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Brother-in-law of Congress leader Kamal Nath converted nearly Rs. 242 crores to dollars using bogus bills: Reports

OpIndia Staff
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Brother-in-law of Congress leader Kamal Nath converted nearly Rs. 242 crores to dollars using bogus bills: Reports

Diaries allegedly belonged to Deepak Puri, the chairman of Moser Baer group and brother-in-law of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, which were seized during the Income Tax raids on Thursday has reportedly revealed that Moser Baer group had involved in converting Rs. 242 crore of money to dollars by raising bogus bills, reported News18.


According to reports, the Income-Tax (IT) Department had conducted raids on more than 50 locations connected to Kamal Nath, MP Chief Minister’s OSD, Ratul Puri (Kamal Nath’s nephew), Amira Group, and Moser Bayer. The IT Department had recovered a diary during these raids, which has revealed the money trail between shell companies to convert crores of rupees into dollars using bogus bills.

The seized diary suggests that nearly Rs.242 crores were transferred to five ‘shell’ companies owned by Parasmal Lodha. A Kolkata-based company was also used for infusion of bogus capital to the tune of Rs.125 crores. Reportedly, Moser Baer group also bought shares worth Rs.250 crores through shell companies from Mauritius. The diary also reveals that Deepak Puri had allegedly collected money from various sources to get it converted into dollars through issuing bogus bills.

On Thursday, the IT officials had carried out searches also underway in Bhopal, Indore, Goa and 35 locations in Delhi. More than 300 I-T officials had conducted the searches on individuals associated with Moser Baer group. The IT officials had recovered huge cash stuffed in suitcases from a person known as Prateek Joshi from Bhopal.

The Enforcement Directorate had on Thursday questioned businessman Ratul Puri, nephew of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath in connection with the Rs 3600 crore AgustaWestland scam. On Friday, Ratul Puri was summoned for questioning a second time.

However, Ratul Puri had said that he was cooperating with the investigation and had nothing to do with defence deals. He also said that he had no business dealings with his relatives as he ran an independent business.

Earlier, the Enforcement Directorate had tracked down the money trail of kickbacks received by Christian Michel, the prime accused middleman in the AgustaWestland chopper scam, and it has led them to Moser Baer which is owned by Deepak Puri. It was reported that a part of the kickbacks was routed through Moser Baer which is owned by Deepak Puri.

Deepak Puri is the brother-in-law of senior Congress leader Kamal Nath. Puri is married to Nita Puri, sister of Senior Congress Leader and Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Mr Kamal Nath and have one son Ratul Puri. Both Nita and Ratul are part of Moser Baer.

Christian Michel, the middleman in the AgustaWestland VVIP Chopper scam, who was extradited from Dubai, has been revealing his previous links and the connection from the time when this deal was in consideration has made some stunning revelations.

Defence Middleman Christian Michel was extradited to India on 4 December from United Arab Emirates (UAE). Recently it was also unearthed that, Christian Michel’s involvement was not only restricted to AgustaWestland scam. He had also lobbied against France-based Rafale in order to enable Eurofighter, its rival, to grab the MMRCA deal. On 5th January, the Patiala House Court had extended Michel’s judicial custody till February 26.

Congress goons allegedly vandalise Vishnu Sahasranama Yajna by social activist Chakravarthy Sulibele, shout anti-Modi slogans

OpIndia Staff
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Congress goons allegedly vandalise Vishnu Sahasranama Yajna by social activist Chakravarthy Sulibele, shout anti-Modi slogans

On Sunday, Congress party workers allegedly resorted to vandalism and attempted to prevent well-known social activist and orator, Chakravarthy Sulibele from addressing the gathering at Poornaprajna Vidyapeetha at Bangalore, reports Deccan Herald.

According to reports, Chakravarthy Sulibele, a vocal supporter of PM Narendra Modi was at the venue to attend Vishnu Sahasranama Yajna, which was organised to serve the cause of the nation. As Sulibele began to address the gathering, the goons allegedly belonging to the Congress party started shouting slogans against PM Narendra Modi.

Reportedly, some of the BJP supporters present at the programme raised pro-Modi slogans in response to Congress supporters. Sulibele, however, asked them not to shout slogans, saying that it was not a political programme.

The organisers had to intervene to state that the event was a prayer meet and requested supporters not to shout any slogan but their efforts went in vain. As the situation turned tense at that time, the police intervened and controlled it.


