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Were they retaliating on behalf of terrorists? Sushma Swaraj comes down heavily on Pakistan

OpIndia Staff
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Were they retaliating on behalf of terrorists? Sushma Swaraj comes down heavily on Pakistan

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj coming down heavily on Pakistan said that terror and talks cannot go together.

Speaking at an event last night, Swaraj said that she wants Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan to know that we want action, not talks. “We are ready to engage with Pakistan in an atmosphere free from terror and violence,” she said urging Pakistan to create an atmosphere to hold talks.

Taking a dig at the so-called liberal voices who hailed Imran Khan as the paragon of peace, Swaraj said, “These voices which are raised in our country that Imran Khan is a great statesman, that Imran Khan is a generous person, he wants peace. I want to say that if Imran Khan is so generous, then he should hand over Masood Azhar to us and prove his generosity.”

She even called out Pakistan’s lack of action against the Pulwama terror attack which claimed lives of 40 CRPF soldiers. “Following the attack, your foreign minister said Masood Azhar is unwell. That he is so unwell, he cannot step out of the house. And few days later, your army spokesperson said that Masood Azhar is not in pakistan. Even Osama Bin Laden was not in Pakistan. Kasab? Who Kasab? Every time you disown your terrorists but eventually they are found on your soil only. How much would you like?” Swaraj said. She added that normalcy can be reached in the relationship of India and Pakistan only if Pakistan starts some action against terror camps which carry out attacks against India.

Accusing Pakistan of trying to misguide the international community, Swaraj said, “We waited for ten days. The international community also asked us to take immediate action against Jaish-e-Mohammad since they claimed responsibility. The airstrikes happened on 26th, after over 10 days. The airstrikes had clear mandate that no civilian should die and no military personnel should be injured. Only the terror organisation which has claimed repsonsibility of Pulwama terror attack should be targetted. And that is what happened. No civilian was killed. However, a day later Pakistan retaliated. Were they retaliating on behalf of a terror organisation?

You support terror organisation, fund them, nurture them and when they carry out terror attacks, instead of taking action against them, you come after the victim country which is taking action against them? Who are you fighting for? Those terrorists?” she said.

Indian Defence Radars detect the movement of two Pakistani Air Force jets near the LoC

OpIndia Staff
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Indian Defence Radars detect the movement of two Pakistani Air Force jets near the LoC

Indian Air Force radars have detected the movement of two Pakistani Air Force jets near the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch sector (within the territory of Pakistan).


The Indian Air Defence radars detected the supersonic movement of Pakistani jets around 10 km from the Line of Control. Loud bangs were heard last night in the area caused due to sonic booms created by the jets. All the Indian Air defences and radar systems are on high alert since the movement of the Pakistani jets.

Pakistan has increased activity along the LoC since the Pulwama terror attack and the retaliatory air strikes by the Indian Air Force on Jaish-e-Mohammad camps in Balakot, Pakistan. The country has recently been indulging in repetitive unprovoked ceasefire violations along the LoC causing casualties in the bordering areas while putting up a peace-loving face before the International community.

Recently two Pakistani drones were shot down by the Indian Air Force which violated the Indian air space in Rajasthan and Gujarat.

Since Pakistan tried to bomb Indian military bases in India on 27th February which was thwarted by Indian Air Force, Pakistan has kept its airspace on the eastern part of the country shut for commercial flights. Its domestic flights between cities on easter side are using a curved route over the western part of the country. On the other hand, international flights continue to avoid flying over Pakistan completely.

Smriti Irani says Congress has vindicated OpIndia expose on Rahul-Bhandari link

OpIndia Staff
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Smriti Irani says Congress has vindicated OpIndia expose on Rahul-Bhandari link

Continuing her attack on Congress president Rahul Gandhi on the expose done by OpIndia yesterday, BJP leader Smriti Irani said that Congress has accepted that the expose is correct the party has said that the land deal did happen. Talking to Republic Bharat, she said the Congress party has agreed that Rahul Gandhi has financial links with H L Pahwa, the man linked with fugitive arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari.


