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Rafale deal: Modi govt files fresh affidavit in SC, says clean chit given by Court is correct, media quoted documents selectively

OpIndia Staff
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Rafale deal: Modi govt files fresh affidavit in SC, says clean chit given by Court is correct, media quoted documents selectively

The Modi government on Saturday filed a fresh affidavit in the Supreme Court (SC) asserting that the 2018 SC judgement that upheld the Rafale deal and asserted that there was no corruption or impropriety in the deal whatsoever. It also slammed the media for quoting documents selectively in the Rafale deal to insinuate the PMO interfered in the negotiations.

In the affidavit, the Centre said, Monitoring of progress of the Rafale deal by the PMO cannot be construed as interference or parallel negotiations.

The affidavit added that the then Defence Minister had recorded on the file: it appears that PMO and French President’s office are monitoring the progress of the issues which was an outcome of the summit meeting.

The Affidavit reportedly says, “the Dec 14, 2018 judgement upholding 36 Rafale jets’ deal was correct and unsubstantiated media reports and/or part internal file notings deliberately projected in a selective manner cannot form the basis for review”.

In 2018, the Supreme Court had given a clean chit to the Rafale deal and found no impropriety in the deal whatsoever. Review petitions were filed by “activists” demanding that the judgement by the Court be reviewed on the basis of a story that appeared in The Hindu, written by N Ram. N Ram has been actively trying to discredit the Rafale deal and has indulged in blatant lies in the process.

First, N Ram wrote a shoddy article in The Hindu about the Rafale deal which the Congress has been trying and failing, to discredit. In this article, he had shamelessly taken the work of a defence journalist called Manu Pubby and not only passed it off as his own but also presented a skewed version of his reportage.

The documents put forth by N Ram, on the basis of which the review petitions were filed were indeed distorted. N Ram and The Hindu had cropped portions of the documents where then defence minister, late Manohar Parrikar had made his notings.

In Manohar Parrikar’s noting, which was cropped out by The Hindu to peddle its agenda, Parrikar asked the Defense Secretary to take up the matter with the Pr. Secretary to Prime Minister and resolve the matter. He also calls it an ‘overreaction’ by the Deputy Secretary (Air-II). He states, “It appears that PMO and French President’s office are monitoring the progress of the issue which was an outcome of the summit meeting. Para 5 appears to be an over reaction. Def Sec may resolve issue/matter in consultation with Pr. Sec to P.M.”

The full story of The Hindu and N Ram cropping documents and lying shamelessly about the Rafale deal can be read here.

In fact, Air Marshal SBP Sinha, who had headed the Indian Negotiation Team (INT) for the Rafale deal had expressed his surprise over The Hindu’s story on Rafale and termed it as an effort to malign this procurement by concealing facts.

Earlier this month, a Supreme Court bench dismissed objections raised by the Centre regarding pleas asking for a review of the decision on the Rafale deal. The court had dismissed the Centre’s preliminary objections seeking review of earlier judgment giving a clean chit to the Union government in the Rafale deal. The affidavit filed by the Modi government today is in response to this case.

Journalist invents new arithmetic to defend Rahul, asks others to get calculators while needing one herself

OpIndia Staff
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Journalist invents new arithmetic to defend Rahul, asks others to get calculators while needing one herself

Rahul Gandhi is on an interview giving spree and with each interview, he seems to make a bigger fool of himself. In an interview to NDTV, Rahul Gandhi changed the amount he would give every poor person as per his proposed NYAY Yojana. Earlier, it was Rs. 72,000 a year, but in his interview to NDTV, he seems to have changed it to Rs. 3,60,000 a year.


Of course, NDTV while sharing the video snippet doesn’t call out the blatant lie, but instead, chooses to focus on the hollow sentence that he has managed to corner Prime Minister Modi over jobs. But the shenanigans of NDTV are widely known and there seems to be no good reason to invest more time in it for the purpose of this article.

When Rahul Gandhi lies or when Rahul Gandhi goofs up, the faithful jesters from his darbar often jump right to his defence. It is hardly a matter of ideology, rather, a matter of survival. After all, it is their job to mount a defence every time the very King they depend on jams his foot firmly in his mouth.

