The Shiv Sena (UBT), which had warned Congress leader Rahul Gandhi against “insulting” Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar, said on Wednesday that the issue has been resolved and they were “firmly united” with the Opposition parties in their fight against the BJP and the Narendra Modi government.“The issue has ended for us…The matter has been resolved,” MP Sanjay Raut, Uddhav Thackeray’s close confidant, told The Indian Express. “I have spoken to Rahul Gandhi about the issue,” he added.In his speech in Malegaon on Sunday, Uddhav Thackeray had warned Rahul Gandhi that the Sena (UBT) would not tolerate any insult to Savarkar. “Savarkar is our deity…we will not tolerate any insult to him,” Thackeray had said.Asked whether Gandhi had promised not to raise the Savarkar issue again, Raut said, “We do not want to speak about it anymore. As I have said, the matter has been resolved.”When asked what the party’s stand would be if Gandhi raises the issue again, Raut said, “If Rahul Gandhi raises the issue again, we will see what to do… But we are confident he will not raise the issue.”Raut said the Shiv Sena (UBT) will be attending the meetings convened by the Opposition or the Congress. The Sena had on Monday night skipped a meeting convened by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. “We are firmly united with the Opposition to save democracy and dislodge the BJP from power,” Raut said.On Tuesday, Congress communication head Jairam Ramesh said 19 parties were saying in one voice that democracy was in danger and “we have to unitedly face and fight the dictatorial government”. The Shiv Sena (UBT), he said, was one of the 19 parties.“There were 18 parties last night. Today, I have said 19. The number will go up from 18 to 19 when Shiv Sena is part of the group,” Ramesh said at a press conference in Delhi on Tuesday. To this, Raut said, “We are with the Congress and the Opposition…We will be attending all their meetings.”
The Shiv Sena (UBT), which had warned Congress leader Rahul Gandhi against “insulting” Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar, said on Wednesday that the issue has been resolved and they were “firmly united” with the Opposition parties in their fight against the BJP and the Narendra Modi government.“The issue has ended for us…The matter has been resolved,” MP Sanjay Raut, Uddhav Thackeray’s close confidant, told The Indian Express. “I have spoken to Rahul Gandhi about the issue,” he added.In his speech in Malegaon on Sunday, Uddhav Thackeray had warned Rahul Gandhi that the Sena (UBT) would not tolerate any insult to Savarkar. “Savarkar is our deity…we will not tolerate any insult to him,” Thackeray had said.Asked whether Gandhi had promised not to raise the Savarkar issue again, Raut said, “We do not want to speak about it anymore. As I have said, the matter has been resolved.”When asked what the party’s stand would be if Gandhi raises the issue again, Raut said, “If Rahul Gandhi raises the issue again, we will see what to do… But we are confident he will not raise the issue.”Raut said the Shiv Sena (UBT) will be attending the meetings convened by the Opposition or the Congress. The Sena had on Monday night skipped a meeting convened by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. “We are firmly united with the Opposition to save democracy and dislodge the BJP from power,” Raut said.On Tuesday, Congress communication head Jairam Ramesh said 19 parties were saying in one voice that democracy was in danger and “we have to unitedly face and fight the dictatorial government”. The Shiv Sena (UBT), he said, was one of the 19 parties.“There were 18 parties last night. Today, I have said 19. The number will go up from 18 to 19 when Shiv Sena is part of the group,” Ramesh said at a press conference in Delhi on Tuesday. To this, Raut said, “We are with the Congress and the Opposition…We will be attending all their meetings.”
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi purposefully throws mud at others without any authentication despite being cautioned by Supreme Court once, and it is his “arrogance” that has led him to this point where he stands disqualified from Lok Sabha, according to BJP leader and Union Minister Anurag Thakur.“There are seven ongoing defamation cases where Rahul Gandhi is out on bail, including the one where he called RSS the killer of Mahatma Gandhi, and the 2009 case in Patna court again where he called the Modi community thief,” Thakur told The Indian Express on Tuesday.He said that in 2018, Rahul had given a written apology to the Supreme Court, and the court had categorically told him to exercise caution in the future. “But he has not learnt from the Supreme Court order,” Thakur.“In this particular case, he had the opportunity to apologise (in court) and get away. But it is his arrogance and high-headedness that have led him to this point where he stands disqualified today,” the minister said, referring to the criminal defamation case in which the Congress leader was convicted last week.On the Opposition’s allegations that Rahul has been disqualified purposefully to stop him from raising the Adani issue in Parliament, Thakur said, “The moment an MP or MLA stands convicted and gets a two-year jail, he gets disqualified. It is not for the Lok Sabha to decide and issue any order, it happens by default, he is immediately disqualified.”Rahul had the remedy to go to a higher court to get a stay on the conviction, but again, he showed arrogance, Thakur said. “Despite being disqualified, you (Rahul) think you are bigger than the nation, Parliament, and law.”Thakur further said that Rahul was always unfit for Parliament. “Ab yeh ayogya ho gaye hain (for Parliament), par yogya to yeh pehle bhi nahi the. His attendance is below average, and he has hardly participated in debates or raised questions for the common people,” he said.“To top it all, he raises questions about the country on foreign soil. He called the Indian Army in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh an occupation force,” the minister said. “Those who need help from international forces go to foreign soil and tarnish India.”The BJP leader said Rahul was convicted for something he said, a crime he committed, and this had nothing to do with the Adani issue that the Congress is trying to raise. “Tomorrow, he might be jailed for the National Herald case, or in any other defamation cases that he is out on bail for, his own offences can’t be connected to other issues, be it Adani or something else,” he said.Thakur said the Congress would pay the price for Rahul’s arrogance and his comments after disqualification. His own party’s OBC (Other Backward Classes) leaders are refusing to stand up for him, fearing they will lose their vote bank while his Savarkar comments have upset the Shiv Sena, and even threatened their alliance. “Now, if Uddhav (Thackeray) is back in the same frame as Rahul, people will question his ideology and intention,” he said.