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IT department seizes alleged Benami property belonging to Lalu’s family in Patna

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The Income Tax department on Friday attached a 7,105 square feet land in Patna’s Sheikhpura region which is believed to have been registered in the name of a factory having alleged links Tej Pratap Yadav, the son of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav. The property was attached under the provisions of the Benami Property Transaction Act, as reported by ANI.

As per a PTI feed, the property is worth about Rs 3.5 crore and is under the name of a company called Fairgrow Holding. It has been alleged that members of the Lalu family like his sons Tejashwi Yadav, Tej Pratap and daughters Ragini, Chanda used to be its directors a few years ago.

Incidentally when the IT department sent several notices to the company, they went unanswered and no other party came forward to claim it, giving rise to the belief that it was a Benami property.

As claimed by India Today, the said property is a two storied building which was owned by a fodder scam accused RK Rana. This was then purchased by Fairgrow Holdings in 2002 for the sum of about Rs 76.32 lakh. As per the report, this company was taken over by Lalu’s close aide and former RJD MP Prem Gupta, while the former was the Railway Minister during UPA-1. The report further claims that it was in 2014 that the aforementioned children of Lalu assumed directorship of the company.

In connection with the matter, the IT department had questioned the two daughters in Delhi, while Tej Pratap and Tejaswi failed to appear before the authorities. Owing to the lack of satisfactory responses from the family members, the IT department proceeded to seal the property.

This seizure comes after the IT department has already seized the benami properties of Lalu’s daughter and Rajya Sabha member Misa Bharti, son-in-law Shailesh Kumar and his son and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav in Gurugram, Delhi and Rewari.

In another massive victory for security forces, 7 Maoists neutralised in Chhattisgarh encounter

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Maoists have suffered major impediment in the recent past with series of encounters in Maharashtra and Chattisgarh. Last Sunday, reports reveal, over 35 Naxals were killed in a major encounter at Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra, today according to sources seven Maoists, including five women cadres, were killed in a fierce gun-battle with security forces in the insurgency-hit Bijapur district, close to the border areas of Chhattisgarh and Telangana.

The encounter occurred eight km inside Bijapur district on the Chhattisgarh-Telangana border near Bhupalpally. Based on a tip-off about the heavy presence of Maoists in the region, the security forces left on the search operation. The Naxals opened fire on the forces which were swiftly retaliated leading to a fierce encounter. “So far we have recovered seven bodies of Maoists”, the Bastar DIG P Sunderraj told the New Indian Express.

The joint operation which was carried out by the Chattisgarh police and Telangana’s Greyhounds near Ipenta in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district recovered one SLR (Self-Loading Rifle), one revolver, four SBBL (smooth-bore breech loading) guns, six rocket launchers, three grenades, 10 kitbags and four pairs of olive green dress from the Maoist afflicted area.

Three jawans sustained injuries in the encounter that continued for over an hour.

Ahead of the PM Narendra Modi’s visit to the strife-torn Bijapur on April 14, the outlawed CPI (Maoist) protested and desperately attempted to register their presence through violence, setting vehicles on fire and had triggered Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blasts. The seven districts including Bijapur in the conflict zone of Bastar have been declared as among the 30 worst Maoist-affected districts by the ministry of home affairs (MHA).

Karnataka should vote out Siddaramaiah and Congress to save the state from irreversible damage

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In elections, the question that is usually posed by the voters is ‘why should I vote for party X or candidate Y’. There is also a need to delve into the question, ‘why we should not vote for certain parties’. Before I get into the political scenario of Karnataka, I would like to take a short detour.

Lessons from Badami for present-day Karnataka 

In his final days as a CM, Siddaramaiah has ditched Tipu Sultan and hugged Pulakeshi in order to pose himself as a ‘South Indian’ ruler. It is indeed amusing to see this tilt towards a Hindu king by Siddaramaiah. 

In July 2017, I visited Badami (as a tourist/history buff), the high profile constituency from where the current chief minister Siddaramaiah is contesting in the current assembly election. National media doesn’t highlight the pathetic infrastructure in this important historical site. In all likelihood, the situation is more or less the same today. But that is a conversation for another day.

