The ruling party in Odisha, Biju Janta Dal(BJD) has written to the State Election Officer to register their grievances regarding BJP’s insistence on getting payments for the BJD’s flagship scheme Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) blocked before the elections.
Biju Janata Dal writes to State Chief Electoral Officer stating that ‘BJP has been pressurizing Election Commission to stop flow of KALIA assistance being provided to over 20 lakh farmers in #Odisha. The party should not be allowed to stop it.’ pic.twitter.com/DQ1nVAACte
A couple of days back, the Odisha BJP unit had alleged that BJD is flouting the Model code of conduct through its KALIA scheme. In a memorandum submitted to the Electoral Officer (CEO) Surendra Kumar, the BJP alleged that the Finance Minister Sashi Bhusan Behera’s announcement to disburse monetary assistance to farmers under KALIA scheme till March 31 is a brazen violation of the Model Code of Conduct which came into force on March 10 after the announcement of General Elections.
KALIA is a monetary benefit transfer scheme for the farmers in Odisha put into action by the Navin Patnaik government. According to the scheme, marginal and landless farmers will be provided with a compensation of Rs 10000 per year, Rs 5000 for Kharif crops and Rs 5000 for rabi crops.
Initially, the plan was to extend the scheme to 30 lakh farmers but based on the response from the farmers, the scheme was extended for an additional 15 lakh farmers as well. BJD is too heavily reliant on the scheme, so much so that its chief Naveen Patnaik has been personally visiting various districts to launch it. With this scheme, Patnaik aspires to come back to power for a record fifth time in the state.
About 30 lakh farmers have already received the first installment transferred directly to their bank accounts in a phased manner. The state cadres and ministers have been instructed to compare the benefits of KALIA which provides Rs 10000 per year with Union Government’s Kisan scheme which provides Rs 6000.
Rahul Gandhi’s strategy to defeat Prime Minister Modi in the upcoming General Elections appears to involve a lot of lies, then some more lies and then a few more. When the lies fall short, as the spokesperson of his ally JD(S) admitted recently, the Congress President’s strategy appears to be to lie some more again.
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.
Today, at a rally at Uttarakhand, Rahul Gandhi repeated one of his other lies. He claimed that Narendra Modi was busy filming in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror attack while he had canceled all his appointments. He had made the same claim on Twitter the previous month.
पुलवामा में 40 जवानों की शहादत की खबर के तीन घंटे बाद भी ‘प्राइम टाइम मिनिस्टर’ फिल्म शूटिंग करते रहे।
In reality, as we had reported earlier, the Prime Minister had completed his visit to the forest an hour before the terror attack happened and had only spent half an hour there. The photographs of Modi’s visit to the Corbett National Park was already published by media around 2 PM that day, which indicates that the photos were obviously taken before 2 PM. And as Modi spent only about half an hour in the forest area, it means he had already returned from his forest visit before verified information about the attack could have reached him. Therefore, the allegation that PM Modi was doing a photo shoot in the forest after the Pulwama attack is a lie, which adds to the never-ending list of lies being peddled by Rahul Gandhi.
As it turns out, it was Rahul Gandhi himself who was spotted dancing shortly after the Pulwama terror attack. A video of him dancing was uploaded by the official Twitter handle of the Congress party itself. However, it was soon deleted by the Congress party.
A Special Police Officer (SPO) of Jammu & Kashmir Police Khushboo Jan was shot dead by terrorists in Vehil village of Shopian district. Following the shooting, she was taken to a hospital in a critical condition where she succumbed to her injuries.
The area has been cordoned off by the Army Special Operation Group of Police and the CRPF and a search operation has been launched to nab the terrorists.
Kashmiris working in security forces in Kashmir have long been on the target of terrorists. In a brutal incident that shook the collective conscience of the whole country, an Indian Army Rifleman Aurangzeb was abducted and tortured to death by Hijbul Mujahideen terrorists. Few days after Rifleman Aurangzeb’s brutal murder by the terrorists a J&K policeman Javed Ahmed Dar was found murdered after he was abducted by terrorists from a medical store.
Another policeman Constable Salem Ahmed Shah who had come to visit his home during leave was brutally killed by terrorists after they abducted him from his residence in village Mutalhama. His bullet-riddled body was later found by security forces.
