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Congress-friendly journalist wonders whether Priyanka Gandhi is ‘C’ factor, Twitterati guesses what C stands for

OpIndia Staff
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Congress-friendly journalist wonders whether Priyanka Gandhi is ‘C’ factor, Twitterati guesses what C stands for

We have all heard of people, things being the ‘x-factor’ or having the USP (ultimate selling point) that stands them out from the crowd. But a Congress-friendly journalist Pallavi Ghosh came up with a new term to describe Priyanka Gandhi Vadra who has widely been pegged as the trump card of Congress as the run-up to elections.

She was to discuss on her show whether Priyanka Gandhi Vadra campaigning in Varanasi could turn the wave against Prime Minister Modi. However, Ghosh decided to describe her USP as ‘C factor’.

This led people to wonder what exactly does this ‘C’ stand for?

Some even took a dig at Ghosh for the tweet.

We thank Ghosh for providing the C factor on a Saturday evening. Here C stands for comedy.

Husband says will pay alimony when Rahul Gandhi becomes PM and he gets money under NYAY

OpIndia Staff
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Husband says will pay alimony when Rahul Gandhi becomes PM and he gets money under NYAY

TV actor Anand Sharma, who was ordered by a court to pay Rs 4,500 as maintenance to his estranged wife and daughter has said he will do so when Rahul Gandhi becomes Prime Minister and pays him the money under his minimum income guarantee scheme, NYAY.

A resident of Indore, Madhya Pradesh, Sharma offered that if the court wishes it could directly transfer the money he would receive under NYAY to his estranged wife. The court has set April 29 as the next date for the hearing. Claiming that he is a struggling actor who does not earn enough, Sharma has requested that the court order asking him to pay alimony be stalled till Congress government comes to power.

Sharma said that he earns Rs 5,000 to Rs 6,000 every month in the small roles he takes and he even has his ageing parents to take care of and hence claims he is not in a position to make regular payments to his estranged wife.

Read EAM Sushma Swaraj’s sassy reply to this Twitter user’s ‘Chowkidar’ jibe

OpIndia Staff
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Read EAM Sushma Swaraj’s sassy reply to this Twitter user’s ‘Chowkidar’ jibe

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is known for her quick response to Indians in distress overseas. However, she is equally loved by people for her quick-witted replies and humour on social media.

Earlier today, a Twitter user, taking a dig at the BJP leaders and the right-wingers who, following the ‘Main Bhi Chowkidar’ campaign started by PM Narendra Modi prefixed their names with ‘chowkidar’ on the social media site, asked Sushma Swaraj as to why did she choose to follow the trend? The user asked her that she is the foreign minister, then why does she need to add ‘Chowkidar’ to her name.

Sushma Swaraj, battling down the criticism with her brisk reply, said that it was because she was doing “Chowkidari” of the interests of Indians living abroad, as in she was protecting and guarding the Indian Nationals abroad, hence, she used the word ‘Chowkidar’ before her name.


Recently, Rahul Gandhi, as an extension to his regular theatrics, started using the slogan ‘Chowkidar chor hai’ extensively to attack PM Narendra Modi. PM Modi, however, smartly converted Rahul Gandhi’s slogan ‘Chowkidar Chor Hai’ to ‘Main Bhi  Chowkidar’, making it the slogan of the season.

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. This followed a digital stampede. Those who had backed the tagline lost little time in prefixing “Chowkidar” in front of their names.

In no time, it was the top trend around the world. With making this his campaign theme this election season, PM Modi kickstarted his Lok Sabha campaigning by interacting with over 25 lakh ‘chowkidars’ through an audio bridge on the eve of Holi.

As BJP surges ahead with its political masterstroke ‘Main Bhi Chowkidar’ campaign, Prime Minister Modi is all set to take it to the next level as he plans to interact with people from 500 different locations across the country on March 31.

Mehbooba Mufti insinuates if Article 370 is scrapped, Muslim majority state may not want to be a part of India

OpIndia Staff
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Mehbooba Mufti insinuates if Article 370 is scrapped, Muslim majority state may not want to be a part of India

The former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir has made yet another controversial remark regarding the news concerning the abrogation of Article 370. Mehbooba Mufti had said that if Article 370 is scrapped, India will have to re-negotiate its relationship with the state.


Mufti further went on to insinuate that in the event that India has to re-negotiate its relationship with the state, a Muslim majority Jammu and Kashmir might refuse to have any kind of association with secular India and the relation between the state and the country will be over. Mufti further alleged that if Article 370 is rescinded, Muslims in the state may not be inclined to join the union of India.

It is noteworthy to mention that the profoundly shocking remarks have come from a legislator who had served as a Chief Minister of the state abiding the rules enshrined in the constitution of India. It is also deeply insulting to assume that the state’s relationship with the Union is based only on a mere article than on the homogeneity of the cultural and civilisational ethos that the state and the country share.

