Wednesday, April 1, 2026
Home Blog Page 6468

BJP questions Rahul Gandhi’s dubious source of income, says he and Robert Vadra are synonyms

OpIndia Staff
-
0
BJP questions Rahul Gandhi’s dubious source of income, says he and Robert Vadra are synonyms

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra on Sunday addressed a press conference and raised questions about Rahul Gandhi’s source of income. In a recent report, OpIndia had revealed Rahul’s seemingly dubious dealings and his rapidly increasing assets.

Speaking to the media, Sambit Patra asked questions regarding Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s suspected source of income earned through dubious deals involving scam accused companies. Mentioning it to as ‘Assets of a Non-Performing Asset’, Sambit Patra referred to the OpIndia report and asked how his income increased from Rs 55,38,123 in 2004, to over Rs. 2 crores in 2009 and finally, over Rs 9 crores in 2014.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pfmzL1IH0Q]

“The people and the BJP party will keep a telescopic view on the nomination filed by the Congress President Rahul Gandhi as his income has constantly increased since 2004. Rahul Gandhi has increased his assets using four different ways, first through HL Pahwa, secondly through his farmhouse, third with the help of 2G scam accused Unitech and lastly Rahul Gandhi using a London based firm to increase his assets,” said Sambit Patra.

Sambit Patra further accused that Rahul Gandhi has increased his assets from profiteering from scams, dubious land deals, links with arms dealers and hiding facts from election affidavits. Rahul Gandhi is not a professional, the only way Rahul Gandhi earns is through the salary that he draws as a Member of Parliament, said Patra while questioning Rahul Gandhi on his the source of income.

Patra also mentioned that Rahul Gandhi had escaped incomes of Rs. 155 crores through AJL for which, the IT department had slapped Rs. 100 crores tax notice on Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi.

Sambit Patra added the Rahul Gandhi had dubious deals with HL Pahwa and purchased the land at a measly price of Rs. 26,47,000. He mentioned that the land purchase was mentioned in his election affidavit of 2009, while HL Pahwa himself has several dubious connections. OpIndia had broken the story of Rahul Gandhi’s dubious land deal with HL Pahwa, the saga of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Robert Vadra purchasing land for Pahwa and then selling it back to him at an inflated price, and Rahul’s links to arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari.

Patra said that the second source of income was from Gandhi Parivar’s links to FTIL, a company that was at the heart of the NSEL scam. “Gandhi Parivar is the only parivar in the country which does not do anything but earns several crores of money,” alleged Patra.

The OpIndia report had mentioned about irregularities in renting out this farmhouse to NSEL scam accused Financial Technologies (India) Ltd. (FTIL), which had paid an interest-free deposit of Rs 40.20 lakh vide two separate cheques of Rs 20.10 lakh each respectively to Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi.

Sambit Patra went on to accuse Rahul Gandhi of suspicious possession of two commercial properties in October 2010, one worth Rs. 1.44 crores and the other Rs. 5.36 crores, owned by 2G scam accused company Unitech.

Patra mentioned exact allegations reported by OpIndia and mentioned that Rahul Gandhi had bought a property worth 7 crores but had only made an advance payment of a little over 4 crores while also receiving interest income during Financial Year 2010-11 to Financial Year 2014-15 on the deposit with Unitech Ltd.

“In an affidavit filed for the Lok Sabha Elections in 2004, Rahul Gandhi mentions a property he owned of Backops Limited and three of its European accounts, two of which were with HSBC-UK. The firm was reportedly dissolved in 2009,” added Patra.

Patra also mentioned OpIndia report stating, “According to the affidavit, the Congress President also owned 83% in Backops Services. It was registered at the Registrar of Companies, New Delhi. According to a Data Services website, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Rahul’s sister, was one of the directors in the firm. The firm last filed its balance sheet on the 31st of March, 2010. Intriguingly, although the firm is mentioned in his 2004 affidavit, it doesn’t find any mention in his 2009 election affidavit. Therefore, the question arises, what happened to the 83% stake that Rahul Gandhi had in the firm?”

