West Bengal BJP President Dilip Ghosh has said if any Bengali has a chance to become country’s Prime Minister then Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is fit for the role.
Extending his greeting to Mamata on her 64th birthday on Saturday, Ghosh stated: “If a Bengali stands a chance to become the prime minister of the country then Mamata deserves it. She represents West Bengal and she is definitely a good prime minister candidate.”
When asked to mention a name from his own party who had the best chance to be the Prime Pinister, Ghosh asserted that only “Mamata Banerjee is ahead in the race right now”.
Ghosh’s statement comes as a surprise as he had recently slammed Mamata for halting BJP’s yatra in West Bengal.
He further said that the Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader, Jyoti Basu could not become the prime minister but Mamata can.
“Mamata Banerjee’s name is first in this list to become prime minister, it will be good that if a Bengali became prime minister. Jyoti Basu could not but Mamata can. Basu once came very close to becoming the prime minister, but he wasn’t supported by his own party,” Ghosh added.
From grassroot interactions, political wall-writings, posters and banners to using social media and other digital platforms or radio programmes that walked in hand with PM Modi’s ‘Digital India’, election campaigns in India have come a long way and with the most recent addition being movies as a mode to reach the voters. Be it the freshly released trailer of ‘The Accidental Prime Minister’ or ‘Uri: The Surgical Strike’ or movies like Indu Sarkar that is set during one of the darkest periods of the country i.e. the emergency period between 1975 to 1977 declared by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, the incumbent government in all manner of ways has made efforts to utilise the entertainment industry in its favour before the elections.
While the film ‘Uri: The Surgical Strike’ is based on the 2016 Indian Army’s surgical strikes on terror launch pads in Pakistan as a retaliation for the Uri attack that claimed the lives of 17 army personnel, the few minutes of ‘The Accidental Prime Minister’ as its trailer caught fire on social media in no time getting attacked for demeaning the former prime minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and its party.
The controversy around the trailer of ‘The Accidental Prime Minister’ has become the talk of the town with its propaganda to uplift the BJP while demeaning the former government. The trailer of the film starring veteran Anupam Kher as the former prime minister was launched in the last week of December 2018 where it showed scenes in which the soft-spoken former prime minister Dr. Singh appeared to be under pressure from his party, especially the then Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and her son and successor to the post, Rahul Gandhi. It shows Sonia Gandhi interfering in the former prime minister’s decisions while safeguarding her son’s interest who is apparently the heir to the throne. Anupam Kher plays the former PM as Suzanne Bernert plays Sonia Gandhi, Akshaye Khanna as Sanjaya Baru and Ahana Kumra and Arjun Mathur as Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi respectively. The film is based on a book by Sanjaya Baru’s book ‘The Accidental Prime Minister—The making and unmaking of Manmohan Singh’.
The political propaganda didn’t even stop there as the saffron party’s official Twitter handle pitched that people should watch the trailer to know if Dr. Singh “was just a regent who was holding on to the PM’s chair till the time heir was ready?” This provoked heavy bashing for the party and netizens even prompted jokes calling BJP a promotional partner of the film.
Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala took to Twitter and wrote, “Such fake propaganda by BJP won’t desist @INCIndia from questioning the Modi Govt on – Rural Distress, Rampant Unemployment, Demonetisation Disaster, Flawed GST, Failed Modinomics, All pervading Corruption!#ChowkidaarHiChorHai”.
Reacting on the ongoing controversies around the Anupam Kher starrer, BJP MP Amar Sable asserted, “This is the digital age and social media platforms are there to connect people and not to create controversies. Before creating any controversy, the film should be first seen and then decided whether it has shown anything controversial. If there’s something that the former PM has really done and it is portrayed (in the film), then the audience will accept it; otherwise, it should be protested against.”
Challenging what Sable said, senior Congress leader Madhu Chavan expressed, “Those politicians, who have lost their minds, can do anything for publicity. The name — ‘The Accidental Prime Minister’ — itself is questionable. How can a person who administered and piloted India through the economic crisis the world was facing during his regime, and also a person who has been the most knowledgeable economist Finance Minister in the world be named in such a way? We will protest against the film if it shows the former PM in a bad light. We will protest in such a way that it doesn’t get publicity from the controversies. We won’t let the film run if such a case arises.”
