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As RJD drags caste is Ayodhya, they forget that Hanuman Mandir in Patna has a Dalit priest

OpIndia Staff
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As RJD drags caste is Ayodhya, they forget that Hanuman Mandir in Patna has a Dalit priest

Many people on Sunday tried to trend ‘राममंदिरकापुजारीकौन'(who will be the priest in Ram Mandir), thereby hinting that Ram Mandir in Ayodhya is a ‘Brahminical project’.


ThePrint journalist who bullied Twitter into giving him a blue tick after accusing the social media platform of being casteist, also joined in.


Converting anything about Hindus into something about ‘caste’ is what the Left excels in. The Left likes to increase the caste divide by camouflaging its Hinduphobia under the cloak of ‘fight against Brahminical forces’.

Read: Columnist working for ‘blue tick Baniya’ Shekhar Gupta attacks Twitter for not giving blue ticks to Dalits

Prominent people from Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) like Sanjay Yadav, Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly and Political Advisor to RJD MLA Tejashwi Yadav, also joined in. Yadav tweeted that everyone in India is curious to know who would be the pujari (priest) at the temple once it is constructed at the Ram Janmabhoomi.


Yadav wondered if in the new, inclusive India, especially the one headed by PM Modi who has called for ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas’, will there be a non-Brahmin priest in the Ram Mandir.

However, in his mad rush to show solidarity with an imaginary cause, RJD conveniently forgot that in Bihar, right in the capital city of Patna nearly a dozen temples have had a Dalit priest decades now. 300-year old Mahavir Mandir has a Dalit priest, Suryavanshi Falahari Das, who assumed his role as early as 1993. In fact, none of these moves had any kind of protest from any part of the society.

Moreover, there is further linkage of this Hanuman temple in Patna to the Ram temple in Ayodhya. In fact, not only did ex-IPS officer Kishore Kunal played an important role in bringing about this social change, but he was also instrumental in drawing up the Ram Mandir map which Rajeev Dhavan, the lawyer for Muslim parties, had torn up in the Supreme Court during the day-to-day hearing. The Mahavir Trust in Patna headed by him has decided to give Rs 10 crore to Ram temple. The trust has also announced free food langar that will be run by Hanuman Mandir all through the year.

Read: Ayodhya case: Twitter erupts with jokes after Rajeev Dhavan, advocate representing Muslim side has a dramatic meltdown in Court

Kishore Kunal was appointed as the Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in 1990 by the Home Ministry under VP Singh government for handling Ayodhya issue. He was entrusted with the responsibility of mediating between Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Babri Masjid Action Committee in the Ram Janmabhoomi dispute. The Bihar Mahavir Mandir Trust (BMMT) under his leadership is also building a Virat Ramayan Temple which will be the biggest in the world. He has said that the proposed temple in East Champaran district in Bihar would be bigger than the 12th century Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia.

NDTV’s Nidhi Razdan attends UK ‘Kashmir’ event, gets endorsed by JKLF

OpIndia Staff
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NDTV’s Nidhi Razdan attends UK ‘Kashmir’ event, gets endorsed by JKLF

Ever since the Indian government took the decision to abrogate Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and to bifurcate the former state into two Union Territories, the Pakistani establishment has been on a propaganda overdrive. Incapable of ever winning a direct conflict, the terrorist nation has been putting all its resources behind creating an anti-India atmosphere through lies, propaganda and their sponsored agents inside India and abroad.

NDTV, the self-proclaimed news channel has been used by Pakistan multiple times so far to propagate their vile, anti-India ideas. NDTV’s reports and shows have already been quoted and mentioned by Pakistan to further their lies. Now, it seems, Pakistan has found useful work for NDTV’s employees too.

Read: NDTV finds endorsement from Pakistan, Imran Khan’s party shares their video to further anti-India agenda

In a shocking revelation, NDTV seems to have undermined the interests of India yet again. Defence analyst Iyer Mitra revealed telling information regarding an event called ‘The Cost to Britain of the Kashmir Crisis: Is There a Solution?’ at the Chatham House, London on November 7.


