Congress is leaving no stone unturned to cash on the new found Hindu identity of the Gandhi family just a couple of weeks ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. After posters portraying Congress President Rahul Gandhi as the incarnation of Lord Shiva and a descendant of Parshuram emerged during 2017 Gujarat election campaign, now posters of Rahul Gandhi’s sister and Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra have surfaced in Ayodhya declaring her a Ram Bhakt.
The posters have been put up across the city of Ayodhya to welcome Priyanka Gandhi to the city. This comes days after Rahul Gandhi was depicted as Lord Ram in posters by party workers in Bihar.
Both Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi have been visiting Hindu temples and offering prayers as part of their election campaign. The party had used its soft Hindutva politics during the Assembly elections last year as well. From claiming the existence of Brahmin Samaj’s DNA in Congress’ blood to promising Gaushalas, Congress used every trick in the book to impress the Hindu voter.
Last month Congress workers had erected hoardings depicting Rahul Gandhi as Lord Ram and PM Modi as Ravana in Madhya Pradesh. The hoardings had the slogan of Chowkidar he chor hai printed on it. In another poster seen in Patna, Rahul Gandhi was shown as Lord Shiva, Priyanka Vadra as Goddess Durga and Narendra Modi as Mahishasura. It is interesting to see how the leaders of a party that had once called Lord Ram a myth, are desperately trying to prove their bhakti for Lord Ram clearly in an attempt to woo the Hindu voter.
Today Congress president Rahul Gandhi announced the Minimum Income Guarantee Scheme as a poll promise for the Lok Sabha elections. The party is promising Rs 72000 per year to 20% population of the country. Reacting to this announcement, union minister Arun Jaitley has written a blog on his Facebook page describing how Congress has been ineffectual in eliminating poverty notwithstanding the considerable number of years of being in power and how Modi government has been able to offer much more to the poor than empty promises made by Congress. Below is the reproduction of his blog:-
No political party has betrayed India for more than seven decades other than the Congress Party. It gave to the people of India many slogans and very little resources to implement them.
The Nehruvian era pushed India to the 3.5% rate of growth. When the world was moving fast and opening up, we decided to regulate our economy. Indiraji understood slogans better than economics. Inflation, unemployment, corruption and erroneous policies hindered India. A large part of economic reforms unleashed in 1991, was to undo what she did. In 1971, she gave her legendary slogan ‘Garibi Hatao’. Her economics was not about increasing production and generating wealth but only about redistribution of poverty. She supplemented her 1971 slogan while promising in election after election, the welfare of the largest number. Shri Rajiv Gandhi had a historic opportunity to remove poverty. Initially, he showed a desire to do so. But his Government got caught in unsavoury controversies preventing any significant and major changes.
In 1971, ‘Garibi Hatao’ slogan was given by Indiraji. For two-thirds of the last 48 years, her party has been in power. Yet, they left behind a legacy of poverty.
The UPA Government, between 2004-2014, conferred a large number of ‘rights’ without resources to implement them. The legendary bank loan waiver was announced at Rs.70,000 crore – a one time measure. Of this only Rs.52,000 crore was actually allocated, a significant part of which went to the businessmen of New Delhi (Ref. CAG Report). The MNREGA was a rural scheme where Rs.40,000 crore used to be promised every year and the actual spent was in the nature of Rs.28,000 to Rs.30,000 crore.
Today, the Congress President has announced that those whose income is below Rs.12,000/- per month, would be given a subsidy to ‘attain’ that income subject to Rs.6,000/- per month. This announcement is an admission of the fact that neither Indiraji nor her son and certainly not the UPA Government controlled by her descendants, was able to remove poverty. The Congress in general and the Gandhi family in particular, since ‘Garibi Hatao’ slogan was given, has ruled India for more than two-thirds of that period. If it has failed to even address poverty during this period, why should India believe it? Even though the details of the scheme are now known, it was said that the payment will be by DBT. The Congress Party’s internal economist has said that there will be no additional burden on the fiscal deficit.
