In a shocking video that has emerged from West Bengal, a local TMC worker can be seen in the video brandishing a gun during a roadshow in the Birbhum Lok Sabha constituency.
A shocking video has surfaced showing a worker affiliated with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress brandishing a gun during a roadshow in the Birbhum Lok Sabha constituency.https://t.co/kSyk7kp10M
TMC’s Satabdi Roy, who is a sitting MP from Birbhum Lok Sabha seat is seeking re-election. In the video of the bike rally in which more than 200 TMC workers participated, one of the pillion riders can be seen holding a gun with no fear of consequences. The shot is apparently from the Sainthia area which falls under Birbhum constituency.
According to the reports, three TMC leaders including area president Prashanto Modal had participated in the rally. BJP has fielded Dudhkumar Mandal to fight from the Lok Sabha constituency.
Electoral polls in West Bengal are often greeted with violent skirmishes and clashes between competing parties. With Mamata Banerjee at the helm of affairs in West Bengal, TMC goons are empowered to run amok carrying out their depraved activities with impunity. It is widely believed that TMC goons are protected and sheltered by TMC leadership which further emboldens them to execute their nefarious designs.
Yesterday, in an ensuing clash between Congress workers and TMC workers, one man lost his life. There have been multitudes of reports of TMC goons perpetrating violence against their political adversaries. In the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, a BJP leader was thrashed and was left to die by TMC goons in West Bengal’s Islampur.
Disrespectful remarks towards women by politicians seem to have become a norm this election season. After Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan’s outrageous remarks against BJP leader Jyada Prada, now a Congress leader Ajay Singh has made a derogatory remark against BJP leader Riti Pathak.
A video of Ajay Singh is seen addressing the people in Sidhi Lok Sabha constituency in Madhya Pradesh and saying that Riti Pathak won the elections last time because people fell for Modi’s promise of Rs 15 lakh. “Pathak ji pichhle chunaav me aye rahin. Unka Bharatiya Janta Party se ticket mila. Hawa bahut rahi Modi Modi. Sabhi 15 lakh ke chakkar me pad gaye. Ban gayi Saansad” (Pathak ji came here during the last election. She got a ticket from BJP. There was Modi wave. Everyone fell for their promise of 15 lakh. She became an MP), said Singh.
Singh said that neither did Pathak return to her constituency after becoming the Member of Parliament and nor did she contribute anything towards her constituency. Objectifying Pathak, Singh said that people have tested her she is not a good maal (thing). “To bhaiya unka to ajmaye chuke. Vo theek maal nahi ba”, he said.
Recently Azam Khan was imposed a 72-hour ban by the Election Commission for using sexist and highly derogatory remarks about Jaya Prada. This was followed by Azam Khan’s son making another sexist remark against Prada who called her Anarkali.
Earlier Congress President Rahul Gandhi had made sexist remarks against Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman saying that the PM was hiding a woman.
MNS chief Raj Thackeray, who in the past had often spewed venom against the migrant population in Mumbai has suddenly found himself being featured in the Liberals’ list of blue-eyed boys and is being hailed as ‘fact-checker’ by them for taking on the might of the BJP and apparently debunking their purported Social Media lies.
Many liberals whose anti-Modi tendencies have been quite evident from their conduct have praised Raj Thackeray for confronting BJP and its Social Media IT cell for alleged propagation of fake news and rumours. Having been profoundly disappointed by the Congress ineptitude, Liberals seemed to have co-opted Raj Thackeray to take on the might of the Modi juggernaut and somehow dent his prospects in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
Raj Thackarey seems to have turned into the physical manifestation of @AltNews.
Fact-checking BJP Live. On stage.
Designed as a political rally!
@RajThackeray hits a sixer once again in his South Mumbai meeting. Presents a family on stage wrongly used in Modi’s advertisement. Public claps and cheers thunderously. I have not seen a political leader till now who exposes Modi so bluntly!
However, it is notable to mention that those who nurse anti-Modi hatred have overlooked the fact that the account that shared the photoshopped image which was supposedly debunked by Raj Thackeray in his meeting was not an official or verified page and fact-checking of content on unverified or fan page account is a superfluous activity and not a ‘fact-check’. Modi or BJP can’t be blamed for photoshopping done by random people online.
Even those who are accused of molestation have extended their support to Raj Thackeray and are actively promoting him to mount a credible opposition in Maharashtra which is in its current state is disoriented and rapidly disintegrating.
For the web news portal, HW News Network, prominent journalist Shri. Vinod Dua interviews Raj Thackeray.
Here is the YouTube link. Do watch it.https://t.co/GOXwkFKnJu
With just 1 seat in Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, some of the journalists have even elevated MNS chief Raj Thackeray’s stature to that of being the main opposition voice in Maharashtra. It is pertinent to note that MNS has just 1 legislator in the Vidhan Sabha.
Koppikar: In his utterances, demeanour, and willingness to take on the powerful, @RajThackeray is now the main opposition voice in Maharashtra. https://t.co/nvlG3fW0Qz
However, Raj Thackeray’s fact-checking skills are not at par with Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s skill of lying through his teeth. Recently, in an interview with TV9, Raj Thackeray played a doctored video claiming that PM Modi asked the little girl to say “Rahul Gandhi Pappu hai”. When pointed out by the interviewer that the video is manipulated with dubbed voice and that the original video doesn’t contain such comments, Raj Thackeray got angry and asserted that this is the original video and rubbished the assertions made by the reporter.