One of the most striking historical remains in this tiny town is the cave temples. These cave temples were carved out between 6th to 8th century AD. Among the four cave temples, two are dedicated to Vishnu, one for Shiva and another for Jainism. The guide told me that it was a sign of harmony among all sects and religions under the rule of Chalukyas. But the most disturbing aspect is that none of the temples has the idol intact. Some of them had been used as a residence for people until ASI ordered them to vacate these temples.

In the nearby sites of Pattadkal (a UNESCO world heritage site) and Aihole as well all temples except one are dead (read destroyed). Who destroyed them?  The guides informed that most of the temples had been destroyed after the fall of Vijayanagara empire, which was ruling the region. The destruction of hundreds of temples in Badami, Pattadkal and Aihole are not attributed to any single ruler. The clue to one of the possible suspects is available close to the cave temples of Badami.

A mosque believed to be constructed by Tipu Sultan. Pic Credits: Kevin Standage Photography

The remnants of the civilisational battle are there for everyone to see in Badami and nearby Pattadkal and Aihole. A similar battle is on in Karnataka today. One that is extremely important for future generations of Karnataka. The Congress has decided to break Hinduism with the Lingayat card and cosy up to extremist Islamic organisations like SDPI and PFI.

The shameless celebration of bigoted rulers like Tipu Sultan has highlighted the extent to which Siddaramaiah and Congress can go to stay in power. The pertinent question for Karnataka is, does it want to become like Badami, a place where Hinduism is reduced to ruins?

Why Karnataka should vote out Siddaramaiah and Congress

Karnataka, in my recent memory, I have seen following CMs. Among these SM Krishna and Siddaramaiah are the only two CMs to have completed a five-year term.

  • SM Krishna
  • Dharam Singh
  • HD Kumaraswamy
  • BS Yeddyurappa
  • DV Sadananda Gowda
  • Jagdish Shettar
  • Siddramaiah

One cannot deny that BJP squandered its mandate in 2008 and lost the confidence of people due to infighting and corruption. Corruption has occurred in all governments. Caste rivalry, factional fights have been prevalent in Karnataka politics irrespective of the party in power. However, the Congress government led by Siddaramaiah has breached all limits of decency and imported dangerous precedents into Karnataka politics.

  • Siddaramaiah has increased tension between castes and different religions because of his policies like caste census and increase in the upper limit for reservations. Government officials are police officers are being divided into caste lines. Supreme court struck down caste based promotions of the government recently
  • Siddaramaiah’s tacit understanding between terrorist groups like SDPI and PFI. Tipu Jayanti and Bahmani Utsav being used an instrument to appease vote banks.
  • Unprecedented political killings in the state. The target of these assaults is BJP karyakartas and supporters.
  • Mysterious deaths of civil servants/government officers. This includes Anurag Tiwari and DySP Ganapathy. Ganapathy, in a video, said that higher officials and the home minister George would be responsible if anything should happen to him in future. The attack on Lokayukta was another low under the Congress government.


Lastly, for the sake of elections, he has given support to Lingayat factions who want a separate religion. This is the biggest assault on Hinduism by any leader in recent times. Tactics adopted by Siddaramaiah for political gain are alien to the ethos of Karnataka.

The malicious intent behind Congress’ politics is blatantly visible. If it succeeds fully or even partially, it will serve as a model for others to emulate. Therefore, the Siddaramaiah led Congress government and their brand of politics must be rejected completely to save the state from irreversible damage.

BCI gives clean chit Jammu and Kathua lawyers, concludes media misreported the incident

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A Committee of the Bar Council of India (BCI), headed by a former High Court Judge, after thorough investigation has reached the conclusion that the media has misreported the entire episode involving the conduct of the Jammu Bar Association and Kathua Bar Association during the Kathua rape controversy and that there is no material evidence to support Deepika Rajawat’s claim that she was threatened. The Committee was formed after the Supreme Court had directed the BCI to set up an investigative team to get to the bottom of the issue.