The event was organised by Abdurrehman Chinoy, a British Pakistani businessman who is also the chairman of the Queen Mary Pakistan Society. Speaking to Pakistan’s Geo TV, Chinoy had stated earlier that the conference, held on November 7, would look at the “possible role Britain can play to diffuse tension between the two nuclear-powered nations leading towards resolution of Kashmir”.

Read: Pakistani media uses Congress MPs and other opposition leaders’ speech in Parliament to further their agenda on Kashmir

In other words, Chinoy had mirrored what Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party had said about Kashmir, stressing at direct interference in India’s internal matters.

Other participants in the event were former Pakistani envoy to the UN Maleeha Lodhi and Lyall Grant, UK’s former National Security Advisor, who stated in the event that “Modi’s actions in occupied Kashmir are radicalising Kashmiris and that has a direct impact on UK’s national security where more than 1 million Kashmiris live. Asserting that the “Kashmir” issue needs Britain’s involvement, Grant stated at the event that “The issue of Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) poses security risks to the United Kingdom.”


As if the real intentions behind the event were not clear so far, terrorist organisation JKLF too endorsed it, calling it an event that managed to ‘bring Kashmiri voices’, referring to Nidhi. JKLF also thanked the organisers profusely. It is needless to remind here that ironically, JKLF has been one of the chief initiators of radicalisation and terrorism in the Kashmir valley. Its chief Yaseen Malick is currently facing charges for killing Indian Air Force personnel in cold blood.

Source: Abhijit Iyer Mitra
Source: Abhijit Iyer Mitra

Read: 7 times NDTV and its journalists peddled narratives that went against Indian national interests

JKLF is banned in India under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. JKLF is also one of the principal forces behind organising and mobilising the violent protests by Pakistani goons that had attacked the Indian consulate in London multiple times so far.

NDTV’s Nidhi Razdhan attended the show and mirrored the lines what were being peddled by Pakistan to paint India as evil and Pakistan as a victim of terrorism. Speaking at the event, Nidhi lamented over the communication curbs imposed in Jammu and Kashmir and claimed that while India ‘claims’ that the end of special status to Jammu and Kashmir is for the benefit of its people, India has not consulted the people of the region at all. To the delights of the Pakistani establishment, she also added that India’s credentials at the world’s largest democracy have been shadowed by the events in Kashmir.

Another speaker at the event, Jack Straw, a former UK foreign secretary, stated that PM Modi’s decision on Article 370 abrogation was “outrageous, preposterous and seems not to have a strategy.”

Recently, Pakistan had shared an NDTV video to further their anti-India agenda.

NDTV finding support in Pakistan is nothing new. Earlier in March, NDTV’s star anchor Raveesh Kumar had urged media that they should not report the post-Pulwama India-Pakistan conflict, because it will ‘help BJP in the elections’. Raveesh’ statements were soon used by Pakistani media to further their anti-India narrative.

Recently, radical Islamist Zaid Hamid had used ex-NDTV anchor Barkha Dutt’s tweets to spew venom against India.

NDTV seems to fan its ‘Kashmir is in fear’ narrative so much that they are now bordering on an open call for violence. The clip by NDTV reporter that claimed an old Kashmiri man allegedly challenged India to ‘lift the curfew’ to see the real sentiment of Kashmiri people is nothing but another attempt to further their baseless fearmongering. The way NDTV, and for that matter, many media portals are going on about the issue, it seems as if they are just waiting, rather hoping for a riot to happen and people to die, just so they can claim that the central government has failed and thus help Pakistan further its narrative.

Update: Nidhi has responded to the allegations that have been made against her. She claims that she vociferously countered Pakistani propaganda.


Nidhi has, however, not contested statements like “India’s credentials at the world’s largest democracy have been shadowed by the events in Kashmir” that were made by her.

It is also being said that the organiser who was thanked was indeed Shoaib K Bajwa and not the Pakistan Army Chief as claimed by Defense Analyst Abhijit Iyer Mitra. This article has been updated with relevant information.