ह्या राजू पेंटर ने कितीची सुपारी घेतलीय हे एकदा उघड व्हायलाच पाहिजे एकदा..
हा पुढचा सांगतोय की हा व्हायरल व्हिडिओ आहे;खरा नाही..तरीही आपल्या राजू रंगारीच्या तोंडाचा पट्टा चालूच..
किती आत्मविश्वासाने खोटं बोलतो हा राजू पेंटर..रॅली मध्ये पण तेच आणि मुलाखतीत पण तेच.. pic.twitter.com/Oa3wkuFAWi
The original video is from 18 December 2016, in which PM Modi can be seen lauding a little girl for her rendition of ‘Ramayana’ on stage. However, the latest fact-checker on the block, Raj Thackeray chose a dubbed video to slam Modi claiming that it is Modi who is asking the little girl to say “Rahul Gandhi Pappu hai”. Nevertheless, Thackeray is being feted by a section of Liberal media as a ‘fact-checker’.
Raj Thackeray’s MNS has been a right-wing Marathi ethnocentric regional party in Maharashtra. It rose to prominence in 2009 when MNS managed to bag 13 seats out of the 288 Vidhan Sabha seats in Maharashtra. Since then, the party is struggling as it is facing increasing headwinds from its opponent Shiv Sena, Congress, NCP and BJP who have been dynamic in heeding the changing demands of the people. In 2014, when the Modi wave swept across the country, MNS was blown to bits with just a single legislator making it to the Vidhan Sabha.
In 2008, MNS workers were accused of beating up people from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar working in Mumbai. Thackeray, with his son-of-the-soil rhetoric, was accused of whipping up the frenzy against the migrant workers in his impassioned idiosyncratic way. In 2013, Raj Thackeray held people from UP and Bihar responsible for the rising rape incidents in the country. PVR staff men were allegedly beaten up by MNS workers in 2018. In their protest against the pothole deaths in Navi Mumbai, MNS workers vandalised the PWD office in 2018. Raj Thackeray also threatened to scuttle the Bullet train project in Mumbai as a mark of protest against the apathy shown by Railways to the problems faced by commuters.
In the aftermath of the Uri attack in 2016, in which Pakistani terrorists killed Indian soldiers, Raj Thackeray held eminent filmmaker Karan Johar to ransom for casting Pakistani actor in his movie and asked him to pay Rs 5 crores to the Army Welfare Association for ensuring an uninterrupted release of his movie ADHM. Liberals had then excoriated Raj Thackeray for his extortionist behaviour with regard to the release of Karan Johar’s movie.
With the recent event of Liberals embracing Raj into their fold, two things are pretty clear- First, there is a dearth of a genuine leader in the opposition who can mount a powerful offence to take on the might of the PM Modi and second, Liberals have no qualms in co-opting an ideological opponent who is prone to lying to take on their bete noire Modi, even if it comes at the cost of sacrificing their own cherished ideology.
After being denied ticket from the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) for the Delhi North West constituency, Udit Raj joined Congress Party today in the presence of Congress President Rahul Gandhi. During the media briefing, Raj said that he wanted to join Congress since 2012.
A miffed Raj while addressing the media after joining the Congress accused the BJP of being anti-Dalit. “BJP is an anti-Dalit group which uses internal surveys to choose its candidate”, he said.
पार्टी क्यों नहीं टिकट दे रही। मैंने इतना अच्छा काम किया है। पार्टी क्या दलित विरोधी है? पूरे देश में मुझसे बड़ा दलित नेता कौन है। जितने इनके कैंडिडेट लड़ रहे हैं, उनके जितनी मेरे अकेले की ताकत है : @Dr_Uditraj, #BJP सांसद pic.twitter.com/PFFcvJ6rD7
Raj removed the prefix Chowkidar from his Twitter handle soon after joining the Congress. He said he would snatch at least 10-15 seats from the BJP. “I was one of the best performing MPs for BJP, I was a popular figure. But I was accused of influencing Dalits. I will snatch at least 10-15 seats from BJP now”.
Although Udit Raj has accused BJP of being anti-Dali for denying him the ticket, the fact is that Delhi North West is a reserved constituency for SCs. Which means an upper caste candidate can’t contest from this seat. In place of Udit Raj, BJP has fielded singer Hans Raj Hans, who is also a Dalit. Hans Raj Hans belongs to the Valmiki community, which is recognised as a Scheduled Caste.
Raj had earlier threatened to quit the party if he was denied ticket by the party.
I am waiting for ticket if not given to me I will do good bye to party
He had tweeted: “I am waiting for ticket if not given to me I will do good bye to party”. Raj had merged his Justice Party with BJP back in 2014 and had successfully contested for North West Delhi.
BJP President and Lok Sabha candidate from Gandhinagar, Amit Shah was interviewed by Republic TV’s Arnab Goswami in Varanasi yesterday.
Amit Shah, speaking about the chances of BJP coming back to power, said that the party who believes in democracy and follows the same within the party can value and strengthen democracy. Taking a subtle jibe at the Congress’ ‘dynasty politics’ Shah said that democracy is not any particular families personal property. And only a party which has the will and vision can take India ahead, said the BJP President.
Shah said that when India completes 75 years of its Independence BJP wishes to see India as a fearless and confident Nation, and said, “We are working relentlessly to achieve the same”.
