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Economic Survey 2018-19 : $5 trillion economy by 2024-25, emphasis is on “Virtuous Cycle” of investment, jobs and exports

OpIndia Staff
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Economic Survey 2018-19 : $5 trillion economy by 2024-25, emphasis is on “Virtuous Cycle” of investment, jobs and exports

A day before the Union Budget to be presented in the Parliament, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday tabled the Economic Survey in both Houses of Parliament Thursday.

The Economic Survey 2018-19 has projected the GDP growth for 2019-20 at 7-7.75%, up from 6.8 per cent in the previous fiscal, reinstating India as the world’s fastest-growing major economy. The fiscal deficit estimate for 2018-19 has been retained at 3.4 per cent of the GDP, the same as projected in the interim Budget.

State of the Economy in 2018-19:

The survey projects the “State of the Economy in 2018-19” stating that India will still be the fastest growing major economy in 2018-19. The Non-Performing Assets as a percentage of Gross Advances has reduced to 10.1 per cent at end December 2018 from 11.5 per cent at end March 2018.

Investment growth has been recovering since 2017-18 with growth in fixed investment picked up from 8.3 per cent in 2016-17 to 9.3 per cent next year and further to 10.0 per cent in 2018-19. The Current account deficit (CAD) is also manageable at 2.1 per cent of GDP. The fiscal deficit of the Central Government has declined from 3.5 per cent of GDP in 2017-18 to 3.4 per cent in 2018-19.

Money Management and Financial Intermediation:

The Survey suggests that the country’s banking system has improved as NPA ratios have declined and credit growth accelerated. The major reforms initiated by Narendra Modi government like Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code led to recovery and resolution of a significant amount of distressed assets and improved business culture.

According to the survey, the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) has yielded a resolution of 94 cases involving claims worth Rs. 1,73,359 crore till March 31, 2019. As on 28 Feb 2019, 6079 cases involving Rs 2,84,000 lakh crores have been withdrawn. As per RBI reports, Rs.50,000 crore received by banks from previously non-performing accounts.

Prices and Inflation:

The Headline inflation based on CPI-C continuing on its declining trend for the fifth straight financial year remained below 4.0 per cent in the last two years. The Food inflation based on Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) also continuing on its declining trend for the fifth financial year has remained below 2.0 per cent for the last two consecutive years. The

The CPI-C based core inflation (CPI excluding the food and fuel group) has now started declining since March 2019 after incrementing during the fiscal year 2018-19 as compared to  2017-18.

External Sector:

The Survey predicts that as per WTO projection, World trade growth has slowed down to 3 per cent in 2018 from 4.6 per cent in 2017 due to four major reasons. First, the introduction of new and retaliatory tariff measures, secondly, the heightened US-China trade tensions. Thirdly, the weaker global economic growth hampering global trade and finally, the volatility in financial markets has an effect on international trade and investments.

The silver lining for India is that it has reduced the country’s external debt to US$ 521.1 billion at end-December 2018, 1.6 per cent lower than its level at end-March 2018. The total liabilities-to-GDP ratio, inclusive of both debt and non-debt components, has declined from 43 per cent in 2015 to about 38 per cent at the end of 2018.

Agriculture and Food Management:

The Economic Survey states that the agriculture sector in India typically goes through cyclical movement in terms of its growth. The Gross Value Added (GVA) in agriculture improved from a negative 0.2 per cent in 2014-15 to 6.3 per cent in 2016-17 but decelerated to 2.9 per cent in 2018-19.

The Gross Capital Formation (GCF) in agriculture as a percentage of GVA marginally declined to 15.2 per cent in 2017-18 as compared to 15.6 per cent in 2016-17. The public sector GCF in agriculture as a percentage of GVA increased to 2.7 per cent in 2016-17 from 2.1 per cent in 2013-14.

Interestingly, the Women’s participation in agriculture has increased to 13.9 per cent in 2015-16 from 11.7 per cent in 2005-06 and their concentration is highest (28 per cent) among small and marginal farmers.

