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Rahul Gandhi tenders unconditional apology for lie attributing “Chowkidar Chor Hai” remark to Supreme Court

OpIndia Staff
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Rahul Gandhi tenders unconditional apology for lie attributing “Chowkidar Chor Hai” remark to Supreme Court

Congress President Rahul Gandhi has tendered an unconditional apology in the Supreme Court for “unintentionally and inadvertently” attributing the ‘Chowkidar Chow hai’ jibe against Prime Minister Modi to the court’s order on Rafale Review plea.


On April 10, while campaigning at a rally, Rahul Gandhi had stated that the Supreme Court order says, “Chowkidar Chor Hai”. BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi had filed a contempt plea against the statement on which the SC had issued a notice to Rahul Gandhi. The court had stated that it has never said so.

The SC had allowed the admissibility of three documents in their hearing of the review petitions on the Rafale verdict. Rahul, Congress and the supportive ecosystem had propagated the step as a big victory against the NDA government.

Rahul’s unconditional apology comes after much embarrassment to his image and his party as he was made to admit he had said it at ‘the heat of campaigning’.

The Supreme Court had also objected over the affidavit submitted by Rahul Gandhi. CJI Gogoi had stated during a hearing that Rahul admitted wrongly attributing the remark but he stands by it.

Later, the SC had also raised an objection regarding Rahul Gandhi’s affidavits. The court had stated that ‘regret’ is not ‘apology’ and had ordered Rahul to submit an unconditional apology.


Meenakshi Lekhi, the petitioner in the case, has shared a tweet stating that Justice is a great leveller.

Alwar gang rape: Victim’s kin allege that police suppressed the case because of elections

OpIndia Staff
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Alwar gang rape: Victim’s kin allege that police suppressed the case because of elections

The family members of the Alwar gang rape survivor have alleged that the police tried to suppress the case and hush up the matter due to the ongoing elections. Polling in Rajasthan took place on April 29 and May 6.

The victims kin alleged that though they reported the crime to the Alwar police station on May 2, the cops hushed up the matter due to the polls in Rajasthan. The police cited the lack of staff due to poll duty, as the reason for delaying the investigation.

In a horrific incident, a couple, shopping for a wedding in the family, was reportedly forcefully stopped by five youths and the woman was brutally gang-raped, beaten, videotaped and later blackmailed, near Thanagazi in Alwar under broad daylight on April 26.

The rape survivor, recounting the horrific incident stated that the ordeal went on for almost three hours. The more she resisted, the more the five youths tortured her and her husband. The passerby did not hear the desperate cries, recounted the victim.

The accused robbed the couple of Rs 2000 and dumped the couple’s bike in a ditch and dragged them to the sand dunes off the road, where they were forced to strip off their clothes and videotaped. The lady resisted the five men but when they started brutally assaulting her husband with sticks, she surrendered to them. The accused took turns to rape the victim.

Later, one accused blackmailed the couple for cash, with 11 videos they recorded while carrying out the act of savagery.

The survivor’s brother-in-law recounted that the traumatised couple took three days to narrated the ordeal to their family members after which they lodged a complaint with the Alwar police.

The brother-in-law of the survivor confirmed that the accused demanded Rs 9000 to delete the 11 videos they shot, but before the family could decide the next course of action, one of the videos was uploaded on social media, which went viral on Monday.

Meanwhile, Madan Lal Saini, BJP Rajasthan president has alleged that the Rajasthan government suppressed the matter in a planned manner.

“The incident is a horrific incident which weakens the society and it becomes even more serious when the criminals are not caught… The incident happened on April 26. The police were aware. On May 3, an FIR was registered and they [government/authorities] kept the incident under wraps till yesterday [May 6],” Madan Lal Saini said.

“It was kept a secret because elections were going on. If this incident would have come to light, then it would have affected the Congress adversely in the elections. That is why, the government and the home department concealed the matter in a planned manner – that it not be published and action not is taken on it,” he added.

However, the investigations are on and the Rajasthan police have arrested one of the five accused, named Inderaj Gurjar, on Tuesday. Accused Inderaj Gurjar is a truck driver and is a resident of Pragpur village. The police administration has suspended the SHO of Thanagazi and removed Alwar Superintendent of Police for their laxity.