Attacking Congress, Shah said that since the opposition has no particular agenda, nor does it have any ‘neta’ (leader) nor ‘niti’ (policy) for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, they are fighting this election on the basis of personal attacks. Be it the ‘chowkidar chor hai‘ jibe or calling Amit Shah a ‘murder accused’, the Congress president has been resorting to such techniques to mislead the public. But Indian cannot be fooled, he said.
In reciprocation to the ‘murder accused’ tag, BJP president Amit Shah stated that a false case was registered against him. He alleged an ‘absence of evidence’ and ‘political motivation’ behind the case, furthermore taking a dig on Rahul ‘legal knowledge’. It is notable here that Shah was vindicated when the CBI court had stated in its verdict late last year that the CBI had wanted to falsely accuse Shah.
Saying that the court had ruled that there was not enough evidence against him to merit even a trial, Shah lambasted at Rahul saying that his lawyer friend like Kapil Sibal should enlighten him with some legal know-how.
Amit Shah, when further asked about the voter’s turnout in this election season as compared to that in 2014 said that he is confident that Modi supporters are coming out in huge numbers to cast their votes.
When Arnab indicated that this election is not being seen as a ‘wave election’ as it was in 2014, Shah with extreme certainty said that people are not being able to understand the undercurrent in the Nation. Shah said that he has been traveling extensively and confirmed that this time the ‘Modi Wave’ is stronger than that in 2014.
#ShahSpeaksToArnab | मैं पूरे देश में घूमा हूं और मैं आपको बताता हूं कि बीजेपी और पीएम मोदी के पक्ष में प्रचंड लहर है- अमित शाह
“Public has decided on the next Prime Minister, it is Narendra Modi, there is a ‘gigantic voter wave’ all over the country, in favour of PM Modi, said Shah confidently. He said that both the number of seats as well as the margin will be higher for his party. Performance in all states including Northeast, West Bengal, Odisha, and Kerala will be better than before, he said.
“Vote bank is not any political leader’s slave”. Gone are those days when getting together of any two leaders sitting in their respective drawing rooms could influence voters, Shah said, furthering, that the voters’ are now, well-informed, aware and cannot be influenced. Basing his predictions on this factor, Shah said that he was confident that BJP will win a minimum of 23 seats in West Bengal too.
Answering to Arnab’s question on how Uttar Pradesh results have become the focal point this election season, Shah concluded that the SP-BSP alliance’ internal contradiction votes were more than 15 percent in Uttar Pradesh, which would become an obstacle for the SP-BSP alliance. Amit Shah sounded certain that BJP will sweep Uttar Pradesh in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
Blasting at SP-BSP trying to consolidate votes in Uttar Pradesh on the basis of caste-based politics, Shah said that BJP is instead trying to consolidate vote in UP on the basis of development.
Speaking about the immense development initiative taken up by his party in the last five years in Uttar Pradesh, Shah said that the UP people are totally upbeat with the fact that they have received basic amenities like gas connections, toilets and houses after 70 years of Independence and all this has happened after BJP came to power. He was confident that UP’ public will recognise the BJP’ efforts and vote for them.
Condemning the castist remarks the opposition resorts to regularly, Amit Shah said that the opposition is automatically helping in consolidating the Hindu votes in favour of BJP. He said that his party needn’t do anything, the opposition is helping them to acquire the Hindu support by invoking castist statements.
Shah lambasted at the ‘Hindu terror’ narrative which is being woven around the induction of Sadhvi Pragya into BJP, by the opposition parties. “Hindu Terror is an insult to the Nation”, Shah blistered, saying that both the Babri Masjid case and the Samjhauta blast cases, which were peddled by the Congress party to consolidate its vote bank, were dismissed by the court.
Shah made a fiery attack at the Congress saying that the Congress for all these years has compromised on the country’s security, insulted Indian culture and degraded our country worldwide to garner votes.
Lambasting at the Congress, Shah said that he wanted Congress to answer as to why the Lashkar terrorist’s who were accused in the Samjhauta Blast case were freed? He reiterated that it has been proven that the Congress, in order to consolidate votes, created a false case to mislead the country and also concocted this ‘Hindu terror’ narrative to rule the country for so many years.
Amit Shah further took a dig at the Congress’ election manifesto, saying that the manifesto had been prepared with a ‘tukde-tukde’ mindset. They have always been supporting the Tukde Tukde gang, said Shah.
Answering to Congress’ veiled attack on PM Modi’s remark, when he had in his response to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said that India has not saved its nuclear weapon for Diwali, Shah said that Modi was just making a reference to context trying to convey that India will not bow down to Pakistan sponsored terrorism, which again has been misrepresented by the opposition to suit its narrative, said Shah.
Pointing out at the difference between India then and now, BJP president, said that when the Congress left there was the “Hindu terror’ narrative floating in the country. They projected India as a terrorist hub. Now, under Modi, the entire world has recognised Pakistan as the breeding ground for terrorists. The entire world, including China, has declared Pakistan a terrorist country’, said Shah.
Cornering the Congress over talking about ensuring the dilution of AFSPA, ensuring that the presence of security forces in the Kashmir valley is reduced and dilution of sedition law, the three promises which the Congress election manifesto highlights, Shah informed that probably the Congress supremo was unaware that these laws were introduced by his great grandfather.
