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Former President Pranab Mukherjee hails the Election Commission of India for perfectly conducted elections

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Former President Pranab Mukherjee hails the Election Commission of India for perfectly conducted elections

Former president Pranab Mukherjee has hailed the election commission of India saying that the 2019 Lok Sabha elections were conducted ‘perfectly’.


Speaking at a book launch event in Delhi, the former president stated that if democracy has succeeded in the country it is mainly due to the perfect conduct of elections by the ECI.

Pranab Mukherjee stated that election commissions starting from Shukumar Sen to the present CEC, have made sure that elections are conducted perfectly.

Pranab Mukherjee’s remarks come soon after Congress president Rahul Gandhi claimed that the ECI has ‘capitulated’ before the central government and has lost its respect. Rahul Gandhi was seen claiming that EVMs are being manipulated and the ECI is partial towards the central government soon after the last phase of the election was complete.


It is notable here the former President’s statement comes after almost all exit polls have predicted a clear majority for the NDA and the Congress leadership is coming up with bizarre excuses to avoid accountability for the party’s political decline.

Keep it funny, not personal, Moeen Ali’s expectations from fans during World Cup

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Keep it funny, not personal, Moeen Ali’s expectations from fans during World Cup

All-rounder Mooen Ali wants English fans not to be personal with Smith and Warner during the World Cup. Both were banned from playing cricket for 1 year for their roles in the pre-meditated plan to tamper with the ball during the Cape Town Test.

Talking to The Guardian Moeen said: “I really hope they don’t get too much stick. I want them to enjoy the series,”

“If you have to, keep it funny, not personal. We all make mistakes. We are human beings and we have feelings. I know deep down they are probably really good people. I just hope they get treated decently. I just want the cricket to be spoken about.”

Two days back Australian coach Justin Langer had said that both Warner and Smith require extra care.

“There’s not too many I’ve met in my life who like being booed or heckled or disliked so… they’re human beings,” Langer had said. “We’re going to have to care for them, we’re going to have to put an arm around them and make sure they’re going okay. But what people say, whether it’s in the crowd or social media or wherever there’s nothing they can do about that, they can’t control it but what we can do is keep an eye on them and make sure they’re going okay as people as much as cricketers.”

Congress’ new excuse for predicted loss: North Indian voters are not as educated as South Indians

OpIndia Staff
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Congress’ new excuse for predicted loss: North Indian voters are not as educated as South Indians

After the seven phases of the grand and extensive Lok Sabha elections are over and exit polls of almost all news channels have forecast a clear majority for the NDA, Congress is seen attempting to hide behind excuses and allegations, again.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi has been attempting to peddle another ‘EVM manipulation’ theory. He has been attacking the Election Commission of India alleging that the ECI is in collusion with the central government. Now, Congress’ spokesperson has come up with another theory, a theory that fits right into Congress’ efforts to divide the country on the basis of caste, religion and regionalism.

In a panel discussion over the exit poll predictions and the fate of Congress, its spokesperson declared that the reason behind the Congress’ bad performance in North Indian states is that the people in North Indian states are ‘pliable’ and they are not as educated like the people in the south.


Speaking on a panel discussion (full video here) moderated by HTN Tiranga TV’s Barkha Dutt yesterday, Congress spokesperson Shama Mohammad alleged that the media is pliable and it favours the BJP. She also says that because the people of North India are pliable and they are not as educated as South Indians, they get manipulated by a pliable media and WhatsApp messages.

The Congress spokesperson, in her desperation to blame everyone except Congress leaders for their loss, seemed to forget that the exit polls have predicted a significant gain for BJP in Eastern, central and Southern states too.

This is not the only excuse the Congress has come up with to shift the blame and whine after a predicted loss. As if the long-dismissed blames over EVMs and the functioning of the ECI was not enough, Congress had yesterday came up with the claim that BJP had not manipulated EVMs in the three states of MP, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh during the assembly elections because PM Modi did not care for his CMs and he only wanted to win the general elections.