Article 370 of the Indian constitution grants autonomous status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The Article limits the legislative powers accorded to the central government to the three subjects of defence, foreign affairs and communications. Article 370 is considered to be a major impediment in the complete amalgamation of J&K with the Indian Union.

In the aftermath of the Pulwama attack, there was a growing clamour from various quarters to repeal the Articles 370 and 35A. However, If the Article 370 is abrogated, politicians like Mehbooba Mufti, who are already fearing political irrelevance will lose the additional powers that the article confers upon them. It is, perhaps, this desperation of losing political relevance and the special powers under Article 370 that is causing panic among the Kashmiri politicians and forcing them to take hardline stances on matters concerning the state.

Ever since Mufti resigned from the Chief Ministership of the state, she has been giving controversial statements. After the Pulwama attack, she appeared to rationalise the Pulwama terrorist attack and instead critiqued Indian Armed Forces and the central government for having a heavy-handed approach in J&K. A few days back, she even declared in a rally that If she comes back to power in the state, bans on the proscribed groups JIE and JKLF will be lifted. JIE and JKLF are banned by the central government for their involvement in secessionist activities.

ED attaches Deepak Talwar’s Hotel worth Rs 120 crore, allegedly made from kickback money

OpIndia Staff
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ED attaches Deepak Talwar’s Hotel worth Rs 120 crore, allegedly made from kickback money

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today attached a luxury hotel worth crores located in Delhi belonging to alleged corporate lobbyist Deepak Talwar. Hotel Holiday Inn, located in upscale Aerocity area of the national capital, valued at Rs 120 crore has been provisionally attached by the ED as part of an investigation being conducted against Deepak Talwar and his family in a money laundering case.


ED has filed a prosecution complaint in the Patiala High Court, Delhi against Talwar for allegedly conniving with politician and bureaucrats and granting profitable routes of Air India to private airlines. Talwar’s son Aditya Talwar has also been made an accused in the charge sheet.


The court has extended the judicial custody of the Congress era lobbyist till April 15, the same date on which the court will take cognisance of the ED complaint.


Talwar had allegedly secured traffic rights for certain airlines illegally at the cost of Air India.  “Investigation under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) was initiated by ED in August 2017 on the basis of FIR registered by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against officials of Ministry of Civil Aviation, NACIL, Air India and unknown private persons. He illegally managed to secure favourable traffic rights for these airlines during 2008-09 at the cost of National carrier, Air India,” said an ED press note.

The press note further said that these foreign airlines companies paid Talwar around Rs 272 crore. “It has been revealed that Talwar created a web of entities owned by him and his family members in India and international offshore havens to launder proceeds of crime received from foreign airlines,” the press note claimed. Parts of these payments were transferred to a Bank of Singapore account belonging to a company Asiafield Limited registered in the British Virgin Islands and beneficially owned by Talwar.

The ED has alleged that the money received by Talwar was layered through a series of international money transfers and ultimately integrated into Wave Hospitality Private Limited, a company beneficially owned and controlled by the Talwar family in the name of Deepak Talwar’s son Aditya Talwar. The same money was utilised in the constructions of the hotel Holiday Inn that has been provisionally attached by the ED.

Talwar was extradited to India from Dubai in the month of January this year along with VVIP Chopper Scam accused Rajiv Saxena.

It is notable here that recently a letter had emerged where senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh had ‘thanked’ the lobbyist for the services rendered to him.

In his desperation, fugitive Nirav Modi uses his pet dog to seek bail but fails the second attempt

OpIndia Staff
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In his desperation, fugitive Nirav Modi uses his pet dog to seek bail but fails the second attempt

In an amusing twist of events, fugitive Nirav Modi’s defence team used his pet dog in their pursuit to get Nirav Modi out of jail but failed in their attempt.

The futile attempt of his barrister, Clare Montgomery, trying hard to establish his close ties with the UK, including having to care for a pet dog, in order to get Nirav Modi a bail in his extradition case at the Westminster Magistrates’ Court failed to yield results. The judge hearing the plea agreed, that the conditions did not meet Modi’s statutory right to bail in such a case and thereby directed Modi to be remanded in custody.

He would have to appear for a remand hearing via video call on April 26, required within a four-week period of an accused being remanded in custody.

Clare Montgomery, Modi’s barrister, had made a series of offers to try and convince the judge to grant bail.

“He did have a son at Charterhouse (school in London) who has now gone to university in the States and as a sign of ageing parents, led Modi to get a dog instead. None of these actions is emblematic of someone setting out to flee the country,” Montgomery claimed.

“It is nonsense to say that he is a flight risk. He does not have a safe haven open to him and he has not travelled or applied for citizenship elsewhere – he only qualifies for leave to remain in this country,” she added.