‘The Accidental Prime Minister’ by Vijay Ratnakar Gutte, which is going to release on January 11, is the latest inclusion in a line of politically motivated films that aim to propagate a specific ideology while diminishing the other. Another such example being “Indu Sarkar” (2017) set in the background of the ‘Emergency’ period between 1975 to 1977 by Madhur Bhandarkar showing the struggle of a housewife holding on to her morals, fighting to expose the government where her husband works. The meticulously titled “Indu Sarkar” (read Indu=Indira) points clearly to the prevailing government during the emergency.
“Uri”, that is scheduled to release on the same day, talks about one of the Modi governments highly publicised achievements — the 2016 surgical strikes. Helmed by Aditya Dhar and starring Vicky Kaushal, Yami Gautam, and Kirti Kulhari, the trailer speaks of a “Naya Hindustan” – a New India that won’t tolerate violence and will strike back resonating the current Prime Minister’s vows.
Political parties have always resorted to different kinds of political campaigns to reach the voters before elections. As the country moved towards globalisation, the arrival of the internet changed the topography of political campaigning with political trolls, memes, and cartoons being hurled at each other with the social media turning into a battleground. Now, it seems that the movie directors who are supporters of Narendra Modi are hell-bent on making movies which can support BJP in its election prospects before general elections this year. While the fanfare doesn’t seem to die down anytime soon, with films in the picture, it will be interesting to see whether such politically motivated movies will make any successful and widespread impact to bring the upcoming poll mandate in the favour of Modi-led government!
Actor-director Dr. Milind Inamdar commented, “These controversial films are made with the sole interest to create confusion among people and earn profits. There have been so many films made on social topics with little effect on society. Within some days, the film ‘Thackeray’ is also going to be released just like ‘The Accidental Prime Minister’. However, I don’t think this will have any impact on the voters. People will only choose the people who work for them. In other countries, controversial films are made even on the working Prime Ministers or the Supremoes, but they don’t create an issue with that. In our country, such films create issues just to rip the financial benefits.”
-Moumita Mukherjee
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With the beginning of the Election arena, 2018 was the last year for Modi rule, as this year will be the year of general elections 2019, most probably in the month of April or May. The two major national parties – BJP and Congress — will be locking horns in this 17th general election for securing a majority of seats in the lower house. The Modi government had targeted for two continuous terms and the way they were making clean sweeps in the state elections initially, was a proof of the Modi wave. But, the recent Gujarat elections and the uprisings in different parts of the country against the ‘Pro-Hindutva government’ show a very different side of the coin. BJP is currently ruling in 19 states with or without an alliance. But when it comes to public preview, let it be the state or centre, people know only one name and that is Modi.
The recent state election results were a jolt for BJP and now they have forced the party to introspect where it went wrong and what could have been the right approach. As far as Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh are concerned, the BJP was under power for the last 15 years. So, the question arises that what went wrong with them? Shivraj, with a never die attitude, even gathered more votes than Congress is travelling across and is still a beloved leader in the state. Raman Singh, who curbed down the Maoists in Chhattisgarh and took it to the growth path, made a quiet exit. Actually, what I understood is that BJP as a party is not working as an organisation. Please refer to all the rallies done by Modi in these elections. He talked about the electrification done by the central government, gas connections given to the poor, toilets made, houses made for the poor, highways made, insurance scheme introduced for the farmers, and so on. All credit goes to the central government. Not a single credit they claimed for their state governments and this is where I believe BJP needs to introspect. Be it Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, or Rajasthan, all these state governments were performing. These state governments performed very well but they got no credit or mention. It is always Modi and maybe this is a reason that the party has left a doubt in the minds of the voters that other than Modi, there is no one to perform in the party.
But the entire party and its leaders were seen, as it was one man who did all and that was Prime Minister Modi. He and only he was the performer who made all these miracles happen.
