Hyderabad: Musical fountain at the Mir Alam Tank, developed at the cost of Rs 2.55 crores has nearly submerged in the stinky water while it remains completely ignored by the development authorities of the state.
The 40-metre-long and 9-metre-wide fountain structure was set up on the very facet of the Mir Alam Lake, between Tadban to Aramghar roads.
Equipped with music and multimedia effects, the fountain was launched by the Telangana municipal administration and urban development minister KT Rama Rao, in the presence of AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi and home minister Mahmood Ali on April 19, 2022.
However, the fountain worked for no more than two days and had since remained nonfunctional with overgrown bushes drowning the project into a costly dismay.
Developed by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) and Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), the fountain was inaugurated to fascinate its viewers but the set-up ended up submerged into the water, hidden by water hyacinth with only steel poles set to fence the area left behind as its remains.
Speaking to The Siasat Daily, Ramanthapur corporator Yousuf Danish points out the fact that the fountain never was lit up more than two days post-inauguration.
Pointing to the encroachments around the tank, Yousuf says that no measures have been taken by the state government to safeguard its investment.
Back then, authorities laid a separate drainage line to divert the sewerage water from the colonies of Hassannagar and surroundings into Musi. However, it seems like the pollution control measure haven’t worked out.
Though the Telangana government have taken up the task of beautification around the lake, maintenance with regular checks is essential.
Claire Bischoff, a Dominion spokesperson, said the company would have no comment on the trial delay. Representatives for Fox News and its parent company, Fox Corp., the entities Dominion is suing, did not immediately return requests for comment. In his statement, Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis said only that the trial, including jury selection, would be continued until Tuesday and that he would announce the delay in court on Monday.
That’s when Fox News executives and the network’s star hosts were scheduled to begin answering for their role in spreading doubt about the 2020 presidential election and creating the gaping wound that remains in America’s democracy.
Jurors hearing the $1.6 billion lawsuit filed against Fox by Dominion Voting Systems would have to answer a specific question: Did Fox defame the voting machine company by airing bogus stories alleging that the election was rigged against then-President Donald Trump, even as many at the network privately doubted the false claims being pushed by Trump and his allies?
Yet the broader context looms large. A trial would test press freedom and the reputation of conservatives’ favorite news source. It also would illuminate the flow of misinformation that helped spark the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and continues to fuel Trump’s hopes to regain power in 2024.
Fox News stars Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity and founder Rupert Murdoch are among the people who had been expected to testify.
Barring a settlement, opening statements are now scheduled for Tuesday.
“This is Christmas Eve for defamation scholars,” said RonNell Andersen Jones, a University of Utah law professor.
If the trial were a sporting event, Fox News would be taking the field on a losing streak, with key players injured and having just alienated the referee. Pretrial court rulings and embarrassing revelations about its biggest names have Fox on its heels.
Court papers released over the past two months show Fox executives, producers and personalities privately disbelieved Trump’s claims of a fraudulent election. But Dominion says Fox News was afraid of alienating its audience with the truth, particularly after many viewers were angered by the network’s decision to declare Democrat Joe Biden the winner in Arizona on election night in November 2020.
Some rulings by the judge have eased Dominion’s path. In a summary judgment, Davis said it was “CRYSTAL clear” that fraud allegations against the company were false. That means trial time won’t have to be spent disproving them at a time when millions of Republicans continue to doubt the 2020 results.
Davis said it also is clear that Dominion’s reputation was damaged, but that it would be up to a jury to decide whether Fox acted with “actual malice” — the legal standard — and, if so, what that’s worth financially.
Fox witnesses would likely testify that they thought the allegations against Dominion were newsworthy, but Davis made it clear that’s not a defense against defamation.
New York law protects news outlets from defamation for expressions of opinion. But Davis methodically went through 20 different times on Fox when allegations against Dominion were discussed, ruling that all of them were fully or partly considered statements of fact, and fair game for a potential libel finding.
“A lawsuit is a little bit like hitting a home run,” said Cary Coglianese, law professor at the University of Pennsylvania. “You have to go through all of the bases to get there.” The judge’s rulings “basically give Dominion a spot at third base, and all they have to do is come home to win it.”
Both Fox and Dominion are incorporated in Delaware, though Fox News is headquartered in New York and Dominion is based in Denver.
