Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath while speaking at the Founding Day of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) said that it is often felt that there should be women’s representation in PAC forces and therefore he has decided to constitute 3 battalions of women in PAC.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow: It is often felt that there should be women’s representation in Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) forces, we’ve decided to constitute 3 battalions of women in PAC. pic.twitter.com/kHwmpWJkEM
Congratulating the workers and officials of the PAC, Yogi lauded the achievements of the PAC. He said, ” The PAC with its dedication and commitment has made significant achievements in its 70 years of glorious history. There is a feeling of appreciation in every faction related to security and a sense of satisfaction in every section of society. Whether it is maintaining the law and order, assuring the smooth conduct of festivities or providing relief in the times of disaster, the PAC has proved itself in every difficult situation.
The CM of UP also stated that the PAC is an inspiration for other state security forces in the country.
Yogi had earlier in March had announced to have a separate women company in PAC as an effort in the direction of women empowerment.
Praising the relief work done by the PAC in disaster-hit areas, Yogi said, “I have closely observed the relief work done by the PAC in flood-hit areas in the past 25 years. When there was a requirement of Jawans in ATS, STF, and SDRF, all the soldiers selected during the recruitment were from PAC. There is a growing demand for PAC soldier”.
He suggested that PAC soldiers should be deployed in the eastern and the northeastern parts of the country during the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.” I think that PAC soldiers should be sent to the Eastern and North Eastern parts of India during the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in the country. When we came to power in UP we revived the 74 companies of PAC which had been dissolved”.
A day after the government filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday convened a presser reiterating her government’s stance on the Rafale verdict. She said that the process has commenced, the pricing details were handed over to the CAG, which will study it and later pass it on to the PAC for evaluation.
Congress stirred a fresh furore over Rafale deal after the apex court dismissed all the petitions pertaining to it. The Supreme Court also noted that due process was followed in acquiring the fighter jets from Dassault and there appears no wrongdoing in the deal. Congress in its defence stated that the government had misled the Supreme Court by claiming that a CAG report on the Rafale Deal has been evaluated by the Public Accounts Committee
Countering Congress’ allegations, Sitharaman said that the government had provided the data and information in an affidavit to the Supreme Court. The government filed an affidavit in the court to make a ‘factual correction’ in a paragraph in the Rafale judgment passed a couple of days ago. Denying the grave charges of misleading the court, the government stated that there was a “typing-error” which was susceptible to misinterpretation.
Sitharaman also contended that the entire process has been explained to the Supreme Court. The misinterpretation was caused due to incorrect use of tenses in the report and it wouldn’t affect the verdict.
Defence Minister: We explained the process through which info comes to Parliament. In that the past tense, future tense, present tense & present continuous tense has come into play. That is post the decision, is it not? Therefore how is it going to affect verdict? #RafaleVerdictpic.twitter.com/FRiFkGuohg
Alleging that Bofors JPC ended up converting kickbacks to winding up charges, Nirmala Sitharaman claimed that Congress’ demand to constitute a JPC is an insincere attempt to score political mileage than to genuinely seek Rafale details.
Defence Minister: A politically divided JPC is looking into a matter already looked into by the SC. A Bofors JPC ended up converting kickbacks into winding up charges. So to ask for JPC is for Congress’ political grandstanding rather than genuinely knowing, post court’s verdict. pic.twitter.com/hosBxlug91
If one evaluates the Supreme Court verdict, it will be amply clear that the judgment was not based on CAG report alone. The SC had considered pricing details closely to reach the conclusion. Though the Central Government had filed a petition for correction in the Supreme Court, the judgement would still hold since it is formed on the basis of pricing details reviewed by the Court and not just the CAG report.
Images of an ailing Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, inspecting a bridge in Goa may evoke varied reactions from the average Indian, but those who know him closely, know exactly what is happening.
While the physical appearance of Parrikar may have changed over the years, he is the same Parrikar who was seen in 2004, supervising works for the International Film Festival of India (IFF), well into the night. He is the same Parrikar who was seen jumping on to the roads on Panaji to manage traffic on the opening night of IFFI when he saw that the traffic cops had made a mess of the situation. He is the Parrikar, who loves his work more than anything else in this world.
