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Veteran BJP leader found brutally murdered in Muzaffarpur, Bihar

OpIndia Staff
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Veteran BJP leader found brutally murdered in Muzaffarpur, Bihar

Sitaram Prasad, a 71 years old BJP leader cum social worker was found murdered in Radhepur village which falls under the Muzaffarpur district in Bihar. The reports have claimed that the veteran leader was beaten to death and his body was thrown into a maize field.

According to Sitaram’s son, the BJP leader had left his home at about 6:00 PM on Sunday. When he didn’t come back by 9 PM, a search party was sent out to locate him. It was at about 5 AM on Monday that some villagers located his body at a Maize field not very far from his home. Various parts of his body were found to bear bruise marks and blood stains.

After hearing this news, Sitaram’s eldest son Ranjan Prasad, who is also a BJP member, lodged a case against unknown assailants. The police too soon reached the spot and sent the body for a postmortem.

A crowd too gathered in the region. After the murder, the situation in the region has become tense, with local people being angered by the incident. The family too has questioned the police for not arresting anyone in connection with the murder.

Incidentally the people have also failed to ascertain a possible motive for Sitaram’s murder. According to his younger son Pawan Kumar, Sitaram didn’t have any enmity with anyone in the village. He was also not very active in politics recently, possibly owing to his illness for which he had gone to Delhi for treatment. The reports also claimed that Sitaram used to be considered a kind person who was also respected by his political opponents.

Sitaram was considered one of the senior leaders in the region and as a result people started to swarm to his home. Even senior politicians including, MLA Rajiv Kumar, BJP leader Ajay Kumar paid a visit. In the past Sitaram used to be a part of the JDU but he had switched to the BJP during the last assembly elections.

Sitaram a prosperous farmer, is survived by his wife, 4 sons and 1 daughter. Two of his sons are garment traders and one is a farmer. His youngest son is a teacher in a government school and his daughter is married. Incidentally Sitaram’s 3 sisters had arrived to his home for Rakshabandhan festivities but were instead hit by this tragedy.

It remains to be seen if Sitaram’s murder has anything to do with the turbulent political situation which has currently engulfed Bihar, as a result of CM Nitish Kumar switching over to the NDA and forming a coalition government with the BJP. This manoeuvre has substantially angered the former allies of Nitish.

Digvijaya Singh’s desperate caste appeal fails to impress Shankersinh Vaghela

Nirwa Mehta
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Digvijaya Singh’s desperate caste appeal fails to impress Shankersinh Vaghela

In a desperate attempt to save Ahmed Patel’s Rajya Sabha seat, AICC General Secretary Digvijaya Singh made a desperate caste based appeal to Shankersingh Vaghela, former BJP rebel and currently Congress rebel MLA, to vote for Ahmed Patel in the Rajya Sabha elections being held today in Gujarat.

In a series of tweets early today morning, Singh asked the Rajput community leader to not forget what the Congress has done for them and ensure Patel’s victory.


He asked his Rajput brother for “returning the favour” for hosting Vaghela when he had flown rebel BJP MLAs as shown of strength and eventually toppled Keshubhai government in Gujarat back in 1995.

He requested Vaghela to keep in mind what Congress has done for the Rajput community and vote for Patel.


Twitterati was quick to decry his caste based appeal.


Soon, the jokes followed.


But Singh didn’t stop there. Taking a dig at PM Modi, who, despite difference in political ideologies, has been a very close associate of Vaghela, Singh asked Vaghela not to support his “chela” (disciple).


This caste based politics is not something new to Congress. Madhavsinh Solanki, father of current Gujarat Congress President Bharat Solanki, was the pioneer of the caste-based divisive KHAM (Kshatriya, Harijan, Adivasi, Muslim) vote bank theory. Solanki senior has presided over two of the worst caste based riots in Gujarat (which eventually graduated to communal riots) in the 80s.

In 2015, during the Patidar agitation, Congress, which had alienated the Patidar community during Madhavsinh Solanki time, extended support to Hardik Patel.

It was precisely this divisive caste based politics that alienated Congress from the common man of Gujarat.

However, Singh’s desperate attempt yielded no result as Shankersinh Vaghela, after casting his vote, declared that he has not voted for Ahmed Patel. He also said that though Ahmed Patel is a close friend of his, with a heavy heart he didn’t want to waste his vote by voting for him as Gujarat Congress not going to win anyway. He also claimed 4-5 Congress MLAs who were kept in resort in Bengaluru might also not vote for Patel.


