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As Congress and TMC ally, CPIM emerges as the biggest loser in the ‘secular alliance’?

OpIndia Staff
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As Congress and TMC ally, CPIM emerges as the biggest loser in the ‘secular alliance’?

There was an interesting development during the recent Rajya Sabha elections that went unnoticed by almost everyone. There is a growing rift brewing between the Congress party and the CPI(M) and in a development that will have a crucial impact in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Rahul Gandhi appears to have found a new ally in Mamata Banerjee.

We had earlier reported that the CPI(M) had approached the Election Commission to disqualify Abhishek Manu Singhvi’s nomination from West Bengal alleging that his nomination papers were forged. The CPI(M) had failed to secure the nomination for its own candidate after the TMC had agreed to support the candidate from the Congress party. Ironically enough, the Congress and the CPI(M) were allies heading into the 2016 Assembly Elections. The Chief Minister of Kerala, where the Left is in power, has also accused the Congress of bowing down to the RSS.

Mamata Banerjee has been in talks with Chandrababu Naidu, K Chandrasekhar Rao, Uddhav Thackeray and various other leaders from the regional parties. In her bid to dethrone Narendra Modi from power, the West Bengal Chief Minister has also met with unsavoury elements such as Hardik Patel. The impression thus far appeared to be a third front without the Indian National Congress as Rahul Gandhi is perceived to be a burden by many political parties. However, the recent Rajya Sabha elections indicate that the Congress party may well be a part of the rainbow coalition or at the very least, the coalition will have some sort of understanding with the Congress.

The biggest loser amidst all the realignment underway appears to be the Left Front. After a crushing defeat at the hands of the Bharatiya Janata Party in its erstwhile bastion in the North East, Tripura. It appears that even secular parties believe that the Left is on a terminal decline. Thus far, there have been no overtures by any political party towards the CPI(M). Of course, it could be argued that the Trinamool Congress and the Left cannot be part of a single coalition but as the alliance between the Samajwadi Party and BSP shows, in politics, anything can happen.

Thus, the NDA will be battling a rainbow coalition of parties plus the Congress in 2019. The stage is set, it will be Hindutva versus the Secular Alliance for the General Elections next year.

P Chidambaram cribbed about the price of coffee at Chennai Airport and we can’t digest it

OpIndia Staff
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P Chidambaram cribbed about the price of coffee at Chennai Airport and we can’t digest it

Former Union Minister P Chidambaram, with allegations of massive scams against him, tweeted earlier today, expressing his shock and disbelief at tea and coffee at Chennai Airport priced at Rs. 135 and Rs. 180 respectively.


One is reminded of the fact that Chidambaram, when he was the Union Home Minister back in 2012, had questioned the urban middle class complaining about price rise by saying how can they complain when they can buy ice cream for Rs. 20. Interestingly, former finance minister’s family also owns a 200-acre coffee estate in Coorg, Karnataka, which is inherited by Chidambaram from his grandfather Raja Annamalai Chettiar in 1956, for which they receive agricultural income for which they have claimed full exemption from income tax.

As expected, Chidambaram got mocked for his statements which showed how he is so far from reality.


Interestingly, there are even reports of Karti, P Chidambaram’s son, having created a huge real estate empire for himself through his company Advantage Strategic Consulting, which also holds some franchisees of Café Coffee Day, the same coffee chain Chidambaram rejected the tea from, in parts of Malaysia.

Some even reminded how the price of coffee has more or less been the same even when he was the finance minister and home minister.


While many were just amused at the fact that perhaps the former finance minister has paid for his own tea or coffee for the first time.


And some reminded him how easy it was to file his grievances for the cost of coffee instead of tweeting about it.


Or perhaps be little mindful of disclosing his location, especially when it is Chennai Airport.


Jokes apart, Chidambaram’s attempt at coming across as an average middle class seems to have backfired terribly.