The BJP party further said that Rahul Gandhi and Robert Vadra are synonyms as both operate with same operanda of dubious land deals, lies in election affidavits. Robert Vadra has learnt this art from Congress President Rahul Gandhi itself, accused the BJP.

Modi government exceeds disinvestment target for the second time in a row, completes first-ever sale of ‘enemy shares’

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Modi government exceeds disinvestment target for the second time in a row, completes first-ever sale of ‘enemy shares’

The sale of ‘enemy shares’ and the buybacks of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) have together generated a sum of Rs 11,300 crore for the government, thus helping the exchequer mop up Rs 85,000 crore from disinvestment in the current financial year. This is being considered the second highest receipt ever.

After the Cabinet’s go-ahead to the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) to sell such shares held in companies, in November 2018, the government has, through the first-ever sale of ‘enemy shares’, collected an amount of Rs 700 crore. Besides, over Rs 10,600 crore has come in the form of buyback of government shares by Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs).

‘Enemy property’ refers to the assets left behind by people who migrated to Pakistan or China and are no longer citizens of India.

In the fiscal year 2018-19, the government for the second time in a row exceeded the disinvestment target by collecting Rs 85,000 crore as against the budget estimate of Rs 80,000 crore. Similarly, in 2017-18, the government had mopped up a record over Rs 1 lakh crore, against the target of Rs 72,500 crore.

During the current financial year, the share sale through the Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) has garnered the highest amount of Rs 45,729 crore, followed by Rs 14,500 crore acquired through government’s 52.63 per cent stake in REC (Rural Electrification Corporation) by the state-owned Power Finance Corporation (PFC).

Additionally, the government has also received Rs 1,929 crore through an initial public offering (IPO) of five companies, namely, MSTC, RITES, Ircon, Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Midhani.

Furthermore, the central government has collected Rs 5,218 crore from the offer for sale (OFS) of Coal India, and another Rs 5,379 crore from sale of SUUTI stake in Axis Bank.

Moreover, the companies which helped the government gather over Rs 10,600 crore through buybacks include, ONGC, IOC, Coal India, Oil India and NLC.

Viewing the accomplishments the government has set a disinvestment target of Rs 90,000 crore for the next fiscal.

‘If current generation dynast lacks charisma, crowd around family gets frustrated. Is Congress witnessing that?’: Arun Jaitley

OpIndia Staff
-
0
‘If current generation dynast lacks charisma, crowd around family gets frustrated. Is Congress witnessing that?’: Arun Jaitley

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley published a blog on Facebook about the current state of the Congress party and their frustration that perhaps arises from a failed dynast. The blog has been reproduced below: 

I have consistently held the view that dynasties owning political parties is an unfortunate phenomenon which has accelerated in the last three decades. Congress was the original creator of this concept. Dynasties demolish organisational structures. They are unable to attract leaders of talent or mass following. Since the democratic structure of a dynastic party gets diminished, they become a crowd around a family. Chaudhary Charan Singh had very appropriately said that world over parties elect leaders. In India, leaders create parties. Wherever the leader goes, the party travels with him.

Dynastic parties have one major drawback. If the current generation of the party is competent, charismatic and enjoys popular confidence, the dynast can pull-off major victories. There is an incentive in the party to rally behind him. However, if the current generation dynast is lacking in charisma, understanding and popular confidence, the crowd around the family gets increasingly frustrated. Is the Congress Party witnessing that?

The state of the Congress

The Congress Party has been out of power for five years. Its leaders and workers are accustomed to existing with the frills of office. They stare at another possible defeat. They have to live with their leader not relying on political advisors but on some from ‘non-conventional’ ones who are out of sync with the Congress leaders. Since the last word on any issue belongs to the leader, there is an element of unpredictability.

