Manipur CM BIren Singh thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Civil Aviation minister for extending support in bringing Alliance Air to Manipur.
The BJP today launched a sharp attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi after he said the Opposition was fighting not just the BJP, but the Indian State. Union Health Minister and BJP president JP Nadda said the Congress’s “ugly truth now stands exposed”. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman asked why Mr Gandhi carried a copy of the Constitution if he thought the Opposition was fighting the State.
Addressing a gathering at the inauguration of the Congress’s new headquarters in Delhi, Mr Gandhi slammed the BJP and its ideological parent RSS.
#WATCH | Delhi: Lok Sabha LoP and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi says “Do not think that we are fighting a fair fight. There is no fairness in this. If you believe that we are fighting a political organisation called the BJP or RSS, you have not understood what is going on. The BJP and… pic.twitter.com/wuZRnxDysB
— ANI (@ANI) January 15, 2025
“Our ideology like the RSS ideology is thousands of years old and it has been fighting the RSS ideology for thousands of years. Do not think that we are fighting a fair fight. There is no fairness in this. If you believe that we are fighting a political organisation called the BJP or RSS, you have not understood what is going on. The BJP and the RSS have captured every single institution of our country. We are now fighting the BJP, the RSS and the Indian State itself,” he said.
Hidden no more, Congress’ ugly truth now stands exposed by their own leader.
I ‘compliment’ Mr. Rahul Gandhi for saying clearly what the nation knows- that he is fighting the Indian state!
It is not a secret that Mr. Gandhi and his ecosystem have close links with Urban Naxals…
— Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) January 15, 2025
The remark drew a sharp response from the BJP chief. “Hidden no more, Congress’ ugly truth now stands exposed by their own leader. I ‘compliment’ Mr. Rahul Gandhi for saying clearly what the nation knows- that he is fighting the Indian state,” he said in a post on X.
“It is not a secret that Mr. Gandhi and his ecosystem have close links with Urban Naxals and the Deep State who want to defame, demean and discredit India. His repeated actions have also strengthened this belief. Everything he has done or said has been in the direction of breaking India and dividing our society,” Mr Nadda added.
“Congress has a history of encouraging all those forces who want a weak India. Their greed for power meant compromising the nation’s integrity and betraying the trust of the people. But, the people of India are wise. They have decided that they will always reject Mr. Rahul Gandhi and his rotten ideology,” the BJP chief said.
Finance Minister Sitharaman said the Leader if the Opposition, who took the oath on the Consitution, is saying he is fighting the Indian State.
The LoP, who was sworn in by taking oath on the Constitution, is now saying, “We are now fighting the BJP, the RSS and the Indian State itself.”
So, @INCIndia and @RahulGandhi, what for are you carrying a copy of the constitution in your hand? https://t.co/pi3hNpoDWZ
— Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) January 15, 2025
Mr Gandhi also launched a no-holds-barred attack on RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat for his remark that India got “true independence” after the Ram Temple in Ayodhya was consecrated. He said the RSS chief’s comment amounted to “treason” and that he would be arrested and tried if he was in any other country.
“Mohan Bhagwat has the audacity to inform the nation every two or three days what he thinks about the Independence movement, what he thinks about the Constitution. What he has said yesterday is treason because it is stating that the Constitution is invalid, it is stating that everything (done) to fight against the British was invalid and he has the audacity to say this publicly,” Mr Gandhi said, adding, “in any other country, he would be arrested and tried”.
“To say that India did not get Independence in 1947 is an insult to every single Indian and it’s about time we stop listening to this nonsense that these people think they can just keep parroting out and shouting and screaming,” the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha said.
Amid the massive row over Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg’s remark on the 2024 general election, an India representative of the social media giant apologised today for the “inadvertent error”.
Responding to Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw’s post fact-checking Zuckerberg’s remark on 2024 elections across the globe, Meta India’s vice-president (public policy) Shivnath Thukral said, “Dear Honourable Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Mark’s observation that many incumbent parties were not re-elected in 2024 elections holds true for several countries, but not India. We would like to apologise for this inadvertent error. India remains an incredibly important country for Meta and we look forward to being at the heart of its innovative future.”
Dear Honourable Minister @AshwiniVaishnaw , Mark’s observation that many incumbent parties were not re-elected in 2024 elections holds true for several countries, BUT not India. We would like to apologise for this inadvertent error. India remains an incredibly important country…
— Shivnath Thukral (@shivithukral) January 14, 2025
The apology comes a day after BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, who heads the Parliamentary standing committee on Communication and Information Technology, said Meta would be summoned on grounds of spreading misinformation for Zuckerberg’s remark.
“Misinformation on a democratic country maligns its image. The organisation would have to apologise to the Parliament and the people here for this mistake,” Mr Dubey said in a post on X.
In a podcast on January 10, the 40-year-old Facebook co-founder said the Covid pandemic had led to an erosion of trust in incumbent governments the world over. He incorrectly cited India’s example in this connection. “2024 was a very big election year around the world and all these countries, India, had elections. The incumbents basically lost every single one. There is some sort of a global phenomenon – whether it was because of inflation or the economic policies to deal with Covid or just how the governments dealt with Covid. It seems to have had this effect that’s global,” he said.
Soon after, Union Minister Vaishnaw fact-checked the remark and said the people of India had reaffirmed their trust in the NDA led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in last year’s Lok Sabha election.
“As the world’s largest democracy, India conducted the 2024 elections with over 640 million voters. People of India reaffirmed their trust in NDA led by PM @narendramodi Ji’s leadership. Mr. Zuckerberg’s claim that most incumbent governments, including India in 2024 elections, lost post-COVID is factually incorrect,” Mr Vaishnaw, who handles portfolios of Railways, Information and Broadcasting and Electronics and Information Technology in the Modi 3.0 government, said in a post on X.
“From free food for 800 million, 2.2 billion free vaccines, and aid to nations worldwide during COVID, to leading India as the fastest-growing major economy, PM Modi’s decisive 3rd-term victory is a testament to good governance and public trust. Meta, it’s disappointing to see misinformation from Mr. Zuckerberg himself. Let’s uphold facts and credibility,” he added.