Following the incident, Sulibele tweeted, “Some congi goondas came to the program at Vidyapeetha today where I was speaking on ‘RashtraDharma’ and tried disturbing me. But none cared them.”

However, Election observers reached the spot and informed Sulibele that there is no provision to seek votes within temple premises. But Sulibele insisted that he was there to speak about the nation and not about any candidate. After he was informed about the election norms, Sulibele left the spot without delivering his speech.

Author Sahana Singh narrated the incident and accused the Congress party workers of unleashing at Poorna Pragnya Vidyapeetha Bangalore during the Vishnu Sahasranama Yajna. Singh said that goons allegedly belonged to the Congress party kicked, beat up people, shouted anti-Modi and pro-Rahul Gandhi Zindabad slogans inside the temple premises. She said that what was supposed to be a gathering of Dharmic scholars, musicians and writers became a scene of vandalism because of Congress goons. According to Deccan Herald, however, the police has denied the incident of anyone being attacked.


She said her mother and sister had returned from Vidyapeetha in the morning feeling spiritually uplifted after chanting Vishnu Sahasranama. They had no idea of the ugliness that would descend in the evening.


She also added, “The hooliganism by Congress goons at Vidyapeetha in Bengaluru y’day started immediately after someone on stage said ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ & ‘Vande Mataram’. “How can you talk about desha & Bharat Mata in a temple?” they demanded. Can it get more ridiculous than this?”.

Mayawati’s direct appeal to the Muslim voter exposes yet again the hollowness of Indian ‘secularism’

Abhishek Banerjee
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Mayawati’s direct appeal to the Muslim voter exposes yet again the hollowness of Indian ‘secularism’

There is this thing about Mayawati that makes her think she is above everything: the Constitution, the law, the nation, the people and basic decency.

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Mayawati ‘warning’ Muslims at a rally in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh

Who helped her think this way? It was the secular ecosystem, ever obsessed with the mission of castigating Hindu society, that always gave a wide berth to her because of her Dalit identity.

Who in their right mind can deny that Dalits have faced prejudice and oppression for centuries and are still systematically disadvantaged in a thousand different ways? But the matter hardly ends there. Show me a single person who has ever reaped an actual tangible benefit from Mayawati being in power except for Mayawati herself and her family members? Did Dalits benefit? Ha!

First of all, as a truly hardcore supporter of free speech, let me say I do not support any action by the EC or any other legal coercion against her in any form because of this statement. Every single time the EC has ordered “bans” against speaking about an issue during election campaigns, whether it be Sabarimala, or Godhra or appealing for votes on basis of caste/religion, I have opposed it. Every person, including politicians, has a right to ask for votes based on absolutely anything, as long as they do not make credible threats of direct violence.

My stand is principled. The liberal stand is not.

A few days ago, when PM Modi spoke about Rahul Gandhi picking a seat where “majority is minority and minority is majority”, the liberals came down on him like a ton of bricks.

And of course, the world-famous spinner and Madison Square boxer decided to lie outright about what PM Modi had said, twisting it to “Wayanad is a place where WE are a minority”. PM Modi literally never said that. Madison Square Boxer made it up. That’s his job. He is a liar.

Where are those liberals now? Have they reacted to Mayawati’s direct call to Muslims?

Of course, they have. But in a very different way. They have not reacted with outrage but with irritation. Complaining that Mayawati’s unguarded statement might cause reverse polarization and hand over a big advantage to BJP. They are probably right about that part.

But think about the mentality underlying what liberals are saying. They only appear to be blaming Mayawati for “giving the game away”.

In other words, what liberals are really saying is that Mayawati should not have made the covert campaign overt. Perhaps they are saying that Mayawati should have waited till the demographics of UP becomes like that of Wayanad?

In this election, everyone has been forced to play Hindu. The agendas have been hidden away for the moment. Like Kamal Nath would say, he would deal with the Hindus later (“nipat lenge”).

But liberals are right in worrying. Mayawati’s remark has given the BJP a big opening in Uttar Pradesh and particularly Western Uttar Pradesh. She made this statement at a well-publicized rally in Deoband (the heart of Dar ul Uloom) with 4 full days to go for voting in just the first phase on April 11. Uttar Pradesh will be voting in seven full phases. With cable news widely reporting her statement, the remark being all over social media and in this era of Whatsapp, she has given a LOT of time for BJP to let every Hindu voter in UP know about this. In fact, she has given just enough time for every Hindu voter to hear about it, but not enough time for Hindu voters to forget about it.