Congress leader Rashid Alvi had even claimed that there is no way the BJP can win. He even claimed that the exit polls are wrong because people are pressurised to lie about who they had voted for. He further added that BJP can win only through EVM manipulation and when Congress wins any election, it is because the EVMs are not manipulated. Answering the journalist’s question that his allegations are not making sense at all, Alvi had stated that Congress leaders know everything about politics because they have been doing politics all their lives.

Peddling regionalism and playing divisive politics has always been Congress’ forte. After becoming the CM in Madhya Pradesh, Congress’ Kamal Nath had claimed that there are no jobs for the people of the state because the people from UP and Bihar are stealing them.

In UP, Congress leaders including Priyanka Gandhi had claimed that PM Modi is an ‘outsider’ because he hails from Gujarat.

Congress leader Navjot Sidhu had claimed that he finds Pakistan more familiar than South India.

Interestingly, even if one tries to take the Congress’ claims seriously for a minute, they are in complete contradiction with each other. At one side their president and leaders claim that EVMs have been manipulated, at another side, their spokesperson claims that people have voted for the BJP because they are uneducated and pliable, thereby accepting that BJP’s predicted win is because of people’s genuine votes, not EVM manipulation.

On top of all that Congress is also claiming that exit polls are wrong and they are going to win, contradicting their own other allegations.

Kedar Jadhav fit, no changes in India’s World Cup Squad

OpIndia Staff
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Kedar Jadhav fit, no changes in India’s World Cup Squad

The speculation over the final squad of Team India for World Cup is over. On Monday Indian team’s physio Patrick Farhart declared Kedar Jadhav fit in his report to BCCI.

The all-rounder had suffered a shoulder injury during Chennai’s match against Punjab in IPL on May 5. Jadhav passed a fitness test conducted by Farhart at the MCA’s BKC facility.

Had Jadhav declared unfit, the selection panel would have picked a replacement from the five standbys: Rishabh Pant, Ambati Rayudu, Ishant Sharma, Axar Patel and Navdeep Saini.

Many former cricketers and experts believed that Pant should have been selected for the World Cup.

“If you can put Rishabh up at No. 4, he’ll score runs for you because he’s just so talented,” Ganguly said. “He’s got so much time to play fast bowling that you can’t see Rishabh Pant failing at the top level. And he hasn’t actually. In his short career, he’s been remarkable for India, and once gets more opportunities, he’ll be a very different player.”

India will start their campaign against South Africa on June 5.

India’s schedule for World Cup 2019:

June 5 (Wednesday): v South Africa at The Rose Bowl, Southampton
June 9 (Sunday): v Australia at Kennington Oval, London
June 13 (Thursday): v New Zealand at Trent Bridge, Nottingham
June 16 (Sunday): v Pakistan at Old Trafford, Manchester
June 22 (Saturday): v Afghanistan at The Rose Bowl, Southampton
June 27 (Thursday): v West Indies at Old Trafford, Manchester
June 30 (Sunday): v England at Edgbaston, Birmingham
July 2 (Tuesday): v Bangladesh at Edgbaston, Birmingham
July 6 (Saturday): v Sri Lanka at Headingley, Leed

Indian Squad: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Vijay Shankar, MS Dhoni (wicket-keeper), Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami.

‘Krantikari’ journalist is back, predicts more seats for Congress ally DMK than it is even contesting, Congress happily shares it

OpIndia Staff
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‘Krantikari’ journalist is back, predicts more seats for Congress ally DMK than it is even contesting, Congress happily shares it

‘Krantikari’ journalist Punya Prasun Bajpai, who was recently booted from Surya Samachar, has released his own ‘exit poll’ after the conclusion of the seventh and final phase of voting on Sunday, May 19.

As per Bajpai, the BJP will be reduced from 282 seats victory in 2014 to 145-152 seats in 2019. Congress will be gaining 100+ seats, Gathbandhan 50+ seats, TMC will score 35+ seats, DMK scoring 35+ seats and BJP will get 18+ seats says Bajpai. This exit poll was gleefully shared by Madhya Pradesh Congress’ official handle.


