QWrap: Twitter Reacts to Amit Shah’s NRC Statement & More
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Video Editor : Mohammad Irshad Alam
1. Twitter Furious Over BJP’s NRC Plans
Twitter is furious over the BJP's NRC plans for India after the party’s official Twitter handle tweeted out a statement made by party president Amit Shah at a rally in West Bengal's Darjeeling.
The tweet, attributed to Shah, read:
Soon after the tweet was shared widely all over social media, netizens expressed outrage over what is being seen as an open call against minorities. Some even went on to compare this to ‘Nazism’.
Check out the full story on here.
2. SC Delivers Interim Order on Electoral Bonds
The Supreme Court today delivered an interim order refusing to stay the electoral bonds scheme – while at the same time directing all political parties to provide details of donations received through electoral bonds to the Election Commission by 30 May.
During the hearings on Wednesday and Thursday, the petitioners – NGOs Common Cause, Association for Democratic Reforms and CPI (Marxist) – had argued how the scheme was a blow to transparency and disproportionately benefitted the ruling party.
Two reports by The Quint's Poonam Agarwal, who uncovered how these electoral bonds have a secret, unique alphanumeric coding, were cited by the petitioners in the case.
Read more about the order here.
3. Smriti Irani’s College Degree Courts Controversy Once Again
Smriti Irani's college degree is at the centre of controversy once again. In her affidavit filed during her nomination, Irani, who is contesting against Congress chief Rahul Gandhi from Amethi said she did not complete her Bachelor of Commerce (Part-I), a three-year degree course, from Delhi University's School of Open Learning in 1994.
However, Opposition parties and netizens alike were quick to point out that in her election affidavit of 2014, Irani had in fact said that she had already completed the said Bachelor of Commerce degree.
A bigger discrepancy arose when it was found that in a 2004 affidavit Irani had cited a complete different degree – a Bachelor of Arts, instead of a Bachelor of Commerce – as proof of her educational qualification.
So, from a Bachelor of Arts in 2004 to no degree in 2019 – what’s the scene, Irani ji?
4. No Congress-AAP Alliance in Delhi
After a lot of to and fro, the Congress party finally announced today that it will not get into an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi.
In a press conference, Congress leader PC Chacko said:
Catch the full story here.
5. Ex-Servicemen Write to President Expressing Concern Over ‘Politicisation of the Military’
News came in today that over 150 ex-military servicemen including eight former chiefs have written to President Ram Nath Kovind expressing concern over the politicisation of the armed forces.
However, soon after, questions started being raised on whether the letter was sent at all as some veterans denied signing the letter.
In the supposed letter that was shared on social media, the veterans expressed concern over the term "Modi ji ki Sena" being used by Yogi Adityanath.
Read more here.
6. On the Campaign Trail With Tejasvi Surya
He's the youngest candidate fielded by the BJP and ever since his candidature was announced, 28-year-old Tejasvi Surya has gone viral. However, not for the right reasons.
The Quint's Arun Dev caught up with Tejasvi on his campaign trail and asked him his honest opinion of the Women's Reservation Bill, the BJP being a "Hindu" party and more.
Watch the full interview here.
7. When ‘Captain Cool’ Lost His Cool
Well, he is known as captain cool but MS Dhoni seemed far from that moniker yesterday when in the last over of an IPL match against Rajasthan Royals, the Chennai Super Kings’ Captain ran to the field to dispute a no-ball decision.
He was seen arguing with the umpires on the field which many cricket-lovers have now criticised.
The former Indian captain has now been charged 50% of his match fee for his behaviour.
Read the full story here.