In addition, the Committee concluded that demands for a CBI investigation, by the bar associations and Civil Society due to their belief in the shoddy nature of the investigation, into the alleged rape and murder of the 8-year old in Kathua appears to be justifiable. To form its conclusions, the Committee met with lawyers of both associations, district judges, members of the Gujjar and Bakarwal community (to which the victim belonged), counsel for the victim’s family Deepika Rajawat and activist Talib Hussain, senior members of the Bar, and advocates.

The Committee found that no lawyer obstructed the filing of the charge-sheet as alleged and that contrary to reports, none of them sided with the accused. The Committee observed in its report, “The members of the Kathua Bar Association never obstructed any officials of the crime branch in approaching the appropriate court for the purpose of filing the final report.” It stated further, “No member of the Kathua Bar Association had torn or snatched any document of the final report.”

The Committee also mentions in its reports that they were informed by senior advocates that the agitation was organized due to genuine concerns and that it was misreported by the media. The report also mentions that no advocate was restrained at any point of time from appearing for the deceased’s family, including Advocate Deepika Rajawat, advocate for the crime branch. Further, Advocate Rajawat’s presence in the Court was noticed as depicted in the orders of the High Court dated 9th April and 11th April 2018.

Two leaders of Congress’ NSUI arrested with fake documents, planning to rig student union elections

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Ranchi city police have arrested two student leaders of National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), the student wing of the Congress party, who were preparing fake documents to register fake votes during the students union elections. According to reports, Ranchi police have raided an apartment in the Jagannathpur area in the city and have arrested two student leader named Anees and Indrajeet with large numbers of fake college documents.

The police have reportedly stated that Anees was found in possession of a large number of fake student IDs. The police have also seized fake documents with seals of various colleges which they suspect were being used to obtain fake IDs. Anees is reportedly a student of Jagannathpur college in the city. Upon interrogation, Anees has reportedly informed the police that all the documents belong to Indrajeet, the candidate for the post of NSUI State President. Indrajeet has been reportedly arrested too.

Ranchi police have reportedly stated that they have seized approximately 600 fake documents and seals of various colleges. They suspect that the fake documents were meant for carrying out fake voting during the student union elections.

According to a report in Prabhat Khabar, about 11 AADHAR cards, 48 pictures of students, 12 seals belonging to principals, directors and university heads of various institutions were seized during the raid. 609 filled membership forms of NSUI were also seized during the raid. Dozens of fake student  IDs of colleges in the city were also seized.

The raids were conducted on Tuesday night. The reports state that NSUI ran an online campaign for membership registration and after that, an offline campaign was also launched. During this offline campaign, many fake student IDs have been used to fill up membership and influence elections.

Why Rahul could be worse than Sonia and why India cannot afford UPA-III

This is Nandini Sundar, a professor at Delhi University.

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She is “deeply saddened” by the deaths of left wing terrorists.

But only “saddened” by the deaths of Indian jawans.

Not satisfied with equating the martyrdom of an Indian jawan with a terrorist being neutralized, she goes the extra mile, delivers that extra kick in the teeth to rub it in all our faces.

This is not about one citizen, this is about the fact that she is a professor at Delhi University.  Presumably, she plays a role in nurturing young minds in the classroom. Beyond the classroom, in her role as an academic, she would also play a role in shaping future scholars who will record, analyze and interpret the story of the Indian nation.

Nandini’s husband Siddharth Varadarajan is the mind behind The Wire, whose articles are frequently plugged by Rahul Gandhi himself. In case you have never noticed, between all those Modi bashing articles, The Wire has a separate tag for “The Soviet Century” where writers post their tributes recounting the ‘glory’ of the fallen Soviet Union. Apparently, nobody at The Wire is saddened, let alone “deeply saddened” by 30 lakh people murdered under Stalin, nor by the 300 lakh people (at least) who perished under the Communist boot worldwide.

