Former Uttar Pradesh MLA from the Congress party, Imran Masood, who had allegedly threatened to “chop Narendra Modi into pieces” ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections was part of Priyanka Gandhi’s first roadshow in Lucknow, Indian Express has reported.
Imran Masood who had threatened to “chop Narendra Modi into pieces” joins Priyanka Gandhi’s roadshowhttps://t.co/Kif4EWlNNH
The report stated that Masood was in the luxury bus with Priyanka, Rahul, Jyotiraditya Scindia, PL Poonia and others. He was the Congress candidate from Saharanpur in 2014 when he had declared in a public rally that he will “chop Narendra Modi into pieces”.
The Congress party and its allies have a long history of making deplorable personal attacks against the Prime Minister and getting away without any punishment from the higher-ups in the party.
Only this morning, TDP workers put up posters at their chief Naidu’s protest against Modi which read “Jiske Haath Mein Chai ka Jhoota cup Dena Tha, Uske Haath Mein Janata Ne Desh De Diya”, that translates to ‘the person who should have been given a used teacup, has been given the country by the people”.
The campaign for the Assembly Elections in 2018 saw another string of abuses from Opposition leaders. Uttar Pradesh Congress Chief Raj Babbar used the devaluing rupee to mock the PM’s mother. Babbar had said, “He (Modi) used to say that the Indian rupee has fallen so much against the Dollar that it was nearing the age of the then prime minister (Manmohan Singh). Today, the rupee’s valuation has dropped so low, that it is inching closer to your beloved mother’s age”.
Earlier, senior Congress leader C.P. Joshi had hurled casteist slurs at Narendra Modi. In a video that went viral, Joshi could be heard saying that only Brahmins had the right and knowledge to speak about Hinduism. And since Prime Minister Modi belongs to a lower caste, he cannot talk about Hinduism.
In Rajasthan, Congress MLA Mahendra Jeet Singh Malviya had abused PM Narendra Modi in the filthiest of language. The abuses were hurled when the Congress politician was speaking at a public rally.
Prior to the Assembly elections in Gujarat, Mani Shankar Aiyer had called him ‘Neech’. Sonia Gandhi during her tenure as President of the Congress party had once called Modi ‘Maut ka Saudagar’ (the merchant of death).
Despite Congress President Rahul Gandhi spinning tales of the ‘politics of love’ that he envisions, he has shown remarkable tolerance for those who make extremely distasteful remarks against the Prime Minister of India. Imran Masood’s presence at Priyanka Gandhi’s rally only shows that the more things change with the Congress party, the more they remain the same.
The apex court of the country has refused to constitute a monitoring team to review the CBI probe into the Saradha Chit-fund scam. A two-judge bench, comprising of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv Khanna rejected the petition filed by the disgruntled investors in the Saradha Chit-fund.
Hearing on the petition filed by some private investors who had lost their savings in the chit-fund scam, the Supreme Court reposed its faith in the country’s premier investigative agency claiming that they are not inclined to set up a monitoring committee to monitor the chit fund scam probe.
The Mamata Banerjee-led TMC which was allegedly trying to impede the CBI’s investigation into the Saradha Chit-fund scam recently managed to stir a face-off between the Kolkata police and the CBI officials in the state of West Bengal can be attributed to. Mamata Banerjee had then sat on a dharna to allegedly protect Kolkata Commissioner who is accused of destroying key evidence against the perpetrators of the Saradha Chit-fund scam.
Several opposition parties came in the support of Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government. However, when the CBI approached the Supreme Court to resolve the imbroglio, the court issued a contempt notice to the Kolkata commissioner Rajeev Kumar ordering him to appear before the CBI in Shillong and co-operate with them to bring the perpetrators to book, Mamata Banerjee called off her dharna citing ‘Moral Victory’.
On Monday, the Supreme Court of India directed the National Commission for Minorities to decide on a representation to define ‘minorities’ and lay down guidelines for identifying minorities at state-level in three months time, reported Live Law.
