Mizoram Governor Kummanam Rajasekharan has resigned from his post on Friday, nine months after he had taken the oath. This comes as BJP’s Kerala unit is rising demands to recall Rajasekharan and field him from Kerela’s Thiruvananthapuram in Lok Sabha elections, which is currently held by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor since 2009.
A Rashtrapati Bhavan press communique has stated that President Ram Nath Kovind has accepted Rajasekharan’s resignation. Assam governor Professor Jagdish Mukhi will be given additional charge of Mizoram until a new governor is appointed for the state. Kummanam Rajasekharan was the seventh governor of the state in the last 5 years. After Vakkom Purushothaman – a former Congress leader – had resigned following his transfer to Nagaland by the government in July 2014, Kamla Beniwal, Vinod Kumar Duggal (additional charge), K. K. Paul (additional with Meghalaya), Aziz Qureshi, Keshari Nath Tripathi (additional charge) and Lt General (Retd) Nirbhay Sharma had served as governor of Mizoram before Rajasekharan.
The decision to recall Rajasekharan back to electoral politics is said to have been taken in BJP general secretary meeting in New Delhi, on Monday. It was also the wish of RSS, BJP’s ideological ally, to field Rajasekharan from Kerela’s seat, reports said.
Rajasekharan started his political career as an RSS activist. In 1987, he resigned from a government post and became a full-time RSS worker. He has been part of various organisations like Kerala’s Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), Kshetra Samrakshana Samiti, Balasadanams and Ekal Vidyalayas. He was also secretary of Hindu Aikya Vedi and Sabarimala Ayyappa Sewa Samajam.
BJP’s State president P.S. Sreedharan Pillai also said that they welcome the prospect of fielding Rajasekharan from Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat, from where the party has a good electoral history.
This will make the contest on Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat triangular, between BJP, Congress and CPI.
Rajasekharan has also served as BJP’s state president from 2015-18 until he was transferred to Mizoram as governor. During his tenure, he had helped BJP make an electoral dent in the state, where the national party was still not able to win a seat. He had also contested from Vattiyoorkavu constituency in Thiruvananthapuram district during the 2016 Kerela assembly elections, where he had come second to Congress candidate.
Baijayant ‘Jay’ Panda, the former Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MP, who had recently joined the BJP, has been now appointed as the National Vice-president and Spokesperson of BJP.
Baijayant Jay Panda has been appointed as National Vice-President and Spokesperson of BJP. (file pic) pic.twitter.com/1CGsntZWQU
After nine months of introspection, Jay Panda had finally taken to Twitter to announce that he had decided to join the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the 2019 General elections. He also expressed his keenness to work under the leadership of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.
Nine months of introspection & widespread consultations w/colleagues & public.
Grateful for support recd from all over.
On auspicious #MahaShivratri I’ve decided to join @BJP4India & work under the leadership of @narendramodi Ji to serve Odisha & India to the best of my ability?
Speculations regarding his political discourse were rife ever since he had quit BJD and resigned from the post of MP in May last year considering his deteriorating relations with the party. Prior to his resignation Panda was suspended from the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in January last year. Before this, he was also suspended as the spokesperson of the party.
Panda had won Lok Sabha election twice from the Kendrapada constituency, in 2009 and 2014. He was also a Rajya Sabha MP prior to that.
While submitting his resignation to the BJD he expressed deep anguish that no leader from BJD had come to pay their respect to his deceased father. Panda also claimed that the BJD has been deviating from its original philosophy of humility and transparency to corruption and goondaism, which he claims was brought to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s attention multiple times.
Panda expressed his gratitude at being appointed the spokesperson and national vice president. He added that he will do his best for the party’s continued success and work under PM Modi’s leadership for a new India.
Panda joined the BJP on March 4th, in the presence of Union minister and BJP leader Dharmendra Pradhan in New Delhi. He later met BJP president Amit Shah at the BJP headquarters in the capital.
At a press conference, Panda called out his former party, saying the governance under Odisha Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik had deteriorated sharply in recent years.
“I have admired Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership and direction in which he is taking the country and also BJP president Amit Shah’s leadership that has made this party not just the largest in the country, but the largest and the most effective party in the whole world,” he said.
“In the early years, when it (BJD) was an ally of the BJP, there were certain norms that had been followed which have been lost in the recent years,” he said.
Panda’s decision to join the BJP is likely to boost the party’s electoral prospects in Odisha, a state where the BJP is looking to gain some seats in the Lok Sabha to compensate for potential losses elsewhere.
The Indian Army has issued a statement over the visit of General Raymond Thomas, Commander of United States Special Operations Command. He met with the Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat and discussed matters of regional security.