For those familiar with the Congress leaders, some generic statements are frequently heard. A few illustrative ones are mentioned here:

  • “What can I do? He just doesn’t listen.”
  • “Wait for the 24th of May, our politics will begin thereafter.”
  • “I feel like quitting”
  • “Our campaign planning is lagging behind. I am told Uncle Sam has come to take care of it.”
  • “Let’s prepare 2024”

The above reflects what one generation of the dynasty can do to a dynastic party. There are three prominent non-dynastic parties in India. The BJP has elected, over the last few decades, leaders of the calibre of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Shri L.K. Advani, and Shri Narendra Modi as its front rank leaders. When the new generation of the Left took over, their dominant faces were men like Shri Prakash Karat and Shri Sitaram Yechury. Despite the limited impact of the Left, they had decades of experience and ideological clarity. After a series of splits and mergers, the Janata Dal (United), another non-dynastic party, elected Shri Nitish Kumar, who will shortly be completing his third term in his office as Chief Minister. It goes to his credit that he changed the governance culture of Bihar.

When leaders wrongly assess their own capacity

Dynasties impose leaders. These leaders don’t become great – greatness is thrust on them. Some suffer from what psychologists now regard as the ‘Dunning-Kruger effect.’ Social psychologists Dr David Dunning and Justin Kruger have given an apt description. They believe that those who suffer from this effect have a bias of illusory superiority which comes from the inability of low-ability people to recognise their lack of ability. Without the self-awareness of their limitations, such low ability people cannot objectively evaluate their own competence or incompetence. This leads to their miscalculation in their assessment of the calibre of highly incompetent ones. They suggest that poor performers are not in a position to recognise their shortcomings and consequently are insecure and biased against the more competent ones. There is little place for men of high calibre in dynastic parties. An insecure leader is scared of the shadow of more talented people.

Is this the reason for the current mood within the Congress Party? Or is it also the reason which persuades the Congress President to cross the line of decency and dignity when he refers to the Prime Minister.

This should suffice as a lesson for the dynastic parties. They succeed on the strength of some generations of the dynasty. They sink with the others.

Internal family feud surfacing as SP chief Akhilesh Yadav decides to keep Mulayam Singh out of star campaigners list

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Internal family feud surfacing as SP chief Akhilesh Yadav decides to keep Mulayam Singh out of star campaigners list

The in-house rift between the Samajwadi party members has started surfacing prior to the Lok Sabha elections, as the party decided to exclude its patron, Mulayam Singh’s name from the star campaigner’s list which it released today.


The list of star campaigners includes names of Akhilesh Yadav, Ram Gopal Yadav, Azam Khan, Dimple Yadav and Jaya Bachchan. However, shockingly, the founder of the party, Mulayam Singh Yadav does not find his name mentioned in the list.

Speculations are rife that Mulayam Singh’s outrage at the alliance forged between SP and BSP, by his son and party chief Akhilesh Yadav is being seen as the reason behind the party giving his name a miss from the star campaigner’s list.

Last month, while addressing the party workers at the SP headquarters in Lucknow, Mulayam Singh Yadav had expressed his disenchantment with the alliance and had also lashed out at Akhilesh Yadav, for agreeing to give BSP nearly half of the seats. He claimed that SP has given up on elections, long before the polling.

The party supremo has often expressed his disapproval regarding the decisions taken by his son in the past too. Similar disproval of his son’s decision to forge an alliance had also come during 2017 UP assembly elections. That time too, Singh had criticised Akhilesh Yadav’s decision to fight the elections along with Congress.

These internal astrictions are probably the reason why Akhilesh Yadav has decided to keep his father Mulayam Singh Yadav away from campaigning for the party in the Lok Sabha elections.

Moreover, what might have added fuel to the fire was Mulayam Singh’s open display of appreciation for PM Modi and his leadership expressed on the last day of Lok Sabha session, when Mulayam Yadan had said, “I want to thank PM Modi for taking everyone into consensus. I wish that every member of the house and especially you (PM Modi) return to being Prime Minister again”

Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party also announced its candidates for two Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday. The list of candidates includes Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav and Azam Khan. Akhilesh Yadav will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Azamgarh, which is the parliamentary constituency of his father Mulayam Singh Yadav. On the other hand, senior SP leader Azam Khan will contest elections from Rampur constituency.

The SP patron, Mulayam Singh Yadav had won from two seats, namely, Mainpuri and Azamgarh in 2014 Lok Sabha polls. However, in 2019 Akhilesh Yadav will take up the Azamgarh constituency.