Talking to Republic Bharat, the union minister said that till now only Robert Vadra was known for questionable land deals, but now it seems his brother in law Rahul Gandhi also loves such land deals. She also mentioned that C C Thampi had got petroleum deals during the UPA government. According to the OpIndia expose, Thampi had financed Pahwa to buy back land at four times the price he had originally sold to Priyanka Gandhi. Smriti Irani said that Robert Vadra was just a mask but the real offender is Rahul Gandhi.

The Gandhi-Vadra family has defined family scam, Rahul Gandhi’s contender in the upcoming Lok Sabha election in Amethi said. What is the relation of Rahul Gandhi with arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari who is facing investigations, asked Smriti Irani. She said that Rahul Gandhi should explain his relations with H L Pahwa, C C Thampi and Sanjay Bhandari.

Talking about using the OpIndia expose to attack Rahul Gandhi, she said that when independent media brings up such facts, she has every right to raise questions on the matter and demand a probe. By accepting that Rahul Gandhi did buy land from H L Pahwa, Congress has vindicated the OpIndia report, she added.

Referring to Rahul Gandhi opposing the Rafale deal, Smriti Irani said it is very sad that Rahul Gandhi was prepared to compromise on the security of the nation only because he had personal interest in the brokerage of defence deals, only for few crumbs. I am both sad and outraged due to this, she added.

Rahul Gandhi failing to keep his flock together as senior Maharashtra Congress MLA Kalidas Kolambkar set to join BJP

OpIndia Staff
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Rahul Gandhi failing to keep his flock together as senior Maharashtra Congress MLA Kalidas Kolambkar set to join BJP

In yet another major embarrassment for Congress president Rahul Gandhi, a day after reports of Congress Leader of Opposition in Maharastra assembly, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil’s son Sujay Vikhe Patil, joining the BJP surfaced, there have been reports that a senior 7-time  MLA, Kalidas Kolambkar, has now decided to ditch Congress and join BJP.

Party MLA Kalidas Kolambkar who currently represents Wadala constituency in Mumbai, had made his stands clear on joining the ruling party in the state. This comes as a major jolt to the Congress who is yet to recover from yesterday’s shock in which its own leader’s son joint its biggest opponent.

Maharashtra Leader of Opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil’s son Sujay Vikhe Patil joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in Mumbai, in the presence of CM Devendra Fadnavis. Addressing the media, Vikhe Patil had thanked PM Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah for giving him a chance to serve BJP and lauded Fadnavis’ leadership.

With senior Congress leaders and their relatives abandoning the party and joining the opposition, panic has set among Congress loyalists and questions are being asked of Congress on their preparedness to take on the mighty BJP.

Meanwhile, Kolambkar, who has been 7-time legislator from Maharashtra, was quoted as saying, “I worked in the Congress party for 10 years. But they stopped a lot of development work in my constituency. I support those who work.” Kolambkar was in Shiv Sena previously and had joined Congress in 2005.

It what could be seen as a considerable humiliation of the Congress party, Kolambkar has reportedly replaced the Congress signboard outside his office and has put up Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis portrait there.

“After Devendra Fadnavis took over as Chief Minister, I told him about the work needed to be done in my area and he completed those works. Then, whose photo should I put? Those who work or those who don’t,” he asked.

Similarly, speculations are rife that former Congress minister of Assam, Gautam Roy and ex-Congress MP Kirip Chaliha are expected to join the BJP today. The departure of these two senior leaders in Assam is expected to impact the Congress as they wield considerable influence among their voters.

Intensifying Rahul Gandhi’s predicaments, Congress MLA Vallabh Dharaviya from Gujarat, had quit Congress and joined BJP on March 11. Prior to him, Congress MLAs from Manvadar, Unjha and Halvad Dhrangadhra had resigned and joined the BJP. In Telangana, 4 Congress MLAs have defected to join TRS.

