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Chandrababu Naidu’s ‘EVM expert’ was arrested in 2010 for ‘EVM theft’

OpIndia Staff
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Chandrababu Naidu’s ‘EVM expert’ was arrested in 2010 for ‘EVM theft’

In a bizarre turn of events, the ‘EVM expert’ Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu had tagged along with him to the Election Commission of India, turned out to be an out-on-bail ‘EVM thief’. According to the Times of India report, Naidu had left a delegation to the poll panel on Saturday to discuss ‘faulty EVMs’.

Ironically, the ‘expert’ from Chandrababu’s delegation representing the Telegu Desam Party in front of the poll chief, was none other than a person who himself was an ‘EVM theft accused’.

The Election Commission, in its letter, asked Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party why a man who faces a criminal case of theft in 2010 was part of his team to the poll body’s office. The letter stated that it was decided that the man, Hari Prasad Vemuru, would get a detailed briefing from the technical team of the commission.

When the discussions came to the issue of EVMs and their functioning, one of the delegates repeatedly raised various technical issues regarding the functioning of EVM and said that he has the requisite technical expertise in the field. However, this technical person turned out to be one Hari Prasad who was involved in a criminal case regarding the alleged theft of EVM machine in 2010. An FIR is also registered against him in Mumbai, the EC said in its letter to the party.

In the letter addressed to the president of the party’s legal cell, the EC said, “This is completely intriguing as to how a so-called technical expert with these antecedents was allowed to be part of the delegation led by N Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and President, TDP.”

In his visit to Delhi to meet EC officials, Naidu was accompanied by Hari Prasad, a Hyderabad-based researcher, who was arrested in 2010 in a one-of-its-kind EVM theft case. He was arrested for illegally procuring an EVM but was later released on bail. Hari Prasad had turned up for EVM challenge conducted by EC in 2009 but failed to prove that the machine could be tampered or hacked.

Rebutting the claim the TDP hit back at the EC saying that the poll body is trying to “avoid addressing the situation.” The TDP, in its reply, said no charge sheet was filed against Hari Prasad Vemuru in the last nine years and claimed that he is the first Indian to be honoured with the US-based Electronic Frontier Foundation Pioneer Award nine years ago.

Naidu had alleged that 30 to 40 per cent of voting machines in his state did not work properly on Thursday, during the first phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. He has accused the election body of working on the instructions of the government.

Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu asked the Election Commission of India to revert to ballot paper system immediately to “preserve the sanctity and protect the spirit of the electoral process and democracy.”

7 year old girl brutally raped and murdered in Kannauj, postmortem reveals broken bones, injury in private parts

OpIndia Staff
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7 year old girl brutally raped and murdered in Kannauj, postmortem reveals broken bones, injury in private parts

A bone-chilling incident of rape and murder of minor girl has come to light from Kannauj in Uttar Pradesh, where a 7-year old girl was brutally raped and subsequently killed by a 30-year old man identified as Devendra Kashyap.


Kannauj is the Lok Sabha constituency of MP Dimple Yadav, wife of former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav.

As per reports, the girl was missing since Monday after she went to visit a temple in her village in the morning around 7:30 am. Her family started looking for her when she did not return till night. Later, the girl’s father informed the police about her not returning home on April 9 and thereafter the police started investigating the matter.

Two children who had accompanied the girl told the police that the accused wrapped the girl in a shawl and took her away. Police went to the house of the accused to get him but he was not found there. He was later nabbed by the police where he confessed his crime and told the police that he killed the girl after raping her and threw her body in river Kali.

According to SP Amarendra Prasad Singh, a team of State Disaster Response Force and divers was then called in from Lucknow to search the body of the girl from the river. Her body was found floating in a water body in front of Mahabalipur Mauja Firojpur Patiyan, later on Thursday. After postmortem, it was revealed that more than 12 bones in the body of the minor were broken and there were injury marks on her private parts.

A case has been filed against the accused under various laws including the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 and he has been sent on remand. A reward of Rs 10,000 has been announced for Sadar Kotwala Vinod Mishra and his team who were investigating the case.

Madhya Pradesh: Villagers ‘punish’ a woman for marrying a man of another caste by making her carry him on shoulders

OpIndia Staff
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Madhya Pradesh: Villagers ‘punish’ a woman for marrying a man of another caste by making her carry him on shoulders

In a shocking incident, a woman was shamed and punished for marrying a person from another caste in a far-flung village of Madhya Pradesh.