Hindus have notoriously short memories. History bears witness to that.

Another fact that we should not lose sight of is that Mayawati’s remark is most disrespectful of her core voters, the Dalits and in particular the Jatavs. Because Dalits and Muslims often have similar socio-economic situations, it is Dalits who face the brunt of the violence when things go wrong on the ground. In such situations, the “secular” political forces always come down on the side of the “minority”, taking Dalits for granted. Mayawati has just made it official: she takes her Dalit, especially Jatav voters for granted. It is the M vote that she is really interested in.

This is the fundamental reason that “Dalit + Muslim” has never worked as a winning electoral combination, despite being the ultimate fantasy of every JNU comrade.

If it is any consolation for Mayawati, she is not the only one trying her best to make the Mahagathbandhan lose the election in Uttar Pradesh. Akhilesh has been contributing his fair share.

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Samajwadi Party to levy 2% taxes on ‘upper caste elites’

Apart from seeding an ugly discourse around caste based taxation, this proposal also shows that UP’s junior Shehzada has a puzzling lack of political savvy. He is doing this in the one state in India where “upper” caste votes make a real impact? Seriously?

Think about the household wealth of Akhilesh’s ruling family. Presumably, this 2% tax would not apply to him because he is “backward”. It would apply to so-called “upper” castes, 99.99% of whom would likely never be half as rich as he is. This is an outright injustice. And electorally foolish.

And I am sure Akhilesh has a political “guru” somewhere who can parachute in and make it worse by saying that honest taxpayers are “selfish”. Yes, please pay some more tax so that the poor poverty-stricken Akhilesh can get his bungalow furnished even more lavishly the next time he becomes CM. He will, of course, be taking the furnishings with him, from the tiles to the taps, when he leaves office.

Add this to Akhilesh’s promise of creating an Ahir (Yadav) regiment in the military. Actually, M+Y is not a winning combination in itself. It used to work because “Y” would attract other OBCs to coalesce around the most dominant OBC group. The secret to Amit Shah’s success lay in convincing the non-Y-OBCs to move to BJP, along with non-Jatav-Dalits. You would think Akhilesh would know he needs to bring the non-Yadav-OBCs back to SP. But then you are not thinking like a disconnected Shehzada who has been thrust with greatness by India’s secular ecosystem.

In brief, the “Mahagathbandhan” in Uttar Pradesh is an alliance between one out of touch Shehzada and another exceptionally arrogant politician who takes her core voters for granted. They think they have an arithmetic advantage, but remember that Uttar Pradesh has delivered “surprising” results in every Assembly and every Lok Sabha election right since 2007. Watch this space.

West Bengal: TMC leader Anubrata Mondal asks election officials to allow them to ‘manage’ 500-600 votes at every booth

OpIndia Staff
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West Bengal: TMC leader Anubrata Mondal asks election officials to allow them to ‘manage’ 500-600 votes at every booth

In a shocking incident, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Anubrata Mondal on Sunday made an appeal to the Election Commission (EC) officials to let him rig the polls and allow his people to “manage” 500-600 votes per booth, reported Times Now.

According to the reports, Anubrata Mondal speaking at a rally stated that the EC officials can take help from TMC block presidents while discharging their duty and the party will extend its full support but in exchange, his party workers should also be allowed to do “their jobs.”


Birbhum district Trinamool chief Anubrata Mondal was addressing a group of teachers most of whom will be deployed for election duty. “This is a very important election and everyone has to be responsible. And I request all the Presiding officers to make way for TMC to register poll 500-600 votes with folded hands,” Mondal said.

The attempt by the TMC leaders to influence the elections has left the opposition parties raging. The BJP has written a letter to the EC for his speech. The BJP and the CPM said they would lodge complaints with the Election Commission on Monday.

However, Mondal later attempted to undo the damage he had caused by his statements. “I actually meant mock votes when I said ‘polled votes’. I have requested them (teachers) to allow us to cast 500-600 mock votes,” said Mondal.

District magistrate Moumita Godara Basu said, “I have heard about the speech. I will take appropriate action after going through the video of the speech.”

