'Khooni panja' remark used as coloquial metaphor: Modi

November 19, 2013
New Delhi, Nov 19: Narendra Modi today denied having violated the Model Code of Conduct in his reply to the Election Commission notice over his "khooni panja" remark made during poll campaign in Chhattisgarh.

khooni_modi

In his nine-page reply filed this evening before the Commission, a day ahead of the deadline, Modi said he has only exercised his right of free speech by criticising the policies and work of Congress and thus has not violated the Model Code.

"I am of the clear opinion that I have not violated the said provision," he said.

Modi said even though he has himself been subjected to much criticism, including use of abuses against him, he has maintained the diginity of political discourse and has not made personal attacks on any of his opponents.

Though Modi has sent a reply to the EC, a delegation of senior BJP leaders led by party vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi will meet Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath and two other Election Commissioners tomorrow to hand over a copy of Modi's reply officially.

The BJP leaders will also complain against Congress leaders, including its vice president Rahul Gandhi, accusing them of continuously violating the Model Code by making all kinds of statements and allegations against Modi and BJP.

Modi has said he has not made any wild allegation against the Congress and its leaders and whatever said by him is not unverified and is very much in public domain.

He said criticism of an opponent is inevitable in an election and the 'khooni panja' (bloody claw) and 'zalim haath' (ruthless hand) remarks are popular Hindi expressions used only figuratively.

"It is used as a colloquial metaphor," he said.

The Election Commission had asked Modi to reply to its notice over his "khooni panja" remark by November 20.

The EC had issued a notice to Modi on November 13 to reply as to why action should not be initiated against him for his "khooni panja" remarks, allegedly in reference to the Congress poll symbol, which is a picture of a hand.

The Congress had complained to the Commission, which had got a copy of the video CD of Modi's speech of November 7 in Dongargarh Rajnandgaon of Chhattisgarh along with the remarks of the Returning Officer before the notice was served on the BJP prime ministerial candidate.

Modi while campaigning in Chhattisgarh had said, "When Atal Behari Vajpayee formed Chhattisgarh, whose hands did it first go into...Do you want such a "khooni panja" gain... Brothers and sisters, don't commit that mistake again. Even by mistake, don't ever let Chhattisgarh go into the hands of a 'Zalim Panja'."

"Whereas, it has been, prima facie, observed that by making the aforesaid statements, you have violated the provisions of the Model Code of Conduct," the EC notice had said.

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Agencies
January 5,2020

New Delhi, Jan 5: A masked mob on Sunday entered the Sabarmati Hostel on the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus and assaulted several students and professors with sticks and rods.

"I have been brutally attacked by goons wearing masks. I am bleeding. I was brutally beaten up," JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) president Aishe Ghosh told reporters.

She has been admitted to the AIIMS here for treatment.

Several other students were also injured in the incident.

In a video of the incident, a group of goons with their faces covered can be seen assaulting students with wooden sticks and rods.

A tweet from the official handle of the JNUSU said, "Sabarmati Hostel: right now. They are beating the students who are inside. Knocking on doors with rods. People are jumping from balconies. #SOSJNU #EmergencyinJNU."

"Professors who were trying to protect us have been beaten up. These are unknown ABVP goons, not all are students, they have covered their faces, and they are moving towards the hotels near the West Gate. Stay alert. Make human chains. Protect each other. #SOSJNU #EmergencyinJNU," another tweet added.

Meanwhile, the ABVP's JNU unit claimed in a tweet: "Emergency in JNU. Leftist goons of JNU accompained with their cadre from other universities have crossed every limit. They have proceeded with unimaginable violence on ABVP activists of JNU."

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News Network
February 16,2020

New Delhi, Feb 16: Just an hour ahead of the swearing-in ceremony, Arvind Kejriwal invited the people of Delhi again for his oath-taking ceremony at Ramlila Maidan today.

Referring himself as "son of Delhi", the AAP convener today tweeted saying, "Delhiites, your son is going to take oath as Delhi chief minister for the third time. You must come to bless your son".

The AAP national convener will be sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Delhi for the third time in a row.

Arvind Kejriwal is scheduled to take oath along with other ministers at Ramlila Maidan.

On Saturday, Kejriwal, through a tweet, has said that autorickshaw drivers, students, teachers, doctors, labourers, etc will be the "chief guests".

The guest list put out by the AAP includes ''Delhi ke Nirmata''- people who contributed to the development of the city during the last five years.

These include Sumit Nagal, a Delhi government school student and an international Tennis player, Laxman Chaudhry an auto driver, Manu Gulati a teacher and "one of the many architects of Delhi Governance Model", Dalbir Singh a farmer, Ratan Jamshed Batliboi - the architect of the famous Signature Bridge among others.

By winning 62 seats by cashing in on the plank of development, his party nearly repeated its 2015 performance, sweeping the Assembly polls in the face of a high-voltage campaign by the BJP, which had fielded a battery of Union Ministers and Chief Ministers in its electioneering, spearheaded by Home Minister Amit Shah.

The BJP marginally improved its tally, managing just eight seats from its 2015''s tally of three seats. The Congress failed to open its account in the second successive election.

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News Network
January 9,2020

Raipur, Jan 9: An outbreak of bird flu has been reported from a state-run poultry farm in Chhattisgarh's Korea district, prompting the authorities to cull over 15,000 birds and step up vigil on poultry birds within 10 km radius of the affected area, officials said on Thursday.

So far, 15,426 chickens and quails have been culled and 30,000 eggs destroyed after the highly contagious H5N1 virus was detected among birds at the poultry farm and hatchery in Baikunthpur town, located around 300 km from here, they said.

There has been no case of infection in humans so far due to the outbreak of avian influenza, they said.

"After some chickens and quails were found dead on December 7 last year in the farm, their samples were collected and sent to local laboratories for testing," Dr R S Baghel, deputy director, veterinary department, Korea, told news agency.

When the disease was not properly detected, samples were further sent to Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh where veterinarians suggested symptoms of chronic respiratory disease, following which their line of treatment was followed.

"Despite the treatment, the abnormal deaths of birds continued," Baghel said.

Later, the samples were sent to Bhopal-based National Institute of High-Security Animal Diseases where tests were found positive for the H5N1 virus on December 23, he said.

"Immediately after getting reports of bird flu, we took permission from the Korea district administration, as per the standard procedure, and culled all 15,426 birds (chickens and quails) and destroyed 30,000 eggs in the farm and its adjoining areas," the official said.

Of the total culled birds, nearly 641 chickens were being reared by locals within one km radius of the farm. The locals were given compensation for the culling of their birds, he said.

"We have completed the culling process and sealed the farm. After sanitising the area in 10 km of its radius, we submitted a report to the state's directorate of veterinary services on Wednesday," Baghel said.

"No human has been affected due to the outbreak and the situation is under control. We are waiting for further directives from the higher authorities," he said.

The official said for the next three months, they will be conducting surveillance in 10 km radius of the affected area during which blood samples of birds will be regularly sent to Bhopal for testing.

"We will continue our observation for next three months," he added.

Meanwhile, state veterinary services director C R Prasanna said, "No human has so far been affected due to avian influenza and workers at the poultry farm at Baikunthpur have been given medicines as a precautionary measure."

Nearly 40 villages fall within the purview of 10 km radius of the affected area from where random sampling of poultry birds will be done for next three months to check whether they are infected with avian influenza, he said.

"Necessary steps are being taken to prevent bird flu from spreading to other areas," he added.

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