Frustrated with him looking like Rahul Gandhi, Rahul look-alike puts on weight to look different. Not satire

OpIndia Staff
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Frustrated with him looking like Rahul Gandhi, Rahul look-alike puts on weight to look different. Not satire

Life is tough as Congress President Rahul Gandhi. Tougher when you are a look alike of Rahul Gandhi. In what seems to be a case where real life takes inspiration from Satire, a Surat-based man decided to put on 20 kgs weight because he was just tired of looking like the Congress President.

Restaurant owner Prashant Sethi bears a strong resemblance to Rahul Gandhi, so much that as per reports, even his wife refers to him as Rahul. In fact, his resemblance to the Gandhi scion even made his food joint popular and people would throng the place to catch a glimpse of him.

Prashant Sethi, Rahul Gandhi lookalike (image: IndiaTimes)

However, things changed in last five years and he has become a BJP sympathiser and got so fed up of being referred to as Rahul Gandhi lookalike, he decided to put on weight and changed his hairstyle so that he stops resembling Rahul Gandhi. In fact, his support for PM Narendra Modi is so strong he even turned down a film offer where he was asked to play the role of Rahul Gandhi.

Sethi, who once had high hopes from Rahul Gandhi is so disillusioned that he started getting irritated by the compliments. In fact, his father had even encouraged him to join Youth Congress. However, Prashant is now unimpressed with Rahul Gandhi and against Congress’ political ideology.

The very people who screamed ‘No Modi wave’ in 2014 are saying the same thing in 2019: Will the result be the same too?

OpIndia Staff
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The very people who screamed ‘No Modi wave’ in 2014 are saying the same thing in 2019: Will the result be the same too?

In the run-up to the 2014 General Elections, we were told repeatedly, on several occasions, through various media outlets by numerous people that there was no Modi-Wave on the ground. When the results were declared eventually, it became pretty clear that they were as wrong as the people who believe the Earth is flat.

The Exit Polls that mostly predicted a victory for the BJP and also the NDA, however, they fell short in predicting the nature of the Modi wave. The NDA, eventually, won 336 of the 543 seats and the BJP secured 282 seats on its own. The UPA, on the other hand, won merely 60 and the Congress was reduced to its lowest ever tally of 44. Most Exit Polls gave UPA close to 100 seats. The highest estimation was 148 seats and the lowest was 97.

Other than the Exit polls, the intelligentsia of India was also vehemently telling the nation that there is no ‘Modi wave’, basically insinuating that BJP or NDA might not make the government or at least, not with a thumping majority like they did. The Atal Bihari Vajpayee election of 2004 was repeatedly invoked to get people to believe that the Modi wave was merely in Television studios (well, funny considering media has traditionally been anti-BJP and definitely anti-Modi) and not on the ground.

It is now 2019 and the nation is in the thick of General Elections. The same clamour that we heard in 2014 is back and the media seems to support the Congress narrative that 2019 might be a repeat of 2004 elections. They repeatedly assert that the Modi wave is over and that Rahul Gandhi has “come of age” (A phenomenon that has been taking place since 2009) and is poised to defeat Narendra Damodardas Modi.

With the narrative being exactly the same in 2014 and now in 2019, it bodes well to revisit what the intelligentsia was saying then and now, considering they were proven wrong then and they might as well be proven wrong now.

In April 2014, Sanjay Kumar declared emphatically that “BJP’s aggressive campaigning centred around Narendra Modi has failed in generating a Modi wave across the country”.

Praveen Chakraborty of IndiaSpend, who has since then joined the Congress party’s Data Analytics unit, had pontificated solemnly in 2014 why waves don’t matter.

The Blind who could not see the obvious in 2014 appear to be sure again in their vehement proclamations that there’s no Modi wave in 2019. Praveen Chakraborty, who had told us with utter confidence that “Data analysis for over 40 years shows that national issues or sentiments have a limited impact on votes and seats for a national party” is now telling us that the absence of Modi-Wave is exactly what will make 2019 a repeat of 2004.

Sanjay Kumar, after failing miserably 5 years earlier, wants us to pay close attention to “Why the Modi wave is missing so far in the polls”. Although this time around, he appears to have learnt something from his past failures and adds the caveat, “So far this election has not seen either a pro- or anti-Modi wave. While it might change in the round of elections, it can go either way.”