Source: Shiv Aroor (Twitter)
The statement reads, “Both the Generals deliberated on the developing regional security environment, issue of global terrorism and Pakistan’s continued support to terrorism was also discussed. Acknowledging India’s role in peace and stability in the region, gen Raymond emphasized on the need for further military cooperation in the field of technology and military to military exchanges between the two countries.”
The statement reads further, “In the current scenario, the Indian Army remains fully prepared for emerging challenges. In the last three weeks, a disinformation campaign by the adversary on digital media has increased. All ranks have been well sensitized of these disinformation campaigns and all ranks can see through the lie, deceit & deception of the terror sponsors.”
The last sentence of the statement is remarkable here as it refers to Pakistan directly as ‘terror sponsors’. The digital misinformation campaign mentioned in the statement likely refers to the propaganda video of Wing Commander Abhinandan released by the Pakistanis before his release and the recent epidemic of Fake News being spread even by journalists and Congress politicians which claimed that the 21 Sikh Regiment had refused to fight for India.
In recent weeks, there have been considerable tensions between the two countries in the aftermath of the Pulwama terror Attack. India responded to the act of terrorism by Pakistan backed terrorists with airstrikes within Pakistani territory that decimated terror camps.
The airstrikes were followed by Pakistan’s attempt to attack Indian military installations which resulted in the loss of an F16 jet for them which was brought down by a MiG-21 Bison. Tensions between the countries appear to have de-escalated since then although ceasefire violations continue to occur at the border.
US-based defence commentator and US military veteran Bill Roggio has termed Pakistan’s ‘efforts’ of curbing terrorism on its land as an “eyewash to placate Western governments in the wake of major terror attacks emanating from Pakistani soil”. In an article published on FDD’s Long War Journal, where Roggio is the managing editor, he has claimed that considering the past practice, the Pakistani government is shuttering terrorist institutions like Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), founded by the UN-designated terrorist Hafiz Saeed, only to allow them to reopen a few months later.
FDD’s Long War Journal reports on and analyses the global war on terror. The journal is published by Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a think tank focused on national security and foreign policy based in Washington DC, and Roggio is a Senior Fellow at FDD.
The report said that Pakistan is shutting down JuD offices and detaining its leaders under international pressure. It claims that despite Pakistani Generals and government officials routinely claiming that terrorist groups were not permitted to operate on Pakistani soil, JuD operates freely in Rawalpindi where the headquarters of Pakistani military are located. Exposing the shallowness of Pakistan’s claims of dealing terrorist organisations stringently, the report said that this is not the first time when Pakistan is pretending to have taken Hafiz Saeed under ‘protective custody’, the country has done the so four times in last twenty years and has released the terrorist every time. Saeed was allowed to travel and give sermons at Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jamaat-ud-Dawa- run mosques in Lahore while in custody.
The report cites several examples where similar “cosmetic efforts” were made by the Pakistani government against Hafiz Saeed and his organisations. After the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks in 2008, Pakistan had claimed to have shut down LeT/JuD offices and detained Hafiz Saeed but the offices were quietly reopened later and Saeed was also released from the so-called house arrest.
Pakistan had made similar shallow claims in 2017 saying that it had closed down JuD’s Markaz-e-Taiba complex in Muridke having facilities like hospital, mosques, madrassas, stores and training facilities for Jehadis. JuD banners were also removed from the roads of Lahore. All this was done to be undone later.
The report raises suspicion on the sincerity of Pakistani action against terrorism. It claims that Hafiz Saeed and his organisation enjoys the support of the State of Pakistan and that the State provides protection to terrorist leaders by placing them under protective custody and releases them as the international pressure decreases
“There is little reason to believe this latest “effort” will be any different”, the report said.
Chavda is the third Congress MLA to resign from the current Assembly after Kunvarji Bavaliya and Asha Patel. With his resignation, Congress has been reduced to 73 seats in the state.
The four-time MLA represented the Manavadar seat in Junagadh district and is considered to be an influential leader from the Ahir community. Assembly Speaker Trivedi, confirming Chavda’s resignation, said, “Chavda has resigned as MLA from Manavadar seat. He came to my residence and handed over his resignation letter. I have accepted his resignation. He has not cited any particular reason. Chavda ceases to be an MLA from today.”
Last year in July, Kunvarji Bavalia had resigned as an MLA and was then inducted in the BJP government as a cabinet minister. Then last month, Congress MLA from Unjha, Gujarat, Dr. Asha Patel, had resigned from her seat citing infighting. She also appreciated Prime Minister ’s introduction of a quota for people from the Economically Weaker sections of the society which she said will benefit the Patel community. She had later joined the BJP.
