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How the century-old Islamic evangelical event which originated in India spread coronavirus in South East Asia

OpIndia Staff
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How the century-old Islamic evangelical event which originated in India spread coronavirus in South East Asia

Tablighi Itjema, the Islamic evangelical event held in Malaysia late last month has emerged as the ground zero for the coronavirus outbreak in South East Asia.

11 out of 12 people who tested positive for COVID-19 coronavirus on March 16 in Cambodia had attended the Islamic evangelical event in Malaysia. A total of 79 Muslims had returned from Malaysia after attending the Tablighi Ijtema, a 3-day ‘show of strength’ event of Muslims which is all about moral reform of individuals and is often described as ‘making Muslims true Muslims’. The event was reportedly attended by over 16,000 Muslims from several countries.

The event was held between 27 February 2020 to 1 March 2020. 34-year-old Malaysian man who had attended the event died on Tuesday. He is the first reported death linked to the evangelical event. As per reports, out of a total 673 confirmed cases in Malaysia, as many as 2/3rd are linked to the mosque gathering. Apparently, only about half of Malaysian population that attended the event has come forward to get tested. This has raised apprehensions that the actual number of infected people could be even higher. On Tuesday, Malaysia reported two deaths from coronavirus, one of whom had attended the event.

Read: Why Coronavirus suspects ‘escaping’ hospitals is a worry. Here is how just 1 person caused massive spread in South Korea

As of now, Brunei has confirmed 50 cases linked to Tablighi Ijtema. The number stands at 5 in Singapore, and two in Thailand. Vietnam, too, has a confirmed coronavirus case linked to the event. A total of 67 people have tested positive in Vietnam.

As per a Reuters report, some of the Muslims who attended the event have refused to get themselves tested for coronavirus and are relying on Allah to protect them. About a third of the people who attended the event are reportedly yet to be traced. One of the attendees, 41-year-old Karim who tested positive for coronavirus blames the government for not cancelling the event. Speaking to Reuters, Karim is disappointed that the blame of spreading coronavirus is put on those who attended the event.

Tablighi Jamaat, of which Tablighi Ijtema is an integral part, is a global Islamic missionary movement which urges Muslims to return to the way Islam was practiced during the time of Prophet Muhammad. The focus is on rituals, dress and personal behaviour and is considered one of the most influential Islamic religious movements of 20th century. It has become world’s second largest Muslim congregation after the Islamic holy pilgrimage of Hajj.

The movement was founded in 1927 by Islamic scholar Muhammad Ilyas ibn Muhammad Ismail in Mewat, India. Mewat, which has emerged as a hotbed of illegal Rohingya Bangladeshis in recent times, is a geographical region which falls in Rajasthan and Haryana.

Uttar Pradesh: Yogi Adityanath govt to compensate daily wage earners for loss due to coronavirus

OpIndia Staff
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Uttar Pradesh: Yogi Adityanath govt to compensate daily wage earners for loss due to coronavirus

As the global pandemic of COVID-19 coronavirus is expected to hit the livelihood of daily wage earners due to slowdown in the economy, the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday announced to compensate these daily earners with state support. Taking to Twitter, UP CM Yogi Adityanath informed that the loss of wages will be deposited in their bank accounts for which a committee has been set up.

Moreover, the government has also announced that the state government will bear the medical expenses of those infected with the deadly virus. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister also announced that there will be no deduction of salary for those patients who take leave for coronavirus treatment.

According to the reports, the state government has also constituted a high-level committee to provide them with the required monetary support. The three-member committee, headed by the UP finance minister and comprising the state agriculture and labour ministers, has been asked by chief minister Yogi Adityanath to submit a report within three days.

“The committee will analyse the situation arising out of the coronavirus outbreak so that the livelihood of the poor and daily wage earners is not affected. The state intends to provide money to these people through the real-time gross settlement (RTGS) medium,” UP cabinet minister Shrikant Sharma confirmed to the media.

In the backdrop of Coronavirus health crisis, the Uttar Pradesh government has banned all forms of protest and demonstrations in the state to protect the general public from this pandemic. Meanwhile, the CM has directed for the closure of all schools, colleges, and educational institutions till April 2, while also suspending all competitive and academic board examinations. Earlier, the schools and colleges were closed till March 22 even as the ongoing exams were not disturbed.