Next, commenting on Imran Khan’s controversial remark supporting PM Modi for the next term, which gave the Congress an opportunity to berate the Prime Minister, Shah said that Imran Khan was right, peace would only prevail if Modi comes back to power. Putting an end to all anecdotes woven by the Congress over Imran Khan’s statement, Shah in a witty response, said that Imran Khan’s statement is true because the fear after the airstrike will not permit Pakistan to plan any terror activities in the future and hence peace will automatically prevail.
Answering to the allegations rendered by the opposition, saying that BJP was in a habit to take credit for everything (making a reference to the airstrike), Shah said that it is the “political will that makes the difference”. The army has been there in the past also, then why under the Congress rule such a strong step was not implemented after the 2008 Mumbai attack, questioned Shah.
He said it is the political will which decides, the army just follows the decision. When both operate in unison, then only success comes your way, said Amit Shah.
Arnab further questioned Shah on Priyanka Vadra’s longing desire to contest from Varanasi and also went on to talk about Shah’s take on Amethi.
Talking about Priyanka’s inclination to fight PM Modi from Varanasi, Shah said that since India is a democratic country anyone can fight elections. Taking a subtle jibe at Indira Gandhi and Congress rule then, Amit Shah said: “this is not Congress rule, where an emergency will be declared and the powers from all political parties would be yanked away”. In the same breath, Shah laughed away Priyanka’ chances of winning from Varanasi, saying that the love and admiration people of Varanasi have for Narendra Modi is unimaginable.
Meanwhile, talking about Amethi, Shah asked: “what connection does the Congress family have with Amethi”? Lambasting at Congress’ frivolous claims, he said they were born in Allahabad, lived in Delhi, haven’t worked for the people of Amethi in the last 4 decades, on what basis does the Congress supremo called Amethi it’s home turf? said, Shah.
“It is the BJP which has provided electricity to over 600 households in Amethi. I believe that this time Amethi is a potential seat for BJP”, said the BJP president.
Throwing light on its position in West Bengal, Amit Shah said that in these five years BJP has been a witness to the prevailing autocracy and corruption in Bengal. BJP has been working on the ground level and in its struggle has lost the lives of over 80 workers in Bengal. He furthered that they have been witness to the intolerance and atrocities prevailing in Bengal. He furthered that the mafia and syndicates flourishing under the TMC are no secret. He also asserted that Bengal’s demography has been changing because infiltrators are being backed by the leadership.
He said that the public of West Bengal has now decided to stand up against these atrocities. They will welcome the BJP government with open arms as they now want to “teach didi (Mamata Banerjee) a lesson”, said Shah.
Towards the end of the interview, talking about a few of BJP’ achievements in the last 5 years, be it from providing around 7 crore gas connections, to building 2.5 crore houses. Be it electrifying 2.35 crore houses to constructing over 8 crore toilets or be it providing the 50 crore Indians with health benefits worth 5 lakh, working relentlessly for the holistic development of the Nation, Shah with immense confidence predicted that India will vote BJP back to power.
Envisioning more than 282 seats for BJP and a minimum of 320 seats for NDA, Amit Shah was certain that India will choose Modi as their Prime Minister for the next term as well.
Amit Shah’s full interview with Republic Bharat can be viewed here:
After summoning the chiefs of CBI, IB and Delhi Police earlier in the day in a case alleging that the sexual molestation charge filed against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi is part of a conspiracy, the three-judge bench of the SC continued hearing the case after lunch. Advocate Utsav Bains has filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court claiming that he has proof that allegations are part of a conspiracy by corporate houses and ‘fixers’ to get CJI Gogoi to resign.
Advocate Indira Jaising made submissions in the court, saying that an independent inquiry into the allegations made by the former female employee should be conducted. To this, the court said that this bench is constituted only for the affidavit filed by Utsav Bains, not for the allegations against the CJI. Justice Arun Mishra said that as a lawyer has alleged that there are fixers, the court needs to find out who are these fixers.
Indira Jaising also said that Bains came into the Supreme Court campus in a car without a court entry sticker. She asked how Bains came in a Jaguar car without a sticker.
Talking about the affidavit, Justice Mishra said that Bains has alleged that disgruntled employees of the Supreme Court have come together to frame the CJI. According to the affidavit, two court masters, who were sacked after they had manipulated a court order to favour Anil Ambani, and the former female employee conspired to concoct these charges.
Justice Mishra adds that the affidavit by Bains indicates that the two court masters, sacked after they manipulated an order in favour of Anil Ambani, & the woman court staff have conspired to concoct these charges. “This is a serious matter that needs to be looked into,” he says
In January this year, the Supreme Court had ordered the personal appearance of Anil Ambani in the contempt plea filed by Ericsson against Reliance Communications and Anil Ambani. But when the order was uploaded on the court website, it said that personal appearance was not needed. After Ericson lawyers had pointed it out, the court had found after a probe that the order was changed deliberately, and two court masters responsible for this, Manav Sharma and Tapan Kumar Chakaraborty were sacked by the top court.
Attorney General KK Venugopal countered the Bains, saying he is being selective in his affidavit. To this Bains said that the AG is making personal allegations against him. but the court warned him not to say anything against the AG. When Justice Nariman said that Bains will be thrown out of the court if he doubts Venugopal, Bains offered to walk out himself. But Justice Arun Mishra asked him to stay, saying nobody is attacking him personally.
Supreme Court gives time to Utsav Bains to file another affidavit.
