Within a day of taking the oath of office, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced the creation of a new ministry named Jal Sakti. Living up to his pre-poll promise, the announcement was made during the portfolio allocation today. In line with his promise of ensuring clean and safe drinking water to every household, PM Modi has appointed Gajendra Singh Shekhawat to head the newly-created department.
Shekhawat was elected as Member of Parliament from Jodhpur by defeating current Rajshtan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s son Vaibhav Gehlot by over 2.7 lakh votes. He was sworn in as a Cabinet Minister during the oath-taking ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhawan yesterday. During the previous Modi government, he served as a minister of state (MoS) for agriculture and farmers’ welfare from September 2017. Rattan Lal Kataria has been named as the Minister of State in the Jal Shakti ministry.
Gajendra Singh Shekhawat
In its manifesto for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BJP had promised to create a separate ministry of water. The decision to carve an independent department is to unify water management functions, treat the issues of water management holistically and ensure better coordination of efforts.
The Jal Shakti Ministry has been created by reorganizing the existing Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, which was previously headed by Nitin Gadkari. In addition, the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation has also been added.
Modi government is committed to realizing former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s dream. Vajpayee had conceptualized the idea of creating the Jal Shakti Ministry for river interlinking project to solve the issue of drinking water and irrigation. BJP had promised to launch Jal Jivan Mission under a special program ‘Nal se Jal’ which would ensure that piped water reaches every household by the year 2024.
This is an important move by the Modi government especially at a time when nearly 600 million Indians face “high to extreme water stress”, while 75% households do not have drinking water on their premises as per a report by NITI Ayog. The report also suggests that 70% of the water in the country is contaminated and that major cities in the country would run out of groundwater by 2020.
The Jal Shakti Ministry would direct its efforts in ensuring a sustainable supply of water through the conservation of water bodies and groundwater recharge.
Pratap Chandra Sarangi, the newly elected BJP MP from Odisha, became an internet sensation overnight when pictures of him leaving his humble thatched house with a simple bag and campaigning on a cycle went viral. He was included in the council of ministers of the Modi government as a minister of state yesterday, he got one of the loudest cheers from the crowd during the Oath-Taking ceremony. He has been made minister of state for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises ministry and Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fishery ministry.
Perhaps troubled by Sarangi’s great popularity, liberals are now insinuating that the well-respected leader had something to do with the murder of Australian Missionary Graham Staines in 1999. Staines was burnt to death by a mob led by one Dara Singh along with his two children for his missionary activities.
Most people may have forgotten, but new Union minister Sarangi was Odisha coordinator of the Bajrang Dal when Graham Staines and his two kids were burned alive two decades ago
The BBC, too, published a report titled ‘Pratap Sarangi: India social media hero minister’s dubious past’ where it is said, “He was the leader of the Bajrang Dal, a hardline rightwing group, when a Hindu mob brutally killed Australian Christian missionary Graham Staines and his two children in 1999.”
While directly blaming Sarangi or saying that he was involved is carefully avoided to prevent defamation suits, the insinuations are quite clear. Therefore, it’s important to thwart this attempt at character assassination.
The truth of the matter is, Dara Singh, an activist linked to Bajrang Dal and 12 others were convicted in 2003 for the murders. The Wadhwa Commission which was tasked with investigating the murder established Singh’s guilt, however, it had made it clear that there was no evidence at all to suggest that Bajrang Dal as an organization was involved with the crime in any manner whatsoever. Therefore, to drag in Sarangi’s name at all in connection with the murder appears quite malicious.
Moreover, the region in which Staines was working in was a communal hotbed due to the conversions carried out by Christian missionaries. It had created a lot of friction between the communities which frequently led to disputes and occasional violence. Only a year before he was murdered, Staines wrote in his journal that his missionary work was disrupted by certain people on motorcycles and later, the Police told him to pack up and leave as they couldn’t provide him with security due to elections.
Staines himself admitted to carrying out conversions. In one of his reports, he had said, ‘The first jungle camp in Ranchandrapur was a fruitful one and the Spirit of God worked among the people. About 100 attended, some were baptised at the camp. At present, Misayel and some of the church leaders are touring a number of places where people are asking for baptism. Five were baptised at Bigonbadi.’
