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0:31

this episode we talk about the Gujarat

0:33

High Court acquitting those who were convicted

0:35

in the murder of the RTI activist

0:37

Amit Shaitva. We also talk about the

0:39

latest controversy involving Congress leader Sam Petrodah.

0:42

But first we talk about the biggest

0:44

concerns for voters in Bihar and why

0:47

many of them will be voting for

0:49

BJP despite concerns like price rise and

0:51

unemployment. Hi,

0:55

I am Niharika Nanda and you are

0:57

listening to 3 things the Indian Express

0:59

News Show. During

1:05

the election season among the issues

1:07

that have generated the most buzz

1:09

are those related to reservation, inheritance

1:11

tax and wealth distribution. And

1:14

while these concerns have dominated news headlines

1:16

and sparked television debates, voters in Bihar

1:19

at least do not seem too concerned

1:21

about them. Indian Express's

1:23

Deepthi Manthiwari has been travelling across the

1:25

state for the paper and in this

1:27

segment he joins my colleague Shishank Bhargav

1:29

to discuss what has been on the

1:31

minds of those who live in Bihar.

1:34

So Deepthi Man, begin by telling us when you

1:36

spoke to voters in Bihar, what were some of

1:38

the biggest issues that they talked about? The

1:41

biggest issues in Bihar, top of

1:43

the mind issues that we call

1:45

are price rise and unemployment.

1:48

Almost every voter

1:51

you talk to and you ask

1:53

them what are the issues they

1:55

are facing without asking leading questions. They straight

1:58

away come with, jada

2:00

hai man gai separish haan hai. And

2:02

when you talk to younger voters, you

2:05

know, who may be in their 20s or 30s, so

2:09

they talk about there not being

2:11

any employment opportunities in Bihar and

2:13

how everybody has to migrate out

2:15

of the state to make a

2:18

living. And we all know that,

2:20

you know, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari

2:22

and, you know, from Gujarat to

2:24

say Arunachal Pradesh, almost every state

2:27

has Bihar laborers doing the work.

2:29

So that is one of the

2:31

pet peeves among the people. And of course,

2:34

inflation is one thing that touches all sections

2:36

of society. Okay, so then this

2:38

is something that people across sections talk about.

2:41

Undoubtedly, you know, this is across

2:43

caste lines. So upper caste also

2:45

face Mangai and Bero's Gari. You

2:48

know, Dalits also talk about Mangai.

2:51

Unemployment, maybe, you know, you talk

2:53

to older voters who are over 60,

2:55

probably they will not talk about unemployment

2:58

because it's not something that is a

3:00

major concern for them. But younger

3:02

voters will talk about unemployment across caste

3:04

lines and inflation is something that everybody

3:07

will talk about because it touches

3:09

everybody. And do they

3:11

talk about things like reservations and concerns

3:13

over constitutional amendments that we've been hearing

3:15

so much about? So

3:17

definitely not a top of the

3:20

mind issue on the people. People

3:22

talk about it only when you

3:24

ask them, specifically about these issues.

3:26

Many people don't even understand what

3:29

these issues are. Even if you

3:31

simplify to them, they don't understand

3:33

what these issues are. Also, the

3:35

slogans of save the constitution and

3:38

save democracy is also not ringing

3:40

a bell with most people unless

3:42

somebody is highly educated, you know,

3:45

it does not ring a bell

3:47

to them because they don't understand

3:49

what constitution actually does for them

3:51

or what democracy actually does for

3:54

them or what will happen if

3:56

constitution and democracy is not there.

3:58

So when that awareness. is not

4:00

there obviously these are issues that do not ring

4:03

with them. In fact most people believe that nobody

4:06

can take away reservations and nobody

4:08

can take their wives Mangal Sutra.