Now, look into this scenario with an organisational perspective. How can a leader perform until and unless his team is not performing? A leader is a leader because he has already performed and excelled but the team needs to be credited wherever due. However, that seems to be lacking in BJP. All these CMs while addressing rallies were praising the PM. The PM himself while addressing the masses was telling them what the central government has done so far. No one talked about these regional CMs or leaders while addressing people and that’s where they lacked in my view. Local cadres and people are more motivated by their local leaders rather than the national heads, the one who sits on the top. A person living in Madhya Pradesh will anyway be more influenced by Shivraj rather than the PM. If only PM could have tweeted enough or talked enough about him that what he did for his state in the last 15 years, it could have been a different scenario. It goes with Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan too. BJP needs to realise that it’s a cadre-based party, unlike Congress where it’s pre-decided who’s going to lead the party. After Nehru, it was Indira and people knew that. After Indira, it was Sanjay or Rajiv and people knew that too. After Rajiv, it was Sonia or Rahul and people knew this. After Rahul, people know that it will be some Vadra; however, for BJP, this is altogether a different game. No one knows whom after Modi? “WHO” is one big question for BJP and its supporters! You will find no answers because there has been no evaluation of his team. It’s only Modi who’s being evaluated. Whether he performed, whether he didn’t — all credit goes to him or all discredit.
It’s time BJP changes this scenario. Remember Indira is India and India is Indira? This same is happening with BJP. Modi is BJP and BJP is Modi. It’s time that Modi starts giving credit to his team members where it’s due. We’ve seen many performing and non-performing ministers in his cabinet. If we talk about performers, India needed leaders like Nitin Gadkari and Piyush Goyal. Actually, both these Ministers have outperformed their predecessors. Be it highways, infrastructure, and inland waterways, Nitin Gadkari has done a commendable job. Similarly, Piyush Goyal when it comes to Railways and electrification. But see their tweets, statements, and PM’s remarks. Either they are giving all the credits to the leadership of ‘Shri Modi’ or ‘Modi Ji’ taking credits for the job they have done. Giving credit to people who deserve is needed. Create a second strong line of leadership so that the voters and the cadres are aware who’s going to lead them in future. Remember since Advani was not promoted or seen as parallel to Vajpayee, BJP had to sit in Opposition for 10 long years even if there was a weak and underperforming government of Congress as they say. So, the saffron party needs to learn from its own past. It’s high time that BJP should promote the hard-working people. It’ll not only motivate the workers but the leaders too. Moreover, there will be competitions to perform which in turn will not only bring good to BJP and Modi but also to the nation as well.
If BJP wants to continue its victory, then they have to keep these points in mind. Moreover, the latest election results were alarming call to remind BJP to not take Congress lightly. The complicated bills like GST and Demonetisation have raged public against the government. Not only the national party, the regional parties too can pose threat to the BJP government, which they should not ignore. Whereas Hardik Patel and Jignesh Mevani exhibit the power of regional ties, the NDA is losing its grip on some of its regional ties like Shiv Sena in Maharashtra. So, BJP must beware of Regional coalitions. No doubt Modi is a big brand name in the Indian politics, but it should also remember the dynamics of Indian politics.
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The Congress on Friday accused Narendra Modi of trying to divide Assam on religious and linguistic lines, hours after the Prime Minister announced that the citizenship bill would be passed in the Parliament soon.
State Congress president Ripun Bora told reporters that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) did not know what it wants, as implementation of the Assam Accord and the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, cannot be done simultaneously.
“Modi came today to divide Assam on religious and linguistic lines. He wants to bring Hindu Bangladeshis to Assam only for vote-bank politics,” Bora said.
Earlier in the day, Modi told an election rally near Silchar in Assam’s Barak Valley that the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, would be passed soon in the Parliament as a “penance against the injustice and many wrongs done in the past”.
The bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955, to grant citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians, who fled religious persecution in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan and entered India before December 31, 2014.
Modi also spoke of implementing Clause 6 of the Assam Accord, which states all immigrants coming after March 24, 1971, were illegal.
“So, they (BJP) do not know what they are saying. It’s completely contradictory. Basically, Modi and the BJP are blackmailing people with the bill,” Bora said.
The Lok Sabha MP clarified that there were no “double standards” between the Congress leaders of Bengali-dominated Barak Valley and rest of the state regarding the bill.
“Our Barak Valley leaders are just saying that people coming from Bangladesh should be given citizenship as per the Assam Accord. That means, all those who came before March 24, 1971, should be accepted,” he said.