The Wadhwa Commission report also clearly mentions that there was local anger against Staines who was perceived as someone who was emboldening the Christians in the area and furthering the spread of Christianity.
Thus, quite clearly, it appears to be a case where local communal tensions took a devastating turn as a mob led by Dara Singh burnt Staines to death. Evidence also suggests that Bajrang Dal was not involved in the matter in any manner whatsoever. Therefore, to specifically drag Sarangi into it is nothing less than character assassination.
In an interview with India Today while in prison when the trial was ongoing, Dara Singh said, “No. I didn’t kill them. But I spearheaded the movement against missionaries. I was also actively involved in the movement against illegal trade in cows and cow-slaughter. Since I was possibly the most famous name in the region, the police implicated me in the killings. The day the Staines were killed at Manoharpur, I was at least 12-13 km away from the place. But yes, I did not like Graham Staines. For that matter, I never liked missionaries.”
When he was asked why he did not like missionaries, he answered, “Christian Missionaries have been targeting our religion. They have been converting Hindus by deceit and inducements. Our religion is under siege. As a true Hindu, it was my responsibility to oppose them. Therefore I worked in the region organising people against conversions and cow slaughter.” He also denied ever being a member of RSS, VHP or Bajrang Dal.
Sarangi, too, like most Hindus, is quite concerned about conversions as everyone ought to be. Demonizing him for it only reveals the complete lack of understanding of social issues and implications of the demographic shift by the concerned individuals. And to drag him into the murder of Graham Staines is extremely despicable.
He comes from a humble background and defeated candidates who had a lot more financial resources. While it is true that he has seven criminal cases against him, he has been involved in a lot of protests which have ranged from anti-liquor movements to educations.
That was fun. All the rumors and speculation were just that. Speculation. Till the very last moment, the biggest leak that emerged from the corridors of the new Modi government was perhaps some portion of the dinner menu. I don’t know if the media even managed to get that right.
They were waiting and so were we. In the same line, mind you.
If you think you’ve seen the full liberal meltdown on May 23, you are very very wrong. You haven’t seen nothin’ yet. The election results left the liberal elite gasping for breath, quivering and whimpering in pain. Trust PM Modi to rub it in … and in style.
Dear right-wing friends, be sure to savour this moment. It is truly ours to enjoy. Go get drunk on liberal tears to your heart’s content.
But beyond the fun, there is a country to run. And I am confident that I speak for a lot of RW when I present these three wishes for Home Minister Amit Shah: the new sheriff in town.
(1) Wake up Naxals, because your time is up
As I can only express in Hindi, subah ho gayi mamu. For several decades now, large parts of India’s heartland have been stalked by a great evil. Not only is it a violent attack on the Indian state, but Naxal terrorism has also made hostages of the poorest and weakest sections of our people. In every election, the people in these mostly tribal areas come out in ever higher numbers to express faith in our democratic system. Very often, they come out to vote quite literally at the peril of their lives.
These people deserve better. We can’t let the Naxals hold our people back at gunpoint. Too many generations have been lost already behind the iron curtain of left-wing terrorism. In PM Modi’s first term, we saw the Naxals gradually squeezed into ever smaller territory as roads, railways and airports penetrated deep into the so-called “red corridor”.
Naxal-terrorism, a year back.
It’s now time for the final assault. The knockout punch to pulverize Naxalism once and for all. To bury the threat forever.
This, in short, is my first wish from Home Minister Amit Shah.
And no, I haven’t forgotten the ‘backroom Naxals’, who operate under cover of journalists, intellectuals and academics. I think Arun Jaitley used to call them the ‘overground face of the underground‘. Enough! It is time to identify their incentives, clamp down on them and shut down their bogus NGO businesses. This applies not just to those who provide so-called intellectual covering fire for Naxalism, but to the support crew for any other kind of terrorism, such as in Kashmir. We have to take apart the elaborate web of NGOs and “civil society organizations” that wine and dine our ‘intellectuals’ with funds from all sorts of dark sources, from Pakistan’s ISI to vested business interests. Many of the leads are already in the public domain. These have to be pursued vigorously and professional sedition put out of business.
This is not a free speech issue. A clampdown on paid lobbyists for enemy states, terrorists and miscellaneous vested interests has nothing to do with free speech.