4:10

So this is something that people

4:12

articulate very clearly. Okay

4:14

and when we talk about unemployment and price

4:16

rise I mean these are issues that we've

4:18

seen voters talk about in other states as

4:20

well but in Bihar did you find people

4:22

blaming Nitish Kumar or the BJP government for

4:24

it? One thing

4:27

which I found very stark in

4:29

Bihar was that while this unemployment

4:31

and inflation is touching every section

4:33

of society it is not exactly

4:35

influencing voting patterns in a manner

4:37

that it can swing votes. So

4:40

to an extent it appears that

4:42

while these are top issues on

4:44

the minds of the voters they

4:46

are not exactly voting on these

4:48

issues. It's not exactly making them

4:50

angry they are upset but they

4:53

are not angry. So there

4:55

are multiple reasons for it because

4:57

they feel that while the government may

4:59

be failing on this front you know

5:02

there are other things which it is

5:04

doing and which it is doing better

5:06

which is it is doing well and

5:08

also for many voters it appears that

5:10

they feel that there is no other

5:12

option that is in

5:14

some way you know influencing

5:16

voting preferences. Okay so

5:18

then what are the kind of examples this site

5:20

when talking about the things that are working for

5:23

them the things they feel the government is doing

5:25

right? So depending upon

5:27

who you are speaking to you

5:29

know you will get different answers

5:31

for these two problems of unemployment

5:33

and inflation. So in case you're

5:35

talking to a Yadav or a

5:37

Muslim or a section of Dalits

5:39

who are known to vote for

5:41

the RJD and the Congress then

5:43

they completely berate the government and

5:45

they say that they

5:48

are not going to vote for the RJD or the

5:50

RJD or the RJD or the RJD or the RJD or

5:52

the RJD. But the moment you go to a BJP

5:54

voter who is traditionally known to be a BJP voter for

5:56

example the upper caste a section of

5:58

Dalits such as past who

6:01

generally vote for the BJP.

6:03

Then sections within the OBC

6:05

who will vote for the

6:07

BJP or will vote for

6:09

Nitish Kumar like such as

6:11

Kourmi, Kushvara, so they begin

6:13

to justify with completely inane

6:15

reasons. So some voters said

6:17

that, Sir, what can

6:19

anyone do about inflation? There is

6:21

so much of population. When population

6:23

explosion happens, then inflation increases on

6:25

its own. Then there were others

6:27

who said, all this is

6:29

because of Pakistanis and Bangladeshi

6:32

infiltrators. Once Moudiji kicks

6:34

them out, inflation will come down on its own.

6:37

Right. And this is exactly the narrative that

6:39

we have heard BJP leaders talk about. See,

6:42

absolutely. So what has happened is

6:44

that one could say and it

6:46

appears on the ground that BJP

6:48

has been extremely good at managing

6:51

perception and at warding

6:53

off anti-incumbency in a way

6:55

that voters are sort of

6:57

justifying their own preference. So

7:00

what comes along with it

7:02

is that the pluses that

7:04

come with Modi. So they

7:07

talk about. So

7:10

while the voter is unable to see

7:12

any because any development in his own

7:15

life. Okay. But he

7:17

feels that the country

7:19

is progressing. So the idea

7:21

of nationalism and national pride,

7:25

which has been consistently

7:27

articulated both by Mr.

7:29

Modi and his party has

7:31

actually captured public imagination. And

7:33

so people feel that, okay,

7:35

there may not be much

7:37

happening in my life, but

7:39

I think the country

7:41

is progressing. So they have a

7:44

very good hold on the perception,

7:46

political perception of Mr. Modi and

7:48

his regime, which has been sort

7:51

of managed through in two ways.