Is Rahul Gandhi the Taimur Ali Khan of Indian politics?

Nithesh S
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Is Rahul Gandhi the Taimur Ali Khan of Indian politics?

Babies are cute. Whatever they do appears to be cute to onlookers and parents. Family members willingly shower cute comments even if the baby pisses on an expensive cushion in the living room. The media’s admiration for Rahul Gandhi, even though he continues to lose elections is somewhat similar.

One of the political commentators on Twitter Ram (@ramprasad_c) made a very interesting comment linking two media divas recently. He said that Rahul will be treated as the Taimur Ali Khan of Indian politics. Rahul could be seen as an infant who manages to amuse his family even as he falls, fumbles and fails in his daily activities as per him.


Soon after finishing his speech in the Congress plenary, Rahul went down and hugged his mother and one of the journalists with India Today felt that it was the ‘moment of the day’! This gives credence to Mr Ramprasad’s theory. The media’s overdrive to pump up the image of Rahul seems to be well planned.


This tweet reminds me of the way media felt it had report Taimur’s horse ride with his daddy. Family moments are blown out of proportion and given needless attention in the media for both these personalities. The necessity to do so for Taimur can be understood (in some way), but it is a bit too late for Rahul to deserve such a coverage.


Even as Rahul speaks utter nonsense while he claims that PM is colluding with India’s biggest crony capitalists without any evidence, India Today thought it was a ‘fiery’ speech. For better or worse, they felt he was taking on PM Modi with his illogical comments on those having the surname ‘Modi’.


When Rahul admitted that he doesn’t know details about NCC training and ‘that kind of stuff’, his admirers didn’t see incompetence in a person who aspires to be the PM of the country. Instead, they saw an honest kid in him. There is nothing inherently wrong with saying ‘I don’t know’ when asked about the largest volunteer uniformed youth organisation in the world. At the same time, such a person must not position himself as a PM candidate.


NCC cadets who responded to Rahul Gandhi’s comment were not happy. This shows that the kind of message that the youth of the country are getting about him is not positive. Instead of accepting their views some media persons went on to criticise them on Twitter.


Rahul hopes to campaign and win assembly elections for his party in Karnataka. But he is incapable of pronouncing the name of important and respect personalities like Bharat Ratna Sir M. Visvesvaraya. Any politician in his late forties fumbling hopelessly to pronounce the name of a well known Indian personality is quite embarrassing. It may or may not be easy to pronounce some names, but you have to come somewhere close to get points for trying.

Even after Rahul failed to win an election which had a significant anti-BJP momentum, one of the journalists could find 8 ways in which Rahul had shed the reluctant politician tag. He felt that Rahul was now sounding coherent, consistent and did not throw up gaffes as he did earlier. This reminds me of first-time parents who proudly say that their kid is now saying ‘dada’ and ‘mama’.


The cabal’s admiration for the Pidi tweet by Rahul Gandhi is a case in point. Many thought it was cute and a game changer for Rahul on social media. Of course, many people are indebted to the dog for helping BJP to win Assam assembly election. Cuteness is not going to help Rahul win elections. The ecosystem may know this very well, but right now they have nothing much to sell apart from that.


The ecosystem needs to revisit the comments of the journalist Gardiner Harris. He summarises the ongoing drama aptly. In fact, the same drama may continue even if Congress loses 2019.


Of course, Taimur is still a kid and deserves all attention. But what about Rahul Gandhi? Can he still afford to be that nice kid who keeps doing cute things with his dog, admit to his ignorance openly, fails to win elections and still claim to be the leader of a pan Indian party like Indian National Congress? Time is running out for Rahul Gandhi because people are simply not ready to accept him as a capable leader.

How should Hindus react to images of Ram being beaten with slippers?

Abhishek Banerjee
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How should Hindus react to images of Ram being beaten with slippers?

Over the last few days, pictures such as these have been doing the rounds on social media :

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Images of Shri Ram being beaten with slippers, allegedly by “Periyarist groups” in Tamil Nadu.