To take of not to take: Sunni Waqf Board to take a decision on the 5 acre land by 26th November

OpIndia Staff
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To take of not to take: Sunni Waqf Board to take a decision on the 5 acre land by 26th November

Following the historic verdict in Ram Janmabhoomi case, which ruled in favour of constructing a temple at the land which was under dispute over title of land, Sunni Cental Waqf Board will meet on 26th November where they’re likely to take a decision on whether to accept the 5 acre land in Ayodhya or not.

As per reports, UP Sunni Central Waqf Board chief Zufar Farooqui has said that he is getting multiple suggestions on whether to take the land in Ayodhya or not. A general body meeting of the board will take place on 26th November in which the board will decide whether to take the 5 acre land awarded by Supreme Court or not. He said that while he is getting diverse suggestions, ‘negativity’ can only be countered with positivity. Farooqui believes that not taking the land for construction of mosque at Ayodhya will increase negativity.

He even added that while the government has to follow Supreme Court’s orders, some suggestions are also pouring in that an educational institute be constructed along with the mosque in the same premises.

Read: Evidences prove that Hindus have always believed Ram Janmasthan is the place where Babri Mosque was built: Addendum to Ayodhya Verdict

While the Sunni Waqf Board has no plans to challenge the verdict, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), has said that they will decide on 17th November on whether a review petition will be filed against the verdict. AIMPLB is a body of influential Muslims clerics as well as scholars who are not too ‘happy’ with the Supreme Court verdict.

As reported by Indian Express, the AIMPLB are ‘puzzled’ at how a five-judge bench reached a unanimous decision despite accepting that the idols were ‘stealthily’ placed inside the masjid in 1949. The apex court had also observed that the 1992 demolition was an ‘egregious’ breach of the rule of law.

AIMIM Chief Asaduddin Owaisi continues to stoke passion, says if Babri Masjid was illegal, why is there a case against Advani

OpIndia Staff
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AIMIM Chief Asaduddin Owaisi continues to stoke passion, says if Babri Masjid was illegal, why is there a case against Advani

At a public meeting organized at the Darus salam grounds on occasion of Milad un Nabi late on Saturday night, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Chief Asaduddin Owaisi continued to fear monger and stoke passions post the Ayodhya verdict where the Supreme Court decided to hand over entire 67 acres Ram Janmabhoomi to the Hindus and ordered for the government to give the Muslims an alternate 5 acre land for the construction of their mosque.

Speaking at this public rally, Asaduddin Owaisi said, “If Babri Masjid was legal then why was it (land) handed over to those who demolished it. If it was illegal then why the case is going on and withdraw the case against Advani. And if it is legal then give it to me.” BJP veteran LK Advani is facing trial in his alleged role in the Babri Masjid demolition along with several others.

Owaisi reiterated that he was not satisfied with the judgement and that the Babri Masjid was high right. “I am fighting for my Masjid, not for land”, he said.

Read: Watch: Ayodhya residents welcome the Ram Janmabhoomi verdict

During the public meeting, Owaisi told the crowd to “not lose heart”. He said,

“Stay strong, we have to fight, we have to stay united. The world is not going to end here”.

Saying that Milad-un-Nabi processions will be taken out across the country including Telangana, Owaisi, after making provocative statements, urged everyone to not display arrogance during the processions and ‘set an example for others’.

During the public meeting, Owaisi also chose to slam those who were criticising him for not accepting the Supreme Court verdict gracefully. He said it was his ‘democratic right’ to choose and reiterated that his position was aligned with the AIMPLB.

Read: Read how leftist historians had accepted they argued against Ram Mandir in Allahabad High Court without any knowledge of the subject

On Sunday, Owaisi had said that “Then what does a Muslim see today? That there stood a mosque, for so many years, which has been demolished. Now the court is allowing a building to come upon that site, on an alleged finding that the land belonged to Ram Lalla.”