The loan waiver bluff
The Congress Party in Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Karnataka promised a loan waiver. In most places, the promise remains unfulfilled. The party, thus, has a long legacy of slogans with no resources. It has a history of bluff announcements. Karnataka so far has spent only Rs.2600 crore, Madhya Pradesh Rs.3000 crore and Punjab Rs.5500 crore. The farmers are still waiting.
The income support
The landless and poor, amongst the villagers, get an MNREGA payment. Minimum wages for labour have been raised by 42%. Today even most industrial workers get more than Rs.12,000/- a month. The minimum starting salary in Government after the Seventh Pay Commission is Rs.18,000 a month. A small and marginal farmer, besides home, road, toilet, electricity, cooking gas subsidies, crop insurance, MSP payment, will also get income support.
The Opposition’s sabotage of the pro-poor initiatives
If the Congress Party and its friends have so much concern for the poor in India, why is it that its States are going slow in certifying the list of small and marginal farmers who are entitled to receiving the instalment of PM KISAN? Why are some of the States such as West Bengal, Odisha and Delhi, amongst others, not implementing the Ayushman Bharat? What is the fault of their poor farmers that they want to make them pay?
How the Narendra Modi Government supports the poor?
In the last five years, the Government headed by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi introduced the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) through the banking system. Besides subsidies for food, fertilizer, kerosene, 55 Ministries handed over subsidies to the poor through the DBT which was enabled by AADHAAR. Congress opposed AADHAAR in Parliament and challenged it before the Supreme Court. Ironically, they now want to use the same mechanism. How much is today being given to the poor through AADHAAR, DBT or otherwise? If all other payments are also made through DBT, what will the total amount to?
The simple arithmetic is if multiple bank transfers to the five crore poor families, the existing payment to which is mostly being done. The above averages Rs.1,06,800 annually as against Rs.72,000 which is the Congress now seeks to promise through the DBT mechanism.
Note: In addition to the above, Rs.5.34 lakh crore, there are several other schemes which provide several thousands of crores more to the poor. What is given towards Awas, cooking gas, electricity, sanitation and many other Government’s social schemes is additional. If the Congress Party’s announcement is tested on simple arithmetic, Rs.72,000 for five crore families works out to be Rs.3.6 lakh crore, which is less than 2/3rd of what is being given – A bluff announcement.
The Special CBI Court has today approved Dubai-based accountant Rajiv Saxena’s plea to turn approver in AgustaWestland case. Saxena is one of the accused in the AgustaWestland kickback case. The order was pronounced by Special CBI Judge Arvind Kumar.
In his application under Section 306 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, Rajiv Saxena had prayed for pardon in the case in exchange of full and true disclosure.
The Enforcement Directorate had ‘vehemently supported’ the application before the CBI Court. The Investigating Agency had stated that Rajiv Saxena had shown an inclination to ‘unravel the truth’ and that he would be an important witness in the case.
According to reports, recently Saxena had submitted a diary and a pen drive to the Enforcement Directorate, which have details of the Rs 423 crore alleged kickbacks paid in the VVIP chopper deal.
Rajiv Saxena had also submitted his statements before the court after he turned approver. He had earlier claimed before ED that his “exposure in the case was minimal” and that he merely acted as a front for other beneficiaries.
The agency, which believes that Saxena has extensive information on the bribe that was paid to certain politicians and bureaucrats in India, is also hoping that Saxena would also reveal significant details on the role of Christian Michel and Gautam Khaitan who are the co-accused in the AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal.
Rajiv Saxena was picked up by UAE government security agencies in Dubai and was later extradited to India on January 30, 2019. After spending 12 days in ED custody, Saxena was remanded to judicial custody by the Court. Last week, Saxena was granted interim bail by the Court on medical grounds.
The ED did not oppose his bail application when he had agreed to turn approver in the case. After he turned approver, Saxena recorded his statements before a court on March 6, which the ED accepted and informed the court that it supported Saxena’s application for turning a witness.
The ED’s probe into the money trail, according to its charge sheet filed earlier, revealed that AgustaWestland International Ltd, the UK subsidiary of Finmeccanica, paid 58 million euros (around Rs 423 crore) as kickbacks through Gordian Services Sarl, Tunisia and IDS Sarl, Tunisia. The money was further layered through multiple transactions in companies registered in different jurisdictions.