The woman, in her twenties from Devigarh village in Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh was forced to carry her husband on her shoulder across a field. While she did so, onlookers danced their way through, hooting and cheering her plight.

The matter came to fore after a video of the purported incident went viral on social media.


In the video, the woman is seen panting as she carries her husband on her shoulders. The villagers continue to mock her. The moment she stops to catch her breath, they start hurling abuses at her. While all the men following her hoot, jeer and mock her, an elderly man dances in the procession. Another man is seen waving a flag.

Vineet Jain, SP Jhabua said that a case has been registered against all of them and 2 people have been arrested so far.


The police are trying to nab the rest of the accused, confirmed Vineet Jain.

‘Unemployment at 45 year high’ is fake liberal fantasy based on an obviously wrong data

Abhishek Banerjee
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‘Unemployment at 45 year high’ is fake liberal fantasy based on an obviously wrong data

There is an old saying that if you have a favourite food, never find out how it’s made. You may no longer be able to eat it.

Today we will apply the same principle to liberals’ favourite ‘fact’ about the Indian economy: the ‘leaked NSSO data’ that shows that unemployment has reached a 45 year high.

Today we will find out how this number was calculated (cooked?). What are the components that went into this number?

So let me tell you some ‘facts’ about India.

Did you know who was the greatest beneficiary of demonetization? It was the casual workers, the ones who work in the informal sector and have to live on daily wages that are mostly paid in cash.

And do you know who suffered the most? It was salaried workers, usually the ones who get their pay credited directly to their bank accounts every month by their employer.

When demonetization hit, the formal economy apparently ran out of internet connections. Instead, the informal economy did very well, apparently because demonetization increased the availability of ready cash they do business in.

Don’t believe me? I’m not kidding. The ‘NSSO data’ actually found this. Real wages (i.e, inflation-adjusted wages) of casual workers are up by 22% between 2011 and 2017. On the other hand, the real wages of salaried workers are down by nearly 20% since 2011 and 2017.

Thank you demonetization for ushering in economic justice on a scale unprecedented in world history. And thank you, Surjit Bhalla, for uncovering all the good news in the ‘leaked NSSO data’.

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‘Leaked NSSO data’

You’ve all heard about the ‘leaked NSSO data’. The one that Modi sarkar is apparently trying to suppress. You know, the one that supposedly shows unemployment in India has reached a 45 year high. The liberal media just can’t stop talking about it.

But what the liberal media won’t tell you is how much good news is there in the same ‘leaked NSSO data’.

For instance, did you know just how well the rural economy is doing? It’s going so good that people are leaving the cities and going back to villages to enjoy the boom in the rural economy. According to ‘NSSO data’, India’s urbanization has dipped from 31% in 2011 to 29% now!

Rural distress? What rural distress?

And to think that all our media have left behind their comfortable homes in Lutyens Delhi to understand the ‘rural distress’ in the countryside. Come back! Stop wasting your time. Come back to the big city, which is now less crowded according to ‘NSSO data’! Leave the crowded villages behind and come back to our empty cities!

As if that was not good news enough, did you know that India’s population has declined too? The ‘NSSO data’ also finds that India’s population is just 107 crore people and not 130 crore people.

There is only one explanation for this is that 23 crore Indians must be currently on vacation abroad, enjoying the sights of New York and Paris. And liberals say the economy isn’t doing well! Come on!

Defines belief? Yes! But these are the numbers that went into calculating (cooking?) the number of ‘unemployment at 45 year high’. You can’t choose to believe the headline number and refuse the components that went into it.

What is shocking is that until now, nobody in media or intelligentsia seems to have put in the bare minimum effort to carry out a sanity check on the ‘leaked NSSO data’. The media simply ran with it and the secular establishment was only too happy to weaponize the headline into a stick to beat the government with.

You might remember that recently an ‘auspicious’ number of economists wrote an open letter attacking the government over these supposed figures. These were supposed to be scholars, people with research credentials, people who have been trained to read beyond the headlines and cross-check facts. Could they not have caught these obvious mistakes in the ‘leaked NSSO data’ with five to ten minutes of effort? But they didn’t. They jumped on the propaganda bandwagon. No surprise that most of these ’eminent economists’ were members of the left-liberal complex, some had signed up with their entire families and academic descendants and some were even associated with the Congress campaign.