Earlier, the SP had released its first list of candidates for 2019 elections which mentioned that the party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav will contest from Mainpuri which he earlier represented in 1996, 2004 and 2009. Currently, he represents Azamgarh constituency, which has been taken over by his son and party chief, Akhilesh Yadav as per the announcement made today.

PM Modi’s blog on Lohia: Opposition parties and their friendly media in damage control mode

Ashish Shukla
-
0
PM Modi’s blog on Lohia: Opposition parties and their friendly media in damage control mode

We all know that Lutyens Media reluctantly covers the Prime Minister’s “Mann Ki Baat.” That most inane part of his speech, and not its’ heart, is made into headlines. Now that PM Modi has written a blog on the socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia on his 110th birth anniversary (March 23), they have chosen to publish the reactions of the Opposition rather than give ample space to the blog content.

Such has been the strategy of Indian Express and the Hindustan Times. The Hindu hasn’t bothered to publish even a line. Only Times of India has done justice but it’s the exception which proves the rule.

Let’s detail out Modi’s blog first so readers could rightfully conclude that their newspapers have surgically removed its most potent parts. Here it is:

“Dr Lohia knew how disastrous Congress was. In 1962 he said: During the Congress regime neither agriculture and industry nor the army has improved…

“Anti-Congressism was Dr Lohia’s heart and soul. His efforts ensured a shock to the then all-powerful Congress in 1967 elections. That time, Atal Ji remarked- “Due to Dr Lohia’s efforts, one could travel on board the Howrah-Amritsar Mail without having to pass a single Congress state!…

“The veteran socialist leader from Odisha, Shri Surendranath Dwivedy remarked, “He (Dr Lohia) was imprisoned many times more during Congress regime than under the British rule…

“Yet, today those parties that falsely claim to be Dr. Lohia’s followers are desperate to form an opportunistic Maha Milawat or adulteration alliances with the same Congress. It is both ironical and reprehensible.

“Dr Lohia always believed that dynastic politics was inimical to democracy. He would have been flabbergasted to see his ‘followers’ think about their own families first instead of the nation…

“Sadly, the parties that claim to be his followers forgot the principle. They believe in `Satta’, `Swarth’ and `Shoshan’. These parties are experts at grabbing power, looting as much as possible and exploiting others. Poor people, Tribals, Dalits, OBCs and women are not safe in their rule because these parties give a free run to criminals and anti-social elements…

“In his works, Dr Lohia called for complete equality between men and women. (Today, these parties) who dishonestly claim to be Dr Lohia’s followers opposed the NDA Government’s move to abolish the inhuman practice of Triple Talaq…

“Is the commitment to vote bank politics bigger than the commitment to Dr Lohia’s thoughts? Today, a moot question facing 130 crore Indians is:

“How can those who betrayed Dr Lohia be expected to serve the nation?…

“Today they are betraying the principles of Dr Lohia, tomorrow they will also betray the people of India.”

Phew! This is as damning as it gets –it’s another matter your newspapers wouldn’t let out the heart of the matter of Modi’s blog.

From being an early Nehruite, Lohia turned a bitter critic of India’s first Prime Minister. He even fought Lok Sabha elections against Nehru. He was vocal against Nehru’s dubious “modernization” policy in which “criminal luxury and waste were concealed under the deceptive slogans of national dignity and needs of representation.”

After a visit to Rourkela steel plant, set up with West German help, Lohia wrote: “All this talk of economic help to backward countries is so much nonsense, for the helpers seem to be making a lot of money out of their help.” He often spoke of “Nehru myth.” He once termed Indira Gandhi as “goongi gudiya” Lohia was the architect of anti-Congress movement in India. It bore fruits when in the 1967 Elections, Congress lost control of eight states. Lohia’s work was completed by his comrade-in-arms Jayprakash Narayan after Indira Gandhi was defeated in the 1977 General Elections for inflicting “Emergency” in the country.

There you are. This is the historical truth. So how could Samajwadi party, who claim to be the heir of Lohia’s legacy, ally with Congress in the 2017 UP assembly elections? Why there is an “understanding” of “maha milavat” after the 2019 General Elections? What’s wrong when Modi calls it “reprehensible”?

