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Congress friendly journalist wishes death upon BJP Delhi spokesperson Tajinder Bagga

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Congress friendly journalist wishes death upon BJP Delhi spokesperson Tajinder Bagga

Ahmedabad Mirror Editor, Deepal Trivedi today wished upon the death of BJP Delhi spokesperson Tajinder Bagga who has said he will go on an indefinite fast protesting against selection of Kamal Nath as Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister.


Bagga has accused Kamal Nath of being responsible in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots which took place following former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassination by her two Sikh bodyguards.


Showing insensitivity towards the Sikh community, Trivedi commented that she offers condolences to Bagga’s family. She insinuated that since Congress will not change its decision and Kamal Nath is destined to be the next chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, Bagga would keep his promise of fast unto death.


During the run-up to Gujarat assembly elections last year, Trivedi was caught spreading morphed images with Amit Shah’s fake quotes on Patidars.

Kamal Nath is accused of leading a violent mob attack on Gurdwara Rakabgunj on November 1, 1984, in which the mob had burnt two Sikhs, a father and son alive.

The 1984 Anti-Sikh riots took place aftermath of the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, which resulted in brutal killings of more than 2800 people according to official figures. Congress leaders Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler are often accused of playing active roles in orchestrating the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in India.

Supporters of Sachin Pilot climb a water tank demanding his appointment as Rajasthan CM

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Supporters of Sachin Pilot climb a water tank demanding his appointment as Rajasthan CM

Supporters of Sachin Pilot have come up with an innovative method to demand appointment as Chief Minister of Rajasthan. Three of them have climbed atop a water tank in Rajasthan and raised slogans in support of Pilot. They could be heard chanting “Sachin Pilot zindabad!”


Earlier, we had reported that supporters of Pilot had created a ruckus in Rajasthan. Yesterday, they had blocked a road in Karauli as speculations over the appointment of Chief Minister in Rajasthan ran rife.

There was infighting in the Congress party between the Gehlot and Pilot camps even as campaigning was on before the Assembly elections. A similar situation was also witnessed in Madhya Pradesh between Jyotiraditya Scindia and Kamal Nath. But that appears to have been resolved with the appointment of Kamal Nath as CM.

There has not been any official announcement from the Congress party on the appointment of the Chief Minister in Rajasthan. But an announcement is expected soon. However, as per rumours, Ashok Gehlot is the forerunner to be the Chief Minister of Rajasthan.

Amidst speculations over Govt-RBI stand off, Jaitley asks how a mere discussion be considered ‘destruction’ of an institution

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Amidst speculations over Govt-RBI stand off, Jaitley asks how a mere discussion be considered ‘destruction’ of an institution

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, while speaking at the Times Networks India Economic Conclave today, stated that though there are ‘two or three areas of differences’ between the RBI and the Government, how a mere discussion on its functioning could be considered “destruction” of an institution.

Amidst allegations by the opposition that his government has created a situation wherein the Reserve Bank Governor, Urjit Patel was forced to resign, Jaitley went on to list several of actions initiated by past governments including those of Congress PMs Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, asking RBI Governors to resign.

Speaking at the conclave Jaitley mentioned that issues revolving around the credit flow in the economy and liquidity support were areas where the Government had differences with the RBI and clarified that the government had initiated a ‘discussion’ to convey its concern over these issues.

“A discussion with an important institution, which is independent and autonomous, to tell it that its a part of your (RBIs) functions and therefore this is an important area of an economy which you must look at, how is it the destruction of the institution?” he questioned.

According to reports, the RBI had voiced its concern as it felt that RBI’s autonomy was being compromised when the Government was trying to get involved in its functioning, under the never-used Section 7 of the RBI Act which provides for the central government forcing down decisions in public interest.

Clarifying the Governments stand, Jaitley said, “We are the sovereign government, we are the most important stakeholders as far as the management of an economy is concerned,” Jaitley said, in reference to the discussions with RBI.

He reiterated that the credit flow of the economy and liquidity were the sole responsibility of the RBI. Jaitley furthered that the Government did not intend to “take over the function,” rather it only intended to initiate discussions using instruments which force a discussion.

“In some situations, the autonomous institutions also have to be informed that there is some difficulty arising in the system that requires to be corrected,” he added.

Stressing that it is mandatory for the RBI’s policies to be in sync with the economic policies, Jaitley furthered that if the government is not able to convey the difficulties in the system, it would be failing its duty, he said.

Urjit Patel, who succeeded Raghuram Rajan as the head of India’s central bank in September 2016, resigned from the post earlier this week citing personal reasons. The government has appointed Shaktikanta Das as the new RBI governor.