Industry and Infrastructure:

The survey says that the overall Index of Eight Core Industries registered a growth rate of 4.3 per cent in 2018-19. The country has improved its Ease of Doing Business ranking by 23 to 77 position in 2018 among 190 countries assessed by the World Bank Doing Business (DB) Report, 2019.

The infrastructure sector has seen growth as road construction grew at 30 km/day in 2018-19 compared to 12 km/day in 2014-15. The rail freight and passenger traffic grew by 5.33 per cent and 0.64 per cent respectively in 2018-19 as compared to 2017-18.

Total telephone connections in India touched 118.34 crores in 2018-19. The installed capacity of electricity has increased to 3, 56,100 MW in 2019 from 3, 44,002 MW in 2018.

Services Sector:

The Services sector (excluding construction) has a share of 54.3 per cent in India’s GVA and contributed more than half of GVA growth in 2018-19. The IT-BPM industry has seen a growth of 8.4 per cent in 2017-18 to US$ 167 billion and is estimated to reach US$ 181 billion in 2018-19. However, the services sector growth declined marginally to 7.5 per cent in 2018-19 from 8.1 per cent in 2017-18.

The Services sector provided employment to 34 per cent of the total workforce in the country for the year 2017. The tourism sector has grown marginally with 10.6 million foreign tourists received in 2018-19 compared to 10.4 million in 2017-18. Forex earnings from tourism stood at US$ 27.7 billion in 2018-19 compared to US$ 28.7 billion in 2017-18.

Social Infrastructure, Employment and Human Development:

The public investments in social infrastructure like education, health, housing and connectivity are critical for inclusive development, states the Economic Survey 2018-19.

The Government expenditure (Centre plus States) as a percentage of GDP has increased in Health by 1.5 per cent in 2018-19 from 1.2 per cent in 2014-15. The spending on Education is also increased from 2.8 per cent to 3 per cent during this period.

There is substantial progress in both quantitative and qualitative indicators of education is reflected in the improvements in Gross Enrolment Ratios, Gender Parity Indices and learning outcomes at primary school levels.

The net employment generation in the formal sector was higher at 8.15 lakh in March 2019 as against 4.87 lakh in February 2018 as per EPFO.

Around 1,90,000 km of rural roads constructed under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) since 2014. About 1.54 crore houses completed under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) as against a target of 1 crore pucca houses with basic amenities by 31 March 2019.

The first volume of the Economic Survey 2018-19 outlines the ‘strategic blueprint’ to achieve Prime Minister’s Vision for $5 trillion Economy. The Survey in its theme speaks about enabling to “shifting of gears” to achieve the objective of becoming India a $5 trillion economy by 2024-25.


The Survey recommends creating a virtuous cycle encompassing private investment, jobs, exports and demand. The Survey states that pathways for trickle-down opened up during the last five years and benefits of growth and macroeconomic stability reached the bottom of the pyramid.

The Survey also lays out an ambitious agenda for inducing behavioural change through the principles of Behavioural economics.

The Survey states that sustained real GDP growth rate of 8% is needed for a $5 trillion economy by 2024-25. The major emphasis is on “Virtuous Cycle” of savings, investment and exports catalyzed and supported by a favourable demographic phase required for sustainable growth. The survey states that Private investment is a key driver for demand, capacity, labour productivity, new technology, creative destruction and job creation.

AAP MLA Som Dutt sentenced to 6 months jail term and 2 lakh fine by Delhi court in assault case

OpIndia Staff
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AAP MLA Som Dutt sentenced to 6 months jail term and 2 lakh fine by Delhi court in assault case

A Delhi court on Thursday awarded 6-month jail term to AAP MLA Som Dutt in a 2015 assault case. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Samar Vishal also imposed a penalty of Rs 2 lakh on Dutt, who was convicted by the court last week.


On July 1, the ACMM held Dutt, a legislator from Sadar Bazar constituency, guilty under Section 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt without provocation), 341 (wrongful restraint), 147 (rioting), and Section 149 (unlawful assembly ) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The maximum punishment for causing grievous injury is seven years. The court had then announced that the quantum of punishment would be pronounced on July 4.

