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Here are the 5 excuses Congress will use to deflect attention from the Gandhi Parivar’s failure if the Exit Polls hold true

K Bhattacharjee
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Here are the 5 excuses Congress will use to deflect attention from the Gandhi Parivar’s failure if the Exit Polls hold true

The Congress party, over the years, has shown that it’s incapable of honest self-reflection. Its primary objective, after every election defeat, is not to make attempts to ascertain the real causes of its defeat but to exhaust their resources in trying to absolve the Nehru-Gandhi Parivar of its sins.

Now that the Exit Polls are out and all of them predict the NDA to return to power with Narendra Modi as Prime Minister, it is safe for us to predict that there will be similar reactions from the Congress party this time around as well. The Congress party will deflect attention from the utter failure of the leadership of its party and look for scapegoats to blame.

Let us take a look at the top 5 entities the party will blame to avoid holding Rahul Gandhi accountable for the defeat.

1. Sam Pitroda

Sammy has been wild this election season. From insulting the martyrs of the Pulwama Terror Attack to saying ‘Hua toh Hua‘ about the 1984 Sikh riots, he filled the great void left behind by Mani Shankar Aiyar’s absence in an amazing manner.

He criticized the Balakot Airstrikes as well, carried out in response to the Pulwama Terror Attack. He had said, “Don’t know much about attacks. It happens all the time. The attack happened in Mumbai also, we could have then reacted and just sent our planes but that is not the right approach. According to me, that’s not how you deal with the world.” When criticized for his remarks, he had called it a “trivial matter”. Not merely that, he arrogantly told everyone to move on from the issue of Sikh Genocide.

Things reached a point that even ‘neutral’ journalists were begging Pitroda to refrain from making public statements. Therefore, it’s quite certain that he will be made a scapegoat in the days to come.

2. Mani Shankar Aiyar

One of the great heroes of 2014 General Elections and the Assembly Elections in Gujarat, Aiyar was late to the party this time around. But when he eventually emerged on the scene, he came pretty much with a bang.

First, he justified the ‘Neech’ remark he had made in the run-up to the Gujarat Assembly Elections in 2017. In an article for ThePrint, Aiyar wrote how he is so confident that Modi will be ousted on 23rd May and it will be a ‘fitting end’ to the ‘most foul-mouthed’ prime minister India has ever had. Like a cherry on the cake, he topped it off with saying, “Remember how I described him on 7 December 2017? Was I not prophetic?”

When criticized for justifying his appalling remark, Aiyar played the victim card and blamed the media instead. “A statement has already come from my side. There is an entire article. You are choosing a line from the article and asking me to comment on it. I will not fall into your trap. I may be a fool, but not that big a fool,” Aiyar said.

Then, in a video that went viral on social media, Aiyar could be seen in a not very healthy state of mind as he made mystifying body movements and went on a tirade against a journalist asking him questions. Eventually, he told the journalist to ‘f*ck off’ in what can only be described as perplexing behaviour.

Therefore, when Pitroda is made the scapegoat for the defeat, he won’t suffer for lack of company.

3. EVMs

EVMs have long been blamed for unfairly favouring the BJP. It has become a common ruse for the Opposition parties to blame them for their own failures. Therefore, it would be too much to expect that things won’t be the same this time around as well.

In fact, Rahul Gandhi has himself come out with all guns blazing against EVMs even before the first vote has been counted. AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, too, has voiced similar concerns.

Sammy, with wisdom dripping from every strand of his pristine white hair and pitch black beard, too said something was wrong with EVMs. He assured everyone that although he had no idea what was actually wrong with, given enough time, he is confident he will be able to figure it out.

In the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections itself, Congress had ridden the ‘EVM glitch’ bogey. Therefore, it’s extremely unlikely that EVMs won’t be held responsible in the event of Modi’s victory.

4. The Election Commission

The Congress party, along with the rest of the Opposition, has made it a habit of maligning the Election Commission. It’s something they have been doing since a long time. In the run up to the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections and during the polls, the Congress ecosystem has been trying hard to discredit the Indian Elections by attacking the institution itself. All the while as the ECI was actually being overly accommodating of ‘secular’ parties.