I challenge Congress to discuss Rafale in the Parliament: BJP President Amit Shah

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I challenge Congress to discuss Rafale in the Parliament: BJP President Amit Shah

Truth has won, said BJP President Amit Shah while addressing a press conference following the Supreme Court judgement dismissing the various petitions on Rafale deal. In the history of independent India, never has there been such an attempt to misguide the people of India on the basis of such a massive lie, he said.


“It is unfortunate that this attempt was made by the president of the oldest political party of India. Congress President, for the benefit of himself and his party, he took help of such lies,” he said. He further added that today’s SC verdict has shown that truth always triumphs.

Calling the SC verdict a slap on the faces of those who put such allegations, Shah said, Rahul Gandhi should apologise to the nation as well as to the defence forces. “Rafale deal was used as a means to plant a seed of doubt in the minds of citizens against the Indian defence forces. More than damaging or hurting the party, Rahul Gandhi’s allegations have hurt the morale of the defence forces. He tried to put nation’s security at risk and hence he should apologise,” Shah added.

Rahul Gandhi should answer

Adding that Rahul Gandhi should put his source of information in front of people, Shah said, “Who used to feed you information? On basis of whose information did you put out such grave allegations? The people of India need to know. Secondly, when your government was in power in 2001, Indian Air Force had put across the requirement of the aircraft. From 2004, the process for procurement had started. You started finalising it from 2007 onward. Why did this deal not come together for 7 years from 2007 to 2014?” He said Congress needs to answer to the people why was the deal not finalised for 7 years.

Taking a dig at Rahul Gandhi’s ‘chowkidar chor hai’ remark, Shah said, “all thieves came together and started shouting how the chowkidar is a chor, and hence people will never believe that chowkidar is chor. Only those who are afraid of chowkidar are calling him chor.”

He said that the government is ready to debate on the Rafale deal in the Parliament. “I would like to challenge the Congress leaders that they can bring all the evidence and debate in the Parliament and we are ready to do the same for as long as they want to,” he added.

CEC : EVMs cannot be vilified in case of result X and deemed okay in case of result Y

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CEC : EVMs cannot be vilified in case of result X and deemed okay in case of result Y

While speaking to the Indian Express about the recent Assembly elections, the newly appointed Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora said that the Election Commission cannot be made part of political brinkmanship in reference to the controversies created by the political parties during the recent Assembly elections regarding the EVMs.

“ECI would not like to be part of any political brinkmanship,” said the CEC. Arora said that the words tampering and malfunctioning are being used interchangeably while there is a distinction between the two. Our machines are designed in a way that if anyone tries to fiddle with them, they stop working. He said that the machine cannot be vilified in case of result X and deemed okay in case of result Y.

Arora, who was appointed as the CEC on Dec 2 succeeding O P Rawat, said that the stakeholders have a right to criticise but the EVMs cannot be labeled whatever suits a particular stakeholder at a given time.

On the question of allegations of partisanship leveled by political parties on the Election Commission, Arora replied,  “My colleagues and I would carry out our duties in conformity with the letter and spirit of the Constitution. The interactions with political parties that I have attended in the Commission headquarters and on our visit to the states have been very pleasant. I cannot account for what one says to the media after stepping out. You should ask them.”

The Election Commission has also faced criticism for the delay in announcing the result for the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections. The CEC said that the Commission is not in the race of announcing the result first. Its priority is to get the results correct. “When candidates and their agents ask questions and insist on settling their doubts, then delays are natural,” he said.

The CEC said that he wants that some of the recommendations of the Committee, which was formed for suggesting changes in section 126 of the Representation of People Act, are implemented before the Lok Sabha elections next year.

The Election Commission has also recommended to the Law Ministry that a limit should be laid down on the expenditure of the political parties on their candidates during the elections. Unlimited expenditure of the political parties during elections has been one of the biggest concerns of the EC. The EC had recommended that the expenditure of a party on a candidate for elections should be either 50% or not more than the expenditure ceiling limit provided for the candidate.

As per reports, if the recommendations of the EC are accepted by the government then a political party may not be able to spend more than Rs 25-35 lakh/candidate in case of Lok Sabha elections and not more than Rs 10-14 lakh/candidate in case of assembly elections.

Rafale ‘scam’: A myth invented by Rahul Gandhi and his friends in the media

OpIndia Staff
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Rafale ‘scam’: A myth invented by Rahul Gandhi and his friends in the media

The Supreme Court, today, has dismissed all the PILs related to the Rafale deal seeking a court-monitored investigation into the deal and has given it a clean chit. The Court said that it has not found any material to show that there has been any commercial favouritism.

