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After reports of violence in Diamond Harbour, video of Hindus fleeing area after Mosques call for the killing of non-muslims goes viral

OpIndia Staff
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After reports of violence in Diamond Harbour, video of Hindus fleeing area after Mosques call for the killing of non-muslims goes viral

West Bengal has been a hotbed of violence ever since elections began and even in the run-up to it. Things reached a peak when BJP President Amit Shah’s roadshow was attacked by goons associated with Trinamool Congress. The violence at Vidyasagar college, however, appears to have deflected attention from another serious bout of violence that has reared its ugly head in another part of Kolkata.

It was reported on the 13th of May that violence had erupted at Satgachia Assembly Constituency in Diamond Harbour since Friday last week and authorities had failed miserably in controlling it. According to reports, houses and shops of Hindus were vandalized allegedly by Trinamool goons. The violence was said to be political rather than communal.

“Several houses, shops and vehicles were ransacked during the clashes that began on Friday night and continued for three days. No casualty was reported,” a senior official at the state secretariat told PTI. “This is a political clash, not communal. We have sought a report from the district administration on this,” the IAS officer was reported to have said on Tuesday.

It is claimed that a certain Trinamool leader unleashed nearly 200 goons in the area to create trouble. Violence has also been reported in adjacent areas. When the Police, after being initially denied entry, finally managed to enter the disturbed area with Rapid Action Force, some of them were injured in the clashes that ensued.

Contrary to the claims made by the IAS officer, the violence did have a communal angle to it according to certain reports. The perpetrators of the attack were Muslims and the victims were Hindus regardless of their political affiliation.

According to a video that has gone viral on social media, Hindu families have started fleeing the area after calls were made from Mosques to kill non-Muslims.


West Bengal has witnessed great communal violence in recent times where Hindus have been attacked by Muslims, ostensibly under the patronage of the TMC. Malda and Basirhat witnessed events where Muslims went on a rampage against Hindus while the Police failed to do anything to protect the Hindu community. The events at Diamond Harbour appear to follow the same pattern where Muslims associated with Trinamool embarked on a violence spree against Hindus regardless of the latter’s political affiliation.

Thus, despite all claims by Mamata Banerjee that she is just as Hindu as the BJP, her administration has failed time and again to provide security to Hindus while Muslim miscreants continue to enjoy her patronage.

Alwar rapes: Rahul Gandhi visits one victim, ignores other because it ‘wasn’t on the schedule’

OpIndia Staff
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Alwar rapes: Rahul Gandhi visits one victim, ignores other because it ‘wasn’t on the schedule’

In a shocking display of apathy, Congress President visited one rape victim in Alwar and skipped meeting the other because it was not in the schedule, reports Republic TV. In last month, two gruesome rapes took place in Alwar, Rajasthan.

On April 26, a Dalit woman was gang-raped in Alwar, and the police were accused of suppressing the case because of ongoing general elections. Just a few days after the incident, another Dalit woman was raped in Alwar by two men inside a community health centre by two men.

However, as Rahul Gandhi visited the state on a campaign trail, he met only one of the two victim and her families as he did not visit the other because “he had no time”. After meeting one rape victim, Rahul Gandhi said that this was not a ‘political issue’ for him and he has promised justice for the victim. As per a report by Republic TV, Rahul Gandhi did not visit the other rape victim because it was not a part of his schedule.

Despite damaged vocal chords due to excessive talking, Navjot Sidhu challenges PM Modi to a debate on corruption

OpIndia Staff
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Despite damaged vocal chords due to excessive talking, Navjot Sidhu challenges PM Modi to a debate on corruption

Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu, who cannot do without ceaseless talking, is back to addressing election rallies. He had damaged his vocal cord a few days ago, and was advised rest for two days along with medication. While delivering a speech at an election rally in Himachal Pradesh, Sidhu crossed all levels of decency and insulted Prime Minister Narendra Modi by calling him an “agent in Rafale”.

Probably short of ideas, the Congress, despite been proven fallacious multiple numbers of times, has been overusing the Rafale issue to berate the government.