Matter to be listed at 10.30 am tomorrow.
Exercise of judicial powers by this Bench will not affect any pending inquiry, Supreme Court makes it clear.
The court clarified that hearing this case will not have any effect on the in-house inquiry into the sexual harassment charges against the CJI. The court listed the matter for tomorrow morning, asking Utsav Bains to submit another affidavit corroborating his allegations that three sacked employees of Supreme Court made a conspiracy together to frame the CJI in sexual harassment charges with the help of powerful lobbyists.
Prime Minister Modi, before casting his vote in Ahmedabad yesterday, met his mother in Gandhinagar and took her blessings. It has been years since he has been going to meet his mother every time he visits his home state. Except, a son meeting his 99-year-old mother to take blessings before he embarks on an important journey has made a few ‘liberals’ uncomfortable.
Also, who does Namastay to their own mothers!?
Last month, I thanked my mother for some random thing on whatsapp. She told me I was rude & distant to my own family all the time.
This ‘independent’ journalist thought Prime Minister Modi meeting his mother, which he does almost every time he visits Gujarat is ‘dusted and brought as a prop’. She then wonders who would do ‘Namaste’ to their own mother. Perhaps Krishnan could reach out to her own mother, who thinks she is rude, and ask her how people bow down to their elders in Hinduism. Maybe once she knows bowing down to take blessings is a little different from ‘Namaste’ and perhaps starts practising it, her family may not feel she is too distant to her own family.
The Wire propagandist Arfa Khanum who benefited from Rajya Sabha TV took time out to wonder whether she could prove her love for her mother if she doesn’t get pictures clicked with her after meeting her.
I met my mother today but didn’t get any pictures clicked of this historic moment.
How will I prove my love for her now ?
Amusingly, the friendly people on the Internet were helpful. A Twitter user found an old picture of Arfa had posted with her mother with a caption which read ‘there are no happier times than this…’
That’s what was my point too.. This is such a fake drama.. A man who cant keep his mom along with him at his place is a shame, a man who couldn’t respect his wife is again a shame ..and such is a man who ppl think cares about the country. Modi is nothing but Power hungry man
The meltdown was not only limited to the media persons who strut around masquerading as ‘liberals’. Scam accused and son of fodder scam convict Lalu Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav also referred to PM Modi touching his mother’s feet as ‘tamasha’.
What a tamasha!! I take blessings from my mother everyday while going for campaign. She is never out of my sight while I’m at home and I don’t deliberately keep her hundreds of miles away. It’s just that I don’t try to make it a ‘Media Event’ https://t.co/7isgshRzUy
Tejashwi, who abandoned formal education after 9th standard, seems to have forgotten that back in January, he posted pictures with his mother who was also a chief minister at one point, plucking fruits from their garden.
माँ अपने हाथों से बेर तोड़कर खिलाती हुई। क्या माँ द्वारा दी और परोसी हुई खाने की हर चीज आपको भी लज़ीज और स्वादिष्ट लगती है? pic.twitter.com/hpEzPf5u8j
These people amusingly had no issues with Congress General Secretary and party president’s sister Priyanka Gandhi propping her children while addressing public rallies.
Because politics for them is a family business and always a good idea to train them young, eh? This is not the first time Prime Minister’s Modi’s mother, who is a private individual and no political standing, has been targetted by the ‘liberals’.
Congress leader Raj Babbar had mocked PM Modi’s mother by saying how the Rupee is devaluating so much that it is reaching her age (97/98). A Pakistani newspaper had even insulted his mother by calling Modi a ‘son of a prostitute‘. Few days back, Congress leader and MP candidate had equated PM Modi’s and UP CM Yogi Adityanath’s aunt, mother and sister to stray cattle.
In the scorching heat of the election season, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was seen sharing some memories about his personal life and experiences in a conversation with the versatile Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar. Modi recounted how his belonging to a modest background, his hard work as a Gujarat CM and unwavering dedication to the country has played a crucial role in preparing him to assume the office of Prime Minister.
#WATCH PM Modi during interaction with Akshay Kumar, talks about his fashion style, says being careful about his appearance could possibly be psychological reaction to an inferiority complex he felt growing up poor pic.twitter.com/zCVOaAMCY5
In one of the instances in the interview, Modi shares that being from a poor family, he was possibly conditioned to give a psychological reaction to an inferiority complex he felt growing up poor. He explained how he used to wait back after his classes got over and collect the residual chalk pieces that the teacher threw away and use them to whiten his dirty canvas shoes. He also said how he invented an ingenious method to press his clothes with the help of a container in his house and pouring in hot coal in it as his family couldn’t afford the iron.
However, Robert Vadra’s entitled relative Tehseen Poonawalla took this opportunity to ridicule PM Modi’s childhood memories and the travails he faced. Poonawalla derided PM’s explanation of how he cleaned his canvas shoes with the help of chalks claiming that a wet cloth could have been used instead for cleaning the shoes. In addition to this, Poonawalla also took a jibe at PM Modi’s erstwhile profession by claiming that he could have used detergent used for washing ‘chai’ dishes to clean his shoes.
One has to be a really DUMB kid to “clean” white canvas shoes with CHALK!