After the exit polls were out, the Congress President, too, along with senior leader Chidambaram accused the ECI of capitulating before Narendra Modi. Mamata Banerjee, whose own turf is under serious threat, has been accusing the ECI and central forces of unfairly favouring the BJP, all the while as the goons in her party rank amok in the streets targeting voters and BJP leaders alike.

Thus, the ECI will be seriously attacked by the Opposition come May 23rd.

5. Non-Lutyens Media

In the aftermath of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections as well, Congress propagandists in Lutyens Media had peddled the narrative that the Modi Wave was entirely the creation of the media. This time around as well, the Congress ecosystem has been accusing the media of helping the BJP in their campaign.

While much of the mainstream media resorted to spreading fake news, divisive politics and openly acting as advisers to the Congress party, come May 23rd, the ‘Khan Market Gang’ would still be crediting the media should Modi win.

The Wire, Scroll, NDTV, Ravish Kumar, The Print and numerous other outlets have been openly spreading false propaganda against the BJP. Yet, the Congress party and their sympathizers will still accuse the media of kneeling before Narendra Modi despite the fact that an overwhelming majority of it has been working against the saffron party.

As regional leaders and Rahul Gandhi ready their excuses, 23rd May all set to be a nail-biting Soap Opera

Karan
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As regional leaders and Rahul Gandhi ready their excuses, 23rd May all set to be a nail-biting Soap Opera

As the final phase of 2019 elections come to an end, it is important to look at the changes that India’s society has undergone over the last couple of years. Exit polls have indicated that BJP led NDA is likely to come back to power with a similar mandate as in 2014 and this suggests that India has indeed witnessed a significant change over the last 5 years as politics of performance became the most important factor in terms of voter preferences.

A resultant change has been that the BJP became the central pole of India’s politics. The critical question now is what will happen on the 23rd of May, and I have decided to avoid making a forecast in this article but by simply agreeing by what all exit polls are suggesting. There is no doubt that election results on 23rd May will require us to look at a few major changes in India’s political landscape as they will shape up the political discourse over the next decade.

The first, and perhaps, the most important is that the Congress which was fighting for its survival may very likely for the first time be unable to form a government at the centre for 10 straight years in a row. Additionally, it may also witness a drop in its vote-share even though it may get more seats than it did in 2014. This doesn’t augur well for the Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra brother-sister duo as their failure to revive the party could result in regional leaders gaining more political power over the central leadership. As is the case, in 2019, regional leaders have had a greater bargaining power than Rahul Gandhi and should this continue then perhaps we may witness further splits within the party or perhaps, a change in the central leadership. It will be difficult for the party to recover from two successive defeats in general elections, and this will have a likely impact in the state elections that are scheduled for later this year or perhaps early in 2020.

The second change is to do with the BJP which has consistently expanded its footprints from 2014. So far, the BJP managed to expand at the Congress and the SP-BSP in UP, but the rest of the regional players managed to hold on to their states. 2019 is likely to alter these dynamics as an aggressive BJP may end up making inroads in West Bengal hurting the Trinamool Congress the most. If Mamata Banerjee’s reaction is any evidence, then we can safely see a sign of frustration which suggests that her political ground is shrinking fast and this will have significant repercussions for her in the subsequent state assembly elections. The BJP has also been aggressive in the North East and Odisha which suggests that it is looking for fresh areas to further expand its support base.

Another interesting interpretation would come from the results of the states that went to polls recently namely, Punjab, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. The Congress made populist promises in the run-up to state elections and it has largely failed at delivering them. Therefore, the performance of Congress in 2019 in these states could be directly linked to the perception about the state governments there. Pollsters seem to suggest that the BJP has an advantage in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan while Congress can do well in Punjab and Chhattisgarh. The extent of the performance of Congress and the BJP in these states will determine how close the BJP can get to the halfway mark or how close can the Congress get to a three-digit figure.