A court jester from the King’s darbar, who also moonlights as a journalist and author, jumped to Rahul Gandhi’s defence when someone pointed out that Rahul Gandhi seems to have jumbled up the numbers yet again.

She said, “Basic math. 12000 per month equals 72000 per year. Five years equal 60 months. 12000 for 60 months equals 3,60,000. Instead of innuendo, you could have brought out your calculator, if mental arithmetic was an issue”.


According to her calculation, Rahul Gandhi is right before Rs 12,000 a month would equal to Rs. 72,000 a year. 5 years would equal to 60 months and hence, 12,000 multiplied by 60 months would equal to Rs 3,60,000. Exactly the number Rahul Gandhi mentioned.

She, of course, glosses over the fact that Rahul Gandhi, in the interview said Congress would provide Rs. 3,60,000 per year and not for a period of 5 years.

But that is not the only problem. The mathematics used by this journalist is nothing short of hilarious.

She says 12,000 per month equals to 72,000 per year. A simple calculation would reveal that if Rs 12,000 is paid per month, in a year, that would amount to Rs. 1,44,000.

In her hurry to defend Rahul Gandhi, what she perhaps forgot is that the Congress party had said that any person earning less than Rs. 12,000 would get Rs 72,000 a year. Rahul Gandhi said that an income line of Rs 12,000 has been set for the scheme, and it will cover 20% poorest families of the country. The government will pay Rs 72,000 per year to the eligible families under this scheme, and the amount will be credited directly to the bank account of beneficiaries.

Instead, Sujata Anandan seems to have understood that Congress would be paying poor families Rs 12,000 per month and even in that, she conflates it with Rs 72,000 a year, thanks to skewed maths.

Further, Sujata says that Rs 12,000 for 60 months would mean Rs. 3,60,000 for five years. Well, 12,000 multiplied by 60 would equal to Rs. 7,20,000 so Sujata fails there too. However, Rs. 72,000 multiplied by 5 would come up to Rs. 3,60,000, exactly the amount Rahul Gandhi mentioned in his NDTV interview. The only catch? Rahul ended up saying Congress has promised to pay Rs. 3,60,000 PER YEAR instead of that amount in 5 years.

In a massive display of courage (or brazenness, we can’t decide which), Sujata tells the person questioning Rahul Gandhi that he should have purchased a calculator instead of mouthing off innuendos if mental arithmetic was too much of an issue.

Sujata is the same bright spark who had shamelessly celebrated the tragic suicide of Rohit Vemula because she believed that this would end up destroying PM Modi’s Dalit votebank.

Screenshot of Sujata Anand’s tweet

After the servility to the Gandhi and the downright massacre of mathematics in her desperation to defend Rahul Gandhi, we can only hope that Sujata finds a calculator for herself, and while she is at it, perhaps she can look for her missing spine too.

Sam Pitroda shatters the sham of Congress and BSP-SP fighting alone in UP, says ‘Gathbandhan will come together at the right time’

OpIndia Staff
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Sam Pitroda shatters the sham of Congress and BSP-SP fighting alone in UP, says ‘Gathbandhan will come together at the right time’

Senior Congress functionary Sam Pitroda has just confirmed what has been speculated about the Congress and its sham of ‘fighting alone’ in UP. Speaking to ANI, Pitroda has recently stated that the goal of the opposition parties is to oust the BJP and “They will come together at the right time”.

Pitroda has just confirmed what was being speculated in the political circles since long, that the Congress is, in fact, always in the alliance and ‘Gathbandhan’ mode and is willing to compromise with regional parties to any level. Pitroda has stated that the goal is to defeat the Modi government and when the time comes, all the opposition parties will come together, that is, to form a united opposition.

Soon after the SP and BSP announced a ‘Mahagathbandhan’ leaving Congress out, it was speculated that the ‘leaving out’ was just eyewash for the public and the parties were working in cahoot with each other. The SP-BSP-RLD had fielded candidates from 78 seats in UP, leaving out just Raebareli and Amethi, the two seats of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

Recently, Priyanka Gandhi had stated to the media that BJP will lose big in UP. She had added that when the Congress candidate is strong, they will win, but when the Congress candidate is ‘weak’ they will cut into the votes of BJP, subtly hinting that the careful mixture of caste politics and vote cutting will sway some BJP voters, helping the Gathbandhan candidates win.