Nevertheless, if the similar situation persists, it would become difficult for the Congress supremo to keep his flock cinched before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Look at the world not from your position, but look at the world from your position: Rahul Gandhi does an Ashutosh

OpIndia Staff
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Look at the world not from your position, but look at the world from your position: Rahul Gandhi does an Ashutosh

As elections come closer, politicians have started getting more and more philosophical. Congress President Rahul Gandhi, while addressing women in Stella Maris Women’s College in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, gave a cryptic philosophical message.

At around 16:20 in the above video, a student asks Rahul Gandhi what is that special quality that he has imbibed from his mother. After thinking a while and reconfirming whether she wants to know what he has learnt from his mother, he says he has learnt ‘humility’ from his mother. He says that no matter how powerful a person is or how weak a person is, regardless of who the person is, they always have an opinion and one must respect that opinion.

He perhaps meant tolerance but said humility instead because his description of ‘humility’ is not what humility actually means.

Moving on, he then tells the young lady, “When you are speaking to a person, look at the world not from your position but look at the world from your position, right?”

Reminds us the journalist-turned-politician-uturned-journalist Ashutosh, who is busy providing comic relief in tense situations.

Priyanka Gandhi meets Bhim Army chief who was arrested for allegedly violating model code of conduct by taking out a rally

OpIndia Staff
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Priyanka Gandhi meets Bhim Army chief who was arrested for allegedly violating model code of conduct by taking out a rally

Congress General Secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh (East) Priyanka Gandhi Vadra today met Bhim Army Chief Chandrashekhar Azad who is admitted in a hospital in Meerut. The self-proclaimed Dalit leader was arrested by Deoband police for allegedly violating the model code of conduct by taking out the Bahujan Hunkar rally. He was admitted to a hospital in Meerut after he fell sick.


Bhim Army’s Hunkar rally was flagged off on March 11 and was supposed to culminate in Delhi at Jantar Mantar on March 15. Chandrashekhar was expected to mobilise the rally in Muzaffarnagar on Tuesday but he was detained by the police in Deoband. It is rumoured that Priyanka offered a Lok Sabha ticket to Chandrashekhar to contest from Nagina constituency.

Police have ordered action against Bhim Army workers and officials for taking out the rally despite the model code of conduct being in place. Police said that no rally or march could be taken out without prior permission as the model code of conduct was in force. Police is checking the CCTV footage to find where the rally actually started from so that the jurisdiction can be ascertained and a case can be filed. A report has been filed for the time being in Deoband police station against Chandrashekhar and others.

Bhim Army which claims to fight for Dalit rights said that it was not a political party but a social organisation and neither Chandrashekhar Azad was contesting any election, therefore the rally did not violate the model code of conduct. It questioned the authority of the police to grant permission for holding the rally and said that since the model code of conduct was in place, Magistrate was the only competent authority to grant the permission.

Chandrashekhar had announced a few days ago that his organisation would be supporting candidates who would be contesting against PM Modi and Union Minister Smriti Irani. He had also reportedly claimed that he would make sure that PM modi lost the election from Varanasi and that he would himself contest against the PM if the SP-BSP failed to field a strong candidate against him.

Chandrashekhar Azad along with other Bhim Army workers started shouting slogans of “vote hamara, raj tumhara nahi chalega nahi chalega” and jammed the Saharanpur-Muzaffarnagar highway as the police took him into custody. He even used derogatory language against PM Modi.

“They want us to sit quietly. But we are not slaves. We are free and will fight for our rights. Let them take us to jail or anywhere else. We will carry our fight ahead and on March 15, a sea of blue (the colour of the Bhim Army flag) will flood Delhi.” Chandrashekhar said.

Delhi police starts probe on AAP’s phone calls to people lying about voter list deletion, Kejriwal alleges harassment

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi police starts probe on AAP’s phone calls to people lying about voter list deletion, Kejriwal alleges harassment

The Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal today accused the BJP President Amit Shah of harassing its call centre employees after the Delhi Police commenced the action on the Election Commission of India’s request to take “requisite action” against those making ‘misleading’ phone calls to people about Delhi’s electoral roll.

Delhi CM and AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal held Amit Shah responsible for the action initiated by the Delhi Police against the call centres employed by AAP. The Delhi Police had lodged an FIR on February 10 after several residents of Delhi complained of receiving misleading calls telling them that their names have been struck off the electoral list.