Coming to the most recent picture, it shows Parrikar inspecting a bridge in Goa. It is no ordinary bridge though. It is the third bridge connecting entire North Goa, to Panaji, Parrikar’s constituency for the past many years. The bridge is expected to resolve a lot of traffic woes for Panaji, with its multiple flyovers.
Such a grand bridge is being attempted for the first time in Goa, at an estimated cost of Rs 482 crores. It will be the third longest cable-stayed bridge in India, once completed.
Not only is it Parrikar’s dream project and important to Goa, but Parrikar also wants it completed as soon as possible. The current target date for inauguration has been set as 12 January 2019, with the possibility of Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurating it being explored.
Parrikar spent nearly an hour on the bridge, accompanied by his son Utpal, three doctors and his personal secretary. Parrikar is understood to have ordered L&T to complete the illumination of the bridge by this year-end. He also instructed that the crash barriers and painting has to be completed by 12th January.
When he was informed about some traffic issues slowing down some part of the work, Parrikar is reported to have instantly called deputy superintendent of police (traffic), to sort out the issue. Parrikar also suggested that the national flag could be flown from atop the pylons of the bridge at a height of around 35m.
This is the hands-on, thoroughly involved Parrikar that Goans have come to see and love over the past few years. And hence, it is unfathomable that Parrikar was being coerced to appear at the site of the bridge. On the other hand, it is most likely that Parrikar coerced his medical team to allow him out in the open.
It is laughable to imagine how Modi or Amit Shah could force Parrikar to continue as the Chief Minister, as insinuated by Omar Abdullah and several other politicians, when they couldn’t force him to stay on as perhaps India’s finest defence minister.
He has a tube inserted through his nose into his digestive tract. How inhuman to force him to continue working & doing photo ops. Why can’t he be allowed to deal with his illness without all this pressure & tamasha? https://t.co/iq0dwXCHmE
Besides the fact that this is the quintessential Parrikar, watching over his pet project, one cannot ignore the elephant in the room: his fight with cancer.
Cancer is a debilitating disease. It eats at a man’s body and attacks every living fibre with all it has got. For some, the physical ailment affects their mental strength. For others, it gives them renewed grit to live every moment and cherish everything they loved while in the pink of their health.
It is said that cancer patients heal better if they are mentally and emotionally strong. For several inspirational individuals, the upkeep of their emotional strength meant trying as much as they could, to live as if the disease did not exist at all. Several patients try to alienate the disease from their existence and that gives them the strength to carry on their fight against the invasive disease.
Parrikar seems to be doing just that. While fighting the arduous battle, he seems to be keeping his emotional strength up by carrying on his work as usual and by deriving pleasure from what his passion really is, that is, to see Goa develop.
Trouble seizes to stop for the liquor baron Vijay Mallya, as a UK court has now begun bankruptcy proceedings against the fugitive business tycoon. Mallya is facing proceedings over fraud and money laundering charges amounting to an estimated Rs 9,000 crores.
According to reports, Vijay Mallya is facing bankruptcy proceedings in a London court brought by a consortium of lenders led by the State Bank of India and 12 other banks. The lenders want the court to declare Vijay Mallya bankrupt as part of their efforts to seize his assets in the UK to recover their loans amounting to 1.145 billion pounds, extended by them to Kingfisher Airlines which Mallya had guaranteed to repay.
Mallya had earlier lost his appeal in the UK’s Court of Appeal, against a High Court order in favour of 13 Indian banks to recover this loan. In fact, earlier a London Court had also ordered the confiscation of the six highly expensive cars of Mallya to repay loans to Indian Consortium of Banks.
However, the businessman is planning to contest the fresh petition which, according to him, is “not sustainable”. When Sunday Times approached Vijay Mallya for his reactions on this latest predicament, Mallya replied: “Nothing different to what has been happening over the past four years since the (Indian) government began hounding me.”