Priyanka’s statement, however, had soon attracted flak from SP and BSP. Seeing the negative comments, Priyanka had soon made a U-turn and stated that Congress has all strong candidates in UP. For careful observers, it has always been evident that the SP-BSP and Congress were busy in shadow boxing before the elections to score maximum possible seats, just to enter into an alliance post the Lok Sabha elections.

Rahul Gandhi too had stated that wherever the Congress does not have a strong candidate, they will help the Gathbandhan, with the primary goal of cutting BJP’s votes.

Both Akhilesh and Mayawati had slammed the statements, while Akhilesh has stated that the Congress is giving excuses as it is facing defeat, Mayawati has stated that a vote to Congress means wasting the vote.

It is interesting to note that Congress, which had ruled over India for the most part of its post-independence history, has now been reduced to ‘vote cutting’ manoeuvres and is practically bending over backwards for obtaining the support of regional parties.

The seven-phase Lok Sabha elections in 2019 have seen 4 phases so far. With three more phases remaining till final counting on May 23, it will b interesting to watch how the parties will perform and whether the people of India will buy the farce of Gathbandhans and divisive politics.

Rahul Gandhi accuses EC of bias and threatens them with ‘consequences’, hours after the same EC gave him clean chit for a lie

OpIndia Staff
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Rahul Gandhi accuses EC of bias and threatens them with ‘consequences’, hours after the same EC gave him clean chit for a lie

Rahul Gandhi, in a media interaction today, threatened Election Commission officials with “consequences” in the future for being biased. Answering a question posed by the Media, Rahul Gandhi said that the election commission has cowered to the pressures put by the Narendra Modi government and have become biased against the opposition.

Rahul Gandhi said that when it comes to the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Election Commission toes the straight line, but when it comes to the opposition, the Election Commission becomes bias.

He then said that he understands that EC has too succumbed to the pressure that is exerted by the Modi government, just like the Supreme Court, Planning Commission, Reserve Bank of India etc have. Every institution he said is being corroded by the Modi government.

He then said that the Election Commission has a responsibility and they need to commit to that responsibility to discharge their duties properly.

Continuing to attack the EC and the Modi government, Rahul Gandhi said that these people will have ‘consequences in the future’ and that he ‘won’t allow Indian institutions to be crushed’. He also said that “anyone who colludes with the Modi government is committing a crime”. 

In what can be seen as a clear threat to Election Commission for their perceived bias against the Congress party and the opposition parties at large, Rahul Gandhi has, while the elections are in progress, threatened EC officials. This could be viewed as a serious offence and breach of MCC.

Interestingly, just a few days ago, the Election Commission gave a clean chit to Rahul Gandhi for a blatant lie that Rahul had propagated during his election rally.

Rahul Gandhi had, in one of his rallies asserted that Amit Shah is a murder accused. In view of that comment, Gujarat Court had ordered an inquiry into Rahul Gandhi and his blatantly fallacious comment.

The Election Commission had yesterday given a clean chit to Rahul Gandhi for his comment calling Amit Shah a murder accused. In its statement, EC had said, “complaint was examined in detail and after examination of the complete transcript of speech sent by the district electoral officer of Jabalpur, the Commission is of the considered view that no violation of the model code of conduct is made out.” Gandhi made the remark during an election rally in Sihora district of Madhya Pradesh on April 23.

In his rally, Rahul Gandhi had said, “Murder accused BJP chief Amit Shah. Wah, kya shaan hai!”.

In his election affidavit, Amit Shah has revealed that there are four cases pending against him. They are:

1.  Registered in West Bengal over an inflammatory speech during the municipality polls this year.

2. Pending before a metropolitan magistrate in Kolkata, was a defamation suit.

3. Registered in Muzaffarpur in Bihar in 2017, was regarding a YouTube video showing Shah hoisting the national flag while wearing shoes.

