Congress roles in past during crises always stood 'clouded'
Sambit Patra, BJP spokesman on May 19, Wednesday:
"Friends yesterday Congress wanted to know who’s the Author of the toolkit. Pls check the properties of the Paper. Author: Saumya Varma
Who’s Saumya Varma ... The Evidences speak for themselves:
Will Sonia Gandhi & Rahul Gandhi reply?"
Toolkit row reaches Supreme Court, Congress roles in past too always stood 'clouded'
New Delhi: The row over Congress party's alleged toolkit to defame Prime Minister Narendra Modi and draw political mileage from the second wave Covid19 crisis is far from over.
A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking among other things de-recognition of the Congress party by the Election Commission if the charges are found to be true.
"I have moved a Public Interest Litigation before the Supreme Court seeking investigation of toolkit by NIA, to get guidelines by the Govt of India against hoardings and other anti-national acts and seeking suspension of membership of Congress if the allegations are true," tweeted lawyer Shashank Shekhar Jha.
He also made the Union of India and Election Commission as 'respondents' and the Congress a party to the petition before the Court.
Of course, this is also an occasion to reflect on the Congress party's approach to 'entire politics' during challenging times before the country.
In the words of the then US envoy to India, David Mulford, the Congress party had given "credence" to the conspiracy angle to the 26/11 terror strike vis-a-vis Hindu-Muslim divide as propounded by its controversial Minister A R Antulay.
"The entire episode (the manner Congress used 26/11 and gave a twist) demonstrates that the Congress party will readily stoop to the old caste/religious-based politics if it feels it is in its interest," Mulford had written in his dispatch as was later claimed in Wikileaks revelation.
In 2009, when BJP lost the elections, senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj was candid enough to admit:
"The Mumbai terror effect helped the Congress indirectly. We didn’t want to criticise the government because it would have seemed that we were playing Pakistan’s game. This benefited the UPA government.”
Take the clock further back.
During the Kandahar hijack of 1999-2000 and in subsequent periods, the Congress stance was more to garner political benefits. Jaswant Singh, the then External Affairs Minister, was a pained man in the manner the opposition parties and chiefly the Congress leaders had responded to a national crisis.
"They promised they are or were with the government decision and then backed out," Singh, now deceased, would say later.
He also wrote in a book: "I am ashamed even as I recollect how - initially perhaps spontaneously but thereafter as part of some sponsored embarrassment to the government - gangs of political activists were persuaded to block roads, interrupt press briefings and, to my mind and memory, so shamingly roll on the roads as if in a kind of collective hysteria".
"I still don't know what they were demonstrating by this undignified and demeaning behaviour. But it certainly did succeed in shaming India, in the eyes of the international community," he has said.
Here too, the government was put on defensive as television media repeatedly showed relatives of hostages staging demonstration and participating in chest-beating demonstrations raising anti-Vajpayee government slogans.
Some of them had even stormed into the hall where Jaswant Singh was once addressing the media.
On 2008 Mumbai misadventure by Pakistan, the US ambassador had written in his dispatch -
"The Congress Party, after first distancing itself from the comments (of Antulay, the then minority affairs minister), two days later issued a contradictory statement which implicitly endorsed the conspiracy. During this time, Antulay's completely unsubstantiated claims gained support in ... Indian-Muslim community" in his secret cable to the state department on December 23, 2008.
"Hoping to foster that support for upcoming national elections, the Congress Party cynically pulled back from its original dismissal and lent credence to the conspiracy," he wrote further adding, "The entire episode demonstrates that the Congress Party will readily stoop to the old caste/religious-based politics if it feels it is in its interest".
Of course, the Congress party had dismissed the Wikileaks revelation. But David Mulford in subsequent period did not comment much on the content of his missive but merely had said that the diplomatic cables are "generally accurate".
It is also worth recall that on 26 November 2008, 10 terrorists of the Lashkar-e-Taiba terror outfit entered Mumbai via the sea route and carried out a coordinated attack on numerous locations in the country's commercial capital. In fact, 'live telecast' of the movement of NSG personnel had led to the killing of one commando, reports later said.
Smriti Irani, Union Minister, sought to direct her tirade against Rahul Gandhi, whom she defeated in Amethi on the tool kit row.
‘Shame Hindu, Blame Hindu’ tactic of “provisional” Janeudhari Rahul Gandhi ... blame Kumbh to shame Hindus ...," she tweeted.
She also wrote - बिल्ली भी कुछ घर छोड़ के मुँह मारती है ... अपनी दादी का धर्म तो बख्श देते जनाब।
(meaning - Even Cats do things differently...You should have spared your grand mom's religion)
“My country, our country is at war with a virus. I can understand the opposition would want to attack the Govt. But to singularly commercialise it as a political opportunity and deal in death; I never imagined Congress was capable of such a low,” Irani tweeted.