It must also be said that the first documentary on Ram Manohar Lohia, 47 years after his death, was not the initiative of any top rung leaders of the Samajwadi Party. It came in 2015 when BJP-led NDA was in the Centre.

Readers, as for your newspapers, the less said the better. In its story, Indian Express extensively spread the venom of BSP supremo Mayawati against Modi on everything except the topic of Lohia. Let’s take a guess why the newspaper did so: (a) Maybe she doesn’t know much of Ram Manohar Lohia; (b) Maybe its mandatory that bhatija’s reaction must be accompanied by bua’s; or  (c) So lightweight is Opposition to counter the weight of Modi’s blog that others must be shoe-horned even if they don’t mention Lohia at all.

What do you think it is? If Option C is your choice, then you must also wonder: Why my newspaper is going to this length?

Pakistan: Father of two abducted Hindu girls pleads in front of police, ask them to shoot him down

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Pakistan: Father of two abducted Hindu girls pleads in front of police, ask them to shoot him down

The deplorable act of abducting two teenage Hindu girls, 13-year-old Raveena and 15-year-old Reena on Holi eve to forcibly convert to marry them off to older Muslim men in Pakistan’s Sindh province has shocked the conscience of the people across the world.

A new heart-wrenching video of the father of girls has been viral now, in which the father of the two girls is seen helplessly crying and pleading in front of the police to register on their complaint and act on the culprits who had forcibly abducted and converted his daughters.


The father of Raveena and Reena Hindu girls cried and protested in front of the police station. In the video, the father can be heard saying, “You can shoot me, I had the patience, but now I won’t leave until my daughters are back”.

Meanwhile, several Hindus belonging to Sindh province have reportedly organised a protest against the police officials after they refused to register a complaint against the abductors. The Hindus in Pakistan are one of the most underprivileged and most persecuted minorities in the country.


Following the incident, Union Minister of External Affairs on Sunday has sought details on the abduction of two Hindu girls on the eve of Holi in Pakistan’s Sindh province. Sushma Swaraj has asked the Indian High Commissioner in Pakistan to send a report on the incident.

Shunned by the BJP, jilted Shatrughan Sinha goes on a rampage against the party, rumoured to join Congress

OpIndia Staff
-
0
Shunned by the BJP, jilted Shatrughan Sinha goes on a rampage against the party, rumoured to join Congress

As the BJP announced Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad’s candidature from the Patna Sahib constituency, all hell broke loose for the sitting MP from the constituency, Shatrughan Sinha who couldn’t hide his frustration. Known for his defiance against the BJP and its leadership who openly takes part in opposition rallies, Sinha had an unceremonious meltdown on Twitter following the party’s decision to ignore his candidature from Patna Sahib Lok Sabha seat.


Starting with the Rafale jibe against PM Modi, feigning concern Sinha asserted that ‘corrective measures’ should be initiated to salvage party from the inevitable fate. In all likelihood, Sinha considers one of the first measures to be adopted to restore the party’s glory is by rolling back Prasad’s Patna Sahib candidature and declaring himself from the same constituency.

Following this, in a bid to lend credence to his breakdown, Sinha veers towards the issue of erstwhile BJP stalwarts being supposedly cornered by the current BJP leadership. Sinha mentions how L.K Advani had been disgracefully booted out and how BJP president Amit Shah has purposefully chosen Gandhinagar constituency to cock a snook at the BJP veteran.


It is notable to mention that Shatrughan Sinha has often defied party guidelines and frequented many opposition and Mahagathbandhan rallies. Even the rebel BJP leaders he takes refuge in while attacking PM Modi- Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie have extended their solidarity with the opposition parties and made mendacious remarks against the central government in their rallies. Sinha had also seemed to echo Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Chowkidar Chor Hai’ jibe against Prime Minister Modi and spoken against the central government in the rallies organised by the opposition parties.