Interestingly, for Owaisi, a Mosque built by invaders was sacrosanct, while he had no problems mocking the Hindu faith, despite the ASI findings, and calling it an ‘alleged finding’.

Claiming that even today BJP and RSS have a list of several mosques which they want to “transform,” Mr Owaisi said they (Muslims) should fight for the Masjid.

Read: ‘Gyanvapi Mosque now stands exposed, surrounded by Temples’, Muslims concerned over Kashi Vishwanath Corridor: Report

Right after the verdict was pronounced in the Ram Janmabhoomi case on 9th November 2019, addressing the media, Owaisi has said, “Supreme Court is Supreme but not infallible. Those who were responsible for razing down the Babri mosque in 1992 have been given the responsibility of forming a trust and building a temple there. I am dissatisfied with the judgment.”

“The Sunni Waqf Board did a commendable job in fighting for our legal rights. It is upon them to study the entire verdict and decide the future course of action. I am dissatisfied with the verdict. I believe they should reject the 5-acres land granted to them as alms. We are fighting for our legal rights. We don’t need donation and stop patronising us,” Owaisi said.

Read: We don’t want donation, we don’t need 5 acres land: AIMIM chief Owaisi whines after SC verdict on Ram Janmabhoomi

Baba Ramdev, the yoga guru had called Owaisi a traitor in response. He had said, “I am calling him a traitor because he does not have faith in Bharat or Bharatiya. He has a religious agenda and he wants to secure his power using this agenda and wants to incite people.”

Read: Owaisi is a traitor, has no faith in India, doesn’t have the ‘aukaat’ to divide India: Baba Ramdev

In a historic judgement ending a dispute spanning centuries, the Supreme Court of India handed over the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri masjid land to the Hindu parties, making way for Hindu devotees to have a grand Ram Mandir at the birthplace of Lord Ram. The Apex court also ordered the union government to provide 5 acres of land at an alternate site at a prominent location in Ayodhya to the Sunni Waqf Board to rebuild the Babri Masjid which was demolished in 1992.

The 5-judge bench of the supreme court delivered a unanimous judgement in the Ram Janmabhoomi case. The top 5 senior judges came to the decision after weighing the arguments presented by all sides for 40 days. CJI Ranjan Gogoi said that the bench is the final arbitrator in the matter and he said that the court is not obligated to give a religious rationale while deciding the case.

Read: Supreme Court hands over Ram Janmabhoomi site to Hindus to build Ram Mandir, Sunni Waqf Board to be given alternate site for mosque

The 5-judge bench said that the Central Govt should within 3 months formulate a scheme envisaging setting up of Trust to build the Ram Mandir. Possession of inner and outer courtyards to be handed over to the Trust.

Ram Mandir construction may begin on Ram Navami in April 2020: Media reports

OpIndia Staff
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Ram Mandir construction may begin on Ram Navami in April 2020: Media reports

The Ram Mandir construction at the Ram Janmabhoomi site will begin from Ram Navami, which falls on 2nd April in 2020, reports Economic Times. As per the report, there will be a special event on Ram Navami which is also the birthday of Lord Ram.

The Supreme Court in its historic verdict on the title suit in Ram Janmabhoomi had ruled in favour of construction of a temple there. The apex court had directed the central government to set up a trust within three months. This trust will take care of the construction of Ram Mandir. Ram Navami also falls close to such timeline as stipulated by the Supreme Court.

The ET report further states that it is not yet clear whether there will be another ‘Shilanyas’ as the same has already been done back in 1989. Citing government sources, ET report states that the construction of temple may take two to three years.

Read: Mughal descendant Prince Tucy says he will keep up his promise and donate the first ‘gold brick’ for Ram Temple

Meanwhile, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s office has asked the Ayodhya District Magistrate to identify 3-4 sites of 5 acre land which could be offered to Sunni Central Waqf Board. The Supreme Court had ruled that the Muslim party be given 5 acre land. The Sunni Waqf Board may build a mosque there if it so wishes.