At first glance we thought it is fake image and Punya Prasun Bajpai wouldn’t have given these numbers, since he would at least do basic fact-check before dishing out numbers. How can he give over 35 seats to DMK when the party is contesting only from 20 seats in total? Well, perhaps the ‘survey’ Bajpai worked on was also done the way he peddles fake narratives.

Soon after the final round of polling got over, the exit polls have been predicting a second term of NDA government at centre with a clear majority for the BJP. The exit polls, which have a tendency to be little inaccurate, have caused quite a few heartburns in the Lutyens and Khan Market gangs of the elitist media. While most celebrity journalists have had a meltdown, some even seem to have conjured up unnamed party sources to assert that Congress is not dying anytime soon.

Amidst all this, Bajpai seems to have gone a step further and made a Congress ally in Tamil Nadu win more seats than the party has even contested from. By the time of this report, Bajpai’s video has clocked in over 10 lakh views.

Bahut krantikari.

Mohammad Amir makes a comeback to World Cup Squad

OpIndia Staff
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Mohammad Amir makes a comeback to World Cup Squad

Pakistan chairman of selectors Inzamam ul Haq told the media on Monday about three changes made in the provisional squad. Pakistan has called up Asif Ali, Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz to their final 15-man World Cup squad.

“The lack of potency of our frontline bowlers against England meant that a change was needed,” said Inzamam-ul-Haq.

“We now know we will encounter batting wickets in the World Cup.”

Asif Ali, who lost his daughter due to cancer is also called up.

“We are with Asif in this tough time,” added Inzamam. “He will return to Pakistan and then go back [to England] before the warm-up matches.”

The selection has irked pace bowler Junaid Khan. “I dont want to say anything. Truth is bitter. (Sach karwa hotha hai),” Junaid wrote on Twitter (later deleted).

Truth is Bitter – Junaid Khan on Twitter

Mohammad Amir was sensational against India in Champions trophy final in 2017 when he dismissed India’s top 3. But since then his form deteriorated took only 5 wickets in 10 matches in the last 2 years. Wahab Riaz played last International match for Pakistan in 2017.

“The bowling unit during the England ODIs has not clicked as anticipated or expected,” said Inzamam.

“If we have at our disposal the vastly experienced pace duo of Amir and Wahab, then it will be foolish not to include them.”

Pakistan squad: Sarfaraz Ahmed (capt & wk), Asif Ali, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Hasnain, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Wahab Riaz.

Congress mouthpiece National Herald claims ‘moral victory’, says even if Modi wins, he has emerged ‘weaker and diminished’

OpIndia Staff
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Congress mouthpiece National Herald claims ‘moral victory’, says even if Modi wins, he has emerged ‘weaker and diminished’

In a striking revelation, the Congress mouthpiece National Herald has claimed a ‘moral victory’ and conceded its defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections even before the counting o votes have even started. Against the backdrop of all exit polls claiming that PM Modi will again serve as the Prime Minister, the National Herald today said that even if Modi wins the elections, he will emerge ‘weaker’ and ‘diminished’.


In an opinion piece published on the National Herald website, the author begins his diatribe against PM Modi by claiming how dubious the exit poll results have been and how “80% of exit poll seat predictions for all parties in large state elections since 2014 were wrong”. Though the author continues to assail PM Modi in the post based on unsubstantiated and prejudiced allegations, however, the author eventually agrees that the PM Modi will be in a position to form a government at the centre.

According to the exit polls released yesterday, PM Modi is all set to once again be elected as the Prime Minister of the country with many polls granting BJP absolute majority to form a government on its own. The exit poll data also shows that though the Congress party would be able to send a higher number of MPs to parliament than the dismal tally of 44 in 2014, the improvement is rather marginal and not drastic, and nowhere near forming a government even with the help of allies.

This admission from Congress mouthpiece that PM Modi may become the Prime Minister of the country once again reveals that though outwardly the Congress party leaders have chosen to disregard the exit polls and place their faith in the dubious internal surveys according to which they are winning 160 seats, secretly they have resigned to the fact that they will again have to endure Narendra Modi for another 5 years as the Prime Minister of the country.