According to reports, the petition was filed in the Supreme Court by BJP leader and advocate Ashwani Kumar Upadhyay seeking minority status for Hindus in seven states and one Union Territory where the number of the community has fallen down as per the Census 2011 data.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi hearing the petition has now asked Upadhyay to re-file his representation to the minority panel and directed the commission to take a decision within three months from Monday.
The petitioner has claimed the failure of the commission to reply to his representation and stated that the term minority needed to be redefined and reconsidered in the context of the population of a community in a state, instead of nationwide population data.
Upadhyaya has contended that those who are not entitled to minority protections under Articles 29 and 30 of the Constitution, exemptions under Articles 15(5) and (6) of the Constitution, provisions of the Right to Education Act and welfare programmes of the Government, etc, are enjoying these measures. This is a clear violation of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India.
Upadhyaya had said that Hindus, who are a majority community as per national data, are in minority in several north-eastern states and in Jammu and Kashmir. He further added that the Hindu community is deprived of benefits which are available to the minority communities in these states.
The SC had, in November 2017, declined to entertain Upadhyaya’s plea seeking the minority status for Hindus in seven states and one UT and had asked him to approach the NCM.
The NCM, however, allegedly took no action on it for 15 months. Hence Upadhyaya had proceeded to file a writ petition to declare Section 2(c) of the NCM Act, 1992, and the Notification dated 23.10.1993, void and unconstitutional for being arbitrary, unreasonable and offending Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution of India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Vrindavan today to attend the occasion of the Akshaya Patra Foundation serving its 3 billionth meal. He unveiled a plaque to mark the occasion at Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir and served the organisation’s 3 billionth meal to underprivileged children.
In a tweet earlier in the day, Modi had congratulated the organisation on the momentous occasion. The Akshaya Patra Foundation serves food to millions of underprivileged children as an implementing partner of the Mid-Day meal scheme.
I will be in Vrindavan today for a unique programme- to mark the serving of the 3rd billionth meal by the Akshaya Patra Foundation.
Congratulations to all those associated with this mission. Their efforts towards eradicating hunger are exemplary. https://t.co/h1TiwG0PF9
The Prime Minister’s warm endorsement of Akshaya Patra will further antagonise the ‘civil society’. As we had reported earlier, Civil society has been up in arms against the ISKON affiliated organisation and have been demanding that its Mid-Day meal contracts be scrapped.
The Right to Food Campaign which has been spearheading the protests against Akshaya Patra has among its constituent members NGOs that receive huge amounts of funds from Christian organisations abroad and some which have intrinsic links to Naxals. The same Christian organisations also donate to organisations that fight for Rohingyas in the Court. The report that demonised the Amarnath Yatra was published by an organisation that received funds from the same Christian organisation. We had also reported on the deplorable anti-Brahmin bigotry of one of the leading activists associated with the campaign.
Narendra Modi endorsing Akshaya Patra despite vehement opposition by ‘civil society’ is a stark contrast from the time during the UPA regime when the National Advisory Council (NAC) was entirely made up of people from foreign-funded NGOs. We had reported earlier that such people drafted the heavily biased anti-Hindu Communal Violence Bill which assumed that the majority community is always to blame for communal violence while the minority community is always the victim.
Unlike the Congress party, the NDA government has been sceptical of foreign-funded NGOs. Recently, in his address in the Lok Sabha, Narendra Modi declared that his government had cancelled the registrations of 20,000 NGOs for violating norms. Attacking the Congress party for not tackling such institutions effectively, he hinted that the number could very well increase in the future.
Narendra Modi, through his actions on foreign-funded NGOs and endorsement of Akshaya Patra, has made it clear that clipping the wings of ‘civil society’ is among its long list of priorities.
The Congress and the CPI(M) in West Bengal appears to be heading for a ‘tactical tie-up’ ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
The aim of the said understanding is to “pool anti-BJP, anti-Trinamool” votes, as per reports.
While the state unit of the Congress has been keen on this tie-up for a long time, the central leadership of both parties have been equivocal on this arrangement.