The kickbacks were moved from one company to another as consultancy fees. From the Tunisian entities, the bribe proceeds were transferred to Interstellar Technologies Ltd and others in Mauritius and further to UHY Saxena and Matrix Holdings Ltd in Dubai.
Reportedly, the ED had alleged that Rajiv Saxena was a beneficial owner of Mauritius-based Interstellar Technologies Ltd and the proceeds of the bribe were transferred two companies in Dubai.
It was further reported that Rajiv Saxena has several accounts in Switzerland. OpIndia had acquired the list of accounts that Rajiv Saxena allegedly used for kickbacks received in the AgustaWestland scam.
India had signed a deal in 2010 under the UPA regime to buy 12 AgustaWestland AW101 helicopters for the service of the Prime Minister, the President and other VVIPs. It is alleged that some politicians and public servants had abused their official positions to reduce the service ceiling of the VVIPs helicopter from 6000 metres to 4500 metres to make AgustaWestland eligible for the contract and had awarded the contract for an amount of Euro 556.262 million in 2010. The deal was cancelled in 2013 after the scam was revealed.
Actor R Madhavan in a response to a tweet by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the micro-blogging site thanked Modi for his unrelenting passion for strengthening the democracy in this country and extended his support in assisting Modi in his endeavour.
Dear Shri Modi ji. Sir.Your unrelenting passion for strengthening Democracy in this country, is totally and completely supported by me and it will not just be an Honour and privelege, but my ardent duty to assist you in this endeavor. Thank you for personally reminding us. https://t.co/jD6OIqvQ27
PM Modi has been urging celebrities including actors and sportspersons to use their stardom to encourage voters to come out and exercise their right to vote in the upcoming general elections. Prime Minister Modi had tweeted that since the people of the country admire actors like Madhavan and Hrithik if they come out and help in increasing voter awareness, it would strengthen India’s democracy.
Your work has stood out not only for the entertainment quotient but also for the passion and hardwork behind it. As widely respected voices, if you lend your voice towards increasing voter awareness, it strengthens India’s democracy. #VoteKar
— Chowkidar Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 24, 2019
However, R Madhavan’s appeal to his fan base to come out and vote didn’t go down too well with those who like to identify themselves as ‘liberals’. The respectful titles he used to address the prime minister of the country were mocked.
— Aditi (hot takes 4 koolkidz) (@awryaditi) March 25, 2019
Soon, the so-called liberals were hounding him, asking whether he’d say the same if other politicians had asked him to urge his fans to vote. Which is kind of silly to begin with because he was asking people to vote, not specifying whom to vote for.
Maddy, let me put it differently: would you have responded the same way if a Mamata Banerjee, Kanhaiya Kumar or Arvind Kejriwal had tweeted you the same message/request?
Context: Narendra Modi’s tweets to celebrities: conversation vs. broadcast https://t.co/4CHNhbBXZW
Madhavan, like any sensible individual who knows how a responsible citizen should behave, replied he would have done the same had it been any other politician asking him to lend his voice for a cause.
I would have done exactly the SAME .. if it was in the Intrest of Democracy and the Nation I would have done EXACTLY THE SAME .. https://t.co/jdWkGIjzQR
At that point, the focus shifted to Madhavan’s way of replying which ‘dog whistled trolls’ to descend upon their timelines.
I am so sorry, that was not my intention at all. I was merely perplexed at what irked you. Apologies for the filth you may have to endure on my account . I do not endorse nor stand by that aspect of trolling . https://t.co/rRLm6spxQe
A visibly clueless Madhavan apologised if anyone felt abused, but held his ground. At that point, he was again hounded.
So “please vote” as opposed to “not voting” IS my point of view in this https://t.co/9JZjgwJWq0 does responding to your tweet become a dog https://t.co/ekM8WNmKhj have done the same by that account. The filth,I resent as much as you do and again denounce them Rigorously I am done https://t.co/e1IFnnsmIr
As bizarre as it sounds, R Madhavan had to face the anger from ‘liberals’ not because he asked people to go out and vote, but because he did so to support PM Modi who is urging everyone to go out and vote. This is the second time in ten days’ time that he had to face the wrath of the ‘liberals’ for voicing his views. A few days back, in reacting to a distasteful video posted by Congress when China blocked Masood Azhar from being named as a global terrorist for the fourth time, Madhavan had been critical. The criticism, too, had not gone too well with the ‘liberals’.