Alternate date for beginning of construction of Ram Mandir

As reported by Bhaskar, another proposed date for the beginning of construction of Ram Mandir is 25th March, 2020. The Hindu new year which begins from Chaitra month falls on 25th March, 2020. As per Akhil Bharatiya Sant Samiti, Hindu new year and Ram Navami are auspicious days for beginning of construction.

Earlier the responsibility of construction of temple was of Vishwa Hindu Parishad. However, it will now be taken care of by the trust which will be created by the central government. Meanwhile, as per the ET report, the central government has also decided to give about 62.23 acres of land it had acquired around the site which was under title dispute to the proposed trust.

Read how leftist historians had accepted they argued against Ram Mandir in Allahabad High Court without any knowledge of the subject

OpIndia Staff
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Read how leftist historians had accepted they argued against Ram Mandir in Allahabad High Court without any knowledge of the subject

The long-awaited judgment in the Ayodhya dispute was finally delivered on Saturday, the 9th of November, 2019. The Supreme Court verdict paved the way for a Bhavya Ram Mandir at Ram Janmabhoomi. Following the verdict, liberals had a meltdown on social media, as expected.

There was good reason for this meltdown on social media. For long, they had been led to believe by Leftist historians that there was minimal evidence for a Temple at the sacred site. The Wire, too, garbled propaganda ahead of the verdict. However, the Supreme Court authenticated the findings of the ASI report in its judgment. It is a good time, perhaps, to revisit some of the propaganda that was peddled by Leftist historians in the Court against the Ram Mandir.

Twitter user @PeeliHaldi made a thread on Twitter that recorded some of the ridiculous testimonies offered by the Leftist historians before the Court as recorded in the Allahabad High Court judgment on the matter, as delivered on the 9th of September, 2010. She relied on the work of Historian Dr. Meenakshi Jain who painstakingly went through the 5000 word verdict.


Suvira Jaiswal, a professor at JNU, was honest enough to admit that she knew nothing Babri Masjid at all. She didn’t know when it came into existence and admitted that whatever knowledge she had on the issue came from media reports and the ‘Historians Report to the Nation’, which was thoroughly dismissed by the Supreme Court during court proceedings. Most hilariously, however, she was forced to concede that the statements she made under oath was given “without any probe and not on basis of my knowledge, rather I am giving statement on the basis of my opinion.”

Another historian said in Court that he wasn’t aware what the Jaziya was. S.C. Mishra said, “at present, I fail to recollect when and for what purpose it was levied. I do not remember that the Jaziya was levied only on Hindus.” He also said that he had read many books about the construction of Babri Masjid but “I do not remember the name of any book right now.”

Ram Mandir

Yet another person with a PhD degree, Sushil Srivastava of Allahabad University, concluded that there was no evidence to suggest that the Mosque was built after demolishing a Temple even though he could not read or write Persian, could not read Arabic and had no sound knowledge of Sanskrit either. In his efforts, he was ‘helped’ by his father-in-law S.R. Farooqui.

If all of this was not bizarre enough, here is what he said next: “I have no knowledge of Epigraphy. I have no knowledge of Numismatic. I did not acquire any specialization in archaeology. I did not acquire any knowledge about survey of land…”

Suraj Bhan, a retired professor at Kurukshetra University, also said pretty much the same thing as Srivastava. Hilariously, he apparently believes the Ramayana was originally written by Tulsi Das. R.C. Thakran from Delhi University, as a historian, considered “newspapers and magazines to be a source of knowledge” and confessed that he had “not read a book by any historian in this regard.” Thakran described himself as a ‘table archaeologist’ rather than a ‘field archaeologist’.

Ram Mandir

D. Mandal, a retired professor of Allahabad University, said, “I never visited Ayodhya. I do not have any specific knowledge of history of Babur’s design.” He also admitted that he did not know the meaning of ‘yagya’ or ‘vedi’. However, the most bizarre statement, perhaps, came from Supriya Varma of Hyderabad University with a PhD from JNU.