Mainstream media has been mostly silent on this matter. Even social media has not seen any visible churn. Quite possibly, the thinking in both social media and mainstream media is as follows: we know that Hindus are always passive, we all know Hindus will do nothing about it, so why waste time talking about it? Let them do whatever they want.

One is tempted to ask if the reaction would have been similar had this been a matter of insult to religious feelings of Muslims or Christians. Or for that matter, an insult to a Communist god such as Lenin. If you live in India, you know the answer to that question.

This Ram Navami, let us ask the question: so what should Hindus do? How should they react?

First of all, let me say that the lack of violent reaction says something fundamentally good about the Hindu community. There were no riots, no Hindus blowing up suicide belts, murdering cartoonists or flying planes into buildings. It is a reminder that the credit for our (relatively) free democratic culture lies almost exclusively with Hindus.

There are communities in this country for which mainstream media has to make excuses after they have managed to murder somebody possibly for saying Vande Mataram or Bharat Mata ki Jai. Whether they lock up people in a railway coach and burn them alive or behead a young lover on the public street in Delhi, the media is left doing the messy cleanup task for them. As much as I resent the media for its double standards, I wouldn’t want the Hindu community to become like that. Violence should *never* be an option. Never ever.

Back to the question: So how should Hindus react?

Let me explain by telling you a fable that I heard as a child and you may have too. There was once a very poisonous snake, who lived under a large tree in the centre of a village. Because the snake was very deadly and bit anyone who came near, people were scared of even setting foot in the area.

One day, a Sadhu Maharaj who was travelling to Varanasi, happened to sit down under the tree for some rest. Immediately the snake came out of its hole and told the sadhu: “You made a mistake by sitting down under my tree. I will bite you now. Get ready to die.”

“But why?” the sadhu asked, “Why do you bite anyone who sits under your tree?”

“Because that is how I defend my home,” the snake answered.

“Look how much misery you have caused to people of this village. You are committing a very grave sin, my son,” the sadhu explained.

The snake listened. “I shall not bite anyone from now onwards,” he promised the holy man. The sadhu went on his way.

Months later, when the Sadhu Maharaj was returning from Varanasi, he stopped again at the same village, sat down under the tree and called to the snake.

“My son, where are you?” he asked.

“In here,” the snake replied weakly. He was feeble and dying.

“Who did this to you?” the sadhu asked.

“You!” the snake replied, “You told me not to defend myself. Now see how people have beaten and tortured me. You are to blame for my death.”

“I never asked you to stop defending yourself.”

“You did! You told me never to bite anyone.”

“Yes. I told you never to bite anyone because it is a sin. But did I ever tell you not to rise up and spread your hood?”

We Hindus have to learn from this story. Violence is wrong. But that does not mean we are helpless. There are one billion Hindus in this country. If united, we make up a voting bloc that would make any politician weak in his knees.

Remember Gujarat? Those who once said that Muslims have the first right to India’s resources were running from temple to temple showing off their supposed Hinduness. At one point, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala was under so much mental stress that he blurted out that Rahul ji is not just a Hindu, but a “janeudhari Hindu.” Why the Congress Party is implying that being a “janeudhari” is somehow superior to being an average Hindu is something left for them to answer.

But in the Congress Party’s desperate, disoriented reactions in Gujarat you can see the power of Hindus at 50% consolidation. Imagine what the political landscape of this nation would look like at 100% consolidation.

Images of Shri Ram being beaten with slippers? Yes, we Hindus can prevent this from happening. We just need to rise up and spread our hood.