During the election campaign for assembly elections in the five states, Rahul Gandhi made several outlandish comments about the Rafale deal. Although the Congress party appears to have gained electorally, the claims made in the Court by the Petitioners have fallen flat.

Earlier in November, Rahul Gandhi had challenged Prime Minister Modi to a debate on Rafale. He had also falsely claimed that the government had removed the CBI Director Alok Verma to stop him from probing the Rafale deal. At one point, the Congress President had claimed in the Lok Sabha that the French President had told him personally that there was no secrecy pact between the two countries which prevented the government from discussing the terms and price of the Rafale jets.

The French government then issued a statement which essentially proved that Rahul Gandhi lies on the floor of the Parliament. They stated that the secrecy pact was signed in 2008 (during UPA regime, AK Antony being the defence minister) whose provisions also apply to the deal of 36 Rafale aircraft and their weapons which was signed on 23rd September 2016.

Rahul Gandhi had also alleged that Reliance will benefit by US$ 4 billion, approximately the entire offset amount. Later, he added US$ 16 billion for “Rafale lifecycle Contract” that Reliance was supposed to get. In reality, no such ‘lifecycle contract’ exists. And both the figures have no basis in fact.

Not just the Congress President but other politicians jumped on the bandwagon as well.


And, of course. the politicians were helped by their friends in the media as well.


Some ‘journalists’ also appeared to have been emotionally invested in the story and wanted to see a scam where there was none.


Politicians and propagandists also relied on a French NGO, Sherpa, that registered a complaint there against the Rafale deal to peddle their narrative. But, as it turned out, it has been accused previously of filing motivated lawsuits to destroy the reputation and gain media attention and funds. And as we have reported, the NGO is partners with George Soros’ Open Society, Misereor and Oxfam among others.

The French and the Indian Governments and Dassault have time and again issued clarifications on the matter. And yet, Rahul Gandhi along with his friends in the media created a narrative on the basis of half-truths and complete lies. The purpose, it appears, was winning the Assembly elections. In that, they have succeeded it appears.

We have published several articles during the course of the past few months puncturing the liberal narrative. And with today’s Supreme Court verdict on Rafale, the matter should be finally allowed to rest. But judging from their conduct thus far, it appears unlikely.

AgustaWestland: SP Tyagi’s brother and Christian Michel were like ‘brothers’, revealed Italian sleuths

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AgustaWestland: SP Tyagi’s brother and Christian Michel were like ‘brothers’, revealed Italian sleuths

An investigation carried out by the Italian agencies in the AgustaWestland case prove that the Italian middlemen allegedly involved in the VVIP helicopter deal shared a close business association with former Air Force Chief, SP Tyagi’s brother, Sanjeev Tyagi alias Julie Tyagi, even before they made ‘arrangements’ to swing a deal in favour of M/s AgustaWestland.

Italian authorities have shared many documents related to the investigation with the Indian government which has proved that Julie Tyagi, the cousin of the then Indian Air Force (IAF) chief SP Tyagi, shared ‘business relations’ with the alleged Italian middlemen involved in the fraud and the business arrangement ranged in a variety of sectors, from oil, gas to railways.

Along with the alleged involvement of Christian Michel, who has been recently extradited to India, the Italian probe has also revealed the crucial role of Carlo Gerosa, the third alleged middleman and partner of Guido Haschke in the AgustaWestland scam.

Christian Michel, a British businessman, accused of money laundering, bribery, and fraud in connection with the Rs 3,600 crore worth AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam was extradited to India from Dubai on December 4. He is being accused of paying bribes to several politicians, bureaucrats and officials in exchange to get this deal.

However, the intercepted conversation between Gerosa and Julie Tyagi and Haschke’s questioning by Italian investigators have further cleared the closeness Julie Tyagi and Gerosa shared, as the duo explicitly referred to each other as “brothers.”

Haschke in his statement to Italian investigators revealed, Gerosa’s was a “friendship that became a business contact with this Indian family of businessmen.” He further claimed that Gerosa was the one who introduced him to Julie.

While Haschke and Gerosa were appointed by M/s AgustaWestland to “manage” the Tyagi brothers, Christian Michel, was allegedly given mandate to “execute the contract”, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.

The investigations, apart from revealing the close ‘business association’ between the alleged middleman and the Tyagi’s also earlier threw light on the alleged involvement of a ‘family’ in the entire scam.

