Kerala CM unhappy after meeting PM Modi
New Delhi, July 19 : Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday expressed unhappiness after he led a 22-member delegation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to seek help on various issues concerning the state.
Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala, the Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, agreed with Vijayan's assessment and said it was "a disappointing meeting and Kerala has nothing to look forward to from his (Modi's) response".
"The outcome was not a favourable one," Vijayan told the media after the meeting with Modi at Parliament complex.
"One of the issues we raised was the increase in the allocation of foodgrains and it should be on par with what we used to get prior to the implementation of the Food Security Act. But the Prime Minister said ... nothing else can be done," said Vijayan.
The Chief Minister added that when they left Kerala on Wednesday, the general impression was that there was hope for a Palakkad Coach Factory. But it was clear the Centre had no such plans.
Vijayan said they also raised the issue of the widespread damage caused by the ongoing heavy rains and floods in Kerala.
"We requested that a central team be sent and he said it will be done. With regards to the decision of the proposed sale of (public sector) HNL Factory (near Kottayam), our demand was that it should be retained by the Centre or transferred to the Kerala government.
"We also wanted the Centre to allow wide-bodied aircraft to land at Kozhikode. Overall it was not a favourable response from the Prime Minister," said Vijayan.
Chennithala said: "When we spoke about the proposed sale of HNL, the response was that the Kerala government also can bid for it. The visit has been a disappointing one."
The delegation also included state Congress chief M.M. Hassan, Kerala Ministers K. Ramachandran and G. Sudhakaran, former state BJP chief P.K. Krishnadas, E.T. Mohammed Basheer (IUML) and Rajya Sabha member Jose K. Mani (Kerala Congress-Mani).
During the meeting, Modi handed over a list of projects for which the Centre had allocated funds but which had not been used.
He also expressed his unhappiness that the lone Keralite Union Minister, K.J. Alphons, was not included in the delegation.
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Video Of Man Tearing Bike Seat Covers In Uttarakhand Shared With False Communal Spin
BOOM found that the man in the viral video is Dheeraj Aggarrwal, who was caught tearing bike seat covers in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, due to a parking dispute in August 2024.
CLAIM
Video shows Mohammad Junaid tearing the seat covers of vehicles parked on the roadside to boost the business of his bike cover and puncture shop
FACT CHECK
The man in the video is Dheeraj Aggarrwal, who was caught tearing bike seat covers in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, due to a parking dispute in August 2024. Aggarrwal runs a coaching center near the spot where the video was shot.
An old video of a man using a blade to tear seat covers of parked vehicles in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, has surfaced with false communal claims that a Muslim man damaged the vehicles to boost his puncture and seat cover business.
BOOM found that the man in the viral video is Dheeraj Aggarrwal who was caught tearing bike covers due to a parking dispute. We spoke to Aggarwal, who runs a coaching center near the spot where the video was shot; He told BOOM that he vandalised the seats as he was upset with people parking their vehicles there.
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FACT-CHECK: False communal claim added to incident
Taking a hint from the logo of 'Uttrakhand Exclusive' in the viral video, we found the Facebook and Instagram page of this handle. BOOM then reached out to the admin of the page - Gaurav Wasudev who stated that the viral video was uploaded on his page in August 2024, which was later deleted.
Wasudev told BOOM, "The incident in this video is from Dobhal Chowk in Nehru gram area in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. The person in the video is a teacher named Dheeraj Aggarrwal."
BOOM then reached out to Dheeraj Aggarrwal who confirmed that he is the man in the viral video. Aggarrwal stated that he runs a coaching center in Dehradun near the spot where the incident took place and the video is from a public parking near his coaching center.
Aggarrwal told BOOM, "This happened on August 5, 2024. Someone made a video of me damaging seats of two-wheelers and circulated it on social media. People would park their vehicles in the parking lot near our coaching center and leave. So, to teach them a lesson I did that. When this matter reached the police on August 6, the police rebuked me for this act but no case was registered," added Aggarrwal. He further added that the video is being shared misidentifying him as one 'Mohammad Junaid' to spread communal tensions.
BOOM reached out to Raipur Police, Dehradun, Uttarakhand who confirmed the incident is from there and also dismissed the communal claims being shared on social media.
Station Officer Pradeep Negi told BOOM, "This is a case from August 2024, the coaching center operator had a problem with people parking their vehicles there. That's why he did this. However, no FIR was registered in this case."
(This story was originally published by boom, and republished by english.varthabharati.in as part of the Shakti Collective)
