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Modi challenges Congress to fight elections in Rajiv Gandhi’s name, who presided over Bofors scam and 1984 riots

OpIndia Staff
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Modi challenges Congress to fight elections in Rajiv Gandhi’s name, who presided over Bofors scam and 1984 riots

In a frontal attack on Congress, Prime Minister Modi has challenged the party to fight elections in the name of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.


Addressing a rally in Jharkhand, Prime Minister Modi said the country does not want instability but wants a stable and strong government. “The country does not want a helpless prime minister who is remote-controlled. The country wants a strong and courageous prime minister,” the PM said.

Taking on the Congress, he challenged the grand old party to fight the ongoing elections in the name of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. “A few days back I reminded everyone about the past deeds of one of the family members’ of the dynasty. These people, since last one year, have been using choicest of the abuses towards the prime minister. Their party even abused the prime minister’s family. I only reminded everyone about the old Bofors scam in one rally. That hit them so hard that they are just short of wailing out of pain,” Modi said.

He added that they didn’t care for the respect the chair of the prime minister, but he just said one thing and they’re hurt as if a scorpion bit them. “The more they cry, the more the newer generation will know about their truth. The youth of 21st century should know how one family looted the country in the 20th century, ruined it.

“I challenge the family, the naamdaars, the raj darbaris if they have the courage, they should fight the remaining two phases of elections in the name of Rajiv Gandhi, who is accused of being involved in Bofors scam. Let us see how the game is played. If you have the courage, Delhi is yet to vote. Come, fight in Rajiv Gandhi’s name. If you have the courage, come to Punjab. Let us fight elections in Rajiv Gandhi’s name. We will see how much strength you have. Come to Bhopal to fight elections in his name and it will be out what the then Prime Minister did after the Bhopal gas tragedy. Thousands of families were destroyed. Come, if you have the courage, come to Bhopal, Delhi, Punjab. Let us fight in the name of Rajiv Gandhi,” PM Modi said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi stirred a hornet’s nest with his “Rajiv died as Bhrashtari No 1” remark at the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi which ruffled many feathers. Modi’s comment has opened a Pandora’s box for Rajiv, who was the 6th Prime Minister of India between 1984-1989. During his tenure, Rajiv is accused of receiving kickbacks in the infamous Bofors scam and orchestrating the deadly Sikh massacre that transpired soon after the assassination of his mother Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguard.

He is also accused of helping Warren Anderson, Chairman, and CEO of the Union Carbide Corporation escape from India. Anderson was the main accused in the Bhopal gas tragedy of 1984 but managed to escape India without any trial and punishment.

Modi’s remark has obviously irked the entire opposition including the Nehru-Gandhi clan. Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra, children of Rajiv, have both come out aggressively in defense of their late father.

 


His sister, Priyanka Vadra who has jumped the political fray recently, and seems to be oblivious to the development of done by Modi in his constituency Varanasi, was also critical of the PM’s remark.


Rajiv was killed in a suicide attack by LTTE, the militant organization from Sri Lanka on 21 May 1991 in Chennai.

While the opposition and the Congress stand united against the PM for his remark, many have come forward in his support.


The fight in the final rounds of this general election is getting tougher with the passage of each phase. Politicians are trying their best to woo the voters. However, this time around, the bastion of the information revolution is being led by social media. No politician or political party can take the voters for granted anymore. The affordability of smartphones and the internet has made the voters more aware and informed than ever.

In the run-up to the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, every political party and politician has been trying hard to score brownie points for political gains. The battle for the biggest festival of democracy has seen its own share of mud-slinging. We are witness to numerable jibes by the opponents at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Lest we forget, Modi was called names, accused of an imaginary Rafale scam, and how his wife and mother were invoked to break his tenacity. And oh! how can we forget the derogatory ‘Chowkidar Chor Hai’ jibe by Lutyens’ darling INC President Rahul Gandhi that backfired massively!