As the election fever takes over the country, a number of politicians can be seen switching sides in the search of better opportunities. Apart from politicians, there are also people from different walks of life who are making their debuts into politics.
Days after cricketer Gautam Gambhir joined the BJP citing PM Modi’s vision for the country as the motivation behind joining the party, India’s first women athlete to win a Paralympics medal Deepa Malik has joined the party.
Delhi: Paralympian Deepa Malik and INLD MLA Kehar Singh Rawat joins Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). pic.twitter.com/H9iqxtQGfC
Deepa Malik had won a silver medal in women’s shot put event at the Rio Games in 2016. Malik had also won a gold in F-53/54 Javelin event at the para athletic grand Prix held in Dubai in 2018. Malik said that she wanted to contribute to the development of the nation and credited PM Modi for changing the thinking and the policies of the society.
Recently, para special forces veteran and award-winning athlete Major Surendra Poonia too had joined the BJP.
INLD MLA Kehar Singh Rawat also joined the BJP today. Both Rawat and Malik joined the party in presence of BJP Haryana unit chief Subhash Barala, and general secretary Anil Jain.
“I wanted to contribute to the development of the nation. I became physically-disabled about 20 years back but recently, I have been seeing myself as Divyaang. It is because of PM Modi’s efforts for the physically disabled people. He changed the thinking and policies of the society. I want to take the work for the differently abled forward through this initiative”, said Malik after joining the party.
In fresh trouble for Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s brother-in-law Robert Vadra, Enforcement Directorate has said that it has established that Robert Vadra is linked with the bribe of Rs.300 crore paid by Swiss aerospace company Pilatus to influence the Rs.2900 crore deal for basic trainer aircraft.
According to the reports, the Enforcement Directorate has established money-trail of kickbacks which was allegedly paid by Pilatus. ED said this in court while opposing the anticipatory bail plea filed by Robert Vadra and his associate Manoj Arora in a money laundering case. Special Judge Arvind Kumar extended Vadra’s interim protection against arrest till March 27. ED counsel alleged that the case of Robert Vadra involved payment of Rs 300 crore in a defence deal and USD 10 million received in a petroleum deal.
The probe began in July 2017 after the government had ordered a probe into the Pilatus deal. The CBI had begun an investigation into the Rs. 2900 crore Pilatus deal which allegedly involved absconding arm dealer Sanjay Bhandari, who is close to both Congress President Rahul Gandhi and Robert Vadra.
The Pilatus deal controversy began when Korea Aerospace Industries, the closest rival to the Pilatus, had strongly protested against the UPA government deal claiming that Pilatus had submitted an incomplete bid and demanded its disqualification. South Korea’s defence minister personally contacted A.K. Antony, his Indian counterpart, requesting a “high-level review”. However, these objections were overruled and Pilatus was awarded the contract.
In 2015, after Finance wing of the Ministry of Defense flagged the Pilatus deal, the Indian Express reported, “…nine components, now part of an IAF proposal to pay Pilatus under the maintenance head were not calculated during the request for proposal (RFP) stage before declaring it the lowest bidder.” This is the very same issue the Koreans had raised in 2011. It should be noted that Bhandari is under CBI investigation for alleged malpractices in the selection of the Swiss aircraft Pilatus PC-7″. It was alleged that Bhandari’s firm had received 7,50,000 Swiss Francs from Pilatus.
Batting for speedy inclusion of Rafale fighter jets in the Indian Air Force’s arsenal, the Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa has today claimed that Pakistan will have no answer to the augmented capabilities of Indian Air Force, once Rafales are deployed along the Indo-Pak border.
Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa: When the #Rafale comes in, the deterrence of our air defence will increase manifold,and they (Pak) will not come anywhere near the LoC or the border,with the kind of of capability that we will posses, for which presently they(Pak) don’t have an answer pic.twitter.com/mVnM62kQyz
“When Rafales come in, our air defence capabilities will enhance manifold, and Pakistan will be deterred from lingering around the border and the LoC with the kind of capabilities we will possess, for which they don’t have an answer,” BS Dhanoa said.