However, after a CPM Politburo meeting in Kolkata and a parallel meeting that Rahul Gandhi held with state Congress presidents, Somen Mitra, the President of the West Bengal Congress said that his party was willing to tie up with the Left.
The West Bengal unit of the CPI(M), that had a similar understanding with the Congress for Assembly elections, has again sought a tie-up, which it sees as essential for the CPI(M)’s survival in the State.
Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi who has been ogling at the PM seat in the upcoming 2019 elections, and putting in his blood, sweat and tears trying to wipe out BJP from the dash, is ready to muddle through the most outrageous things possible under the sky.
Though the Congress state party head, Somen Mitra had ruled out the possibility of a tie-up with the Trinamool Congress, Rahul, necessitated by his impulse of flip-flopping at every given possibility, was seen extending his patronage to the TMC leader Mamata Banerjee, be it during the Mahagatbandhan rally on January 19 or Mamata’s dharna during the CBI row.
It is pertinent to note here that the Congress President, Rahul Gandhi, who was standing ‘shoulder to shoulder’ with Mamata Banerjee seems to have forgotten the fact that it was the UPA government in 2013 which had first registered a case against the Saradha chit fund scam and had accused Mamata Banerjee of ‘looting’ the money from the public.
And now, not surprisingly though, Rahul Gandhi has taken a complete U-turn and declared a ‘tactical tie-up’ with the left front which is supposed to be TMC’s political rival.
The Polit Bureau is also feeling the need to increase the strength of the CPI(M) in the Lok Sabha, since the party is down to nine MPs in the House and even its national party status is threatened if the tally goes down any further, and has taken the ‘Rahul’s trajectory’. The Kerala unit of the CPI(M), which had resisted any alliance or understanding with the Congress has reduced its tone considerably.
“The BJP has to be ousted from power in the next Lok Sabha elections. And all tactical steps required for that would be taken. This the Party Congress had already unambiguously declared,” Politburo member and Kerala state CPM secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said.
However, this arrangement between Congress and the CPI(M) has not yielded results in the past. In the West Bengal Assembly elections of 2016 also, the CPI(M) and the Congress had a pre-poll alliance. In terms of numbers, though, the alliance didn’t favour either as the Congress won 44 seats and the CPI(M) 28, as opposed to the Trinamool’s 211 seats in the 295-seat state assembly.
After accidentally revealing about his secret meetings with Chinese officials during a visit to Kailash Mansarovar in September last year, Congress President Rahul has now decided to host ambassadors and high commissioners for a lunch meeting, reports Indian Express.
According to the reports, Congress President Rahul Gandhi is expected to meet foreign envoys stationed in Delhi on February 15. The so-called interaction with the diplomatic corps will be held at Rahul Gandhi’s residence and will be attended by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The proposed meeting between Rahul Gandhi and a few other diplomats of the foreign country will be the first official formal interaction, even though he had hosted envoys of about 40 countries for an Iftar party last year. Reportedly, many from the foreign diplomatic corps intend to meet Gandhi to get an assessment about his “foreign policy approach”.
The Congress president will be meeting with all diplomatic heads of missions, make some brief opening remarks and will be answering a few questions. “It is going to be an interactive session since many are interested in knowing his foreign policy mind,” reported Indian Express.
According to the report, the French government seems to be unhappy over Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s recent statements in connection with the Rafale deal, which had prompted French foreign ministry’s to release statements against Rahul Gandhi’s accusations.
The meeting with foreign envoys comes at a time when there are serious allegations against Congress party, accusing their leaders of meeting officials belonging foreign countries to influence the country’s domestic politics.
Recently, Rahul Gandhi had accidentally revealed regarding his secret meetings with Chinese officials during his visit to Mansarovar in 2018 which had led to questions regarding Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s perceived intimacy with the Chinese establishment.
Prior to his meeting at Manasarovar, Rahul Gandhi also had a meeting with the Chinese Ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui on July 8th 2017, which was suspiciously not made public. The Congress had initially denied any such meeting but later did an extraordinary flip-flop to accept that Rahul Gandhi had indeed met Chinese diplomat after the Chinese embassy had confirmed in its website.