We’ve seen how media’s favorite (incessantly) ‘coming of age’ politician Gandhi is hailed for every remark he passes at his opponents especially PM Modi. For more than a year, he has been shouting from every stage, accusing the PM of buying the Rafael fighter aircraft from France’s Dassault Aviation at a higher price. He has also been struggling to make us believe his lies about the PM, using his clout to help Anil Ambani win the offset contract.

His non-stop attacks, mocking the PM’s humble background, unfortunately, backfired massively! It prompted not just the PM himself, but his cabinet ministers, MPs and followers across the globe to prefix the word “Chowkidar” to their names, voluntarily. This movement gained momentum with time and slowly, people from all walks of life poured their support to honor the hardworking and dedicated chowkidars (Watchmen) of the society.

Besides, the first time voters are excited to cast their vote and be part of the world’s largest festival of democracy. Over the last few years, we have seen many instances where Rahul Gandhi has challenged the PM for open debate on a variety of issues. As his tenure nears its end, PM has opened a new floodgate by challenging Congress to debate him on Bofors scandal. He has also dared the party to contest the remaining phases of the Lok Sabha elections in Rajiv Gandhi’s name, all the while maintaining his stance on his “bhrashtachari no. 1” remark.

Whether or not Rahul or his party accept the invitation, the voters should come out in large numbers and exercise their right. The good news is that 2019 is poised to become the election with the highest voter turnout ever!

Samajwadi Party workers beat up a man in Uttar Pradesh for wearing saffron gamcha

OpIndia Staff
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Samajwadi Party workers beat up a man in Uttar Pradesh for wearing saffron gamcha

In an incident of political violence that took place in Uttar Pradesh’s Azamgarh, some Samajwadi Party (SP) workers allegedly beat up a man because he was wearing a saffron coloured Gamchha (scarf), reports Patrika.

According to the report, the victim named Utkarsh Pathak was going to his house riding on a bicycle when a group of SP workers stopped him midway near Gangatia Chowraha. They asked him whether he was campaigning for the BJP, to which he replied in yes. The SP workers allegedly asked Pathak to abuse PM Modi and CM Yogi. When he refused to do that they started brutally beat him up.


According to Haribansh Mishra, BJP Zila Manatri, Pathak who belongs to Dudhnara village of Kandhrapur police station area, has been an active member of Hindu Yuva Vahini and has recently joined BJP. Mishra said that Pathak was admitted to hospital for stomach ache on the instructions of an SP leader while he had actually received injuries on his head. He complained to the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) about the same. He alleged that SP hires goons to attack BJP workers.

SP candidate from Varanasi Tej Bahadur Yadav caught on camera agreeing to kill PM Modi for money

OpIndia Staff
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SP candidate from Varanasi Tej Bahadur Yadav caught on camera agreeing to kill PM Modi for money

A shocking video of the sacked BSF officer Tej Bahadur Yadav, in which he is seen agreeing to kill PM Modi for Rs 50 crores, is doing the rounds on the Social Media platforms. In the video, the SP candidate from Varanasi, whose candidature was recently cancelled by the Election Commission, was seen in an inebriated state claiming to assassinate PM Modi for a sum of Rs 50 crores.


Tej Bahadur Yadav can be seen in the video, chatting with other men, allegedly his friends, over drinks and food. While the men appeared in the intoxicated state, in conversation with one of them, Tej Bahadur Yadav said, “50 crores do, main Modi ko marwa dunga.” (Give me 50 crores, I will get Modi murdered). The other man shots back that nobody in the country will be able to give him such a huge amount, Pakistan might be willing to give him. To this Tej Bahadur Yadav replies, “Desh se gaddari nahin, agar yahan ka koi dega, toh mai Modi ko marwa dunga.” (I won’t betray the country, if someone here pays me that amount, then I will get Modi murdered).

In another video of the same day that has gone viral, Tej Bahadur Yadav can be seen drinking and smoking with other men. One of the persons in the video introduces the other person in the video as Tej Bahadur Yadav, “the former BSF commando in Indian army”. Yadav has himself admitted that he is present in the video and it is 2 years old.

