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Odisha: Internal feud increase among cadres in Congress party as it announces candidates for upcoming elections

OpIndia Staff
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Odisha: Internal feud increase among cadres in Congress party as it announces candidates for upcoming elections

After Odisha Congress announced names of candidates for 54 Assembly constituencies and 2 Lok Sabha seats, it has been witnessing widespread internal feud taking place because of resentment among party cadres for denial of ticket to their favoured candidates.

Party cadres created ruckus at Congress headquarters in Bhubaneswar to oppose issuing of assembly seat of Ekamra-Bhubaneswar to Rashmi Mahapatra instead of their favoured candidate Amir Mohammed. In a video that has been reported by media, supporters can be seen destructing party office and computers, furniture etc in the office.


Two groups of the party at Nilgiri in Balasore district also clashed where the supporters of Chittaranjan Sadangi have been opposing candidature of Manoja Manjari Devi, a member of the royal family there. Manoja Devi was not allowed to exit a meeting attended by her and was only released when she raised slogans in favour of the disgruntled workers’ leader Chittaranjan Sadangi. However, Manoja Devi has stated that she will lodge a complaint against Sadangi, for the incident to Congress leadership.

Similarly, in Jharsuguda some Congress workers locked the party office to protest the issuing of a ticket to former bureaucrat Mahendra Nayak. Workers have also threatened of non-cooperating with Nayak in the polls. In a district level meeting chaired by Biren Senapati, former president of Rourkela district unit, Congress workers opposed the candidature of Muktikanta Biswal.

Jhasurguda seat was won by Naba Das since 2009. But, he switched sides recently to BJD, hence the Congress party had to scramble for a new candidate.

Opposition chief whip Tara Prasad has expressed protest over the declaration of Saptagiri Ulka, son of former Congress minister Ramachandra Ulakafrom, from Koraput parliamentary constituency. He wanted his close aide and three-time councillor Prafulla Batra as a candidate from Lok Sabha seat.

The internal feud in the party can cost the Congress party, which has been fighting for its existence in the state since 2000, dearly as the Lok Sabha and assembly elections inch closer in the state. The party in addition to this has also been facing an exodus of its leaders to the opposition camp, weakening the party’s strength.

The assembly elections in the state will be held concurrently with General elections in four phases: April 11,18,23 and 19.

Nitin Gadkari at the receiving end: Is there a pattern?

Ashish Shukla
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Nitin Gadkari at the receiving end: Is there a pattern?

Indian Express has a massive interview of Union Minister Nitin Gadkari in its March 23, 2019 edition. For those interested in going through the entire interview, one needs to log on to their website. Apparently, the one in print is an abridged version.

This is how ethical journalism should be but since I feel I am good at second-guessing Lutyens Media, I chose to first read the print version and then compare it with the online version.

My antennae go up when I see a major BJP leader covered or interviewed in Lutyens Media. The first thing which draws my attention is inane headlines, so boring that no reader would take the trouble of reading the stuff. This is against the basics of journalism where you base your headline on the most interesting bit in the text so that readers are drawn to it. Indian Express takes the complete opposite. (If I am the reporter, as the usual hit-man Ravish Tiwari and Liz Mathew is in this case, I would certainly make it an issue in the editorial room. What the hell, you don’t get to interview Gadkari every day).

Take the instance of Gadkari interview today: The headline is: “I believe that in a democracy, there can be matbhed but not manbhed”. Who would like to read the text of such a boring headline? More so when the entire interview is devoted to spicy questions such as BJP dropping seniors for 2019 General Polls; making national security the main political discourse; farmers’ issue; suppression of data; and painting a “credible” opposition as “anti-national.”

There are pointed questions on the supposed Modi-Gadkari divide. Sample: “Could you be the choice in case NDA doesn’t get a majority?” or “you were brought to control BJP leaders (read Modi) from being authoritarian?” Yet it didn’t merit the headline.

Damn it, isn’t this the classic headline that Indian Express could’ve plastered on the front page? : “Many in RSS eat mutton, says Gadkari” (it was news, to me at least). But the Indian Express chose the “mathbhed-manbhed nonsense.