7:53

One is the television media, the

7:55

mainstream media, and two is a

7:58

social media because most Most voters say

8:00

that, So,

8:04

the way probably the BJP IT

8:06

cell has been managing perception has

8:08

been better than the opposition. And

8:11

that is why despite certain problems, most

8:14

people feel that the country is doing well even if

8:16

they are not doing well. But

8:18

Deepti man, are there any concrete things that voters

8:20

say the Modi government has done for them? And

8:23

did Ram temple come up in conversations at all? So

8:26

people are convinced that hadn't it

8:28

been for Modi, Ram temple would

8:30

not have been built. And this

8:32

is not just among upper caste,

8:34

but also among several OBCs and

8:36

even Dalits. 2 is

8:39

Modi's schemes. There are two schemes which

8:41

are an absolute hit

8:43

with the landless laborers and

8:45

the very poor communities in

8:47

Bihar. And these are free

8:50

rations. Even though people complain that

8:52

they do not get the entire

8:54

rations or Deelarekilo, Khadapaya, Charykilo Dehrahe,

8:56

yet they feel that the

8:58

free ration is a great, great support at a

9:00

time when prices are high. So

9:02

at least food is something that is being

9:05

taken care of. So that is a great

9:07

release to the people. And second is the

9:09

PM Awasiyojna. So from village to village in

9:12

several villages you go, there are several concrete

9:14

houses which have come out in

9:16

the past, say 10 years. So

9:18

people feel that Narendra Modi is really

9:21

concerned about the poor and he is

9:23

building houses for them. So the beneficiaries

9:25

obviously are voting. The non beneficiaries are

9:28

in the hope that so many houses

9:30

that have been built, my turn will

9:32

also come. So that way these two

9:35

schemes and interestingly it is also commentary

9:37

on the Congress. All these houses across

9:39

Bihar, wherever I went, people call it

9:41

Indira Awasiyojna. Indira Awasiyojna was something that

9:44

has started way back in the Congress

9:46

time and people feel that now they

9:48

are getting Indira Awas, which is a

9:50

reflection on how Congress probably failed to

9:52

implement its own scheme. And

9:55

the other thing we have seen

9:57

under this government is this narrative

9:59

of polarization. and divisive rhetoric.

10:01

Did people say anything about that? Yes,

10:04

people do talk about polarization, people

10:06

do talk about division

10:09

in the society and this is also

10:11

from BJP supporters as well. But then

10:13

BJP supporters say that yes, we agree

10:15

that there is too much Hindu Muslim

10:17

happening in the country. But then even

10:19

Congress refused to go to the Ram

10:21

temple inauguration. So Congress is no different,

10:23

you know, so it's a matter of

10:25

between two communal parties, who do you

10:27

want to choose? That's an argument that

10:29

people make. Obviously Muslims feel that despite

10:31

all the schemes of Mr. Narendra Modi,

10:33

which are very good and they are benefiting

10:35

from those schemes, they feel that, you know,

10:37

this is one thing that they don't like

10:40

about him. People say, he is a very

10:42

good leader. So yes, there

10:50

is a sense among the people, even

10:52

among BJP supporters that there is Hindu

10:54

Muslim happening. But again, as I said,

10:57

that they don't see Congress in a great

10:59

light either. So this

11:01

is not exactly influencing or swinging

11:03

votes in any manner. And in

11:05

fact, there is a sizable Hindutva

11:07

vote, which probably likes the BJP

11:10

for precisely this reason that it

11:12

is talking about Muslim appeasement and

11:14

you know, it does not want

11:16

to specifically cater to

11:18

minorities and talks about Hindus. So

11:21

it is something that appeals to

11:23

people. And Deepthi Man,

11:25

although many people are saying that there

11:27

is no alternative, the RJD, for example,

11:29

who has allied with the Congress does

11:31

have a sizable board bank in the

11:33

state. And you write that

11:36

Yadavs, a section of Dalits and Muslims

11:38

are leaning towards them. So what kind

11:40

of opinions did they share with you?

11:43

See, Yadavs are people who make a

11:45

lot of noise. So they are very

11:48

confident. They will, even if they feel

11:50

that they are not winning or their

11:52

numbers are less, they will always sound

11:54

confident and say that we are winning.