Despite this apparent betrayal, it seems that Sinha had high expectations that the BJP will continue to humour his wishes and act in conformity with his worldview. Most people were expecting him to be expelled from the party and it was a foregone conclusion that he will get a ticket from BJP in 2019 Lok Sabha election given his anti-party activities, but Sinha himself thought otherwise. Citing Newton’s third law- Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, Sinha claims that he is not amongst those taking things lying down and is fully capable of ‘paying back’.


Now the reports are trickling in that Shatrughan Sinha might be joining the Congress party and may contest the elections from the Patna Sahib constituency on a Congress ticket. After repeatedly embarrassing BJP on countless occasions, and singing paeans to Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Shatrughan Sinha is finally set to join the party for which he had been campaigning from last 3 years despite being in the BJP. If these reports are indeed true, the resentment Sinha had expressed on Twitter since yesterday stands null and void. As it proves that the real concern for him was not the purported disgrace meted out to the stalwarts but his diminishing relevance in the current polity.

BJP’s ‘Main Bhi Chowkidar’ campaign a silver bullet against a formidable ecosystem

Ashish Shukla
-
0
BJP’s ‘Main Bhi Chowkidar’ campaign a silver bullet against a formidable ecosystem

I predict that once the dust on 2019 General Elections is settled in May, the BJP’s tagline of #MainBhiChowkidar” would be a textbook study on how to run a successful social media campaign.

Within a few hours of launching their “Modi Hai to Mumkin Hai” poll slogan, the BJP took the wind (of whatever was left) out of Rahul Gandhi’s sails by stepping on to #MainBhiChowkidar” tagline on social media. In no time, it was trending more than anything else around the world. The PM now has a “Main Bhi Chowkidar” programme lined up for March 31.

First came a personal appeal from the Prime Minister himself to back the #MainBhiChowkidar tagline on twitter which he followed up by changing his name to “Chowkidar Narendra Modi” on his Twitter profile. It followed a digital stampede: Those who had backed the tagline lost little time in suffixing “Chowkidar” in front of their names.

It was a master strategy to tie Rahul Gandhi’s in knots. Gandhi has been unwilling to give up on Rafale even after the Supreme Court judgment and has lost no opportunity to shout “Chowkidar Chor Hai” in his election rallies. Would he do the same now? Or drop his months of investment in the Rafale disinformation campaign?

Congress seems tepid in its response. In 24 hours, Rahul Gandhi has taken tentative steps on Twitter. He said everyone is saying #ChowkidarChorHai without quite making it his own comment. His generals, Sashi Tharoor and Randeep Surjewala also beat around the bush. PC Chidambaram cracked a poor joke on it; Jyoiraditya Scindia was clever by half; Journalists suspected of belonging to the camp, the likes of Sagarika Ghose, Rajdeep Sardesai, Barkha Dutt and Shekhar Gupta, have made inane references. Lutyens Media is doing its bid by making #MainBhiChowkidar video invisible on the net (here it is just for you folks). The sting has gone out of #ChowkidarChorHai agenda.

It’s unlikely though that Rahul Gandhi would drop his attempts to defame the Prime Minister. As everyone knows, Gandhi is all about anti-Modi and national issues are beyond his grasp. However, his shrill campaign would look downright silly if nothing comes out of review petition on Rafale next week. He would only be firing blank bullets once Supreme Court turns down orchestration on Rafale again.

As millions turn “chowkidar”, Congress can’t be seen calling the masses as “chor.” By doing so, Rahul Gandhi would also appear elitist. It would appear fake too since Rahul Gandhi himself is out on bail on corruption charges in the National Herald case. But if he doesn’t carry on with his one and only theme, what would he say in rallies?

Running social media campaign of this magnitude needs clock-work precision. It’s not only about creating a campaign but also how to turn others’ to your benefit. This is a 24×7 endless marathon of skill and energy; creativity and thrust. Audio and visual campaigns are needed and put out in minutes. If funds alone were the differentiating issue, Congress could’ve won hands down.

BJP was much praised for its social media finesse in 2014 (Remember how it turned Mani Shankar Aiyar’s “chaiwala” jibe to its advantage?). The one in 2019 looks no different. It’s gathering the mass under the BJP umbrella. Only, this present one is a silver bullet against a formidable ecosystem. There was a fire in the kitchen but they didn’t get out. They stood their ground on the burning deck.  It would be worth its weight in gold, come May 23.

