Latest news with #CongressKerala
Indian Express
13 hours ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
After Bhopal '90-degree' bridge goes viral, Congress drops pic of Andhra's ‘Temple Run' highway
The Congress Kerala on X shared a Google Maps image of a bridge in Andhra Pradesh Monday, showing its peculiar design featuring three sharp turns squeezed into a single stretch. This post followed the viral discussion about a controversial railway overbridge with a 90-degree curve in Madhya Pradesh's capital Bhopal. In a playful jab at the Telugu Desam Party (TDP)-BJP ruling alliance, the Congress Kerala post read: 'Bhopal made a 90° flyover. Andhra: 'Hold my chai.'' According to the comments section, the bridge is located on State Highway 57 (SH 57) near a place called Vasudevapuram. Bhopal made a 90° flyover. Andhra: 'Hold my chai' — Congress Kerala (@INCKerala) June 16, 2025 The post quickly gained traction, racking up over seven lakh views and sparking plenty of amused reactions. One user wrote, 'Temple Run — Andhra version.' Another joked, 'I think these were designed by Covid-time engineers.' A third chimed in, 'I've seen worse ones — imagine this underground with waterlogging during rains.' Meanwhile, a curious user asked, 'Why can't it be connected to the other side in a curved manner? Any technical reason?' Also Read | Couple fined Rs 53,000 in Noida after 'objectionable' bike ride video goes viral; netizens call them 'Besharam' The Congress's post has come even as the internet was still busy roasting Bhopal's railway overbridge for its bizarre 90-degree curve. A newly built railway overbridge near Aishbagh Stadium in Bhopal stirred controversy just as it neared completion — not over delays or budget issues, but over what many believed was a major design flaw. The sharp, almost 90-degree turn right after the ascent raised serious safety concerns. While Congress criticised the design online, Madhya Pradesh PWD Minister Rakesh Singh dismissed their claims as politically driven but assured a review. The Rs 18-crore bridge was meant to ease traffic for nearly three lakh daily commuters in the area.
The Print
14-05-2025
- Politics
- The Print
Digs at Modi & dollops of controversy, Kerala Congress's X handle in focus amid Operation Sindoor
On 11 May, the handle put out a post with a photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi sitting outside the enclosure of a big cat, with the comment: 'Beware the real tiger, not the paper one.' In another post, the state Congress unit shared a clip from the 2013 Malayalam comedy Oru Indian Pranayakadha , in which actor Fahad Faasil, playing a young politician, flees a protest site to escape police lathicharge. Labelling the fleeing character as 'bhakts', the post said that the Sangh Parivar, 'which had earlier claimed that its elite strike force trained in Shakhas could be ready in three days since the Army 'takes too long', was completely silent during the actual conflict'. Thiruvananthapuram: Shortly after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Monday announced a 10-day nationwide Tiranga Yatra to highlight the achievements of Operation Sindoor, the 'X' handle of the Kerala Congress posted: 'Tiranga will be in 144p, and Modi in 4K. Better call it Operation Rescue Papa Ji Yatra.' Beware the real tiger, not the paper one — Congress Kerala (@INCKerala) May 11, 2025 Be it political discourse or India-Pakistan flare-ups, the Kerala Congress's 'X' handle, with over 1.42 lakh followers, has positioned itself as a prominent voice on social media, frequently sharing memes and videos targeting the ruling BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Managed by a team of seven Malayalees settled across the globe from different backgrounds including tech and journalism, the 'X' handle is part of the state Congress's digital media cell. The day after Operation Sindoor, several discussions were taking place in WhatsApp groups about planning vacations abroad or moving to remote resorts out of fear of enemy strikes on our cities. Make no mistake, all of them were Modi bhakts who wanted everyone else to go and… — Congress Kerala (@INCKerala) May 13, 2025 Former Thrithala MLA and Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) vice-president V.T. Balram is chairman of the cell. 'We were able to witness the strong upper hand of the BJP across all platforms as well as at X. But they are using it to spread misleading information, a hate campaign, and baseless allegations against the former Congress government. So it was our natural responsibility to counter such a narrative,' Balram told ThePrint. The 'X' handle has also faced criticism over several posts. Last week, during heightened tensions between India and Pakistan, the handle shared an image from the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war showing the Pakistani army's surrender in Dhaka. Gentle reminder to Pakistan! — Congress Kerala (@INCKerala) May 8, 2025 In response, the BJP's Kerala unit posted an image of Rahul Gandhi protesting alleged corruption in the Rafale jet deal, with the caption: 'Gentle reminder to Congress: Rahul Gandhi didn't want India to have Rafael jets.' The Congress responded saying, 'We aimed at Pakistan but looks like someone else got hit instead.' 