Despite the controversy surrounding the Rafale deal, various stakeholders have lauded the Modi government for an absolutely essential deal pertaining to National security. Former Air chief marshal Anil Yashwant Tipnis had stated that the government-to-government deal for the acquisition of 36 Rafale fighters from Dassault Aviation was a masterstroke. With BS Dhanoa’s endorsement, the central government scored a major shot in the arm for strengthening the air defence by procuring Rafale fighter aircraft.
Indian Air Force’s last major acquisition was the Russian built Sukhoi Su-MKI30 fighters which were termed as fourth-generation fighter jets. Whereas the Rafale jets can be considered as 4.5 to 5th generation fighter aircraft. The Rafale jets are miles ahead of Su-MKI30swith much smaller radar and infra-red signatures, making it difficult to detect. Performance-wise Rafale outshines its contemporaries inmost of the parameters such as operational capabilities, safety features and ease of operation/ training/ maintenance.
Congress and its president Rahul Gandhi have tried all their might to scuttle the deal by purveying lies about the deal and allegations of corruption against the Modi government, despite CAG and Supreme Court dismissing their claims.
The trailer of the much awaited movie ‘The Tashkent Files’ by Vivek Agnihotri is finally out. The movie which seeks to answer the question, “Who killed Lal Bahadur Shastri?” will be released on the 12th of April, 2019.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgWylHdfIdo]
The film revolves around former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri’s sudden, mysterious death in Tashkent, day after he signed the historical Tashkent Agreement. As the male voiceover in the trailer says the second Prime Minister of the world’s largest democracy goes to Tashkent, signs a war treaty, and then dies. The circumstances were suspicious but not even an inquiry commission was set up.
The movie appears to link Shastri’s death to the mysterious disappearance of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. Mithun Da says, “What good news was Shastri ji about to bring? That Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose is alive!”
Critically acclaimed actor, Pankaj Tripathi of Mirzapur fame, also appears to have a prominent role in the movie. The movie boasts of a formidable cast with Vinay Pathak, Mandira Bedi, Pallavi Joshi and Naseeruddin Shah all set to play critical roles.
The Tashkent Files touts the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of Lal Bahadur Shastri as the ‘biggest coverup’ of Independent India. The movie is also deeply embedded with political themes in the current era as Pankaj Tripathi says enigmatically, “A Prime Minister is poisoned, the Parliament is attacked, blasts occur at Mumbai but Ssshhh! Don’t say anything. Secularism!” At another point, Vinay Pathak says, “Capturing Lutyens Delhi means capturing the entire country.” Towards the end of the trailer, a character can be heard saying, “This is the land of Truth and Ahimsa, this is the land of Gandhi and Nehru.” To which, an actor in the movie replies, “Why not Shastri ji’s?”
The trailer creates a dark atmosphere of suspense and mystery surrounding Shastri’s death and is likely to pique people’s curiosity. The cast of the movie, studded with brilliant actors, is a further enticement for movie-goers.
Agnihotri is likely to taste commercial success with his current venture, an area where he hasn’t scored very well with his past ventures. The Tashkent Files also appears to be directed much better than Agnihotri’s earlier movies. Lal Bahadur’s tragic death in mysterious circumstances provides a great story for a thriller and if the trailer is anything to go by, it appears Agnihotri and the actors have done justice to the project.
Giving a major shock to the Congress Party ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, senior Congress leader Rashid Alvi has opted out if the election race. Alvi, whose name was announced by the Party for the Amroha Parliamentary constituency in Uttar Pradesh, has withdrawn his candidature.
AICC Press Release, Source: ANI
Congress has replaced Alvi with another candidate Sachin Chaudhary who will now contest election from the Amroha seat. Alvi while withdrawing his candidature reportedly cited some personal reasons. However, according to some reports, Alvi was reluctant to contest from the Amroha seat fearing his defeat. Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded sitting MP Kanwar Singh Tanwar from the Amroha seat while the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has fielded Danish Ali, who was general secretary of Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) before joining BSP, as its candidate.