“Rahul’s own party’s MPs and MLAs in Maharashtra are upset with the Congress party,” he said.On Priyanka Gandhi invoking Hindu deity Ram to counter BJP’s allegations of dynastic politics, Thakur said, “Those who never believed in Lord Ram and Ram Setu, and were against Ram Mandir, today they have the audacity to compare their own family with Lord Ram.”On the Opposition’s accusation that the government is using agencies against their leaders, Thakur said, “They should not create political pressure to stop probe against them; if there are complaints, there will be an investigation, be it Lalu Prasad or K Kavitha or Manish Sisodia.”On how his party is going to clear the air on the Adani issue, which has created a logjam in Parliament, Thakur said the government has nothing to hide. “The SBI made a statement, so did RBI, SEBI … even the Finance Minister made a statement,” he said, adding categorically that a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe remains out of question.With the current Parliament session heading for a washout, Thakur said, “Budget has gone through, other Bills will be passed, but what Parliament stands for – debate, discussion, deliberation – that has not happened.”
Why does the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from Parliament last week have the reek of dirty politics? Why does a Prime Minister with the highest approval ratings of any world leader seem afraid of a man his spokesmen routinely dismiss as a goof? Why does the most powerful political party in the world seem suddenly unsure of its stature? If you think I have the answers to these questions, you are wrong, but they are questions that are being asked and should be asked.Rahul Gandhi may not be the most skillful politician, but it is hard to see him as a criminal who deserves to have his entire political career ended because he made a silly speech. The court in Surat that sentenced him to two years in prison for ‘criminally defaming’ everyone whose name is Modi had barely announced its judgement when the administrative machinery of Parliament swung into action. The court gave him thirty days to appeal against the sentence but before any appeal could be filed Rahul found himself disqualified as the Member of Parliament from Wayanad.It is not the legality of what has happened that should be a cause of concern but the politics that seems to envelope what happened. Ever since Rahul said ‘on foreign soil’ that democracy in India has been weakened since Narendra Modi became prime minister, he has been a BJP target. For the first time ever, Parliament was prevented from functioning not because of the opposition but because of the treasury benches. Senior ministers lined up to demand stridently in the house and outside that Rahul Gandhi apologize to Parliament for saying that he was prevented from speaking in it.After the ‘A’ team had finished their attack, the BJP’s ‘B’ team that consists of its spokesmen was ordered to attack and they did. Brutally. One spokesman, who has been the TV face of the party, went to the extent of declaring that Rahul was the Mir Jaffar of our times. For those who do not remember this historical figure, a short reminder. He was the traitor who helped the British win the Battle of Plassey. What did Rahul say in London or Cambridge University that makes him a traitor? Nothing.He wanted to come to Parliament to answer the charges being flung at him by the BJP but was not allowed to speak. After this, came the disqualification without giving him time to appeal the sentence. So, what is really going on? Could it be that the most popular leader in the world is seriously worried about a man who has led the Congress Party to two defeats in general elections? The more important question is why Narendra Modi appears to be going out of his way to prove Rahul Gandhi’s charge that he has crippled our democratic institutions by exerting upon them his immense power?Surely, he does not believe that Rahul is so big a criminal that he has no place in Parliament. He cannot possibly support Rahul’s disqualification since according to the Association of Democratic Reforms, 39% (116) of the BJP’s winning candidates in 2019 had criminal cases against them. The Congress Party scored higher at 57% or 29 MPs with criminal records. Many have charges far more serious on their records than criminal defamation. All Rahul did was ask rhetorically why it seemed that all crooks were called Modi. This comment offended a BJP man whose name was Modi, so he filed criminal defamation charges on behalf of the entire Modi community.What worries me as someone who has covered Indian politics for a very long time is how very thin-skinned our politicians seem to have become. Clearly, they have not heard what the American President, Harry Truman, said about the pressures of public life. “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” It is worth remembering Truman’s words because the defining trait of nearly all our public figures in recent times is that they are offended so easily that even the once mighty Indian media has learned the art of kowtowing. This is unfortunate because we already have high officials and Bollywood stars kowtowing and opposition leaders living in mortal dread of the midnight knock that could bring either the Enforcement Directorate or the Central Bureau of Investigation to their doors.Meanwhile, the Budget got passed last week without debate because Parliament has not functioned in the hope that Rahul Gandhi will apologise for saying that Indian democracy is under threat. Now, he has no need to because the doors of Parliament house are closed to him for the immediate future. The question really is whether all this will help the BJP win a third term and the answer is that by the time the next general election comes around, who knows how many more opposition leaders will find themselves reluctant to stay in the kitchen because the heat has got too intense.For the moment, they seem to all be standing on the side of Rahul Gandhi and that is good news. So far, they have been suspicious of the Congress Party’s projection of their leader as a future prime minister, and many have said more than once that who becomes prime minister can only be decided after the election results come. Now we have Arvind Kejriwal saying that this is not Rahul Gandhi’s fight alone but theirs as well.