BJP, VHP blame TMC for attack on Ram Navami stage in Burdwan, West Bengal

OpIndia Staff
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BJP, VHP blame TMC for attack on Ram Navami stage in Burdwan, West Bengal

A Ram Navami stage set up by the BJP was attacked and set on fire in Burdwan on Saturday. VHP and the BJP have blamed the ruling TMC for the incident. VHP leader Surendra Jain has accused Mamata Banerjee of turning ‘Shonar Bangla’ into ‘Barbaad Bangla’.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehV_U1-BXHw]

According to Zee 24 Ghanta, disturbances have been reported from Birbhum district as well after the Police imposed a ban on the armed procession. The TMC had earlier decided to participate in this year’s Ram Navami celebration as well as an attempt to curb BJP’s claim over the festival. She had recently done a U-turn on the Ram Navmi issue.

She had retracted her earlier statement and said ‘only organisations that carry out traditional processions with arms for the last 10-12 years will be allowed.’ She clarified, ‘I know that there are only a couple of organisations in Howrah and Asansol which traditionally hold Ram Navami processions with arms. Those who have been celebrating Ram Navami for more than a decade will be given special permission to hold processions with arms.’

As expected, tensions are running high in the state on the occasion of Ram Navami. Some organizations appear to have flouted the state government’s orders banning the display of arms and weapons.


The BJP is also piling pressure on the West Bengal government on social media. Singer BJP leader from West Bengal, Babul Supriyo, pinned the entire blame for the incident in Burdwan on Trinamool Congress and alleged that Mamata Banerjee was deliberately “antagonizing” Hindu sentiments for votes.


BJP’s IT-cell in-charge, Amit Malviya also tweeted against the TMC over the incident.


With BJP President Amit Shah declaring that the saffron party will win 22 seats from West Bengal in 2019, politics in the state is expected to take an even uglier turn in the run-up to the General Elections. Mamata Banerjee will have to be extremely careful with her strategy with the saffron surge in full swing in the state.

Amit Shah’s 2019 war cry : BJP will win 22 seats in West Bengal

OpIndia Staff
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Amit Shah’s 2019 war cry : BJP will win 22 seats in West Bengal

In an interview on Aaj Tak, Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah has stated that his party will win at least 22 seats in West Bengal. The state is one of the few states in India where the saffron party has failed to register any significant presence over the years. However, the party has been trying to establish itself as a formidable force in Bengal in recent years with an aggressive focus on Mamata Banerjee’s minority appeasement and its own Hindutva agenda.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htNx7UQNZwk]

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, which is regarded as the BJP’s parent organization, has also seen a remarkable rise in popularity in the state in a very short period of time. The RSS has managed to establish 250 new shakhas in Bengal over the past one year. Mamata Banerjee has been feeling the heat as well and she has responded by adopting a ‘Soft Hindutva’ approach by deciding to celebrate Ram Navami this year.

The BJP has dispelled the myth that it’s a ‘Hindi’ party which does not enjoy much popularity among Bengalis by registering a thumping victory in Tripura by demolishing the Left in the recently held Assembly Elections in the North Eastern state. The BJP had failed to save its deposits in all of the seats it had contested in Tripura barring one in 2013 and from that position, the party had staged a meteoric rise in the space of a couple of years. Amit Shah’s declaration that the BJP will win 22 seats in Bengal will certainly worry Mamata Banerjee.

Amit Shah also complimented Yogi Adityanath’s work in Uttar Pradesh in glowing words in the interview and reiterated that the BJP will secure a comfortable majority in the upcoming Karnataka Assembly Elections despite the divisive politics of the Congress.

Read why some ‘journalists’ have turned into bullies

OpIndia Staff
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Read why some ‘journalists’ have turned into bullies

Whenever someone puts up a difficult question to Congress President Rahul Gandhi, the loyalists of The Family masquerading as journalists come together to defend him. Recently, while addressing college students in poll-bound Karnataka, when a student asked Rahul Gandhi ‘What benefits will you give to NCC (National Cadets Corps) cadets after passing ‘C’ certificate examination?’, Gandhi responded by saying that he won’t be able to answer such questions since he doesn’t know the details about NCC training and ‘that type of stuff’. Rahul Gandhi, who aspires to be Prime Minister of India like his father, grandmother and great-grandfather, was criticised by an NCC cadet, one Sanjana Singh, who said it is important for a leader to know about it.