Read: Old photo of Baba Ramdev in hospital circulated with false claim that he fell ill after overdosing on cow urine to prevent Coronavirus

The government has also decided to close down all the tourist sports till March 31, although the process of sanitising these places would continue, said the minister. “The state government has decided to implement the central government advisory pertaining to coronavirus in totality,” he added.

Speaking on the preparedness of the state to handle the crisis, Sharma added the CM Yogi Adityanath had appealed to the people to avoid crowded places and not to panic on the issue, although the masses should exercise caution and spread awareness. All the cinema halls and multiplexes have also been ordered to close down till April 2 in UP even as the respective district magistrates have been directed to speed up the awareness campaign through posters and banners.

“At present, the state is under stage II of coronavirus and with effective campaign and public awareness, we can prevent it from reaching the critical stage III,” Sharma underlined.

Meanwhile, the government has advised the private companies to allow their employees to work from home, while a committee headed by the state chief secretary has been constituted to suggest similar measures for the government employees. The state government has mandated free treatment of coronavirus patients, while the government and non-government employees have been assured that their salaries would not be cut during the work of the home regime.

Till now, 13 coronavirus positive cases have been identified in UP at Agra, Lucknow, Noida and Ghaziabad with the Taj City leading the tally with 8 cases. More than 1.3 million travellers have so been screened at the airports and Nepal border check posts.

Watch: Police puts Digvijaya Singh under preventive arrest as he sat on a dharna outside Bengaluru hotel to meet Madhya Pradesh MLAs

OpIndia Staff
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Watch: Police puts Digvijaya Singh under preventive arrest as he sat on a dharna outside Bengaluru hotel to meet Madhya Pradesh MLAs

Bengaluru Police has put senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh under preventive arrest as he sat on a dharna outside a hotel where he had gone to meet rebel Congress MLAs.

He was sitting on a dharna outside Ramada hotel where 21 Congress MLAs who tendered resignation along with former Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia who recently joined the BJP. Singh arrived in Bengaluru early this morning ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections which are scheduled later this month. He is Congress candidate for the Upper House of the Parliament.”I’m a Rajya Sabha candidate from Madhya Pradesh, voting is scheduled for 26 March. My MLAs have been kept here, they want to speak to me, their phones have been snatched, police is not letting me speak to them saying there is a security threat to MLAs,” he said.

Read: “Resort Politics” of Congress comes full circle as BJP seems poised to topple the Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh

The veteran Congress leader has now been placed under preventive arrest. Singh said that the rebel MLAs want to go back to Congress but “are being held back”. He claims that he spoke to 5 MLAs whose phones have been “snatched away” and are being “followed 24×7.”

The Madhya Pradesh state government plunged into crisis after senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia along with 21 other Congress MLAs quit the party. Scindia has since joined the BJP. With 21 Congress MLAs also quitting, the ruling government has fallen below the majority mark. The MP Governor has asked Chief Minister Kamal Nath to prove majority on the floor of the Assembly.

Amid the political crisis in Madhya Pradesh, Congress party moves Supreme Court accusing BJP of kidnapping its MLAs

OpIndia Staff
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Amid the political crisis in Madhya Pradesh, Congress party moves Supreme Court accusing BJP of kidnapping its MLAs

The Madhya Pradesh Congress moved the Supreme court on Tuesday against the Bharatiya Janata Party accusing the opposition party of kidnapping 16 of its MLAs. The Congress party is also seeking directions for ‘releasing their MLAs from the captivity of BJP’. The rebel MLAs of Madhya Pradesh Congress are presently staying at a Bengaluru resort and they have demanded security for their safe return to Bhopal. A rebel Congress leader Govind Singh Rajput said that the group of rebel MLAs were willingly living in Bengaluru resort.

The rebel MLA has accused MP Chief Minister Kamal Nath of not hearing the ideas and demands for their respective constituencies for even 15 minutes. “When the MP government was formed, we were there in the opposition for 15 years. When the government was formed Rahul Gandhi brought two faces in light– Scindia Ji and Kamal Nath Ji. We thought everything will be normal but CM’s behaviour changed later,” he said.

MP Governor Lalji Tandon wrote to Kamal Nath on Monday urging him to hold the floor test till 17 March. The speaker on Monday had adjourned the session till 26 March due to coronavirus scare. However, BJP moved to the supreme court against the speaker. The plea filed by former CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan urges the top court to order a floor test immediately.