Replacing Rashid Alvi with Sachin Chaudhary can also be part of a strategy to ensure that minority vote is not divided between the Congress and BSP candidates. Many people doubt a secret understanding between mahagathbandhan and Congress party, and this could be an example of the same.
Rashid Alvi who has also served as the spokesperson of the Congress Party, has been a member of Lok Sabha from the Amroha Parliamentary constituency between 1999-2004. He has also been elected as the member of Rajya Sabha for two terms from Andhra Pradesh. Alvi had joined the Congress Party after he was expelled from the BSP in 2004 by its Chief Mayawati on the allegations of taking bribes for allotting party tickets.
With the first phase of 2019 Lok Sabha elections around the corner, political parties are busy announcing candidates for the polls so they can start campaigning on the ground. The Congress has also released its star campaigners list comprising 40 candidates in Uttar Pradesh.
Star campaigners list of Congress in Uttar Pradesh ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha elections
As the Lok Sabha elections commence on April 11, 2019, Congress, with very little time in hand to woo voters, has narrowed down on these 40 names in Uttar Pradesh who, according to the grand old party, will be the faces of the party to seek votes.
Gujarat youth leader Hardik Patel, former deputy CM of Bihar and Rashtriya Janata Dal head, Tejashawi Yadav, the much controversial Punjab Minister, Navjot Singh Sindhu, former PM Manmohan Singh, UP Congress President Raj Babbar, and many others along with the members of the Gandhi dynasty, Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra have been fielded as the star campaigners of the party.
Though undoubtedly the Congress has put together the best men in its army to enthrall the voters before the Lok Sabha elections, let us discuss the names in the list and the achievements and incidents that have made them grab headlines.
Rahul Gandhi:
The out on bail, party supremo himself has an extremely intriguing achievement list. Only recently, OpIndia broke the story about Rahul Gandhi and his dubious land deals. Moreover, the National Herald scam is one of the most notable legal cases in Indian history, as Congress President Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi are directly accused of it. Both are currently on bail.
Apart from having his name attributed to various scams, Rahul’s temperament has often been exposed in the way he conducts himself. His penchant for lying and distorting facts have often laid exposed.
With a remarkable frequency, Rahul Gandhi has spread one lie after another about the Rafale deal, often repeating the lies over and over again. It has led to speculations that it might have had something to do with the fact that he has links with arms dealers who were lobbying for the Rafale jet’s competitors.
Rahul had recently claimed that Narendra Modi had been filming in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack while he had canceled all his appointments. His futile claims were, however, defined when we reported that it was not the PM but he himself who was spotted dancing shortly after the Pulwama terror attack. As the prince has almost made up his mind to fight this election on the basis of falsehood, he has been concocting one lie after the other or rather repeating the same lies over and over again to woo his voters.
Mallikarjun Kharge:
A Congress loyalist who has been fielded as a star campaigner by his party has been accused of corruption charges. Kharge has been accused of amassing property in excess of 50,000 crores. The wealth has been amassed during his tenure as revenue minister as per the complaint. He is also accused of lying under oath while filing his election affidavit. The investigations on the corruption charges have not made progress as the Karnataka government under Siddaramaiah had clipped the wings of the Lokayukta.
Raj Babbar:
Another feather on the Congress’ cap has often made it to the headlines for his controversial remarks. Raj Babbar had sparked controversy during a press conference held in Raipur when he had said Naxals had launched a “revolution” which cannot be stopped through guns, and the menace should be resolved through talks.
Further, crossing all levels of basic humanity, the Congress leader had dragged the Prime Minister’s aged mother into his party’s dirty quirks. Exhibiting his party’s ideologies Raj Babbar had also called the Prime Minister ‘Manhoos’ (ominous) over the rising fuel prices.
Ghulam Nabi Azad:
The controversial leader who has been captured swaying between ‘Muslim appeasement‘ and Rahul Gandhi’s garb of ‘soft Hindutva’ hit the heights of flippancy claiming that the Army operations kill more civilians than terrorists in Kashmir. Azad also claimed that the NDA government was planning a massacre in Kashmir.