As it dawned upon them that Narendra Modi’s re-election as PM is inevitable, the Congress party, in their attempt to deflect the blame away from their leader Rahul Gandhi’s incompetence responsible for another imminent disaster, have now claimed ‘moral victory’ by asserting that though Modi might be PM again but their party has been successful in curtailing him by ‘clipping his wings’. Congress party can seek temporary salvation by asserting that they have hamstrung Modi, for it might be essential to keep the party together and quell rebellions, but deep down they know it very well that they have been let down again by their dynasty prince.

Tamil Nadu CM reiterates state government’s commitment to release Rajiv Gandhi’s killers

OpIndia Staff
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Tamil Nadu CM reiterates state government’s commitment to release Rajiv Gandhi’s killers

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Monday reiterated his government’s commitment to release the seven convicts involved in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. He hopes that Governor Banwarilal Purohit will act on the recommendation of his cabinet for setting them free.

Palaniswami’s statement comes at a time when calls have intensified, both from the opposition and Tamil groups, for the release of the seven, after the Supreme Court recently disposed of a plea of the kin of those killed along with the former Prime Minister in 1991 opposing their release. All seven are serving a life sentence.

The decision by Tamil Nadu government in 2014 to release the seven convicts, was challenged by the kin. The state cabinet had adopted a resolution recommending Governor Purohit to release them in September 2018.

Speaking to reporters Palaniswami said the cabinet resolution that was passed, reflected the popular public sentiment on the issue. “We wanted the seven to be released and that is why adopted a cabinet resolution and sent it to the Governor. The Governor has to decide (on the matter),” he said.

“We took the decision based on public sentiment, adopted a cabinet resolution and sent it to Governor. We hope he will take action,” he added.

The AIADMK government, on September 9, 2018, recommended Governor Purohit to release all seven people, Murugan, Santhan, Perarivalan, Jayakumar, Ravichandran, Robert Payas, and Nalini, convicted for the assassination of Gandhi.

In June 2018, President Ramnath Kovind had rejected Tamil Nadu government’s proposal to release the seven convicts serving sentences for Gandhi’s assassination. According to a report in The Hindu, the President had conveyed to the state government that Centre does not agree with their views on the matter.

The state government had previously written to the Centre twice for the release of the seven convicts ‘on humanitarian grounds’ for, which the Centre had objected.

Gandhi was assassinated in a suicide bombing attack during his interaction with the public in Tamil Nadu’s Sriperumbudur on May 21, 1991.

Former NDTV journalist uses an unnamed ‘clued in Congress leader’ to assert that Exit Polls are declaring Congress’ demise ‘too soon’

OpIndia Staff
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Former NDTV journalist uses an unnamed ‘clued in Congress leader’ to assert that Exit Polls are declaring Congress’ demise ‘too soon’

As soon as the numbers from the Exit Polls painted a dim picture of Congress rout in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, many liberals and journalists sympathetic of the Congress party jumped into the fray, underplaying the predictions made by the Exit Polls and trying to rescue their preferred political party by the dint of obfuscation and deflection.

Earlier NDTV journalist Ravish Kumar proceeded to discredit the Exit Poll results by casting doubts on the veracity of the data collected. Now, the former NDTV journalist Sunetra Choudhary, who felt excited on the rumours of PM Modi contracting swine flu, conjured up an unnamed ‘clued in Congress leader’ to insinuate that the Exit Polls are prematurely declaring Congress’ demise.


According to this unnamed source within the Congress party, BJP is winning 230 seats while Congress alone is winning 160 seats. Apart from this, the unknown source also asserts that the regional parties combined will be able to secure 150 odd seats. It is noteworthy to mention that the regional parties also include Shiromani Akali Dal, Shiv Sena, JDU and other small regional parties which are part of the NDA coalition.