This is a betrayal of the trust of the Indian people in media and intelligentsia on a scale never seen before.

Propaganda newspapers, propaganda news channels and propagandist intellectuals created a storm of outrage around a piece of ‘unemployment data’ that was obviously wrong.

There is only one question left to ask. How did NSSO make such massive and glaring mistakes? Surjit Bhalla attributes this to a bizarre change in sampling and survey methods. Very well, that’s one possibility. But considering the scale on which the ‘leaked data’ was publicized and used as a propaganda weapon, we common people have to consider other possibilities. Was their deliberate malpractice involved? Did deep assets in the bureaucracy try to help a certain political party by rigging the data or the methods of data collection? We don’t know. But we do have a right to ask.

Communal tension grip parts of Jharkhand, Rajasthan, after some Muslim groups object to Ram Navami procession, pelt stones

OpIndia Staff
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Communal tension grip parts of Jharkhand, Rajasthan, after some Muslim groups object to Ram Navami procession, pelt stones

A tense situation had emerged in Ramgarh, Jharkhand as some Muslim groups clashed with Hindus after the latter had organised a peaceful procession on the account of Ram Navami, reports Dainik Jagran.

According to the report, the violence broke out when the procession entered the area belonging to the Muslim community. Following this, some people began to pelt stones at the rally, which resulted in further violence between two communities. The people involved in the procession also started pelting stones after they were hit by stones. The tense situation continued to prevail for nearly one and a half hours despite the presence of the police administration.

Similarly,  another communal incident occurred in Kasmara, Jharkhand after Muslim communities allegedly objected to the passing of a procession organised by a group of Hindus on the occasion of Ram Navami festival.

According to the reports, the tension gripped when few Muslims opposed the Ram Navami Yatra to be continued in front of the Kamalapur Mosque. However, with the intervention of BDO Monia Lata, Inspector MO Rustom and Kasmar police station in-charge Rajendra Chaudhary, the situation was brought to control.

Reportedly, the Ram Navami procession was going through the Masjid mohalla in Kamlapur and the information regarding the procession route was already submitted to the authorities. But, the organisers were shocked to see Muslims objecting it despite having all the necessary permissions.

The situation in Rajasthan is even far worse. On Saturday, a clash broke out after when a Muslim mob threw stones on a Ram Navami procession, injuring women and children.

The area around Soorsagar had witnessed some clashes three days ago when clashing youths damaged a motorcycle. Some claimed that stoning of a house and subsequent clashes over the procession were an extension of the earlier clash which police did not handle properly.

The incident occurred when Muslims attacked the house of a Hindu family located in a narrow lane. The victim Hindus alleged that the police did not turn up in time despite their repeated calls to the control room.

However, the Police said clashes broke out during Ram Navami procession delaying their arrival at the house. Some vehicles were set on fire and mobs stoned houses and clashed with police injuring two cops in Vyapariyon ka Mohalla in Soorsagar police station.

Goa: Christian priest incites people by claiming minorities will be burnt if BJP returns to power

OpIndia Staff
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Goa: Christian priest incites people by claiming minorities will be burnt if BJP returns to power

In what seems to be another attempt to influence elections through religious politics, a Goan Padre has issued communal and hatred sermons to his followers by claiming that Christians in Goa will be burnt if BJP returns back to power.

In a sermon which was given by the priest in Konkani in a church in Goa, he was caught using his position to indulge in fear-mongering and incite people against the BJP. He could be heard saying that the BJP people have poured petrol on children and burnt them alive.


The Christian padre further claimed that in future children and grandchildren will pay the price for supporting the BJP. “Petrol was poured on Christian children and they were burnt. They were told to stop taking Jesus’ name. But the children continued to take the name of the Jesus, even when their skin melted with the fire. This is the BJP.”

He also intimidated the independent media by stating that most of the media have taken money from the BJP. Calling BJP President Amit Shah a “satan”, the priest said, “When he was a home minister, a priest had come, he told that Amit Shah used to arrest Muslim youngsters and shoot them, and he would say, they were shot because they were running away.”


