Mild Laxative

@svaradarajan @thewire_in @MildLaxative view: From 1952 to 1977 there was virtually no opposition to the congress party both at the centre and in the states barring Tamil Nadu where a non congress party came to power only in 1968. Nothing to worry here as such.

The veteran columnist P Raman on Modi’s ‘Opposition-Mukt’ Bharat: How Delhi Durbar Engineered Bengal Regime Change m.thewire.in/article/govern… via @thewire_In

@keshavbedi Kashmir was in total shutdown and stone throwing mode till 2014. After 2014 though there were isolated terror incidents peace has returned to the valley. For the first time in their lives Kashmiris are seeing a railway train. Unprecedented development. 370 removal was just great.

This is what we got in J&K after what Manmohan Singh government did post 26/11. A DECLINING TREND in terror incidents in J&K, WHICH WAS HALTED once Modi came to power. Modi wouldn’t achieve the same low where Manmohan Singh left till almost a DECADE later, that too due to FATF. Terror incidents INCREASED after Uri strikes, and they INCREASED yet again after Balakot.

@NYCMayor There was no such thing as Nakba. It is as fictitious as the idea of Palestine. When Israel was formed Arabs from Jordan and Gaza went to displace the Jews armed with sticks and stones.They were beaten back by the armed Jewish militia and were forced to flee. They called it Nakba

Today marks Nakba Day, an annual day of remembrance to commemorate the expulsion of more than 700,000 Palestinians between 1947 and 1949 during the creation of the State of Israel and the year that followed. Inea is a New Yorker and a Nakba survivor. She shared her story with us — one of home, tradition and memory over generations.

@nikhilnarayanan @RajeevRC_X What if the govt formation takes another 6 months. Cannot be ruled out considering the long delay in just electing a leader. Why should Kerala women pay the price for congress infighting. It was congress leaders who promised free KSRTC rides from May 15.

Probably the lamest of the protests in recent times. Not sure if @RajeevRC_X even okayed this. Picking a pedantic point and flaunting your ignorance of how governments function… it makes you all look really idiotic, Ashwini and others.

@tishasaroyan In all these cases obviously the last word belongs to the world renowned archeologist Shri K K Mohammed who after studying the issue emphatically confirmed that it is indeed a temple. Half baked historians should stop giving opinions since it is not their field anyway.

Dodos in this country have no idea what a hypostyle mosque is!! Look at the height of the pillars, this is definitely not a temple. But idîots who became Hindu after 2014 have only learnt their religion via WhatsApp. Farzi Hindus tbh

@dhanyarajendran After KC became GSO congress won Karnataka HP Telangana and came back to power in Jharkhand. The LS tally improved from a humiliating 45 to a respectable 100. Now congress has swept Kerala under his overall supervision. CM post is a suitable reward to this talented man.

Quite amused at all the hot takes on whether it will be VD or KC. Everyone has an opinion on how the high command is thinking. Technically, it all boils down to whether RG wants KC in Delhi or not.

@AdityaMenon22 @himansshhi CEO’s are serving IAS officers who are deputed to the Election Commission. Once the assignment is over they revert back to the cadre and postings are done by the respective govt. Meanwhile

Bengal CEO Manoj Agarwal, who oversaw SIR and Assembly polls, made chief secretary by BJP govt. Seen in meetings even before notification Report by @himansshhi thequint.com/news/politics/…

@PoojaPrasanna4 Good thing about Vijay is that he does not have any ideological baggage. No need to exhibit performative atheism ( anti Hinduism) to get applause from the followers. Has a Christian name visits Temples has sacred wrist bands and has an astrologer. A new beginning for Tamil Nadu.

What next? Numerologist as Chief Secretary and horoscope matching before every cabinet meeting? Change indeed.

@keshavbedi @netanyahu Netanyahu is popular and well loved by an overwhelming majority of Indians. The people in both countries have been victims of mindless jihadi violence in which thousands of people died. The two countries thus share a common bond. Yet to see anyone disliking Netanyahu.

Mr @netanyahu, you are popular only among the illiterate and mentally sick people in India, who don’t have a moral compass but only Muslim hate in their hearts and minds. The rest of us recognise the WAR CRIMINAL that you are, living embodiment of EVIL.

@nistula KC comes from a remote village near Payyannur in North Kerala. Growing up he had no electricity in his house and had to walk 5 km to attend Primary School. He first had a Pizza only when he was 42. Just because he is not loud like other candidates he should not be overlooked

Customary tweet every morning from those tracking Kerala CM race…..

@shaandelhite KC is ever smiling. He is an affable guy. He has good administrative experience. He has good relations with both NSS and SNDP. Moreover he comes from a poor family from a remote village near Payyannur. He did not have electricity in his childhood and walked 5 kms to school.