It’s a familiar trend, however. The mainstream media, like in 2014, is again working overtime to prove that there’s no Modi wave. Only the players appear to have changed. The likes of Sujata Nandan and Anup Kumar had exhausted themselves telling us that the Modi-wave was nonexistent.

We were told by Scroll in 2014 that caste politics had neutralized the Modi wave in Bihar and that the BJP was in contention in only 9 seats. the BJP eventually won over 22 seats in the state while the NDA secured 31. Does it seem familiar with regards to what the same people are saying for Uttar Pradesh in 2019?

Scroll.in in 2018 itself (a year before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections) had written off the Modi wave. It asserted that while BJP might win 2019, Modi’s ability to create another wave is highly unlikely.

Just before the 2014 elections, Saba Naqvi had essentially written off the Modi wave too. She had emphatically asserted that BJP will fall short of a majority but is likely to form the government.

In 2019, again, we have a barrage of individuals with a particular political inclination that there is either no Modi Wave or that it has dissipated. People like Saba Naqvi and Aditya Menon, like their comrades Sanjay Kumar and Praveen Chakraborty, are telling us quite confidently that there is no Modi wave at all.

TheQuint.in didn’t exist right before the 2014 elections, but if it had, we are pretty sure it would be saying exactly what it’s saying in 2019. “No Modi wave”.

No one can fault Aditya Menon for lack of effort. The known bigot and fake news peddler went to extraordinary lengths to torture the survey data into saying what he wanted it to say. Our comprehensive article on the matter can be read here.

Some, of course, took their stupidity a notch ahead. In 2019, Prannoy Roy of NDTV said there was no Modi wave in 2014. The election where BJP won a thumping majority. And, of course, for the 2019 elections, he is pretty much saying the same thing.

The run-up to results day of 2019 Lok Sabha Elections appears to be along the same lines of what we witnessed 5 years ago. We have politicians from the Opposition parties making extremely stupid remarks that only benefits the BJP, the enthusiasm among BJP supporters is at an all-time high, Narendra Modi’s own confidence appears to be on Cloud 9. And we have detractors who tell us regularly that there is no Modi wave in 2019. It only remains to be seen whether 2019 has a similar conclusion to what we witnessed in 2014.

21 opposition parties planning to write to president, urging not to call single largest party to form government: Reports

OpIndia Staff
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21 opposition parties planning to write to president, urging not to call single largest party to form government: Reports

After completion of 5 phases of the Lok Sabha elections and two phases remaining, the political manoeuvring and game plan seem to be picking pace. As a desperate measure to stop the BJP from forming the government, 21 opposition parties seem to have come up with a unique plan.

As per a source based report in NDTV, the 21 opposition parties are planning to sign a letter to the President of India, requesting him not to invite the single largest party to form the government. The report says, the 21 said parties are expecting that once the election results are out, they will be ready to show the president their letters of support to form an ‘alternative government’.

The report states that the purpose of the ‘letter’ is to stop the President from inviting the single largest party to form the government at the centre and ensuring that the single largest party does not get the chance to make or break regional alliances after election results are out on May 23.

This plan by the said 21 parties, however, rests on the hope that the NDA will fall short of majority seats (272) in the Lok Sabha that holds 543 elected seats and there is a hung parliament. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP had won 282 seats on its own, the NDA, a coalition of BJP and several regional parties, had won 336 seats in total, forming the first clear majority government in decades.

For the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, some exit polls had predicted a clear majority for the NDA while some had predicted a hung parliament. The lack of a clear majority to any political party has been the base of many political games and governments in the past.

It is notable here that the above mentioned ’21 opposition’ parties have been very busy trying to forage whatever political mileage they can. They had been vehemently against EVMs initially and when the anti-EVM campaigning failed, they had demanded a 50% VVPAT verification, a review petition for which was dismissed by the Supreme Court yesterday.

Prior to that, the 21 opposition parties had also banded together against the NDA government after the Indian Air Force’s strike on JeM terrorist camps inside Pakistan’s Balakot and had condemned the ‘politicisation of armed forces’. They had alleged that the government is trying to take credit for the task performed by soldiers and had even peddled blatant lies about all-party meeting. Interestingly, their statements had found support in Pakistan where the Pakistan government’s official broadcasting channels and its ministers had hailed the move and endorsed the statements made by the said parties.