She said with great confidence, “It is wrong to say that use of ‘Yaksh’ or ‘Yakshi’ is only limited to Hindu Dharmashastra. In fact, it is also associated with Buddhist religion.” Then, she went on to assert with equal certainty, “I cannot say whether the word ‘Yaksh’ or ‘Yakshi’ is referred or mentioned in any religious book of Buddhism.”

These are the historians that liberals have relied on to form their ‘informed’ opinion on the matter of Ram Mandir. The statements they made in Court beggars belief and would make people lose faith in the education system of our country. It is almost difficult to believe that such statements were made under oath by people with a sane mind.

Even more horrifyingly, these people educated generations of students who, in turn, educated hundreds of others. It paints a terrifying picture of the state of our education and, indeed, perfectly demonstrates why the current government ought to revamp the history syllabus that is taught to students on a priority basis.

*All the images used in this report have been sourced from @PeeliHaldi

This is how aligning with Congress and NCP can be ‘ideologically justified’ for Shiv Sena

OpIndia Staff
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This is how aligning with Congress and NCP can be ‘ideologically justified’ for Shiv Sena

After today Maharashtra BJP informed the governor that it is unable to form a government as it does not have the numbers, the possibilities of a Shiv Sena – NCP – Congress government in the state has become a real possibility. Many people think it will be suicidal for Shiv Sena to ally with Congress and NCP, and assert that Uddhav Thackeray will not do that. They are saying that it is primarily a Hindu Nationalist party, and it will not ditch that ideology. But that is not correct, and Shiv Sena has few other facets it can fall back on, as a Twitter user with the display name Kaal Chiron pointed out a couple of days ago.

Other than the Hindu Nationalist position, Shiv Sena also has the character of a regionalist party. Before MNS walked away with the Marathi-Manoos agenda, it was known for its anti-immigrant campaign. In fact, the party was formed in 1966 by Baklasaheb Thackeray on an anti-outsider sentiment.

Therefore, Shiv Sena can easily switch to that mode, and an alliance with NCP, which is also currently a Maharashtra focused party, will not harm. As the regionalist stand is a secular stand, it is based on domicile and not on religion, it will also not be a mismatch with the secular stand of NCP and Congress. On the regionalist stand, they can also ally with MNS.

Shiv Sena also has a progressive liberal past. Prabodhankar Thackeray, the father of Bal Thackeray, was a social reformer. He had campaigned against superstitions and social evils in India such as Untouchability, Child marriage and Dowry, and had fought against caste hierarchy. He was one the key leaders who had campaigned for a separate linguistic state for Marathis carved out of then Bombay state.

Most importantly, Shiv Sena had a close relationship with Congress from the very beginning of the party. In its formative years, the party was nurtured by the Congress party, which was actually given the nickname “Vasanta Sena”, after two Congress CMs, Vasantrao Naik and Vasantdada Patil, who played important roles in the formation of Sena. In the inaugural rally of Shiv Sena in 1966, Congress leader Ramrao Adik was present on the dais.

Moreover, Sena founder Bal Thackeray had actually supported the emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi. And in 1980, the party didn’t contest the Lok Sabha elections but had supported the Congress party. At that time Bal Thackeray was close with Congress CM AR Antulay. Sena also had a short-lived alliance with Muslim League.

In 2007 presidential election, Sena had supported Congress candidate Pratibha Patil, and in 2013 they had again supported Congress candidate Pranab Mukherjee, despite being part of NDA. And a year before the 2019 general elections, Shiv Sena had supported Rahul Gandhi’s bid for the post of Prime Minister.

Therefore, Sena can embrace Prabodhankar Thackeray’s ideology, go back to its roots, and align with Congress.

Read- I don’t need Amit Shah and Devendra Fadnavis to install a Shiv Sena Chief Minister in Maharashtra: Uddhav Thackeray

And of course, they can also continue with BJP, as they have the Hindu Nationalist identity also. They are in an alliance with BJP since 1995, and Bal Thackeray remains one of the most prominent Hindu Nationalist leaders of the country. After 1980, Shiv Sena-Congress partnership broke due to various reasons, and Thackeray donned the saffron after that. He maintained a strong Hindu Nationalist identity for the party till his death, often making very provocative comments against Muslims in particular.