Another NCC cadet, Maulik Kumar, too, criticised Gandhi for not knowing about NCC.


Pretty soon, the flag bearers of so-called liberal values masquerading as journalists came in a swarm to bully a cadet for just wishing that a man who aspires to run the nation knows the basics of NCC, the Indian military cadet corps.


Some ‘journalists’ even called it a ‘fabricated controversy’.


And others find this ‘honesty’ refreshing!


While it is indeed the Territorial Army that forms the second line of defence in India, it is the NCC which formed the second line of defence in the 1965 war against Pakistan and in the 1971 war against Pakistan (fought when Rahul Gandhi’s grandmother was the Prime Minister). In an Extraordinary Gazette published on 9 Sep 1965, the government roped in the NCC officers (senior, junior and girls division) and cadets (including girls) of the senior division of the age of 17 years and above. Their role varied – from passive Air Defence including rescue work, first aid, evacuation of casualties, fire-fighting and removal of debris to traffic control and maintenance of essential services such as motor transport, pioneer and engineer services, water supply and power supply.

NCC is an important part of the Nation’s defence, and for an aspiring leader to not know about “this kind of stuff” is shocking and projects his horrifying lack of awareness. Ignorance cannot be justified by so-called leaders being honest about their ignorance. Rahul Gandhi is no run of the mill politician. He is the Congress party and perhaps the United oppositions Prime Ministerial candidate.

So much for bullying children just because they made The Family little uncomfortable. This is not the first time, though, when the so-called journalists have come together to bully someone into silence because of an uncomfortable question posed to Rahul Gandhi. Recently, Nehru fangirl Sagarika Ghose, who blamed former Prime Minister Shastri’s death for ‘dynasty politics’, had abused an author Prasenjit Basu, for asking a tough question to Rahul Gandhi. Ghose had launched an abusive, elitist and anti-Hindu tirade against Basu.


This just goes out to show how well oiled the Rahul Gandhi Defence League is.

Has the time arrived for privatisation of public sector banks?

Nithesh S
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Has the time arrived for privatisation of public sector banks?

The debate regarding socialism versus capitalism, public sector versus private sector has been a persistent one. Whether the state should restrict itself to main responsibilities (law and order, security and providing public goods) or should it also jump into address imbalances in society? After independence, India sought to emulate the Soviet model with the state taking up the responsibility of setting up industries, nationalised private enterprises (like banks and airlines) and took responsibility for the upliftment of poor. However, over a period of time, the socialist model collapsed and India had to go for market reforms and privatisation from the 1990s onwards.

One of the most controversial moves of the erstwhile socialist dispensation is nationalisation of private sector banks. It has been blamed for some of the deficiencies in the banking sector today. Some suggest that the state’s exit from banking business could solve many of the sector’s problems (including accountability and professional management).

Arun Jaitley ruled out any plans for privatisation of banks while speaking at the Global Business Summit that was held in February 2018. But he said that the mood or opinion in favour was gaining credence in the wake of large bank frauds. He added that a large political consensus was required to take up the matter. Jaitley mentioned the moral hazard of losing public money to private sector companies had been taken note of.

Arvind Subramaniam, the chief economic advisor in his recent statement told a channel that India needs to rethink public ownership of banks. While admitting that the governance problems of banks don’t go away with privatisation, they are exacerbated by the fact that the government stands rock solid behind these banks. No matter what the losses are, the banks feel they won’t be shut because of government ownership. The recent plan for recapitalisation of banks with 2.11 lakh crores is an example of the claim. Banks must live with the danger of failure or shutdown if they have to function in a professional manner.