Tej Bahadur Yadav was fielded as an SP-BSP candidate from the Varanasi constituency against PM Modi. However, the Election Commission cancelled his nomination citing discrepancies in the two sets of nomination papers he had submitted. He also needs to submit a no-objection certificate from BSF, giving reasons for his dismissal. He was sacked in 2017 from the BSF citing a violation of the BSF disciplinary norms. He has, however, moved the apex court to challenge the EC’s decision to cancel his candidature.

Arnab Goswami buys back Asianet shares, transforms Republic Network with a landmark valuation of Rs 1,200 crores in just 2 years

OpIndia Staff
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Arnab Goswami buys back Asianet shares, transforms Republic Network with a landmark valuation of Rs 1,200 crores in just 2 years

As the Republic TV is on the verge of completing its 2 years, Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami has bought the minority shares held by Asianet Media Network and transformed Republic TV to Republic Media Network. The company has achieved a major landmark as its valuation has crossed Rs 1,200 crores in just two years, said a report commissioned by the company.

As per news reports, Republic Media Network is all set to become a completely Editor controlled organisation as Arnab Goswami agrees to buy back shares from investors like Asianet News Media. Recently, the company had also launched its Hindi news channel Republic Bharat. Asianet is said to have made strong returns on their investments made in the company.

Founder and chairman of Jupiter Pvt. Ltd, which is the parent organisation of Asianet Media Network, Rajeev Chandrashekhar said, “I am quite delighted with the growth and success of Republic and Arnab. I am happy to have contributed to the vision of building a strong media-tech platform. Even in financial terms, it has been a successful investment. Asianet Media will continue to offer its support to the Republic as minority portfolio investor after Arnab’s buyback of the shares.”

The Managing Director and Editor in Chief of the Republic Media Network, Arnab Goswami said, “We and Asianet News Media have built a strong media platform And are geared up for further growth. Last years have been phenomenal and we have expanded at an unprecedented rate. Asianet’s strong track record and media savvy tech approach has enabled us to set ourselves on an exponential growth path. Marching forward as Republic Media Network, We will look forward to branch out and expand across all platforms.”

2019 poised to become the Lok Sabha election with the highest voter turnout ever

OpIndia Staff
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2019 poised to become the Lok Sabha election with the highest voter turnout ever

The 2019 Lok Sabha elections are poised to record the highest voter turnout in the history of Independent India. Thus far, the previous General Elections had recorded the highest turnout with a voting percentage of 66.40%. Previous to that, the record was held by the 1984-85 elections which had recorded a voter turnout of 64.01%.

Source: Press Information Bureau

Thus far, the 2019 General Elections have recorded higher voter turnouts in 3 of the 4 phases prior to the 5th phase. The first phase recorded a turnout of 69.5% vs 68.77 in 2014 for corresponding seats, the second phase recorded a turnout of 69.44% vs 69.62%, showing a slight drop. The third phase showed a turnout of 68.40% vs 67.15% while the fourth recorded the same of 65.51% vs 63.05% in 2014.


This time around, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been urging people to come out and vote in large numbers. Numerous celebrities, too, have joined in the campaign upon being requested by the Prime Minister. And as figures for the first four phases show, people have been coming out in large numbers to exercise their democratic right.

As of the time of writing this report, the official app of the ECI showed an estimated voter turnout for the fifth phase to be 62.16% and can be expected to go higher. The article will be updated with official numbers as and when they are released by the ECI.

Bengaluru police close sexual harassment case against Asianet CEO Abhinav Khare, say allegations were ‘baseless and false’

OpIndia Staff
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Bengaluru police close sexual harassment case against Asianet CEO Abhinav Khare, say allegations were ‘baseless and false’

The Bengaluru Police has closed the probe into sexual harassment charges against Asianet Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Abhinav Khare, citing lack of evidence. The police have filed B report, saying that a charge sheet can’t be filed in the case as the case was baseless and false.