Hence, the party is in a position to ally with anyone of the other three parties, and that could be justified by its respective ideological position. Unlike BJP, or even the Communists, Shiv Sena is actually not bound by any affiliation to an ideology. Its ideological position has been fluid, and they can move from one camp to another relatively easily.

In all these years with the alliance with BJP, their vote share has remained largely constant, they have not gone up much. And under the leadership of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, BJP is gaining everywhere. Perhaps realising that remaining with BJP will not help the party much, probably the party has taken a conscious decision to break the alliance.

As per the latest developments, it seems that Maharashtra will actually see a government of Shiv Sena, NCP, and Congress. Today Maharashtra governor asked Shiv Sena to explore the possibility of forming govt after BJP said it is unable to do so. Soon after that, Sharad Pawar called Uddhav Thackeray, and they are expected to meet on Monday to discuss the formation of the government. NCP has given the condition that Shiv Sena will have to leave the NDA govt at centre if they want NCP support, which Shiv Sena should agree with if they get the CM post in Maharashtra. The newly-elected Congress MLAs also have expressed their support for a Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government.

Maharashtra governor asks Shiv Sena to explore the possibility of forming govt, NCP offers support if Shiv Sena leaves NDA

OpIndia Staff
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Maharashtra governor asks Shiv Sena to explore the possibility of forming govt, NCP offers support if Shiv Sena leaves NDA

Hours after Maharashtra BJP said that it is not staking claim to power as it does not have the numbers, the Governor of Maharashtra has asked the second largest party Shiv Sena to explore the possibility of forming the next government in the state. Eknath Shinde, as the leader of elected MLAs of Shiv Sena, has been asked to ‘indicate the willingness and ability of his party to form the government in Maharashtra.’ Shiv Sena has been asked to reply before 7.30 PM tomorrow.


In another major development, NCP has offered support to Shiv Sena, but with the condition that it will sever its ties with BJP. NCP leader Nawab Malik said, “If Shiv Sena wants our support,they will have to declare that they have no relation with BJP, and they should pull out from National Democratic Alliance (NDA). All their ministers will have to resign from Union Cabinet.”

After governor’s letter to Shiv Sena, NCP chief Sharad Pawar called Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray to initiate talks on govt formation. It is expected that both parties will soon start the process of forming a government with the support of Congress.

Yesterday, Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari had sent a similar communication to incumbent CM Devendra Fadnavis of BJP, asking him to explore the possibility of forming the government and indicate the ability and willingness of BJP for the same. But today BJP met the governor and informed him that it is unable to form the governor, as it does not have the required numbers.

Soon after the announcement by BJP, flamboyant Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut had declared that Shiv Sena will have its Chief Minister in Maharashtra at ‘any cost’. Amidst the ongoing political tussle in Maharashtra, Raut said that Uddhav Thackeray has informed the party MLAs that the next Chief Minister of the state will be from Shiv Sena.

“Maharashtra will have Sena’s chief minister at any cost. Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday informed the party MLAs that Sena will have its chief minister,” he told reporters on Sunday. “How will BJP have its chief minister when they are not staking a claim to form government,” Raut said.

Earlier in the day, Congress MLAs who are currently residing in a resort in Jaipur had expressed their support to an alliance with Shiv Sena to keep BJP out of power in the state. The Congress MLAs had even written a letter to NCP urging to support the Shiv Sena- Congress-NCP alliance.

Shiv Sena had also hinted at the possibility of joining hands with the Congress to form the next government in Maharashtra. Speaking on the government formation in Maharashtra, Sanjay Raut had said, “If nobody is ready to form the government (in Maharashtra), then Shiv Sena can take the lead.”