As I had suspected, among other omissions in the print version, compared to the online one, this particular print-omitted question and its’ answer caught my attention (I am sure readers too would like to know its answer from no less a man than the Union Minister for Road, Transport and Highways). So here it goes:

Q: People are doubting the figure of 7 per cent GDP growth because as peer the Chinese index (sic, mine), there are three key parameters in an economy—power production, freight movement and the quantum of the loan in the economy. In all these parameters in India, there doesn’t seem to be any growth that reflects the 7 per cent claim?

A: Our ports are in Rs 7,000 crore profit. Now we have also started inland waterways…there has been work in all sectors…Take the steel industry. We imposed import duty on Chinese steel and that proved to be a boon…My assessment is that we will hit the 7.5 per cent growth rate in another year.

So a senior Union minister, who is Modi’s alternative in PM’s seat as per the newspaper, predicts a 7.5 per cent GDP growth but that’s not worth the headline. Not worthy of even putting it in print edition.

Perhaps, one must take the trouble of reading all speeches/press conferences/interviews of BJP leaders in full despite inane headlines. Lutyens Media would do its best to present you a sanitized or boring version. But don’t you fall for that. Be the “Readers of Courage” and pay attention at least till the polls are over.  It would be great fun, I promise.

Independent candidate from Tamil Nadu promises 10 litres of free liquor every month on winning elections

OpIndia Staff
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Independent candidate from Tamil Nadu promises 10 litres of free liquor every month on winning elections

As the elections draw near, candidates make tall promises to woo the voters in their constituencies. Taking it to another level, an independent candidate from Tamil Nadu has come up with a strange promise of offering 10 litres of free liquor every month to every family in his constituency if he wins the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

A tailor by profession, AM Sheikh Dawood is in the fray for the Lok Sabha elections this time. Originally hailing from the Antyur area of Erode district, he has filed his nomination papers on Friday from Tirupur Lok Sabha seat in Tamil Nadu. Dawood has promised that if he emerges victorious in the elections, every family will get ten litres of liquor free every month.

However, this was not enough. Dawood has also promised to offer Rs 25,000 per month to Housewives and Rs 10 lakhs and 10-sovereign gold from MP fund to newlyweds. “My election manifesto has 15 highlights which will benefit the people directly,” he claimed.

When asked about providing 10 litres of free liquor, Dawood said, “Nowadays everybody drinks. The problem is with the spurious liquor that’s adversely affecting the health of the consumer. If voted to power, I’ll bring pure liquor from Puducherry and distribute it among the families here.”

Highlighting the issue of farm distress, Dawood also promised that he will address the issue of water shortage in Tirupur by building canals to connect Mettur Dam, Salem district with Tirupur.

‘Rahul Gandhi is running away from Amethi, not me’: Smriti Irani on rumours BJP might field her from Wayanad

Nupur J Sharma
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‘Rahul Gandhi is running away from Amethi, not me’: Smriti Irani on rumours BJP might field her from Wayanad

With the 2019 Lok Sabha election drawing closer, BJP and Congress have both released their candidate lists for most of the constituencies. However, the Amethi battle seems to be the epicentre of Congress’ meltdown. After BJP announced that Union Minister Smriti Irani would be contesting from Amethi, considered to be a Gandhi bastion, sensing imminent Congress has been desperately scouting for a safe seat to ensure Rahul Gandhi’s victory.

Several Congress units have written to Rahul Gandhi urging him to fight from Wayanad, Kerala as well as Amethi. This seems to be a quest to ensure that Rahul Gandhi scores a victory from at least one seat since the chances of him losing to Smriti Irani from Amethi are high.

Now, rumours have surfaced that BJP might be fielding Smriti Irani from the Wayanad constituency too, to counter Rahul Gandhi.

Matrubhumi.com reported that senior BJP leaders may have hinted that Smriti Irani will be fielded from Wayanad to counter Rahul Gandhi who is now looking for a safe seat.

However, OpIndia.com reached out to the Union Minister who has categorically denied these rumours.

“Rahul Gandhi is running away from Amethi, not me. I am staying right here and fighting for the people. This news is just a rumour and completely untrue”, said Smriti Irani to OpIndia.com.

Smriti Irani further added, “It is understandable that Congress rumour mills are at work, after all, who would not be embarrassed to have a leader like Rahul Gandhi”.