Last year, Abhinav Khare was accused of sexual harassment by Sonam Mahajan, a popular political commentator on social media, at the height of #MeToo movement in India. Sonam was reportedly working with Abhinav as a Digital Marketing Consultant at Namma Bengaluru Foundation (NBF), an NGO founded by Mr Chandrashekhar, however, Sonam had said that she essentially worked with Mr Chandrashekhar’s office.

According to reports, an internal complaints committee, which Abhinav Khare had argued to be constituted illegally, had found Khare guilty of misconduct, but Khare had refuted all allegations, saying they were fabricated. He went to the court against the constitution of the committee as well as its findings. Sonam Mahajan meanwhile filed a police case against him.

Now Police say that they have interviewed 15 employees of NBF and none of them supported the charges made by Mahajan. Some employees even said that the complaint was a vendetta.

The police said, “none of the firm’s employees spoke in favour of the complainant. We interviewed 15 employees who worked with the woman and the accused but not one person’s testimony had anything to back the complainant’s claims. In fact, many of them alleged she behaved inappropriately. Some said her performance was not satisfactory and the complaint was a vendetta.”

Police said that the complainant had said that she had screenshots of WhatsApp messages and recordings of few phone calls, as proofs of the sexual harassment, but she failed to provide those evidence to police. Police also said that she did not cooperate with the police during the investigation.

According to MyNation, during the course of interrogation, many stated that Sonam didn’t show interest in the work assigned to her. When Khare informed her that he wasn’t willing to continue the contract, Sonam allegedly pressured him into paying her Rs 15 lakh. Abhinav Khare reportedly refused the payment, which is believed to have driven Sonam to accuse him.

The police then decided to close the case stating that Sonam Mahajan had no “substance in her claims”.

The police have filed B report, saying that a charge sheet can’t be filed against Abhinav Khare as there is no evidence against him.

But Mahajan has denied the version of police, saying that the entire investigation was one-sided. She has also filed a complaint with the DCP alleging that the police investigation was not done properly.

On the other hand, Abhinav Khare has accused Mahajan to be an extortionist, saying she has changed her version four times. He said that “despite 18 months long smear campaign and media trial by her, not a single witness or evidence had corroborated her lies”. He also challenged her to produce any complainant or past victim against him, if he is a serial offender as she has claimed. He added that multiple victims of extortion by the woman have come forward.

‘Secular’ media portal The Quint and its headlines during Hindu festivals and Ramzan

OpIndia Staff
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‘Secular’ media portal The Quint and its headlines during Hindu festivals and Ramzan

it comes as no surprise that Leftist propaganda portal The Quint is Hinduphobic. We have seen it time and again. Their Hinduphobia is only overshadowed by the kiddy gloves their wear while dealing with Islam.

As Ramzan starts today, The Quint decided to tell its readers about the benefits of While for fasting and what it does for one’s well-being.

While The Quint decided to tell its readers that fasting during the month of Ramzan is as good as physical exercise for the brain, for Navratri, The Quint wasn’t really sure whether it has any positive effects or not judging by the text they used to share their video. The video itself wasn’t Hinduphobic. It spoke of fasting and how Indians at large ensure that it is healthy. With reference to Navaratris, it said that the diet taken by fasting Hindus is a dieticians dream. However, one has to wonder why it had to use a headline that clearly has a negative connotation to get its readers to click on the video.

One recalls The Quint’s article during the Hindu festival of Holi where they opinioned that playing Holi is the stepping stone to Hindu terror.

At the same time, during Eid, The Quint wrote about how a video was helping mend relationships.

While during Eid, The Quint spoke of mending broken relationships, during Holi, kids playing Holi became a precursor to Hindu terror.

Their pandering doesn’t just stop at Islamic festivals. The Quint had no issues glorifying a terrorist like Osama Bin Laden by calling him a brother and father.

In their blatant Hinduphobia, The Quint actually misreported a story blatantly too.