If reports are to be believed, Madhya Pradesh Congress wants the senior Congress member and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh to fight from one of the BJP bastions of Bhopal, Ujjain, Vidisha or Indore. However, Digvijaya Singh is inclined to fight the elections from the Rajgadh seat, touted to be a Congress stronghold.
As per the ABP News report, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath wants Digvijaya Singh to fight from the toughest seats in the state and hence is contemplating to have him fight from Bhopal or Indore. Apart from this, Jyotiraditya Scindia wants to contest from Gwalior seat instead of the Guna seat, but CM Kamal Nath wants him to contest from the Guna seat. Though the final decision will be taken by both the leaders after due deliberation.
In the seats which have been finalised, Arun Yadav from Khandwa, Nakul Nath from Chhindwara, Ajay Singh from Sidhi, Rajendra Singh from Satna, Ramniwas Rawat from Murena, Kantilal Bhuria from Jhabua, Meenakshi Natarajan from Mandsaur, Lord Singh from Sagar, Rewa From Siddharth Tiwari, names of Ramkrishna Kusumariya from Damoh have come out. According to reports, the first list is scheduled to come before Holi.
Ever since the new leadership of Congress has come up in Madhya Pradesh, Digvijaya Singh has been conspicuously shunned by the senior Congress leaders as well as its President Rahul Gandhi. Digvijaya Singh and Jyotiraditya Scindia were involved in a verbal spat over the selection of the candidates in the run-up to Madhya Pradesh assembly polls. Digvijaya Singh lately has been a great embarrassment for the Congress. He not only questioned proofs for air strikes in Balakot but also said ‘Murdabad‘ for Congress workers in a constituency where Congress lost.
Has Congress lost the faith in their old horse in Madhya Pradesh? Is Congress now treating its senior leader Digvijaya Singh as a sacrificial lamb by asking him to fight the elections from the seats which are considered as BJP bastions?
With the 2019 Lok Sabha elections less than a month away, political parties are now trying to chart out the issues that they think would garner them votes. Congress seems to have decided that the same trope of the Rafale deal would magically pull them from the political abyss where they got 44 seats in 2014, to a position of political victory.
The Rafale issue has been simmering for months. While the Supreme Court has given a clean chit to the deal and several experts have explained the nuances of the inter-governmental defence deal signed by the Modi government, Rahul Gandhi has consistently raked the issue up in most of his speeches. He has muddled numbers, misrepresented facts and screamed ‘Chowkidaar chor hai’ from the rooftops, without so much as an iota of proof. This unhealthy obsession with a dead issue begs a larger question – what is the real motive behind raking this issue up over and over again? Is it just a misplaced sense of confidence that the issue, if kept alive will pay electoral dividends? Or is there something more than meets the eye?
That question can be answered when we look into the history of the MMRCA deal under the Congress government and the several strings that lead to it.
The UPA government floated a tender for the acquisition of Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) in August 2007. After the bidding, Eurofighter and Rafale were selected by the UPA government in the final round. Finally, Dassault Rafale was chosen and even after 7 years of negotiations, the deal was never finalised. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley stirred a hornet’s nest by hinting that the MMRCA deal was delayed because there was backroom lobbying going on for the Eurofighter at the time.
It was hinted in the parliament that the MMRCA deal then was delayed because of the lobbying for Eurofighter and also, that Rahul Gandhi and the Congress is today opposing the Rafale deal because they have their hands in the proverbial Eurofighter cookie jar.
One wonders then- were these mere allegations mere political rhetoric, or is there some truth to the allegation that lobbying for the Eurofighter resulted in the delay of Rafale deal during the Congress regime and it is that lobbying because of which Rahul Gandhi is attacking the Rafale deal today?
Rumours had gained strength after an ABP journalist revealed that Rahul Gandhi had met Eurofighters representatives while he was in Germany. However, these were merely in the realm of speculation as no solid evidence had emerged to link Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and the lobbying for Eurofighter.
But now, documents accessed by OpIndia establish a direct link between lobbying for Eurofighter and Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi. The documents also establish that the Congress government may have delayed the Rafale deal because of Sweden’s ‘leverage’ over the Gandhis. These documents are secret notes faxed by Christian Michel to Guido Haschke.