All you could have done is wet a cloth & use the detergent, used for washing ‘chai’ dishes..But then he complicated stuff from childhood, did nonsense & called it creativity ! Just like #Demonetisationhttps://t.co/enbJKuhLRm
Nevertheless, Twitter users were quick to admonish Tehseen Poonawalla for his remark against the poor and middle-class people and pointed out how it is a routine practice for many middle class and poor children to use chalks to whiten shoes and avoid the wrath of the teacher.
Cleaning canvas shows was done with chalk. We did it for our PT shoes all the time. https://t.co/A6jscdelOK
We used chalk all the time over PT shoes before assembly because that is when your personal cleanliness was inspected and it was a quick way to escape notice of the teacher..
Twitter users also drew attention to the fact that privileged Congress leaders and supporters who had lived their life with reasonable comfort and had everything at their disposal cannot understand the hardships of the common people who had to slum it up with whatever they can in order to sustain their life.
Pretty boy @tehseenp ‘s tweet today is the most glaring example of @INCIndia ‘s complete disconnect with majority of Indians. Any wonder that it was @narendramodi who had to provide them with basic necessities for subsistance?
EVERY child in my school used chalk as a quick fix to spot clean white canvas shoes. We were middle class kids who made one pair of canvas shoes last for 2 years. Maybe privileged kids like @tehseenp with his Richie rich ‘Poonawala uncle’ had staff to clean his multiple shoes https://t.co/F3uRuKWKKx
I had a privileged upbringing thanks to my parents who could afford it. But even in my school, students used to rub chalk on canvas shoes every Saturday because PT teacher used to punish dirty uniformed ones during drill ? https://t.co/MdTT8VfAdA
If this was not enough, Tehseen Poonawalla also started mocking all those who had used chalks in their childhood to clean their shoes and called all of them dumb. He brazened out his stance defending that chalks are a temporary solution and one has to clean shoes with other measures for hygiene reasons.
All dud ‘Chalk’idars used chalk to “clean” shoes.
NO: chalk does NOT clean shoes ..just makes it look white & then the dust falls off!
Common sense- chalk is for a little time, ultimately one needs to CLEAN shoes for Hygine reasons!
Btw use chalk to make teeth look white ?
Tehseen’s rant on Twitter against Modi’s use of chalk to whiten his shoes not only smacks off his elitist snobbery but it also shows his unmitigated contempt for the poor who had no means but to use chalks to avoid the ignominy of wearing an untidy pair of shoes and cannot match up the privileged students in his/her class who can buy a new pair of shoes as per their will.
Congress leaders and their entitled relatives have often displayed unapologetic disdain for the poor and their means for survival and subsistence. Mani Shankar Aiyyar had derisively mocked PM Modi as a chaiwala and declared that a chaiwala should do his job of serving tea instead of dreaming of becoming the PM of the country. He also made a casteist remark on PM Modi by calling him ‘Neech’.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi had painted an entire class of ‘Watchmen’ as thieves through his jibe for which he is facing a contempt notice from the Supreme Court.
Instead of empathising with the poor and addressing their problems to pacify their sufferings, Congress leaders and their ecosystem bards like Tehseen Poonawala are busy mocking them for their abject situation by rubbing salt on their wounds. The elitist mindset of Congress leaders conditions their thought process so much that a simple act of a poor child’s attempt to make his shoes look whiter and newer draws their disdain and mockery.
The lack of connection and contemptuous apathy towards the efforts and struggles of the poor is reflected in Congress from the very top too. Priyanka Gandhi, in one of her statements, had stated that from matchbox to missiles, everything India has, is a gift from Congress.
The Congress leaders and their supporters, in their drive to throw Modi out of power, have shown shocking apathy towards the sentiments of the poor and the underprivileged. With the recent remarks made by Robert Vadra’s relative and an ardent Congress supporter, Tehseen Poonawalla, it is evident that Congress has never sought to understand the poor and it never will.
The Election Commission has ordered that the trailers of a Mamata Banerjee’s biopic should be removed from four online platforms. The EC has initiated steps to ensure that the trailers are removed after the chief electoral officer of West Bengal submitted a report on the biopic, which is titled Baghini: Bengal Tigress.
According to the EC, the film violates the directives issued by them. On April 10, EC had issued an order stating “any biopic material in the nature of biography/hagiography subserving the purposes of any political party or any individual entity connected to it, which is intended to, or which has the potential to disturb the level playing field during the elections, should not be displayed in electronic media including cinematograph during the operation of model code of conduct”.
According to the producer, the Bengali film titled Baghini: Bengal Tigress is to release on May 3. But the Election Commission has found that the film is yet to receive a certificate from the Central Board of Film Certification. The Commission has received a report on this and would be examining it.
This decision comes after the Vice President of BJPs West Bengal unit, Joy Prakash Majumdar, had written a letter of complaint to the EC stating that the biopic must be reviewed as it was done in case of PM Modi’s biopic. EC has taken action against two biopics on PM Modi, one is a movie and the other is a TV series.
Many political rivals of the TMC including the CPI(M) have called for a ban on the film. One of the leaders has been quoted saying that they are hopeful that the EC would remove the trailer of the film after having taken action on PM Modi’s biopic.
This election season, the Election Commission has taken action on various mediums of mass expression including stalling Vivek Oberoi’s biopic on PM Modi, issuing show cause notice on JNU’s ABVP for a book launch, issued an order against TV serials for praising government schemes and had also issued another notice to a citizen who had printed “No gifts, please vote for PM Modi” on wedding invitation cards. According to EC, 574 Facebook posts, 49 tweets, two Youtube videos and three WhatsApp messages have been deleted on the orders of the poll panel for violation of rules.