Meanwhile, Sidhu also challenged Modi to debate with him on the claims of the latter against corruption. “I challenge Narendra Modi to debate on ‘Na khaunga na khane dunga’ (neither I will do corruption nor will let anyone commit it). If I lose, I will quit politics forever. I want to say that Narendra Modi came in 2014 as the son of Ganga and he will go in 2019 as an agent in Rafale,” he added.

Sidhu went on to make an absurd remark by referring to Rahul Gandhi as a canon and himself an AK-47. “I want to ask Narendra Modi whether he took brokerage in Rafale deal or not. He can debate with Sidhu anywhere in the country. Rahul ji is a big thing. He is a cannon and I am AK-47,” said Sidhu in the election rally.

Notably, Navjot Singh Sidhu had been advised complete rest, after he had once again damaged his vocal cords due to excessive talking. He had been administered with steroids and injections. Presumably, it is impossible to keep Sidhu away from talking. Despite the repeated damage, Sidhu had insisted on campaigning for the last phase of the Lok Sabha elections to be held on May 19.

In fact, Sidhu had chosen this particular line of treatment over the alternative balm coating treatment because this treatment needed only a 48-hour rest as compared to the latter which required a longer break.

In December last year, Sidhu had undergone treatment for a similar problem after an extensive 17-day campaign for the assembly election.

However, this is not the first time Sidhu has been seen criticising PM Modi. Being a quintessential part of the Congress party, which has a fixation to chide Narendra Modi led BJP government, Sidhu had, previously too, criticised Modi and in fact was attacked by a woman with footwear for speaking against the latter at a rally marked by ‘Modi, Modi’ chants.

Meanwhile, Himachal Pradesh will go to polls in the last phase of the Lok Sabha elections on May 19. The counting of votes will take place on May 23.

EC’s show cause notice to channel where Vinod Dua aired Exit Polls, among others, asks Twitter to remove Exit Poll tweets

OpIndia Staff
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EC’s show cause notice to channel where Vinod Dua aired Exit Polls, among others, asks Twitter to remove Exit Poll tweets

The Election Commission on Wednesday reportedly asked Twitter to remove all tweets related to the Lok Sabha election exit polls, just four days before the final phase of the election.

Reports said on Thursday that the EC had acted upon a complaint that it had received. The user who had violated the election rules wasn’t specified however, the user has already removed the tweet.

“There is no such general order issued by ECI today. Only one case was reported to us today which the user himself removed,” a senior functionary said.

Earlier three media houses, Indo-Asian News Service, Economic Times and Swaraj Mass Media had been served a show-cause notice for publishing a survey “predicting results” of Lok Sabha elections. The EC has asked them to respond within 48 hours.

“The ECI has received complaints against three media houses with respect to displaying poll surveys predicting results of Lok Sabha elections. The ECI has sought an explanation from these media houses as to why action should not be taken against them for violation of the provision of section 126A of Representation of the People Act,” the poll body said in a statement.

The EC had banned Exit Polls from the time the poll begins till half-an-hour after the polling ends since 1998 using the powers under the Representation of People Act, 1951. However, media houses have been caught blatantly violating this rule.

On 12th May 2019, Indo-Asian News Service (IANS), in a gross violation of the Model Code of Conduct rules, published a comprehensive Exit Poll. It had tweeted a survey of voters which was, according to them, undertaken by institutions and calculations by independent psephologists.

Swaraj Express, an online media portal, was also caught airing an exit poll on Youtube which was anchored by Vinod Dua. The video has since been removed from Youtube.

Congress concedes defeat? Says no problem if Rahul Gandhi does not become the PM

OpIndia Staff
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Congress concedes defeat? Says no problem if Rahul Gandhi does not become the PM

In what can be termed as a massive compromise, Congress has said that they are okay if the party is not offered the PM post should the opposition be voted to power.


While interacting with media in Bihar yesterday, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad sent out feelers to the opposition parties, which have refused to include Congress into the mahagathbandhan that if the consensus is made in Congress’ favour that their candidate should become the PM, then the party will take leadership. But if they are not offered the PM post, then they will not make an issue out of it and throw a tantrum that they will not let anyone else become the PM. Azad said that the main aim of the Congress and the Opposition is to defeat the NDA government.