Fox angered Davis this past week when the judge said the network’s lawyers delayed producing evidence and were not forthcoming in revealing Murdoch’s role at Fox News. A Fox lawyer, Blake Rohrbacher, sent a letter of apology to Davis on Friday, saying it was a misunderstanding and not an intention to deceive.
It’s not clear whether that would affect a trial. But it’s generally not wise to have a judge wonder at the outset of a trial whether your side is telling the truth, particularly when truth is the central point of the case, Jones said.
The lawsuit essentially comes down to whether Dominion can prove Fox acted with actual malice by putting something on the air knowing that it was false or acting with a “reckless disregard” for whether it was true. In most libel cases, that is the most difficult hurdle for plaintiffs to get past.
Dominion can point to many examples where Fox figures didn’t believe the charges being made by Trump allies such as Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani. But Fox says many of those disbelievers were not in a position to decide when to air those allegations.
“We think it’s essential for them to connect those dots,” Fox lawyer Erin Murphy said.
If the case goes to trial, the jury will determine whether a powerful figure like Murdoch — who testified in a deposition that he didn’t believe the election-fraud charges — had the influence to keep the accusations off the air.
“Credibility is always important in any trial in any case. But it’s going to be really important in this case,” said Jane Kirtley, director of the Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics and the Law at the University of Minnesota.
Kirtley is concerned that the suit may eventually advance to the U.S. Supreme Court, which could use it as a pretext to weaken the actual malice standard that was set in a 1964 decision in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan. That, she feels, would be disastrous for journalists.
Dominion’s lawsuit is being closely watched by another voting-technology company with a separate but similar case against Fox News. Florida-based Smartmatic has looked to some rulings and evidence in the Dominion case to try to enhance its own $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit in New York. The Smartmatic case isn’t yet ready for trial but has survived Fox News’ effort to get it tossed out.
Many experts are surprised Fox and Dominion have not reached an out-of-court settlement, though they can at any time. There’s presumably a wide financial gulf. In court papers, Fox contends the $1.6 billion damages claim is a wild overestimate.
Dominion’s motivation may also be to inflict maximum embarrassment on Fox with the peek into the network’s internal communications following the election. Text messages from January 2021 revealed Carlson telling a friend that he passionately hated Trump and couldn’t wait to move on.
Dominion may also seek an apology.
The trial has had no apparent effect on Fox News’ viewership; it remains the top-rated cable network. And there is little indication that the case has changed Fox’s editorial direction. Fox has embraced Trump once again in recent weeks following the former president’s indictment by a Manhattan grand jury, and Carlson presented an alternate history of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, based on tapes given to him by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )
Kannada actor Chetan Ahimsa was arrested in Bengaluru on Tuesday on charges of hurting Hindu sentiments via his latest tweet that said, “Hindutva is built on lies”.
He was arrested this morning by the Sheshadripuram police and produced before the district court.
On Monday, he tweeted and shared, “Hindutva is built on LIES Savarkar: Indian ‘nation’ began when Rama defeated Ravana & returned to Ayodhya —> a lie 1992: Babri Masjid is ‘birthplace of Rama’ —> a lie 2023: Urigowda-Nanjegowda are ‘killers’ of Tipu—> a lie Hindutva can be defeated by TRUTH—> truth is EQUALITY”
Hindutva is built on LIES
Savarkar: Indian ‘nation’ began when Rama defeated Ravana & returned to Ayodhya —> a lie
1992: Babri Masjid is ‘birthplace of Rama’ —> a lie
2023: Urigowda-Nanjegowda are ‘killers’ of Tipu—> a lie
Hindutva can be defeated by TRUTH—> truth is EQUALITY
Soon after, a complaint was registered against the actor and he was arrested.
The 39-year-old actor is also a Dalit and tribal activist.
In the past, he has found himself in the bad books of far-right Hindutva elements by posting statements on social media that do not cater to the latter’s ideology.
On February 23, 2022, the actor was arrested for his alleged comments against Karnataka High Court judge Justice Krishna Dixit. Dixit was a part of the bench that upheld the Bommai government’s decision to ban the hijab from government educational institutions.
On February 16, 2022, Chetan re-tweeted one of his old tweets about Dixit who had granted pre-arrest bail to an alleged rape accused.