11:57

Everybody is voting. They will speak for

11:59

all cast. and they will start

12:01

saying that the Arab-Brahmin are also voting for RJD,

12:04

Muslims are voting for RJD, OBCs

12:06

are also voting, this time RJD

12:08

is winning. So they are very

12:10

vocal voters. Muslims are reticent because

12:12

they come across as slightly afraid,

12:15

so they do not easily speak

12:17

their mind, but they are a

12:19

vote bank which is voting very

12:21

sincerely as something that we have

12:23

seen on the ground. On

12:25

the other side, you will find

12:27

upper caste, again articulating for the

12:30

entire Hindu community saying that everybody

12:32

is voting for the BJP, don't

12:34

go on what others are saying,

12:37

it is Modi, Modi, Modi, Modi, Jeejee,

12:39

I got Modi, Modi, these kind of

12:41

things they will say. But so both

12:44

sides, voters and supporters of the two

12:46

factions are of course very confident. Yes,

12:48

when you talk to Dalits and when

12:50

you talk to certain sections

12:52

of OBCs, they are more nuanced because

12:54

they come across, they talk about their own

12:57

problems that they face. Also,

12:59

Bhitimante doesn't seem to be a big wave this

13:01

time around like we saw in the last polls.

13:03

So what do you think it will come down

13:05

to? There are

13:07

many calculations in this. So there

13:09

is a Modi magic. Modi remains

13:11

extremely popular, not just among upper

13:13

caste, but also among OBCs and

13:16

Dalits. Modi's schemes are working on

13:18

the ground and people sincerely believe

13:20

that, you know, the country is

13:22

progressing and doing well. But at

13:24

the same time, there is

13:26

a sense of fatigue among the people

13:29

with, you know, 10 years of rule.

13:31

And there is a sizeable section of

13:33

voters who feel that there should be

13:36

a change. But one thing working

13:38

in favor of Mr. Narendra Modi is

13:40

that people do not see any alternative.

13:42

People do not yet see a large

13:44

number of voters, do not yet see

13:46

Rahul Gandhi as an option. Conversely,

13:49

what is working in favor of the opposition

13:51

is that there is a sense of fatigue

13:54

with Mr. Modi. There is no new narrative

13:56

that Mr. Modi has come up with. So,

13:58

you know, national pride is... narrative that

14:00

was there in the last election also.

14:02

It has always been there. Okay. Hindutva

14:04

is something that has always been there

14:07

with Mr. Modi. So again, this is

14:09

not a new narrative. So Mr. Modi

14:11

is seeking votes largely on old narrative.

14:13

But another thing which is working

14:16

in favor of the opposition is

14:18

the opposition vote bank appears to

14:20

be very committed and sincere to

14:22

voting. And on the other side

14:24

with the BJP having created this

14:26

narrative that we are winning more

14:28

than 400 seats appears

14:30

slightly complacent. Modi is the GT right

14:32

here. So what happens that in certain

14:35

constituencies where the voter BJP supporter feels

14:37

that this candidate is very bad, and

14:39

he must be taught a lesson. So

14:42

he feels that you know Modi is

14:44

winning anyway, let's defeat this guy.

14:46

So these kind of calculations, you

14:48

know how they sit on June

14:50

5 remains to be

14:52

seen. And

14:58

next we talk about the murder case

15:00

of RTI activist Amit Chetva. On

15:03

Monday, the Gujarat High Court acquitted former BJP MP

15:06

D.M. Salunki and six others in the

15:08

said murder case. The case dates back

15:10

to 2010 when two men had

15:12

shot Chetva right outside the Gujarat High

15:15

Court. When we spoke to Indian

15:17

Express's Sohini Ghosh, she told us that

15:19

the murder had sent shockwaves across the

15:21

state. So the incident

15:23

had happened at a

15:26

commercial complex, which is situated

15:28

right outside the Gujarat High

15:30

Court. And you

15:32

know, given what a high

15:34

court, a constitutional court stands

15:37

for, and the brazenness of

15:39

this happening in broad daylight

15:42

had really shocked everyone.