Just ahead of the final phase of polling and a week before the counting of ballot takes place, Congress seems to have sent out a subtle message to the allies that they would be okay if Rahul Gandhi, who has been pitched as PM candidate since 2014 elections, will not be offered the post.

While opposition leaders like MK Stalin, Tejashwi Yadav and even Arvind Kejriwal who failed to forge a pre-poll alliance with Congress, have said they will support Rahul Gandhi for PM, other opposition leaders like Sharad Pawar, Mamata Banerjee, Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav are not too thrilled with the prospect.

Chappals hurled at Kamal Haasan who now defends his ‘Hindu terrorist’ remark on Nathuram Godse calling it a ‘historical truth’

OpIndia Staff
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Chappals hurled at Kamal Haasan who now defends his ‘Hindu terrorist’ remark on Nathuram Godse calling it a ‘historical truth’

Actor turned politician Kamal Haasan, the new entrant into the political fray in India has triggered a massive controversy with his ‘Hindu terrorist’ remark on Nathuram Godse. In the latest, chappals (slippers) were hurled towards a vehicle from which Kamal Haasan was addressing an election meeting in the Tirupparankundram Assembly constituency in Tamil Nadu, Wednesday.

One person has been detained, the police said, furthering that the chappals missed the target and fell on the crowd.

After widespread outrage against his remark, Haasan has now justified what he said by calling it a ‘historical truth’.

In his first response after the remarks that landed him in trouble with court and police cases, Haasan urged his critics to make “valid allegations”, asking if he could cater to only one section of people after entering active politics. “They got angry for what I spoke at Aravakurichi. What I spoke (there) is a historical truth. I did not lure anyone to a brawl,” he said during a by-poll campaign at Tirupurankundram near Madurai. He said truth would triumph like the “historic truth I mentioned” and not caste and religion.

“Understand the meaning for the word extremist. I could have used the word terrorist or murderer (against Godse), ours is active politics, there won’t be any violence,” he furthered.

Haasan insisted that his detractors reacted and made allegations against him without listening to his entire speech at Aravakurichi. “In Aravakurichi I said independent India’s first extremist was a Hindu. It is a historical truth,” he stated. He further added that all his family members were Hindus and that he would not speak in a manner which would hurt their beliefs. He said the truth will always be bitter and that bitterness will turn into medicine.

It is notable here that Haasan was campaigning in a Muslim majority area when he had made the remark.

Makkal Needhi Maiyam (MNM) chief, Kamal Haasan, while addressing an election rally on Sunday had said that Independent India’s first terrorist was a Hindu and his name was Nathuram Godse. This remark had triggered a huge controversy.

Haasan has now moved an anticipatory bail petition before the Madras High Court bench, after Justice B Pugalendhi refused to entertain his earlier petition, seeking quashing of an FIR against him. Justice Pugalendhi had stated that the court could not get involved at the current stage of events.

This development came after the Karur police booked the actor under sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion) and 295A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings) of the Indian Penal Code for promoting enmity with his outlandish remark. The complaint was given against him by Hindu Munnani’s Karur district secretary, KV Ramakrishnan.

While the BJP also filed a complaint with the Election Commission of India (EC) against Kamal Haasan for his ‘Hindu terrorist’ remark on Nathuram Godse, the Congress had extended support to Haasan’s comment.

A complaint filed by BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay said that the statement was intended to outrage religious feelings of millions of Hindus. Upadhyay said the speech has also breached the Model Code of Conduct as no one can appeal to caste or communal feelings to secure votes. According to reports, BJP has accused Hasaan of misusing religion for electoral gains.

However, this is not the first time that Haasan has landed himself in a controversy. Earlier, we had reported how the actor-turned-politician had been called out on social media for his controversial comment demanding a plebiscite in Kashmir. He had referred to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir as ‘Azad Kashmir’ but was forced to make a U-turn after his comments were called out on social media. Like the Godse remark, Kamal Haasan had also claimed that his plebiscite remark was also taken out of context.