Abuse and hate for any Congress leaders should not be promoted. It’s very hurtful to see so many people abusing KC Venugopal just because he is also being considered for Chief Minister and got the highest number of MLA votes. KCV has been GSO during the toughest time of the Congress party, after Rahul ji stepped down as Congress President. That was a period when many have walked away. He was made GSO in January 2019, three months before the 2019 LS elections. The loss then cannot be attributed to him, no honest person can hold one man responsible for an election he had three months to prepare for. In that way, his performance in 2024 Lok Sabha of securing 240 seats for the INDIA alliance was not just good, it was a remarkable comeback for a party that the entire ecosystem had written off. Post 2019, Congress has seen severe attacks and constant poaching from BJP. Entire media was against Rahul ji and Congress. Many of our own leaders were quietly looking for an exit. KCV did not. He served and held the party together during this difficult time, when holding it together was the most thankless job in Indian politics. He was attacked relentlessly for every loss. He also has a huge part to play in ensuring Rahul ji’s Bharat Jodo Yatra and Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra were successful - the two yatras that gave the party its voice back. He has been a strong lieutenant of Rahul Gandhi and has defended him ferociously all these years, without worrying for personal image like many other leaders do. He isn’t compromised. He has taken on Adani openly and fearlessly. That is why Rahul ji trusts him so much. He has also completed Sangathan Srujan, revamping the DCCs across the country, quiet, unglamorous work that wasn’t done for decades. Everyone knows how KCV takes early morning flights back to Kerala just for a day to do his MP work and flies back the same night to do AICC meetings with Kharge ji and Rahul ji. He has done that for years now. Yes, he has lost many elections. But many senior state leaders are equally responsible for those losses - they sat in the same rooms and took the same calls with him. In fact, KCV had a huge and direct role in the victories in Karnataka, Telangana and Kerala. Let us be fair to him on both counts. And let us not forget who is watching while we tear into one of our own. The BJP is smiling. The same media that has hunted Rahul ji for years is now screenshotting every cruel word we type about KCV. We are doing their work for them. We trust High Command to take a good decision over the Kerala CM’s chair, and we will stand by whatever they decide. But to humiliate and abuse KCV, a man who has given everything to this party in its darkest years is shameful and must be condemned. He deserves better from us. Let’s wait for Rahul ji’s decision and work in best interest of the party.

A not so subtle message to Satheesan High command aware of who did what, Rahul tells CM contenders newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/…

@nielmohamed @mkvenu1 As long as they remain in the leadership position they represent the social groups. All Christians don’t vote as per the advise of the Bishops but politicians have to maintain good relationship with them. At a time when BJP is growing this is all the more important for congress.

@MildLaxative @mkvenu1 Kollam district is SNDP's strongest base. UDF swept the elections here even after Satheeshan called out Vallappally for his openly communal remarks. You think too low of the people in SNDP.

I asked a perceptive journalist(free lancer) based in Kerala who will be CM based on popularity and his terse reply was - People want VD, MLAs want KCV! That is a strange divergence. RG has to make a choice.

@nielmohamed @mkvenu1 That doesn’t mean anything. There is already a strong perception that UDF is heavily inclined towards minorities. A CM who does not get along with Hindu social groups will be a liability. High Command will not risk it.

@MildLaxative @mkvenu1 Yes, many thought that this would hurt UDF in the election. But voters gave UDF such humongous majority. I'd say that's proof that if you're good enough, CM don't need to bow down to people in NSS and SNDP leadership (not the organisations), unlike popular perception.

#BREAKING | Rahul Gandhi Wants KC Venugopal As Kerala Chief Minister, Meets Him Privately: Sources ndtv.com/kerala-news/ra… NDTV's @journalistaswin reports

@minicnair By next election CPM in Kerala will become a paper communist party like SUCI reduced to only distributing revolutionary leaflets in bus stands and market places. They only have to thank their own arrogance and hubris for that.

When media people asked former Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan what he wanted to say about the BJP winning 3 seats in Kerala, Chief Minister replied: Somewhere, there is a lack of education in those areas. We will try to promote education more in those regions. #Keralam

@ANI @dhanyarajendran Good to see Tamil Nadu CM wearing Pant and Shirt with an overcoat. Hope this will inspire South Indian politicians especially from Tamil Nadu and Kerala to migrate to the elegant pant and shirt from complicated and unsafe time consuming Dhoties and Mundu.

#WATCH | Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) Chief C Joseph Vijay at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai, where he will take oath as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, shortly.

@ANI In 3 states where BJP has won, Chief Minister has been sworn in, cabinet formed, portfolios distributed and ministers have hit the ground running solving the state’s problems one by one with breakneck speed. In 100% literacy highly developed state no Chief Minister yet.

#WATCH | Delhi: After Keralam Congress meeting, party leader Deepa Dasmunshi says, "Today, from 4 pm till now, we had a long discussion...Each of us spoke to party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi. Individually also we spoke and they have given their guidance. For last 2-3 days, there was some overenthusiastic workers and some unruly incident happened in Kerala. People have given us a landslide majority, and those unruly incidents are not our Congress culture. So, we are requesting all the workers to stop this kind of activity. Also, very soon, I think in due time we will get the final decision by our high command, and we are waiting for that..."

@democracynow @khanumarfa If they are free and fair in Kerala Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry they are free and fair everywhere. Nothing to worry here as such.

Recent state-level elections in India have further consolidated the power of the ruling Hindu nationalist BJP led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “This is for the first time that I am observing on the ground … that the general public does not think the elections are free and fair in India,” says Arfa Khanum Sherwani (@khanumarfa), an Indian journalist and senior editor at The Wire. The BJP won the crucial border state of West Bengal for the first time, defeating one of Modi's most outspoken opponents, Mamata Banerjee. She has accused the Modi government of using the Election Commission of India to defeat her party by deleting 9 million names from the polls.