15:45

She said that it was the

15:47

local police that first began investigating

15:49

the matter, but the case was

15:51

later transferred to the CBI, the

15:54

Central Bureau of Investigation. And the

15:56

Central Bureau of Investigation had then

15:58

filed a charge. the

16:00

trial had lasted nearly

16:03

nine years and in

16:06

the end, Solanki and

16:08

the other six accused

16:19

were sentenced to life imprisonment in July 2019.

16:23

To understand why they have been acquitted now,

16:25

we speak to Sohini in this segment.

16:28

Sohini, can you begin by telling

16:30

us what had led to Jethwa's

16:32

murder and what had the CBI's

16:34

investigation revealed about the motivations of

16:37

MP Dino Solanki and the

16:39

other accused? So as

16:41

per the CBI, the

16:43

main motive was basically

16:45

the RTI activist Amit

16:48

Jethwa. He had been

16:50

affecting the business prospects

16:52

and had also initiated a

16:54

public interest litigation in Gujarat

16:57

High Court against this BJP

16:59

MP for violation of mining

17:02

reasons and mining conditions because

17:04

the MP Dino Solanki, his

17:06

constituency is Runagar, which also

17:09

has a part of the

17:11

Geer Somnath, the protected Geer

17:13

forest. It falls in this

17:16

constituency as well and he

17:18

had a lot of business.

17:22

So he was mainly involved

17:24

in mining and construction business.

17:26

So a lot of his

17:28

business interests were lying here

17:30

in this area and a

17:32

lot of the mining activities

17:35

were being undertaken in the

17:37

neighbouring area of Geer and

17:39

the allegation as per Amit

17:41

Jethwa that he was using

17:43

his political might and his

17:45

clout to get environmental clearances

17:47

for leases for mining spots

17:50

which were clearly in violation

17:52

of the law. So more or

17:54

less the motive was attributed that

17:57

Amit Jethwa was turning out to

17:59

be a thorn in

18:01

Dino Solanki's path. And

18:04

can you talk a bit about Solanki and

18:06

how he started his political careers? Because

18:08

we understand that he knew Amit Jaitva

18:11

pretty early on. So

18:13

Dino Solanki, he joined politics,

18:15

started off as a president

18:17

of the Kodinar municipality. And

18:20

in 1998, he was elected as

18:23

an MLA from Kodinar. And

18:25

interestingly, Amit Jaitva back then

18:28

was practically an aide of

18:30

Dino Solanki. So he used

18:32

to live at the MLA

18:35

quarters of Dino Solanki in

18:37

Gandhinagar. But it was

18:40

only around 2000 that the

18:42

relationship between Dino Solanki

18:45

and Amit Jaitva started

18:47

deteriorating because Amit Jaitva

18:49

started focusing a lot

18:51

on environmental activism. And

18:55

in 2007, Amit Jaitva

18:57

had also contested against

18:59

Dino Solanki. Jaitva lost,

19:01

but that again kind

19:04

of orked Dino Solanki.

19:07

And Jaitva probably had inside

19:09

information about the mining reasons,

19:11

etc. So he started

19:14

handling a lot of the RTIs.

19:16

So yeah, that is how the

19:18

relationship progressed. And

19:20

ultimately, a public interest litigation

19:23

was filed by Jaitva on

19:26

the mining operations that is ongoing

19:28

around the Geer forest, which is

19:30

a protected area. A

19:32

high court order was passed in

19:34

the same month in July 2010,

19:38

directing that Dino Solanki be

19:40

also added as a respondent

19:43

to the public interest litigation

19:45

by Jaitva. And they

19:47

were joined as parties and

19:49

10 days later, Amit Jaitva was

19:52

shot dead. years.