The out on bail, 62-years-old, Kingfisher boss had earlier too, suffered a big blow in his quest to save his posh London home from foreclosure by Swiss bank UBS. It was reported in October 2018, that Swiss bank USB had moved the UK High Court seeking an order of eviction against Vijay Mallya, his mother and son from their plush multi-million-pound mansion overlooking Regent’s Park in London. The bank has sought repossession of the property over the non-payment of a 20.4 million pounds’ mortgage loan.
The court had passed the judgement after rejecting all the arguments relied on by Mallya’s legal team. This case relates to a mortgage taken out by Rose Capital Ventures, one of Mallya’s companies. The bank says that Rose Capital, through which the house was originally purchased in 2005, had not repaid the loan, which was stated to be for a period of five years and subject to early termination by the claimant.
According to UBS, despite the loan’s expiry and the claimant’s request that defendants vacate the property, the defendants’ had refused to move out.
The Kingfisher chief has been facing immense turbulence for a while now. The long-fought battle by the CBI, ED and the Indian Government to expedite the extradition process of the fugitive businessman, who was is fighting extradition to India on charges of fraud and money laundering amounting to around Rs 9,000 crores, has ultimately paid off with the Westminster Magistrates’ Court recently ordering the extradition of Vijay Mallya to India.
Vijay Mallya, however, defending himself, had asserted in court that the charges were politically motivated. He had also asserted that he had drawn the loans to keep his now-defunct company afloat and there is no fraud involved.
Fodder scam convict Lalu Prasad Yadav’s elder son Tej Pratap intentionally or unintentionally finds a way of being in news, however mostly for the wrong reasons. This time he has declared his brother Tejashwi as ‘Arjun’ and himself as Lord Krishna who was the charioteer of Arjuna in Mahabharat. Earlier he was seen dressed as Lord as Lord Shiva blowing a conch shell (Shankh) before leaving for the Kanwar yatra. He had also appeared as Lord Shiva on another occasion.
Tej Pratap Yadav declared on Sunday that he was back in politics after he made a sudden appearance at his party’s State headquarters in Patna. After holding discussions with party workers, Pratap held a press conference where he heaped praises on Congress President Rahul Gandhi for leading Congress to victory in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan in the Assembly polls. Referring to the BJP-RSS as principal opponents in Bihar, he said the party’s detractors will be slayed with ‘Sudarshana Chakra’.
“I have returned to Bihar after receiving the blessings of Lord Krishna during my pilgrimage. The state will emerge as Kurukshetra in the Lok Sabha polls and our detractors will be slayed with the Sudarshan Chakra of popular vote,” Tej Pratap who was wearing his trademark “Bhasmatilak” on his forehead said.
He dismissed the speculations of strained relations with his brother Tejashwi. However, he said that he had no intentions to return to his 10, Circular Road, house, which is allotted to his mother Rabri Devi. “I have requested the state government to allot a bungalow in my name. I have also tried to telephonically contact Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over the issue,” he said.
He had earlier vacated the bungalow allotted to him accusing Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi of releasing ghosts inside it. He refused to comment on the question regarding his relationship with his wife Aishwarya.
Tej Pratap who got married in May this year had filed for divorce from Aishwarya citing compatibility issues. He had also said that he was forced to marry Aishwarya Rai, the daughter of a former minister, Chandrika Rai and granddaughter of former BJP chief minister Daroga Rai, for political benefits. After filling for divorce and meeting father Lalu Yadav in Ranchi where he is serving his jail term, Tej Pratap had disappeared on his way back. Later he was found to be in Haridwar, where he said that he won’t return until his family backs his decision of divorce. On November 29 several media houses had reported that Tej Pratap has decided to withdraw his divorce plea, but he had denied such reports and said that he wants the divorce.
The tenth edition of INDRA NAVY maritime exercise between India and Russia has been concluded in the Bay of Bengal near Visakhapatnam coast, Andhra Pradesh.
INDRA, a joint bi-annual military exercise held from December 9-16, 2018 aimed to increase interoperability amongst the two navies, develop common understanding and procedures for maritime security operations.
