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Def Min Sitharaman relies on dubious report to accuse Congress of trying to spread disharmony

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Finance Minister Sitharaman

At a time when fake news ecosystem is reportedly drumming up hatred against minorities on online media, the BJP, led by defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman picked one reported by an Urdu daily owned by a prominent Hindi newspaper group to allege that the Opposition Congress is “playing a dangerous game… of communal politics” and will be “solely responsible if any disharmony plays out between now and the 2019 elections”.

Attacking Congress president Rahul Gandhi over an alleged remark attributed to him during an interaction Wednesday with Muslim intellectuals, Sitharaman — who told reporters she was speaking in her capacity as a party leader — alleged Gandhi told Muslim intellectuals that “Congress is a Muslim party.”

The Urdu daily had quoted Rahul as telling Muslim opinion leaders that his party was a Muslim party and that he was on a course-correction. According to Sitharaman, Rahul Gandhi apologised to Muslim intellectuals for losing track during 2014. According to Union Minister, Rahul Gandhi said that the episodes of Karnataka temple visit won’t happen again and the party will do course correction.

The Congress has denied the report and dubbed it a ‘rumour’.

Historian Syed Irfan Habib, who was among the Muslim intellectuals who met Gandhi Wednesday, also denied that the Congress leader made any such remark.

“There was nothing like that. There was no issue of this nature raised, neither by the people present over there nor Rahul Gandhi himself. Nobody raised any such thing. It is just a figment of imagination of all those who want to give it a twist because they are doing it for their own political advantage. There is nothing at all. There is no basis at all,” Habib told The Indian Express.

Habit tweeted: “Taken aback to hear that Rahul Gandhi is being accused of calling the Congress a Muslim party in a meeting where I was present. It seems to have malicious intent, no such issue came up at all.”

Sitharaman, however, built up an entire narrative based on it, demanding an explanation from Rahul.

Sitharaman said: “This needs to be clarified, probably he wants to say that to call himself a janeudhari (one who wears the sacred thread) was wrong, probably he wants to say now he is Muslim-dhari. You can’t be a janeudhari at one point… a Muslim-dhari at another…. This is playing with the people’s trust.”

Sitharaman wanted to know what kind of course correction Rahul had assured the Muslim intellectuals of.

After laying emphasis on need for Rahul to clarify his religious affiliation, Sitharaman paradoxically said, “It is very clear the Congress wants to contest the 2019 elections on the basis of religion.”

She added that the Congress would be solely responsible if there was any disharmony in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls.

“Congress party is playing a dangerous game, playing communal division, playing up the card of religion. It is frightening that it may lead to the kind of division and kind of communal disharmony that prevailed during the 1947 partition. Congress party shall be solely responsible if any disharmony plays out between now and the 2019 elections,” she said.

“We think Congress is getting back at this Divide India mindset. It is clear that 2019 election, they want to contest it at dharm ki aadhaar par (on the basis of religion). Its foundation has been laid,” she said.

After the newspaper report claiming that Rahul had said “yes, Congress is a Muslim party” began doing the rounds on social media, Congress’ communications in-charge Randeep Surjewala, responding to a question on the report, said when governance fails, rumours take precedence. “When the government is on the path of lying, then rumours become the main policy of the government,” he told reporters.

Noting that the history of the Indian national movement and the history of the Congress are well documented, Surjewala said the Congress is a party of 132 crore Indians, and will remain so forever.

He said in a tweet: “When governance fails, rumour rules! Congress is a party of 132 crore Indians, bereft of your faith-ethnicity-colour of one’s skin-region-belief. For Congress is the foundational idea of India. No Bhakt will deter us from treading the path! Jai Hind.”

The Congress hit back at the BJP, saying Sitharaman’s remarks are aimed at creating tension in the society. “Sitharaman is a responsible Defence Minister and her statement today is clearly in line with Prime Minister Modi’s agenda of polarising this country,” Congress spokesperson Sushmita Dev told reporters.

“We request you that do not through your press meets increase division, do not through your press meets go ahead towards polarisation because that is the only thing prime minister falls back on before every election. If the peace shattered in the country, the government is responsible and not the opposition,” she added.

“The news of Tharoor’s comments, the media report on Rahul are being twisted in the media. The prime minister has made repeated attempts to polarise. What were his intentions. Nirmala Sitharaman must answer this and then question the Congress.”

“Till today the biggest black mark in the history of India has been the riots of Gujarat and Prime Minister Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat at that time and till today he has not taken moral responsibility for that,” Dev said.

“While we are days away from the monsoon session of Parliament where the government has absolutely no answers about the complete mess they have made in J&K, no answers on price rise, fuel price hikes and agrarian distress, it is expected of the Defence Minister to take up issues unnecessarily to create a controversy and move away from the real issues,” Dev said.

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Lok Sabha elections: Priyanka Gandhi questions Centre on inflation, unemployment, farmers income under Congress media campaign

She questioned about no participation of Dalits, backward classes, tribals, minorities and poor upper castes in the posts and resources of the country.