Like his colleagues, Chavda too is expected to join the BJP soon.
Rahul Gandhi, the President of Indian National Congress was delivering a speech in Koraput, Odisha today. As is the norm, no speech of Rahul Gandhi can ever be delivered without a dash of gaffes and a bucketload of self-goals. During the speech today, Rahul Gandhi said that a few days ago, the Indian Airforce “attacked” Pakistan and dropped bombs. In the process, some of our men also martyred. Then, out of nowhere, he talks about HAL manufacturing fighter jets and how PM Modi took money from the Airforce and gave it to Ambani.
#WATCH Rahul Gandhi: Kuch din pehle vayu sena ne Pakistan pe aakraman kiya, bomb giraye, hamare log bhi shaheed hue, 70 saal se HAL vayu sena ke liye hawai jahaz bana rahe hain…PM desh bhakti ki baat karte hain lekin vayu sena se paisa lekar apne mitr Anil Ambani ko dete hain. pic.twitter.com/KrmolH7wHQ
There are several problems with Rahul Gandhi’s statements.
Did India “attack” Pakistan, as claimed by Rahul Gandhi?
In his speech, Rahul Gandhi has claimed that a few days ago, India “attacked” Pakistan and dropped bombs in their territory. When Rahul Gandhi says India “attacked” Pakistan, it would essentially mean an act of aggression against a sovereign state. India, as is evidenced by History, has never “attacked” another Nation. So too, in the case of Balakot strikes, there was no “attack” as claimed by Rahul Gandhi. India merely excercised its right to self defence and bombed terrorist camps that were breeding grounds for the very suicide bombers that carried out the Pulwama attack and several similar terrorist attacks. Even in its official stand, India termed the strikes as ‘non-military pre-emptive strikes’, meaning, this was not a military action against the sovereignty of a state, but an act of self-defence against terrorists.
In fact, it was Pakistan that carried out the “attack” against India when it attacked India’s military installations in response to India taking action against terror camps. Thus, for Rahul Gandhi to say that India “attacked” Pakistan, it reaks of malicious propaganda against India and the Prime Minister.
Were “our men” martyred in the Balakot airstrikes?
Well, depends on which side of the fence one is on. If one is a Pakistani, or the ‘poster boy of Pakistan’, one might certainly say that “our men” were martyred, assuming they consider Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists ‘their own people’. However, if one is from the Indian side of the fence, one would know that none of men were lost in the Balakot airstrikes. It was a clean operation were 12 Mirage 2000s crossed over, flattened terrorist camps and came back unscathed.
One could, of course, assume that he is talking about the Helicopter crash where 6 people lost their lives. However, India has maintained that the Helicopter crash was due to a technical glitch and not due to any hostilities with Pakistan. In such a scenario, it seems unlikely that Rahul Gandhi would be speaking about the Helicopter crash as right before he statement, he mentions India’s “attack” on Pakistan.
Were the jets used in the Balakot airstrikes made by HAL?
It was almost as if Rahul Gandhi was in a hurry to get the bit about HAL and Anil Ambani and hence, fumbled his way there. Surprisingly, even when he got to the bit he loves to talk about, he sounded either confused or wilfully silly. Rahul Gandhi, after talking about the Balakot airstrikes said that HAL has been manufacturing fighter jets for over 70 years and that PM Modi took money away from the Airforce and gave it to Anil Ambani.
Now, considering he spoke of HAL manufacturing jets right after he spoke of the Balakot airstrikes, one can assume that he meant the fighter jets used in the Balakot airstrikes were manufactured by HAL. This, however, is another lie. The fighter jets used by the Indian Airforce in the Balakot airstrikes were mostly Mirage 2000s which have been manufactured, incidentally, by Dassault.
Also, PM Modi has not taken away anything and given to anyone. Anil Ambani is not manufacturing Rafale, Dassault is. Anil Ambani has got only a part of the off-set contract which amounts to roughly Rs. 800 crores and not the outlandish figures that Rahul Gandhi keeps claiming.
Interestingly, the line Rahul Gandhi has taken in this speech is exactly one taken by Pakistan. Rahul Gandhi and his band of buffoons, who have proven themselves to be the poster boys of Pakistan, have repeatedly toed the Pakistan line, and in this speech too, Rahul Gandhi has proven yet again why the country is beginning to think of him as Imran Khan’s lost brother.