The result of this Rajya Sabha election will have a long lasting impact on Congress, and which his why the party is leaving no stone unturned to make sure Ahmed Patel wins, even if that means playing the caste card.

Ahmed Patel to RS – the mother of all Rajya Sabha elections: what to expect

Nirwa Mehta
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Ahmed Patel to RS – the mother of all Rajya Sabha elections: what to expect

On Tuesday, 176 out of 182 MLAs of Gujarat, with 6 Congress MLAs having resigned to join the BJP a few days back, will vote for 3 Rajya Sabha seats up for reelection. For the 3 seats, there are 4 contenders. One of these seats is of Ahmed Patel, whose nervousness is palpable from the fact that Congress has gambled Gujarat (which goes for elections in November this year) to save Ahmed Patel’s seat.

After taking the 44 Congress MLAs to a luxury resort in Bengaluru just when Gujarat was inundated with floods, the 44 MLAs were brought back to Gujarat early on Monday. From Ahmedabad airport, they were transported to a luxury resort in Anand where they celebrated Rakshabandhan. On Tuesday, they will be brought directly from this resort to Gandhinagar to vote. As of now, strength of Congress MLAs has come down from 57 seats to 51 seats.

BJP has fielded Balwantsinh Rajput, former Chief Whip of Gujarat Congress in assembly against Ahmed Patel. The other two BJP candidates are Smriti Irani and BJP President Amit Shah, both heavyweights in their own way, whose victories are almost certain.

In a further turn of events, two NCP MLAs may also vote for Rajput (and not Patel) tomorrow.


If that was not enough of a blow to Ahmed Patel, Nalin Kotadia, lone MLA of the now disbanded GPP (Gujarat Parivartan Party) was seen with BJP leaders on the eve of Rajya Sabha elections. He was also one of the known faces in the Patidar agitation that shook Gujarat politics two years back.


Earlier today, in a Facebook post, Kotadia also sought “guidance” from Patidars on whom to vote for in today’s Rajya Sabha elections.

Meanwhile the speculations get more and more interesting with Supreme Court refusing to stay NOTA for Rajya Sabha elections in Gujarat.

Gujarat is seeing voting for Rajya Sabha seats for the first time since 1996. Till now, all the Rajya Sabha elections were uncontested. Voting for the 3 high stake seats will begin today at 9 am and will end at 4 pm. The counting will begin at 5 pm, one hour after conclusion of voting.

As of now, the bus carrying 44 Congress MLAs has left the resort in Anand where they were kept since yesterday morning. The day is going to be quite eventful!

BJP spokesperson Shaina NC does a ‘Rajdeep’ after sending out senseless tweet

OpIndia Staff
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BJP spokesperson Shaina NC does a ‘Rajdeep’ after sending out senseless tweet

“My account was hacked” is the new “My dog ate my homework”, on social media.

Social media was outraging over the stalking incident involving Haryana BJP chief’s son and the alleged cover-up that followed. But some on social media were trying to defend the accused, by raising questions over the character of the victim.

A picture, purportedly showing the victim and the BJP chief’s son in a rather friendly pose, went viral on social media. This was used by some to claim that the two had been friends, and possibly romantically involved, and this could just be a love story gone sour.

Although some on social media, especially BJP supporters, used this picture, many others including BJP spokesperson Tajinder Singh Bagga had very early on stated that the picture was in fact not of the BJP chief’s son at all:


But as is commonly seen on social media, fake news travels faster than the truth, and the picture still became viral. In fact it eventually became so popular that even BJP National executive member Shaina NC was seen tweeting the picture, with an equally aggressive caption:

Soon, social media users pointed out that this was a misleading picture used for victim blaming, and Shaina NC promptly deleted her tweet. While people were expecting an apology, Shaina NC decided to pull a page from Rajdeep Sardesai’s book. She claimed that her account had been “hacked”:


This was followed by a quick change in tone and tenor.


Rajdeep Sardesai too had pulled the same stunt last year when his social media users complained of receiving abusive messages from Sardesai’s account. The hacker who hacked into Sardesai’s account has not been found yet.

In fact even today, Rajdeep was not far away from the action. As scientist and columnist Anand Ranganathan had pointed out,  Rajdeep Sardesai and Gaurav Sawant belonged to the same India Today stable, but had different views on the CCTV footage at Chandigarh:

While Rajdeep claimed the footage had “gone missing”, implying that the footage had existed and then been made to disappear, his colleague Sawant tweeted that the footage was not available at all, since the CCTV cameras were not working. Rajdeep suggested malafide intent, whereas Sawant implied that it was just the CCTV system not functioning.