4. Registered in Begusarai in Bihar in 2015 for making some remarks against Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lalu Prasad Yadav, the affidavit said.

Interestingly, Rahul Gandhi, only a few hours later, threatening EC officials after he got a clean chit for a blatant lie, considering Amit Shah is not a murder accused.

Rahul Gandhi’s former partner in British company Backops, got defence offset contracts during Congress regime, reveals report

OpIndia Staff
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Rahul Gandhi’s former partner in British company Backops, got defence offset contracts during Congress regime, reveals report

Rahul Gandhi’s British citizenship has become a raging issue this election season. Rahul Gandhi had signed documents of a British company, Backops, in which he owned the majority shares of 65%, as a British citizen. The Home Ministry had sent Rahul Gandhi a notice and given him 15 days to respond. However, a new can of worms has opened up which makes this sordid saga far worse. Reports now reveal that Rahul Gandhi’s former partner in the British company Backops, who owned 35% shares, got defence offset contracts during the Congress regime.

The India Today report reveals that Ulrik Mcknight, who was 35% co-owner of Backops UK, in which Rahul Gandhi owned a majority 65% equity between 2003 and 2009 before the firm was wound up, later went on to acquire offset contracts from French defence supplier Naval Group against Scorpene submarines in 2011.

The report has found that in 2009 after Rahul Gandhi exited both the companies, Backops Private Limited in India (where Priyanka Gandhi was then made the Director) and Backops UK, the companies were dissolved soon.

In 2011, French Naval Firm was given contracts by the Congress government to manufacture Scorpene Submarines. After the contract was granted by the Congress government, Indian firm Flash Forge was signed as a partner through its Indian subsidiary DCNS India.

In 2011-12, Flash Forge acquires the UK-based company Optical Armour and McKnight joins Optical Armour as Director of the company.

In 2012-13, McKnight was allotted 4% shares of the Optical Armour company.

In 2013, Flash forge acquired another UK based company named Composit Resin Developments Limited and in the same year, Mcknight also joined the company as one of the directors along with two directors from Flash Forge Limited according to the websites of Naval Group, their India partners include Flash Forge and CFF Fluid Control Private Limited (a joint venture between Flash Forge and another French group Coyard).

In 2015, website PGurus, whose article was reproduced here on Professor Vaidyanathan’s blog, had also raised the question of Rahul Gandhi’s partner McKnight bagging a prestigious defence deal under the Congress government.

The article had made the following charges:

  1. Rahul Gandhi and Ulrik R McKnight were Directors of Backops, which they closed in 2009.
  2. DCNS of France, the manufacturer of Scorpene submarines, announces a deal with Flash Forge to supply critical parts as part of a Rs. 20,000 crore ($4.5 billion) deal to supply 6 submarines in India, sometime in June 2011.
  3. Ulrik McKnight is appointed as a Director in Optimal Armour Limited (OAL) on June 6, 2012. He states in this form that his Nationality is the United States of America and that he resides there.
  4. Ulrik McKnight becomes a Director in Composite Resin Developments (CRDL)Limited on Feb 19, 2013. He states that he usually resides in the US and enters his Nationality as Swedish.
  5. Two Indian nationals, Gautam Makker and Sunil Menon who are Directors in the Indian company Flash Forge Pvt. Limited is also appointed as Directors in Optimal Armour and Composite Resin Developments at about the same time as McKnight.
  6. Flash Forge acquires a majority stake in Composite Resin on December 20, 2013, and in Optimal Armour on March 23, 2012.

OpIndia had also covered a story about the explanation Congress provided as a counter to the charge that Rahul Gandhi had signed documents as a British citizen. We had found that the Congress’ explanation gave rise to more questions than it answered.

We had found that in all probability, Ulrik McKnight is journalist and NYT columnist Sonia Faleiro’s husband. And who is Sonia Faleiro? She is the daughter of Eduardo Faleiro, who has been a Congress politician all his life and has even been a Union Minister for 5 years. Nothing illegal here, but now we know how Rahul Gandhi might have met Ulrik McKnight.