Last year during Gujarat elections, there were allegations that some current and former Pakistani officials had met up with Congress leaders like Mani Shankar Aiyar and former PM Manmohan Singh. Prime Minister Modi had asked the purpose of such a secret meeting at a time when Gujarat was going to polls.
Senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar had created a massive controversy after he had pleaded for the support of Pakistan to not only remove the current government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi but also to help Congress come to power. Recently, Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu had gone to Pakistan for Imran Khan’s swearing-in ceremony and hugged the Pakistan army chief undermining the thousands of soldiers who are butchered by Pakistan.
However, the proposed meeting with foreign diplomats is said to be an opportunity for Rahul Gandhi to put across his views concerning the major foreign policy challenges in the current global scenario. It is also reported that this meeting will be an opportunity to establish an association with Rahul Gandhi directly since the NDA government had stopped meetings between Opposition leaders and visiting foreign leaders in their official trips.
Stating that India third largest energy consumer in the world, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the energy demand is growing at more than 5% annually.
PM at Petrotech 2019: India recently became the 6th largest economy in the world. According to a recent report, by 2030 India would be the 2nd largest world economy. We are also the 3rd largest energy consumer in the world with the demand growing at more than 5% annually. pic.twitter.com/GZo75xoshc
PM Modi was inaugurating Petrotech 2019, a series of international Oil and Gas Conferences, a biennial platform for national and international experts in the oil & gas industry to exchange views and share knowledge, expertise, and experiences.
Narendra Modi elaborated on the massive strides the Indian economy has made in recent times. He also stated that the energy demand in the country is growing at over 5% annually. The energy demand is expected to be more than doubled by 2040.
The Prime Minister also stated India has proven to be an ‘anchor for World economy’. He said, “India is the fastest growing large economy in the world. Leading agencies such as the IMF and the World Bank project the same trend to continue in the coming years. In an uncertain global economic environment, India has shown tremendous reasons as an anchor of the world economy.”
‘Energy Justice’ is also a key issue for India, Modi said. “Energy justice is also a key objective for me and a top priority for India. Towards this end, we have developed and implemented many policies. The results of these efforts are now evident,” he said.
Modi also emphasized on the necessity to move towards ‘responsible pricing’ for crude prices. “We need to move to responsible pricing, which balances the interests of both the producer and consumer,” he said.
Whenever someone mentions the movie My Name is Khan, the automatic reaction our Bollywood overdosed brains give is “And I am not a terrorist”. So when the trailer for the upcoming movie “My Name Is RaGa” was announced, the first thought that comes to the mind is “And I am not a what? Pappu”? Though the last word might be different depending upon the kind of brains in today’s world, let us leave it at that.
The first few seconds of the movie trailer proceed with ominous typical Bollywood horror movie music and set up. There is intense music playing when a Gora Chitta lanky lad rises up from ghastly blue waters, we take a good 3 seconds to realise he was not drowning but swimming apparently. He shuts his eyes tight as if he had swum to the pool’s surface from a dark dungeon hidden deep somewhere.
It is only when we see a smiling Indira Dadi looking up from her book that we get to understand all is well, it is only Rahul baba having a swim in their palace. But before we were even able to exhale the air that was held, the horror set up is back, intense music and the scary presence of a villain with a gun take the happiness away.
The Horror movie set up is back again when the cute kid picks up an enormous ragged doll. Old, ragged dolls have never been the good news in the whole history of cinema, be it Bollywood or Hollywood. The kid is then does something weird to the doll with a weird smile.
Still from My Name Is Raga trailer
We are now genuinely concerned. What exactly are the filmmakers trying to convey here, that there is the presence of a spooky doll in RaGa’s life? That RaGa has a fascination for spooky dolls, or that Raga loved playing with his sister’s discarded possessions? All of these are depressing and terribly concerning possibilities.