(2) Rein in the ‘missionary mafia’
The cultural identity of India is under attack from another quarter. The missionary mafia is trying to ravage the diverse garden of Hindu society, seize us by the roots and tie us all up with Western-oriented monotheism. One book. One god. One dogma for all, with no roots in India’s ancient culture.
They are aggressive and well funded. In our poverty lies their opportunity. Every adversity for India is a stroke of good fortune for them, whether it be a flood, an earthquake or a tsunami. They bring in money, resources and people from abroad, making a mockery of our laws on both immigration and foreign funding.
This daylight robbery needs to stop. It’s time to make the FCRA laws twice as strict and the penalties four times as harsh. Most important of all, we need to enact a strict nationwide anti-conversion law that should be enforced ruthlessly.
This is not about taking away the freedom of any person to choose their religion. This is about clamping down on organized cultural aggression. The Hindu religion is not Abrahamic, it does not seek converts, nor does it seek to dominate the world. If left unprotected, the one-sided cultural aggression will ultimately flush away our identity.
(3) National Register of Citizens
If we want to stop the aggression from within, we need to know who is here. Are they Indians?
Even if we think beyond demographic aggression and only in economic terms, we simply do not have the resources to take care of everyone in the world. We have a right to put Indians first.
The NRC in Assam was a decent beginning to a very difficult task. But the NRC in Assam needs to be sharpened and the holes plugged. Stories abound of illegal immigrants who have smuggled their way into the list as bonafide Indian citizens. At the same time, many genuine Indians have been left out, which really hurts. Thereafter, the NRC must be applied nationwide, starting of course with West Bengal.
Of course, the NRC does not mean anything unless we also have the all-important Citizenship Amendment Bill. As the inheritors of ancient Bharat, we must fulfil our historic duty towards those from the Indian subcontinent who have nowhere else to go: the persecuted Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists from what is today Pakistan or Bangladesh.
In short, these are my three wishes for our Home Minister. It’s time to take the gloves off.
Of late, The Telegraph has veered increasingly towards the ideology of the Left and has taken the brand of ‘Woke Journalism‘ to another different level. While its thinly veiled activism is cheered by liberals across the spectrum, others do not quite appreciate their partisanship.
However, as has become the norm, ‘Woke’ institutions almost always fail to live up to the very principles they preach and when the masks fall off, behind their ‘Wokeness’ lies a very ugly face.
As it happened, The Telegraph’s mask fell off yet again today. Rather, this mask was pulled off by the very popular model turned actress Lisa Ray on social media. Ray expressed her disappointment at the picture, which the Kolkata based newspaper had chosen to publish alongside her article, on Twitter.
Does anyone else see the irony in using THIS image – instead of an author image provided- for an article about my memoir @CloseToTheBone_ where I talk about struggling as a women with overcoming sexist stereotypes? Just landed in Kolkata and I must say I’m disappointed @ttindiapic.twitter.com/dIMEcMRlh6
This ‘specific’ article talks about her memoir describing her experience with overcoming sexist stereotypes. Instead of publishing an author image provided by her, the newspaper chose to publish her seductive picture highlighting her sexual appeal. By using her sensuous image for an article that pivots on overcoming sexist stereotypes, the editors exposed their agenda of garnering readership at the cost of the dignity of a woman.
The irony is that these ‘woke’ media outlets are the first ones to berate others reminding them of not being feminist enough, all the while indulging in rabid forms of sexism themselves.
Sexism runs deep within the premises of The Telegraph, and this newspaper has a history of being sexist time and again. What’s amazing is that this fact doesn’t seem to affect its popularity amongst its liberal readers. Not too long ago, the liberals’ darling newspaper had mocked Union Minister Smriti Irani as ‘Aunty-National’ in one of its lead articles.
Much like the comedians of the AIB who were exposed in the ‘Me Too’ saga, The Telegraph reminds us that mask of Performative Wokeness cannot be maintained for long.
Wasim, the main accused in the murder of Smriti Irani’s close aide Surendra Singh has been arrested by the police after an encounter in Jamo Police Station. He has sustained a bullet injury on his leg and is currently undergoing treatment. As of now, all five accused in the murder have been arrested and four have been sent to jail.