Why does the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from Parliament last week have the reek of dirty politics? Why does a Prime Minister with the highest approval ratings of any world leader seem afraid of a man his spokesmen routinely dismiss as a goof? Why does the most powerful political party in the world seem suddenly unsure of its stature? If you think I have the answers to these questions, you are wrong, but they are questions that are being asked and should be asked.Rahul Gandhi may not be the most skillful politician, but it is hard to see him as a criminal who deserves to have his entire political career ended because he made a silly speech. The court in Surat that sentenced him to two years in prison for ‘criminally defaming’ everyone whose name is Modi had barely announced its judgement when the administrative machinery of Parliament swung into action. The court gave him thirty days to appeal against the sentence but before any appeal could be filed Rahul found himself disqualified as the Member of Parliament from Wayanad.It is not the legality of what has happened that should be a cause of concern but the politics that seems to envelope what happened. Ever since Rahul said ‘on foreign soil’ that democracy in India has been weakened since Narendra Modi became prime minister, he has been a BJP target. For the first time ever, Parliament was prevented from functioning not because of the opposition but because of the treasury benches. Senior ministers lined up to demand stridently in the house and outside that Rahul Gandhi apologize to Parliament for saying that he was prevented from speaking in it.After the ‘A’ team had finished their attack, the BJP’s ‘B’ team that consists of its spokesmen was ordered to attack and they did. Brutally. One spokesman, who has been the TV face of the party, went to the extent of declaring that Rahul was the Mir Jaffar of our times. For those who do not remember this historical figure, a short reminder. He was the traitor who helped the British win the Battle of Plassey. What did Rahul say in London or Cambridge University that makes him a traitor? Nothing.He wanted to come to Parliament to answer the charges being flung at him by the BJP but was not allowed to speak. After this, came the disqualification without giving him time to appeal the sentence. So, what is really going on? Could it be that the most popular leader in the world is seriously worried about a man who has led the Congress Party to two defeats in general elections? The more important question is why Narendra Modi appears to be going out of his way to prove Rahul Gandhi’s charge that he has crippled our democratic institutions by exerting upon them his immense power?Surely, he does not believe that Rahul is so big a criminal that he has no place in Parliament. He cannot possibly support Rahul’s disqualification since according to the Association of Democratic Reforms, 39% (116) of the BJP’s winning candidates in 2019 had criminal cases against them. The Congress Party scored higher at 57% or 29 MPs with criminal records. Many have charges far more serious on their records than criminal defamation. All Rahul did was ask rhetorically why it seemed that all crooks were called Modi. This comment offended a BJP man whose name was Modi, so he filed criminal defamation charges on behalf of the entire Modi community.What worries me as someone who has covered Indian politics for a very long time is how very thin-skinned our politicians seem to have become. Clearly, they have not heard what the American President, Harry Truman, said about the pressures of public life. “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” It is worth remembering Truman’s words because the defining trait of nearly all our public figures in recent times is that they are offended so easily that even the once mighty Indian media has learned the art of kowtowing. This is unfortunate because we already have high officials and Bollywood stars kowtowing and opposition leaders living in mortal dread of the midnight knock that could bring either the Enforcement Directorate or the Central Bureau of Investigation to their doors.Meanwhile, the Budget got passed last week without debate because Parliament has not functioned in the hope that Rahul Gandhi will apologise for saying that Indian democracy is under threat. Now, he has no need to because the doors of Parliament house are closed to him for the immediate future. The question really is whether all this will help the BJP win a third term and the answer is that by the time the next general election comes around, who knows how many more opposition leaders will find themselves reluctant to stay in the kitchen because the heat has got too intense.For the moment, they seem to all be standing on the side of Rahul Gandhi and that is good news. So far, they have been suspicious of the Congress Party’s projection of their leader as a future prime minister, and many have said more than once that who becomes prime minister can only be decided after the election results come. Now we have Arvind Kejriwal saying that this is not Rahul Gandhi’s fight alone but theirs as well.
