The 17th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas held in Indore drew a record number of NonResident Indians. Most of them came only to see PM Narendra Modi in person. Unfortunately, the space in the conference room was not enough to accommodate all of them. Many were taken to a basement hall where they watched the Prime Minister’s speech on a large LED screen. They later expressed their dismay about not being allowed in the main hall. Some of their outbursts went viral on social media. In the valedictory session, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan came with folded hands and expressed regret for those who could not be allowed in the main hall. The Chief Minister said that Prime Minister’s popularity has grown so much that no auditorium is big enough to accommodate people. Chief Minister even compared PM Modi with Swami Vivekananda who had become very popular in the world for spreading friendship and Hinduism.
Rahul’s Hindu association
Recently veteran Congress leader A K Antony commented that unless the Congress party gets the support of the majority community of the country it will be difficult to counter BJP’s campaign on Hindutva. In one of the press conferences in Haryana Rahul tried to explain the Hand symbol of the party. He raised his hand and asked the journalists the meaning of this hand. He then went on to say that the hand symbolises the ‘Abhaya mudra’; which means giving confidence to the people for overcoming fear. He said he had learnt this after a lot of research. One can find this Abhayamudra in lord Shiva’s statue, and also in statues of Bhagavan Buddha and Jain saint Mahavir. Without mentioning the party’s symbol he was trying to impress upon people that Congress is not against the majority community. A K Antony is now happy that his suggestion has been accepted by Rahul Gandhi.
Diplomacy over Teesta water
The general elections of Bangladesh are scheduled to be held early next year. Before that Dhaka is keen to resolve the much awaited Teesta river water sharing agreement with India to win over farmers of north Bangladesh. A few days back Bangladesh Government invited journalists from Kolkata to visit several places. Among the invitees, most of them are known to be very close to the Chief Minister of West Bengal. Most of them have been seen accompanying the CM on her every visit whether domestically or abroad. Even a representative from the TMC Party’s mouthpiece, ‘Jago Bangla’ was in the delegation. Bangladesh Information Minister Hasan Mahmood tried to impress them by saying how the Teesta deal is important for them.