Recently, a desperate attempt to find a safe seat for Rahul Gandhi by the Congress party has come to the fore. We have reported how Karnataka and Tamil Nadu state units have written to Rahul Gandhi urging him to contest from Wayanad, Kerala. Today, Amethi state unit too wrote to Rahul Gandhi urging him to fight both from Amethi and Wayanad saying that he is the future prime minister and like Indira Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, he should fight both from North India and South India. Congress’ Randeep Surjewala has also stated that Wayanad is being ‘positively considered’.

Apart from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Amethi, the All India Kisan Congress too had urged Rahul Gandhi to contest from Wayanad along with Amethi.

The National Students’ Union of India too had urged Rahul Gandhi to contest both from Amethi and Wayanad. Similar letters have been written to Rahul Gandhi by Zilla Congress Committees.

In 2014, Smriti Irani managed to arrest Rahul Gandhi’s landslide victory from stronghold Amethi to a considerably small lead and since then, Smriti Irani has been working tirelessly in the constituency. In fact, a comparison of the work done by Smriti Irani in Amethi for the past 4 years compared to what Rahul Gandhi has done in the past 10 years makes it amply clear that Smriti Irani would have a considerable lead over Rahul Gandhi in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Congress, sensing the fact that it would not be a cakewalk to defeat Smriti Irani in Amethi and that the constituency can no longer be called an exclusive bastion of the Gandhis is frantically trying to search for a seat that might deliver an assured victory to Rahul Gandhi. This last-minute face-saving exercise by the Congress perhaps tells a decisive tale about which way the winds may be blowing.

Congress starts desperate efforts to shift Rahul Gandhi away from Amethi, third unit writes in few days

OpIndia Staff
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Congress starts desperate efforts to shift Rahul Gandhi away from Amethi, third unit writes in few days

The Congress Amethi Unit has reportedly written to Rahul Gandhi urging him to contest from the Wayanad constituency from Kerala too. Yogendra Mishra representing Congress party in Amethi has written a letter to the Congress chief asking him to accept their request and contest elections from both Northern and Southern India, reported Republic TV.

Yogendra Mishra called Rahul Gandhi “the next prime minister of India” while writing about how Sonia Gandhi and Indira Gandhi had fought the Lok Sabha elections both from North India and South India.

Letter by Amethi Congress to Rahul Gandhi

The letter also said:

“Rahul Gandhi is a member of Parliament from Amethi constituency. The party works from southern India has invited Rahul Ji to fight elections. To accept this request would be honouring the workers on North and South India”.

After Union Minister Smriti Irani was declared as the BJP candidate to fight from the Amethi constituency against Congress President Rahul Gandhi, it has rung alarm bells for several Congress state units, with many feverishly scouting for a second constituency to ensure a guaranteed victory for Rahul.

Karnataka and Tamil Nadu Congress units and the All India Congress Committee General secretary Oommen Chandy have also requested Rahul Gandhi to fight from the Wayanad constituency in Kerala.

A few days back Karnataka Congress had urged Rahul Gandhi to fight the Lok Sabha election from a seat in Karnataka. Former CM Siddaramiah pressed Rahul Gandhi to fight elections from Karnataka. The state Congress chief Dinesh Gundu Rao had a similar demand of the Congress president.

Tamil Nadu Congress also echoed similar sentiments and requested Rahul Gandhi to chose any of seats in Tamil Nadu to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections apart from his Amethi constituency.TNCC secretary claimed that Rahul Gandhi should be seen as an asset of the people of India and not just as a northerner. P Chidambaram’s son Karti Chidambaram, embroiled in INX media case also advocated Rahul Gandhi’s Lok Sabha candidature from Tamil Nadu.

West Bengal: Congress workers threw chairs and created a ruckus in Malda ahead of Rahul Gandhi’s rally

OpIndia Staff
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West Bengal: Congress workers threw chairs and created a ruckus in Malda ahead of Rahul Gandhi’s rally

A huge ruckus was created by Congress workers ahead of Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s rally today in Malda, West Bengal reportedly over the seating arrangement in the rally. The party workers who had been waiting for Rahul Gandhi for about an hour at the venue, lost their cool over the mismanagement in the rally and started throwing chairs and shouting slogans against the West Bengal Congress leadership. The crowd was controlled after long efforts of the police and the party leaders.

Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi while addressing the rally, launched a scathing attack on the West Bengal government accusing West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee of running the government without consulting anyone and ignoring the voice of the people and make false promises.

He said that Congress workers are beaten up in the Mamata ruled state. “Bengal is today run by one person. She does not consult with anyone. She does what she wants to do. Does Bengal not have a voice? The Congress workers are beaten up here. You don’t have to get scared. We are going to form government at the Centre and then you will see what we will do,” said Gandhi.

Amusingly, just last month Rahul Gandhi stood “shoulder to shoulder” with Mamata Banerjee during the CBI scuffle with the West Bengal government. Back then he had accused PM Modi of misusing the country’s institutions. He had claimed that the entire opposition would stand together to defeat the “fascist forces”. However, it is pertinent to note here that the case in the Saradha Chit Fund Scam was filed by the UPA government in 2013 and had accused Banerjee of looting the public money.

Much to the shock of Mamata Banerjee, after making tall claims of defeating the Modi government by forming an alliance in the state, Congress party instead declared a tactical tie-up with TMC’s political rival Left.

‘What is your source of income?’ Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad targets Rahul Gandhi over his assets

OpIndia Staff
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‘What is your source of income?’ Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad targets Rahul Gandhi over his assets

Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad addressed a press conference today and raised questions about Rahul Gandhi’s source of income. In a recent report, OpIndia.com had revealed Rahul’s seemingly dubious dealings and his rapidly increasing assets.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0scqJRq-iz0]

Prasad said, “Rahul Ji, what is your source of income? We have seen a Vadra model of development. And now, we are seeing a Rahul Gandhi model of development.” “In 2004, he declared his assets to be Rs. 55,38,123. In 2009, it became 2 crores and in 2014, it became 9 crores. Rahul Gandhi, please tell us about this model of development. Without any ostensible source of income, from a mere 55,38,123 rupees in 2004, your assets grew to 9 crores in 2014.” he said.

Prasad also mentioned Gandhi Parivar’s links to FTIL, a company that was at the heart of the NSEL scam. “It is a very serious matter,” he remarked while saying that the FTIL had rented Rahul Gandhi and his sister’s property and they had received lakhs of rupees as interest-free payments in rent.

The Union Minister also highlighted Rahul Gandhi’s links to Unitech. He asked the Congress President, “Have you bought two properties from Unitech? The BJP is asking today if you have purchased two properties from Unitech.” He asked further, “It is important to talk about Unitech because of their link to the 2G scam. As I have said before, the 2G judgment was legally unsound and morally improper. But a comment was made by the judge which is very interesting. He said that he was waiting for 7-8 years for evidence but it never came. So, is there a link between the wait for evidence and the purchase of property?”

Prasad ended his press conference with a demand for Rahul Gandhi to answer the questions that he had raised.

Complaint filed against AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal for allegedly hurting religious sentiments

OpIndia Staff
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Complaint filed against AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal for allegedly hurting religious sentiments

A complaint has been filed against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for allegedly hurting religious sentiments. On the eve of Holi, AAP chief had tweeted an ‘anti Hindu’ image.


The image depicted a man running behind a ‘Swastika’ shape with a club in his hand, driving out the symbol that is considered holy in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism in India.

The caption on the image read, “Hoping for a Delhi, that I actually wouldn’t mind visiting or living in.” The image, which is strange for a chief minister to share on multiple levels, did not go down too well with Twitterati.

While on one hand, Kejriwal seems to be encouraging people to indulge in violence, it also appears like an insult to the Hindu symbol of ‘Swastika’ (in the second figure) which is being beaten up by a man with a club. The image Kejriwal shared could be argued to be anti-Nazi message as Nazis had ‘stolen’ the Swastika symbol for their insignia. However, neither Kejriwal’s tweet nor the caption of the image he had tweeted clarified that he was talking about the Nazi insignia and not the Hindu symbol Swastika.

It is not new for the Delhi Chief Minister to hurt religious sentiments. In 2016, during the run-up to the Punjab assembly elections, AAP’s youth manifesto had an image of The Golden Temple which had the AAP party symbol of the broom right next to it.