Mamata Banerjee led TMC fears its prospects in 15 seats where minority concentration is low as BJP gains strength: Report

OpIndia Staff
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Mamata Banerjee led TMC fears its prospects in 15 seats where minority concentration is low as BJP gains strength: Report

2019 Lok Sabha elections are drawing to a close with only one phase of elections due for completion. While the odds look overwhelmingly in Narendra Modi led BJP’s favour, there are some states which are set to throw up a shocker. One of them is West Bengal led by CM Mamata Banerjee. The BJP, which traditionally had no party base in the state is emerging as a strong challenger to Mamata Banerjee’s brute majority in the state.

As per a report in Hindustan Times, Trinamool Congress (TMC) is rather edgy about several variables that may just result in a rude shock to Mamata Banerjee. According to the report, TMC is worried about the Left’s vote share, which was as much as 30% during 2014 Lok Sabha elections, might be shifting to PM Modi led BJP.

The report quotes a TMC leader who says, under the condition of anonymity, “Our prospects now hinge on the level of the shift of the Left vote. We hope to get more than 30 seats but if the Left loses more than 10% of its share, we may even go down to 25”.

Interestingly, however, there is another worry that might end up being more troublesome of Mamata Banerjee than the Left’s votes transferring to BJP.

The TMC leader says that the party is worried about its prospects in 15 seats of West Bengal where the minority concentration is rather low. He also says that BJP has gained considerable strength to take on the BJP in these seats.

West Bengal is seeing a tectonic shift in how it votes. Mamata Banerjee has often been seen as a leader who has appeased the Muslim minority of the state. She has been vehemently against the National Registry of Citizens as well, which would facilitate the deportation of illegal Bangladeshis and Rohingyas. With all of this, the Bengali Hindu majority of West Bengal has been looking for a change in power. In 2019, the cultural undertones are palpable in West Bengal. One recalls how youths had chanted ‘Jai Shree Ram’ as Mamata Banerjee’s convoy passed and how Banerjee had gotten out of their car to scream at them and to claim that she was being abused.

The shift of the Left vote to the BJP is also an interesting phenomenon. This was first seen in Tripura. The Left bastion had decisively voted for BJP in the last assembly elections. Several psephologists were also left stunned by it. Many had theorised that the Left vote, ideologically, could have shifted to the Congress but for it to shift to the BJP marks a deep-seated cultural change that the country is undergoing.

In West Bengal, where BJP has traditionally had no base whatsoever and many pollsters believe is poised to bag 15 to 18 seats this time around, 51.21% of people prefer PM Modi as the Prime Minister as opposed to 14.18% for Mamata Banerjee and 27.24% for Rahul Gandhi.

With TMC leaders now fearing not only the Left voter’s shift to BJP but also their losing grip over 15 seats with the concentration of minority is low, West Bengal certainly is the state to look out for on 23rd May 2019.

Mangal Pandey’s family roots for Narendra Modi as PM, says ‘we are safe in India because of Modi’

OpIndia Staff
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Mangal Pandey’s family roots for Narendra Modi as PM, says ‘we are safe in India because of Modi’

The fifth generation of Mangal Pandey, the sepoy whose rebellion triggered the 1857 war of independence, has come out in support of the BJP. As reported by Times of India, Santosh Kumar Pandey and Prabhu Nath Pandey, the fifth generation descendants of Mangal Pandey are rooting for Narendra Modi to return for a second term.


Currently living in Ballia, Uttar Pradesh, the brothers say that only the BJP will come to power. “The BJP has done such work. Like the Ujjwala Yojana, he got us electricity, gave everyone homes, provided facilities to farmers and carried out surgical strikes where they entered Pakistan and killed those who killed our soldiers. If we are sitting safely today in free India it is because the trust we have in Narendra Modi government. They even gave respect to the freedom fighters,” Pandey said.

Santosh Pandey, who currently works as a school teacher, said that the family had stood against Indira Gandhi when she has imposed the Emergency in 1975. He adds that they love that the Modi government is trying to promote the Hindi language.

On comparing Narendra Modi to Congress President Rahul Gandhi who aspires to be the prime minister, Pandey said, “There is a huge difference between them.” Another relative of Mangal Pandey explained how earlier they used to get power supply of 3-4 hours a day which has now gone up to a minimum 18 hours a day power supply. “Conditions were very poor. The condition of roads, railways, everything is good now. Image of Ballia was totally different and was very untidy from every aspect. But now there is a clean and neat image of Ballia which is far better than what it was earlier,” he said.