In addition to this, political considerations are taken into account while allocating certain loans because of orders from governments. Privatising the banks would decouple their administration from the influence of the government or political parties in making business decisions.


India’s public sector banks are seeing a high level of stressed assets/ bad loans/ NPAs. The losses due bank frauds are also very high in the Nirav Modi case. Though political mudslinging is ongoing on these two issues, we need to see that the biggest loser is the taxpayer.

Thus, the government must prepare the ground for privatisation of banks in near future if not immediately. This would be a significant reform which will ensure that public money is not wasted if banks incur too much loss in future. Public funds must be used solely for defence, infrastructure and maintaining law and order in the long run (apart from some subsidies). It must not be wasted on sustaining banks which are facing many problems because of borrowers, market fluctuations, frauds, or mismanagement.

Pakistan groups demand that Bhagat Singh be declared a national hero in their country

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan groups demand that Bhagat Singh be declared a national hero in their country

While marking the occasion of revolutionary Bhagat Singh’s 87th death anniversary on Friday, two Pakistani groups demanded that he be declared a national hero of their country. The two organisations in question were Bhagat Singh Memorial Foundation (BSMF) and Bhagat Singh Foundation Pakistan (BSFP).

The groups had also conducted two separate events at Lahore’s Shadman Chowk, where Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev were hanged on 23rd March 1931. The events involved the participants paying tributes to the trio which included the revolutionaries’ relatives expressing their thoughts via phone.

The events incidentally were held under tight security owing to the possible threat from extremists.

BSFP’s founder Abdullah Malik was quoted as saying that, Bhagat Singh raised his voice against imperialism and that he would be remembered as a great freedom fighter. He later demanded that India and Pakistan declare Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev as “national heroes”.

The other demands of the groups included:

  • BSMF’s chairman Imtiaz Rashid passing a resolution asking Britain’s Queen to tender an apology for hanging the trio and paying compensation to their families.
  • Naming a road after Bhagat Singh and including a chapter on him in Pakistan’s schools.
  • Installing Bhagat Singh’s statue at Shadman Chowk and issuing a postal ticket in his name.
  • Both BSMF and BSFP have demanded that Shadman Chowk be renamed as Bhagat Singh Chowk, but radical Islamist organisation Hurmat-e-Rasool has opposed it and instead demanded that it be renamed “Hurmat Chowk”.

Such efforts to try and properly recognise Bhagat Singh have been made time and again in Pakistan.

In January it was reported that the Bhagat Singh Memorial Foundation had demanded that he be conferred Pakistan’s highest gallantry award “Nishan-e-Haider”. The application regarding the same was made to the country’s Punjab province government.

Back in September 2017 a Pakistani lawyer Advocate Imtiaz Rashid Qureshi had filed a petition in Lahore High Court for proving the innocence of Bhagat Singh.

Akali Dal accuses Congress’ Navjot Singh Sidhu of leaking budget, seeks dismissal

OpIndia Staff
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Akali Dal accuses Congress’ Navjot Singh Sidhu of leaking budget, seeks dismissal

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Singh Badal on Saturday sought dismissal of Punjab Cabinet Ministers Manpreet Singh Badal and Navjot Singh Sidhu from the state Assembly alleging they leaked parts of the state budget, which was presented on Saturday before it was presented, forming a violation of oath.


Former deputy chief minister of Punjab, Sukhbir Singh Badal said Sidhu and Manpreet Singh Badal had committed a ‘criminal offence’ by ‘leaking’ the budget. SAD leaders also demanded that both these ministers be sacked.

As per Manpreet Singh Badal, no such ‘leaks’ happened. He said that during the question-answer session, a question was put up with regards to bus stands. To which Sidhu replied that 14 new bus stands were on the cards, but wasn’t aware whether the particular bus stand was on the list. However, since in reality 16 bus stands will be made, the allegation that the budget was ‘leaked’ before presenting the same to Assembly is incorrect, said Manpreet Singh Badal.

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