AAP Youth Manifesto during Punjab Elections.

AAP’s then Delhi Dialogue Commission head Ashish Khetan had also gone ahead to say that the manifesto was as holy to them as the Guru Granth Sahib or the Geeta, thereby trivialising the holy scriptures.

Rahul Gandhi ditches the ‘Mobile factory’ tirade, floats ‘Makhana against pop-corn’ proposal

OpIndia Staff
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Rahul Gandhi ditches the ‘Mobile factory’ tirade, floats ‘Makhana against pop-corn’ proposal

Rahul Gandhi addressed a rally at Purnea, Bihar today as part of his campaign for the Lok Sabha Elections. In his speech, the Congress President expressed his unconventional desire to get rid of popcorn from cinema halls and replace them with Makhana from Purnea.

Rahul Gandhi said, “If open a food processing unit here in Bihar, we will remove popcorn from cinema halls and replace them with Makhana. People all over the world who are eating popcorn now will eat Makhana from Purnea, from Bihar.”


For those unaware, Makhana, known as Fox Nuts in English, is a popular snack that’s abundantly produced in Bihar. The Fox Nuts are a part of the Lotus flower and are known to be highly nutritious. At this point, however, Rahul Gandhi’s Makhana promise reminds one of Donald Trump’s legendary campaign promise, “We will build the Wall and Mexico will pay for it!” The likelihood of them being fulfilled appeared nil from the very beginning.

Rahul Gandhi’s theory attracted a lot of comments on Twitter.


The Congress President’s unconventional desires and visions for the country have gained quite a reputation across the country. Before Rahul Gandhi jumped on the Makhana bandwagon, he had a certain craze for mobile phones and their factories.

He has, in the past, floated the idea of ‘Made in Bhopal’, ‘Made in Dungarpur’, ‘Made in Chitrakoot’ mobile phones. He had also attracted quite a bit of ridicule after asking why the government of Chhattisgarh did not buy mobile phones from BHEL. He has also expressed his wish to see the Obamas use ‘Made in Jaunpur’ utensils. Not merely that, Rahul Gandhi had also remarked that one day he wished to see ‘Made in Lucknow’ mangoes.

The scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty also appeared to suggest that he will build a machine that will convert potatoes into gold, which is his way of saying it will make potato farming very lucrative.  He had also expressed a desire for connecting MRI machines. Despite such novel ideas, the Congress President’s innovative proposals remain in the realm of imagination only despite his party ruling in several states. Also, as PM Modi had pointed out, none of the promises of factories and plants find a place in Congress’ own manifesto.

Amar Singh, former Samajwadi Party leader, now says #MainBhiChowkidar

OpIndia Staff
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Amar Singh, former Samajwadi Party leader, now says #MainBhiChowkidar

Amidst the speculations that former Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Amar Singh may join the BJP, he has now extended his support to Prime Minister Modi’s “Mai Bhi Chowkidar” campaign he had launched earlier this week.

‘Chowkidar’ Amar Singh on Twitter

Prime Minister Modi had started the ‘Chowkidar’ campaign in response to the smear campaign launched by Congress President Rahul Gandhi and his Party by coining slogans like “Chowkidar Chor Hai”.

Singh extended his support to the campaign by adding Chowkidar before his name on his Twitter profile. Singh slammed senior SP leader Ramgopal Yadav who had accused the Modi government of perpetrating the Pulwama terror attack for serving a political purpose.


Singh attacked Yadav saying that he crossed all the limits and decency in calling the Pulwama terror attack as pre-planned. He questioned the timing of Yadav’s remarks as all the Chief Secretaries of SP government’s regime are lodged in jail. Singh also came out in defence of PM Modi on the issue of Nirav Modi.


Singh said that Modi was targeted when Nirav Modi escaped and he still being blamed. after the businessman has been arrested, in the name of political opportunism.

In February, Amar Singh had donated ancestral property in Azamgarh worth Rs 15 crore to RSS-affiliated organisation, Seva Bharti. Amar Singh had resigned from all posts of SP in 2010, following which he was expelled from the party by Mulayam Singh Yadav. Recently, he has been inching closer towards Bhartiya Janata Party. However, Amar Singh has kept his card reserved, and never responded to speculations.

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