Satire as a form of humour is not something everyone gets. In their mad rush to mock “Hindutva trolls” who had called for a ban on Surf Excel following their Holi ad which spoke of ‘communal harmony’, media houses mistook satirical comments for actual ones.

Many publications reported that ‘offended’ by the new Surf Excel ad, ‘Indians’ (The Quint used the word ‘patriotic‘ in its URL) and ‘trolls’ had mistakenly downrated and left negative reviews for Microsoft Excel. Except, at least some of these comments which were included as being left by ‘trolls’ were actually satirical.

The question thus remains, why are leftist portals intrinsically anti-Hindu? While today, during Ramzan, The Quint had no qualms in openly endorsing fasting, why did they during Navratris use a headline that left much to the imagination? Why would they use a headline that would make someone believe that the video is actually against fasting on Navratri?

Something similar happened today when Rahul Pandita, a journalist shared the hypocrisy of The Quint and a Quint employee responded that the video was actually not Hinduphobic at all.


However, any media organisation puts great thought into the kind of headline that they use considering it is almost an established fact that most people decide what the content of the article might be based on the headline. Why then would The Quint deliberately mislead people with its cryptic headline?

The answer is rather simple. Hinduphobia sells and especially, in the Left-Liberal world. Bashing Hindus has almost become an art form and a stairway to stardom with the left. While this particular video of The Quint might have spoken of fasting across religious spectrums, The Quint has displayed blatant Hinduphobia in the past and now, it is evident that Hinduphobia too is being used as a marketing tool by left-leaning portals for their core audience that evidently, loathe Hindus.

Rahul Gandhi and how the media has been making him ‘come of age’ for the past 10 years

Ullas
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Rahul Gandhi and how the media has been making him ‘come of age’ for the past 10 years

This is the age of sequels and franchises. Whether it is our own Bahubali or Hollywood’s Avengers, this trend in films is the vogue now. It may come as surprise to many that India media also has a big franchise to its credit. Confused? Read on.

Longtime Opindia followers may remember this story, where media went out of its way to herald the arrival of the new messiah. This was much before the 2014 debacle. In the previous article, we have covered how the media had tried to tell the nation right from 2009 to 2014, how Rahul Gandhi, the reluctant politician was ‘coming of age’. Despite repeated failures, the pliant media tried reviving the sagging fortunes of Rahul Gandhi. One would have expected that the media would learn from its past mistakes after the 2014 drubbing the Congress party under Rahul received. Alas, that is too much to ask from a media ecosystem that is in bed with the dynasty.

After 2014 elections, efforts to resurrect his sorry career continued after every speech he gave in the parliament, after every odd election wins and after any success during news cycles. One upgrade, from the Congress ecosystem perspective, is that new age digital news platforms joined the traditional media bandwagon in this pursuit of building the franchise.

Now, let us see how “Rahul – Coming of Age” franchise is one of the most successful in the Indian media ecosystem.

First off the mark was DailyO, where the author was blown over by Rahul’s mentioning potato price in a parliament speech. I strongly recommend the readers to read this piece, where the focus is on where and how many times Rahul has talked about potatoes. If only he had known that “yahan se aaloo daloonga, wahan se sona nikaloonga” was coming, the author would have saved some ink.

DailyO

The follow-up act was done by FirstPost (and think later). Apparently, a quote from Mirza Ghalib – and not any policy position – was sufficient to impress the writer about Rahul’s growth.

Firstpost

When Mirza Ghalib is good enough, why not tweets and jokes. Because none of these are his creations or ideas. The benchmark for Rahul is so low, that if he delivers the given lines with some clarity, his entourage is ready to back him up with stories. Like here, DNA seemed to be mighty impressed with his khakhra jokes and tweets.

DNA

When the new age media is cheerleading, can the traditional media houses be far behind? The Indian Express was effusive in praise of the scion for – take a guess – coining the term “suit boot ki Sarkar”, “Gabbar Singh Tax” and having an interaction with students at the University of Berkeley.