In a series of tweets, AAP leader Raghav Chadha lashed out at the BJP, accusing it of deleting 30 lakh voters in Delhi. He asserted that AAP went door to door and found large-scale deletions of voter names in the list. Chadha further insinuated that since BJP’s manoeuvres have been exposed they are harassing call centre employees with the help of Delhi Police. Senior AAP leaders Atishi and Chadha yesterday met Delhi Police to register their protest against ‘unwarranted’ harassment of their call centre workers.

However, a senior police official has claimed that they were simply acting on the FIR lodged by the Election Commission and had questioned the call centre employees regarding the nature of calls allegedly made by them to the Delhi votaries. As reported earlier, AAP call centre has been making phone calls to people in Delhi the telling them that BJP has deleted their names from the voter list, and Arvind Kejriwal was restoring their names. Several people have reported receiving such calls, and some of them posted recordings of the calls on social media also.

After people raised objections on the misleading calls they received, the Chief Electoral Officer of Delhi had requested the Delhi police to investigate the phone calls that many people in Delhi have been receiving telling that their name has been struck off from the voter list. In a letter written to the Delhi Police Commissioner on February 2, Election Officer Manoj Kumar said that they have various written complaints in this regard, and prima facie it appears that the matter needs to be thoroughly investigated.

Many people who were registered in voter list of different states also received the calls alleging that their names have been deleted in Delhi’s electoral list. Some of the citizens who received the calls verified the claims made and found that their names still exist on the voter list and therefore the phone calls were false. The callers who made these ‘misleading’ calls had identified themselves as being associated with the AAP party.

Rahul land deals: Arun Jaitely cites OpIndia expose´ to slam Gandhi-Vadra family

OpIndia Staff
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Rahul land deals: Arun Jaitely cites OpIndia expose´ to slam Gandhi-Vadra family

Finance minister Arun Jaitley has today shared a blog post titled “Agenda 2019 – Part – 3: Is Prime Minister Modi’s First Five Year Tenure a Turning Point on Corruption?”

In the blog post, Jaitley has discussed how political parties that had been in power in the past had crippled the country’s economy by indulging in crafty tactics of ‘phone banking’, corruption, tax evasion, and money laundering. He states that years of corruption had taken India’s credibility to rock bottom.

“From the Bofors gun deal to the HDW Submarine purchases, the Airbus transaction, the Augusta Westland deal, the fertilizer scam, the footprints of the Indian National Congress and its leaders were everywhere”, writes the Finance minister.

Jaitley discusses in his blog about how the ‘middlemen’ who acted as the tools of corruption to enrich their political masters have vanished from the corridors of power after PM Modi assumed office. He states that the corridors of North Block and Udyog Bhawan, once flooded with middlemen, are now vacant. Many of them had either been rendered jobless or have left the country in fear of prosecution.

After discussing the financial reforms and policy changes that have all but removed the scope of middlemen working to steal from the poor and enrich corrupt politicians, Jaitley discusses the latest OpIndia expose´on Rahul Gandhi’s dubious deals that trace back to arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari in the final section of his blog.

blog post by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley

Jaitley highlights the issue of politicians and their ‘extended family’ living well without working. He states that instead of directly indulging in corruption through bribery, wheeler-dealers or fly-by-night operators are being used by corrupt politicians to get ‘sweetheart deals’. He asserts that not only these politicians use their power to influence decisions, the usage of middlemen also gives them an escape route from being directly held accountable. He ends his post by saying if the Congress party’s first family is subjected to a forensic audit, the facts will speak for themselves.

Earlier, Textile minister Smriti Irani had held a press conference where she had cited the OpIndia expose´to slam the Gandhi-Vadra family as a “Family package of corruption”. I&T minister Rajyavardhan Rathore has also cited OpIndia expose´on Rahul Gandhi’s deals linking him to arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari to slam the Congress president.

In a Tweet, Rathore has asked Rahul Gandhi whether his links with Bhandari and meetings with Eurofighter officials was the reason he has been opposing the Rafale deal.