The INDRA Naval exercise was held in two phases viz. Harbour Phase and Sea Phase. The Harbour Phase was held at Visakhapatnam from 9-12 December which included planning conferences, professional interactions and formal calls between Flag Officers and senior officers of the participating navies. The Sea Phase was conducted in the Bay of Bengal from 13-16 December focussing on Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), air defence drills, surface firings, Visit Board Search and Seizure (VBSS) operations and other tactical procedures.
India-Russian Naval Exercise- INDRA-2018/ Image Source: ANI
The Indian Navy was represented by guided missile destroyer INS Ranvir, indigenous frigate INS Satpura, indigenous anti-submarine warfare (ASW) corvette INS Kadmatt, indigenous missile corvettes ships INS Kuthar and INS Khanjar and a fleet tanker INS Jyoti. In addition, one Sindhughosh-class submarine, Dornier maritime patrol aircraft, Hawk fighter aircraft and other integral rotary wing helicopters had also taken part in the exercise.
The Russian Navy had sent ships from its Pacific fleet based at Vladivostok and included guided missile cruiser Varyag, Udaloy-class destroyer Admiral Panteleyev and a replenishment ship Boris Butoma.
India-Russian Naval Exercise- INDRA-2018/ Image Source: ANI
Initiated in 2003, these exercises were tasked with boosting cooperation and interoperability between the Russian and Indian navies. “The INDRA NAVY exercise has matured over the years with the increase in scope, complexity and level of participation,” a statement released by the Indian Navy said.
“During the exercise, sailors of Russia’s Pacific Fleet and Indian Navy’s Eastern Fleet improved their practical skills of joint tactical manoeuvres, refuelling of ships from a tanker while in motion, an inspection of a suspicious vessel,” the Russian side said.
India-Russian Naval Exercise- INDRA-2018/ Image Source: ANI
Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba had visited Russia from November 26-29 to consolidate bilateral defence relations and explore new avenues for defence cooperation, the release said.
The exercise will be yet another milestone in strengthening maritime security cooperation between the two navies and will serve to reinforce the long-standing bond of friendship between the countries, the Indian Navy said.
India-Russian Naval Exercise- INDRA-2018/ Image Source: ANI
The Indian Armed Forces interact with Russian Armed Forces on many fronts. Recently, the tenth joint military exercise between Indian and Russia ‘EXERCISE INDRA 2018’ was conducted at Babina Field Firing Ranges, Babina Military Station Jhansi.
India and Russia also jointly conducted a biennial Air Force level exercise called ‘Avia Indra’ to enhance co-operation and understanding between Air forces of both countries in each other’s Concept of Operations. The first phase of Avia Indra-18 was held in Lipetsk, Russia from September 17 to 28, 2018. The second session of Avia Indra-18 will be conducted in Jodhpur, Rajasthan from December 10 Dec to 22, 2018.
In the last couple of days, a video is being shared on social media where a person is seen complaining to police about “Aurangzeb’s rule” coming to his state. Those sharing the video are claiming that the incident happened in Utambar, Rajasthan after Congress won the recently concluded assembly elections.
It is being claimed that Congress supporting Muslim workers intruded into the homes of Rajput community in Utambar, Rajasthan and misbehaved with girls.
उटाम्बर राजस्थान,राजपूतों kघरों में कांग्रेस के विजयी विधायक उम्मेद सिंह के मुस्लिम समर्थकों ने इस राजपूत पिता की बेटी की छाती पर हाथ रखा व कलाई पकड़ खींचते घर से बाहर ले गये!
सुनिए दुखी पिता ने दरोगा से क्या कहा:- “इयां लागे 5 घंटे मे औरंगजेब राज आग्यो” pic.twitter.com/iuDKACxVN5
Many social media users have been sharing this video of the incident as proof of Congress’ Muslim appeasement, as the incident is supposed to have taken place within 5 hours of Congress government being formed in the state (technically the new Chief Minister is yet to take the oath).
However on Twitter, the verified handle of Rajasthan Police, on December 16th, 2018 appeared to have declared the incident as “fake news”
राजस्थान पुलिस आपको watch कर रही है। ये एक पुरानी वीडियो है जो झारखंड के रांची की है। आप तुरंत इसे delete करें अन्यथा Cyber Unit को यह case सौंप दी जायेगी।
This declaration of the incident as “fake news” was assumed by most Twitter users as a proof that such an incident never happened in Utambar. Rajasthan police instead claimed that the video was old and the incident had happened in Jharkhand, however the text of the message specifically talked about an incident in Utambar, Rajasthan.