Following Congress’ etiquettes, Azad had also tried to de-emphasize Modi Government persistent efforts to bring back fugitive Nirav Modi to India, by saying that Nirav Modi’s arrest was an attempt by the NDA government to win the Lok Sabha Elections. Moreover, Ghulam Nabi Azad, furthering his party rhetorics had gone on to insult PM Modi by using the ‘Vansh’ jibe against him.
Kamal Nath:
Congress’s loyalist Kamal Nath as widely known for continuing the Congress’ legacy of divisive caste politics. There have been several reports suggesting that Kamal Nath has been directly involved in developing the ‘Hindu-Terror’ narrative and playing communal politics.
Moreover, the deep-seated caste politics which runs in the ‘United Opposition’ had been further exposed when last year in his letter to Rahul Gandhi, he had asked him to attend an event to mark the death anniversary of a prominent OBC leader to score political brownie points. His name also has been involved in the 1984 Sikh genocide. He is accused of leading a violent mob to attack Gurudwara Rakabganj on November 1, 1984, where a Sikh father and son duo were killed.
Bhupesh Baghel:
Congress leader and Chhattisgarh CM elect Bhupesh Baghel who is currently out on bail in a sex CD case had also stoked controversy after he unfurled an old flag of pre-1947 Indian National Congress instead of hoisting the National flag of the country on the occasion of the 2019 Republic Day.
The unfurling of a political flag at a National event by a person serving the highest office of the state attracted huge criticism as it was an alleged attempt to demean the National symbols of the country.
Navjot Singh Sidhu:
Navjot Singh Sidhu has proudly been a part of several controversies and has hit several lows in his political association with the grand old party. In recent months, Navjot Singh Sidhu has been making extremely controversial and disgraceful remarks for which his party has been facing severe criticism. First, when he traveled to Pakistan for Imran Khan’s swearing-in ceremony and hugged the Pakistan Army’s chief followed by his enthusiasm during the Kartarpur inauguration.
Then, Sidhu posed with a Khalistani terrorist for a photograph during his Kartarpur visit. It wasn’t all, Sidhu lied blatantly that Rahul Gandhi had sent him to Pakistan after asserting it himself that he went there at the Congress President’s behest. Moreover, Siddhu appears to head the list of leader’s who, following Congress’ great tradition, deride the Indian government and security forces while glorifying Pakistanis.
Recently, breaking his own records of indecency, Punjab Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu could be heard saying in one of his rallies “Chowkidar Chor Hai” (The Watchmen is a thief, while referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi) and went on to add, “Chowkidar ka Kutta bhi chor hai” while appearing to refer to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Imran Masood:
Former Uttar Pradesh MLA from the Congress party, Imran Masood, who had allegedly threatened to “chop Narendra Modi into pieces” ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections who was declared to be a part of the Congress party’s Election committee in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections has now also been floated as a star campaigner for the Congress party.
Hardik Patel:
Hardik Patel rose to grab headlines during the Patidar agitation. He is convicted by a Gujarat court on the charges of vandalism and rioting. Patel has also found himself in multiple controversial CDs, something that was recently allegedly celebrated by the official website of Gujarat Congress. With a long list of criminal charges against him, it looks like Patel fits remarkably well with other Congress leaders.
Tejaswi Yadav: Bihar’s former deputy CM and Lalu Yadav’s son has lately been the functional voice and face of RJD. As RJD and Congress are in a pre-poll alliance, he also features in the list of star campaigners for Congress in UP. Tejaswi Yadav and his family are under probe over the IRCTC scam.
Yadav had clung to the state government bungalow rather tightly even after losing the post of the deputy CM. However, his attempts were thwarted and he was ordered to vacate the bungalow recently. The Yadav family is also facing probe for benami properties.
The list is, however, never-ending, as most of these candidates flaunt a controversial, and in many cases, criminal past. Congress’ culture and its ecosystem are such that it proudly backs all these individuals who either have a shady past or have been part of criminal or controversial activities. From playing caste-based politics, concocting narratives to insulting the Prime Minister of the country, Congress has been indulging in all these dirty tricks to regain power.