The Trinamool Congress is notoriously known for electoral violence and other illegalities on the day of the elections. Last year, TMC had won 20,000 seats uncontested in West Bengal Panchayat elections amidst the allegations that the party which fielded its candidates on all rural seats, had prevented the filing of nominations by resorting to violence. The BJP had moved the Supreme Court to interfere in the matter of its party workers not being allowed to file nominations for the Panchayat elections.

Fearing serious violence and electoral irregularities in the West Bengal, the Election Commission of India decided to hold the elections in the state in seven phases starting from April 11 to May 19. The results of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections will be declared on May 23

EC asks Congress to remove lyrics targeting Modi government from its election campaign song

OpIndia Staff
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EC asks Congress to remove lyrics targeting Modi government from its election campaign song

The Election Commission (EC) has objected to Congress Party’s campaign song for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The Commission has asked the party to remove particular lyrics from the song which were clearly targeting the Modi government by making allegations like the Modi government spread hatred, deceived the poor, changed the names of cities etc.

The following lines were found objectionable by the EC: “Tum jhooti chaalein chal ke, sheheron ke naam badal ke, noton ko kachra kar ke, aur har nirdhan ko chhal ke, nafrat ka dhuaan phailaake, bhai se bhai ladaake, kehte ho hum ko chun lo, ab tum bhi humaari sun lo” (You made false moves, changed cities’ names, scrapped the currency, deceived the poor, spread the smoke of hatred, pitched brothers against each other, and yet want to be elected, now it’s your turn to listen to us)

The Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC) had passed an order asking the party to remove the lyrics from the campaign song. The Committee cleared the song after the objectionable lines were removed from it. Even though Congress removed the lyrics of the song, which was written by famous writer Javed Akhtar, it has challenged the order.

Earlier, the Election Commission had ordered the BJP not to play its theme song anywhere after TMC had raised objections against it. The song which was composed by BJP MP from Asansol Babul Supriyo, was asked to be modified but later the Election Commission ordered the party to withdraw the song.

‘Anti-satellite missile test can’t be kept secret as satellites are tracked by multiple stations’, DRDO Chief on Mission Shakti

OpIndia Staff
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‘Anti-satellite missile test can’t be kept secret as satellites are tracked by multiple stations’, DRDO Chief on Mission Shakti

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) chief Dr G Satheesh Reddy held a press conference in Delhi yesterday addressing the media persons on Mission Shakti that was successfully launched by India on March 27. Dr Reddy highlighted the technical aspects of the mission as well as the planning and technology that was employed to make the mission a success.

An audio-video presentation during the conference revealed how the planning of the mission has started back in 2014 when PM Modi had asked the DRDO to work on challenging technologies, which was followed by a series of discussions held by the National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval on the subject. The final permission for the test was granted by the Prime Minister in 2016. A large team of people including 150 scientists worked tirelessly to make the mission a reality.

DRDO Chief Dr G Satheesh Reddy,
Courtesy: ANI

During the Question-Answer session, a journalist asked Dr Reddy as to how he would respond to the apprehension expressed by senior Congress leader P Chidambaram regarding the announcement of the success of Mission Shakti by PM Modi where he said that only a foolish government would make such a disclosure and betray a defence secret. To this Dr Reddy said that technically a mission of this nature cannot be kept a secret after the test is conducted. Look at the people who have already conducted this test like the US and China, they all came in the public view because the satellites on orbit are tracked by many stations across the world, he said.

After the Mission Shakti was conducted the NASA had called the mission a “terrible” thing and expressed apprehension over the debris created by the interception of the low orbit satellite threatening the International Space Station (ISS). Ruling out the possibility of any such risk to the ISS or any other space asset, Dr Reddy said that even though the range of the intercept missile is up to 1000 km, it was deliberately lowered down to 300 km so the debris created after the collision does not get scattered far away. He said that as per the extensive simulation studies carried out using an internationally accepted software before the launch of the mission, the debris will decay within 45 days. Further adding he said that the risk posed by the debris was temporary, which was by even admitted by the NASA, and persisted for only up to 10 days from the day of the collision.

When asked about the military importance of the test regarding the hostilities with adversaries which already have this technology, Dr Reddy said this test was a deterrence capability test but it will work for defence as well.

On the question of whether such capabilities existed in the past, the DRDO chief replied that as part of the Ballistic Missile development some basic technologies were being developed but the discussion for this started in 2014 and the go-ahead for the test was given in 2016 after a presentation was made before the highest office.