After the assassination scene of Indira, the trailer picks up the pace, however, the horror movie insinuations never actually leave us. The Royal family of Nehru’s descendants have always been under media glare and public scrutiny, like all royals, are, but there are still unknown details about them apparently. We, for example, did not know that RaGa and PriGa were taught at home by a blonde tutor.
If anything has a more significant screen presence in the movie trailer than the double dimpled male lead with a carefully crafted ‘3-day old stubble’ look, it is the balconies. There is a small balcony beyond flowing, oversized curtains in RaGa’s adolescence, one where he leans on to brood away into adulthood perhaps. Symbolic of the shrouded, protected existence of his childhood maybe. A lot of screen space has been devoted to showcasing a fearful pre-pubescent RaGa always hugging his dad and always standing in balconies.
As RaGa grows bigger, so does the balcony. The balcony with ugly oversized curtains now evolves into a what is the perfect Vastu-compliant imitation of the White House’s Truman Balcony. It is that brightly lit balcony where a very vocal Manmohan Singh tells him that he now has to shine bright (Ab Tumhe Chamakna Hai). It is the big, east-facing, sunlit, open-air balcony that RaGa waves with PriGa on his side, it is the same romantic balcony washed with soft evening rays where he winks (yes, winks) at a saree clad, bindi armed senior party member who declares her love for him.
Balconies have been in vogue since Ram Gopal Verma’s Sarkar. After giant, red-carpeted staircases right in the middle of the hall where every happy family in Bollywood movies lives, dances and where most mothers and Bhabhis trip and fall, balconies that the hero waves from have been the next architectural compulsion in most movies, this movie apparently has decided to go the extra length with it. Even the posters of the movie are centered around the balcony.
poster of the upcoming movie, My Name Is RaGa
Moving on, the trailer makes us realise that as RaGa grew up, he has moved on from spooky dolls to jokers. There is an even scarier looking joker placed right on the center table in one scene.
If the spooky doll and the scary jokers were not Bhootiya enough, we are shown a glimpse of three, yes three RaGas scaring each other on a rooftop. Multiple personalities too?
To complete the evil imagery, there is a Modi moving his lips where Arnab’s voice is heard in the background. The evil Modi even smirks, clenches his fist and grinds his teeth in seething anger and gives Voldemort-like smiles when RaGa is being ridiculed on TV.
As the movie version of RaGa embraces his politician identity (one of the three personalities?) and rises to shine in glorious victories (balcony again), a perplexed duo of a shocked Modi and very timid Amit Shah are shown watching TV together.
In what is very unfair treatment of brave journalism, it is Rahul Kanwal’s voice and not Pallavi Ghosh’s or Sagarika Ghose’s that announces RaGa’s rise to great power in India’s politics. Robert Vadra is nowhere to be seen but a gleaming PrigGa walks to her brother’s side and supports his trembling hand to be raised to the skies, (balcony again).
The movie RaGa is a true Bollywood heartthrob. Not only he smiles and winks and gives shy sideways looks, but he also Bajaos the dhol and does the Barati dance amidst bursts of Gulaals and garlands.
How can any movie be complete without a pink chiffon saree and sleeveless blouse? We were almost starting to be disappointed when a svelte spokesperson (or IT cell head, maybe) walks in, towards a brooding RaGa (of course on the balcony) and asks, do you know, ” Hum Tumse Itna Pyar Kyun Karte Hain?” Expect whistles at this scene when a very shy RaGa gives the very ‘parliamentarian’ wink and laughs away to glory.
Our hearts would have melted to the overcute story if not for the sheer unfairness of the total dismissal of such important and significant parts of RaGa’s political career.
The 4.03 minutes long trailer does not have a single Rafale flying across the screen. Any RaGa movie aspiring to do justice to the astounding political career of the visionary Congress prince should have first thought of Rafales. Forget Rafales, there is not even a single temple visit, not a single mobile factory has been mentioned.
The movie also seems to have totally ignored the scientifically imaginative RaGa. There are no talks of MRIs, no mentions of innovative chips production or not a single glance of potatoes being turned into gold.