The April 17 summons is on a defamation case filed by Rahul Ramesh Shewale.New Delhi: Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, his son and former state minister Aditya Thackeray, and his close confidante Sanjay Raut were today summoned by the Delhi High Court in a defamation case. The April 17 summons is in connection with a petition filed by Rahul Ramesh Shewale, an MP from the rival Eknath Shinde camp of the Shiv Sena.Mr Raut and other leaders from the Thackeray camp had claimed that Maharashtra Chief Minister Mr Shinde and his fellow leaders "bought" the 'bow and arrow' symbol of the Shiv Sena for Rs 2,000 crore.Mr Shewale in his petition to the court demanded that it restrain the Thackeray camp leaders from making such remarks in the future. The court, however, said it wouldn't pass an order without hearing the other party as it's a political issue.Rahul Ramesh Shewale's lawyer during the hearing said that Sanjay Raut and others had made the allegation against an institution like the Election Commission of India. The Delhi High Court said the ECI is capable of responding to such claims.The Election Commission recently recognised the faction led by Mr Shinde as the Shiv Sena and allotted it the "bow and arrow" poll symbol.Eknath Shinde, who calls himself the true inheritor of the legacy of Shiv Sena founder and Uddhav Thackeray's father Bal Thackeray, has accused the Shiv Sena (UBT) chief of attempting to destroy the careers of leaders of his own party.Naming Raj Thackeray, Uddhav Thackeray's estranged cousin, and Narayan Rane, among others who left his side, Mr Shinde said he had never seen a leader who conspires with other political parties to destroy the political careers of his own people.''How will the party grow in such a situation? I am not 'gaddar' (traitor) but 'khuddar' (a self-respecting person). Uddhav Thackeray doesn't have the right to call us traitors," he said.Upset at Mr Thackeray for compromising with Shiv Sena's core ideals and ditching the BJP to form an alliance government with direct rivals Congress and Sharad Pawar-led NCP, Mr Shinde launched a coup that brought down the Maha Vikas Agadi government.PromotedListen to the latest songs, only on JioSaavn.comEknath Shinde, along with 39 Shiv Sena MLAs, joined forces with the BJP, which he said was his party's natural ally, and formed a new government with BJP's Devendra Fadnavis as his deputy.Shiv Sena last week sacked Sanjay Raut as the leader of its parliamentary party and appointed Lok Sabha MP Gajanan Kirtikar as his successor.
India’s political system is veering towards a full-blown tyranny. The targeting of Opposition leaders leading to the farcical disqualification of Rahul Gandhi, the hounding of civil society and research organisations, censorship of information, the suppression of protest, are harbingers of a full-blown system of rule where all the interlocking parts add up to the one objective of tyrannical rule: To create pervasive fear.These actions are alarming, not because this or that leader has been targeted. They are alarming because the current BJP government is signaling not just that it will not tolerate the Opposition. It will not, under any circumstances, even contemplate or allow a smooth transition of power. For, what these actions reveal is a ruthless lust for power, combined with a determination to use any means to secure it. Neither the form of power the BJP seeks, nor the ends they deploy to achieve it, knows any constraints or bounds. That is the quintessential hallmark of tyranny.In a democracy, a smooth transition of power in a fair election requires several conditions. The ruthless crushing of the Opposition and the squelching of liberty erodes these conditions. The first is that professional politicians treat each other as members of the same profession, not as existential enemies to be vanquished by any means. Once a regime does that to its opponents, it fears the consequences of losing power. It can no longer rest in the comfortable belief that democracy is a game of rotating power; transitions should be routine. Can you now imagine Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Amit Shah or their minions calmly contemplating the prospect that they could ever be in the Opposition, after the hubris they have deployed against opponents and critics? The hallmark of tyrants is impunity in power and therefore an existential fear of losing it.The issue is not whether the government is popular. It may well be. Tyranny can be a stepchild of democracy, as Plato knew so well. The insatiable show and assertion of power the BJP is engaged in traps them in a logic where they will seek to create the conditions in which a fair and open contest is no longer possible. Their institutional imagination is paranoid — desperately trying to shut out even the slightest opening from which light might appear. What else but a paranoid system would target small think tanks or civil society organisations that do social service? What else but a paranoid system would appear to politically orchestrate a disqualification of an Opposition MP?And this same paranoia will make the prospect of even risking a fair electoral contest from now on a non-starter. Paranoia is the seed of all repression and we are now seeing it in full measure.Political parties that situate themselves as unique vanguards of a majoritarian national identity find it difficult to relinquish power. In normal politics there are many sides to an argument, and we can all pretend that different sides are acting in good faith even when we disagree. But when the ideological project is singularly communal and wears the garb of nationalism, every dissent is treated as treason. Ideological parties like the BJP will play by the electoral rules when they are not in a position to wield power, or when they feel electorally secure. But once this regime is entrenched, it will think it is its historical destiny to act as a kind of nationalist vanguard, no matter what the circumstances.In its own imagination, this nationalism will justify everything: From playing footloose with the law to outright violence. It has institutionalised vigilantism, violence and hate into the fabric of politics and the state. But this culture is not just difficult to dismantle. It is also part of a preparation to exercise other options in case a purely political hold on power is no longer possible. Parties that have institutionalised structures of violence are less likely to give up power unless they are massively repudiated.But the logic of tyranny goes further. Increasingly, the issue is not just the weaknesses of the Opposition parties. Even in the wake of this disqualification, Congress’s political reflexes, the willingness of its members to risk anything, and its ability to mobilise street power, is seriously in doubt. Opposition unity is still a chimera, more performative at the moment than real.But has the psychology of tyranny now been internalised by enough Indians to make resistance more difficult? India still has the potential for protest on many issues. But what is increasingly in doubt is whether India wishes to resist deepening authoritarianism.To take one example, India’s elites, broadly understood, have gone well past the quotidian fear of those in power. This kind of fear often expresses itself in a gap between public utterances and private beliefs. But what is happening is something far more insidious, where a combination of fear or outright support for government is so deeply internalised that even private demurring from blatantly authoritarian and communal actions has become rare. Ask any victim, who has been the object of the state’s wrath, whether they are at the receiving end of horrendous violence, or targets of administrative or legal harassment. Even the private shows of support will disappear as swiftly as the state intervenes. This suggests either a deep-seated cowardice or a normalisation of authoritarianism.The hallmark of a successful tyranny is to induce a sense of unreality in those who support it. This sense of unreality means no disconfirming evidence can dent their support for the regime. In this world, India has little unemployment, its institutions are fine, it has ascended to the glorious heights of world leadership, it has not ceded any territory to China, and there is no concentration of capital or regulatory capture. But the unreality centres mostly on the lynchpin of this system of tyranny, the prime minister. In his hands, repression becomes an act of purification, his hubris a mark of his ambition, his decimation of institutions a national service.Institutionally and psychologically, we are already inhabiting a tyranny, even if its violence is not in your face. A regime that is paranoid and full of impunity will overreach. But what is the threshold of overreach? The threshold seems to be shifting higher and higher. Communalism was unleashed. No reaction. The information order collapsed. No reaction. The judicial heart stopped beating. No reaction. The Opposition is being vanquished by unfair means. No reaction. Such is the logic of tyranny that the ogres of oppression roam free, while we look on indifferently as justice and freedom are tied in chains.