It was alleged that during the 2015 Delhi Assembly election campaign, Som, along with 50 supporters went to Gulabi Bagh and continuously rang the doorbell of one Sanjiv Rana’s house. When he objected, he was attacked by MLA and his supporters.

“There is no doubt that on January 10, 2015, at around 8 pm, Som Dutt, along with his 50 supporters, went to flat No.13 where the complainant was present. The complainant was beaten and assaulted by the accused and his associates due to which he suffered grievous injury,” the court had said while convicting Dutt.

On the basis of a complaint received from Sanjiv Rana, the Delhi police had registered an FIR( First Information Report) against the AAP leader in 2015. Rana had alleged that during the canvassing at Gulabi Bagh in North Delhi, Dutt and his supporters hit his leg with a baseball bat. He further submitted that after an argument, Dutt dragged him out on the road and beat him, causing grievous injuries.

Rana’s allegations were denied by Dutt who in turn accused Rana of fighting with him and his supporters under intoxication while they were peacefully campaigning.

However, on May 18, 2017, Metropolitan Magistrate Ruby Neeraj Kumar had framed charges against Aam Aadmi Party MLA Som Dutt in the rioting case.

A few days ago, another AAP MLA Manoj Kumar was convicted and sentenced to three months in jail for obstructing the election process at a polling booth in Kalyan Puri area of East Delhi during 2013 Assembly elections.

Last year on October 9, the sessions court of Delhi had convicted Aam Aadmi Party MLA  from Deoli, Prakash Jarwal, under IPC section 352(assault or criminal force otherwise than on grave provocation), 354(Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and section 506(1) (criminal intimidation).

[Video] Congress MLA Nitesh Narayan Rane and his supporters caught on camera assaulting, throwing mud at an engineer

OpIndia Staff
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[Video] Congress MLA Nitesh Narayan Rane and his supporters caught on camera assaulting, throwing mud at an engineer

In an extremely shameful incident, Congress MLA Nitesh Narayan Rane along with his supporters threw mud on engineer Prakash Shedekar at a bridge near Mumbai-Goa Highway in Kankavali.


In the video of the incident, Rane is seen assaulting Shedekar while a man standing behind Shedekar brings a basket full of mud and throws the mud on him. Shedekar is then pushed against the wall of the bridge and Rane’s supporters are seen trying to tie him to the bridge.

Rane who is a Member of Maharashtra Legistlative Assembly from Kankavli Assembly constituency, inspecting the potholes on the highway.

TMC MP Mahua Moitra tries to bully Zee News Editor Sudhir Chaudhary with her parliamentary privilege

OpIndia Staff
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TMC MP Mahua Moitra tries to bully Zee News Editor Sudhir Chaudhary with her parliamentary privilege

TCP MP Mahua Moitra, the new liberal icon in the town, who has been at the forefront of the controversy for her alleged ‘plagiarised’ speech, has now resorted to threatening journalists with her parliamentary privileges after they accused her ‘plagiarising’ her maiden speech.

She submitted a breach of privilege motion today Chaudhary claiming that they falsely reported her maiden address in this House. By resorting to cheap slurs to settle her personal score, Mahua Moitra disregarded her parliamentary privileges by not only abusing an independent journalist but also by intimidating and threatening them from continuing their job freely.

However, the Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla did not accept the breach of privilege motion submitted by the Trinamool MP.

Interestingly, Krishnanagar MP has chosen to hide under her parliamentary privileges to bully and threaten journalists for reporting the facts instead of initiating legal proceedings against the media organisation for alleged misreporting of facts.

Earlier on July 3, Sudhir Chaudhary in his flagship show DNA in Zee News had reported regarding the alleged plagiarism made by Mahua Moitra during her controversial speech in the Lok Sabha targetting the Narendra Modi government. Chaudhary had shared documents and tweeted images of a 2017 article from which he had alleged that Moitra had “stolen” words for her speech.