It is, however, interesting to note that while the ’21 opposition parties’ have been trying to pull every possible trick to gain power, they do not seem to trust each other enough to form a pre-poll grand alliance and offer an honest face before the voters. Despite much talk of a united opposition to take on the BJP, ample photo ops, grandstanding and statements, the opposition parties had not set a clear picture of who their PM candidate will be or whether they are fighting the elections together. Their actions only show that they are after power at any cost and willing to be open for horse tradings and post-poll political tug of war to get a slice of the central government by hoodwinking the electoral mandate.

Lok Sabha elections: EC declares polls held in Tripura West ‘void’, orders repolling in 168 polling booths

OpIndia Staff
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Lok Sabha elections: EC declares polls held in Tripura West ‘void’, orders repolling in 168 polling booths

The Election Commission of India Tuesday, ordered re-polling at 168 polling stations in Tripura West parliamentary constituency on May 12 from 7 am to 5 pm. The polls in the constituency were held in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections on April 11.


“After taking all material evidence into account, the Election Commission declared under sub-Sections (2) of Section 58 of the Representation of the people act 1951, that the poll which was taken on April 11, 2019, at 168 polling stations in 1-Tripura West constituency against the assembly segments to be void and appoints May 12 as the date and fixed hours from 7 am to 5 pm for taking a fresh poll, an official statement said.

Tripura West parliamentary seat had recorded one of the highest voter turnouts of over 81 per cent when the constituency went to polls on April 11.

On April 19, Congress and CPI(M) in Tripura approached the poll panel and complained of massive poll rigging and booth capturing in Tripura West constituency. They both held BJP responsible for the mal-practices.

While CPI-M general secretary, Sitaram Yechury alleged that more than 460 booths out of the total 1679 in West Tripura were rigged and BJP workers intimidated voters and forced them to leave the booths and the agents of Left political parties were not allowed to enter inside the booths by the BJP workers’, Congress candidate Subal Bhowmick accused BJP workers of intimidating and threatening voters.

However, BJP candidate and party general secretary of Tripura Pratima Bhowmick refuted the allegations levelled by Congress and CPI-M. Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb said “people exercised their franchise in a festive mood and voting was completely peaceful.

Meanwhile, the polling for two parliamentary constituencies in Tripura was held in two phases- April 11 and 18. Results of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections will be declared on May 23.

RTI response says ‘no surgical strike prior to 2016′, days after 3 former Army Chiefs trashed Congress’ claims of previous surgical strikes

OpIndia Staff
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RTI response says ‘no surgical strike prior to 2016′, days after 3 former Army Chiefs trashed Congress’ claims of previous surgical strikes

Days after Congress’ claims that it had conducted 6 surgical strikes during its tenure in a bid to undermine the Modi government’s resolve to give the Indian armed forces a free hand in dealing with Pakistan, an RTI response has asserted that there is no record of any surgical strike prior to the 2016 surgical strike where the Indian army conducted surgical strike across the border to neutralise terror camps.

The Ministry of Defence was responding to an RTI question filed by Jammu-based activist Rohit Chaudhary. Chaudhary asked the Ministry of Defence if there were any surgical strikes conducted between the years 2004 and 2014 (essentially, during the Congress government).

In its reply, the Ministry of Defence, through the Director General of Military Operations (DGMO), said they have records of only one strike, that was conducted in September 2016. This strike came 11 days after militants attacked an Army camp at Uri, killing 19 soldiers.

Congress government’s stand on the surgical strike conducted by the Indian Army in 2016 has been shoddy and confused, to say the least. When the surgical strikes were conducted in 2016, the Congress’ first response was to question the strikes against Pakistan and in fact, tow the Pakistan line while asking for proof of strikes.

Thereafter, the Congress party and its president Rahul Gandhi had gone on to claim that several surgical strikes were conducted during the Congress government’s tenure but it chose not to take credit for it and politicise the Indian Army. While the number of surgical strikes purportedly conducted during the Congress government’s tenure kept changing, the latest number was 6, as claimed by Congress.

After these assertions, three former Chiefs of the Indian Army, all during the Congress’ regime had strongly refuted the claims that surgical strikes such as the one conducted in 2016 were conducted earlier during the Congress government’s tenure. Earlier too in 2018, another RTI response had clarified that prior to 2016, there was no record of surgical strikes being conducted.

With this latest RTI response by the Ministry of Defence, one now wonders if Congress would stop politicising the Armed forces and lying about taking a tough stand against Pakistan.