Of course, the most interesting results would be of Uttar Pradesh and it is here where most pollsters seem to have divided opinion. Some pollsters believe that the BJP will win 30 seats in UP or that the Mahagathbandhan is working, while most do believe that the BJP will manage at least 50 seats in UP, or that the Mahagathbandhan is not working as well as it was once anticipated. Several analysts have argued that for the Mahagathbandhan to work, it is important that a major proportion of the vote-share gets transferred. Even if 80 per cent of BSP-SP votes get transferred, the BJP will manage a respectable performance in UP. It would be interesting to see how these dynamics played out during the course of the last two and a half months.

The most important feature of the 2019 results would be that the left front may very well for the first time be unable to win in double digits. Therefore, what was once the biggest opposition block to the Congress, seems to have crumbled along with the Congress. Tripura and Kerala were the last two states where the left is relevant, but BJP dislodged the left from Tripura and it is expected that the Congress will gain at the expense of the communists in Kerala after the Sabarimala fiasco.

23rd May will be no less than a soap opera with regional satraps questioning EVMs and every bit of grace that the opposition had will be lost as they will blame everyone but themselves for their losses, but the fact remains that the writing has been on the wall all along.

‘Hope Chandrababu Naidu’s excitement lasts till May 23’, Shiv Sena mocks the Andhra CM’s efforts to unite opposition

OpIndia Staff
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‘Hope Chandrababu Naidu’s excitement lasts till May 23’, Shiv Sena mocks the Andhra CM’s efforts to unite opposition

Taking a dig at Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, on Monday Shiv Sena mocked his efforts to form a non-BJP government at the Centre.

In the editorial of party’s mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, Shiv Sena said, “There are at least five contenders for the Prime Minister’s post in Opposition. There are more chances of their disillusionment (mohbhang). Who will form the government? This question has already been answered. Amit Shah said that BJP will win 300 seats and the party reached that target in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections only.”

“Why Chandrababu Naidu is exhausting himself without any reason? Hope his current excitement last till May 23. We wish him luck for the same,” the party added.

In the hope to form the government at the centre, in case the May 23 Lok Sabha poll results see a fractured mandate, Andhra Pradesh’ Cheif Minister Chandrababu Naidu has been running pillar to post aspiring to strengthen an anti-BJP front.

Chandrababu Naidu has been on a meeting spree with the prospective Prime Ministerial candidates of the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ parties. So far, Naidu has met Congress president Rahul Gandhi, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav, and BSP supremo Mayawati. He is scheduled to meet Mamata Banerjee today in Kolkata. Interestingly, each one of these leaders secretly harbours the desire to lead the country as the next Prime Minister of India.

The results of the 2019 elections are a few days away, and this is perhaps why Naidu thought it wise to warm up to each one of these leaders in the less likely event of Mahagathbandhan crossing the 272-mark.

The desperation among the opposition ranks to keep the BJP out of power this time, by hook or crook, is evident. Recently the news about 21 opposition parties were planning to write a letter to the President urging him to not call the single largest party to form a government at the centre emerged. The plan, however, was based on the hope that BJP alone won’t be able to conjure up 272 seats to stake a claim at the government.

Similarly, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, understanding the urgency of a united opposition to take on the BJP surge, had also stepped in to unite opposition parties to form an alliance government.

Realising that the Congress party can’t form a government at the centre on its own or with its current allies, the UPA chairperson reached out to almost all Opposition party leaders to check their availability on May 21, 22 and 23 for a strategy meeting in Delhi.

Desperation to keep BJP out of power has urged Sonia Gandhi to approach parties like the Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and K Chandrashekar Rao’ Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS). Despite the two going head to head in Andhra Pradesh, YSR Congress of Jaganmohan Reddy and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) have also been invited.

The UPA chairperson is believed to be attempting to convince the parties that it was time to keep petty politics aside and take on BJP unitedly.

Meanwhile, the exit polls have predicted a thumping victory for the BJP government and if one goes by these predictions the efforts the opposition parties are putting in will soon meet a sad ending. The Lok Sabha election results are due to be declared on May 23.