While the user whom Rajasthan police accused of spreading fake news and warned of action by cyber unit, deleted his tweet, many other users pointed out that the incident claimed in his tweet was not fake.
UPDATE: The Twitter user who had deleted his tweet appeared to have attached a wrong video, however, the screenshot used by Rajasthan police in their warning did not include thumbnail of the video, in absence of which, a real incident (as seen in the text part of the screenshot used by Rajasthan police) was being tagged as ‘fake news’ by Rajasthan police and believed so by many users.
Twitter users pointed to factors like the person speaking in Marwari, which is a dialect spoken in parts of Rajasthan and not in Jharkhand.
.@PoliceRajasthan Ranchi, Jharkhand ke log kabse Marwadi bolne lage.
Ranchi police kabse marwadi bolne lag gyi. Ranchi ke log kaan me kudki, sir par safa kabse bandhne lage, Ranchi ka MLA kabse Rajasthani Rajput ho gya?
OpIndia decided to dig further and we found that there were news articles in the vernacular media that matched the incidents in the shared video, or as claimed by the user who was warned by the Rajasthan Police.
According to one Dainik Bhaskar report dated 14th December, after claims of assault and molestation, various supporters under the leadership of BJP leader Babusingh Rathore protested and took out a 4-kilometre march. The report says that Babusingh Rathore and his supporters also met Ranveer Singh, presumably the father of the girls, and examined the injuries of their two daughters.
Picture credit: Dainik Bhaskar
Therefore, the Dainik Bhaskar report confirms that the incident, which Rajasthan police ended up tagging as ‘fake news’ on Twitter, indeed took place in Utambar, Rajasthan.
According to another Dainik Bhaskar report dated 17th December, the name of the ones arrested in this case are Firoz Khan’s son Huzur Khan Bhojakor, Alawataya’s son Elidwanwan Rawat, Rauf Khan’s son Fakir Khan Rawat and Mojboor Khan’s son Hameed Khan. They also found two jeeps used in the incident.
In the 14th December Dainik Bhaskar report, it is said that the police had assuaged sentiments of the village after giving an assurance that the accused would be arrested within 7 days.
OpIndia also talked to the investigating officer who confirmed that such an incident had taken place. He, however, said that the incident was more political in nature than communal. He confirmed that perpetrators accused of molesting girls were arrested.
The IO said that after the elections results of 11th December 2018 where Congress swept the polls, Congress workers were celebrating the victory when things got heated. Complaints were filed against the people involved in the victory procession and the police had reached the spot late at night, around 10 PM.
When asked about the molestation charge, the IO said that medical tests have been conducted on the girls and they did have injury marks on their hands. He also asserted that the police was working swiftly and had already made 7 arrests in the case. The officer further informed that a counter FIR has also been fired in the case.
The tweet by Rajasthan police caused many to confuse the incident with another video being shared on social media, which indeed is old and from Jharkhand. Many had shared a video where ‘Babri Masjid leke rahenge‘ slogans were raised in a Congress bike rally and insinuated that the incident happened after Congress’ victory in Rajasthan. However, that video was an old one and not of the recent Assembly Elections. That was clearly a fake news.
In this particular case, the incident did happen. Despite numerous users pointing out that Rajasthan Police that the incident narrated in their own screenshot was real, the police had not clarified about it.
UPDATE: A day after OpIndia pointed out how their incomplete screenshot was creating confusion and ending up branding a real news as fake news, Rajasthan police finally clarified that their tweet was about the video – whose thumbnail they had missed in their screenshot, and thus created confusion about another video that was also genuine – was old. However, for some reason, the Rajasthan Police’s Twitter handle still did not explicitly mention that the incident in Utambar was indeed genuine as corroborated by the Rajasthan Police.