“Modi has burnt alive thousands of Muslims in Gujarat, including a Member of Parliament. He set fire to the house. Everyone was burnt alive including five women. This is Modi and the BJP,” said the Padre.

The Padre also resorted to false propaganda by stating a fiction, when he said, “For 500 years under Portuguese rule, Hindus, Muslims and Christians lived in peace’, quite conveniently forgetting the Goan Inquisition which is believed to be one of the most merciless and cruel ever.


Moreover, he even went on to abuse former Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar who passed away recently following a long battle with cancer.


He said that Parrikar changed the law on holiday of Francis Xavier and hence died in pain.

The Christian religious bodies exert a huge influence on the politics of Goa through the so-called ‘secular’ political parties like Congress. In 2017, a Congress leader named Aleixo Sequeira was forced to resign from the party after the Church began to influence against his candidacy in the elections. The Supreme Court had banned canvassing for votes in the name of religion, caste or language. However, the Church seems to have found and exploited a loophole to interfere in the elections. Instead of asking people to ‘vote’ for a particular candidate or a party, the Church seems to have resorted to telling people whom not to vote.

This is not the first time that the religious bodies especially Christian bodies have begun to indulge in resorting to hate mongering to aid “secular” political parties. Last year, the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Delhi, Anil Couto, has issued a letter to the Catholics in India. The letter, which was read in all the parishes under the Delhi Archdiocese calls for the Catholics of India to start a campaign of fasting and prayers for the upcoming general elections in 2019.

For organisations that claim that maintenance of the secular fabric of the nation is their only concern, the hatred against BJP and particularly PM Narendra Modi is far too apparent. Not just the general elections, the church has been far too concerned about many state elections too. In the run-up to the Gujrat elections, the Gandhinagar Archbishop sent a similar communique which urged the Christians to save the country from ‘nationalistic forces’.

Before the Nagaland Assembly elections, the Nagaland Baptist Church Council had also urged the believers to choose between ‘Trishul and the Cross.’ The Trishul was not their only concern either. In one earlier instance, they had called Yoga a deeply Hindu practice and had asked their believers to stay away from it. Ahead of the Goa elections, a Catholic magazine asked the voters in the state not to vote for the BJP and claimed that the country is facing a ‘constitutional holocaust’.

Congress rewards the leader and conman who questioned Pulwama attack as ‘inside job’ by giving him a Lok Sabha ticket

OpIndia Staff
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Congress rewards the leader and conman who questioned Pulwama attack as ‘inside job’ by giving him a Lok Sabha ticket

Congress spokesperson who had cast aspersions that the ghastly Pulwama attack was an inside job carried out on behest of Prime Minister Modi has now been rewarded. In a fresh list of Lok Sabha candidates released last evening, Congress has announced that Devashish Jarariya will be contesting the ongoing Lok Sabha elections from Bhind (SC) constituency in Madhya Pradesh.


Following the Pulwama attack, Jarariya had encouraged abusive Congress-supporting troll Sanjukta in her conspiracy theory that the Pulwama attack was perhaps an inside job. He had shared a screenshot where someone had told him two days prior to the attack that “something is cooking in Jammu” which was someone’s “intuition”.

Often referred to as “Jignesh Mewani of MP”, Jarariya was caught running a fake BSP Youth website and even appearing on television debates as a BSP spokesperson. He was also trying to get the youth to join the BSP on Facebook by taking a ‘joining fee’ after identifying himself as a BSP member. BSP chief Mayawati to issue a statement specifically mentioning that Jarariya who allegedly ran the website in the name of BSP Youth was not associated with the party. By connecting to people on social media to gather support for the BSP and appearing on TV debates representing BSP is how he built his political image. However, within weeks after BSP called out his con-game, Jarariya joined Congress.

Jarariya’s name had also emerged in the latest raids carried out by the Income Tax department in 50 locations related to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Kamal Nath. As per reports, a note by the income tax department has revealed that unaccounted cash was allegedly kept at the residence of a senior police officer close to Kamal Nath’s OSD Praveen Kakkar.

The cash was reportedly used to make payments for Lok Sabha elections to party leaders through a well-organised hawala racket. The list mentioned 11 senior and prominent Congress leaders who allegedly received cash payments. As per reports, Jarariya’s name is also on the list for having received Rs 25 lakhs.