Who is Christian Michel?
Christian Michel is a middleman in the VVIP chopper deal between AgustaWestland and the Indian Air Force (IAF). The wanted fugitive and middleman in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland chopper deal was brought to India earlier this month following his extradition by the UAE.
Christian Michel is accused of money laundering, bribery, and fraud in connection with the AgustaWestland scam. It is believed that he paid kickbacks to numerous ’eminent personalities’ including celebrity journalists to swing the deal. During his interrogation and court hearings, Michel has reportedly confirmed that the ‘AP’ in his communications refers to Congress’ Ahmed Patel and ‘fam’ means the family. It was revealed that he had mentioned a certain ‘Mrs. Gandhi’ during interrogation and that Michel had spoken about the ‘son of the Italian lady’ who could be the ‘next PM of the country’.
Christian Michel had also revealed that he had access to sensitive documents and the Prime Minister’s Office during the Congress era. While several journalists have tried their best to spin these startling revelations in the AgustaWestland case, it is evident that Christian Michel is inextricably linked to the Gandhi family in this case.
Christian Michel’s strategy paper on Eurofighter lobbying, ‘The Leading Family’, and other players
While it has already been revealed that Christian Michel was lobbying for Eurofighter in India, the lobbying’s direct link with the Gandhis is established by this correspondence.
In the fax sent by Christian Michel to Guido Haschke, Michel names ‘The Leading Family’ explicitly while talking about the strategy to lobby for Eurofighter in India.
This ‘strategy paper’ was faxed by Michel to Hashcke on 12th August 2010. As seen in the screenshot of the fax, Michel writes to Haschke:
“An in-country bureaucratical and political navigator should be found at once. This man should have worked in the MOD and know well on first name basis and not just the MOD, key bureaucrats and the minister, but also the PM, Finance Minister and Leading Family. There are only 3 candidates for such a job and only one of the 3 is available”.
In this excerpt, it is evident that Michel was suggesting to Hashcke that for Eurofighter to be selected from among the 6 bids, it is imperative that they find an Indian middle man who would be “on a first name basis” with not only people within the Ministry of Defence but also the Prime Minister (PM Manmohan Singh), Finance Minister (P Chidambaram) and ‘the Leading Family’ (Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi).
Michel goes on to say that in India, there are only 3 people for such a job and “only one of the 3 is available”. Presently, one doesn’t know who is the 1 person Michel is referring to in his fax to Haschke, however, it can safely be assumed that this person, who Michel had identified, was “available” to lobby for the Eurofighter with not only the PM, FM and MOD, but also the Gandhis.
Before this strategy paper was faxed, On 20th May 2010, Christian Michel had sent a dispatch from India to Guido R. Haschke, the other middleman in the AgustaWestland deal.
Fax sent by Christian Michel to Guido R. Haschke
Christian Michel mentioned a ‘note on MMRCA’ and the contents of that ‘note’ make it amply clear that Michel was lobbying for Eurofighter and against the Rafale deal. In fact, the fax also mentioned one ” Mr P”. The fax read:
“I have sent you an article on Mr P. I think you will understand”.
Michel’s fax
Michel in this email says “Eurofighter is doing no work with the user at the moment to address the issue the IAF feel relevant. Eurofighter do not know what are the key components of the IAF’s thinking, Eurofighter are going through the motions of a sale without the strategic work”.
In another part of the dispatch, Michel writes, “The 3 bosses of maintenance must be lobbied i.e. Chief of Maintainance Command, Air Officer Maintainance and Chief of Engineering”.
In another portion of the dispatch, Christian Michel tells Guido Haschke that UK and Italy are not ‘utilising’ their relations with India and that ‘GIO and IAF’ are confused by the decision of Eurofighter to get the most “inexperienced” member of the consortium in India to sell the jet to India.
The reference to Congress and Bofors scandal
The ‘strategy paper’ that was faxed by Christian Michel to Guido Haschke also revealed that Sweden was back in the race because of the leverage it had over the Congress party.