Bora said that the joint parliamentary committee (JPC) for the bill would submit its report on Monday, a day before the Winter Session of the Parliament is scheduled to end.
“In one day, nobody can prepare a bill, discuss and pass it in both Houses of Parliament. It proves that Modi cannot pass the bill now. They (BJP) are just seeking votes by indirectly saying, ‘if you (people) vote for us (BJP), then the bill will be passed by the next BJP-led government’,” he added.
On December 31, all amendments to the bill moved by the Opposition in the JPC, headed by BJP MP Rajendra Agrawal, were defeated.
FMCG major Nestle India is planning a media blitz to tell consumers that instant noodles Maggi is safe for consumption, a company official said on Friday.
The move comes in the wake of the Supreme Court on Thursday reviving the government case in National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) against Nestle India seeking damages of Rs 640 crore for alleged unfair trade practices, false labelling and misleading advertisements of its Maggi noodles.
In the campaign, Nestle would publish a series of advertisements in all leading national newspapers informing the consumers about the safety of Maggi Noodles and the outcome of the lab test reports, which had cleared it for consumption, a Nestle India spokesperson said.
“Our approach as a credible, trustworthy and responsible company is to always communicate with consumers on facts, in a simple, clear and transparent tone and manner.
“What you will see in the print ads to be released over the next few days is just that,” the spokesperson added.
Asked about the campaign’s duration, the spokesperson said it would be initially for three days and then the company will look at the consumer response.
On Thursday, Supreme Court had allowed NCDRC to proceed with a three-year-old suit with regard to Maggi filed by the government only on the basis of laboratory test reports by the CFTRI (Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysuru).
According to Nestle, CFTRI “analysis results showed that samples (of Maggi Noodles) were compliant for lead and other relevant parameters”.
The apex court was hearing a case filed by the company against two interim orders passed by NCDRC in a suit filed by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs seeking damages of Rs 640 crore.
The government had moved NCDRC after Nestle’s popular instant noodles Maggi was banned by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) in June 2015 for allegedly containing lead beyond permissible limits, forcing the company to withdraw the product from the market.
The CPI on Friday alleged that the BJP and other Sangh Parivar outfits were trying to expand their base in Kerala by exploiting the issue of entry of women of menstrual age into Sabarimala temple.
CPI General Secretary S Sudhakar Reddy accused the BJP and Sangh Parivar people of perpetrating violence in the name of opposing the entry of women into Lord Ayyappa Swamy temple.
Speaking to reporters here, he said they were trying to expand their base in Kerala by exploiting the issue of entry of women of menstrual age into Sabarimala temple.
“They are against women.. As per Manu dharma shastra, they are trying to suppress women in the country. As part of it, they started this type of attacks,” he said.
Alleging that BJP-RSS elements were trying to take advantage of the sentiments of some people in the name of tradition, he said, “They say it is a tradition. But this started only in 1991.”
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it is a question of tradition. That means he is supporting it.
He should have appealed to the people to accept the gender equality and respect the Supreme Court judgment,” he added.
Kerala witnessed massive protests by BJP and Sangh parivar outfits after two women in the menstrual age entered the hill shrine early Wednesday.
On the nation-wide strike called by central trade unions on January 8 and 9 against the NDA government’s “anti-labour policies”, price rise and others, he said the CPI would support it.
The CPI demanded that the NDA government address the issues highlighted by the trade unions.
“They (trade unions) are not fighting for some salary increase.. They want price rise to be controlled.
Public sector is getting destroyed.. Disinvestment is taking place.. Labour laws are not being implemented. Employment potential is not increasing,” he said.
On the Rafale jet deal, Reddy demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe the alleged scam in it.
“If they are honest, why they should be afraid of JPC?” Reddy asked.
India had inked an inter-governmental agreement with France in September last year for procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets at a cost of around Rs 58,000 crore, nearly one- and-half years after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the proposal during a visit to Paris.
The delivery of the jets is scheduled to begin from September, 2019.
The Congress has raised several questions about the deal including the rates, and accused the government of compromising national interest and security while promoting “crony capitalism” and causing a loss to the public exchequer.
Targetting Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his remarks in an interview over the federal front proposed by Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, he said, “Modi lied as if he was not aware of the front.”