Modi ministers in five years – Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Minister of Minority Affairs

Keshav
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Modi ministers in five years – Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Minister of Minority Affairs

In the series on the performance of various ministers in the Modi government, let’s take a look at Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Minister of Minority Affairs.

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi started his political career with Janata Party activities, and was jailed during emergency for participating in Sampoorna Kranti Movement launched by JP Narayan at the age of 17. Naqvi, contested two assembly elections of 1991 and 1993 in Uttar Pradesh, and three Lok Sabha elections 1998, 1999 and 2009 as BJP candidate. He was first elected to the Lok Sabha from Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, in 1998. Naqvi served as Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs in Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government. He was then elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2002, 2010 and 2016. After Narendra Modi became Prime Minister in 2014, he was first inducted as Minister of State for Minority Affairs. Later when Cabinet Minister for Minority Affairs Najma Heptullah was appointed as Governor, he was elevated as Cabinet Minister for the same department.

Here is a look at achievements of Ministry of Minority Affairs –

Abolition of Haj Subsidy – Though it was Supreme Court which ordered abolishment of Haj Subsidy gradually in 10 years in 2012, Narendra Modi government ended it in 2018 itself. Instead the government started giving the entire money meant for Haj Subsidy as a subsidy for Muslim girls’ education, as literacy rate amongst Muslims and that too among girls is very low due to appeasement policies of successive Congress governments. Sachhar Committee had exposed Congress’s lip service for minority welfare. Congress policy was to keep Muslims consistently poor and take their votes in the name of secularism and fear-mongering in the name of BJP.

New Haj Policy – Modi government commissioned a new Haj Policy which is more transparent and people friendly. According to the new policy, embarkation points for Haj have been reduced to 9 from earlier 21, making it cheaper for pilgrims to fly to Saudi Arabia. It also allowed women above 45 to undertake Haj without Mehram (Male Guardian), empowering women. Until now women couldn’t travel alone for Haj. The policy also suggests using sea route to go to Saudi Arabia, making Haj even more affordable as travelling by sea is cheaper compared to travelling by air. New Haj Policy is in line with empowerment of minorities without appeasement, unlike Congress which only believed in appeasement of Muslims and never in empowerment.

USTTAD (Upgrading the Skills and Training in Traditional Arts/ Crafts for Development) – USTTAD scheme was launched in May 2015 to preserve the rich heritage of traditional arts/crafts of minorities. The scheme aims at capacity building and updating the traditional skills of master craftsmen/artisans; documentation of identified traditional arts/crafts of minorities; set standards for traditional skills; training of minority youths in various identified traditional arts/crafts through master craftsmen; and develop national and international market linkages. This scheme has helped minority artisans to earn respectable livelihood.

Maulana Azad National Academy for Skills (MANAS) – Government launched MANAS in November 2015 to impart skill development in minority communities.

Hamari Darohar – Hamari Darohar scheme was launched in 2014, which aims at the preservation of rich heritage and culture of minorities, by supporting curation of iconic exhibitions, calligraphy, preservation of old documents, research and development. Under this scheme, an iconic exhibition of Parsis (Zoroastrians) i.e. “The Everlasting Flame” to showcase the civilization and culture of the Parsis (Zoroastrians) was organized during March-May, 2016. This involved curating 3 travelling exhibitions on Parsi Culture namely – ‘The Everlasting Flame’; ‘Threads of Continuity’; and ‘Painted Encounters’, Parsi Traders and Community & No Parsi is an island’, at the National Museum, National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) and Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (IGNCA) at New Delhi. A project has been allocated to Dairatul Maarifil Osmania (an institution established in 1888 AD) under Osmania University, Telangana, for translation of 240 invaluable documents belonging to medieval period on the subjects of medicines, mathematics, literature, from Arabic to English, digitization and re-printing. Under this scheme, a project called ‘Protection of Parsi Heritage – Navsari’ has also been sanctioned in March 2018.

Nai Manzil scheme was launched in August 2015, to benefit the minority youths in the age group of 17 to 35 years, who are school-dropouts or those educated in the community education institutions like Madrasas, by providing formal education and skill training along with certification.