India’s political system is veering towards a full-blown tyranny. The targeting of Opposition leaders leading to the farcical disqualification of Rahul Gandhi, the hounding of civil society and research organisations, censorship of information, the suppression of protest, are harbingers of a full-blown system of rule where all the interlocking parts add up to the one objective of tyrannical rule: To create pervasive fear.These actions are alarming, not because this or that leader has been targeted. They are alarming because the current BJP government is signaling not just that it will not tolerate the Opposition. It will not, under any circumstances, even contemplate or allow a smooth transition of power. For, what these actions reveal is a ruthless lust for power, combined with a determination to use any means to secure it. Neither the form of power the BJP seeks, nor the ends they deploy to achieve it, knows any constraints or bounds. That is the quintessential hallmark of tyranny.In a democracy, a smooth transition of power in a fair election requires several conditions. The ruthless crushing of the Opposition and the squelching of liberty erodes these conditions. The first is that professional politicians treat each other as members of the same profession, not as existential enemies to be vanquished by any means. Once a regime does that to its opponents, it fears the consequences of losing power. It can no longer rest in the comfortable belief that democracy is a game of rotating power; transitions should be routine. Can you now imagine Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Amit Shah or their minions calmly contemplating the prospect that they could ever be in the Opposition, after the hubris they have deployed against opponents and critics? The hallmark of tyrants is impunity in power and therefore an existential fear of losing it.The issue is not whether the government is popular. It may well be. Tyranny can be a stepchild of democracy, as Plato knew so well. The insatiable show and assertion of power the BJP is engaged in traps them in a logic where they will seek to create the conditions in which a fair and open contest is no longer possible. Their institutional imagination is paranoid — desperately trying to shut out even the slightest opening from which light might appear. What else but a paranoid system would target small think tanks or civil society organisations that do social service? What else but a paranoid system would appear to politically orchestrate a disqualification of an Opposition MP?And this same paranoia will make the prospect of even risking a fair electoral contest from now on a non-starter. Paranoia is the seed of all repression and we are now seeing it in full measure.Political parties that situate themselves as unique vanguards of a majoritarian national identity find it difficult to relinquish power. In normal politics there are many sides to an argument, and we can all pretend that different sides are acting in good faith even when we disagree. But when the ideological project is singularly communal and wears the garb of nationalism, every dissent is treated as treason. Ideological parties like the BJP will play by the electoral rules when they are not in a position to wield power, or when they feel electorally secure. But once this regime is entrenched, it will think it is its historical destiny to act as a kind of nationalist vanguard, no matter what the circumstances.In its own imagination, this nationalism will justify everything: From playing footloose with the law to outright violence. It has institutionalised vigilantism, violence and hate into the fabric of politics and the state. But this culture is not just difficult to dismantle. It is also part of a preparation to exercise other options in case a purely political hold on power is no longer possible. Parties that have institutionalised structures of violence are less likely to give up power unless they are massively repudiated.But the logic of tyranny goes further. Increasingly, the issue is not just the weaknesses of the Opposition parties. Even in the wake of this disqualification, Congress’s political reflexes, the willingness of its members to risk anything, and its ability to mobilise street power, is seriously in doubt. Opposition unity is still a chimera, more performative at the moment than real.But has the psychology of tyranny now been internalised by enough Indians to make resistance more difficult? India still has the potential for protest on many issues. But what is increasingly in doubt is whether India wishes to resist deepening authoritarianism.To take one example, India’s elites, broadly understood, have gone well past the quotidian fear of those in power. This kind of fear often expresses itself in a gap between public utterances and private beliefs. But what is happening is something far more insidious, where a combination of fear or outright support for government is so deeply internalised that even private demurring from blatantly authoritarian and communal actions has become rare. Ask any victim, who has been the object of the state’s wrath, whether they are at the receiving end of horrendous violence, or targets of administrative or legal harassment. Even the private shows of support will disappear as swiftly as the state intervenes. This suggests either a deep-seated cowardice or a normalisation of authoritarianism.The hallmark of a successful tyranny is to induce a sense of unreality in those who support it. This sense of unreality means no disconfirming evidence can dent their support for the regime. In this world, India has little unemployment, its institutions are fine, it has ascended to the glorious heights of world leadership, it has not ceded any territory to China, and there is no concentration of capital or regulatory capture. But the unreality centres mostly on the lynchpin of this system of tyranny, the prime minister. In his hands, repression becomes an act of purification, his hubris a mark of his ambition, his decimation of institutions a national service.Institutionally and psychologically, we are already inhabiting a tyranny, even if its violence is not in your face. A regime that is paranoid and full of impunity will overreach. But what is the threshold of overreach? The threshold seems to be shifting higher and higher. Communalism was unleashed. No reaction. The information order collapsed. No reaction. The judicial heart stopped beating. No reaction. The Opposition is being vanquished by unfair means. No reaction. Such is the logic of tyranny that the ogres of oppression roam free, while we look on indifferently as justice and freedom are tied in chains.