The company of whose document Congress had shared (where Rahul Gandhi signed as an Indian national), Bristol Legal Services Limited is registered at. 6 Lower Park Row, Bristol BS1 5BJ is the address which is also the address for correspondence for ‘Thomas Paul Russell’. It is also the address of one company called ‘Bourse Company Services’ which helps individuals in registering companies. The company shares its address with over 70 other companies. Hardly anything is available on who Thomas Paul Russell is. Brian Lovegrove mentioned above also has his address set up as 6, Lower Park Row, Bristol.

There were several other questions that were raised with the Congress’ clarification and our entire investigative report can be read here. 

While the Indian and European companies associated with Rahul Gandhi were dissolved before the French company Naval Group engaged in a contract with Flash Forge, the fact that Rahul Gandhi’s former partner and co-owner in his firm Backops got a defence offset deal from the Congress government does deem investigation as it is bound to open a can of worms that has not come up yet.

Punjab CM Amarinder Singh shocks all, demands proof of Balakot air strike

OpIndia Staff
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Punjab CM Amarinder Singh shocks all, demands proof of Balakot air strike

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh who is known for his nationalistic views shocked everyone by demanding proof of Balakot air strikes. The senior Congressman’s unexpected statement is a political shield to defend his party’s stand on the air strikes by Indian Air Force (IAF) on terror camps deep within Pakistan. He justified his party’s right to demand proof on the success of IAF’s operation from the Modi government.


“If the strikes were as successful as the Modi government claimed them to be, it’s actually a matter of immense pride for our country and for all of us. So let us see how our forces destroyed Pak buildings and shattered their inflated ego,” he responded to a question on the allegation of BJP terming the Congress anti-national for demanding proof of IAF’s operation.

Singh asserted that this is not the first time proof had been asked. He pointed out to an instance from 1965 war when an Army Major had brought chopped ears of the dead from the other side of the border to put speculations on Indian operations to rest. He also recalled that photographs were released as proof of the success of Kargil operation.

He insisted that demanding proof from the government was no way an unpatriotic gesture.

Singh expressed pride about the ageing MiG 21 taking down Pakistan’s F-16 and added he would be delighted to learn about Balkot’s success story. He attacked PM Narendra Modi over his alleged attempts to politicize Balakot operation and seek votes in the names of martyred soldiers.

“Have they (BJP) forgotten who won India its wars against Pakistan in 1965 and 1971,” he questioned and added “I’m a military historian also and if Modi doesn’t want to give proof of the strikes to the press or the Congress, he can send them to me,” he suggested.

He insisted he would feel extremely proud if the BJP leaders’ claims are proven right and blamed the BJP for using IAF’s accomplishment for political gains. He supported his part’s demand and said BJP should not hesitate to put all doubts to rest.

Singh refuted BJP’s claim of Congress siding with the ‘tukde tukde gang,’ and blamed BJP leadership of playing divisive politics.

The opposition has been repeatedly attacking Modi government by towing Pakistan line of demanding proof of the Balakot air strike. Singh, an ex-soldier who is respected for keeping nation above politics, seems to have disappointed many with his latest remarks.

Several people responded to his tweet saying that it was not expected of him.


Earlier, Singh had earned respect and praise for his views on the Balakot air strike. He was hailed as an officer, a gentleman, and a true leader.

Congress Lucknow candidate Acharya Parmod calls Shatrughan Sinha an RSS man for campaigning for wife and SP candidate

OpIndia Staff
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Congress Lucknow candidate Acharya Parmod calls Shatrughan Sinha an RSS man for campaigning for wife and SP candidate

Congress candidate from Lucknow Lok Sabha seat Acharya Pramod Krishnan has slammed actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha for campaigning for his wife Poonam Sinha who is a Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate from Lucknow only. After remaining as a dissident in BJP for several years, Shatrughan Sinha had joined the Congress party last month and he is contesting from Patna Sahib on a Congress ticket. A few days later his wife Poonam Sinha had joined the Samajwadi Party, and she was fielded from Lucknow. Shatrughan Sinha had accompanied his wife when she had filed her nomination, and he had also participated in the SP candidate’s campaigning.