Garib Nawaz Skill Development Centers were launched in July 2017 with an objective of starting training programs to meet skill development/ skill up-gradation needs of minority communities like Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis and Jains in the country to achieve government’s goal of “Skilling India” by providing meaningful and sustainable livelihood options, in terms of wage employment/ self-employment opportunities to all minority youths. The objective of the scheme is to enable a large number of minority youths of India, to take-up relevant skill sets which are in demand. All training programs will be covered by real time CCTV footage for the purpose of monitoring, and GPRS enabled bio-metric attendance machines will be used for capturing attendance of trainers and trainees. Government also launched GST facilitator course at Garib Nawaz centres to train minority youths.

Qaumi Waqf Board Taraqqiati Scheme (QWBTS) was launched last year after merging and modifying two ongoing schemes namely, computerization of records of state waqf boards and strengthening of state waqf boards.

 

The author is journalism pass out from Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi. After dangerously flirting with the idea of left during his IIMC days, due to the proximity of the IIMC with JNU, a den of radical leftists, he became firmly aligned to right after realizing the futility of the left. He tweets at @kpophale.

 

The ‘liberal’ world is so crazy right now, Yogendra Yadav is the most tolerable and rational person

Nirwa Mehta
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The ‘liberal’ world is so crazy right now, Yogendra Yadav is the most tolerable and rational person

The exit poll results show a high probability of Narendra Modi swearing-in as the prime minister for the second time and ‘liberal’ world is in a tizzy and the final results are not even out yet. Psephologist-cum-politician, who usually gets it wrong, Yogendra Yadav has declared that if Congress cannot defeat the BJP it has lost its relevance in the history of India and hence it should die.

While that statement has got the ‘liberal’ crowd up in arms against Yadav, a few reactions from the self-appointed saviours of democracy and secular fabric of India make Yadav appear the sanest amongst the crowd.

Twitter “Economist”, who likes to go after the livelihood of people she doesn’t agree with, Rupa Subramanya, floated a theory that the exit polls are rigged.


Let it sink in for a moment that she accused the exit polls, which are based on a sample survey, and more often than not pretty inaccurate, of being rigged because they showed the BJP winning.

Yet another ‘liberal’ and Congress sympathiser said that those who believe in these exit polls which predict a BJP victory are cow urine drinkers.


He has even cast aspersions on the Election Commissioner and alleged that Modi and Amit Shah have done some ‘setting’ with the election commission so that the EVMs can be manipulated and the result day can reflect the exit polls. Even The Game of Thrones finale was not as badly written as this desperate tweet.


Have bookmarked the tweet to revisit his timeline on 23rd if Modi actually does win to see what he is drinking to drown his sorrow in.

Congress-supporting troll who spread the conspiracy theory that Pulwama terror attack was an insider job, took this opportunity to tell Congress President that RSS should be destroyed.


And then, editorials are already being planned to show how Rahul Gandhi is still the best and all institutions in India are compromised.


Did we tell you about this guest on Ravish Kumar’s NDTV who did not know that exit polls are carried out by a polling agency and not really a news channel which commissions them? And did you see Ravish Kumar nodding at her without correcting her?


Being intelligent is not a prerequisite of being identified in the ‘liberal’ circle as an ‘intellectual’.

Meanwhile, we are waiting for May 23 to see what great chemicals come out when such specimens open their mouths.


Speaking of specimens, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has not tweeted anything on exit polls yet. He has only retweeted his West Bengal counterpart’s tweet where she referred to exit polls as a ‘gossip‘. As the day progresses, we are hoping more such gems emerge making Yogendra Yadav, who wants Congress to die, come across as the most rational ‘liberal’ around.

West Indies names Bravo and Pollard among the World Cup reserves

OpIndia Staff
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West Indies names Bravo and Pollard among the World Cup reserves

Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo have been named as the World Cup reserves along with 10 others. Both of them were left out from the main World Cup squad. Bravo retired from International cricket in 2018 and played his last International match way back in September 2016.