He said, “This week KA (Karnataka) High Court Justice Krishna Dixit grantd (granted) pre-arrest bail to rape-accused Rakesh B claiming ‘it is unbecoming of Indian woman to sleep after rape; that is not way women react when they are ravished.’ What’s ‘unbecoming’ is 21st c (century) misogyny of this judiciary Dixit fossil.”
This is a tweet I wrote nearly two years ago regarding a Karnataka High Court decision
Justice Krishna Dixit made such disturbing comments in a rape case
Now this same judge is determining whether #hijabs are acceptable or not in govt schools
On October 23, 2022, an FIR was lodged against him for calling out the hit movie Kantara’s director/actor Rishab Shetty for speaking wrong information regarding ‘Bhoota Kola’, a tradition depicted in the movie.
Shetty, in an interview, had termed ‘Boota Kala‘ as a part of Hindu culture. “The gods in Kantara are all part of our tradition and it is indeed a part of Hindu culture and rituals. Because I am a Hindu, I have belief and respect for my religion. What we have said is through the element that is present in Hindu dharma,” Shetty stated in an interview.
In response, Chetan tweeted that though he was glad that a Kannada movie is being a major hit nationwide, Shetty was wrong about ‘Boota Kola’ being a part of Hindu culture.
Chetan tweeted, “Glad our Kannada film ‘Kantara’ is making waves on a national level. Director Rishabh Shetty claims Bhoota Kola is ‘Hindu culture’. False. Our Pambada/Nalike/Parawa’s Bahujan traditions predate Vedic-Brahminical Hinduism. We ask that Moolnivasi cultures be shown w/truth on & off screen.”
Glad our Kannada film ‘Kantara’ is making national waves
Director Rishabh Shetty claims Bhootha Kola is ‘Hindu culture’
The tweet enraged many Hindutva leaders who trolled the actor mercilessly, and Chetan had to call a press conference to make his statements clear.
“It is wrong to say that ‘Bhoota Kola’ is part of the Hindu religion. Adivasis practice the ritual and there is no ‘Brahminism’ in Bhoota Kola. Don’t say Hindu in the movie. It is the culture of the Adivasis. It is unfair to put Adivasi culture in the column of Hindu religion,” he told reporters.
Hyderabad: Alleging CM K Chandrashekar Rao of misuse of power, Bharatiya Janata Party National Vice President DK Aruna on Thursday claimed that police cases are being registered against those who stand against the KCR-led Bharat Rashtra Samithi government in Telangana.
“In Telangana, entire power lies in the hands of one family & they (BRS) think that all are like them. Here, police cases are being registered against those who stand against BRS,” D K Aruna claimed.
#WATCH | In Telangana, entire power lies in hands of one family & they (BRS) think that all are like them. Here, police cases are being registered against those who stand against BRS, their livelihood being destroyed. This is the habit of BRS not BJP: D K Aruna, BJP National VP pic.twitter.com/r5BseRNhtP
Aruna said that K Kavitha is staging a protest at Jantar Mantar against the women’s reservation bill on March 10 and here in Telangana, we are also staging a protest at the BJP party office against the “harassment of women” and “ragging of girls” in colleges in the state.
Earlier in the month, Telangana BJP leader N Ramchander Rao said that Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao should protect women in his state before her daughter K Kavitha demanded women’s reservation bill for the country.
“It is very surprising that Kavitha speaks of the women reservation bill in the Parliament while her own father has not given a single ministry to a woman in the first term of his tenure.
How is a woman being respected in this state? The woman governor is being humiliated and harassed by their (BRS) government and she (Kavitha) speaks of women’s reservations” he had said.
Aruna accused CM KCR of maintaining silence on the alleged cases of atrocities against women. “The government is not taking any interest in the welfare of the women who are facing many atrocities. CM doesn’t speak a word or give assurances to them,” Aruna took a dig at the KCR government.
Telangana BJP leader had stated that the decision to protest outside Jantar Mantar on the women’s reservation bill is just an election gimmick and there is nothing more to it.
“This is all just to woo the women voters who will never believe in the BRS party because the majority of the women have suffered, law and order have deteriorated and atrocities against women have increased in the BRS regime,” he had added.
In the trial of voting machine maker Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News, Rupert Murdoch, chief executive of parent company News Corp., has admitted that “some of our commentators” have “reinforced” the stolen election narrative. Jeanine Pirro did that, Murdoch said, as did Lou Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo “maybe” and Sean Hannity “a little bit.” The broadcaster itself, said Murdoch, did not confirm these statements.