It is notable here that Dassault Aviation, the makers of Rafale jets, had refused to indulge Bhandari as an offset partner. After that Bhandari had allegedly tried to lobby for Eurofighter.

Arvind Kejriwal’s desperation doesn’t let him take Congress’ no for an answer, displays obsessive, stalkerly behaviour

OpIndia Staff
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Arvind Kejriwal’s desperation doesn’t let him take Congress’ no for an answer, displays obsessive, stalkerly behaviour

Like the stereotypical ‘Delhi boy’ AAP supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal seems to be having troubles taking no for an answer. Despite being humiliated by Congress which has rejected his proposal for an alliance in Delhi and Punjab for the upcoming general elections, Kejriwal has made another offer.

Maybe third time is the charm, but now Kejriwal has again appealed to the Congress to consider an alliance in Haryana.


In a tweet today, Kejriwal said that at a time when people of the country want to defeat Modi and Shah, if in Haryana, JJP, AAP and Congress can come together, then the BJP will lose on all the ten seats. He then appealed Congress President Rahul Gandhi to think over it. In the same breath, he said that in Delhi AAP will win all the seats without Congress and hence people need not worry about it.

Kejriwal’s inability to take no for an answer shows his desperation that he has now moved beyond expressing his affection and appealing to the Congress and started pestering Congress, begging it to agree to form an alliance.

His desperation triggered a slew of jokes and memes on the Delhi Chief Minister which left Twitter users in splits.


Users mocked Kejriwal for his antics at getting Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s attention.


People even dug up his 2013 tweet where he had promised that there will be no alliance with either BJP or Congress ‘under any circumstances’.


Former close aides also could not help but take a dig on Kejriwal who has strayed way too far from the promises he had made.


Whether Rahul Gandhi will give in this time or not, only time will tell. In the meantime, we hope Kejriwal understands how consent works and no means no.

Congress admits to Rahul Gandhi’s land deals, but keeps mum on HL Pahwa and Sanjay Bhandari link

OpIndia Staff
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Congress admits to Rahul Gandhi’s land deals, but keeps mum on HL Pahwa and Sanjay Bhandari link

After the BJP press conference held by Minister Smriti Irani, Congress party has now come forward and accepted the land deal by Rahul Gandhi. However, they have chosen to keep mum on the seller, HL Pahwa and the Sanjay Bhandari link, as exposed by OpIndia.com.


According to Republic TV, Congress has circulated an unofficial response where Congress had admitted that Rahul Gandhi did indeed but the land as reported by OpIndia.com. The unofficial note also alleges that Rahul Gandhi had later gifted the land to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

According to this unofficial note, After Rahul Gandhi bought the land in 2008, in 2012, Rahul Gandhi gifted the land to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. It must be kept in mind here, that throughout the 2008 to 2012 period, Sanjay Bhandari was actively getting kickbacks under the Congress government and in fact, was actively trying to become to an off-set partner of Dassault. Dassault had rejected Sanjay Bhandari’s proposal to become the off-set partner.

While admitting the land deal, Congress has however kept mum on HL Pahwa, the seller of the land to Rahul Gandhi. HL Pahwa had also sold land to Robert Vadra and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. We had reported how this land was later sold back to HL Pahwa by Robert and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra at an inflated price. HL Pahwa, in fact, did not have the cash reserves to make good on the payment and had borrowed money from CC Thampi, who has several financial dealings with arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari.

Incidentally, this shoddy response by the Congress has made Rahul Gandhi even more complicit in this circularity of transactions. While trying to “explain” these transactions, Rahul Gandhi has made the role of the Family and Pahwa even more explicit. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had also bought land from Pahwa and had sold it back to him at an inflated rate and so had Robert Vadra. Now, Congress had admitted that the land was purchased by Rahul Gandhi from HL Pahwa and was gifted to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

In this entire fiasco, the point of contention of Rahul Gandhi’s links to HL Pahwa, CC Thampi and Sanjay Bhandari have still not been addressed. Another question that arises is how Rahul Gandhi is funding these land deals.

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