Efforts were being made to forge the front on behalf of BJP to “divide and destroy” the opposition unity against the saffron party, he alleged.
A person of the stature of the Prime Minister should not make such remarks. “This, we condemn,” he said.
More than one Maharashtrians would occupy the prime minister’s post by 2050, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Friday.
He was speaking during a public interview at the inaugural session of the 16th Jagatik Marathi Sammelan (global Marathi convention) here.
The chief minister was asked whether India will see a Maharashtrian prime minister by 2050. No Maharashtrian leader has become prime minister of the country yet.
“Why not, of course we will see…If anyone has really ruled India, the entire India, in real sense, it is the Maharashtrians, and we have the capability to reach Attock,” he said.
Attock, now in Pakistan, was briefly conquered by Maratha armies in the 18th century.
“Hence I fully believe that by 2050 we will see not one but more than one Maharashtrians in the highest post in the country,” he said.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said that sensationalism of news is an insult to journalism and suggested that media men should refrain from it.
In his address at the Ramnath Goenka excellence in journalism awards ceremony, Singh said any criticism of an individual or government should be taken in a sporting way.
“I think media acts as mirror to the government. But that mirror should not be painted with any colour as it can pose a question mark on its credibility,” he said.
Lauding the role of late Ramnath Goenka, founder of Indian Express newspaper, for his courageous journalism especially during the Emergency, Singh said “I believe that sensationalism of news is an insult to journalism. And I can say that Ramnath Goenka never allowed it while he was around.”
He also advocated better relations between the media and the government.
“It’s okay if there is no friendship between the media and the government, but there should be no discord between them,” the home minister said.
He also asked journalists to be cautious on fake news or sponsored news as it may hit their credibility.
“Newspapers or media groups may have their ideology but it should not be reflected in a news item,” he said.
On the growing landscape of social media, Singh said the conventional media will not lose its importance no matter how the new media grows.
However, he cautioned that this credibility can be maintained as long as the conventional media continues to report facts.
CBI Joint Director V Murugesan who was leading the investigations into serious corruption allegations against the agency’s Special Director, Rakesh Asthana, has been shifted to probe coal scam cases, an internal order said on Friday.
The order accessed by PTI shows that Murugesan, who was deputed by Director (in-charge) M Nageswara Rao to lead the investigation against Asthana, was transferred as part of efforts to give an “impetus to expeditious completion of coal scam cases”.
The order also says that Murugesan was “bogged down” by additional charge of Joint Director AC(HQ)-I zone which being a “heavy zone” takes away much of his “time and attention”.
Murugesan’s charge has now been given to Joint Director G K Goswami, who in addition to his responsibility of the Lucknow zone will also look after AC (HQ)-I zone, where a case against Asthana is registered.
The order also states that another Joint Director Vineet Vinayak looking after anti-corruption wing, Delhi Zone, has been transferred. His charge has now been given to additional director Praveen Sinha.
The CBI had registered an FIR against Asthana on October 15, 2018 alleging serious corruption charges against him on the basis of a complaint from a businessman Sathish Babu Sana.
The businessman, who was being questioned by Asthana’s special investigation team probing the Moin Qureshi case had alleged that a Dubai-based middleman had offered to use his purported links with the Special Director to manage relief for him in return for a bribe of Rs 2 crore.
Recently, the new investigation team had called Sana to again verify contents of his complaint in order find loopholes, if any, but sources claimed that he did not budge from his allegations.
Asthana was sent on leave along with CBI Director Alok Verma by the government after the agency arrested a deputy SP of the Special Director’s team in the case for being active participant in the conspiracy.
The charge of the CBI was given to Joint Director M Nageswara Rao who transferred all the officers probing allegations against Asthana and constituted a new team to be headed by Joint Director V Murugesan.
The serious corruption allegations may dampen chances of Asthana to become next CBI Director for which the selection and short listing has already been initiated by the government but the decision will be taken by a committee comprising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and leader of largest opposition party Mallikarjuna Kharge.
The new director is likely to be appointed by January 31 which is the retirement date of incumbent Alok Verma.
Asthana has moved the Delhi High Court seeking directions to quash charges against him while Verma had challenged divestment of his powers in the Supreme Court.