Ballia, one of the 80 Lok Sabha constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, will vote on the last day of polling, May 19. The counting will take place on May 23.

Mayawati campaigns for ‘missing’ BSP candidate, promises permanent jobs instead of Congress’ NYAY scheme

OpIndia Staff
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Mayawati campaigns for ‘missing’ BSP candidate, promises permanent jobs instead of Congress’ NYAY scheme

As the Lok Sabha election reaches its last leg all the political parties are giving in their best to pursue voters. In the bid to do so, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati, while speaking in Mau, Uttar Pradesh, said that if voted to power, she would give permanent jobs to poor people in government and non-government sectors.

Snubbing the Congress NYAY scheme as a temporary solution for eliminating poverty, the BSP chief, while addressing the election rally said, “To influence voters, especially the extremely poor, Congress party announced Rs. 6000 per month for them. This is not a permanent solution for eliminating poverty.”

“Keeping this in mind, we would like to say that if we get an opportunity to form government at the centre then instead of providing Rs. 6,000 per month to extremely poor families, we’ll give them permanent jobs in government and non-government sectors,” she added.


Congress president Rahul Gandhi, to impress his vote bank, had come up with an outlandish NYAY scheme, which promises Rs 72,000 to 5 crore families every year if his party is voted to power.

Mayawati was campaigning for its candidate Atul Rai from Ghosi Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh. This itself is an unusual canvassing for votes, as the candidate himself has been “missing” from the campaign scene for a fortnight.

Atul Rai has been missing since a complaint was registered against him in a rape case on May 1. However, this has not deterred Mayawati and Samajwadi Party chief, Akhilesh Yadav from urging people to vote for the BSP candidate from Ghosi constituency in Uttar Pradesh.

Both leaders have directed their cadres to continue campaigning for the “missing” candidate.

Soon after the rape case was filed, Rai went underground and has not been campaigning for the ongoing elections. Sources say that he has fled to Malaysia to evade arrest. The police say that a lookout notice has been issued against Rai.

Meanwhile, Ghosi Lok Sabha seat covers the entire Mau district and there are five assembly segments of Madhuban, Ghosi, Muhammadabad-Gohna, Mau and Rasara under it. The Bharatiya Janata Party had won the Ghosi Lok Sabha seat for the first time in 2014 general election. Ghosi will vote on May 19.

Uttar Pradesh which sends 80 members to Parliament, the highest among all states, will go to polls in all the seven phases of the Lok Sabha election 2019. Votes will be counted on May 23.

11 persons including 2 SSB jawans injured in grenade blast in Guwahati, ULFA-Independent claims responsibility

OpIndia Staff
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11 persons including 2 SSB jawans injured in grenade blast in Guwahati, ULFA-Independent claims responsibility

A suspected grenade blast in Guwahati in Assam injured several persons today. The responsibility for the blast has been taken by the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA)-Independent.


According to the latest reports, at least 11 people are injured in the blast, and one among them is in critical condition. The injured also include two SSB jawans.


The injured persons have been sent to Gauhati Medical College, KGMT Hospital and Nemcare Hospital for treatment. The Assam government has announced that the government will bear the expense of treatment of everyone injured in the blast.

According to the police, attackers threw a grenade from a bike on a team of police and SSB soldiers who were checking vehicles on RGB Road, which is also known as Zoo Road. It is speculated that seeing the police checking vehicles on the road, the terrorists threw the grenade on security forces fearing that they will be caught in the checking, and fled from the scene immediately.


According to the Commissioner of Police, Guwahati, Deepak Kumar, the grenade blast took place around 8 pm.


The blast took place in front of Guwahati Central, a shopping mall near the state zoo on the Zoo road in Guwahati. The police have cordoned off the area and a forensic team has arrived at the scene for investigations. ULFA is a terrorist outfit active in the State of Assam which seeks to establish an independent State of Assam. The organisation was banned by the government of India in 1990 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act after being classified as a terrorist organisation.

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