It must be remembered that 6 bids were received by India when the Congress government had floated the MMRCA tender. The bids were by:
1. American F/A-18 ‘Super Hornet’ (Boeing)
2. F-16 ‘Falcon’ (Lockheed Martin)
3. French Rafale (Dassault)
4. Russian MiG-35 (United Aircraft Corporation)
5. Swedish Gripen (SAAB)
6. Eurofighter Typhoon (Airbus consortium)
Christian Michel’s secret note says:
“Even Sweden has leverage over GOI. They were let back in the race in return for Sweden not becoming aggressive over the continuously retrieving of their Bofors gun, which is a Congress scandal in its own right”.
The Rs 1,437 crore deal between India and Swedish arms manufacturer AB Bofors for the supply of 400 155 mm howitzer guns for the Indian Army was entered into on March 24, 1986, when Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister.
Swedish Radio on April 16, 1987, had claimed that the company had paid bribes to top Indian politicians and defence personnel. The scandal was then doggedly pursued by journalist Chitra Subramanian.
While it has already been established that Michel was directly lobbying in India to ensure that Eurofighter wins the bid, it is now interesting to note that Michel had mentioned that Sweden had also been “let back in the race” by the Congress government because of the “leverage” Sweden held against Congress owing to the Bofors scam.
The MMRCA tender was floated by the Congress government in 2007. In 2011, it was the Indian Airforce that had selected Eurofighter and Rafale as the top two contenders. We also know that Michel was lobbying with officers of the IAF to ensure that Eurofighter was selected. But, in 2012, IAF selected the Rafale. However, even after 2012, the MMRCA deal could not go through as there were inordinate delays in the Congress government.
The secret note by Michel was written in 2010, when he says that Sweden was pulled back into the race by the Congress government because of the ‘leverage’ it held against Congress (and presumably, the Gandhi family).
It thus becomes imperative to ask if the Rafale deal was delayed and never finalised by the Congress government not only because Eurofighter was lobbying with the Manmohan Singh, P Chidambaram and the Gandhi family (according to the Michel note) but also because Sweden had “leverage” on the Gandhi family.
‘How can GOI agree to buy the most expensive?’
Christian Michel in his notes had said that the problem with the Eurofighter was Price, Life cycle costs and political support.
We have already dealt with the “political” support aspects as Michel had spoken about Sweden’s sway over Congress due to the Bofors scandal and that Eurofighter would need to find someone who is on a first name basis with the Gandhi, PM Manmohan Singh and P Chidambaram. In fact, in his notes, as we saw, he had said that one such person was ‘available’.
In this section, Michel says that Eurofighter is ‘the most expensive’ and hence, GOI would not agree to buy the jets. The solution he proposes to this end is not to make the pricing cheaper, but to tweak the proposal in such a way that the pricing structure is a complex and composite cost not easily verifiable.
Christian Michel links with Enzo Casolini and Casolini’s shocking statement
In this secret correspondence sent by Christian Michel to Guido Haschke in 2010, Michel says that he has “kept a steady but distant relationship with Enzo”. Enzo Casolini was the then CEO of Eurofighter.
In 2010 itself, speaking at a media briefing at the ILA Berlin Air Show 2010, Casolini said, ”The situation is very clear. In order to sell fighter aircraft, apart from the capability [of the aircraft], one of the most important things is the political support and relationship with the [customer] nation…These are strategic issues.”
A report from 2010 says:
Political ties will play a very big role in determining the outcome of the $11 billion Indian Air Force medium range multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA) tender, according to Enzo Casolini, chief executive officer of Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH. The Eurofighter is one of the contestants for the global tender which has five other defence and aerospace companies in the fray.
In this period, Enzo Casolini was not only in touch with Michel but had also asserted that it is political pressure that will play a determining role in the outcome of the MMRCA bid.
Further, in 2013, while IAF has already selected Dassault Rafale and deep into negotiation with Dassault, Enzo had asserted that Eurofighter is still in the race to win the MMRCA bid. He said:
“We are on standby, in case they come back to us.”
The essential question here is how Casolini was confident of being in the race a whole year after the negotiations had started between Dassault Rafale and the Congress government? Also, in 2010 itself, when Casolini spoke about how “political pressure” plays a determining role in such deals, was he referring to the Gandhi family?
Hint that Enzo Casolini had paid heed to Christian Michel’s ‘strategy document’?
In the strategy document that Christian Michel had sent to Haschke, Michel had put special emphasis on the off-set and transfer of technology clause.