A good  5 hours later, Rajdeep updated his version, but again it was camouflaged as a statement by the Chandigarh police:

Of course Rajdeep Sardesai, is known to spread lies on twitter every now and then, and has not yet been questioned by social media on this issue. Or else we may get to know of one more “hacking” incident.

And coming back to Shaina NC and some other BJP leaders or supporters who are tying themselves up while trying to defend the accused, they should heed to the suggestion by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which he had sent out in his very first speech in the parliament — keep your mouth shut rather than issuing senseless statements when crimes against women happen:

Kapil Mishra asks Arvind Kejriwal why has he forgotten AAP worker Santosh Koli’s death

OpIndia Staff
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Kapil Mishra asks Arvind Kejriwal why has he forgotten AAP worker Santosh Koli’s death

Four years after her death in an ‘accident’, AAP activist Santosh Koli’s death remains a mystery. In a series of tweets today, which happens to be her death anniversary, AAP rebel leader Kapil Mishra questioned Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal’s silence on Santosh Koli’s death:


Koli, who was one of the first employees of Paritvartan, an NGO started by Arvind Kejriwal back in 2002 when he was still a civil servant, and also worked with Public Cause Research Foundation, another NGO founded by Kejriwal, Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and left-leaning journalist Abhinandan Sekhri, died after she was fatally injured in a road accident on 7th August, 2013. Her family and a lot of AAP members suspect that she might have been murdered.

In the video clip released over a month back by Mishra, and shared again today, Koli’s mother can be seen holding placards accusing Kejriwal and other AAP leaders of covering up Koli’s murder as accident:

In the video, her mother says that Santosh “knew” of something (possibly incriminating) about Kejriwal, because of which they were not talking properly.

She further says, in the video, that the day she died, she did not wish to go to office, but was forcibly taken to office. That some Vandana and Kuldeep took her to office, not on Santosh’s scooty, but on Kuldeep’s bike. This bike was burnt (in the accident that took Santosh’s life). Never seen such accident where the bike gets burnt to ashes, driver escapes uninjured and there are no witnesses. Everyone claimed Santosh was killed. Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Gopal Rai promised probe in the murder. A lot of money was collected in name of Santosh’s treatment (before she died in hospital), but no details are available about where the money went.

She further accuses that the family has been kept away from the FIR details (filed by AAP leader Dr. Kumar Vishwas) and even their statement hasn’t been recorded. She shockingly claims that Kejriwal had told her not to take Santosh’s name ever again in front of him. He allegedly even denied any probe into the murder.

As has happened with most of the issues raised by Kapil Mishra, this one too has not been responded by Kejriwal. At the time of filing this report, Kejriwal had tweeted about the Chandigarh stalking case, but he had not tweeted or re-tweeted anything about Santosh Koli.

AAP leader Kumar Vishwas, though, tweeted in remembrance of Koli:


Even after four years of her death, there are still no updates about the case where Dr. Vishwas is the complainant.

Considering Koli was such a close aide of Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia, having been associated with them for years, it comes as a surprise that they are not demanding a faster inquiry or a CBI probe into the matter.

Modi govt compulsorily retires 2 IPS officers for being inefficient in their duty

OpIndia Staff
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Modi govt compulsorily retires 2 IPS officers for being inefficient in their duty

In a clear message to affix accountability among the top bureaucrats in the country, the Modi government has served compulsory retirement to two IPS officers belonging to the Chhattisgarh cadre on charges of inefficiency.

According to the report, this action was taken against AM Juri and KC Agarwal in public interest. Juri currently is the assistant IG (planning and provisioning), while Agarwal is with the police telecommunication department. They were scheduled to retire in 2019 and 2020 respectively.

This action has been taken on the basis of All India Service Rule 16(3) which states that the central government in consultation with the state government can retire an officer in public interest after serving them notice.

Such a performance review of IAS, IPS and IFoS officers takes place when they complete 15 and 25 years of service.

This isn’t the only time the Modi government has taken action against senior government employees who have been accused of inefficiency or those with a doubtful integrity:

  • In January it was reported that 2 other IPS officers were also sacked by the Modi government for non-performance. The IPC officers named Raj Kumar Dewangan of Chhattisgarh cadre and Mayank Sheel Chohan of Union Territories cadre were given premature retirement by the Home Ministry after it was found that their services were no longer useful for general administration. 
  • In May MOS in the PMO’s office Jitendra Singh had stated in a press conference that the government had in the past few months had given early retirement to as many as 129 officers for non-performance based on their review of service records. This action was based on the review of 24,000 Group A and 42,251 Group B officers which the central government had conducted. He also had stated that a similar review was underway of further 34,451 Group A and 42,521 Group B officers.
  • A similar cut in workforce was witnessed in December 2015, when it was revealed that the Modi government had so far dismissed 13 officers and imposed pension cut on 45 others for unsatisfactory performance and delivery in public service. The government had then taken the decision to remove the “Deadwood” in order to make the bureaucracy performance oriented and more accountable.