Nirav Modi’s defence team offered to submit to several “stringent conditions”, including Modi wearing an electronic tag to be monitored regularly, also guaranteeing that Modi would keep a mobile phone on him which would be charged and switched on at all times, and would submit to complete travel restrictions and also surrender all his residence permits, including for Hong Kong, Singapore and the UAE.

Meanwhile, Toby Cadman, representing crown prosecution on behalf of Indian authorities, had stressed that Modi posed a significant flight risk and was also likely to further intimidate witnesses and destroy evidence if he were released. He also contended that Modi has not been cooperating with the Indian agencies.


In his final submission at London’s Westminster Magistrate court, Toby also said that Nirav Modi has called up a witness ‘Ashish Lad’ and threatened to kill him.


The prosecution also successfully countered the claims made by the defence team that Nirav Modi had not travelled out of the UK since January 2018, when he allegedly arrived in Britain to establish the global headquarters of his diamond business.

In fact, CPS barrister Toby Cadman told the court that he had flown out to New York as recently as last month.

Judge Arbuthnot accepted the Indian government’s arguments, noting the “very unusual” evidence she had seen at this early stage in the case of interference with witnesses and destroying evidence in the form of mobile phones and a server and rejected the bail application.

This was Nirav Modi’s second attempt to seek bail after his arrest on March 20, 17 months after he fled India, by Scotland Yard officers from a central London bank branch, while he had been trying to open a new bank account and since then has been in custody at the HMP Wandsworth prison in south-west London. The first bail plea was rejected by District Judge Marie Mallon soon after his arrest.

Meanwhile, Modi will remain at the Wandsworth prison in south-west London during this period, where he will be allowed to hold sessions with his legal team to deliberate on the future course of the extradition case.

Recently media had tracked Nirav Modi in London, who reportedly lives in a luxury 8 million pound apartment in west London, and currently deals in the diamond business.

The Indian government was aware of his presence in the UK, and ED had already requested the UK government for extradition in July 2018. The UK government had found the Nirav Modi case fit for extradition, and the request was sent by UK Central Authority of Home Office to the Westminster Magistrate Court for further proceedings.

The Westminster Court has issued the arrest warrant against Nirav Modi as part of processing this extradition request.

Nirav Modi, his wife Ami Modi, brother Nishal Modi, and uncle Mehul Choksi are accused defrauding Punjab National Bank to the tune of Rs 14,356 crore by obtaining Letter of Undertaking without furnishing any guarantee.

Congress government in Chhattisgarh is in collusion with Naxals, alleges BJP leader

OpIndia Staff
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Congress government in Chhattisgarh is in collusion with Naxals, alleges BJP leader

Former BJP Minister Brijmohan Agarwal has hit out at the Congress government in Chhattisgarh for allegedly shielding the Naxals in the State. Agarwal, while addressing the media in Raipur said that the law and order situation in the State is in shatters and the government is busy doing politics with Naxals.

Agarwal accused the Chhattisgarh Congress government of compromising the security of the State. “Congress has made a mockery of both internal and external security of the country. In Chhattisgarh too, the government has put the security of state at stake. It seems the whole state has been left to the mercy of Maoists,” he said.

The former Minister said that due to Chhattisgarh police’s failure to file a charge sheet against alleged Naxal operative N Venkat Rao, who was arrested from Rajanandgaon last year, he is now out on bail. “Recently, the police failed to file a charge sheet in the court against N Venkat Rao alias Nakka Murty, an alleged urban operative of Maoists, within the stipulated period of time that facilitated his release on bail”, he added.

Agarwal questioned the Chhattisgarh government’s intention over NV Rao’s release as he was claimed by the police to be a threat to Prime Minister Modi ‘s security. He said that the fact that Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel spoke against the detention of Jean Dreze who is allegedly an Urban Naxal link in Jharkhand and talked about initiating peace talks with the Naxals suggests that Naxals have infiltrated the government. We demand a probe by the EC about the role of Naxals in the Chhattisgarh government,” the BJP Minister said.

However, Congress has refuted the allegations leveled by Agarwal’s allegations saying that BJP was misguiding people.

It is notable here that the arrested alleged Urban Naxal, NV Rao, an employee of the National Geophysical Research Institute, was arrested after a surrendered Naxal commander Pahad Singh had tipped off the police about his involvement in Naxal activities. Rao was arrested with 23 detonators in his possession.

NCP mischievously edits Uddhav Thackeray’s speech to mock him

OpIndia Staff
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NCP mischievously edits Uddhav Thackeray’s speech to mock him

Sharad Pawar’s NCP, Congress ally, made another nasty display of its efforts to sow the seeds of regionalism in the country. In a tweet on Saturday, the official Twitter handle of the party took a dig at Shiv Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray for saying ‘Jai Gujarat!’. In its tweet, the NCP said, “Uddhav does what Balasaheb never did” implying that Uddhav did something his father wasn’t too keen on doing, i.e. bowing before the Gujaratis.