They thought it was nonsense and yet spread it
Fox News is accused by Dominion of spreading Donald Trump’s lie about voter fraud after the lost 2020 presidential election by manipulating Dominion voting machines, thereby damaging the voting machine maker’s reputation.
In short messages and e-mails published in court last week, it became clear that Murdoch and other senior officials as well as the station’s talk show hosts believed the story of election fraud to be nonsense – and yet, in front of the cameras, the crude theses that Trump made and his attorneys, Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani, continued to gain momentum so as not to lose viewers who would rather not face the truth.
“We treated this as news”
His station has tried to “walk the tightrope between spewing conspiracy theories and clarifying that they are in fact false,” Murdoch said, according to publications at a media tycoon-under-oath hearing last month. “We treated this as the news that the President and his attorneys said so,” Murdoch said.
Pretty best friends: Tucker Carlson and Donald Trump. :
Image: Laif
The question before the court is whether Fox News spread this misinformation against its better judgment. According to American law, in the case of a lawsuit against the media for damage to reputation, it must be proven that this was done in bad faith – “with actual malice”. The trial begins on April 17, and the documents that have now been published serve to clarify the evidence.
When asked by a Dominion attorney if Murdoch could have prevented Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani from spreading the false claims on camera, he said, “I could have done that. But I didn’t do it.” Murdoch said it was a “mistake” to invite Trump friend and entrepreneur Mike Lindell to Fox News’s Tucker Carlson show, where he continued to spread the theses about election fraud permit. “In retrospect, we should have criticized that more,” Murdoch said.
Did Murdoch have doubts? “Oh yeah.”
Murdoch’s concessions provide another glimpse into the cynical behind-the-scenes decisions of the network, which had made itself unpopular with its viewers by becoming the first news organization to declare the important state of Arizona for Joe Biden – correctly, as it turned out. Murdoch said he did not bow to pressure from Trump associates, including his son-in-law Jared Kushner, to retract the Arizona forecast. When asked if Murdoch’s assessment of the allegations of massive voter fraud was correct, a Dominion lawyer said, “Oh yes.”
Murdoch’s comments contradict Fox News lawyers’ claims that the network never reinforced the voter fraud allegations that Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani made, mostly unchallenged, on the Dobbs, Bartiromo and Hannity shows. Fox News also claimed that the hosts themselves were unaware that the claims made by their guests were false – a fact that has been refuted by the release of numerous text messages and emails in which Hannity and Carlson, for example, questioned these claims and called them “crazy “ designated. Media attorney Lee Levine told the New York Times that this proved to be “a pretty compelling argument that Fox has corroborated the veracity of what was said.”
Murdoch admitted that in a conversation with his son Lachlan, who owns Fox Corp. and Fox News boss Suzanne Scott debated the “direction Fox should be taking” after viewers appeared to have migrated to smaller channels. According to the documents, broadcaster Suzanne Scott said that “we have to be careful not to annoy viewers.”
Trump’s son-in-law received information
Murdoch also admitted to providing Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, with confidential information about Biden campaign ads and debate strategies. The documents disclosed in court also show the close cooperation between Fox News and the Trump campaign. Among other things, Trump’s decision to finally remove Sidney Powell from his team was fueled by severe criticism from Fox circles – behind the scenes.
Fox argues that his employees’ skepticism about the propositions put forward by Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell was not enough to show bad faith and thereby clear the legal hurdle of a libel suit. Dominion’s lawsuit aims to prevent journalists from reporting on the statements of a sitting president. It violated the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of the press.
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#Rupert #Murdoch #admits #Fox #News #lies
( With inputs from : pledgetimes.com )
The idea that once Santos leaves office, he could profit off of his story with a book or movie contract has privately percolated among — and annoyed — House Republicans.
The bill would “prohibit Members of the House of Representatives who are convicted of offenses involving financial or campaign finance fraud from receiving compensation for biographies, media appearances, or expressive or creative works, and for other purposes,” according to the text.
Separately, D’Esposito is pushing a resolution that proposes similar changes to the House rules. A spokesperson for D’Esposito declined to comment.
The move underscores the acutely bad blood among New York Republicans, some of whom have also called for expelling Santos from Congress. But it’s unclear how many other GOP members would sign on to the effort, as many have expressed anger at Santos’ actions but indicated they plan to keep their distance.