On 9 March, the influential Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia had resigned from the party and later joined the BJP. Following him, 19 MLAs including six cabinet ministers have also resigned from the assembly.

“It is time to set precedence”, former CJI Ranjan Gogoi defends his nomination to Rajya Sabha, says will reply to criticism after taking oath

OpIndia Staff
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“It is time to set precedence”, former CJI Ranjan Gogoi defends his nomination to Rajya Sabha, says will reply to criticism after taking oath

Talking to media for the first time after being nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the president, former chief justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said that he has accepted the offer humbly. Talking to Assamese news channel Pratidin Time in Guwahati on Tuesday morning, Gogoi said that he was given ample time before taking the decision, and it was announced by the government after he had given his consent.

Responding to criticism by Congress party and others over his nomination, Ranjan Gogoi said that time has come to set a precedence. “I have accepted the offer of the nomination to the Rajya Sabha because of strong conviction, that the legislature and the Judiciary must at some point of time worked together for Nation-building,” he said.

The former CJI added, “My presence in Parliament will be an opportunity to project the views of the Judiciary before the legislature and vice versa,” responding to debates going on in social media over his nomination.

Ranjan Gogoi informed that he is going to Delhi tomorrow, and said that he will open up on the issue but first he will take the oath in Rajya Sabha. “I have much to say but let me take the oath in the Parliament and then I shall open up,” he said while talking to senior journalist Mrinal Talukdar during the interview. He also added, “let God give me the strength to have an independent voice in the Parliament.”

In the meanwhile, the attack on the BJP government over the decision continued with Gogoi’s fellow judges joining the criticism. Judges Madan Lokur and Kurian Joseph today made comments opposing the move by the government and Ranjan Gogoi.

The nomination of ex-Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi to the Rajya Sabha has now come under the attack from his fellow Judges Madan Lokur and Kurian Joseph. The two of them along with former CJI Gogoi and Justice J Chelameswar were part of the contentious press conference wherein they had questioned the alleged misconduct of then CJI Deepak Mishra in the allocation of important cases. An explosive letterwritten by the 4 Judges to the Chief Justice Mishra, several months ago, was also put out in public domain.

Justice Madan Lokur who retired in December 2018 remarked, “There has been speculation for some time now about what honorific would Justice Gogoi get. So, in that sense, the nomination is not surprising, but what is surprising is that it came so soon. This redefines the independence, impartiality and integrity of the judiciary. Has the last bastion fallen?”

Justice (retired) Kurian Joseph said, “I am surprised as to how Justice Ranjan Gogoi, who once exhibited such courage of conviction to uphold the independence of the judiciary, has compromised the noble principles on the independence and impartiality of the Judiciary.”

He claimed that the Rajya Sabha nomination of the former Chief Justice has shaken the confidence of the common man on the “independence of the Judiciary” and thus compromised the “solid foundation of the nation.” Justice J Chelameswar, however, refused to comment on the new development.

It is imperative to remember that CJI Gogoi’s nomination to the Rajya Sabha is not “unprecedented” for two primary reasons. First, there are no constitutional restrictions that bar him from seeking employment, joining a political party or getting elected/nominated to the Indian Parliament. Second, India has a long history of judges becoming governors, contesting on the tickets of political parties, becoming Vice President and so on.

Do not care who it is, those who threaten physical security of aircraft deserves no consideration: Aviation Minister over flying ban on Kunal Kamra

OpIndia Staff
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Do not care who it is, those who threaten physical security of aircraft deserves no consideration: Aviation Minister over flying ban on Kunal Kamra

Union Minister for Civil Aviation Hardeep S Puri on Tuesday while responding over a discussion on flying ban on stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra in Lok Sabha said that irrelevant of the identity of the person, whether it’s a member of the house or anyone, anybody who dares to threaten the security of the aircraft deserves no consideration.

While speaking in the lower house, Puri said, “He (comedian Kunal Kamra) tried to disrupt normal functioning. It would have gone unnoticed, he recorded the incident himself and put it on social media. The concerned airline put him under no flying period. Others also followed.”

He added, “I do not care who it is, whether it is a member of house or anyone. Anybody who threatens the physical security of aircraft, inside the aircraft while it is airborne, deserves no consideration.”