After severe embarrassment, Mahua Moitra had resorted to abuse the media and journalists while claiming that she had not ‘stolen’ her speech. In doing so, he had even blamed the media as a ‘paid media’.

With Mahua Moitra attacking and threatening media, she seems to be following in the footsteps of her leader Mamata Banerjee, who has the same trait of assaulting freedom of expression of the press when they criticise her authoritarian rule in the state of West Bengal.

Delhi temple attack: Nine persons have been arrested in connection with the vandalism of Durga Mandir

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi temple attack: Nine persons have been arrested in connection with the vandalism of Durga Mandir

As of yesterday night, nine people have been arrested in connection with the desecration of the Durga Mandi in Hauz Qazi in Delhi’s Chandi Chowk area. Out of them, four have been identified as juveniles. The age of one of them is still being verified.


It was earlier reported that four people had been arrested, two of them had been identified as Mohammad Zubair and Mohammad Anus.

On the night of June 30, 2019, a mob of 300-400 men barged into Durga Mata Mandir in Lal Kuan in Chandni Chowk area and had desecrated idols present inside the shrine. Locals had posted videos of the temple on social media which showed that the Muslim mob entered the temple and began to thrash Hindus residing in the neighbourhood.

Police sources have said that this was triggered by a skirmish caused by an argument over parking. When the argument over parking in the area became intense, some people started pelting stones. Later in the night a mob entered the temple and vandalised it. The police have confirmed that Muslim youths in the area attacked the temple.

Union Minister and Chandni Chowk MP Dr Harshvardhan visited the site where Durga temple was desecrated. He had condemned the incident and had called for peace. The Minister had also directed the Delhi police to take stringent actions against the miscreants.

Locals have also claimed to have witnessed AAP MLA Imran Hussain on the night that the temple was desecrated. They claim that he made no attempt to stop the violence. Former Union minister Vijay Goel had also accused Imran Hussain of being involved in the attacks. “Involvement of Imran Hussain in the attack on temple raises several questions,” he said in a press statement while raising questions on the Delhi CM’s silence on this issue.

World Cup Preview – Afghanistan v West Indies: Can Afghanistan pull off a win?

Ritesh
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World Cup Preview – Afghanistan v West Indies: Can Afghanistan pull off a win?

Afghanistan has a chance to win a match in the World Cup if they don’t panic again as they did against India and Pakistan. Beating West Indies shouldn’t be a tough task as the Caribbeans are not in great form and Afghans have won 3 ODI against West Indies already.

Afghanistan should win the toss and bat first on a used pitch of Leeds where their spinners could trouble the West Indian batsmen. West Indies has already collapsed so many times while chasing a target in the current tournament.  What Afghans need to keep in mind is that they can’t set a goal of less than 230 as West Indies is capable of chasing down small totals in no time.

West Indies were called as the dark horses of the world cup has certainly disappointed a lot of fans from all over the world. Too much brain fade during batting and absolute no plans in bowling cost them the matches. They would be hoping to win the last game of the tournament just like the way they win the first one.

Players to watch out 

Rashid Khan, one of the most talented player, has the most disappointing tournament. He would be eager to show what he is capable of at least in the last match of the world cup.

Chris Gayle, playing his last international game, should expect some fireworks from his bat for one last time. He has most international sixes, and fans would be hoping to see some monster sixes from Gayle’s blade.

Afghanistan v West Indies in ODIs:

Overall: Matches 5, Afghanistan Won 3, West Indies Won 1, No Result 1

World Cup: Yet  to play

Recent Form (most recent first): Afghanistan L L L L L, West Indies L L L L L

ICC Rankings: Afghanistan (10), West Indies (9)

Upcoming Records:

Samiullah Shinwari has taken 45 wickets and needs five more to reach the 50 wickets milestone, and also the 1,000 runs/50 wickets milestone.

Squads:

Afghanistan: Gulbadin Naib (capt), Aftab Alam, Asghar Afghan, Dawlat Zadran, Hamid Hassan, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Hazratullah Zazai, Mohammad Nabi, Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Najibullah Zadran, Noor Ali Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Rashid Khan, Samiullah Shinwari.