Three phases of the make-or-break 2019 Lok Sabha Elections have concluded and while on the ground, the Modi wave seems to be going strong, even in states like West Bengal, the Lutyens’ media is forever hopeful of the ‘wave’ dwindling and making way for their crowned Prince, Rahul Gandhi. Leftist portal The Quint, published an article headlined “Modi wave over? Why pollsters are scaling down projections for BJP” based on CVoter data and an opinion article by CSDS. The article was written by a bigot and fake news peddler Aditya Menon and hence, the data certainly deserves a closer look.
The article banner is as follows, showing upset/worried PM Modi and Amit Shah with a downward arrow:
The Quint banner for the article
The article says:
On 7 March, the Modi government’s approval rating was at 62.06 percent. Despite a minor decrease, it remained in the 50s till 22 March. But on 12 April, a day after the first phase of polling, the Modi government’s approval rating had fallen to 43.25 percent, a fall of almost 19 percent in about five weeks.
The article follows this up with a graph that tracks the popularity of PM Modi right from January 1st 2019 to April 12th. However, the focus of the article is how post-Balakot, his popularity has declined by 19%.
According to Quint, on 1st January 2019, Modi’s popularity was at 32.4%, peaking on March 7th to 62.06% and then falling to 43.25% on April 12th.
OpIndia got access to the CVoter data that The Quint has based its article on, and the results are rather damning.
The data presented by CVoter makes it amply clear that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is miles ahead of any other contender to the chair of the Prime Minister. We will try and dissect The Quint’s jugglery armed with this data.
The Lie
The CVoter approval rating data is divided into several questions. For example, what is the satisfaction with the current government led by BJP? What is the satisfaction with the current Prime Minister? Who would they choose as the PM, Narendra Modi or Rahul? Satisfaction with Sonia Gandhi, etc.
The approval ratings for every parameter is different. For example, the satisfaction with the current government led by BJP may throw up a completely different approval rating as compared to the satisfaction level with the Prime Minister or even, when one asks respondents to choose between Rahul Gandhi and Prime Minister Modi.
According to Quint, on 1st January 2019, Modi’s popularity was at 32.4%, peaking on March 7th to 62.06% and then falling to 43.25% on April 12th. Let us look at these three data points date wise.
1st January 2019
The Quint mentions in its graph that PM Modi’s popularity stood at 32.4% on 1st January 2019. This approval rating seems to have been taken from the question ‘Satisfaction with current Prime Minister Narendra Modi?’. In the CVoter data, the nett satisfaction rating stood at 32.37% which was rounded off to 32.4% by The Quint.
(49.59% of people were very much satisfied, 23.66% of people were somewhat satisfied, 32.88% of people were not satisfied and 1.87% people couldn’t say. 6154 people were surveyed for this question on this date).
March 7th 2019
Interestingly, on 7th March 2019, to the same question ‘Satisfaction with current Prime Minister Modi?’ the nett satisfaction according to CVoter data is 63.47%. This is also the peak satisfaction level with Prime Minister Modi. However, in The Quint article, mentions PM Modi’s peak popularity as 62.06% on 7th March. How did this discrepancy come in?
Actually, The Quint craftily took this number from another question that asked people about their satisfaction with the central government led by BJP. In that question, that peak popularity is on 7th March, standing at 62.06%.
The Quint, essentially, mixed up 2 data sets just to ensure Modi’s peak popularity appeared a few percentage points lower.
April 12th 2019
The Quint says PM Modi’s popularity stood at 43.25% on 12th April 2019. Interestingly, this number is also taken from the ‘satisfaction with the central government led by BJP’ question. The Modi popularity question throws up a satisfaction percentage of 48%.
In this too, The Quint interchanged the data sets to get a lower satisfaction percentage for Prime Minister Modi.
How satisfied are people with PM Modi?
As on 20th April 2019, the nett satisfaction with PM Narendra Modi is 47.39%. 50.78% of people are very much satisfied, 22.47% are somewhat satisfied, 28.86% of people are not satisfied.
While PM Modi’s popularity did peak right after the Balakot airstrikes, to assume that any adjustment in popularity according to pollsters since then is a ‘downgrade’ and to conclude that this is an indication of PM Modi’s dwindling popularity is asinine, to say the least.
if one looks from the perspective of 2019 Lok Sabha elections and takes the larger picture into account, Modi’s nett popularity has only grown this year from a 32.37% on 1st January to 47.39% on 20th April. That is an upswing of nett 15 points in less than 4 months.
Does that seem like PM Modi’s popularity is on the downfall? Not to someone who wants to see the data for what it is.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi vs Rahul Gandhi
A crucial element that is missing from The Quint analysis is what people said when they were asked who they would choose as the Prime Miniter – Narendra Modi or Rahul Gandhi?
When one looks at the CVoter data, it is no surprise that The Quint chose to quietly leave this part out of their ‘analysis’, considering it would puncture a rather large hole in their propaganda.
To the CVoter question about who people who choose as the PM – Rahul Gandhi or Prime Minister Modi, an overwhelming majority opted for PM Modi.
According to CVoter polls, Prime Minister Modi, as on 20th April 2019 has a whopping 24.65% lead over Rahul Gandhi. The green graph you see there is the approval rating of PM Modi as compared to Rahul Gandhi. That blue graph that appears miles below the green graph, is that of Rahul Gandhi.