Earlier, the information of a detailed communication between Christian Michel and Haschke on August 11, 2009, shared with the CBI by the Swiss authorities mentioned the extent of the involvement of a ‘family’ in the AgustaWestland scam. Letters written by Micheal to Haschke emerged talking about kickbacks paid to a ‘family’. Michel in his letter to Haschke also flagged a ‘problem’ with his dealing with the ‘family’.

Reports have stated that other accessed documents by the CBI refer to kickbacks being mentioned against ‘family and ‘AP’.

Some reports say that Haschke had stated that the ‘family’ in the documents refer to the Tyagi family, referring to the then Air Chief Marshal SP Tyagi and his family members. However, the documents are dated 2009, which is 2 years after SP Tyagi had retired from his post. Many also believe that it refers to the Gandhi family and ‘AP’ means Ahmed Patel.

However, the “documentary evidence” of business relations between Haschke and the Tyagi brothers starting in 2004 which has been gathered, reveals that Haschke was already operating in India. As per the Italian investigators, the “business correspondence(s)” proves the “supporting” activity that Haschke carried out in India was in collaboration with the Tyagis.

SP Tyagi, along with his cousin Sanjeev Tyagi alias Julie Tyagi and a Delhi-based lawyer, Gautam Khaitan was accused of money laundering, fraud and corruption. The CBI arrested them in July this year on the charges of criminal conspiracy and illegal gratification in the VVIP chopper deal scam. However, in September 2018, Tyagis and the other accused were granted bail by the court on a bond of Rs.1 lakh each and the same amount as surety.

Tyagi and his cousin are accused of receiving bribes for modifying the specifications of choppers to benefit the seller. CBI asserted in their charge sheet that Tyagi even reduced the minimum ceiling height for choppers from 18,000 feet to 15,000 feet so as to ensure Agusta’s qualification as a seller. CBI has also alleged that Tyagi made several trips to Italy to meet the middlemen.

According to recorded conversations and documents shared by Italy with the CBI and ED, Agusta middlemen Haschke and Gerosa accompanied Tyagi to the airport of Milan. SP Tyagi was affectionately called as ‘gorgeous girl’ by Guido Ralph Haschke and Carlo Gerosa, the two middlemen in AgustaWestland deal. Earlier, in July 2018, Italy had refused to extradite the middlemen Haschke and Gerosa to India, citing no legal treaty between the two countries.

Various politicians, officials and military officers involved in the scam are heading towards a catastrophe as Christian Michel is expected to further spill the beans as the investigation deepens. With so many details out in the open, it was only expected that SP Tyagi when questioned about Christian Michel’s extradition and his families involvement in the Rs 3,600 crore worth AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam would react the way he did.

ABVP makes a clean sweep in Ranchi University Student Council polls

OpIndia Staff
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ABVP makes a clean sweep in Ranchi University Student Council polls

On Thursday, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the student wing backed by RSS, grabbed all the five seats in the central panel of the student council in Ranchi University, according to reports.


The elections were boycotted by Adivasi Chhatra Sangh, an independent student wing and AJSU or All Jharkhand Students Union. There are 80-elected representatives of college and post-graduate departments to exercise voting in polls. However, only 46 reportedly had turned up for polling, as rest belonged to AJSU or Adivasi Chhatra Sangh.

The Adivasi Chhatra Sangh had alleged ABVP of kidnapping their members before polls. However, these allegations were found to be false later. It was found that missing members were displeased over an alliance struck between the Adivasi Chhatra Sangh and AJSU without taking them in confidence, and thus were not interested in elections.

“The results show our acceptability among the youths. The students of RU have expressed their faith in ABVP. We have worked for the betterment of the students and will do it in future also. The student union is committed to providing a student-friendly environment in the State.”  ABVP Secretary Yagyavalkya Shukla said after the results.

Earlier this month, ABVP had also registered a victory at Patna University Students’ Union (PUSU) polls, where it defeated JDU by 3-2.

ABVP had grabbed office of vice-president, chief secretary, and joint secretary. The JD-U managed to win the post of president and treasurer.

The polls had received huge importance after the Bihar BJP leaders had accused poll strategist and JD(U) national Vice-President Prashant Kishor of interfering in the election.

Concerns for Congress to conspiracy theories: The liberal meltdown after Rafale verdict

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Concerns for Congress to conspiracy theories: The liberal meltdown after Rafale verdict

The Supreme Court of India has delivered its verdict dismissing all petitions on the Rafale deal. A three-judge bench of CJI Ranjan Gogoi, Justice SK Kaul and Justice KM Joseph today dismissed all the petitions filed demanding a court-monitored probe into the Rafale deal.