हम fake news/hate speech के बारे में आम जन को जागरूक करने में तत्पर हैं। अपने ट्वीट के द्वारा हमने यह स्पष्ट किया है की एक अन्य जगह के पुराने विडीओ को #राजस्थान के #उटाम्बर का बताकर धार्मिक उन्माद (communal tension) फैलाने की कोशिश की जा रही थी और हमने तुरंत एक्शन लिया। @HMOIndiapic.twitter.com/Lb3PAtzCpc
Sajjan Kumar, a veteran Congress leader, has been convicted in the 1984 Sikh massacre case and has been sentenced to life imprisonment. Witness in the case, Cham Kaur, has asserted that she personally saw Sajjan Kumar order the brutal murder of 5 Sikhs.
Besides Cham Kaur, another key prosecution actress, Sheela Kaur, identified Sajjan Kumar as the person who was instigating crowds at Sultanpuri.
In its damning observations, the Delhi High Court said that there were ‘large-scale efforts’ to protect Kumar.
Delhi HC’s observation on 1984 anti-Sikh riots: It was an extraordinary case where it was going to be impossible to proceed against Sajjan Kumar in normal scheme of things as there appeared to be ongoing large-scale efforts to suppress cases against him by not even recording them
The Court further observed that cases were often not even registered and even on occasions when they were registered, they were not investigated properly.
Delhi HC: Even if they were registered they weren’t investigated properly&investigations which saw any progress weren’t carried to logical end of a charge sheet actually being filed. Even defence doesn’t dispute that as far as FIR is concerned, a closure report had been prepared. https://t.co/02Zrz9sRjk
Most damning observation, however, was that the accused enjoyed ‘political patronage’ and ‘escaped trial’.
Delhi High Court while reading the judgement, “In the summer of 1947, during partition, several people were massacred. 37 years later Delhi was the witness of a similar tragedy. The accused enjoyed political patronage and escaped trial.” https://t.co/ncS7uCAF0K
Today’s judgment reversed the 2013 verdict of the Karkardooma trial court that acquitted Kumar but convicted five others in the case.
The case pertains to the murder of five Sikhs in the Delhi Cantonment area during the massacre of 1984. The appeal was filed by those convicted, the CBI and the family of victims.
The Delhi High Court had admitted the appeal against the trial court verdict in August 2013. The trial court had acquitted him after observing that Kumar deserved the “benefit of doubt” as a key witness had not named him as an accused in her statement to a panel.
In April 2012, the CBI told a Delhi Court that Sajjan Kumar incited crowds to murder Sikhs. The Court was also told that the massacre was “backed by both the Congress government and police”. “There was a conspiracy of terrifying proportion with the complicity of police and patronage of local MP Sajjan Kumar,” the CBI prosecutor told the Judge. The prosecutor also said that witnesses had heard Sajjan Kumar tell a crowd “not a single Sikh should survive”.
In a bitter instance of irony, Sajjan Kumar has been convicted for his role in the 1984 Sikh Massacre on the same day that another Congress veteran accused of participating in the massacre, Kamal Nath, is set to take oath as the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh.
Kamal Nath was accused of leading a mob outside the Rakabganj Gurudwara during the massacre. Two Sikhs were burnt to death there. His presence at the Gurudwara was confirmed by a policeman and a journalist who offered formal testimony. Kamal Nath said that he was there on Rajiv Gandhi’s insistence. However, the Nanavati Commission did not find any definitive proof of his involvement.
History appears to have finally caught up with Sajjan Kumar as he has been instructed to surrender by the 31st of December. His conviction has been welcomed by the families of victims and the Sikh community. Celebrations broke out as soon as his conviction was announced by the Delhi High Court.
Samajwadi Party (SP) chief, Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo, Mayawati have reportedly planned to skip attending the swearing-in ceremonies of Congress CM-designates, Kamal Nath, Bhupesh Baghel and Ashok Gehlot in the three states where the Congress has recently won the assembly elections.
The decision of skipping the oath-taking ceremonies comes as a surprise, considering that the BSP has extended support to Congress in both Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan while SP has given its backing to the Congress in Madhya Pradesh. As per reports, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee also will not attend the oath-taking ceremonies in any of the three states.