20:00

So, plenty and six others were

20:02

sentenced for life. Talk about

20:04

what were some of the highlights of that

20:06

trial. So, during the

20:09

trial, there were a lot

20:11

of upheavals because

20:13

there were almost 195 witnesses

20:17

on the list in

20:19

the trial and 105

20:21

of them turned hostile.

20:23

There were repeated accusations

20:26

of witnesses being pressurized,

20:28

being influenced by the

20:30

accused because the accused

20:32

holds quite a lot

20:34

of clout in the

20:36

jurisdiction. So, one of

20:38

the witnesses had alleged that on

20:41

the day he was supposed

20:43

to depose, his son was

20:45

kidnapped and he had attributed

20:47

the abduction to be

20:49

at the behest of Dino

20:51

Sojanki. So, yeah, apart

20:54

from the conviction, the trial

20:56

court had also directed

20:58

that perjury proceedings be

21:01

also be conducted against

21:03

38 of

21:05

these witnesses because of the

21:07

way they turned hostile or the

21:09

reasons that they attributed for being

21:11

hostile or the way of their

21:14

deposition. And Swini, what

21:16

made the court revisit this case

21:18

nearly five years later? So,

21:21

after the trial court verdict

21:23

in 2019, Dino Sojanki and

21:25

the six other convicts,

21:28

they moved to Gujarat High

21:30

Court appealing against the conviction

21:33

and the Gujarat High

21:36

Court this week ultimately acquitted

21:38

all seven of them. It

21:40

proceeded as a usual appeal

21:42

goes where you basically see

21:44

the evidence that was examined

21:46

or taken on the court

21:48

by the trial court whether

21:51

the legal precedents that were applied

21:53

were valid or not, the kind

21:55

of evidence appreciation that went in,

21:57

the kind of confusion that was

22:00

taken during the trial based

22:02

on the evidence on record

22:04

and the depositions. So based

22:06

on all these aspects, the

22:08

Gujarat High Court has now

22:11

acquitted all seven of them.

22:14

And what made the High Court acquit

22:16

Salanti and the others? What kind of

22:18

an analysis made it change the

22:20

verdict of the trial court? So

22:23

the Gujarat High Court looked at

22:25

the witness depositions and

22:28

also the other evidence such as eyewitness

22:31

accounts or corroborating evidence

22:33

on record, call detailed

22:35

record, phone details, etc.

22:38

So some of the

22:40

observations that the court

22:42

has given is firstly,

22:44

a lot of the

22:46

witnesses turned hostile. So

22:49

that's one thing. Secondly, the

22:51

few witnesses that did not

22:53

turn hostile did not have

22:55

a very stalling

22:58

deposition. Second,

23:00

another observation of the

23:02

Gujarat High Court was,

23:04

for example, vetting and

23:07

checking the call detailed

23:09

records, actually establishing a

23:11

clear ownership over the

23:13

phone devices that were

23:16

purportedly used by the accused

23:18

and establishing the authorship over

23:21

the details that were extracted

23:23

from the phone. So none

23:25

of this was done as

23:28

per due procedures is what

23:30

the Gujarat High Court has concluded.

23:32

Here, these have been the main

23:34

points that the High Court has

23:36

touched on. Thirdly, to also

23:39

establish conspiracy, you need to

23:41

show a clear link from

23:44

the offense, the plotting

23:46

of the offense and the

23:48

motive and the ultimate culmination

23:51

into the offense. So that

23:54

link was not established by

23:56

the prosecution or the investigating

23:58

agencies. is what the

24:00

High Court has reduced now.

24:03

Right. And you mentioned in your story

24:05

that in its verdict, the court says

24:08

that this case will be reminisced

24:10

as an antithesis to Satyamev Jayate.

24:13

Talk about what made the court say that.

24:16

The Gujarat High Court's judgment

24:18

begins with the court of

24:20

Satyamev Jayate being from the

24:22

Upanishad and then goes on

24:24

to make this statement that

24:26

this case will be reminisced

24:28

as an antithesis to Satyamev

24:30

Jayate because Satyamev Jayate is

24:32

supposed to say that truth

24:36

wins. But here the

24:38

High Court went on to

24:40

observe that in this case

24:42

truth will be buried forever.

