his consent to initiate contempt of court proceedings against far-left troll masquerading as a ‘stand-up comedian’ Kunal Kamra.

Not just pulled up for Kunal Kamra tweet, but Twitter had apologised to Parliamentary panel over misrepresentation of Indian map too

The questioning of Twitter over its alleged bias and inaction against left-wing Twitter handles comes even as Twitter is facing serious trouble in the country for distortion of Indian map by geo-tagging Ladakh as a part of China.

In October, while doing a Twitter Live session, security expert Nitin A Gokhale had noticed that his location was geo-tagged as ‘Jammu & Kashmir, the People’s Republic of China’. He was standing at Leh’s Hall of Fame, a war memorial for fallen soldiers in the Union Territory of Ladakh at that time. Taking cognizance of the issue, the Indian government issued a notice to Twitter on October 22 warning them to rectify the wrong geo-tagging.

In October, the Joint Committee of Parliament on Data Protection Bill had sent a notice to Twitter for showing Ladakh as part of China. It mentioned in the notice that the act amounted to treason and had sought an explanation in the form of an affidavit.

Twitter India’s representatives had met Lekhi and begged apology. However, their request was denied as the act was a criminal offence that “questioned the sovereignty of the country”. 

Twitter has officially apologized for the geo-tagging mistake committed by the social media giant by showing Ladakh as part of China. The Parliamentary panel’s chairperson and BJP leader Meenakshi Lekhi said that the committee had received a written apology from Twitter and the company has promised to rectify the geo-tagging issue by November 30.

The deposition from Twitter has come in the form of an affidavit signed by Twitter Inc’s Chief Privacy Officer, Damien Karein.

Watch: Rajdeep Sardesai loses his cool, says ‘does not need certificate’ after he is questioned why he gave a platform to Pakistani minister

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Watch: Rajdeep Sardesai loses his cool, says ‘does not need certificate’ after he is questioned why he gave a platform to Pakistani minister

Rajdeep Sardesai, the anchor with India Today TV, lost his cool during his Prime Time show. BJP National Spokesperson Dr Sambit Patra cornered him over giving space to Fawad Chaudhary after which Sardesai abruptly interrupted him and said he ‘does not need certificate’ for his patriotism.

During the conversation with Sambit Patra, Sardesai said that Farooq Abdullah should be treated fairly. Patra questioned him why his Prime Time show gives space to people like Fawad Chaudhry from Pakistan to clarify his stand. He said, “You told me right now that we have to be fair with Farooq Abdullah. Why is it that this show at 9 PM on your channel with you as the host always gives a chance to Fawad Chaudhry from Pakistan to come and clarify his stand? Why you give a chance to Farooq Abdullah to prove he is a nationalist”.

Sardesai got irked by Patra’s statement and interrupted him. He questioned if he should not let Farooq Abdullah speak. When Patra said that the methods in journalism used by Sardesai and his likes are known to the country, Sardesai got even more agitated. He said, “I do not need a certificate of patriotism from you, Dr Patra. I am a patriotic Indian. I am not a political stooge like you.”

Rajdeep Sardesai has an ‘adventurous’ career

This is not the first time Sardesai has been cornered by someone for his way of journalism. When PM Modi was contesting Lok Sabha elections for the first time, Sardesai got into a fight with NRIs and got slapped by one of them. Over the past six years, on several occasions, Sardesai has been wrong in choosing the right side. In October, he gave space to Fawad Chaudhry from Pakistan to clarify his statement on Pulwama for which Sardesai was criticised heavily.

During an interview, he admitted that he was happy when Parliament was attacked as he was getting good content. In an interview, Business tycoon Mukesh Ambani told Sardesai that he does not take him seriously. Former President Pranab Mukherjee once scolded him during an interview as Sardesai interrupted him. Later, Saurav Ganguly mocked him for getting scolded by the former President. 

Delhi HC slams Kejriwal govt for mismanaging COVID crisis, asks why they did not ‘wake up’ when cases were rising

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Delhi HC slams Kejriwal govt for mismanaging COVID crisis, asks why they did not ‘wake up’ when cases were rising

The Delhi High Court on Thursday slammed Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government over the deteriorating coronavirus situation in the national capital.

A Delhi High Court bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Subramonium Prasad severely criticised the Kejriwal-led government for the rising number of cases in Delhi and asked whether it could explain to people who have lost their relatives to the pandemic in the last 18 days as to why the administration did not take steps when cases were increasing in the city.

The High Court also asked the Delhi government why it waited till the court intervened to take steps such as reducing the number of people attending weddings to 50 to prevent the spread of COVID-19. 

“You (Delhi government) saw from November 1 which way the wind was blowing. But you turn turtle now because we asked you some questions. The bell should have rung loud and clear when the numbers were spiralling. Why did you not wake up when you saw the situation was deteriorating? Why did we have to shake out of your slumber on November 11? What did you do from November 1 till November 11? Why did you wait 18 days (till November 18) to take a decision? Do you know how many lives were lost during this period? Can you explain it to those who lost their near and dear ones,” the bench slammed the Delhi government.

Delhi HC expresses displeasure over monitoring in the national capital

The court also expressed its displeasure over the Delhi government’s apparent failure to enforce social distancing norms, prevention of spitting and mandating masks. 