Acharya Pramod Krishnan, whose name is included in the list of fake babas of the country by All India Akhara Parishad, attacked Sinha supporting his wife despite being a Congress member.

Krishnan said that Shatrughan Sinha has joined the Congress Party but has not yet resigned from the RSS. “I want to say this about Shatrughan Sinha that he has joined the Congress but has not resigned from the RSS. Shatrughan Sinha’s whole family is still a part of RSS. I just want to tell them that they should stop betraying Rahul Gandhi Ji”, said Krishnan.

Blaming Sinha for degraded the dignity of Party, Acharya said, “Sinha Ji has crossed the limits of the Party before the whole country. He has degraded the dignity of the Party. He has disrespected Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi”. He said that Sinha is fulfilling his Patni Dharma while he should be fulfilling his Party Dharma. He added that Sinha should fulfil his party dharma by campaigning for him.

Recently an old video of Krishnan was doing the rounds on social media in which he is seen making communally provocative statements. “Those who don’t believe in Prophet Mohammad cannot be acceptable to us”, said Krishnan shouting Nara-e-Takbeer and Nara-e Risalat.

Sinha on being questioned about campaigning for his wife had said that he loved the party but not more than his family.

“Ask him to first change his name from Sitaram”, Subramanian Swamy reprimands Yechury for citing Ramayana-Mahabharata as proofs of Hindu violence

OpIndia Staff
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“Ask him to first change his name from Sitaram”, Subramanian Swamy reprimands Yechury for citing Ramayana-Mahabharata as proofs of Hindu violence

In a sharp rebuke to CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury for his audacity to brand epics Ramayana and Mahabharata as specimens of Hindu violence, BJP leader, Subramanian Swamy Tweeted that Sitaram Yechury should be first asked to change his name. He, instead of being called ‘Sitaram’ should be named ‘Mar(x)Leni(n)= Marleni’.


Further, while talking on the phone lines with Times Now, Subramanian Swamy training his guns at the Communist leader said that it is the worst possible thing a person living in India could say.

Sitaram Yechury belongs to a party that believes in violence, i.e. revolutionary violence. “He himself belonging to a party which believes in violence, and calling Hindu’s violent is meaningless on his part,” Swamy said. He added that Hindus believe in retaliatory violence which means that, the Hindu’s don’t believe in initiating violence but won’t stop if inflicted with the same.

Stating examples from Mahabharata and Ramayana, Swamy says that Hindu never takes the first step towards violence but once they are forced they go to any length in the due process.


On being questioned whether the opposition is resorting to such tactics as a sign of desperation and political convenience, Swamy says that the opposition including the Congress party, is probably “recognising that Hindutva is upsetting their all sorts of calculations, so now they are trying to rubbish it by making such absurd remarks”.

Last year too, Swamy had launched a scathing attack on Yechury for asking for the impeachment of CJI saying that “Yechuri sounds demented in asking for impeachment of CJI. Leftist don’t like CJI because he quotes from Sanskrit! Impeach Karat first,” Swamy tweeted.


Earlier, CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury had triggered a massive controversy with his recent comments on the Mahabharata and the Ramayana.

At an event in Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, Yechury said, “Ramayana and Mahabharata are also filled with instances of violence and battles. Being a pracharak (RSS functionary), you narrate the epics but still claim Hindus can’t be violent? What is the logic behind saying that there’s a religion which engages in violence and we Hindus don’t.”

First things first, to reduce the vast complexity of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana to a mere exhibition of violence is only a reflection of the extremely myopic understanding of the texts the Communist appears to have. Secondly, to view the violence in the epics in isolation is to miss the point of it all entirely.

In Mahabharata, just as in Ramayana, war ensued because principles of Dharma were violated and Adharma reigned supreme in the land. But for Yechury to equate Dharmayuddha with a religious war, and calling it a proof of ‘Hindu violence’ only demonstrates his shallow mindset and testifies the level our politicians are willing to stoop to in their sordid race for power.