Interestingly, Enzo Casolini had made exactly the same point in 2013, while expressing confidence that Eurofighter is still in the race, despite the Congress government was deep into negotiations with Dassault for Rafale.
Casolini, in 2013 had said:
“I think our technology transfer offer to India was fantastic. And India had a very demanding target.”
It thus begs the questions of whether Enzo Casolini did acknowledge and act upon the lobbying strategy presented by Michel.
Questions Rahul Gandhi must answer
1. Christian Michel has categorically mentioned that the middleman must know the ‘First Family’ on a first name basis. He also had one such person who was ‘available’ to lobby for Eurofighter. Who was this person who was close enough to Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and P Chidambaram to be on a ‘first name basis’ with them and was lobbying for Eurofighter, against Rafale?
2. Christian Michel has reportedly already identified ‘AP’ in the AgustaWestland scam as Ahmed Patel. In the Eurofighter lobbying case, who is “Mr P” that Christian Michel referred to in his email to Guido Haschke?
3. Michel says ‘GOI and IAF’ are confused by the decision to have an inexperienced member of the consortium lobby for Eurofighter. Who was this inexperienced member and is this proof that lobbying was indeed taking place?
4. Haschke’s fax, in 2010, says that Sweden was pulled back into the race because Sweden held ‘leverage’ over Congress because of the Bofors scam. What was this ‘leverage’? Was Sweden pulled back into the race because of it?
5. Other than the lobbying for Eurofighter, was Sweden’s ‘leverage’ a reason for the delay in negotiations?
6. The Congress government took 7 years to negotiate with Dassault and yet, the deal was never signed. Defence Minister AK Antony recently said that the MMRCA deal was delayed during the Congress regime “due to national security concerns”. Was the “national security concern” the Eurofighter lobbying or Sweden’s “leverage” on the Gandhis?
7. Christian Michel admits that GOI would never go for Eurofighter because ‘it is the most expensive’. The solution he proposes to this end is not to make the pricing cheaper, but to tweak the proposal in such a way that the pricing structure is a complex and composite cost not easily verifiable. if Eurofighter was the most expensive, how was it included in the top 2 choices? If the prices were competitive, did Eurofighter take Michel’s strategy and tweak the pricing structure in a manner that the composite cost was not verifiable?
8. Was the Congress government aware of this tweaking, if at all?
9. Casolini in 2010 said that “political pressure” would swing the MMRCA deal. Were the Gandhis involved in this “political pressure” in favour of Eurofighter?
10. Why was Enzo Casolini so confident in 2013, after GOI had selected Rafale as the winner, that Eurofighter was still in the running?
11. Was the Rafale deal delayed deliberately so Eurofighter could sneak in?
12. Was this done also to keep the Swedish “leverage” under wraps?
13. Rahul Gandhi’s links with dubious arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari has already been established. Sanjay Bhandari was also a middleman for Airbus, which is a part of the consortium that manufactures Eurofighter. Were Sanjay Bhandari and Christian Michel in touch?
14. Sanjay Bhandari tried to become the offset partner with Dassault. Dassault rejected the agreement. Did his hand not being in the Dassault cookie jar another reason for the delay?
15. Was the Rafale deal delayed so Sanjay Bhandari, as the Airbus middleman, gets his hands in the cookie jar with Eurofighter?
16. Is Rahul Gandhi attacking the Rafale deal and is making attempts to sabotage the deal today because of Eurofighter lobbying and Sweden’s “Bofors leverage”?
While Rahul Gandhi has gone hammer and tongs against the Rafale deal, his own association and the association of the Congress government with dubious arms dealers, middlemen and lobbyists have come to the fore. With such mounting evidence that the Rafale theatric might not be as simple as it looks, Rahul Gandhi cannot afford to continue to lie without answering for the questions being raised against him. With the Bofors scam coming back in the Rafale conversation, it seems to be the right time for Rahul Gandhi to speak up and answer questions.
You might have heard that apparently, 108 ‘academicians’ have written an appeal talking about “restoring” the “institutional independence” and integrity of statistical institutions.
108 ‘academicians’ appeal against ‘withholding’ unemployment data
Personally, I feel the unnecessary chatter from the anti-Modi ecosystem around GDP numbers has gone on long enough. The base year for GDP data is always updated from time to time. Always has been. Always will be. Nothing more to see here. Sensible people should move on.