As per reports, Singh’s family had named five suspects, Wasim, Nasim, Golu, Dharmnath and BDC Ramchandra and filed an FIR against them under section 302 and 120-B. All five have now been arrested. BDC Ramchandra is a local Congress leader as per reports.
Yesterday, various members of Congress’ social media team were caught spreading fake news regarding Singh’s murderers. The Uttar Police has denied a rumour that is being spread on social media that a BJP leader is behind the murder of BJP worker Surendra Singh in Amethi. Singh was a former village head who was a close aide of Amethi MP Smriti Irani and worked on the ground during the campaigning for Smriti Irani ahead of elections. Local BJP workers and his family members had alleged that he was killed for working for BJP. Irani defeated Congress President Rahul Gandhi from Amethi by a victory margin of over 50,000 votes.
Smriti Irani attended the last rite of Singh, and even gave her shoulder to the mortal remains of the victim in his last journey. She had said that she has taken a vow that she will take a death sentence for the culprits of the case, even if she has to go to Supreme Court.
Admiral Karambir Singh assumed charge as the 24th Chief of the Naval Staff at a ceremony in the national capital today. The outgoing chief Admiral Sunil Lanba passed on the baton after serving three years as the head of the navy.
“The Navy is mission-ready to meet maritime security challenges. I am pleased to hand over my responsibilities to my very capable successor,” said Lanba.
“Its a matter of great honour to take charge as the 24th Navy Chief. It is a matter of pride and respect for me. The Navy which already had a firm foundation was taken to newer heights by Admiral Sunil Lanba and I’ll endeavour to take it forward. I would like to thank Admiral Lanba and express my gratitude for his services to the Navy,” Admiral Singh said.
Admiral Singh who hails from Jalandhar was born on November 3, 1959. An alumnus of National Defence Academy (NDA), Khadakwasla, he is also a graduate of Defence Services Staff College, Wellington and the College of Naval Warfare, Mumbai. Commissioned into the Indian Navy in July 1980, Admiral Singh has also served as Directing Staff in both these institutions.
A recipient of Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) and the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM), he was appointed as the next Chief of the Naval Staff by the Narendra Modi government.
Admiral Singh earned his wings as a helicopter pilot in 1982 and has extensively flown the Chetak and Kamov helicopters. In his career spanning nearly 37 years, he has commanded four ships including the Indian Coast Guard ship Chandbibi, missile corvette INS Vijaydurg, guided missile destroyers INS Rana and INS Delhi. He has also served as the Fleet Operations Officer of the Western Fleet.
Ashore, he has served at Naval Headquarters as the Joint Director Naval Air Staff, as Captain Air and Officer-in-Charge of the Naval Air Station at Mumbai. He was also the Chief of Staff of the Tri-Services Unified Command at Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Flag Officer Commanding Maharashtra and Gujarat Naval Area (FOMAG).
As a Vice Admiral, he served as the Director General of Project Seabird looking after infrastructure development of the Navy’s modern base at Karwar.
Admiral Singh’s appointment was contested by Vice Admiral Bimal Verma who filed a case against him. However, The Armed Forces Tribunal on Wednesday deferred the case for four weeks.
Banned terror outfit Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) plans to join hands with dreaded terror organization Lashkar-e-Tayebba (LeT) and set up bases along the Indian border, according to reports. Recently, the government of India had banned JMB under clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 35 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 with immediate effect.
According to senior officials in the home ministry, JMB intends to create permanent bases within 10-km of Indo-Bangladesh border. The terror organization aims to establish bases across districts of West Bengal, Assam, and Tripura. This was revealed during the interrogation of Jahidul Islam, who along with his 12-member action team was arrested in connection with the 2018 Bodhgaya blast.
According to Bangladesh based Islam, JMB intended to target Gaya and other iconic Buddhist centres in India, as a part of their revenge for the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar and also to express solidarity with Rohingya Muslims. According to reports, JMB terrorists are using madarasas in Burdwan and Murshidabad districts of West Bengal for the training of their terrorist members. The training modules include classes on the fabrication of improvised explosive devices (IED), religious indoctrination, and physical exercises including target practice.