West Indies’ CEO Johnny Grave thanked Hampshire county and Australian board for additional warm games before the start of World Cup.

He said: “We are very grateful to Hampshire CCC for agreeing to host us at the Ageas Bowl and to Cricket Australia for agreeing the additional warm-up game.”

“Due to the commitments and promises made, to both our players and the BCCI, this is the first time that our entire World Cup squad can get together since the IPL finished.”

“We are confident that these additional five days of training and the extra warm-up game will mean that our players will be ready to perform at their best in our opening match against Pakistan on the 31st May.”

“The choice of players in the reserve list is to really cover our bases and ensure we have a good balance in the pool of players that can be selected if replacements are required. We think the skill-set in this pool is strong, with a good blend of experience and upcoming young players who can be ready to contribute if and when required,” said Robert Haynes, the interim chairman of selectors.

West Indies will begin their World Cup campaign on May 31, when they play against Pakistan at Trent Bridge.

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

Reserve players: Sunil Ambris, Dwayne Bravo, John Campbell, Jonathan Carter, Roston Chase, Shane Dowrich, Keemo Paul, Khary Pierre, Raymon Reifer, Kieron Pollard

As Exit Polls predict 0-1 for AAP, the party starts finding excuses to float the ‘elections should be cancelled’ theory

Jhankar Mohta
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As Exit Polls predict 0-1 for AAP, the party starts finding excuses to float the ‘elections should be cancelled’ theory

The month-long voting for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections concluded on Sunday and almost all the exit polls predicted a thumping victory for the BJP government which is expected to come back for its second term with huge margins. While these results have set in a celebratory mood across the country the usual suspects cannot hide their frustration and despondency.

After ‘Liberals’ and ‘neutral journalists’ had a meltdown on Twitter, the opposition parties have also started coming up with their customary excuses to tuck away their failure. Aam Aadmi Party’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, after all the exit polls, predicted gloomy numbers in AAP’s favour, started raising questions over the elections and has said that elections should be cancelled if there’s any mismatch between VVPAT and EVM vote count.

Most of the exit polls have either predicted a single seat or no seats for the ruling AAP in Delhi while predicting a clean sweep for the BJP in the national capital. Considering this, the AAP’s frustration is only understandable.

AAP’s Sanjay Singh in his tweet said, “Is EVM the real game? Were these exit polls conducted after taking money? How is this possible that in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Delhi, and West Bengal, everywhere, BJP is predicted to win? Every Opposition party should demand cancellation of Lok Sabha Election if there’s any mismatch in VVPAT and EVM vote count.”


The AAP leader was responding to West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee’s Tweet, who also for obvious reasons, did not appear pleased after the exit polls predictions.

In West Bengal, some of the exit polls suggested the TMC would get 24 seats, while the BJP would be bagging 16, the Congress two seats and the Left Front drawing a blank.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee seemed visibly irate at the exit poll numbers. She summarily rejected the “poll gossip”, making an outrageous claim that it is a “game plan”  to manipulate or replace thousands of EVMs.

“I don’t trust Exit Poll gossip. The game plan is to manipulate or replace thousands of EVMs through this gossip. I appeal to all Opposition parties to be united, strong and bold. We will fight this battle together,” Banerjee said in a tweet.


Amusingly, the Congress President, Rahul Gandhi, almost conceding defeat, had started whining about the EVMs even before the exit poll results were out. The Congress President posted a tweet, blaming the Election Commission for the impending defeat of the Congress party.


History seems to be repeating itself. In 2014 too, Liberals had an epic meltdown after the exit polls then had predicted that the BJP will be sweeping the Lok Sabha 2014 polls and that Narendra Modi is well placed to become the country’s new Prime Minister.

Cricket Australia coach Justin Langer compares Steve Smith with Sachin Tendulkar

OpIndia Staff
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Cricket Australia coach Justin Langer compares Steve Smith with Sachin Tendulkar

Australian coach Justin Langer has praised the former Australian captain Steve Smith who is making a comeback to International cricket after a year ban. Langer went on to say that Smith reminds him of Tendulkar.