In the wake of Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from the Lok Sabha following his conviction in a defamation case, Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole on Sunday asked why Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not facing a similar action for constantly criticising Sonia Gandhi and late PM Rajiv Gandhi.He said Rahul Gandhi was being punished for becoming the voice of the people, and added that his disqualification was against democratic values.Members of the Nagpur District Congress Committee and party workers led by Patole, former Union minister Vilas Muttemwar and other leaders staged a day-long 'Sankalp Satyagraha' protest at the Sanvidhan square to show their solidarity with Rahul Gandhi."Democracy in the country is facing a big threat because of the Modi-led government's autocratic rule. Rahul Gandhi had been constantly raising the issue of fugitive economic offenders Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi, who ran away with the country's money. This is what the Opposition does and it is the duty of the government to reply," Patole said in a press conference during the protest."The country's prime minister constantly attacked the Gandhi family and their (BJP) ministers insulted former Congress president Sonia Gandhi in the Lok Sabha. They call Rahul Gandhi anti-national, forgetting that he is the grandson of a freedom fighter and son of a martyr. They are targeting members of a family who have sacrificed their lives and this fight is against this mindset of calling a nationalist an anti-national," he alleged.Rahul Gandhi was sentenced to two years in jail for calling Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi thieves, he claimed."I want to question why there is no action against PM Modi, who constantly attacks Sonia Gandhi and called Rajiv Gandhi 'chor' (thief)? Why is he not getting this kind of punishment?" he asked.Rahul Gandhi was becoming the voice of people, and disqualifying him from the Lok Sabha was against the values of democracy and injustice to him, Mr Patole said.The Congress leader announced that a huge rally will be taken out on March 29 against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at various places across India.Gandhi, representing Wayanad parliamentary constituency in Kerala, was on Friday disqualified from the Lok Sabha, a day after his conviction in a defamation case by a court in Surat in Gujarat.PromotedListen to the latest songs, only on JioSaavn.comThe court sentenced Gandhi to two years in jail in the defamation case over his "Modi surname" remarks at a 2019 poll rally in Karnataka. However, the court also granted him bail and suspended the sentence for 30 days to allow him to appeal in a higher court.(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Senior Maharashtra Congress leader Ashok Chavan on Friday said by disqualifying party leader Rahul Gandhi as a Lok Sabha member, the BJP-led Central government has brought down the level of politics. Taking to Twitter, Chavan alleged the Centre had taken such an action because it does not want people to raise their voices and speak against it. Gandhi has been disqualified as a Lok Sabha member after a court in Gujarat's Surat convicted him in a 2019 defamation case and sentenced him to two years imprisonment. The court has granted him bail and suspended the sentence for 30 days to allow him to appeal in a higher court. "By disqualifying Rahul Gandhi as a member of Parliament, the central government has brought down the level of politics," the former chief minister tweeted. The whole situation is frustrating, he said, adding that he condemns the move that has strangled democracy.Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Council Ambadas Danve in a tweet said the action against Gandhi makes the Central government's policy and intentions towards the Opposition clear. Despite enjoying majority in the Parliament, such an action against a legislator of the opposition party is the outcome of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, he said.