The discussion came in the light of Vistara airlines putting a flying ban Kunal Kamra till 27 April recently after the conclusion of the investigation by an internal committee of Indigo regarding the late January incident came into being.

Propagandist Kunal Kamra had resorted to bullying and heckling Journalist Arnab Goswami on a flight in January this year. Despite Arnab continue to ignore him, he continued to heckle the journalist inside the Indigo flight. Kunal Kamra also shot a video of the same and posted it on social media in order to get an ovation from the left brigade but it hit him reverse when the Indigo and other airlines put a ban on Kamra from taking their flights until further notice. After Indigo, Air India, SpiceJet, and GoAir had also blacklisted Kamra, with Air Vistara doing the same recently.

IIT Kanpur student who had chanted controversial poem ‘Bas Naam Rahega Allah Ka’ during anti-CAA protests expresses remorse for ‘hurting sentiments’

OpIndia Staff
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IIT Kanpur student who had chanted controversial poem ‘Bas Naam Rahega Allah Ka’ during anti-CAA protests expresses remorse for ‘hurting sentiments’

As the protests surrounding the new Citizenship Amendment Act peters out, those accused of fomenting trouble appear to be making amends for the wrongs that they did during the peak of the anti-CAA demonstrations. In one such incident, a third-year student from the prestigious Indian Institute, Kanpur, whose public recital of controversial poem prompted a faculty member to file a complaint against him, has apologised and expressed his regrets to the institute for “hurting sentiments” through his “error in judgment”.

In December 2019, during the anti-CAA protests in Kanpur, the controversial couplet penned by Faiz Ahmed Faiz was recited by students on the college campus. A complaint was then lodged by a faculty of the Institute, Dr Vashi Sharma, according to whom the poem recited by the students had contained clarion calls to “destroy all idols” while emphasising that everything will vanish except for Allah’s name.

In the video of the incident, according to Sharma, lines from ‘ Hum Dekhenge ’ was recited along with placards reading, “tumhari laathi aur goli se tez hamari awaaz hai” (our voice is louder than your sticks and bullets).

The poem read, “Lazim hai ke hum bhi dekhenge. Jab arz-e-Khuda ke kaabe se. Sab but uthwae jaenge. Hum ahl-e-safa mardood-e-harm. Masnad pe bethae jaenge. Sab taaj uchale jaenge. Sab takht girae jaenge. Bas naam rahega Allah ka. Hum dekhenge.”

The lines used from the poem appear deeply communal in isolation and are often used by Pakistani-sponsored terrorists and separatists in Kashmir to express their anti-Hindu and anti-India hatred. The ones raising these slogans essentially wanted that all the idols, crowns will be vanished to keep Allah’s name alive.

Soon after Swarajya exclusively reported about Dr Sharma’s complaint, the Institute had established a six-member committee to investigate if any student or faculty member had used “inflammatory, abusive and intimidating language” during the event or on social media after Dr Sharma registered her complaint against the students.

After investigating the matter, a report was submitted to the Institute director last week by the committee. The report lists down 5 teachers and 6 students for their “less-than-desirable” conduct. The committee has advised the director to provide “guidance” to them.

Regarding the recital of the problematic poem, the deputy director of IIT Kanpur, Manindra Agarwal said that the student who chanted the poem is remorseful of his actions. “We asked him if he believes he was right in reciting the poem at the communally charged up environment. He said he did not intend to hurt anybody’s sentiments but if in case he has offended anyone’s feelings, he is apologetic about it,” Agarwal said to Swati Goel Sharma of Swarajya.

While Agarwal refused to disclose the identities of the people named in the report, he added that the committee considers the matter to be closed.

In contrast to some misleading media reports which said the committee formed by the Institute is tasked with studying if the poem was “anti-Hindu”, Agarwal rubbished such media canards saying the committee was never instructed to analyse the content and the meaning of the poem. “We were simply asked to investigate why tempers ran high and who was accountable for it,” he had added.

Apropos of the recommended counselling, Agarwal said that the counselling may not have happened owing to the campus lockdown amidst the coronavirus scare. The institute has closed down for two weeks and the students and other members have been advised to mot come to campus in case they are on vacation.