These are just two members of a much larger class that the people of India have had to carry on their shoulders for decades. They keep pumping their poison into young minds on college campuses. Journalists who are bred in this college environment then push this poison every day into our living rooms through TV screens, through newspapers stuck under our doors early in the morning, through the computers on our desks and the smartphones in our hands.

In the so-called scholarly world, Ram is now referred to as a “pig.” Aurangazeb is being resurrected as a spectacularly secular and generous ruler, while Swami Vivekananda’s “masculine posture” has been marked out as an inspiration for gang rape.

For Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, who wrote Vande Mataram, the situation is even more dire. Everything that we believe in, anything that we hold dear, anything that we cherish is reviled. Our festivals are smeared with fabricated stories of “semen filled balloons.” The slightest form of Hindu self-expression, such as a Hanuman sticker on a car, becomes a target for Hinduphobia.

How much more poison can we Hindus take? At what point does the poison become so much that our civilization finally drops dead?

I fear that the point could be fast approaching. There is a reason Bollywood celebrities rushed in with placards of “Devisthan” and “temple” and “Hindustan” after the Kathua incident. Why would an industry which makes a consumer product that is sold directly to the masses be willing to take such a risk? Because they sense that the poison in our system has finally risen to the level that we as Hindus are paralyzed, unable to even recognize our enemies, let alone act.

For India, this form of “rule by the few” is not a new phenomenon. When Nehru opposed the reconstruction of Somnath Temple on grounds that it would be an embarrassment for a so-called secular nation, he had nothing but contempt for ordinary Hindus and their sentiments. As the Dynasty tightened its grip on “independent India” that their colonial masters had gifted to them, they collected around themselves a class of people who ate out of their hands. This was a group that was inherently quite disparate. While some of them fancied themselves as reborn Englishmen, others occupied themselves with a fascination for the Soviet Union. On the well-tended lawns of Lutyens’ Delhi, they absorbed themselves with ideological debates on matters from Guatemala to Vietnam.

There were only two things that this class of people agreed upon: hating Hindus and living off the land. In a sense that is almost medieval and pre-French revolution, these people were the “nobles” of India.

The election of 2014 was a revolt by the little Hindu against the ‘nobles’ of Lutyens’ Delhi. The ecosystem suffered a setback. But with nowhere else to go, they decided to stay invested in the Dynasty, considering that the Congress Party had been giving them stable returns for nearly 70 years. In 2019, relying on various Mahagathbandhans and counting on caste-based voters to be useful idiots, they are getting ready for a recapture of power.

Here is the difference between Rahul and earlier generations of Gandhis that have ruled India. For autocrats like Indira or Sonia, the ecosystem was a force multiplier, but it always came secondary to the interests of the Congress Party itself. But Rahul is different. Due to his spectacular lack of leadership skills, he will have to compensate by letting the ecosystem off the leash.

We have seen a trailer for this in Gujarat, where the incompetent Congress had to take a backseat. The lead was taken by forces that were ready, quite literally, to tear the country apart.

Whatever its other faults, it was always in the interest of the Dynasty to at least keep India in one piece, if only to keep its own empire intact. Once the wolves of the ecosystem are off the leash, they will quite literally rip this nation to shreds.

Nobody ever rules alone. Every ruler sits on top of a power hierarchy. When the various chieftains sense that the king is weak and incompetent, that the hand of the ruler is weak, they will pounce on the opportunity.

The other day I read that JNU’s celebrity “students” Shehla Rashid and Kanhaiyya Kumar are eyeing the next Lok Sabha polls. There is no doubt that they see the opportunity and they are salivating. Rahul is weak and incompetent, dependent on making any number of compromises to merely stay in the game against Narendra Modi. This is their opportunity to grab for themselves much bigger pieces of the power pie.

They will demand a much bigger pound of flesh. Which in this case would be the dismantling of our nation brick by brick. Bharat ke tukde.

And what will be the fate of this nation in the hands of the Shehlas and Kanhaiyas? Speaking to Hindustan Times, Kanhaiyya beamed with pride explaining how his hometown is known as “mini-Leningrad.” There you have it, folks, this is the vision of the supposed “youth icons.” They want to take us back, one hundred years into the past, to the days of a nation that collapsed into failure decades ago. They want to uproot us from our land and transport us to “mini-Leningrad.” The Hanuman sticker is anathema to them, but they speak fondly of “mini-Moscow.”