On press freedom day, meet the ‘fearless’ journalist who interviewed Rahul Gandhi and said ‘Rafale has entered people’s blood’

OpIndia Staff
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On press freedom day, meet the ‘fearless’ journalist who interviewed Rahul Gandhi and said ‘Rafale has entered people’s blood’

It’s raining Rahul Gandhi interviews as pliant media rushes to propagate his lies. First, ‘chota mota blast’ Sreenivasan Jain conducted an interview with Rahul Gandhi, then, India Today published an interview where Rahul admitted that his one aim was to destroy Narendra Modi’s ‘incorruptible image’ and the interviewer himself lied profusely, and now, TV Bharatvarsh seems to have an interview with Rahul Gandhi.

On press freedom day, one would imagine that Rahul Gandhi just handing out interviews was perhaps a massive step forward for media freedom, especially, with all platforms tout the interview as ‘explosive’ and ‘tell-all’. The reality, however, is far from it.

First, we found out that India Today, in all probability, trashed a video interview with Rahul Gandhi and published a text interview. As rumour had it, it was done because the interview itself was so bad that it could not be telecast. Why a media house would allegedly shield a bad politician, is, of course, a matter of debate especially on press freedom day. India Today tweeted a clarification too, that certainly left a lot to be desired and hardly cleared the air.

Now, as if the India Today interview fiasco wasn’t bad enough, another pliant journalist has got the “once in a lifetime” opportunity to interview Rahul Gandhi.

An embarrassing portion of the interview with TV Bharatvarsh was posted by a Twitter user.


In the portion that went viral, “journalist” Supriya Bhardwaj was seen interviewing Rahul Gandhi. In the clip, Rahul Gandhi, with a sheepish smile tells the “journalist” Supriya Bhardwaj that in Parliament House, Bhardwaj had told Rahul Gandhi that “ye Rafale mudda khoon main ghus gaya hai” (The Rafale issue has entered the blood of the people).

Then, Rahul Gandhi asks the cameraman to pan the camera on Supriya Bhardawaj to show her smiling. The camera obediently pans on Bhardwaj where she was seen smiling with her head cocked downwards. The shy smile indeed spoke a thousand words.

Then, Rahul Gandhi asks her again whether these were her words and she says yes. Then Rahul Gandhi repeats her words. He says that Bhardwaj had told him that this Rafale issue had entered the blood of the people and no matter how hard BJP tries, it won’t be able to wash it away.

The Rafale saga is one that Rahul Gandhi has hopelessly and desperately latched on to.

Rahul Gandhi once lied blatantly on the floor of the house, claiming that the French President had spoken to Rahul Gandhi personally and told him that there was corruption in the Rafale deal. Later, in a massive embarrassment, the French government had to issue a statement, essentially saying that Rahul Gandhi lied and no such meeting ever took place.

In his desperation to prove that Rafale deal was a scam, Rahul Gandhi even pretended to visit ailing Manohar Parrikar as a courtesy visit. That “courtesy visit” was later turned into a ploy to attack the Rafale deal. Rahul Gandhi used a visit made to an ailing Chief Minister to claim that Manohar Parrikar had himself told Rahul Gandhi that he had some files on the Rafale deal and that there was a scam in the deal. Parrikar, suffering from cancer, had to come out and issue a statement calling out Rahul Gandhi’s lies. In fact, even after Manohar Parrikar lost the battle to cancer, even in death, Rahul Gandhi lied in Manohar Parrikar’s name.

The changing numbers of the “scam” amount, the fact that his allegation of the amount “Modi gave to Ambani” is greater than the entire offset amount, the shoddy audio tape that was thrown out by the parliament, the fact that the Supreme Court itself gave a clean chit to the deal and the fact that he admitted that the Supreme Court had made no observation of ‘chowkidar chor hai’ as he had alleged are all facts that have been put forth a number of times. Rahul Gandhi was forced to apologise.

And yet, “journalists” of courage apparently go up to Rahul Gandhi and tell them how the Rafale issue has “entered the blood of the people” instead of questioning him on the blatant lies and frivolities.

This “journalist” of courage had earlier displayed how fiercely independent and committed to the truth she really is.

She had, on March 31st, Bhardwaj had tweeted friendly pictures of her with Congress leaders and tweeted, “ek nayi shuruat, apnon ke saath” (A new beginning with people my own).