IndianExpress

Is anyone thinking where are new ideas or policy position from Rahul that can be called as a game changer? Read on…

This author claims that Rahul indeed has risen to the occasion by being appointed as the President of the Congress party by his mother. You will not be wrong that these intellectuals would have demanded a national holiday if he had been elected as the President of his party through an internal election.

IndiaBlooms

With the 2019 elections around the corner and wins in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh under his belt – there would be no stopping Rahul. Or his sycophants in the media. The “Coming of Age” franchise has some content for support now. All – big and small, national and international – all agencies were activated to give the Prince one final push.

TheQuint
The Straits Times
TheWire.in
The Statesman
The Economic Times

And, of course, the most recent by the Chief of India Today Aroon Purie where he shared an article hailing Rahul Gandhi by Raj Chengappa.

Aroon Purie

If Modi manages to win the Lok Sabha elections, as is expected now, watch out for the next instalments of this franchise where the focus would be how he emerged as the national face of the opposition. If Modi wins big, then a variant of this franchise can be expected – where Priyanka will be seen “coming of age”. If Modi loses – I cannot assure if you will be able to visit this website after May 23, 2019.

Enjoy the franchise till then!

Jharkhand: Muslim woman assaulted by husband for voting BJP, FIR lodged

OpIndia Staff
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Jharkhand: Muslim woman assaulted by husband for voting BJP, FIR lodged

In a shocking incident a Muslim woman in Chanho district, Ranchi, Jharkhand, was allegedly beaten up by her husband and family members for casting her vote in favour of BJP.

Impressed by PM Narendra Modi’s policies, Sahana Khatoon, decided to vote for the BJP government in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. Irked by this decision, her husband Kudus Ansari along with his family members, allegedly assaulted the woman.

In an FIR lodged in the Chanho police station, Sahana Khatoon said that when she returned home after casting her vote on April 29, her family inquired as to whom did she vote for. On learning that Sahana voted for BJP, Ansari’s son, Osama first assaulted her and asked her to leave the house saying that she was a stigma on the entire Muslim community.

Sahana reportedly resisted saying that it was her democratic right to vote for whomever she wants to. This did not go down well with the family. Kudus Ansari who was away from home returned on May 4. On being informed by family members that Sahana voted for BJP instead of Congress, husband Kudus Ansari and son, Osama allegedly assaulted her with sticks.

Sahana left home with her children to return to her parents who lived in Pandra village in Kuru Tehsil, Lohardaga, Jharkhand.

Sahana returned to her village on Sunday to file an FIR against her husband and in-laws. Meanwhile, Chanho police station in-charge, Rajendra Rajak said that an FIR has been registered. After the investigation, appropriate action will be taken against the culprits, said the police officer.

Booth rigging in Amethi: District Magistrate orders probe against polling officer

OpIndia Staff
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Booth rigging in Amethi: District Magistrate orders probe against polling officer

The District Magistrate of Amethi has ordered a probe after the allegations of booth rigging in the constituency earlier today. As the parliamentary constituency went on to vote in the 5th phase of Lok Sabha elections, there were numerous reports of booth rigging and proxy voting.


Earlier today, allegations of booth capturing and proxy voting were levelled on the Congress party. A video had also gone viral on social media where an elderly woman had claimed that she wanted to vote for the ‘Lotus’ but some person allegedly took her hand and pressed on the ‘Panja’ (palm, the Congress symbol).

The allegations of rigging had come from booth number 316 in Gauriganj area. Reports say that a probe has been ordered against the polling officer concerned.

Union Minister Smriti Irani had reacted strongly to the allegations and had approached the authorities over the issues. She had stated that Congres has a habit of stealing and now their president is attempting to steal votes too.


Amethi is one of the most high-profile seats and has been under constant highlight in the run-up to the 2019 general elections. Congress president Rahul Gandhi, whose family has had a claim on Amethi for generations, had decided to fight elections fro Wayanad too this time, sparking discussions that he fears loss from BJP’s Smriti Irani.

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