For months, the alleged irregularities in the purchase of Rafale jets have been a constant issue for the opposition leaders and many political and media persons to launch attacks on the present government. Despite repeated clarifications from the government of India, France, and even Dassault aviation, the makers of rafale, the attacks have never stopped.

All the claims and allegations made by the opposition and other critics in the Rafale deal with regard to decision making, pricing and specifications have been thoroughly denied and explained by Government, however, the claims had never stopped and even blatant lies and fake information have been repeatedly peddled regarding the Rafale deal.

After the SC today dismissed the multiple petitions by ML Sharma, AAP MP Sanjay Singh, Vineet Dhanda, Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie, and Prashant Bhushan, all the secular, liberal anti-Modi cabal, which has been crying hoarse over the deal and kept peddling baseless lies has begun a melt-down on social media.

From allegations that the SC is favouring Ambani-Adanis to claiming that the CJI is being manipulated by the PM, the liberal cabal is creating an all-around spectacle on Twitter today. Here are some choice outrages:

While ‘journalist’ Nikhil Wagle deduced that dismissing all petitions does not mean a clean chit, AAP leader Preeti Sharma hinted that the recent event when PM Narendra Modi was invited to a dinner hosted by CJI Ranjan Gogoi to honour the judges from BIMSTEC countries, is the reason behind today’s verdict, possibly implying that secret deals were discussed in the crowded and well-publicised dinner event.

Via Twitter
Via Twitter

Seema Chishti, however, was already thinking ahead:


Some journalists, who are often mistaken for Congress spokespersons for their prompt clarification on any issues involving Rahul Gandhi, were also quick to dissect this verdict from a Congress point of view.


The idea of another joint Parliamentary Committee to probe over the non-existent issue is sure to remind of another JPC the Congress leadership was involved in last year. After weeks of screaming over the NDA government’s alleged inability in handling the Doklam crisis, a JPC which had Shashi Tharoor and Rahul Gandhi as members had finally given a clean chit to the government after long sessions of the probe.

The Congress perspective over the pros and cons of the verdict was further clarified:


Congress has also stated now that they are not going to let the issue go and will continue their demand for a JPC probe, like Doklam.

‘Journalist’ Ashutosh Mishra also clarified that the Rafale issue was not an election issue in the recent assembly elections. He probably ignored that Congress President had mentioned Rafale in almost every speech and Congress leaders and IT cell had spent weeks trending ChowkidarChor on social media.


Also remarkable were the defences that Congress was not involved in the PILs on Rafale deal. Spectacularly ignoring that the Congress has made Rafale deal their main political agenda in the last few months, ‘Journalists’ carried on the party’s point of view on the issue.


Via Twitter

When you cannot convince them, confuse them by sounding secretive. Owner of the AAP centric propaganda blog Janta Ka Reporter also claimed some clandestine knowledge behind the verdict.


All the facts behind the Rafale deal and offset clause that was deliberately ignored by the media and politicians to peddle baseless lies can be read here.

SC finds no reason to interfere in Rafale deal on the basis of ‘perceptions’, dismisses all petitions for investigation

OpIndia Staff
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SC finds no reason to interfere in Rafale deal on the basis of ‘perceptions’, dismisses all petitions for investigation

The Supreme Court today dismissed all petitions seeking a court-monitored investigation into the Rafale deal. The Court said that it has not found any material to show that there has been any commercial favouritism.


The Court said that the perception of an individual cannot form the basis of interference. “there is no reason for interference in the choice of offset partner and perception of individuals can’t be the basis for roving inquiry in sensitive issue of defence procurement,” said CJI Gogoi. Dismissing the case, the Supreme Court clarified that the examination has been primarily from the point of the exercise of jurisdiction by this court under Article 32. The SC did not find it as a case for the court to scrutinise the process of acquisition.

Reading the judgement, CJI Gogoi said that power of review varies from subject to subject. He further added that there are 3 broad areas in this case, decision making, pricing and procedure. Having reviewed and studied the material carefully, CJI Gogoi said the Bench is satisfied with the decision-making process.


CJI Gogoi said that the detailed scrutiny of the Rafale deal is not required.

The bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices S. K. Kaul and K. M. Joseph was pronouncing its judgment on a batch of PILs filed by Advocates M. L. Sharma and Vineet Dhanda, Advocate Prashant Bhushan and former Union Ministers Arun Shourie and Yashwant Sinha and AAP MP Sanjay Singh.

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