The election for the post of the Deputy Chairman in the Rajya Sabha is scheduled to be held on 9th August and political calculations are already rife over the support of regional parties to the respective candidates by the ruling NDA and opposition UPA. According to reports, Rajya Sabha Chairman Vice President Venkaiah Naidu today announced that the members of the house can give their notices for motion till tomorrow noon.
The NDA is reportedly fielding JD(U)’s Harivansh Narayan Singh as the NDA candidate. The BJD has reportedly confirmed that Bihar CM and JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar had called Navin Patnaik and asked for BJD’s support. Some media reports suggest that NCP MP Vandana Chavan will be the opposition’s candidate for the post. The NDA does not have a majority in the Rajya Sabha and needs every crucial vote to make its candidate reach the majority vote mark of 112. The NDA currently has the support of 106 MPs. Considering the entire opposition, including TDP supports one candidate, they will reportedly have 117 votes. TRS and BJD are yet to declare their inclinations for the vote.
Amidst all the political calculations, there was another drama playing out between two former chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir. National Conference’s Omar Abdullah shared a Tweet claiming that PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti has promised her party’s support to both NDA and the opposition. He teased her on how that is going to work.
First, she called Omar Abdullah’s assertions “fake news”. She said usually, fake news and falsehoods are peddled by dubious news channels but it is baffling when politicians like Omar Abdullah fabricate stories based on pure fiction.
Usually fake news & falsehoods are peddled by dubious news channels. But its baffling when a politician like @OmarAbdullah fabricates stories based on pure fiction. Such dangerous propaganda is detrimental to the truth & an attempt to mislead people.https://t.co/39wAb1rzIS
— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) August 7, 2018
Then, Mehbooba Mufti soon replied to Abdullah’s Tweet with a single character, a long-nosed emoji, signifying a lying face. Subtly teasing that Abdullah is lying.
However, Omar Abdullah teased back saying the persons behind Mufti’s Twitter account have a great sense of humour. Hinting he did not believe it was Mehbooba who could come up with a smart reply like that. Mehbooba Mufti was not giving up.
She teased back that it is the second time Omar Abdullah has shared the fake news. Using the least number of characters possible, she stated that she herself handles her tweets and Abdullah should give a compliment where it is due.
Both the PDP and NC have been NDA allies in the past. Which candidate Mehbooba’s party will be supporting is still not clear, especially considering that the BJP had pulled Mufti’s government down in June recently in Jammu and Kashmir, causing her to lose the CM post, but her smart response on Twitter certainly invited some accolades.