The NCP mischievously appears to have edited out the part of Uddhav’s speech where he says ‘Jai Maharashtra!’


However, the Great Meme War is upon us. And political battles are fought not only at rallies and polling booths but also on social media. The Shiv Sena was quick to reply with a meme of its own that said, “Rehney do Beta, Tumse na ho payega (Leave it son, it’s beyond your capabilities).”


Memes have become an integral part of politics in the age of social media. We have seen the BJP make very effective use of social media over the years and it appears they are ahead of the curve as far as the meme game is concerned. And now, it appears their excellence is rubbing off on its most natural ally as well.

The Congress party too has attempted to use memes to further its political prospects. However, unfortunately for them, their party president out-memes the memes himself.

India hands over evidence of Pakistan using F-16s in the air skirmish to USA

OpIndia Staff
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India hands over evidence of Pakistan using F-16s in the air skirmish to USA

According to a report in the Hindustan Times, India has shared vital evidence of Pakistan’s use of F-16s in the attempted strike against India after the Balakot airstrikes. As per the signed MoU between Pakistan and the US, Pakistan can use the fighter jets only for action against terror and not for aggression against other countries.

In the aftermath of the Pulwama attack by Pakistan based Jaish-e-Muhammad terror group, in which 40 CRPF personnel lost their lives, India had conducted airstrikes deep inside Pakistan, in Balakot, and killed many terrorists belonging to JeM terror outfit. In response to this, Pakistan had attempted to carry out air strikes against India’s military assets in Jammu & Kashmir.

Pakistan had reportedly used F-16s in this operation which were promptly chased down by India’s patrol fleet and in the ensuing dogfight, India’s Mig-21 bison flown by Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman managed to down one of the F-16s before his fighter jet crashed in the PoK region.

The South Block officials have stated that they will be sharing the details of the residual Advanced Medium Range Air to Air missile (AMRAAM) shot by one of the intruding Falcons with the US authorities through the established intelligence-sharing mechanism. The details of the recovered missile hints to the consignment lot the US had sold to Pakistan. India also has radar signatures of F-16s but it will not share it with the US as it will compromise the security of the Indian Air Force.

As per the report, India also has details of the Pakistani pilot who was flying the falcon that got crashed. Pakistan, on the other hand, had vehemently denied the involvement of falcons in their operation, claiming that they had used Chinese made JF-17s in their operation.

Pulwama terror attack ‘doubtful’, ASAT test was done to prove “Hanuman ji tashreef laye hain”: Farooq Abdullah

OpIndia Staff
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Pulwama terror attack ‘doubtful’, ASAT test was done to prove “Hanuman ji tashreef laye hain”: Farooq Abdullah

National Conference Supremo Farooq Abdullah, known for being a sympathizer of Kashmiri Separatists, has issued another controversial statement. On Saturday, he insinuated that the Pulwama Attack was a conspiracy hatched by Prime Minister Modi.


Abdullah stated, “How many Indian soldiers have been martyred in Chhattisgarh? Did Modi ever go there to pay his respect to them? But 40 CRPF people got martyred, I have doubt about that as well.”

Taking his attack further, Abdullah did not even hesitate to insult Hindu sentiments in his attempts to target the Modi government. He repeated the false claim that the ASAT was ready under the Manmohan Singh led UPA government and stated that the present government has carried out the tests only because there are elections coming and they wanted to show “Hanuman Ji has come”.


Earlier, Abdullah’s brother had given a clean chit to Pakistan on the matter. “Look the way Pulwama attack happened, everyone is questioning it. Even me,” Mustafa had said. “When in future the regime will change, the truth will come out upon investigation” he had added.

The Abdullahs appear to be taking a leaf out of their ally Congress’ book. The Congress party has repeatedly questioned the Pulwama terror attack and the airstrikes by the Indian Air Force that followed.

Congress leader B K Hariprasad, a Rajya Sabha MP from Karnataka, had courted controversy for his comments where he called the terrorist attack a ‘fixed-match’ between PM Modi and Pakistan.

Goa Congress leader Chellakumar had alleged that the Pulwama attack was orchestrated by PM Modi and that the ghastly terror attack was an inside job.  Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala had rubbed salt on the wounds of the victims’ family by alleging that the terrorist was a ‘Home-grown so-called terrorist’.

Referring to the terror attack as an ‘accident’, senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh had said that reports in various foreign media outlets regarding the “air strike” have created significant doubts in their minds which made them question the credibility of the Indian government. Kapil Sibal and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath had also taken a similar stand. One of Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s most trusted adviser, Sam Pitroda, too had demanded proofs of the airstrikes.

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