However, the bloated numbers showing Congress alone winning 160 seats is where lies the rub. According to even the most optimistic exit poll, the combined UPA tally stands at somewhere around 135(Discounting the Neta-NewsX numbers since it is under scanner for employing imperfect methods to arrive at the numbers). The Congress tally would be further diminished as these are the numbers for the UPA coalition. Perhaps, the unnamed source is either entirely disconnected with the reality or figment of Sunetra’s fertile imagination.


Sunetra also quotes a ‘clued in BJP leader’ who is confident of his party winning 230 seats. In case of the NDA alliance, the most conservative exit poll shows that they will win 267 seats(ABP poll). Thus, the NDA alliance which comprises of strong regional parties such as Shiv Sena and JDU would be in a comfortable position to stake a claim at the government even by the most conservative estimates. In a scenario where the NDA forms a government at the centre and Modi continues another term as PM, what is it if not the demise of the Congress?

The Exit Polls suggesting Congress’ demise are obliging their sympathisers to prepare for their funeral in advance. Meanwhile, Congress apologists can discredit the exit polls, cast aspersions on their procedures and methodology, conjure up unnamed ‘clued in leaders’ to salvage their favoured party’s fate but by doing so they are advertently or inadvertently flogging the dead horse.

AAP goes insane, alleges that there will be attempts to open strong rooms and manipulate or replace EVMs

OpIndia Staff
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AAP goes insane, alleges that there will be attempts to open strong rooms and manipulate or replace EVMs

As the Lok Sabha elections inch towards a finale, political parties eagerly await the results that will divulge their fate. The exit polls have predicted 0-1 seat for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi leading the party to prepare excuses to dump the blame, in case the predictions come true.

From ‘Muslims’ to ‘EVMs’ to floating the ‘election should be cancelled’ theory, AAP is busy trying different tricks up its sleeves. In its latest move, compelled by the frustration of electoral loss, the party has written to the Election Commission of India (ECI) with bizarre allegations. The party claims they have information that their political opponents will “attempt to open strong rooms housing EVMs to manipulate or replace machines.”

Requesting for additional security at the counting centre of Jija Bai, ITI for women, Siri Fort, New Delhi, AAP claimed to have information from credible sources that political opponents have planned to gerrymander with EVMs either on the night of May 21, 2019, or May 22, 2019, to the hours leading up to the actual counting on May 23, 2019.


Furthermore, to avoid such situation, AAP urged the EC to take the following actions:

  • Appointment of another additional observer to oversee the entire electoral process.
  • Additional CRPF security at the Jija Bai institute where South Delhi’s EVMs are housed.
  • Strict enforcement of entry permission.

The exit polls have predicted a gloomy number for AAP. As soon as the numbers were out,  party’s MP to Rajya Sabha Sanjay Singh started raising questions over the elections. He suggested the elections should be cancelled in case of a mismatch between VVPAT and EVM vote count.

His demand is not surprising considering their party chief, who had probably conceded defeat even before the last phase of voting, started cooking up excuses to fall back on, just in case his party did not perform well in the ongoing polls.

Arvind Kejriwal while talking to Indian Express had said that Muslim votes “shifted” to Congress at the last minute during the Lok Sabha polls in the capital.

This is not the first time Congress or AAP have indulged in this kind of mudslinging. It was earlier revealed that Congress had asked Muslims not to vote for Atishi Marlena, AAP’s candidate, because “she was a Jew.”

In response to a question about his opinion on overall results, the AAP chief displaying his obsession with the EVM’s said “If they do not tamper with the EVMs, Modi ji should not come back… but I do not know whether they would do it or not.”

Interestingly Kejriwal’s obsession with EVM tampering theory is not exclusive to this election season. He has been trying to peddle this theory for years. In fact in 2017, after AAP faced defeat in the Punjab Assembly elections it had tried using a similar excuse. The ECI had then sent a detailed response to AAP, which had claimed that EVMs could have been tampered with.

However, the apprehensions and the jitters all the political party members are going through at this moment will soon be put to rest when the results of the Lok Sabha elections, manifesting India’s mandate, will be declared on May 23.

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