24:44

So what the High Court

24:46

was prefacing its judgment with

24:48

was that it was an

24:50

absolute failure on the part

24:52

of the investigating agency as

24:54

well as the prosecution to

24:56

secure the case because otherwise

24:59

the case was quite shocking

25:01

and if the intent was

25:03

there or if they had

25:05

followed due process this could

25:07

have had a conviction in a

25:09

way or at least

25:11

some form of crucifying

25:14

evidence that this

25:16

incident happened and these were

25:18

the people involved in this

25:20

etc. So what the Gujarat High

25:22

Court here was indicating that there

25:24

was probably somewhere intentional

25:27

or unintentional botching up

25:29

of the process of

25:31

securing evidence and what you're supposed to

25:34

do as an investigating agency to make

25:36

a case stand in trial. And

25:38

Swini now that these men have been acquitted do

25:41

we know how the other side is going to proceed?

25:44

So of course in terms

25:47

of legal remedy the victim

25:49

side basically the deceased next

25:51

of skin they have a

25:54

right to go into further

25:56

appeal in Supreme Court but

25:58

given the observation It's actually

26:01

entirely up to them. So the

26:03

only way forward here is either

26:06

they choose to appeal against this

26:08

verdict or they don't. But

26:10

we also need to take into

26:12

account the fact that Amit Jethva's

26:14

father, the one who has been

26:17

crusading in this case, he has

26:19

been the one putting up a fight. He

26:21

was the one who moved high court seeking

26:23

that CBI probe or a

26:25

CIT probe be initiated because the

26:27

Gujarat police is botching up the

26:30

case and got a successful order

26:32

in his favour. So

26:34

I mean he has been fighting since 2010 until

26:36

about 2024 now. So

26:40

it's really up to them how

26:42

the case goes here on. And

26:50

in the end we talk about Sam Patroda's

26:52

resignation. At a time

26:54

when he finds himself in controversy

26:56

over various remarks, Sam Patroda yesterday

26:58

stepped down as the chairman of

27:01

the Indian overseas Congress, allegedly of

27:03

his own accord. His resignation was

27:05

accepted by the party president Malikarjan

27:07

Khargay. Patroda's resignation came

27:09

hours after his fresh remarks in

27:11

an interview to the statesman wherein

27:13

he tried to emphasise the diversity

27:15

of India by saying this. We

27:20

could hold country together as diverse as

27:22

India where people

27:24

on East look like Chinese, people on West look

27:26

like Arab, people on North look like you

27:28

know maybe white and people

27:31

in South look like Africa. It doesn't

27:33

matter. We are all brothers

27:35

and sisters. After

27:38

his remarks surfaced online, several leaders

27:40

from the BJP began criticising them

27:42

including PM Modi who called them

27:44

racist and stated that they were

27:46

proof that the Congress intended to

27:48

divide the country along the lines

27:50

of race, religion and caste. Meanwhile,

28:00

the Congress was

28:02

quick to distance

28:04

itself from

28:07

the Patroda's

28:30

comments with the party leader,

28:32

Jayaram Ramesh, saying that the

28:34

analogies drawn by Mr. Patroda

28:36

to illustrate India's diversity are

28:39

most unfortunate and unacceptable, adding

28:42

that the Indian National Congress completely

28:44

dissociates itself from these analogies. The

28:47

latest controversy comes days after Patroda praised

28:50

the US system of inheritance tax with

28:52

the BJP latching onto it as proof

28:54

that the Congress wanted to take money

28:57

from the people and redistribute it. You

29:02

were listening to 3 Things by Indian

29:04

Express. Today's show was edited and mixed

29:06

by Suresh Pawar and produced by Shashant

29:09

Bhargav and me Niharik Ananda. If

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