Nevertheless, it’s a democracy. Everyone is free to ask questions.
Now I don’t know anything about the ‘academicians’ who wrote this appeal, so I decided to do a simple Google search for the names of the ‘academicians’ mentioned in the article.
Seriously, try it. It is amazing what 1 minute on Google can throw up. There may or may not be names there which have served on the Sachar Committee for minorities or have used their campus to lead protests against CM Modi in 2002, or have been recommended for good stuff ahead of seniors for mysterious reasons.
Liberals seem to have a conspiracy theory for just about anything that happens during Modi’s tenure, whether ordinary or extraordinary.
Allegations about Modi govt tinkering with GDP data have surfaced before.
‘Tinkering’ GDP data is not a new allegation
According to the ET report, the IMF team “reviewed the methodology of the new GDP estimates“.
Okay, that was 2015. How about now?
Well, the simple answer is that we can’t put conspiracy theorists in the driver’s seat and run helter-skelter each time they have come up with a new conspiracy theory.
In brief, the anti-Modi ecosystem must explain what happened to their last conspiracy theory before they can move on to the next one.
Just think about this. When the opposition lost heavily in Uttar Pradesh elections of 2017, they instantly floated the theory that EVMs were rigged. The media magnified the message and the Election Commission even organized a contest for parties to show how the EVMs could be rigged. Nobody showed up.
EC slams political parties
Because they had already moved on to the next conspiracy theory. Unless they stand by the theory, are able to prove it when challenged or at least make an honest apology when their theory is debunked, there is no credibility.
Remember the surgical strike of 2016? Remember all the liberals who scrambled to suggest that the Army was lying? What happened to those allegations? Have any apologies come in? I don’t remember any.
And even before that, remember the terror boat incident? At that time the liberals said the Navy/Coast Guard were lying. What happened to that? Do they still stand by it? Or was it about creating a cloud of misinformation around everything and then running away before the truth can catch up?
Not surprisingly, they are now accusing the Air Force of lying about Balakot and its aftermath.
Remember the Judge LOya case and how the conspiracy theorists failed to prove their case in court? Soon after there was a campaign to impeach the then Chief Justice of India!
Remember the CAG report on Rafale that the conspiracy theorists wanted to see? Then the report came out, found nothing wrong … and then the same conspiracy theorists came up with rumours that the CAG was compromised!
Say random stuff and move on … the pattern is too obvious.
The ‘secular’ media meanwhile is only too happy to fan these theories and act like they are real issues.
This is exactly the opposite of how the ‘secular’ media would let us forget even the biggest, most shocking things in the UPA years.
How former EC Navin Chawla was removed in 2009
Imagine the kind of uproar it would cause today if the Chief Election Commissioner wrote to the President of India recommending removal of an Election Commissioner, alleging that he was taking phone calls from the ruling party during bathroom breaks!
Or imagine the kind of uproar it would cause today if a mere reader (not even a professor) at some DU college was made Vice-Chancellor of a prestigious institution like Nalanda University. And what if someone of the stature of Dr. Kalam had expressed his disapproval of the way things were going?
2012 article where Dr Kalam slammed Amartya Sen
And what if it turned out that a daughter of a top minister today had been selected as one out of just 2 Indians worldwide to become part of the Nalanda Mentor Group consisting of 19 eminent people from all over the world?
But back in the day, Dr. Singh’s own daughter becoming one of just 2 Indians found worthy enough to be in the Nalanda Mentor Group raised no eyebrows.
This has been the ‘secular’ modus operandi in the last five years: make an unnecessary fuss about absolutely everything. Opposite to the ten years from 2004-2014, when even the most outrageous stuff was speedily forgotten.
That reminds me. In Nov 2017, an Assistant Editor of India Today Group published an article on Aaj Tak demanding to know why the Modi government was “suppressing” GDP figures? Was it to avoid embarrassment before Gujarat elections?
In his rush to spread a conspiracy theory, the Assistant Editor of India Today Group even forgot to do the basic fact check that would have told him Q2 GDP numbers are always released on Nov 30 at 5:30 pm. His article was written on Nov 22. His article contains the claim that Q2 GDP numbers are released on Nov 1, which is just plain false.