PDP not to contest on Jammu and Udhampur seats so that ‘secular votes’ don’t get divided

OpIndia Staff
-
0
PDP not to contest on Jammu and Udhampur seats so that ‘secular votes’ don’t get divided

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had decided not to field candidates from Jammu and Udhampur seats because of a tacit understanding between the so-called secular parties not to divide the ‘secular vote’. The Party had its Parliamentary Board meeting on Saturday in which the decision was taken. PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti said that the decision has been taken keeping in mind the larger interest of the State.


The Party has not yet decided on the Ladakh seat. Mehbooba who will be contesting from the Anantnag seat said that the decision was taken after careful deliberations. “Some of our associates wanted to contest elections from these two seats as well. But people from civil society and social groups appealed that by contesting the elections the secular vote will be divided and it would help those forces who, we feel, want to destroy Jammu and Kashmir”, said Mufti.

The Party will field Aga Mohsin from Srinagar seat and Abdul Qayoom Wani, former leader of Employee’s Union, from the Baramulla seat. Mehbooba criticised Central government’s ban on the JKLF saying that the Central government was using a muscular policy for the elections and was making Jammu and Kashmir a sacrificial lamb in the process.

After getting ditched by the ‘Mahagathbandhan’, Kanhaiya Kumar to contest from Begusarai as CPI candidate

OpIndia Staff
-
0
After getting ditched by the ‘Mahagathbandhan’, Kanhaiya Kumar to contest from Begusarai as CPI candidate

Kanhaiya Kumar, the member of the ‘Tukde Tukde Gang’, is all set to be the candidate of the Communist Party of India from Bihar’s Begusarai for the 2019 Lok Sabha election.

According to reports, the decision to field him as a candidate from Begusarai, once a communist stronghold, was taken by the Left parties on Saturday, a day after Kanhaiya Kumar was ditched by the alliance of the opposition coalition in Bihar, who had earlier promised him a ticket from the alliance. Kumar, who is an ultra-left wing freelance protestor, will be the joint candidate of the Left parties from Begusarai but will be contesting on a CPI ticket.

Kanhaiya Kumar is currently on bail for allegedly chanting anti-national slogans at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi in 2016. The Delhi Police Special Cell had submitted 1200-page charge-sheet in January this year against Kanhaiya Kumar and other left-wing students of the JNU.

Kanhaiya Kumar was supposed to be the Mahagathbandhan candidate from Begusarai. However, the alliance of RJD and Congress did not leave any seats to the CPI and CPI-M. The Begusarai seat is now being contested by an RJD candidate against Union Minister Giriraj Singh, who has shifted his constituency from Nawada to Begusarai.

After a long tussle between the opposition parties over the distribution of seats, the Grand Alliance agreed on Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) contesting on 20 seats and Congress agreeing to contest only on 9 seats out of a total of 40 Lok Sabha seats in the state. Upendra Kushwaha’s RLSP has been given 5 seats while Jitan Ram Manjhi-led HAM-S has got three seats. The Vikasheel Insaaf Party has got three seats and the CPI-ML Liberation had been allotted one seat from the RJD quota.

Interestingly, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav is reportedly averse to any idea of promoting Kanhaiya Kumar as it may affect his political advancement in the future. As Kanhaiya Kumar has more political acumen and oratory skills than Tejashwi Yadav, the latter fears that he may one day outshine him in the state politics. Hence, Yadav has been conscious of his decision to not promote Kanhaiya Kumar in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Bihar, which has 40 parliamentary constituencies, goes to polls in seven phases starting from April 11 till the final phase scheduled on May 19. The BJP-JDU-LJP coalition is contesting under NDA coalition with BJP and JDU set to contest in 17 seats each, leaving six seats to Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party.

1...6,4676,4686,469...7,562Page 6,468 of 7,562

Contact: infoopindia.com

About us

News and opinion website that brings you reports and narrative from a perspective often ignored or suppressed by the mainstream media of India.

Follow us

© OpIndia.com