National Geographic panned for its limited understanding of Hindu culture

OpIndia Staff
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National Geographic panned for its limited understanding of Hindu culture

On Sunday, the famous Infotainment magazine National Geographic put out a story about the iconic Meenakshi Amman Temple in Madurai. The story detailed the artistic masterpiece of the temple which includes thousands of vibrantly painted stone statues which depict animals, gods, and demons.

These statues are lined up on walls of 14 towers of the temple, one of which is 170 feet high. The temple also has a wall of pillars which have a carved sculpture on each column. The story also detailed the history of the temple which included its demolition in the 14th century by Muslim invaders. The magnificent temple was then rebuilt about 250 years later.

The story like any other Nat Geo article was intricately filled with a variety of information but all this was dampened by an almost silly gaffe.

The story about the temple which is dedicated to goddess Meenakshi claimed that it was one of the few religious monuments which are devoted to a female deity:


This statement pricked a lot of people as they pointed out that there are almost innumerable temples in India which are dedicated to Indian goddesses. Here are a few such reactions:


One user even created a thread to list out a ‘few’ such temples:

Nine Pakistani Hindus deported even as Rajasthan High Court stays their deportation

OpIndia Staff
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Nine Pakistani Hindus deported even as Rajasthan High Court stays their deportation

For the first time in 13 years, Rajasthan High Court held a hearing on Saturday, 5th August, on a petition filed by 73 year old woman Dhai Bheel and her relatives. Dhai Bheel and her relatives are Pakistani Hindus who had come to India on short term visa

The special bench of single judge Justice Vijay Bishnoi issued notice to Union Home and External Affairs Ministries as well as various state government authorities. The court also directed Additional Advocate General K.L. Thakur to immediately communicate this order to concerned authorities. However, before the order could be executed, the Thar Express, the train by which Dhai and others were deported, had entered the Pakistani territory.

Dhai Bheel and her relatives are Pakistani Hindus and did not wish to go back to Pakistan. Hence, they had applied for visa extension. CID officers gave them an ultimatum to go back to Pakistan. On Saturday, Rajashtan High Court gave clear orders that the Pakistani Hindus should not be deported.

The Pakistani Hindus had reached Munabao Railway Station, which is a railway transit point on the India-Pakistan border, when the hearing was on. By the time the order reached the concerned officers, the train was on its way to Khokhrapar station in Pakistan.

Pakistani citizens Dhai and her husband Chandu Bheel, 80 along with their sons Bhagwan, 34, daughter-in-law Radha, 35, grandchild Dharmi, 9 and other relatives Dheero, 34, his wife Mumal, 32, their son Jayram, 4 and daughter Kawita, 2 had come to India on May 20. Their visa expired in the month of June, but they didn’t go back.

They inflicted 89 cuts on his body; Rajesh is gone, but his story has to be told

Advaita Kala
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They inflicted 89 cuts on his body; Rajesh is gone, but his story has to be told

They say he used to buy a packet of milk and a few biscuits on his way home. He had two little boys waiting for him, growing up fast, as they do in these days but years away from puberty. This was a nightly treat, or the morning snack before school. A packet of milk and a few biscuits. On a mason’s salary, it was all he could afford.

The rustle of the plastic, the dimming of the head lights as he pulled up outside his house, the squeal of the tires, if it had rained, enough to alert the young ones that ‘Acha’ was home.

That night he finished the evening shakha, the cool breeze of the night soothing away his cares and fatigue as he made his way home at the end of a long day. The thoughts running through his mind… what could they have been?

Maybe the biscuits that had to be bought and the last packet of milk that the shopkeeper saved for him. Maybe he would have to work longer hours to replace the necklace he had taken from his wife and sold, so they could contribute to the welfare fund for murdered swayamsevaks in Kannur. There was still time, he was only 34, she younger.

Rajesh bought the milk in the evenings, unlike others who bought it at the start of the day. But then he was different. And this was a small colony in a big city, indulgent of the quirks of its residents.

The evening shakha he had just finished was an escape from the identity that society pressed on him, there they were known by first names alone. It was the way of the Sangh. He had taken his little boy to a gathering once, the little one holding on to his finger, two images in ordinary wooden frames, Dr Hedgewar and Guruji Gowalkar sat on a makeshift table, and the little boy danced in front of them.