What happened to that conspiracy theory? Was there an apology? Any professional consequences for the person who spread the conspiracy theory?
This is how conspiracy theorists operate: create a cloud of misinformation by throwing a bunch of claims at people, some half true, some false, some impossible to verify.
We cannot stop conspiracy theorists from spinning their yarns, but we can stop taking them seriously. Here is a simple thumb rule: when you meet someone who has a new conspiracy theory about Modi sarkar, ask him what happened to the previous conspiracy theory.
In a joint party workers’ meet at Amravati city of Vidharba, Maharashtra, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena reaffirmed their commitment towards the same ideology. The parties, which have overcome significant differences to seal the alliance, asserted that it was time to put the past behind and work together towards winning the General Elections.
Shiv Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray said that it was the right time to forget the ups and downs between the alliance partners in recent times both in mind and heart. As reported by India Today, he stated, “Whatever we said about each other or the party, it happened in public. For the last 25 years, Shiv Sena and BJP are political partners. Since the past 4.5 years, we were having ups and downs but we never obstructed the development work because of the differences.”
Thackeray then went on to add, “We have joined hands to safeguard Hindutva and this won’t be possible just by merely joining hands, or just taking the saffron flag in hand or by shouting slogans. We all need to forget the past differences and work together so that we win the 2019 general election. If Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was present today, he would have severely punished us by pushing all of us from a mountain cliff if we betrayed the alliance.”
Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, who also addressed the gathering, echoed Thackeray’s sentiments. “The country’s atmosphere is different now, on one side is development, but what is much more dear to BJP-Shiv Sena workers is India and nationalism,” he said. “We are the people who believe in country first,” he added.
Taking a dig at the opposition parties, Fadnavis remarked, “I know these people would never get elected, but I fear if by any chance they come into power tomorrow they will change the history. They will call Aurangzeb as `Aurangzebji’, Afzal Khan as `Afzal Khan ji and General Dyer as General Dyer ji.”
Calling the Sena-BJP alliance one of ideology, the Chief Minister said, “We are Hindutva (parties) and are proud of it. Hindutva is not a limited concept so whosoever, irrespective of caste, creed and religion, has nationalism in him is part of this Hindutva. This is the thread that binds the Sena and the BJP together.”
Former BSP leader, Devendra Chourasia was killed and his son injured on Friday after a group of people attacked them near Damoh in Madhya Pradesh.
Devendra Chourasia, a former BSP leader from Madhya Pradesh’s Bundelkhand region, had joined the Congress Party in the presence of CM Kamal Nath, three days before he was killed.
Madhya Pradesh police registered a case and arrested seven people including Govind Singh, the husband of Rama Bai, the sitting BSP MLA from Patharia seat in Damoh district in this connection. Rama Bai’s brother-in-law and two other relatives have also been named among the accused in the FIR lodged by the brother of the deceased, police confirmed.
Chourasia and his son Somesh were hit with iron rods and baseball bats allegedly by a group of people. While Devendra succumbed to his injuries, Somesh was critically injured.
Tensions gripped Damoh district post the murder due to which heavy police forces needed to be deployed in the area. Locals kept their shops shut.
Hata police station officer Dharmendra Singh said, “Congress leader Devendra Chourasia, his son Somesh, brother Mahesh, Ashok and nephew Animesh reached their bitumen plant at Dhori Kheda village on Friday. Devendra and his son were at the main gate while others had gone to open the office when half a dozen men armed with iron rods and baseball bats attacked them. By the time the family members came to their rescue, the accused had fled the spot.”
“An FIR has been lodged against Govind Singh (husband of BSP MLA from Pathariya constituency Ramabai), Chandu Singh (Govind’s brother), Golu Singh, Lokesh Singh, Indrapal Patel, Amjad and others for murder and other charges. All the accused are absconding,” he said.
As per police sources Govind Singh, the key accused and his brother were both sentenced to life imprisonment in connection with a triple murder and were out on bail for the last one year.
Rama Bai Ahirwar, the sitting BSP MLA from Pathariya constituency, was recently in news for demanding a ministerial berth from CM Kamal Nath. Ahirwar had stated that if she is not given a ministerial berth, Madhya Pradesh might see a ‘Karnataka like situation’.