The Maharashtra Assembly has become the fourth state legislature to pass a resolution against the BBC documentary on the Gujarat riots, saying the film attempted to malign the country’s judiciary and create a religious divide.The resolution, moved by BJP member Atul Bhatkhalkar, was passed by a voice vote on Saturday. The Opposition was not in the House when it was taken up.The other states that have passed similar resolutions are:AssamOn March 23, the Assam Assembly passed a resolution against the BBC documentary, demanding “strictest possible action” against the broadcaster’s “malicious, dangerous agenda to instigate religious communities, flare religious tension and malign India’s global standing”.BJP MLA Bhubon Pegu, who moved the resolution, questioned the timing of the release of the documentary and alleged an “international conspiracy” against India. “It was a very saddening and heartbreaking event. What can be the BBC’s motive behind making this documentary 20 years later? They could have made it then, in 2010, or in 2012. But what is the motive behind broadcasting it in February 2023? This is the time of India becoming rashtraguru, of assuming G20 presidency, when PM Narendra Modi is giving leadership to the world … One year ago, after administering vaccines to 220 crore people, India’s economy crossed Great Britain’s economy to become the fifth-largest economy in the world. That is the real tragedy of Britain. That is the real tragedy of the BBC. It is hurting them that a country they ruled for 200 years has now surpassed them to become the fifth-largest economy. They are not able to digest this … This is an international conspiracy against India,” he said.Congress MLA Debadrata Saikia argued that the question was not one that concerned the state Assembly and hence need not be discussed. He went on to cite an earlier documentary made by the BBC.Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “This is related to Assam too, because it’s connected with the independence of the Indian judiciary. It is not about the BBC, it is about respecting the judiciary or judicial orders … Some days ago, a Supreme Court Bench, comprising Justice A M Khan, Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and Justice C T Ravikumar, not only gave clean chit to Narendra Modi in its 450-page judgment, they also went ahead to describe the entire episode as a political conspiracy. ”Madhya PradeshOn March 13, the Madhya Pradesh legislature passed a censure motion against the BBC after it was introduced as a private member’s resolution by BJP MLA Shailendra Jain and seconded by Minister Narottam Mishra.Before the motion was passed by voice vote, Jain said the BBC had telecast an objectionable documentary by misinterpreting the 2002 Gujarat riots and portrayed Narendra Modi in a bad light.He said the documentary had also cast aspersions on the country’s judiciary, which amounts to contempt of court, and added that the judiciary works independently and freely in India. Jain said the Central government should take action against the broadcaster.GujaratOn March 11, the Gujarat Assembly became the first to move such a resolution. It demanded “strict” action against BBC for airing a “fabricated” documentary that was used as a “tool-kit” to “defame” Modi and destabilise India. However, Congress MLAs, who were earlier suspended for protesting against the change of “prasad” at Ambaji temple, were absent from the Assembly.The private member’s resolution, moved by Sojitra MLA Vipul Patel of the BJP, was passed after ruling party MLAs discussed the resolution for almost 90 minutes. “The passage of a private member’s resolution unanimously by all the members present is a big thing. This reflects how much anger is there among the masses regarding the BBC documentary,” Speaker Chaudhary said afterwards.“BBC seems to be working with a hidden agenda against the country and the government of India,” stated the resolution, adding it was nothing but an “agenda” against PM Modi whose “prestige, image and leadership” had been appreciated internationally.Minister Harsh Sanghavi listed the chronology of the Godhra train carnage of 2002 and cited the comments made against the documentary by UK MP Bob Blackman and Member of House of Lords of UK Raminder Ranger. “This documentary is nothing but a tool-kit to act against India. In psychology, you might have heard of phobia. Some media suffer from Modi-phobia or India-phobia,” he said.Vadodara City MLA Manisha Vakil said the documentary hurt the sentiments of millions of Indians. “The BBC documentary is a mere international propaganda. It is totally biased and showcases the colonial mindset that deliberately tries to misinform its viewer. It is working under the guise of media freedom,” she said.
On Tuesday, the Assam Assembly passed a resolution against the BBC for its documentary on the 2002 riots that questioned the role of the Gujarat government led by Narendra Modi, demanding “strictest possible action” against the broadcaster’s “malicious, dangerous agenda to instigate religious communities, flare religious tension and malign India’s global standing”. Excerpts from the discussion around the resolution, which was moved by Jonai BJP MLA Bhubon Pegu.FORBhubon Pegu, BJPMoving the resolution, Pegu questioned the timing of the release of the documentary and alleged an “international conspiracy” against India. “It was a very saddening and heart-breaking event. What can be the BBC’s motive behind making this documentary 20 years later? They could have made it then, in 2010, or in 2012. But what is the motive behind broadcasting it in February 2023? This is the time of India becoming rashtraguru, of assuming G20 presidency, when PM Narendra Modi is giving leadership to the world… One year ago, after administering vaccines to 220 crore people, India’s economy crossed Great Britain’s economy to become the fifth largest economy in the world. That is the real tragedy of Britain. That is the real tragedy of the BBC. It is hurting them that a country they ruled for 200 years has now surpassed them to become the fifth largest economy. They are not able to digest this… This is an international conspiracy against India,” he said.AGAINSTDebabrata Saika, Congress, Leader of OppositionSaikia argued that the question is not one that concerns the state Assembly, and hence need not be discussed. He went on to cite an earlier documentary made by the BBC. “The BBC is a public corporation, it is not controlled by the [British] government, so it can speak the truth. When (Winston) Churchill was the Prime Minister during World War 2, the BBC had even criticised him… In 2013, Modi called the BBC the most trustworthy news platform because in 2010, it had made a documentary called A Sikh Story on the events of 1984 after PM Indira Gandhi’s assassination. This was made 26 years after those events… Even though there was a Congress government at the time, it didn’t try to get the film removed by saying it’s bad,” he said.He referred to the government reaction as an attack on the freedom of the press. “After the documentary was telecast, raids on BJP agencies immediately stopped. This and many other cases are nothing but an attempt to warn media houses to fall in line. It