Chandrababu Naidu writes to Chief Election Commissioner alleging “mala fide actions of the ECI”

OpIndia Staff
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Chandrababu Naidu writes to Chief Election Commissioner alleging “mala fide actions of the ECI”

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, after lashing out at Election Commission of India (ECI) for alleged malfunctioning of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) during the first phase of Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, has written an eighteen-page letter addressed to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) levelling a number of allegations. His list of allegations includes alleged unjustified transfers, disturbance in CM’s security establishment, paralysis in administration and many more.

In the letter, Naidu invoked the vision of the constitutional forefathers and wrote how they had envisaged that the will of the Nation could be best reflected by establishing strong institutions run by men of mettle and integrity. He then brought to the notice of the CEC what he called the “mala fide actions of the ECI” in managing the poll process in the State.

He alleged that government officers including Collector & District Magistrate of Srikakulam district, Superintendents of Police of Kadapa and Srikakulam were removed for no reason and the State Chief Election Officer was also transferred. He further alleges that the security system of the CM was destabilised by immediate replacement of Director General (Intelligence) of Police who looks after the security of the CM.

Naidu accused that the EC is acting according to the whims and fancies of the YSR Party, giving the example of how the Superintendent of Police of Prakasam district was removed a before the poll day and this happened soon after a YSR Party candidate from Chirala Assembly Constituency threatened that the SP would be transferred by the evening. He also accused the ECI of usurping the power of the State government by removing the Chief Secretary of the State and replacing him without even consulting the State government. Naidu alleged that all these actions were taken in a non-transparent and non-neutral manner, based on the allegations of the YSR Party.

Levelling serious allegations, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) President said that the YSR Party sought to delete 7.5 lakh voters through pseudonymous cyber complaints on false names and IP addresses. He said similar tactic was used by the YSR Party earlier in the Telangana State which had resulted in the deletion of around 25 lakh votes for which the Telangana CEO had tendered an open apology to voters. Naidu said that the ECI did not act upon the request of the SIT, which was formed by the Andhra government to look into this cyber crime, wherein it sought the details of the IP numbers of the computers from where the pseudonymous complaints were made to the EC.

Alleging bias on the part of the EC, Naidu said that the complaints filed by the TDP are not acted upon while the “baseless” complaints of the YSR Party are acted upon. He accused the BJP of settling political scores with TDP after the latter quit the NDA. Bringing in the issue of raids, he alleged that BJP is using the YSR Party along with several Central agencies like Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax Department etc. against TDP leaders.

He was not yet done with his allegations. He further alleged that while people waited in long queues at the polling booths to cast their vote, the EVMs did not work and after waiting for 2-6 hours people returned to their homes without voting. He then repeated his attack on the credibility of EVMs alleging that the machines are not tamper-proof.

Naidu also complained about the deployment of inadequate police force at the polling booths which resulted in many criminal elements disturbing the law and order situation and terrorising the voters. He concluded his letter demanding the ECI to revert back to the ballot paper system immediately.

Deputy Mayor of Srinagar asks Kashmiris to prefix their names with ‘Mujahid’

OpIndia Staff
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Deputy Mayor of Srinagar asks Kashmiris to prefix their names with ‘Mujahid’

In a controversial development, the deputy mayor of Srinagar, Sheikh Mohammad Imran has urged Kashmiris to prefix their names with ‘mujahid’ and send a message that the term is in no way related to terrorism and defeat in the elections those who have been inciting Communal passions.


Defending the use of the word ‘mujahid’ which has often been worn as a badge of honour by cadres of Islamic terror outfits, deputy mayor of Srinagar said, “The media has always misrepresented Islam in the wrong way. The word ‘mujahid’ stands for one who is engaged in jihad (holy war) and a guardian who strikes the evil and upholds truthfulness. Every Muslim should be a ‘mujahid’ and there is no harm in using this prefix. Jihad is a spiritual fight against the enemy.”

Referring to the campaign initiated by PM Modi and his leaders prefixing their name with Chowkidar, Imran said that he has no problems with it and he can ask his people to prefix ‘mujahid’ before their names. Imran also said that he has already added ‘mujahid’ prefix to his name on Twitter, Facebook and other social media accounts and he egged on fellow Kashmiris to follow him.