The bench said that the fines imposed by the Delhi government are not working either as they seem to have failed to set a deterrent. The court said that there was a gap in monitoring and imposition of fines in certain localities as compared to others.

“What kind of monitoring and marshalling are you doing? Look at the situation seriously with a magnifying glass. You have crossed cities like New York and Sao Paolo,” the court said.

The Delhi High Court was hearing a PIL by Rakesh Malhotra, who had sought court’s intervention amidst the rising number of coronavirus cases in the national capital.

On Wednesday, Delhi recorded 7,486 fresh coronavirus cases, taking the total tally in the national capital to over 5 lakh. Delhi saw 131 new fatalities, the highest single-day death count till date, pushing the death toll to 7,943. 

‘Delhi could be the corona capital of the country’: Delhi HC

This is not the first time that the Delhi HC has criticised AAP government’s inaction in the national capital. A few weeks back, the Delhi High Court had rebuked the Arvind Kejriwal government over the rising cases of COVID-19 in the national capital. It had stated that the city could soon become ‘corona capital of the country’.

Observing that the Delhi government has gone completely “haywire” on the pandemic, the two-judge bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Subramonium Prasad pulled up the AAP govt for taking the health of the citizens for a ride. It said that it would deal with this issue separately.

The high court said the Delhi government made many claims that they are topping charts in testing but the number of cases has overshot. “The city could soon become Corona capital of the country. Thanks to the number of cases shooting up,” the bench said and added, “We are going to take it very seriously.”

Centre intervenes to control pandemic in Delhi

Following the failure of Delhi government to control the pandemic in the national capital, the Union government has now again stepped in into pull out Delhi and it’s public from the mess created by the Kejriwal government. The central government has now announced a slew of measures including arranging 300 additional ICU beds, doubling the RT-PCR tests daily, and a house-to-house survey to check the rising cases in the national capital.  

Union Home Minister Amit Shah stated that some of the hospitals under the municipal corporations will be converted into dedicated COVID hospitals. Also, doctors and paramedical staff have been called in to increase the manpower.

Asaduddin Owaisi proposes a pre-poll alliance to Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal after Mamata’s veiled attack against him

OpIndia Staff
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Asaduddin Owaisi proposes a pre-poll alliance to Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal after Mamata’s veiled attack against him

West Bengal goes to polls in the year 2021, where Mamata Banerjee and her party, TMC, will be challenged by BJP. With several dissenters like Suvendu Adhikari of the TMC preparing to exit the party ahead of the crucial polls, by all accounts, Mamata Banerjee seems to be on weak-footing. Realising the AIMIM, led by Owaisi, has the potential to dent her prospects further, Mamata had attacked Owaisi earlier by claiming that some ‘outsiders’ will threaten and scare voters.

Mamata, taking a dig at Owaisi had claimed that the people of Bengal need to be careful of ‘these outsiders’.

However, unphased by this attack, Owaisi has now reportedly proposed a pre-poll alliance to Mamata Banerjee.

According to reports, Owaisi has told Mamata Banerjee, the current Chief Minister of Bengal, that if she agrees to a pre-poll alliance with Owaisi, he will held her defeat BJP, which is now making massive headway in the state.

Interestingly, emboldened after winning five seats in Seemanchal region, a confident Owaisi announced that his party would contest Bengal assembly polls.

As BJP makes strides in West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee has reason to be extremely worried about her own prospects, especially, after Owaisi announced his decision to contest the Bengal elections. Essentially, this move by Owaisi could translate into the Muslim votes in the state being divided between TMC and AIMIM, while the Hindus votes would consolidate behind the saffron party, BJP.

The Owaisi conundrum for Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal

In July 2019, it was reported that the AIMIM had announced their decision to contest the Assembly Elections in the state scheduled to be held in 2021. “It is true that we are fewer in number, but do not dare touch us. We are atom bombs. Didi, we welcome your friendship and enmity as well. You have to decide whether you consider us friends or foes,” AIMIM national spokesperson and Bengal observer, Asim Waqar, had stated sometime back.

The AIMIM had also organized a meeting at Dharmatala in Kolkata where the former MLA from Maharashtra Waris Pathan was also present. Consequently, in November, the Chief Minister of Bengal had warned the citizenry about the radicalism of the Owaisis. She did not name them but it was quite obvious who her comments were directed at. “I am watching that there are some extremists among minorities,” she told her party workers in Coochbehar, “They have their base in Hyderabad. Don’t listen to them.”

On the 8th of December, AIMIM leader Zameerul Hasan accused the Mamata Government of targeting his party. “Across the state, police officers are abusing our leaders, threatening them not to take up political programmes. This has happened after the Chief Minister indicated to the police to ensure that we don’t hold meetings and processions,” he told IANS. Hasan also announced that the party will organize a mega rally in Kolkata where Asaduddin Owaisi will be the main speaker.

Thus, things are not looking very good for Mamata Banerjee. She has spent too much of her political capital on her Muslim vote bank to be able to win without complete Muslim consolidation in her favour. In the course of the said appeasement, she has alienated significant sections of the Hindu community which have then consolidated in favour of the BJP. This is what we saw happen in the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections where the saffron party massively increased its seat tally.

Mamata Banerjee faces a situation where Asaduddin Owaisi is threatening to capture her Muslim vote bank while the Hindus have consolidated behind the BJP due to her continuous Muslim appeasement.

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