'Even BJP's Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar, was not involved in the negotiations done by Modi and his partner Anil Ambani. Finally, Mr Parrikar resigned, unable to come to terms with the scale of the scandal. If it were the UPA government in power, we could have had 126 jets at a lesser cost, that too with technology transfer,' the post said, which drew widespread flak from BJP supporters for politicising the issue. It was deleted later. Vijay Thottathil, an IT professional in Dubai, who is a member of the team, said, 'Why will the BJP Kerala intervene when we talk about Pakistan? So we defended our leader. There is nothing controversial about it.' He added: 'The only controversy was that there was a war going on, and the tweet came then. People started complaining about it, and we got calls from different offices of Congress. We spoke to them, but some said that it was not the right time for such a post.' Thottathil said that though the Congress deleted its post, the BJP had put up a post the same day, blaming the Manmohan Singh government for the 26/11 attacks. Likewise, in February, the Kerala Congress 'X' handle drew criticism from actor Preity Zinta after it put up a post alleging that scandal-ridden New India Cooperative Bank has written off a Rs 18 crore loan taken by the actor after she handed over her social media accounts to the BJP. To this, Zinta alleged the handle was spreading fake news and that she had repaid her loan a decade ago. After the controversy, the handle put up a post saying that they are glad to accept mistakes if they have committed any. 'Controversies do happen along with the attention we receive. But most of the time, it's about how much we said on the platform. Factual errors have happened only a few times with us,' Balram told ThePrint. Balram said the Congress leadership or he intervenes when it comes to the content only during controversies, and the team has greater autonomy otherwise. The team took over the handle in March 2023 when it had only 50,000 followers. P Sarin, a former Congress functionary who joined the ruling Left Democratic Front ahead of the 2024 Palakkad bypoll, was its convenor then, but the team members said his absence hasn't created any impact in their work. Balram said the team consciously takes up matters of national importance, as the platform mostly discusses those, while the state Congress's Instagram and Facebook pages mostly focus on Kerala politics. 'We have been able to do a lot of things, especially the larger-than-life character of Modi. Why we are confident is that there is also a lot of criticism against the handle, too. Whenever they get a chance or whenever there is a mistake, they will jump on our handle and call out. That is all because we have been damaging them very badly,' Vijay said. Vijay also said that though the Kerala crowd is not very active on 'X', the team is hopeful of a change ahead of the assembly elections in 2026. 'There are going to be changes in Kerala's political landscape. We have to create narratives to oppose that. The Christian votes that are going away from Congress should come back. They are trying to keep the Christian community in Kerala close, and they attack churches in all other places. We are trying to expose that,' he said. (Edited by Kartikay Chaturvedi, an intern who graduated from ThePrint School of Journalism) Also Read: BJP sees 'sar tan se juda' imagery in Congress's 'gayab' dig at PM, calls it a signal to Pakistan
India Today
11-05-2025
- Politics
- India Today
Congress invokes Indira Gandhi to slam PM for 'US mediation', BJP has a response
Shortly after US President Donald Trump made a surprise announcement of an India-Pakistan 'ceasefire,' Congress leaders swiftly invoked Indira Gandhi, drawing parallels between her leadership during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War and the ongoing India-Pakistan highlighting her legacy of what the party describes as assertively upholding India's interests and resisting US pressure to halt military operations, the Congress sought to criticise the government's handling of the understanding reached with Pakistan and the perceived role of the United States in the BJP, however, hit back, alleging the creation of Bangladesh was a "historic opportunity lost" due to the failure of the political leadership at the time. The Congress tweeted a photo of the former Prime Minister, captioning it, 'Indira Gandhi COURAGE | CONVICTION | STRENGTH.' What followed was a series of comments from the Congress leadership at various levels, invoking veteran Jairam Ramesh shared Indira Gandhi's 1971 letter to then-US President Richard Nixon, which, according to the Congress, clearly and decisively conveyed India's stance on the global stage.'This is Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's historic letter to President Nixon of Dec 12, 1971. Four days later Pakistan surrendered. She ensured that there was no 'neutral site' which has now been agreed to,' he General Secretary KC Venugopal, sharing a picture of Gandhi, remarked that the times when any nation, sitting 3,000 to 4,000 miles away, could dictate orders to India are long a developing country, we have our backbone straight, enough will and resources to fight all atrocities. Times have passed when any nation sitting 3-4 thousand miles away could give orders to Indians. India terribly misses Indira Gandhi ji today!,' Venugopal Congress handles shared a speech by Indira Gandhi in the US, where she said, "I believe that it is not the task of any other country to say to another country what they should do. Even if it is a question of helping, it is my duty to point out the situation in my country.'There was a reason why Indira Gandhi was known as Iron Lady. Congress Kerala (@INCKerala) May 10, 2025However, the BJP responded by alleging that Indira Gandhi mishandled the situation following India's historic 1971 victory over Pakistan, which led to the creation of GANDHI 'MISHANDLED' 1971 SITUATION: BJPAssam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma claimed that the political leadership of that era squandered a "historic opportunity" during the creation of Bangladesh."India's 1971 military victory was decisive and historic. It broke Pakistan in two and gave birth to Bangladesh. But while our soldiers delivered a stunning battlefield success, India's political leadership failed to secure lasting strategic gains," he further said that India's military triumph in 1971 was not 'matched by strategic foresight'.'What could have been a new regional order was reduced to a one-sided act of generosity. Had Mrs. Indira Gandhi been alive today, the nation would have questioned her for mishandling the decisive victory won by our armed forces. The creation of Bangladesh was not a bargain -- it was a historic opportunity lost," he stressed. BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya dismissed the Congress's claims as a 'convenient narrative' and said the Shimla Agreement that followed the 1971 war was signed under pressure from Moscow and Washington."The 1971 war ended with the surrender of the Pakistan Army. However, the subsequent Simla Agreement was shaped under pressure from both Moscow and Washington, D.C. India released 99,000 prisoners of war without gaining a single strategic advantage—no insistence on Pakistan vacating PoJK or formalising the border, and no reparations for the war or the refugee influx forced on India. Indira Gandhi was Prime Minister at the time," he and Pakistan agreed on Saturday to de-escalate tensions, which had soared between the two nations following the April 22 Pahalgam attack, India's retaliatory Operation Sindoor, and Pakistan's subsequent provocations with cross-border drone and missile the US President claimed that the talks were mediated by the US, New Delhi maintained that the discussions were held directly between the Directors General of Military Operations of both InMust Watch IN THIS STORY#Pakistan#India-Pakistan#Indian National Congress
Time of India
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Preity Zinta SLAMS troll for accusing her of 'usurping public money': 'Every news item about me and any bank loan is ALL FAKE'
Congress Kerala had earlier accused Preity Zinta of giving her social media account to a political party in exchange for having her Rs 18 crore loan "written off." Preity responded by clarifying that the loan had been fully paid off over ten years ago. Recently, during an AMA session on X, she addressed a user's question about why she doesn't feel guilty for using public money . Clarifying the Fake News About Bank Loans An X user asked Preity during the AMA session, "Hey! How many loans have been written off for you till date? Why don't you have any scruples about using your position to usurp public money?" Replying to them, the actor wrote, "You sound like all those people out there that consume fake news and believe it to be true. For the last time, any and every news item that you have read about me and any bank loan — ₹18 crore, ₹1.5 crore or any other crore — is all FAKE NEWS. Hope that clears any doubt in your mind. How the media got it wrong, I don't know, but I'm sure there's more to it than just misreporting." Congress Kerala's Allegations and Preity's Response In February, sharing a report which also featured Preity's photo, Congress Kerala tweeted, "She gave her social media accounts to BJP and got ₹18 crore written off, and the bank collapsed last week. Depositors are on the streets for their money." In response, Preity called it "vile gossip" and wrote on X, "No, I operate my social media accounts myself, and shame on you for promoting FAKE NEWS! No one wrote off anything or any loan for me." She added, "I'm shocked that a political party or their representative is promoting fake news and indulging in vile gossip and clickbait using my name and images. For the record, a loan was taken and FULLY PAID BACK — over 10 years ago. Hope this clarifies and helps so there are no misunderstandings in the future." Preity Zinta's Comeback to the Big Screen Preity Zinta is set to make her comeback to the big screen after a seven-year break. Her last appearance was in the 2018 film Bhaiaji Superhit. She will next be seen in Rajkumar Santoshi's Lahore 1947, produced by Aamir Khan , with Sunny Deol in the lead. The film also stars Shabana Azmi and Ali Fazal in significant roles.
Hindustan Times
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Preity Zinta hits back at troll accusing her of ‘usurping public money': ‘Any news about me & any bank loan is fake'
In February, after Congress Kerala claimed that Preity Zinta had given her social media account to a political party to get her ₹18 crore loan "written off", Preity clarified that the loan had been paid off over a decade ago. Now, during an AMA session on X, the actor reacted to an X user asking why she doesn't feel guilty about using public money. (Also Read: Proud Preity Zinta showers praise on Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya, calls them 'the base of Punjab Power') An X user asked Preity during the AMA session, "Hey! How many loans have been written off for you till date? Why don't you have any scruples about using your position to usurp public money?" Replying to them, the actor wrote, "You sound like all those people out there that consume fake news and believe it to be true. For the last time, any and every news item that you have read about me and any bank loan — ₹18 crore, ₹1.5 crore or any other crore — is all FAKE NEWS. Hope that clears any doubt in your mind. How the media got it wrong, I don't know, but I'm sure there's more to it than just misreporting." In February, sharing a report which also featured Preity's photo, Congress Kerala tweeted, "She gave her social media accounts to BJP and got ₹18 crore written off, and the bank collapsed last week. Depositors are on the streets for their money." In response, Preity called it "vile gossip" and wrote on X, "No, I operate my social media accounts myself, and shame on you for promoting FAKE NEWS! No one wrote off anything or any loan for me." She added, "I'm shocked that a political party or their representative is promoting fake news and indulging in vile gossip and clickbait using my name and images. For the record, a loan was taken and FULLY PAID BACK — over 10 years ago. Hope this clarifies and helps so there are no misunderstandings in the future (folded hands emoji)." Preity will be making her comeback to the big screen after a seven-year hiatus. She was last seen in the movie Bhaiaji Superhit, which was released in 2018. She will next be seen in Rajkumar Santoshi's directorial Lahore 1947. The film is produced by Aamir Khan and stars Sunny Deol in the lead role. The film also features Shabana Azmi and Ali Fazal in key roles.