Mahesh Chourasia, brother of the deceased, claimed that Chaurasia was killed due to political enmity. According to the police, Devendra had previously voiced his security concerns to Cheif Minister, Kamal Nath who had assured him complete protection.
Madhya Pradesh has been witness to a sudden surge in political murders in the state. Law and order concerns have been raised beginning with the brutal murder of an RSS worker from Ratlam followed by the murder of two BJP leaders back to back while another was attacked and robbed in the state.
Moreover, the political slugfest which brewed over the kidnapping and brutal murder of the two twin brother in broad daylight from Madhya Pradesh’s Chitrakoot had just thrown further light on the severe crisis the state is going through and the growing law and order issues in the state.
YSRCP leader YS Vivekananda Reddy, former minister and younger brother of former Andhra Pradesh CM YS Rajasekhara Reddy, was murdered at his residence in Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh on March 15, according to reports.
A press release by the YSRCP states, “Preliminary conclusions of the post-mortem stated that YS Vivekananda Reddy had been murdered. The coroner’s report held that there were seven stab wounds on his body made by a sharp object.”
The Police said that the deceased had suffered multiple injuries caused by a sharp weapon, probably an axe. Kadapa SP, Rahul Dev Sharma, said, “Initially, it was suspected that he died of a heart attack. But after visiting the spot, we decided that it was a murder. We have taken a few persons into custody for interrogation.”
YSRCP President Jagan Mohan Reddy blamed the TDP for his uncle’s death. “When my grandfather, YS Raja Reddy, was murdered, the TDP was in power. When there was an attempt on my life at the Vizag airport, TDP was in power. And now, when this murder has happened, TDP is in power again. Two days before the helicopter crash in which my father died, Chandrababu Naidu told him in the Assembly that he (YSR) would not return,’’ he said.
Demanding a CBI inquiry, Jagan Mohan Reddy asserted that only a probe by an independent agency could reveal the truth. He further stated that the police were trying to divert the attention with wrong leads and fabricated evidence.
Responding to the allegations, TDP supremo Chandrababu Naidu tried to pin the blame for the murder on the YSRCP itself. He said, “Not only YSR Congress but his family members should answer all the questions raised after the murder of Vivekananda Reddy. I am not saying the family members are culprits but someone had tried to destroy forensic evidence and suspicions are arising on them.”
Naidu also stated that the body of Vivekananda Reddy was moved from its original position and there were attempts to wipe out crucial forensic evidence. He also slammed Jagan Mohan for refusing a SIT probe and demanding a CBI probe.
He further stated that the Central government will “save them” if the case is handed over to the CBI. He stated, “If state police will investigate then the criminals will be caught. After the murder of a family member, clearing off evidence is definitely a crime. It is unfortunate that such criminals are in politics. Now they are demanding a CBI probe. But in the first place why did they destroy evidence.”
In what appears to be ‘outsourcing’ of soft-Hindutva approach, Congress leader and Madhya Pradesh Minister of Religious Trusts and Endowments, PC Sharma has reportedly taken upon himself to please the gods to ensure Congress President Rahul Gandhi becomes the Prime Minister.
As reported by Times of India, Congress, in its bid to win all 29 seats in Madhya Pradesh in the upcoming general elections, Sharma is out and about visiting temples and religious places to pray for Rahul Gandhi’s victory.
Sharma, who was visiting Ajmer Dargah yesterday had earlier, on Mahashivratri visited Pashupatinath temple in Mandsaur to wish for Rahul Gandhi’s victory. He has even taken a holy ‘chadar’ to offer at the Dargah on behalf of Chief Minister Kamal Nath.
As per the report, Sharma, a Digvijaya Singh loyalist, is not leaving anything to chance. Earlier he had visited the Ram Raja temple in Orchha, Khajrana Ganesh temple in Indore, Bagulamukhi temple in Nalkheda, Agar-Malwa and Mahakaal temple in Ujjain to pray for Congress’ victory in the upcoming polls.
In 2014, Congress had won 3 seats in Madhya Pradesh, going down from 12 seats in 2009. The BJP, on the other hand, won the remaining 26 seats gaining 10 seats more than the 2009 tally.