A spokesperson for Santos railed against the move, calling on his GOP colleagues to turn their attention to Democrats instead, as well as issues like inflation and crime rates that propelled them to the majority.
Santos faced an almost domino-like effect with his GOP colleagues calling for him to resign — mostly New York Republicans freshmen, in addition to freshman Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) — in early January after a series of interviews where he wasn’t able to clear the air about his background — and even at times raising additional questions about how he made his money.
Since then, Santos has largely kept to himself, even announcing to his colleagues that he’d remove himself temporarily from his two assigned committees until there was clarity, amid federal and House Ethics probes.
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#House #Republicans #unique #antiSantos #pitch #Block #profiting #lies
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )
Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak on Thursday said the protest by Samajwadi Party MLAs during the governor’s address in the Assembly was condemnable, asserting that party chief Akhilesh Yadav’s remarks in the House were nothing but a “bundle of lies”.
Pathak said he had hoped that Yadav would apologise for the “hooliganism” of his party legislators during his speech in the House.
We heard the Leader of Opposition for long and we were thinking that he would apologise after seeing the hooliganism of the Samajwadis at the time of the governor’s address, he said.
Pathak said he condemns the way the SP members created a ruckus during the address in the House.
He said whatever the SP chief said on the governor’s address is a “bundle of lies” and there is no truth in it.
Yadav on Thursday termed Governor Anandiben Patel’s address in the House as “cut and paste speech” and alleged that the schemes mentioned have not been implemented on the ground.
The budget session of the Uttar Pradesh Legislature began on a stormy note on Monday with the governor reading out the address amid sloganeering by the opposition.
Pathak, participating on a discussion on the governor’s address, praised senior SP member Shivpal Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav, though.
He said the leader of the opposition was a gentleman but some people around him mislead him.
The deputy chief minister listed the achievements of the BJP government, while pointing out the shortcomings of the previous SP dispensation.
He also talked about the recent Global Investors Summit and its success to attract investors.
Union Minister G Kishan Reddy addressing the media. (file)
Hyderabad: Union Minister for Tourism and Culture G. Kishan Reddy today alleged that the BRS Party led state government made the governor of Telangana Tamilisai Soundararajan to state lies in her joint address to the state legislature on the first day of the budget session. He alleged that the state government had taken credit for all the programs being implemented with financial support from the central government. Stating that the governor was made to state that the state government had achieved several milestones, which it actually had not achieved in reality, he said that such lies were a classic example of the cheap politics of the ruling party.
He said that the state government, which had created an unnecessary issue over the address of the governor initially agreed to allow it in the state assembly after the intervention of the high court of the state. Referring to the Jai Telangana slogan given by the governor at the end of her address, Reddy said that the slogan by the governor was an proof to show her love towards the people of the state although the CM Of the state KCR had abandoned the slogan in recent times.
In a statement, Reddy asked the state government, which stated that it was successful in the transformation of all lthe villages of the state, whether it had forgotten the fact of diverting funds belonging to the village sarpanches and keeping their bills of completed works pending for a long time? He mocked that it would have been good if the state government spoke about the dilution of the local bodies of the state by it. Referring to the notices being issued by the public representatives of various municipalities and municipal corporations, Reddy said termed them as an opposition to the state government and added that the people of the state were carefully observing all such developments. Referring to the statement of the governor that the income of the state government had gone up from Rs.62,000 crores in the financial year 2014-15 to Rs.1.84 lakh crores by the end of the year 2021, he asked the state government if it had forgotten about the fact that a state with a surplus revenue of Rs.16,000 crores was pushed into a debt trap of Rs.5 lakh crore by it. Referring to the mentioning of the Rythu Bandhu scheme in the address of the governor, Reddy said that it would have been good if the state government revealed the fact that it was extending the monetary benefits under the schemes to the owners of hillocks barren lands, ventures and granites and landlords under the scheme.
He asked the state government as to why thousands of farmers committed suicide if the rythu bandhu scheme brought light into their lives? Referring to the claims of the 24-hour long power supply to the farm sector of the state, Reddy said that it was laughable that the state government made such claim when the farmers were holding dharnas at various sub stations of the state demanding the round the clock power supply. He alleged that the state government had not utilised the funds being given by the central government for the education of the minority students of the state. He also alleged that the state government was obstructing the release of Rs.250 crores from the central government for the SC students by deliberately not sending the requisite details. He claimed that there was no response from the state government despite several reminders from them.