is a blatant way of censoring press freedom. In the World Press Freedom Index 2022 list, India plummeted to the 150th position. The falling rank indicates the way this country is treating the media and how restrictions have been imposed using symbolic and indicative means… At a time when we are trying to present ourselves as Vishwaguru, why do we need to be bothered by what is being said in a documentary?” he asked.Aminul Islam Sr., AIUDFIslam Sr. opposed any discussion on the resolution, saying it was a waste of the Assembly’s time. “These events took place in Gujarat, which has its own Assembly. The subject, Narendra Modi is now the Prime Minister of the country. After this documentary was broadcast, we saw the ED raid the BBC office in Delhi. We do not think there is anything for this Assembly to do in the matter, given that the central government has already begun its own action with the ED raid… So our view is that the Assam Assembly’s valuable time can be spent on more pressing matters of the state… We don’t think it’s right to waste this Assembly’s precious time,” he said.Manoranjan Talukdar, CPI(M)Talukdar said any discussion of this resolution could lead to a slippery slope, opening up possibilities for debates on many other similarly controversial topics in the Assembly. “If such a matter is brought to our Assembly, many other matters can also be introduced. There are lots of discussions happening now, about Adani and so on. If all these are debated in the House, we will be trapped in disagreements. Let the matter be tackled by the Central government,” he said.He also jokingly questioned how Pegu was so sure about the contents of the documentary. “Nobody here has seen the BBC documentary. It appears that Bhubon Pegu has watched it somehow, which is why he has introduced this resolution. How he managed to watch it, I don’t know. It would have been good if he had shown it to us as well. Then we would have been able to comment on what the BBC said in it,” he said.FORChief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, BJPThe thrust of Sarma’s argument was that the documentary was an attack on the Indian judiciary. “This is related to Assam too, because it’s connected with the independence of the Indian judiciary. It is not about the BBC, it is about respecting the judiciary or judicial orders… Some days ago, a Supreme Court Bench, comprising Justice A M Khan, Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and Justice C T Ravikumar, not only gave clean chit to Narendra Modi in its 450-page judgment, they also went ahead to describe the entire episode as a political conspiracy,” he said.He also argued that the timing of the documentary’s release made the BBC’s motives suspicious. “When did the BBC release the documentary? Just when a G20 delegation had come to Assam, right after India had assumed its presidency, or when it was decided that five G20 meetings will be held in the state? It could also have been released before the Supreme Court verdict. But they released this documentary just after the Supreme Court concluded hearing the matter and called it a political conspiracy. Assam is also connected to G20 because it is our duty to host five of the G20 meetings,” he said.He also alleged a conspiracy to impair India’s growth.“They want to challenge the Indian judiciary. They want to challenge India. It can also be that the country they used to run, whose economy we have recently overtaken to become the fifth largest in the world… Maybe we will become the fourth largest by 2027… We see the BBC documentary as an international conspiracy against India to stop foreign investment from coming to India and to lower respect for it,” he said.AGAINSTDebabrata Saikia, CongressSaikia next referred to a 2004 judgment by the Bombay High Court. “When D Y Chandrachud was a Bombay High Court judge, there was a plea against the ban of a film, set in the backdrop of the Gujarat riots, called Chand Bujh Gaya. In his judgment, Justice Chandrachud wrote, “Every citizen has a right to speak, as indeed a right to know. Nothing can be more destructive of the social fabric of a democratic society than the government’s attempt at preventing access to information. In an environment, in which human rights are respected, is nurtured by a vibrant flow of information and avenues for a critical assessment of governance…’”Himanta Biswa Sarma, BJPHe refuted Saikia’s reference to the judgment, saying, “The opening paras of the judgment that the LoP read out, said ‘every citizen’. The BBC is not a citizen of India… Freedom of speech or judgment won’t extend to the BBC.”
Ahead of the Rajasthan assembly elections later this year, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Thursday appointed Lok Sabha MP CP Joshi as its state president, the party said in a statement. Joshi will replace Satish Poonia, who is the MLA from Jaipur’s Amber constituency.In another major reshuffle, Samrat Choudhary, a Member of the Legislative Council in Bihar was appointed as the president of the state unit, while Virendra Sachdeva was appointed as the BJP Delhi chief.Manmohan Samal, a former state minister, has been appointed as the party’s Odisha unit president.
After being asked to step in as the party’s working president following its defeat in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) polls last year, Delhi BJP working president Virendra Sachdeva was formally handed over the reins of the party’s state unit on Thursday.Party sources said its senior leadership had increasingly become convinced that Sachdeva had performed “really well” at leading the charge against an increasingly embattled Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as a slew of corruption allegations emerged against it over the last few months.“It was only a matter of time; the party was waiting for the auspicious Navratras to make the formal announcement along with those of many other state unit presidents,” a party leader said.Sachdeva was among four state unit presidents appointed by the BJP after being vetted by national president J P Nadda on Thursday morning.Sachdeva, 53, who belongs to a Punjabi family that came to India following Partition, was raised in Old Delhi’s Chandni Chowk and has strong support from his community as well as among traders in the capital.Currently a resident of East Delhi’s Patparganj, Sachdeva is credited with having ensured the BJP’s 60% vote share in the East Delhi constituency where it won 22 out of 36 seats.He has been active in politics since 1988 and has held several roles ranging from the party’s general secretary to vice president, a post he was appointed to in 2020.Sachdeva is leading the BJP’s strategy of cornering the AAP over 10 specific corruption allegations and gradually upping the ante against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.In an interview with The Indian Express in February, when asked about his current status in the party’s state unit, Sachdeva had said, “I was, am, and will always remain a party worker. I never thought that I will be given this responsibility. All my responsibilities, including the ones I have now and the ones that will be assigned to me in the future, are all according to the leadership. This will continue.”