The independent journalist sure has family-like ties with the Congress leaders, in her words. The Congress leaders who can be seen in the photographs with Bhardwaj are Sam Pitroda, Himanshu Vyas (AICC secretary of overseas Congress) and some Shiv Bhattia.

Her Twitter timeline is full of fawning tweets about the Gandhis. Just like family.


She has a really happy picture with Sonia Gandhi too. In fact, she tweeted it with several exclamation marks (and a smiley). And we just can’t stop awwww-ing at the mother-daughter sort of closeness this independent journalist shares with the mother-Gandhi.


The love and affection that is showered by Bhardwaj on the Gandhi family and is reciprocated by the Gandhi family on Supriya is truly heartwarming.

One must also remember that TV Bharatvarsh’s group editor is Vinod Kapri. Kapri was recently talking about “journalist of courage” and was browbeating Times Now for questioning the Congress party.


Vinod Kapri had spread fake news about Bulandshehr and even attacked the police after he was called out for his fake news. In his Modi hate, he had even attributed the shutting down of Jet Airways to Modi and questioned his ‘vikas agenda’. Then, in his love for Congress and Nehru, he shared an unrelated picture to show how Nehru took a dip in Ganga during Kumbh 1954, the same Kumbh that saw a stampede that left 1000 dead and one where Congress burnt the victims’ dead bodies to hide the evidence.

This “encouraging” saga of press independence coming on Press Freedom Day does warm the cockles of one’s heart.

The only advice that we can perhaps give these “fiercely independent journalists” was best articulated by Bhardwaj herself in one of her tweets.


Literally.

Former CIA acting director Michael Morell says Pakistan is using terrorism as a tool against India

OpIndia Staff
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Former CIA acting director Michael Morell says Pakistan is using terrorism as a tool against India

Former CIA acting director Michael Morell has alleged that Pakistan perceives India as a threat to its existence and uses terrorism as a tool against the country. He made this startling revelation in a podcast discussion with Kurt Campbell and Rich Verma.

Morell asserted that Pakistan is one of the most dangerous countries in the world and supports terrorist groups as a tool.

Campbell, former Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian Affairs and Verma, former US Ambassador to India, have regularly been hosting ‘The Tealeaves’ Podcast of the Asia Group.

“What they don’t realize is that it’s impossible to keep those terrorist groups under control. And that eventually comes back to bite you. You know, I believe that Pakistan, at the end of the day, maybe the most dangerous country in the world,” he said.

Notably, Morell played a key role in the killing of Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Laden was on the most-wanted list for masterminding a deadly terrorist attack in the United States on September 11, 2011. These attacks had that left as many as 2,296 people dead and injured over 6,000 others.

He also underlined his concern on population explosion in Pakistan and termed it the cause of awful demographic changes.

Morell who was the deputy head of CIA during Obama’s tenure added, “The economy’s going nowhere. It simply can’t provide the jobs that need to be provided for the young people who are entering the labor force. The education system is literally broken. I went to Pakistan more often than I went to any other country when I was deputy director.”

Divulging further, he said that extremism in Pakistan was growing from a societal perspective and had found a footing within the military too. He also expressed his apprehensions about a color revolution much like Arab-spring style movement that could hit the streets of Islamabad within a few years (possibly 10 years) from now. He hinted that such an agitation could end up with an extremist government in control of nuclear weapons and that is scary.

He further added that Pakistan has focused on India for too long and has organized its system accordingly. In order to protect itself from the perceived threat, they have vested more powers in the military than the civilian government.

“The government, therefore, makes choices that I don’t believe, and many people don’t believe are in the best long term interest of Pakistan. Pakistan has spent more money on nuclear weapons than they do in education,” the former spymaster added.

He also held Pakistan responsible for creating terrorists in Afganistan fearing India’s influence in the region.

India has long been accusing Pakistan of fueling terrorism from its soil against it. In the wake of recent Pulwama attack, The United States of America had issued a stern warning to Pakistan urging it to take concrete actions against Islamic terror groups including the Jaish-e-Mohammad and the Lashkar-e-Taiba.

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