UP government starts recovering costs of damaged property during Anti-CAA riots, six rioters already paid the first instalment

OpIndia Staff
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UP government starts recovering costs of damaged property during Anti-CAA riots, six rioters already paid the first instalment

Yogi Adityanath led Uttar Pradesh government has started recovering money from the rioters who indulged in the vandalism and desecration of public properties during the anti-CAA riots in the month of December despite consistent warnings by the government.

Reportedly, six rioters have already paid their first instalments with a total amount of ₹80,856 in UP’s Kanpur. The property desecrated by the rioters which have to paid by the 21 rioters in Kanpur was worth a total of ₹2,80,000 for which the rioters were warned to pay the amount for the damaged property on time otherwise strict action will be against them.

UP CM Yogi Adityanath has been very clear about his intentions from the very first day when the riots took place in the state of Uttar Pradesh. He had warned rioters that taking the law into their hands, indulging in arson can land them into trouble.

Earlier this month the UP government had put hoardings of 57 anti-CAA vandals in prominent intersections in state capital Lucknow. The hoardings included their names, addresses, and photos of the violent protesters who damaged public property during the riots that claimed 22 lives in December last year. The rioters were asked to pay the penalty amount within a month.

The vandals have been identified through police reports and other sources. The UP government is looking forward to recovering more than 1.5 Cr from 57 reported rioters across the state of Uttar Pradesh who indulged in vandalism, violence, and arson in the name of anti-CAA protests.

The Uttar Pradesh government has also promulgated the Uttar Pradesh Recovery of Damages to Public and Private Property Ordinance, 2020 to recover damages from rioters. The Ordinance states that the state will set up claims tribunals to investigate the damages caused during protests and to award compensation, and also to cover the cost of action taken by police and administration for prevention of damage to public properties.

Pakistan PM Imran Khan uses Coronavirus outbreak to whine about the economic crisis back home, seeks debt waiver for his ‘vulnerable’ country

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan PM Imran Khan uses Coronavirus outbreak to whine about the economic crisis back home, seeks debt waiver for his ‘vulnerable’ country

The Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has urged the international community to consider for a debt waiver for poor and vulnerable countries like his. During the interview with The Associated Press, Khan claimed that the coronavirus will devastate the economies of developing nations, and as a result, richer economies must write off the debts of the world’s poorer countries which includes Pakistan.

“My worry is poverty and hunger,” Khan said. “The world community has to think of some sort of a debt write-off for countries like us, which are very vulnerable, at least that will help us in coping with (the coronavirus).”

Using the Novel Coronavirus outbreak as an excuse, the Pakistan PM whined that if a serious outbreak happens in Pakistan, he’s worried that his government’s efforts to lift the ailing economy out of near-collapse would begin an unstoppable slide backwards. Exports would fall off, unemployment would soar and an onerous national debt would become an impossible burden, Khan said.

However, this time, for a change, what Imran Khan has said about his cash-strapped country is nothing but the truth. Even as Pakistan grapples to save itself from the spread of deadly coronavirus, Imran Khan’s government also has severe economic crisis back home to take care of. His Naya Pakistan is incidentally in a war with itself as it deals with its debt-ridden economy.

The cash-strapped nation is currently grappling with the worst financial crisis in its history. The recently published World Bank report, which had retained its projection of India’s growth at 7.5% per annum for the next three fiscal years had predicted the growth of South Asia countries except for Pakistan, whose growth it is set to drop at 2.7% in the FY19-20.

Such is the gravity of the economic crisis in Pakistan that on the occasion of Eid, PM appealed to the people of Pakistan to stand united and help overcome the dire economic situation.

Since the time of his election as Pakistan Prime Minister, Khan has been negotiating with world leaders to winkle out bail packages and temporarily assuage the looming economic disaster without much help. A conducive environment for terrorism to spawn and flourish has also added to the woes of Pakistan as investors have remained away from the terror-prone country.

Pakistan is in desperate straits as economists’ predict its economy is on the brink of collapse. Its impoverished condition is, in fact, no laughing matter. The ‘Trade and Development Report 2019’ released by the United Nations on Thursday has also said that Pakistan’s economic crisis has not been resolved despite the fact that support from China and Saudi Arabia and a large IMF loan have helped address the immediate problem.

In a brief comment on Pakistan in the Asia section, UNCTAD’s annual flagship report went on to say that “Pakistan is in the midst of a crisis” as the growth rate has halved, the balance of payments is in poor shape, the rupee has depreciated significantly and external debt is large and rising.

While Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has been busy bickering and whining like a toddler over Kashmir, his already cash-strapped country has been slipping further into a deeper economic crisis. The beggar country has been crying over the rising price of ‘roti’ and ‘naan’, tomatoes and milk. If things continue this way, the day is not far when the Google search engine’s controversy which throws up images of Imran Khan when one searches for “bikhari”- a Hindi word that means “Beggar”, might just change into a crude reality.

Nevertheless, for a country which needs to hold cabinet meetings to discuss increasing prices of Rotis and Naan, they have been threatening India with nuclear war, not once but thrice since India has repealed Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.

“Resort Politics” of Congress comes full circle as BJP seems poised to topple the Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh

OpIndia Staff
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“Resort Politics” of Congress comes full circle as BJP seems poised to topple the Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh

In the last few days, we have seen Congress party employing “Resort Politics” to tuck its Madhya Pradesh MLAs away at a secure place while the situation in the state appeared ripe for political upheaval. The huddling of Congress MLAs from Madhya Pradesh in a plush resort on the Delhi-Jaipur road last week heralded the impending political crisis in the state.

The Congress’ move to flock their MLAs to a safe location came amidst high-octane political drama that ensued following the resignation of Congress strongman Jyotiraditya Scindia along with 22 Congress legislators in Madhya Pradesh, sending shock waves to the Kamal Nath-led Congress government in the state. The resignation of the rebel legislators reduces the Madhya Pradesh assembly from 230 to 206, with the Congress party having 92 seats and the rival BJP having 107 seats. In such a scenario, BJP can easily cross the halfway mark of 104 for a majority, thus forcing the collapse of Kamal Nath-led government in the state.

In order to avert the looming crisis and possible defection of remaining MLAs to the BJP camp, Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath sent the legislators to Buena Vista Resorts in Jaipur last week. In the meanwhile, the former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan filed an appeal in the Supreme Court seeking floor test in the state legislative assembly immediately. The apex court on Tuesday issued a 24-hour notice to the Kamal Nath government seeking a response on Chauhan’s petition by Wednesday morning 10:30 am.

In the annals of India’s political history, “Resort Politics” is not a new phenomenon. Incidentally, it was pioneered by the Congress party back in 1995 when they allegedly conspired with Shankersinh Vaghela and toppled the BJP government in Gujarat. Vaghela who had felt sidelined in the BJP because of Keshubhai Patel, flew out 45 BJP MLAs to Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh (where Digvijaya Singh of the Congress was the Chief Minister) where he was sheltered with the rebel MLAs with the aid of the Congress regime in the state.

Later, after a middle ground was reached, Suresh Mehta was sworn in as the chief minister of Gujarat in October 1995 whose government lasted only for 11 months. In the subsequent elections, Vaghela became chief minister with Congress support and ruled the state for around two years before merging his newly formed Rashtriya Janata Party with it.

When faced with a political conundrum, Congress has often resorted to “Resort Politics”, most recently after the fallout between the erstwhile alliance partners BJP and Shiv Sena in Maharashtra. With no political party having a decisive majority to form a government in Maharashtra, Congress had holed up its Maharashtra MLAs in a resort near Jaipur to mull over the possibility of joining hands with the ideological rivals Shiv Sena to stop the BJP juggernaut. Eventually, the Congress and the NCP allied with the Shiv Sena party in Maharashtra and formed Maha Vikas Aghadi in the state with Shiv Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray as the state chief minister.

However, history appears to have come full circle as Congress seems to be at the receiving end of its “Resort Politics”. The BJP in Madhya Pradesh, the place where the first instance of Congress’ “Resort Politics” manifested, is all set to dethrone the Kamal Nath led Congress government in the state. It has housed the rebel 22 Congress MLAs, including the 6 ministers from Kamal Nath’s cabinet, in a resort in Karnataka to stave off Congress’ desperate attempts to lure back their MLAs in order to somehow cling to power in Madhya Pradesh.

However, this is not the first time that the BJP will be trouncing the Congress party in its own game. In July 2019, during the intense power tussle in Karnataka, the Congress and the JDS had herded its MLAs in resorts to keep the flock together. However, the encampment of the MLAs did not help the Congress party as the BJP adroitly toppled the 14-month long Congress-JDS government in the state and formed its own government.

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