Dr Reddy also spoke about the participation of women in Mission Shakti. Though he could not provide the exact number, he said that at least 30-32 women contributed to the success of the mission. Regarding the content of indigenous contribution in the whole system used in the mission, Dr Reddy said that around 90 percent of the equipment used was indigenous and only the equipment which were not available in the country were bought from outside.

Youtube ‘restricts’ OpIndia video where Rivaldo exposed propaganda around Kashmir narrative

OpIndia Staff
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Youtube ‘restricts’ OpIndia video where Rivaldo exposed propaganda around Kashmir narrative

Last week, OpIndia published a three-part video series by Nitin Rivaldo, when he talked about the Kashmir issue. Nitin argued that the Kashmir problem can’t be solved if we continue to ask the wrong questions, and exposed how the discourse around the Kashmir issue is flawed mostly due to the excuses provided by the ‘liberals’. The three videos were uploaded on the YouTube channel of OpIndia.

Now, it has come to light that the first video in the series has been flagged as age-restricted video by YouTube, which means it has been marked as inappropriate for minors. When one wants to watch the video on YouTube, a warning message may be shown that the video contains age-restricted content, and one has to agree to watch the video.

Message when the video is accessed after login into YouTube

If the YouTube page accessed without logging to Google account, it blocks access to the video, saying one must log in to confirm the age. A notice appended below the description of the video informs that it has been marked as age-restricted based on Community Guidelines.

Message when the video is accessed without login into Youtube

The YouTube guideline says that a video can be labelled as age-restricted if it contains vulgar language, violence and disturbing imagery, Nudity and sexually suggestive content, and Portrayal of harmful or dangerous activities. Based on these guidelines, we could not determine why the video was marked as age-restricted. Apart from a few seconds of footage from Kashmir violence, and few historical images of direct action day, none of the content in the video violates YouTube norms. The few seconds of footage of violence are taken from media which are already in public domain, hence it is a stretch to mark them as age-restricted. It suggests that someone at YouTube, not happy with videos of OpIndia, are trying very hard to find excuses to ban or restrict the videos.

YouTube, like several other Social Media sites, is known to have a left-liberal bias, and the site often removes videos with right-wing messages. Last year, its moderators had removed several right-wing channels by ‘mistake’. Last week, YouTube had removed a video which argued that Hijab is not a symbol of freedom and empowerment, as being presented by left liberals.

Maid in India: Kaamwali bais are no. 1 reason for depression

Nirwa Mehta
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Maid in India: Kaamwali bais are no. 1 reason for depression

One of the major changes in my life after getting married is having to deal with maids, plumbers, electricians. I interact more with my maid than I do with my husband. My maid also notices little changes in me more than my husband does.

“Bhabhi aapke baal bahut jhad rahe hai,” she reminds me every morning that I’m losing my hair faster than Kejriwal lost respect. I KNOW! I AM STRESSED OUT AND NUTRITION CONTENT IN MY FOOD IS LOWER THAN IQ OF AN AVERAGE AAP SUPPORTER. I tell myself to calm down because it will only worsen my hair fall and didi, as we respectfully call her, will be even more upset. “Ab aap 30 ki ho gayi ho to Olay cream laga dijiye, bahut badhiya hai. Woh 263 mein bhabhi kehti hai,” maid even has beauty tips now that I have crossed 30.

She also makes it a point to remind me my eyebrows have outgrown themselves. The other day she told me how I need to get my legs waxed now that summer is here and I’ll wear shorts. A second after she told me I need to get my legs waxed, she showed off her own legs. “Humne to kabhi karwayein hi nahin hai,” she said displaying her own hairless legs. SOME PEOPLE ARE LUCKY WITH BODY HAIR!

Didi also likes to remind me how I am constantly being looted by the sabziwala, Ramesh. Some times, Ramesh comes in our lane to sell vegetables around the same time as Didi is home, cleaning. “2 kilo aloo, 2 kilo pyaaz, 250 gms tamatar, 1 jhudi palak, 100 gm adarak aur ek gobhi de dijiye,” I’d shout from my third floor apartment and he would come to deliver the potatoes, tomatoes, spinach, cauliflower and ginger.

As someone who never really bothered buying vegetables till little over a year ago, I don’t know the fair market price of vegetables. I also do not know how to negotiate with vegetable vendors for vegetables. I pay whatever is asked. “190 rupees,” Ramesh announced. As soon as he leaves, Didi is upset. “Loot ta hai yeh Ramesh. Hamare wahan yehi cheez aadhe daam mein milti hai,” she would tell me. Ramesh is looting you, we get it at half the rates at our place. Incidentally, Ramesh was the one who got her the job at our place a year back.