Perhaps realising that people are getting bored listening to the same lies on the Rafale deal, today Congress president Rahul Gandhi added a new lie to his long list of Rafale lies. While talking to a group of women in Odisha on the occasion of Women’s Day, he said that the engine for the Rafale fighter jet was to be made in the engine plant of HAL in nearby Koraput.
During his interaction with few female college students, one girl had asked that Congress has claimed if the party comes to power in Odisha, it has promised free education on engineering and medicine, but what the party is offering for the girls interested in the sports sector. The Congress president didn’t have an answer for the question, so he did what he does best these days, saying that the sports infrastructure in Odisha is bad because Narendra Modi gave 30,000 crore to Anil Ambani in the Rafale deal.
After that Rahul Gandhi gave a short speech on now familiar allegations on the Rafale deal. The young girl, who is interested in sports like badminton and hockey, and wanted to know Congress plans for developing the sports sector in the state, was listening to how Modi snatched some aeroplane deal from HAL and gave way to Anil Ambani. He added that the Koraput engine plant of HAL was going to manufacture engines for the Rafale jet, but Modi gave that business to Anil Ambani.
Although Hindustan Aeronautics Limited has an engine manufacturing and overhauling unit in Koraput, it is absolutely false to claim that the plant was scheduled to make Rafale engines.
Under the original bid to buy 126 MMRCA Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA), which was won by Dassault Rafale, 108 planes were to be made in India by HAL, after 18 jets were to be made in France. But that deal was never finalised due to differences between Dassault and HAL. Dassault was not willing to take responsibility for HAL made planes, and it also didn’t agree with the fact that HAL had demanded 2.7 times higher man-hour compared to Dassault, which would have pushed the cost higher. The CAG has also noted that if HAL demand was accepted, the Rafale would not have remained the lowest bidder, making the entire process faulty.
The second and important point is that, even if the deal was finalised, or if Dassault wins the new bid for IAF jets and makes the Rafale in India, there is no certainty that the HAL plant in Odisha will get the order for making the engine. When Rafale was announced as the winner in 2012, HAL had started preliminary work for the production of the jets in India, and the company had said that it had shortlisted two locations in its HAL estate in Bangalore for making the airframe and engines of the jets. This means HAL was preparing to make the engines in its Bangalore facility, not Koraput.
In the case of buying aircraft, the deal for the engine is done separately with the engine manufacturer. In case of Rafale, it is French company Safran (formerly Snecma) which makes the Snecma M88-2 engines used in the Rafale jets. Safran already has a joint venture with HAL to manufacture some parts of the M88 engine in India. Snecma HAL Aerospace Private Limited plant is located in Whitefield Industrial area in Bengaluru. Which means, if Safran makes the engines in India, they will most probably make it in their own JV company with HAL, not the HAL engine plant in Odisha.
The International Media group Reuters’ team has been denied access to the location of Balakot air strikes by the Pakistani government. Pakistani security officials prevented a Reuters team from climbing the hill to a site of a madarsa and adjoining 4-5 buildings in Balakot which were bombed by the Indian Air Force on February 26, 2019, in the retaliatory attacks in the aftermath of Pulwama attack.
This is not the first time that Pakistan has blocked media access to the IAF’s air strike site. The journalists from Reuters have trekked up to the hill thrice in last 9 days and their request to access to the buildings including the Jaish-e-Muhammad’s purported religious school has been denied all 3 times.
The Indian foreign secretary, Vijay Gokhale, in his press conference, a few days ago had claimed that a very large number of JeM terrorists, commanders, senior leaders have perished in the air strikes carried out by the Indian Air Force. Even the Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa confirmed it in his press conference that his team had indeed hit the terror camps that were intended to be targeted.
Pakistan had earlier claimed that Indian bombs had destroyed nothing but a few trees in the region. However, Pakistan’s repeated denial to access the location where JeM madarsa was operational suggests that there’s more to this than meets the eye.
While Pakistan has been insistent on its claim that the Indian air strikes achieved nothing, its denial of access to international media groups to the site raises further doubts on its claims. The sentries guarding the madrasa, who have refuted the claims of Indian attack, have asserted that ‘security concern’ is the reason for denying access to media representatives.
A Mig-21 Bison from Nal Air Base has crashed near Bikaner, Rajasthan. The pilot is reported to be safe. As per reports, bird collision is being cited as the reason for the crash by sources. The incident has happened near Shobhasar village in Bikaner.
According to a statement issued by the Indian Air Force, the aircraft was on a routine mission when it crashed. The pilot was able to eject safely.
Source: Shiv Aroor via Twitter
The Mig-21 has a notorious reputation of being a ‘flying coffin’ due to the numerous crashes it has suffered over the years.