West Indies: Jason Holder (capt), Fabian Allen, Carlos Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Sheldon Cottrell, Shannon Gabriel, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope (wk), Evin Lewis, Ashley Nurse, Nicholas Pooran, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Oshane Thomas.

Madhya Pradesh: Woman and male patient forced to share a stretcher in the largest state-run hospital

OpIndia Staff
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Madhya Pradesh: Woman and male patient forced to share a stretcher in the largest state-run hospital

In yet another shocking case, a woman patient was forced to share a stretcher with an unknown male patient while being wheeled to the X-Ray room at the Maharaja Yeshwantrao Hospital in Indore, the largest state-run hospital in Madhya Pradesh.

The female patient, Sangeeta, a resident of Pandhana in Khandwa district, Indore, had suffered a fracture in her right leg and had been admitted 12 days ago.

“My wife Sangeeta was admitted to the orthopaedic ward. Citing a shortage of stretcher, she was taken for some medical examination with a male patient. We were helpless as we wanted to get our patient treated due to which we became ready to allow her and the male patient on the same bed,” her husband, Dharmendra, said.

On being asked Sangeeta confirmed that it was done on the doctor’s order.

After a video of the incident went viral on social media the administration was compelled to take an action against the hospital authorities. Admitting that there is a shortage of stretchers and other medical facilities in the hospital, the medical superintendent of Maharaja Yeshwantrao Hospital, Dr PS Thakur, promised strict action. “We have issued show cause notice to the doctor, nurse and ward boy, who were on the duty in the respective ward, from where the woman was sent on a stretcher with a male patient,” Dr Thakur confirmed.

However, this is not the first incident throwing light on the government hospital’s apathy towards its patients.

Last week, in a similar case, the staff at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose (NSCB) Medical College in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, was caught on camera dragging a patient to the X-Ray room on a bed sheet.

In another shocking case, on June 22, a 72-year-old man who was declared dead by a doctor at Bina District Hospital in Madhya Pradesh was found to be still breathing when his body was being sent for a postmortem after spending a whole night in the mortuary.

However, after spending an entire night in a freezing chamber in the morgue, Kashiram Soni, hailing from Chhatarpur district, Madhya Pradesh, couldn’t be revived and died about 90 minutes later.

Moreover, reports on the outbreak of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur had also revealed the unpreparedness, callousness and the apathy of the government and the hospitals falling under them.

After Home ministry rejects proposal to rename West Bengal as ‘Bangla’, Mamata writes to Modi urging for a Constitutional amendment

OpIndia Staff
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After Home ministry rejects proposal to rename West Bengal as ‘Bangla’, Mamata writes to Modi urging for a Constitutional amendment

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reconsider her proposal of renaming the state of West Bengal to ‘Bangla’.

She urged him for the Constitutional amendment during the ongoing session of Parliament, required to change the name of ‘West Bengal’ to ‘Bangla.’

“You are probably aware that for quite a few years now we have been seeking a change in the name of our state. The present name ‘West Bengal’ is in English and ‘Paschim Banga’ in Bengali and does not bear the testimony of the classical history that our state has,” she writes in the letter.

“Name of a State should invoke a strong sense of identity among its people and this identity can be formed if the State’s name carries the signature of its history and authentic culture.”

“I would again request you to kindly accept the wishes of the people of West Bengal, as enshrined in the resolution of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly and in the proposal of the West Bengal Cabinet to rename our state as ‘Bangla’ in English, Hindi, and Bengali,” she has written.

“This re-christening will be in consonance with the history, culture, and identity of our State and will reflect the aspirations of our people. I would request you to kindly get this amendment done accordingly in the current session of the Parliament.”

Yesterday, the Ministry of Home Affairs had rejected Mamata’s proposal. The MoS (Home), Nityanand Rai, while speaking in the Parliament specified that there is no question of a changing the name of Bengal to ‘Bangla’ because as per the HMO it needs a constitutional amendment.