CVoter graph on approval ratings of PM Modi and Rahul Gandhi as Prime Minister
As on 20th April 2019, 58.40% of people would prefer Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister as opposed to 33.75% for Rahul Gandhi. The lead comes up to a massive 24.85% in a country of over a billion people.
On 1st January 2019, 50.90% of people wanted preferred Modi over Rahul and 38.60% of people wanted Rahul over Modi. PM Modi, therefore, had a lead of 12.30%.
In less than 4 months, that lead has increased and become double of what it was in January, taking it up to 24.85%.
People who preferred Rahul Gandhi over PM Modi fell from 38.60% to 33.75% and people who preferred Modi over Rahul Gandhi rose from 50.90% to 58.40%.
This crucial data when commenting on the prospects of either of the leaders in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections were summarily left out by The Quint. One can only guess why, but we will certainly not need a pollster to tell us that The Quint has an agenda against the Prime Minister and twisting, selectively quoting and mixing up data sets is a tool to satiate that agenda.
The Quint leaves out a subjective answer that widens the gap between Modi and other leaders
A subjective question was also asked by CVoter. The survey asked ‘who do you think is most suited for the post of the Prime Minister’. In that, respondents were free to venture answers and no options were given to them. In that, PM Modi has a decisive lead over every other leader in the country today who might harbour hopes to become the PM.
Modi vs all according to CVoter
According to the CVoter poll, a whopping 56.43% said that they would want to see Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister. Followed by a 22% for Rahul Gandhi, 0.99% for Sonia Gandhi, 2.71% for Mayawati, 1.41% for Manmohan Singh, 1.67% for Mamata Banerjee, 1.40% for Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, 0.08% for Lalu Yadav, 1.67% for Arvind Kejriwal, 0.15% for Chandrababu Naidu and 4.83% for others.
The conclusion of this data: EVERY leader combined in the entire country, whether from a national party like Congress or a regional party like TMC, AAP etc don’t even come close to the nation’s choice of Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister who in this segment, gets an approval rating of 56.43%.
In this segment, from 46.73% on 1st January 2019, PM Modi’s rating has come up to 56.43% on 20th April 2019. Rahul Gandhi rating has gone down from 26.04% in January to 22% on 20th April.
This data too was maliciously left out by The Quint that has declared that the Modi wave is over and, in fact, that PM Modi might end up getting even lesser seats than what pollsters predict currently.
Some interesting state-level facts that The Quint didn’t bother including either
There have been several articles written about how Rahul Gandhi is the most preferred candidate for the Prime Ministerial post in Kerala with a whopping 54% wanting to see him as the Prime Minister (as per the subjective question spoken off in the previous segment).
However, The Quint and most other portals miss a crucial observation. PM Modi is the most preferred in states where the regional leaders are pegging themselves as the PM contenders.
In West Bengal, where BJP has traditionally had no base whatsoever and many pollsters believe is poised to bag 15 to 18 seats this time around, 51.21% of people prefer PM Modi as the Prime Minister as opposed to 14.18% for Mamata Banerjee and 27.24% for Rahul Gandhi.
In Uttar Pradesh, PM Modi stands at 54.85% whereas Mayawati stands at 13.55% and Rahul Gandhi stands at 17.79%. Akhilesh Yadav is not even an option in the minds of the voters.
In Jammu and Kashmir, PM Modi has an approval rating of 48.02% and Rahul Gandhi has that of 32.20%. The regional leaders are not even an option for the people of JK.
In Bihar, where a mahagathbandhan is underway, PM Modi’s approval rating is 67.10%. Rahul Gandhi’s is 19.42% and the regional leaders don’t even come close. Lalu Prasad Yadav bags a 0.72% with his offsprings not even featuring as an option.
Conclusion
When discussing one leader’s popularity and what impact it might have on the elections which are already in progress, there are two important factors to consider:
Politics is extremely dynamic and rankings and percentage popularity could change on a regular basis. To get a true picture of how a leader is doing electorally, one must look at whether his popularity has been on a consistent rise, consistent fall, just consistent and how the ratings have increased or decreased over a substantial period of time.
How one leader measures up against the other leaders who are in the race to become the Prime Minister. In this case, to reach a concrete analysis which is devoid of bias, one would have to look at the popularity ratings of the Prime Minister, Rahul Gandhi and the other regional leaders who are hoping to stake a claim as the PM or at least, play a significant part in national politics. Mamata Banerjee, for example.
Interestingly, The Quint article fails on both counts, whether inadvertently or deliberately is a matter of opinion.
The Quint article focuses only on the events after Balakot airstrikes without taking into account the larger picture over several months and intriguingly, doesn’t really compare PM Modi’s popularity with the other leaders who are hoping to take his place, thereby, making the analysis a shoddy piece of work. In fact, even in taking a skewed narrative of the data, they lie just to ensure Modi’s popularity can be shown as a few percentage points lesser.
In every single question that was posed to the people, Prime Minister Modi has emerged as the undisputed leader in the minds of the voters. The adjustment post-Balakot is by no means an indication of the ‘Modi wave’ being over and is a conclusion that can be drawn only if one is torturing the data to say what they really want it to say. The only question now is – what was The Quint’s agenda in lying, obfuscating, twisting data, quoting data selectively, and peddling a false, malicious narrative in the midst of 2019 elections.