The Narendra Modi-led government had designated JMB as a terrorist group based on intelligence inputs suggesting its leaders in Dhaka had joined hands with the Pakistan-based LeT to widen their terror activities in India.
Through its official media Al-Ehsar, JMB chief Salaudin Salehin had earlier announced JMH as India chapter for expanding their jihadi activities in India.
The terror group that upholds the hardline ideology of the Islamic State (ISIS) has been widening its network in South India and has been working with the aim of establishing a Caliphate in the Indian sub-continent.
On May 10, even before the polling for 2019 Lok Sabha elections got over, Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal has ‘warned’ voters that if the BJP comes to power, then Amit Shah would become the Union Home Minister.
देशवासियों, वोट देते वक़्त सोचना। अगर मोदी जी दोबारा आ गए तो अमित शाह गृह मंत्री होंगे। जिस देश का गृह मंत्री अमित शाह हो, उस देश का क्या होगा, ये सोच के वोट डालना। https://t.co/ws2ZCA7hjv
Fast forward 20 days later, BJP has emerged as a single largest party at 303 seats crossing the magic figure of 272, by a huge margin. Last evening Narendra Modi swore in as Prime Minister for the second time along with his council of ministers. Earlier today, the Rashtrapati Bhavan issued a press release which showed Shah was allotted the Home Ministry.
Twitter users dug up Arvind Kejriwal’s tweet to again make fun of him.
The portfolios of the ministers of the new Modi government has been allocated. Yesterday, 24 cabinet ministers, 9 Ministers of state with independent charge and 24 Ministers of State had taken the oath of office and secrecy along with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Some highlights of the ministry allocation are:
Defence minister Nirmala Sitharam moves to Finance ministry after Arun Jaitley opted out of the government due to health reasons, she also gets the Corporate affairs portfolio. Home minister Rajnath Singh is the new Raksha Mantri of the country, and new entrant to the cabinet and BJP president Amit Shah has been appointed as Home Minister.
Former diplomat Subrahmanyam Jaishankar is the new Minister of External Affairs, as Sushma Swaraj was not included in the cabinet. is the new Nitin Gadkari retains the highway and road ministry, but lost the waterway ministry. But he has also given the charge of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. Smriti Irani has been given the charge of Women and Child Development along with her Textile ministry.
A new ministry has been created in the new Midi government, called the Jal Shakti ministry. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat is the cabinet minister of the ministry.
The full list of ministers and their portfolios are given below.
Shri Narendra Modi
Prime Minister and also in-charge of:
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions;
Department of Atomic Energy;
Department of Space; and
All important policy issues; and
All other portfolios not allocated to any Minister.
Cabinet Ministers
1.
Shri Raj Nath Singh
Minister of Defence.
2.
Shri Amit Shah
Minister of Home Affairs.
3.
Shri Nitin Jairam Gadkari
Minister of Road Transport and Highways; and
Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.
4.
Shri D.V. Sadananda Gowda
Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers.
5.
Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman
Minister of Finance; and
Minister of Corporate Affairs.
6.
Shri Ramvilas Paswan
Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.
7.
Shri Narendra Singh Tomar
Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare;
Minister of Rural Development; and
Minister of Panchayati Raj.
8.
Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad
Minister of Law and Justice;
Minister of Communications; and
Minister of Electronics and Information Technology.
9.
Smt. Harsimrat Kaur Badal
Minister of Food Processing Industries.
10.
Shri Thaawar Chand Gehlot
Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment.
11.
Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar
Minister of External Affairs.
12.
Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’
Minister of Human Resource Development.
13.
Shri Arjun Munda
Minister of Tribal Affairs.
14.
Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani
Minister of Women and Child Development; and Minister of Textiles.
15.
Dr. Harsh Vardhan
Minister of Health and Family Welfare;
Minister of Science and Technology; and
Minister of Earth Sciences.
16.
Shri Prakash Javadekar
Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; and
Minister of Information and Broadcasting.
17.
Shri Piyush Goyal
Minister of Railways; and
Minister of Commerce and Industry.
18.
Shri Dharmendra Pradhan
Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas; and
Minister of Steel.
19.
Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi
Minister of Minority Affairs.
20.
Shri Pralhad Joshi
Minister of
Parliamentary Affairs;Minister of Coal; andMinister of Mines.