The Chief Minister reminded the Prime Minister that on August 19, 2011, in a meeting attended by all political parties in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, it was decided that the State would be spelt as ‘Paschim Banga’ in both English and Bengali.

“On August 29, 2016, the West Bengal Legislative Assembly carried a resolution proposing that the name of the State should now be ‘Bengal’ in English, ‘Bangla’ in Bengali and ‘Bangal’ in Hindi. The Government of India was requested accordingly in September 2016. We, however, received intimation from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, that the new official name of the State has to be same in all three languages,” she said.

“The State Cabinet on August 8, 2017, decided that the name of the State should be ‘Bangla’ in all languages. The West Bengal Legislative Assembly also followed it up by a resolution on July 27, 2018.”

Mamata Banerjee’s efforts to rename the state as ‘Bangla’ have been going on since facing obstacle from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). On March 29, 2017, the Union Home Ministry had written to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), sharing concerns that the new name may sound like Bangladesh and it would be difficult to differentiate the two at international forums.

In November last year, Mamata in her Facebook post had accused the central government of “stonewalling” her government’s decision to rename West Bengal as Bangla.

Attacking the BJP, she wrote: “Whether a political party with zero strength in the state (BJP) will decide the name of our state or the unanimous resolution passed by our state assembly in accordance with the Constitutional obligations and federal structure should be respected?

Ironically, BJP made a historic invasion into West Bengal after securing 18 seats in the recently concluded Lok Sabha election, leaving Mamata Banerjee completely flustered.

Since then Mamata Banerjee has been getting more and more prickly due to the unfaltering pressure built on her by BJP’s victory. To save her identity, now she has been trying to adopt new techniques. She has been trying to impress the Bengalis in the state by portraying “how Bengal and Bengali culture are different from what is being displayed by the BJP”.

She had on June 5 announced that Trinamool will hold a door to door campaign to ‘save Bengali culture’.

Moreover, during the recent impasse between the medical fraternity and the state government in West Bengal, which had turned into a national outrage, Mamata had issued an ultimatum asking people residing in West Bengal to learn and converse in Bengali if they wish to continue living in the state.

Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi pleads ‘not guilty’ in the RSS defamation case

OpIndia Staff
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Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi pleads ‘not guilty’ in the RSS defamation case

Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi has pleaded not guilty while appearing for the hearing of a criminal defamation case that was filed against him for linking RSS with Gauri Lankesh’s murder. He has been released on Rs 15000 surety amount provided by ex-MP Eknath Gaikwad.


Addressing the media after the court hearing, Gandhi said that this is a fight for ideology and he is standing with the poor and farmers. “Attacks are happening, I am having fun,” he said.


As the hearing of the case was going, Congress supporters had also gathered outside the court with placards and raising slogans.


The defamation case was filed by a Mumbai-based lawyer Dhrutiman Joshi seeking damages of Re.1 for their allegation that RSS was behind Gauri Lankesh’s murder. The complaint was filed against both Rahul Gandhi and Sitaram Yechury.

In the complainant, Dhrutiman Joshi stated that the former Congress President, within 24-hours of the murder of the journalist, criticised the RSS and alleged that “anybody who speaks against the ideology of the BJP, against the ideology of the RSS is pressured, beaten, attacked and even killed.”

After having resigned as the Congress President, Rahul Gandhi would be attending a series of defamation cases filed against him. Several defamation cases have been filed against for making frivolous statements made in the past.

Previously Rahul Gandhi had also blamed the RSS for the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. He however made U-Turn saying that his comments were misinterpreted by the RSS worker who filed the initial complaint against him. Rahul Gandhi had yet again managed to escape another defamation case by deleting a video just minutes after uploading it on Twitter and YouTube.

Gujarat Congress herds up its MLAs in a resort ahead of RS polls, Rajasthan Tourism flaunts Mount Abu and says ‘Padharo Mhare Desh’

Sanghamitra
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Gujarat Congress herds up its MLAs in a resort ahead of RS polls, Rajasthan Tourism flaunts Mount Abu and says ‘Padharo Mhare Desh’

Congress being sceptical over the loyalty of its MLAs has been helping India’s tourism industry a lot. So much so that there is a possibility that it is being seen as an actual business opportunity by many. Such is the beauty of politics, and business.