Election Commission dismisses Congress complaint against PM Modi for his Bhrashtachari remark on Rajiv Gandhi

OpIndia Staff
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Election Commission dismisses Congress complaint against PM Modi for his Bhrashtachari remark on Rajiv Gandhi

The Election Commission (EC) has dismissed the complaint filed by the Congress Party against Prime Minister Modi for his remarks on former Prime Minister Late Rajiv Gandhi wherein Modi called him Bhrashtachari No. 1.


The EC said that the ‘Bhrashtachari No. 1’ remark against Rajiv Gandhi did not violate the Model Code of Conduct. Responding to the incessant allegations on the Rafale deal by the Congress President Rahul Gandhi, who is out on bail in National Herald case,  the Prime Minister had said that his father (Rajiv Gandhi) was termed as Mr. Clean by his courtiers but his life ended as a Bhrashtachari No.1, at a rally in Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh.

Rattled by the comments of the Prime Minister on Rajiv Gandhi, Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee had written to the Election Commission seeking strict action against PM Modi. In its letter addressed to the EC, the UPCC alleged that PM Modi’s remarks violated the MCC and were an insult to the Bharat Ratna awardee Rajiv Gandhi. The Congress party had filed several complaints with the EC against PM Modi, and most of them have been dismissed by the poll panel. BJP had also complained against Rahul Gandhi for calling Amit Shah a murder accused, which was also dismissed by the EC.

Cavalcade of BJP leaders Himanta Biswa Sarma and Dilip Ghosh attacked by TMC goons in West Bengal

OpIndia Staff
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Cavalcade of BJP leaders Himanta Biswa Sarma and Dilip Ghosh attacked by TMC goons in West Bengal

In yet another incident of political violence in the state of West Bengal, the cavalcade of Minister for PWD, Health and Finance in Assam government, Himanta Biswa Sarma and Bengal BJP President Dilip Ghosh was allegedly attacked by Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers at Kheju in Kanthi Lok Sabha constituency.


Biswa took to Twitter to share the information about the incident. He said that several workers of BJP were injured in the attack and they were stuck as the TMC goons had surrounded them, abusing them at the same time. He said that the reinforcement of CRPF arrived at the scene later but the TMC goons were making difficult for the forces to rescue them.


Slamming the Mamata government for the apparent lawlessness in the State Biswa said that he was appalled at such brazen abuse of power. He said that even the West Bengal police watched the TMC goons block the road on both sides as mute spectators.


The vehicles of the convoy were also attacked and the windows were smashed, as can be seen in videos of the scene.


Himanta Biswa Sarma, the architect of the rise of BJP in the northeast, said that the TMC goons damaged more than 20 motorbikes in the cavalcade and took away three West Bengal BJP workers.


Incidents of violence on political rivals are rampant in the State of West Bengal. Recently a BJP polling agent was brutally assaulted by TMC workers during the 5th phase polling of the Lok Sabha elections.

“My hands were sore because I had scratches over my hands” : Mimi Chakraborty on shaking hands with gloves on

OpIndia Staff
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“My hands were sore because I had scratches over my hands” : Mimi Chakraborty on shaking hands with gloves on

Actor-turned-politician and the Lok Sabha candidate for the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, Mimi Chakraborty has spoken up in defence of her much-criticised act of shaking hands with people in her constituency with gloves on. Speaking to India Today, Chakraborty explained why she was wearing gloves while campaigning in her constituency in Jadavpur. She said that she had been campaigning for 20-21 days and her hands were sore because of shaking hands with people.


“Because I was already campaigning for around 20-21 days and my hands were sore because I had all these scratches over my hands”, she justified.

“When we first come to limelight, the first thing we do is like we shake hands, we give autographs. Elections and being artists or celebrities is always the same because you work for the people. So people cannot ever be a barrier”, Chakraborty added.

Earlier also she had said that she had applied ointment on her hands to treat some nail scratches, bruises and burns that she had sustained, and she had covered the hands with gloves so that the medication does not smudge.

Mimi Chakraborty had made headlines after a video had gone viral in which she was seen sitting in her car and shaking hands with people with gloves on. She had drawn a lot of flak after another video of hers went viral in which she was seen yelling at the voters during an election campaign telling them that everyone should get this in their heads that she had gone their leaving everything because of them.

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