This comes as a stark contrast to the oath-taking ceremony of Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy, where all these leaders, including many other regional party leaders, had not only attended the ceremony but also had made grand statements of an powerful ‘united opposition to dethrone BJP from the center.
After several days of discussion, Congress has finally chosen the CM candidates for Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chattisgarh respectively. While Kamal Nath has been selected to lead Madhya Pradesh, senior leader, Ashok Gehlot will head Rajasthan and Bhupesh Baghel has been chosen to be the CM of Chhattisgarh by Congress’ top leadership. The most popular face of the Congress party in Rajasthan, Sachin Pilot has been, however, offered the post of Deputy CM.
While announcing her support to the Congress in both states, SP supremo, Mayawati had earlier, however, cleared that her party does not support Congress’ ideologies and policies and that the support extended was mere to prevent the BJP from grabbing power in both the states of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Akhilesh Yadav had also reiterated the same, saying, his party’s support to the Congress in MP was only for the sake of keeping the BJP out. “We have lent support to the Congress in MP for the sake of democracy and secularism,” he had said.
This decision coming from the SP and BSP heads, somehow, further clears the perception of political parties like these, who have joined the so-called ‘Mahagathbandhan’, which the Congress is skillfully trying to constitute to take on BJP in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. This coalition, however, comes across as a stark compromise various parties with different ideologies are making just with the sole purpose to defeat Modi.
For this reason, perhaps, none of the major political parties who are pretending to support Congress for the outside, have ever accepted Rahul Gandhi as the next Prime Ministerial candidate.
Earlier too, articulating the long-drawn ambition of Mayawati to become India’s Prime Minister after the 2019 general elections, the BSP had completely disregarded Rahul Gandhi as the next PM face.
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav had too, earlier dropped hints that his party may not be in line to support Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s candidature for the Prime Minister’s post before the elections.
Yesterday, TMC, whose supremo has always been supportive of a ‘united opposition’, had lashed out at DMK chief, MK Stalin, who endorsed Congress chief, Rahul Gandhi for the prime ministerial post of the country.
Mamata Banerjee’s party has reportedly said that the entire opposition is taking Stalin’s remark very seriously and also stated that the prime ministerial candidate could only be decided post-2019 election results.
Earlier, NCP leader Sharad Pawar had also hinted that his party does not endorse the idea of Rahul Gandhi as a PM candidate and stated that it should be decided only after the elections.
With so much under-current within all these parties teaming up, it would be interesting to see whether the so-called ‘Mahagathbandhan’ will be able to withstand these internal pressures in their quest to fight BJP before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections or would come tumbling down like a pack of cards.
Congress candidate from Indore-III constituency, Ashwin Joshi, while addressing party workers at party’s city office, reportedly said that he would beat the BJP workers who ‘planned his defeat by deploying unfair means and practices’. Joshi had lost the Indore-III seat to BJP veteran leader Kailash Vijayvargiya’s son Akash by more than 5000 votes.
Video clips of Joshi’s statement have been circulating on social media.
Congress MLA from MP Ashwin Joshi saying “I’ll beat BJP people and you don’t give them shelter”. pic.twitter.com/3TNuJMQLB6
He reportedly asked his party workers not to give refuge to BJP supporters and asked them to prepare a list of people and even police officials who, according to him, were working against Congress. “I wanted to ask those, who will become ministers, not to give shelter to those people supporting BJP, Whom I will beat up”, Joshi said.
“We should ensure that those police officers and other officials, who favour us, should stay here. Besides, those advocates who support us should be recruited on government posts,” he said. “A list of the goons and those involved in betting and selling illicit liquor should also be prepared and these people should be externed from Indore,” he added.
Joshi had alleged after the election results came out that Vijayvargiya had distributed money in slum areas to win the elections and that his complaints made in this regard were not addressed. He incited his party workers to harass the people who deceived the party so that a message is sent across.
“Start harassing them to the extent that people get a message that what happens to those, who cheat us”, reportedly asked his party workers.
Congress won recent state assembly elections in the state. Congress secured 114 MLA seats in the 230 seat assembly.