We wish Rupesh Paul, who has a very impressive list of movies to his credit, like “Saint Dracula 3D”, “The Temptation Between My Legs” and “Monologues of an Indian Sex Maniac” etc, would have tried to venture into science fiction and had introduced us to the scientific visionary, maybe as one of the other two personalities of the politician RaGa.
Just imagine the impact, the money making potential and the blockbuster appeal of the scene if RaGa was shown disembarking from a Rafale alone, a dozen mobile factories in the distant horizons and pages of torn ordinances flying everywhere, with Bahubali-type music playing as a bare-chested Salman Khan style RaGa emerges to the front, with his Janeu lying proudly on his shoulders and spreads his arms, not for the chiffon saree diva, but for the teeth grinding Modi and says “Hug”? Sigh, some wishes just never come true.
After PM Modi addressed Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu as “father of Lokesh” at a rally in Guntur on Sunday, Naidu has attacked PM Modi by taunting him for not having a son or a family. Modi had said that Naidu was a “senior in backstabbing” alleging that he had backstabbed N T Rama Rao, the founder of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). Naidu while addressing a gathering of party workers in Vijayawada responded to the remarks made by Modi and said, “These remarks don’t befit the PM’s chair.”
Taking a dig at Modi, Naidu accused him of disrespecting senior BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani. “What did he do with Advani? Advani saved him when Vajpayee demanded his resignation, he nurtured and mentored him, but he didn’t even acknowledge his presence and exchange namaskaram. That is his culture”, Naidu commented.
Apparently offended by Modi taking his son Lokesh’s name to address him, Andhra Pradesh CM said, “Lokesh is my son. You don’t have a son, you don’t have a family, you don’t have relations. I am someone who encourages family relations. I want to spend time with my family. I am someone who believes that everyone will be happy if they have a family.”
Nara Lokesh, Chandrababu Naidu is currently a cabinet minister in Chandrababu Naidu government in Andhra Pradesh.
He did not stop there and dragged the name of Modi’s estranged wife in it. “Since you have referred to my son, I am mentioning about your wife. People, do you know Narendra Modi has a wife? Her name is Jashodaben.” He went on, “He brought a law against Triple Talaq to prevent injustice to women. Under the same law, those who divorce their wife through Triple Talaq, could be prosecuted. But where will you keep your face, if I ask about Jashodaben? You didn’t even give her a divorce.”
“Did the Prime Minister ever have any respect for the family system? Was there any occasion where he spoke in support of it?” questioned Naidu. Naidu criticised the demonetisation calling it a “mad Tughlaq Act”.
In yet another political low, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) led by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandra Babu Naidu has caused huge controversy after derogatory posters which took a cheap slur at the humble origins of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi appeared at the venue.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has been sitting on a day-long dharna and fast at AP Bhawan in New Delhi to seek special category status to Andhra Pradesh.
During his protest event, his party workers have resorted to putting up posters which read “Jiske Haath Mein Chai ka Jhoota cup Dena Tha, Uske Haath Mein Janata Ne Desh De Diya”, which meant that ‘the person who should have been given a used teacup, has been given the country by the people”.
Delhi: TDP MP Jayadev Galla, on posters which were earlier seen at the venue of the ongoing protest at Andhra Pradesh Bhawan: We don’t endorse it. It is not correct and it should not be done. It must not have been put by our party people. pic.twitter.com/UMaQrpNCYR
However, TDP MP Jayadev Galla reacted to those posters seen at the venue of the ongoing protest said, “We don’t endorse it. It is not correct and it should not be done. It must not have been put by our party people.”
The TDP chief is staging the ‘Dharma Porata Deeksha’ (a day-long protest for justice) at the Andhra Pradesh Bhavan in the national capital from 8 am to 8 pm on Monday. He will also submit a memorandum to President of India Ram Nath Kovind on February 12. Congress President Rahul Gandhi has also joined Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu’s day-long hunger strike against the central government.