“Last week in Brisbane, [Smith] batted beautifully, he played an unbelievable shot off Nathan Coulter-Nile there – it was like watching Sachin [Tendulkar] bat. He’s in pretty good shape I think,” Langer said to cricket.com.au

“(I) watched Steve Smith batting against New Zealand in those three practice games, he’s literally a master of the game, so it’s nice to have him back,” Langer added.

“It’s been hilarious for me, because whether on the Anzac Cove or in the lunch room or we’re on the bus playing cards, he’s just shadow batting the whole time.

“He loves batting – he’s shadow batting on the sand, he’s shadow batting in the shower – I’m not joking.

Langer also praised David Warner who had a wonderful IPL season.

“Dave’s got that look on his eye, he’s really hungry, he’s a great player as we all know, he’s so dynamic, he brings so much energy, and that’s what we ask from our players.

“They’ve had 12 months to have a good think about a mistake they and the team made. I’m sure they’ll be better people for that.”

Australia will play Afghanistan in their opening game on 1st June.

Sensex surges over 900 points as exit polls predict a second term for Modi

OpIndia Staff
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Sensex surges over 900 points as exit polls predict a second term for Modi

The Indian markets jumped in the early trade today as the exit polls after the seven-phase of polling concluded last evening showed a trend of Narendra Modi returning as the prime minister for the second time.

Sensex opened at 38,819.68, up by 888.91 points while the Nifty opened at 11,691.30, up by 284.15 points.

After the elections concluded last night, most exit polls suggested that the BJP-led NDA government will come back at the centre, forming a decisive government. Analysts have suggested that the share market may hit its highest later in the trade today while it may just cross the psychological mark of 40,000 points soon.

The Indian Rupee, too, jumped against the US Dollar and rose to a two-week high of 69.36 against the USD as compared to Friday’s close of 70.23. Stock market experts believe that the exit poll results were better than expected which is being reflected in the stock market.

A surging stock market is considered the hope an investor has in a stable government. As per reports, NDA losing the Lok Sabha elections would have meant uncertainty in politics which usually spooks the investors.

In 2004, markets had gained in the pre-poll rush, in hopes of a second term of BJP under Atal Bihari Vajpayee, but the markets crashed soon after the results were out. In fact, back then it had reached the all-time high of 6,250 points but lost almost 2,000 points by mid-May. However, a few days later when the Congress-led UPA came to power and the BJP conceded defeat, the Sensex fell by 842 points, showing instability in the markets.

England captain Eoin Morgan – Every guy should be proud of what we’ve achieved so far

OpIndia Staff
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England captain Eoin Morgan – Every guy should be proud of what we’ve achieved so far

A 15 men English squad for World Cup is to be announced on Tuesday and while captain Eoin Morgan isn’t sure about the squad, he believes that everyone who played in last 2 years helped England to become Number One ODI team and they should be proud of it.

Morgan was speaking to Sky Cricket after winning the 5 match ODI series 4-0 against Pakistan, “I don’t know the 15, every one of these guys should be proud of what we’ve achieved so far. The continuous improvement of performances makes the selection meeting extremely difficult.

“But every single member of the 17-man squad here will play some role, due to the nature of injuries and illness and call-ups.”

The series went as well as we could have hoped,” Morgan agreed. “Pakistan are a strong side and they played some competitive cricket. We’ve chopped and changed our side a lot but the performance has never been compromised. That emphasises how competitive positions are as well as everyone’s hunger and determination to constantly improve their games.”

Chris Woakes who took 5 wickets in the last match against Pakistan accepted that he is nervous about the team selection. Woakes said: “Everyone will be wary of that phone call, even if you feel like you’ve got a good chance to being in the squad, until you hear it from selectors’ mouths, it’s not quite set in stone. You’re still probably a little bit on edge, in particularly with this 16 and 17 players because everyone has performed at some point. It’s a tricky decision for the selectors. Everyone will be looking at their phones tomorrow I suppose, if that’s when we find out.”

England is yet to win the World Cup and many experts have said that this is their best chance to win the title.

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