It was somewhere out in the open, a garden maybe, bereft of tall walls, of the physical kind and those that human beings construct around themselves. He had taken a photograph of his little boy at that moment, free and unselfconscious, as he had never been at that age and posted it on Facebook, “I am proud that my son belongs to the RSS” he had written above that image.

They say the shopkeeper fainted. They say the hand that held the packet of biscuits and milk was chopped off first. They say it fell to the ground, away from his body. They don’t say if that hand was still holding on to the packet his boys were waiting for at home.

They say he received 89 cuts to his body. They say it is a new record; the last murder at this scale of brutality had set the previous record at 51 cuts.

Rajesh was always meant to be different.

They say he is dead… and yet he lives on.

RSS worker killed in Kerala
Rajesh Edavakode (1983-2017). om shanti.

(Editor’s Note: Rajesh Edavakode was hacked to death by suspected communists on July 29 in Kerala. He was among the fourteen RSS worker killed in nearly as many months, ever since the communists came back to power in the state. Advaita Kala has been one of those relentlessly pursuing this string of killings and bringing those under focus, as the mainstream media largely has been apathetic to the killings earlier. Here, she pens her thoughts about Rajesh. A tribute to the departed)

Missing CCTV footage, dropped charges cloud the stalking case against Haryana BJP chief’s son

OpIndia Staff
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Missing CCTV footage, dropped charges cloud the stalking case against Haryana BJP chief’s son

On the intervening night of Friday and Saturday Vikas Barala (23), who is the son of Haryana BJP Chief Subhash Barala, was arrested along with his friend in connection with a stalking case.

The 29 year old victim, who is a DJ in Chandigarh, later put up her account of the event on Facebook which soon went viral. She claimed how a White SUV which has now been identified as Tata Safari Storm started following her car at about 12:15 AM while she was driving home. She claimed that both the boys were drunk and were trying to dangerously swerve their car towards her.

She further claimed that, they blocked her car when she tried to turn right into a more safer road. Then that at the next intersection they stopped their SUV in front of her car and one of the boys got out of the car and started walking towards her, forcing her to reverse her car.

Now completely in panic she dialled 100 and the policeman as she claims sensed the urgency in her voice and promised immediate help. The boys allegedly continued their stalking and decided to take things to the next level. After again blocking her car which left absolutely no room to manoeuvre, one of them again got down and tried to open her car’s door.

Then she claimed that a PCR van timely arrived and the cops nabbed the 2 boys. After driving home in absolute fear she told her father (a senior IAS officer) about her ordeal and they later filed their. She in her post also thanked the Chandigarh police for their timely response.

The reports claimed that after the boys were arrested, they were taken for a medical examination which concluded that they were indeed drunk. Sections of  354-D and 185 of the Motor Vehicle Act (drunk driving) were slapped against them and they were later released on bail.

Now latest reports regarding the matter have suggested that certain charges which were later slapped on the accused, ended up getting dropped in order to facilitate their bail. According to the report, the police had added  section 341, 365 and 511 against the accused which pertained to wrongful restraint, kidnapping and punishment for attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or other imprisonment respectively.

The report claimed that as the added sections were non-bailable, the police did not have the power to grant the bail and release the accused. The report also insinuated that there was an attempt to dilute the case, considering the influential background of the accused. Other reports claimed that the victim’s plea about it being an attempted kidnapping was ignored by the cops.

The police in their defence have claimed that they are taking a legal opinion regarding the matter.

Now further questions might be raised about the authorities in Chandigarh after it was reported that CCTV footage from 5 locations connected to the stalking incident are missing. These footage would reportedly have been crucial regarding the case.

The response of the Haryana BJP has been cagey. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday dissociated BJP Chief Subhash Barala from the incident by stating that he had nothing to with it. After terming it as an individual matter, he further stated that the accused would face action if found guilty. Barala himself has reportedly come out to state that he respects the law and that the “truth” will come out.

This incident has generated outrage on Social Media and people are demanding strict action against the accused:


Also at-least two BJP MPs including senior leader Subramanian Swamy have demanded action against the accused:


Swamy, while speaking to Republic TV also supported the girl by stating that she had a right to dignity and that it was not good to raise questions about her character or behaviour.

Update: According to the Chandigarh police, they had tried to acquire the CCTV footage from 9 cameras along the route but all were found to be non-functional. These non-working cameras, not some kind of cover-up, appear to be the reason for the ”missing footage”.

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