But it is not just me didi triggers depression on to. She doesn’t even spare the guests. A friend visited our place with her baby who was a little over a year old. The kid, who has developed a fascination for spoons, was just running around the house with a spoon in each hand, happy. Didi immediately sent my friend into depression, “Ek saal ho gaya, kuch bolti nahin hai? Daaktar ko dikhao.” My friend only recently got back to normalcy after the baby uttered her first words, “daddi.” Now the father and grandmother of the child are fighting who she was calling out to in her first word ever.

What if maids are a conspiracy? What if they are planted in our lives by the Royal Family and/or the CIA to spy on us and make us so dependent on them that they get powers to manipulate our mind enough to send us into depression? Or what if they are actually planted by psychiatrists to send us into a depression so they could cure us with happy drugs?

Conspiracy? I think not

Disclaimer: I know the politically correct word is house help, domestic help. But this article in no way means any disrespect to anyone, especially to the ones who clean up after us. It is a light-hearted article and I insist it is taken as one. 

BSP supremo tells Muslim voters to not ‘split their vote’ between Congress and SP-BSP, but consolidate behind alliance candidate

OpIndia Staff
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BSP supremo tells Muslim voters to not ‘split their vote’ between Congress and SP-BSP, but consolidate behind alliance candidate

In the first joint rally of Bahujan Samaj Party (SP) Supremo Mayawati and Samajwadi Party (SP) President Akhilesh Yadav at Deoband in Saharanpur, Mayawati was seen openly polarising votes by asking Muslims not to split their vote between Congress and SP-BSP alliance and rather consolidate their vote in favour of the alliance candidate.


“Muslim samaj k logo ko mai ye btana chahti hu, aap logo ko apna vote batna nhi hai. Aap logo ko apna vote Samajwadi Party aur RLD k ummeedvaro ko dekhar unke kamyab bnana hai (I want to say this to the people of Muslim community that you should not spilt your vote. You should consolidate your vote in the favour of the candidates of SP and RLD and make them win)”, said Mayawati.

Alleging that the Congress and the BJP are hands in glove against the SP-BSP-RLD alliance, Mayawati said that the alliance had decided its Muslim candidate much earlier and yet Congress fielded a Muslim candidate. She said that the Congress is not in a position to put up a tough fight against the BJP and only the SP-BSP-RLD alliance can do that.

Attacking the BJP the BSP Supremo said that the party would not return to power due to their wrong policies and the failure of the Prime Minister in delivering the promises made by him. She accused the party of spending crores on publicity instead of using it for the welfare of the people.

Commenting on the statement made by Mayawati, senior BJP leader Subramaniam Swamy said that her remarks violated the election laws and the Election Commission should take cognisance of the matter.

Appreciate UPSC topper’s gesture thanking his girlfriend as it will annihilate caste: Jignesh Mevani

OpIndia Staff
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Appreciate UPSC topper’s gesture thanking his girlfriend as it will annihilate caste: Jignesh Mevani

Jignesh Mevani, the controversial casteist MLA from Gujarat, took to Twitter to express his joy at the UPSC topper expressing his gratitude towards his girlfriend for his achievement. Mevani said, “Since we believe in the annihilation of caste, which is not possible without falling in love and going for intercaste marriage, we appreciate this gesture.” He also expressed his desire to meet the couple.


It’s unclear whether Kataria, the UPSC topper, and his girlfriend are from different castes as her name is not mentioned in the linked report. Even if both of them belong to the same caste, it still appears extremely troubling that even romance is being politicized.

It’s also not clear how intercaste marriages help in the ‘annihilation’ of caste as caste is transmitted through the male lineage, so the wife automatically picks the caste of her husband and the child grows up accordingly.

The incident also reveals the current crisis in modern politics as elected representatives appear eager to even politicize romance for the sake of electoral gains. It also appears rather unfair to reduce the entirety of Kataria’s achievements to his caste and use him as a prop for a particularly aggressive brand of identity politics.

Under any circumstance, the politicization of romance does not appear to be the smartest way to annihilate caste. However, indulging in bizarre behaviour appears to have become the norm for Mevani and not the exception. He had once resorted to using children to peddle his disruptive political agenda.

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