Recently, the MiG-21 Bison planes were in the news as it was the aircraft that was flown by Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman to bring down a Pakistani F16, an aircraft that surpasses the abilities of Mig-21 in every aspect.
The shooting down of the F16 by the Indian Mig-21 Bison was a remarkable event as it was the first time an American made fighter jet was shot down by a Russian made jet since the 1991 Gulf war. Moreover, that a 4th gen fighter jet was brought down by an aircraft which is considered obsolete by many was a cause for an immense surprise for many aviation watchers.
However, as today’s crash shows, the Mig-21 has been working for well past their expiry date and it’s a matter of urgency that India acquire fighter jets to replenish its depleting squadrons.
For a man who aspires to be the Prime Minister of the country, Congress President Rahul Gandhi has a very limited emotional range.
While addressing a gathering of women in Koraput, Odisha, Rahul Gandhi displayed how far away from reality he is, despite coming from a family history of women in a powerful position, like his grandmother Indira Gandhi and mother Sonia Gandhi. Now with his sister also foraying into the political arena, one would have expected a little bit of nuance and general sensitivity toward issues faced by women.
Addressing women in Odisha on International Women’s Day, Congress President promised that if voted to power in Odisha in the upcoming state assembly elections as well as in the general elections, Congress party would make sure that if a rape takes place, the chief minister or the prime minister will come out and clearly put their point across.
This was Rahul Gandhi’s response to a question on women’s safety.
“One BJP MLA raped a lady in Uttar Pradesh and the Prime Minister who is supposed to give a direction to the country said nothing. That lady got no help. In India, if the prime minister does not give any proper direction at the right time, then a wrong message goes out to the country,” Rahul Gandhi said.
His statement seems to have come from the fact that when the Nirbhaya gang rape took place in Delhi in December 2012, the then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh took as long as a week to come out and give a statement, that too under public pressure. Oh, and do not miss his ‘theek hai’ gaffe towards the end of his robotic speech.
Rahul Gandhi’s response to how his party, if voted to power, will ensure women’s safety, is ‘to give a statement’. Rather than improving the law and order situation and faster justice, his first reaction is to give a statement.
And that was not all. After the Nirbhaya case, Justice Verma committe was set up to get recommendations for comprehensive amendments to criminal laws. The then Congress President and UPA Chairperson, Rahul Gandhi’s mother Sonia Gandhi delivered her ‘suggestions’ way past midnight after the deadline for submissions was over. Almost as if an an afterthought. The same Congress now promises ‘zero tolerance’ after the prime minister and chief minister have made a statement on the crime.
Continuing with his legacy of insensitivity and cruel jokes, he adds that if women are beaten up or atrocities are carried out on them, they should not step back. They must fight for their place whether it is in the parliament or in state assembly or the homes.
He then even had a recommendation for men to consider women equal. This from a man who himself reeks of toxic masculinity. Behind the garb of feminism, Rahul Gandhi is just as sexist as any other ordinary man. Remember his ‘RSS does not let women wear a skirt’ and ‘Modi hid behind a woman’ jibes? Rahul Gandhi should know that equality, just like charity, should begin from home.
A lady then questioned him regarding Congress’ policies on how they will try to bring down the maternal mortality rate. Again displaying his consistency for complete randomness, he explained how Odisha as a state is not poor, but the people are poor because money never reached them. They are poor because the money was never put to creating hospitals. As an afterthought, he said maternal mortality rate can be brought down if women give births in hospital, but that is not happening because there are no hospitals. Congress will thus construct hospitals in every district in Odisha.
And then, as if on autopilot, Rahul Gandhi shifted his focus on ‘Rafale scam’ which he has been crying himself hoarse over. When a young girl asked him what would his party, if voted to power, would do for encouraging sports for girls. As of on cue, clueless Gandhi went on his Rafale tirade where he not only claimed that money that could have gone for coaching facilities and building badminton courts has now been given to Anil Ambani. The clueless girl let out nervous laughter at not being able to comprehend why Anil Ambani doesn’t want her to play hockey and badminton, two sports she likes.
Rahul Gandhi’s sexism is not something that is new. Rahul Gandhi had wondered back in 2017 that Sangh women don’t wear shorts. Addressing a rally in the then poll-bound Gujarat, Rahul Gandhi had said that BJP thinks as long as women stay quiet, they don’t say anything, they are good.
The man who judges women by the clothes they wear is today telling them that if they get raped, he will make sure that the chief minister and prime minister give a statement. His concerns are as misplaced as his sense of entitlement.
His address to women, on International Women’s Day, was embarrassing, to say the least.