Jammu: Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Monday questioned the surgical strikes and accused the government of peddling lies, drawing furious reaction from the BJP which said the opposition party was blinded by its “hate” for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and has “insulted” the armed forces.
As his comments stoke a major political row, the Congress distanced itself from them, saying they are “his own” and do not reflect the party’s position.
Addressing a public meeting during the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Jammu and Kashmir, Singh alleged that the government did not agree to the CRPF request of flying its personnel from Srinagar to Delhi and 40 soldiers sacrificed their lives in Pulwama in 2019 to a terror attack.
“They talk of surgical strikes. They claim to have killed so many people but no proof is given. They are ruling by peddling a bundle of lies,” the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister, who has often courted controversy with his comments, said.
The BJP launched a sharp attack on the Congress, saying that such comments show that the Rahul Gandhi-led foot march across the country is Bharat Jodo Yatra only in name while he and his party colleagues are working to “break” the country. It is essentially “Bharat todo yatra”, BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said.
He said, “India will not tolerate if they speak against armed forces. Rahul Gandhi and the Congress hate PM Modi but it seems they have been blinded by the hate to an extent that their dedication to the country has withered away.”
He said Congress leaders had raised questions about the surgical strikes soon after the Indian Air Force said it hit terror camps in Balakot in Pakistan in retaliation to the Pulwama terror attack.
“Gandhi and the Congress do not have trust in our brave armed forces. They repeatedly raise questions and insult the citizens of India and our armed forces,” Bhatia claimed.
With the BJP seizing the issue to corner the Congress over its key plank of national security, the opposition party swung into damage-control.
AICC general secretary communications Jairam Ramesh said on Twitter, “The views expressed by senior leader Digvijaya Singh are his own and do not reflect the position of Congress. Surgical strikes were carried out before 2014 by UPA government. Congress has supported and will continue to support all military actions that are in the national interest.”
An unfazed Singh, however, kept up his line of attack.
In a tweet in Hindi, he said, “From where did the terrorists get 300 kg of RDX in Pulwama incident? DSP Davinder Singh was caught with terrorists but then why was he released? We also want to know about the friendship between the prime ministers of Pakistan and India.”
In his video message attached to the tweet, Singh said 40 CRPF personnel sacrificed their lives in Pulwama, but this government has not been able to reveal from where three quintals of RDX came.
“Besides, the government has not been able to answer where is DSP Davinder Singh, who was caught involved with terrorists. Why was he let free and why was a case of treason not registered against him?
“We would also like to know from the prime minister as to what kind of relations he has with Pakistani prime minister that both are praising each other. At least, he should answer these questions,” the Congress leader said in a video message.
Attacking the Congress, Bhatia said its leaders had tried to deflect attention from Pakistan after the Pulwama terror attack as well. Randeep Singh Surjewala had then blamed “home-grown terrorism”, he claimed, alleging that the opposition party tried to give a clean chit to Pakistan.
Pakistan is in a lot of pain when our armed forces strike terrorists, while in India it is the Congress which is in anguish, he said.
With the Pulwama terror attack and surgical strikes taking place in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the issues had captured popular imagination as the BJP retained power at the Centre with a bigger mandate than 2014 by winning over 300 seats out of 543.
“Nothing is bigger than people’s blessings in democracy. In the 2019 polls, it became clear that people stand with the BJP and the armed forces. While those who raised questions are facing existential crisis,” Bhatia said.
Bhatia claimed that the then Congress-led UPA government in 2008 did not allow the armed forces to target Pakistan after the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai. “There was zero response as it lacked courage. That corrupt and incompetent Congress government had no will,” he said.
On the other hand the Modi government targeted camps of terrorists in Pakistan after terror attacks in Uri and Pulwama, he said.
The BJP spokesperson also asked Rahul Gandhi to iterate his stand on Article 370, which gave special rights to Jammu and Kashmir and was repealed by the government in 2019.
Supporting his party colleague Digvijaya Singh, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera shared his tweet and video message and said Prime Minister Modi should answer questions on Pulwama and not hide behind the armed forces.
“The question is from the Modi government. Without hiding behind our brave army, Modi ji should answer: How did RDX reach Pulwama? Why was DSP Davinder Singh released without investigation? What kind of relation does Modi ji have with Pakistan that you call ISI to Pathankot,” Khera said.