On Twitter itself, she shared a portion of her speech in Lok Sabha on Feb 24, 2016, wherein she quoted a Roman philosopher and lambasted at "treason from within".
Video Link through Twitter
text: "I seek to quote a Roman philosopher, who said - "A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gates freely. His lie whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of the government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor, he speaks in the accent familiar to his victims. He wears their face and arguments that appeals to the baseless that lies deep in the hearts of men. He rots the soul of the nation. He works secretly as an unknown. In a night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear."
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| Soft Targets ?? |
If I had quoted Chanakya here today then people said it was saffronisation.
This is the reason I seek to quote a Roman philosopher."
Congress has, however, threatened to file FIR for forgery against BJP national chief JP Nadda and spokesman Sambit Patra.
“We are filing an FIR for forgery against BJP chief JP Nadda and Sambit Patra. When our country is devastated by COVID, instead of providing relief, BJP shamelessly concocts forgeries,” the research department chief of the opposition party, Rajeev Gowda, said in a tweet.
“It is a shame that our government is more interested in maligning the opposition than protecting our people,” a tweet from the official handle of Congress said.
Nadda had tweeted targeting Congress. “Dividing society and spewing venom against others….Congress is a master at this. India is seeing Congress’ antics, while the nation is fighting Covid-19. I would urge Congress to go beyond ’Toolkit Models’ and do something constructive,” Nadda tweeted.
“Disgusting to say the least Rahul Gandhi wants to use this opportunity of pandemic to destroy the image of Prime Minister Modi. Congress workers instructed to call the mutant strain as Modi strain,” Patra wrote on Twitter.
Patra also alleged that no stone has been left unturned to tarnish India’s image with the help of foreign journalists. He further alleged that the “Congress toolkit” has also suggested calling the Kumbh Mela the “Super Spreader Kumbh”.
"BJP has realized that their standard “Fool the Public Kit” is not working in this pandemic hence in desperation BJP fake & fraud propaganda factory has manufactured Congress Tool Kit - No number of press conferences, arrests,raids can put a curtain on Central Govt massive failure," Congress spokesman Jaiveer Shergill tweeted.
"Moreover, a large part of the purported toolkit is focused on defaming the Central Vista project. "Brand the project as a ‘vanity project’ which has no public use but is only for Modi’s personal use. File a case against the project in Delhi High Court and seek a stay on the project. In panel discussions, call the project ‘Modi’s personal house’," the alleged report by Congress states.
BJP spokesman Sambit was particularly unhappy at the portion of the text in the controversial document, which allegedly said, “the approval ratings of the Prime Minister have been very high and have not dipped despite crisis and mismanagement. This is an opportunity to destroy his image and erode his popularity.”
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| Man and his Image |
Raman Singh, former CM, Chhattisgarh : The truth always has a way of coming out no matter how hard evil tries to hide it. #CongressToolkitExposed
Amit Malviya, BJP IT cell chief, : "Congress denies the toolkit is theirs. They disowned digital footprint of Saumya Varma, whose name figured as author of the toolkit but SanZZZZZ, part of Rahul Gandhi’s SM team, openly admits that the toolkit is theirs and hails the initiative!"
"As more and more evidence emerges, the Congress party, Rajeev Gowda, head of their research wing, author of the document and the Gandhis may find it very difficult to disassociate themselves from a document that was essentially meant to weaken India’s fight against the pandemic."
On May 19, Congress leader Rajeev Gowda again tweeted attacking the BJP.
"Let’s be clear We made a research note on Central Vista for the party It’s genuine & fact-based. I tweeted yesterday that “COVID19 toolkit" is FORGED & is a MADE in BJP product. Patra is showing metadata/author of a real document & attributing it to a FAKE".
Change is the law of nature, true ? But what a change is this !! All Ministers in Kerala 'new Faces' except CM Pinarayi Vijayan himself
Senior CPM leader and Health Minister KK Shailaja, who was praised by the Left-liberal and sickilar lobby for her handling of Kerala's fight against Nipah and COVID-19, was also dropped.
Shailaja will be party whip in the state assembly.
Senior leader and former Lok Sabha MP, M B Rajesh, who won from Thrithala defeating Congress leader V T Balram, will be the new Speaker.
The CPI-M sprang a surprise ---- normally it remains status quoist- in the formation of the cabinet with all the ministers from the party being freshers.
Two women have found a place in the cabinet - Irinjalakuda MLA Professor R Bindu and Aranmula MLA Veena George. Professor Bindu is the wife of CPM secretary in-charge A Vijayaraghavan.
DYFI national leader Riyaz who is also the son-in-law of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, finds a berth.
Others who found a place in the cabinet are central committee members MV Govindan, K Radhakrishnan, state secretariat members KN Balagopal, P Rajeev in addition to senior leaders VN Vasavan, Saji Cheriyan, V Sivankutty, and V Abdul Rahman.
DYFI leader Riyaz is also the son-in-law of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
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