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Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra questioned the BJP led government at the Centre on several developmental issues under the party’s media campaign for Lok Sabha elections, Mere Vikas ka Do Hisaab.

Priyanka Gandhi asked the BJP government to give it an account of development during its tenure of 10 years. Slamming the government on youth issues, the congress leader questioned why 83 per cent of the total unemployed in the country are youth and where are the 2 crore jobs annually? She further asked about vacancy in 30 lakh government posts and exam paper being leaked.

Alleging that corporates Rs 16 lakh crore has been waived off, Priyanka Gandhi asked why are farmers committing suicide due to debt. She also asked when will the farmers’ income double and when will they get MSP? She also enquired about no proper participation of Dalits, backward classes, tribals, minorities and poor upper castes in the posts and resources of the country.

The Congress General Secretary also raised questions on the increasing number of atrocities on women. Her remarks on social media  platform, X came on a day Congress ran a media campaign with the tagline ‘Mere Vikas Ka Do Hisaab’ and ‘Haath badlega halaat’, posing questions to the Modi government.

Earlier, Congress Parliamentary Chairperson Sonia Gandhi alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is making a systematic effort to cripple the Congress financially and deny a level playing field in the Lok Sabha election. The Income Tax Department reportedly restricted the operations of the bank accounts following a tax dispute.

Meanwhile, the Income Tax Department asserted that it has not frozen the party’s bank account, but has made a recovery of Rs 135 crore because of its violation of the law that grants political parties tax exemptions. It added that the party is free to operate these accounts beyond the money recovered by the department.

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Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, wife Gurpreet Kaur blessed with a baby girl

Mann is the first chief minister in the history of re-organised Punjab to become a father while in office. He is 51 years old.

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Punjab Chief Minister Bhaghwant Mann and his wife Gurpreet Kaur were blessed with a baby girl on Thursday. Mann took to X and posted that the Almighty has given him the gift of a daughter. He said both the mother and the girl are healthy. According to reports the baby was delivered at Fortis hospital Mohali.

Mann is the first chief minister in the history of re-organised Punjab to become a father while in office. He is 51 years old. He has 2 children with his ex-wife, who is now settled in Canada with the 2 children.  

Mann also shared the picture of his daughter in another post. Mann had married Kaur in 2022 after he separated from his first wife in 2015. His wedding was held at his residence in Chandigarh and was attended by select guests like Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal, MP Raghav Chadha.

The Punjab chief minister’s family members including his mother and his sister were also part of the wedding, which was carried out according to Sikh rituals. Comedian turned politician Bhagwant Mann became an MP from Sangrur for the first time when he won the 2014 Lok Sabha election on Aam Aadmi Party ticket.

His first wife Inderjit Kaur also campaigned for him during the elections. Before the Punjab assembly election the Aam Aadmi Party declared him as his CM face for Punjab. He won the elections with a thumping victory. Bhagwant Mann is the 17th chief minister of Punjab. Mann’s 2nd wife Gurpreet Kaur, born in 1993, is a doctor by profession and studied MBBS in Ambala. She hails from Pehowa town in Kurukshetra district. According to reports Gurpreet Kaur’s family and Mann’s family have known each other for a long time.

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Dera chief of Uttarakhand’s Nanakmatta Sahib Gurdwara shot dead within premises

Baba Tarsem Singh was hurried to a hospital in Khatima where he died during treatment.

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Dera chief of the Nanakmatta Sahib Gurudwara in Uttarakhand was shot dead within the premises of the shrine by two bike-borne assailants on Thursday. A CCTV footage showed the brutal killing of the dera chief of the Nanakmatta Sahib Gurdwara.

The footage shared by news agency PTI shows the dera chief sitting on a chair at around 6:30 am in the premises when two bike-borne assailants arrived and fired at him. Udham Singh Nagar, SSP, Manju Nath asserted that Baba Tarsem Singh was hurried to a hospital in Khatima where he died during treatment.

Notably, the Nanakmatta Sahib Gurdwara is a revered Sikh shrine situated on the Rudrapur-Tanakpur route in Udham Singh Nagar district of the state. Reportedly, the Uttarakhand Police has formed a special investigation team (SIT) to investigate the chilling murder. 

Furthermore, additional police personnel have been deployed in the Nanakmatta area of Udham Singh Nagar district to ensure peace. The police have also appealed to the Sikh community to maintain peace. The Police officials have also contacted central agencies to share useful input, and a massive search operation is underway to nab the culprits.

Uttarakhand Director General of Police (DGP) Abhinav Kumar said that they received information around 7 am on Thursday that between 6:15-6:30 am, two masked assailants entered Nanakmatta Gurdwara and shot Kar Seva Pramukh Baba Tarsem Singh. He added that the Dera chief was rushed to the hospital in Khatima, where he succumbed to his injuries.

The DGP mentioned that this is a very serious matter and that senior officials have reached the spot. He affirmed that DIG Kumaon will inspect the scene of the crime and speak to the locals. Furthermore, he will try to assess the situation there. Abhinav Kumar also mentioned that for investigation of the incident, Police Headquarters has formed an SIT, which will comprise officials of STF and local Police.

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