In 2017, Congress had herded up its MLAs in Gujarat and had sent them all to the Karnataka’s famous Eagleton resort, a serene resort that has its own history of saving MLAs and forming governments at crucial times. The gorgeous images of the lush greenery and beautifully loaded buffet had done rounds on social media, doing an amazing level of publicity for the resort.

In 2017, As Gujarat struggled with floods, Congress MLAs in the state were loading their plates with delicacies at Karnataka’s Eagleton Golf Village. Apparently, it was all done to save Ahmed Patel’s Rajya Sabha seat.

July 2017. Congress MLAs feasting in a resort in Bengaluru as their constituencies faced one of the worst floods in a decade.

This year too, similar tours and travel plans are already underway. As per reports, ahead of the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections, Congress in Gujarat had decided to pack its MLAs off to Mount Abu in Rajasthan. Fearing cross voting and ship jumping, the MLAs had been herded in a luxury bus and were sent to a resort, just ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls.

Congress is afraid that its MLAs might vote in favour of BJP’s candidates S Jaishankar and Juglalji Thakor in the July 5 RS polls. Congress has fielded Chandrika Chudasma and Gaurav Pandya and is mortally afraid of cross-voting as six MLAs have jumped ship to BJP since 2017.

As per reports, the sitting Congress MLAs were packed in a Luxury bus that started from Leader of Opposition Paresh Dhanani’s house. Congress has denied that the exercise is an act of fear. It has maintained that it is a 1-day ‘Shivir’ to “understand the technicalities of voting in the Rajya Sabha”.

The bus, however, never reached Mount Abu. No, Amit Shah did not hijack it. It was taken instead to another resort in Banaskantha. As per reports, 61 of the 71 Congress MLAs had been loaded sent in the luxury bus to the resort in Banaskantha.

Rajasthan Tourism, however, seems to have noticed the internet buzzing with the mentions of Mount Abu and has decided to use it to the maximum. Their official Twitter handle, which is quite active on the microblogging platform and is often praised for its brilliant photographs, has been on a Tweet spree flaunting the beauties and attractions around Mount Abu, one of the choicest tourist attractions of the state.


Rajasthan Tourism has shared a series of Tweets listing Mount Abu’s Dilwara Jain Temple, Nakki Lake, Guru Shikhar, and Mount Abu’s wildlife sanctuary. Though it cannot be claimed that the sudden Tweet thread on Mount Abu was a bait to lure Congress MLAs packed in a luxury bus, the sheer coincidence is enough to make speculations. After all, Rajasthan is a Congress-ruled state now too, the party has no need to send the MLAs in a long drive all the way to Karnataka to find another congress ruled state.

Agitated Congress MLAs threatening to cross vote has actually been a target customer base for the tourism industry off late. Last year, after the Karnataka assembly elections failed to give any party a clear majority, poor Congress MLAs were herded up again. Kerala Tourism had sensed the business opportunity and had made an awesome sales pitch.

Kerala Tourism

Sadly, the Tweet by Kerala Tourism was soon deleted for reasons unknown. Maybe Eagleton Resort took offence. After all, it has an old history of hosting potentially hostile MLAs. In 2006-07, JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy had also kept his MLAs in the same resort to keep them from being poached by BJP’s BS Yeddyurappa. The MLAs did end up in Eagleton finally. There were even jokes on social media that the owner of the resort should meet the governor and stake a claim to form the next government in Karnataka.

Judging by the frequency with which the Congress-JDS alliance sees MLAs threatening defection and Yeddyurappa predicting a government fall, one can only conclude that the Eagleton provides top class services. Maybe that is why the MLAs are always trying to go back.

The frequency with which the Congress is making its MLAs travel in luxury buses and go to resorts to ‘save’ them from poaching, maybe they should make it a legitimate business and invite competitive bids from the best resorts in home and neighbouring states. It will help promote tourism and will eventually help the country’s economy.

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