21.
Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey
Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
22.
Shri Arvind Ganpat Sawant
Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprise.
23.
Shri Giriraj Singh
Minister of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries.
24.
Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat
Minister of Jal Shakti.
Ministers of State (Independent Charge)
1.
Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar
Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
2.
Rao Inderjit Singh
Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation; and
Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Planning.
3.
Shri Shripad Yesso Naik
Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH); and
Minister of State in the Ministry of Defence.
4.
Dr. Jitendra Singh
Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region;
Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office;
Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions;
Minister of State in the Department of Atomic Energy; and
Minister of State in the Department of Space.
5.
Shri Kiren Rijiju
Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports; and
Minister of State in the Ministry of Minority Affairs.
6.
Shri Prahalad Singh Patel
Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Culture; and
Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Tourism.
7.
Shri Raj Kumar Singh
Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Power;
Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy; and
Minister of State in the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
8.
Shri Hardeep Singh Puri
Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs;
Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Civil Aviation; and
Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
9.
Shri Mansukh L. Mandaviya
Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Shipping; and
Minister of State in the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers.
Ministers of State
1.
Shri Faggansingh Kulaste
Minister of State in the Ministry of Steel.
2.
Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey
Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
3.
Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal
Minister of State in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs; and
Minister of State in the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.
4.
General (Retd.) V. K. Singh
Minister of State in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
5.
Shri Krishan Pal
Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
6.
Shri Danve Raosaheb Dadarao
Minister of State in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.
7.
Shri G. Kishan Reddy
Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs.
8.
Shri Parshottam Rupala
Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
9.
Shri Ramdas Athawale
Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
10.
Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti
Minister of State in the Ministry of Rural Development.
11.
Shri Babul Supriyo
Minister of State in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
12.
Shri Sanjeev Kumar Balyan
Minister of State in the Ministry of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries.
13.
Shri Dhotre Sanjay Shamrao
Minister of State in the Ministry of Human Resource Development;
Minister of State in the Ministry of Communications; and
Minister of State in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
14.
Shri Anurag Singh Thakur
Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance; and
Minister of State in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
15.
Shri Angadi Suresh Channabasappa
Minister of State in the Ministry of Railways.
16.
Shri Nityanand Rai
Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs.
17.
Shri Rattan Lal Kataria
Minister of State in the Ministry of Jal Shakti; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
18.
Shri V. Muraleedharan
Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.
19.
Smt. Renuka Singh Saruta
Minister of State in the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
20.
Shri Som Parkash
Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
21.
Shri Rameswar Teli
Minister of State in the Ministry of Food Processing Industries.
22.
Shri Pratap Chandra Sarangi
Minister of State in the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries.
23.
Shri Kailash Choudhary
Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
24.
Sushri Debasree Chaudhuri
Minister of State in the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
A replica of the Rafale jet has been erected outside the residence of Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa in Delhi. Coincidentally, his residence is right next to Congress headquarters.
Replica of Rafale jet erected outside Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa’s residence in Delhi. His residence is next to Congress Headquarters. pic.twitter.com/Icoo63G2At
The Air Force Chief has great admiration for the Rafale aircraft. During the huge controversy around the Rafale Deal, he had commended its capabilities. “When Rafales come in, our air defence capabilities will enhance manifold, and Pakistan will be deterred from lingering around the border and the LoC with the kind of capabilities we will possess, for which they don’t have an answer,” BS Dhanoa had said.
As for the Congress party itself, the replica will serve as a continuous reminder of the monumental failure of their party president Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Chowkidar Chor Hai‘ slogan. The Congress president’s sister appears to still believe that his party would have succeeded in defeating Narendra Modi had the senior leaders of his party chanted ‘Chowkidar Chor Hai’ just one more time with more conviction.
Video of the Congress HQs in Delhi which now has a #Rafale jet staring towards it for at least next few years. The Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa has erected a #Rafale jet outside his residence. Proud moment for the Air Force and the country! pic.twitter.com/bHmwb44ejU
However, it does appear that basing their entire campaign around the Rafale Deal proved to be rather costly for the Congress party. That a replica of the aircraft has now come up next to their headquarters makes one wonder if the Wheels of Fate themselves are having a laugh at the expense of the Congress party’s misfortune.