The question is whether we can take it as a nation. The wounded civilization of Hindus is still standing despite one thousand years of assault. Who’s to say there can’t be some final death blow out there that will make this much-wounded civilization meet its end? Can we afford to lose 2019 to the Congress? I think not.

Rahul Gandhi asks to cut short singing of Vande Mataram during his rally, claims news channel

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Rahul Gandhi, who is in Karnataka currently to campaign for the upcoming Karnataka assembly elections, reportedly asked the singing of the National Song to be cut short as he was in a hurry. As shown in a video shared by News channel News 9, the Congress President is seen pointing to his watch and asking for the national song to be finished soon.


In the video, Rahul Gandhi is seen directing his party colleague and MP KC Venugopal to cut short the singing of Vande Mataram as he has no time, pointing to his watch. He is also heard asking Venugopal to ask the singers to sing only one line. Venugopal is then seen directing the singers accordingly and then urging Rahul Gandhi to stand up for the National Song just as CM Siddaramaiah is seen walking on to stand near him.

According to reports, blame games have already started with the Congress denying the incident and calling it fake while BJP hitting back that the video was shared by a news channel and BJP has nothing to do with it.

Social Media is abuzz with reactions from people on the video.


The Karnataka BJP’s official Twitter handle has condemned Rahul’s Gandhi’s alleged disregard for the National Song.


The video is claimed to be from a rally in Bantwal, Dakshina Kannada district where the Congress President addressed a public gathering today.

Congress peddles wild conspiracy theories about Rahul’s flight malfunction, but some things don’t add up

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At the start of last year, we had carried an analysis about how Rahul Gandhi was copying Kejriwal’s “antics” and as to why would he continue to do so. This was the crux of the argument:

If Kejriwal claims that “Modi is not allowing me to work”, Rahul claims “Modi is not allowing me to speak”. If Kejriwal says Modi is working for Ambani-Adani, Rahul says Modi working only for rich industrialists. Kejriwal attacks Paytm, Rahul says “Paytm means Pay to Modi”. Kejriwal says Modi took bribes, Rahul says Modi took bribes.

After strongly imitating Kejriwal’s modus operandi, some might argue that Rahul and the Congress party have started to imitate Mamata Banerjee by floating aviation based conspiracy theories.

On Thursday the Congress party had filed a complaint with the Karnataka police alleging that a private jet carrying Rahul Gandhi from New Delhi to Hubbali had suffered unexplained malfunctioning.

As per Rahul’s aide Kaushal K Vidyarthee who was travelling with him, the plane suddenly had a heavy tilt accompanied with a steep drop in altitude. He also alleged that the plane was shuddering violently, with the autopilot too not functioning. The plane finally managed to safely land in Hubbali at about 11:35 AM on Thursday.

Going by Vidyarthee’s description, the ordeal was indeed shocking and it was relieving to note that everyone on board was safe. The complaint though didn’t stop at making objective observations, but also decided to plunge into the realm of conspiracy theories.

The complaint alleged that the “suspicious and faulty performance of the aircraft” meant that “serious questions relating to intentional tampering” needed to be investigated. After again adding the angle of “intentional tampering”, the complaint raised serious questions over aviation safety.

Vidyarthee though didn’t stop at that and used this as an opportunity to praise Rahul by claiming that while the plane was in a free-fall, the Congress President managed to calmly stand beside the airline pilots to “save the situation”. Even Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala made a similar claim about Rahul’s calmness.

With regards to the technical snag, sources quoted in a TOI report though looked downplayed the incident by claiming that the plane’s autopilot failed following which the pilots took manual control and the plane landed safely.

The said source then fully contradicted the claims in the complaint by claiming that Rahul was informed about the snag only after the plane had landed and that there was no panic among the co-passengers during the flight duration. If indeed true then it negates some claims made in the complaint and the supposed heroics of Rahul, where he managed to enter the cockpit and stand beside the pilots during their ordeal.