Imran claimed that ‘mujahid’ has always been taken in a negative way by the media. He also asserted that ‘Mujahid’ means a warrior who wages a spiritual fight of Jihad against the enemy. However, it is worth considering that according to the Islamic doctrine cited by Islamic terror outfits, a ‘mujahid’ is a suicide killer who gets killed in the process of inflicting maximum casualties on the enemies. Imran seems to be normalising the activities carried out by ‘mujahids’ and his exhortations might push more youths into the fold of radicalism.

In February 2019, a terrorist belonging to Jaish-e-Muhammad terror outfit rammed an SUV laden with explosive in one of the vehicles of the CRPF convoy, killing 40 CRPF personnel. Many in Kashmir, including Pakistan based terror groups, hailed him as ‘mujahid’ following the attack.

France says tax settlement with Reliance France done as per legislative and regulatory framework, denies links with Rafale deal

OpIndia Staff
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France says tax settlement with Reliance France done as per legislative and regulatory framework, denies links with Rafale deal

French Ambassador to India Alexandre Ziegler has clarified that a tax settlement granted to a French subsidiary of Reliance Telecom was done within legislative and regulatory framework of the country, any accusations of political interference are baseless.


Today prominent left-wing newspaper in France Le Monde had created a big controversy in India by publishing a report saying that France government had waived taxes of Reliance Flag Atlantic France SAS amounting to 143.7 million euros in 2015. Using a language that reminds of Rahul Gandhi’s speeches, the report had said that when Anil Ambani’s Reliance was granted this waiver, the Indian government was negotiating the deal to purchase 36 Rafale jets from France in a government to government deal. The report even introduced Anil Ambani as a close friend of Prime Minister Modi, leaving no doubt about the intention of it when general elections are going on in India.

The report stated that French authorities had a total tax demand of € 151 million from Reliance Flag Atlantic France SAS, while the company offered to settle the dues at € 7.3 million. While France had earlier refused the offer, later they accepted it, thereby waiving a demand of € 143.7 million. They said that the waiver was granted six months after the Rafale deal was announced by PM Modi, making a direct connection between the two issues. The French report was widely reproduced by Indian media, giving the Congress party fresh ammunition in attacking the Modi government.


But the French Ambassador clarified that a global settlement was reached between the French tax authorities and Reliance Flag in a tax dispute pertaining to the period 2008-2012. He said that it was done as per common practice in tax administration, and it was done as per laws and rules of the country, denying any political influence in the decision.

Earlier, Reliance Communications had rubbished the report saying that the tax dispute with its French subsidiary pertained to the year 2008 and it was settled as per local laws. The company said that “the tax demands were completely unsustainable and illegal. Reliance denies any favouritism or gain from settlement.” A statement issued by the company said that Reliance Flag settled the tax disputes as per legal framework in France available to all companies operating in France.

The statement added that Reliance Flag was running in operating loss in the relevant period, and the tax demand by France was unjustified. “During the period under consideration by the French Tax Authorities in 2008-2012 (nearly 10 years ago), Flag France had an operating loss of Rs 20 crore (2.7 million euro)”, the company said. They added that “French tax authorities had raised a tax demand of over Rs 1,100 crore for the same period. As per the French tax settlement process as per law, a mutual settlement agreement was signed to pay Rs 56 crore as a final settlement.”

Reacting to the reports, the Defence Ministry has also issued a clarification dismissing the Le Monde report. A statement issued by the ministry said, “We have seen reports drawing conjectural connection between tax exemption to a private company and procurement of Rafale fighter jets by Government of India. Neither the period of the tax concession nor the subject matter of the concession relate even remotely to the Rafale procurement concluded during the tenure of the present Government. Any connections drawn between the tax issue and the Rafale matter is totally inaccurate, tendentious and is a mischievous attempt to disinform.”


While Le Monde accused that the tax waiver was linked with Dassault deal, they didn’t disclose a very relevant detail. One of the main competitors of Le Monde in France is Le Figaro, which has a center-right editorial line, and it is owned by the Dassault group. Therefore, the newspaper has a clear motive against the Dassault group, hence they should mention the rivalry in any report involving the group.

There are also allegations that Rahul Gandhi’s advisor Sam Pitroda is close with Xavier Niel, co-owner of Le Monde. It is interesting to note that Le Monde describes Sam Pitroda as “the father of India’s telecommunications network equipment”.

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