Pakistan sets lower bar in basic decency, installs mannequin of Wing Commander Abhinandan in its War Museum

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan sets lower bar in basic decency, installs mannequin of Wing Commander Abhinandan in its War Museum

The Pakistani Air Force has installed a mannequin of Wing Commander Abhinandan in its war museum in another crass act.

Pakistanis are delighted with the development since they have had pitifully little to celebrate in recent times. One journalist wasn’t satisfied, however, and suggested that the display would be much more interesting if the PAF somehow managed to put a cup of tea in Abhinandan’s hand.


The journalist’s suggestion was a reference to Abhinandan’s words during captivity, “The tea is fantastic, thank you.” It appears the PAF hasn’t yet recovered from the fact that the Wing Commander brought down one of their F-16s with his Mig-21 Bison. In the process, he was captured by the Pakistan army and was beaten up, choked and tortured in the first 24 hours of captivity. But Pakistan was forced to released him without any conditions due to mounting international pressure.

Read: Wing Commander Abhinandan was beaten up, choked, tortured in first 24 hours of Pakistan captivity

Earlier, one Pakistani channel had released a ‘Mauka Mauka’ ad featuring Abhinandan ahead of the India vs Pakistan match in the Cricket World Cup. In another embarrassing incident, Pakistan’s media had thought that PM Modi was talking about the Wing Commander while addressing party workers after the 2019 victory because he said ‘abhinandan’ (congratulations) to them.

Maharashtra: BJP to not stake claim to form government, asks Shiv Sena to go ahead if it could

OpIndia Staff
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Maharashtra: BJP to not stake claim to form government, asks Shiv Sena to go ahead if it could

In a major development, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has said it will not stake claim to form the government in Maharashtra as the saffron party fell short of majority mark after alliance partner Shiv Sena backtracked to support the BJP in government formation.

After meeting the governor of Maharashtra Bhagat Singh Koshyari, the BJP stated that they did not have sufficient numbers to form the government and wished luck to Shiv Sena which intends to form the next government with the support of Congress and the NCP. Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena is confident of getting support of Congress and NCP to form the government.

Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil said, “Despite the mandate with the alliance with Shiv Sena, we will not form a government. The Shiv Sena wants to insult the people’s mandate. We have conveyed to the state Governor that we will not form the state government.”

Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil further added that if Shiv Sena wanted to form the government in Maharashtra in alliance with the Congress, it can go ahead. “They have our blessing,” he said.

Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and other BJP leaders had arrived at Raj Bhavan to meet Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to convey their stand on the issue of government formation in Maharashtra.

The significant development comes after the Maharashtra BJP conducted two meetings today in order to respond to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari after he asked the BJP to “indicate the willingness and ability” to form a government.

Earlier in the day, Congress MLAs who are currently residing in a resort in Jaipur had expressed their support to an alliance with Shiv Sena to keep BJP out of power in the state. The Congress MLAs had even written a letter to NCP urging to support the Shiv Sena- Congress-NCP alliance.

Shiv Sena had also hinted at the possibility of joining hands with the Congress to form the next government in Maharashtra. Speaking on the government formation in Maharashtra, Sanjay Raut had said, “If nobody is ready to form the government (in Maharashtra), then Shiv Sena can take the lead.”

Read: Maharashtra assembly elections 2014: When Sharad Pawar had offered to provide outside support to minority govt of BJP

In an apparent softening of the stand for Congress, the Shiv Sena on Sunday said that while its ideology is different from that of the Congress party, it does not consider the grand old party to be an enemy. The shift in position comes at a time when deadlock between the Sena and ally BJP appears not going away over government formation in Maharashtra.

On Saturday, Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari had invited Devendra Fadnavis of BJP to form the next government in the state, if they are willing to do so and have required numbers.

Devendra Fadnavis had resigned from the post of the chief minister a day ahead of his term was scheduled to end on Saturday. The governor had him asked to continue as acting-CM following his resignation.

In the October 21 polls, the BJP won 105 seats while ally Sena won 56 seats. The majority mark in the 288-member state Assembly is 145. NCP and Congress won 54 and 44 seats each.

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