With regards to the severity of the incident, the report quoted a chartered operator who claimed that such malfunctions don’t lead to accidents. Even a senior DGCA official was quoted as saying that such autopilot failures aren’t uncommon.

Besides the report, even various Twitter users questioned the sensational claims made by the Congress:


This whole affair raises the question whether the situation was indeed as severe as the complaint claims or did the party decide to hype up the incident, to garner attention and portray Rahul as some kind of a hero.

If the latter is indeed the case, then it might be intriguing to know whether the Congress decided to take a leaf out of Mamata Banerjee’s playbook, with regards to the TMC alleging a conspiracy to kill the West Bengal CM, after her flight had hovered for about 30 minutes over Kolkata’s airspace owing to traffic congestion.

Asaram had submitted favourable citation letters from many senior Congress leaders, SC threw them out

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According to a report published in the Economic Times, self-styled godman Asaram had submitted to the court citation letters from former presidents KR Narayanan and APJ Abdul Kalam, former vice president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, and Congress leaders Digvijay Singh, Kamal Nath and Kapil Sibal, among others, to bolster his claim of having performed charitable acts over the years. However, the court, which sentenced him to life imprisonment for raping a minor girl, dismissed the citations saying Asaram had spoilt the name of saints among the people of the country.

These letters which were produced in the court praised him for working in tribal areas for the poor and stopping forced religious conversions. He accused the victim and her family of implicating him in the rape case for blackmailing him to cough up Rs 50 crore. But the court disbelieved such claims, terming them an afterthought.

“Such citation letters show that the accused is an influential and an immensely powerful person,” the court said in its detailed judgement, citing the letters furnished before it from personalities including former Haryana chief minister Bansi Lal and former governors Balram Jakhar and Sudarshan Agrawal, and veteran members of the Congress party.

This comes as an epiphany, since all this while it seems the Congress has been barking up the wrong tree. We had earlier reported that the Congress party had floated an attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi when its official Twitter handle tweeted an old video showing PM Modi sharing the stage with Asaram. In its constant attempt to devalue Prime Minister’s image, the congressmen seem to deliberately remain amnesic.

The court clearly mentioned that the citation letter produced in court, was by Congress leaders Digvijay Singh, Kamal Nath and Kapil Sibal and few others, tried to prove the rapist Asaram, not guilty. In a constant quest to tarnish BJP’s reputation congressmen seem to obfuscate facts as a matter of habit.

Islamists demand that Ghaziabad rape victim, who is minor, be married off to her rapist

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The recent rape of a 10-year old girl In Ghaziabad has shocked everyone. It has been alleged that the girl was held captive in a madrassa and that a Muslim cleric has been booked in connection with the crime. People have been wondering whether the heinous incident will spark a similar outrage in the country. However, the reaction thus far has been muted.

One of the justifications of the muted reaction by those who brought religious angle in the Kathua rape case, has been that there has been no support for the alleged rapists. However, unfortunately, this is not true. Some Muslims have taken to social media, especially Twitter, to defend not only the rapist, but to claim that the rape was ‘fake news’. They have resorted to calling the rape a ‘love affair’ and are demanding that the victim — a minor not even in her teenage — be married off to the rapist.


People are visibly outraged over the shameful defense of rape by some on social media.


Such comments have been left by many other Islamists on Facebook too giving the entire affair a sickening angle, which not only aim to downplay the reported incident of rape inside a Madarsa, but legitimizes sex with a minor and child marriage.

While the Islamists are claiming on social media that the 10-year-old girl has in her statement denied rape, media reports have earlier confirmed that the girl had given a statement confirming rape, after which a juvenile and a Maulvi were detained. Father of the girl has also accused the Maulvi of being involved in the sexual assault.

Rather unsurprisingly, this support by some Muslims for the rapist has not been highlighted by the mainstream media, which termed any demand of CBI inquiry in the Kathua incident as a ‘pro-rapist’ stand.