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Last night, the Shiv Sena accused India Today's Rahul Kanwal of "cooking up a lie" during his coverage of the assembly election results. Kanwal had said that "Sena goons" had threatened Serum Institute of India head Adar Poonawalla and demanded vaccines.

Kanwal had confused the Shiv Sena with the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, a political party in Maharashtra headed by Raju Shetti who had reportedly released a video commenting on vaccines. Last month, Shetti had warned the centre to increase vaccine supplies to Maharashtra; if they didn't, he said, his party would stop vehicles transporting vaccines from Pune's Serum Institute to other states.

Kanwal admitted he had made a mistake on Twitter, saying that the "confusion and inconvenience caused is regretted".

The Shiv Sena had issued a letter addressed to the India Today group's Aroon Purie, demanding an apology from Kanwal to be aired on television.

Calling Kanwal's comments "absolutely untrue and defamatory", the letter said: "...to attach another party president's video to the Shiv Sena and to deliberately defame us through misinformation speaks volumes of the political bias of the anchor. It reeks of malice and misinformation campaign, maybe to divert the national debate on an important day of election result and as the country rages through Covid-19."

Courtesy: www.newslaundry.com

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Bengaluru: Leader of the Opposition R. Ashoka launched a scathing attack on MLC Dr. Yathindra, demanding that he retract his controversial statement comparing Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to the late Maharaja Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar. Ashoka urged Yathindra to apologize to the people of Karnataka if he had even a shred of conscience and any respect for the Mysuru royal lineage.

In a strongly worded social media post on Sunday, Ashoka stated, “Comparing Siddaramaiah to Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar is nothing short of absurd. Where is Nalwadi, who was bestowed the title of ‘Rajarshi’ by Mahatma Gandhi himself, and where is Siddaramaiah, who has stooped to being a puppet in the hands of fake Gandhis for the sake of power?”

He continued his critique by contrasting the enduring legacy of Nalwadi, remembered fondly by Kannadigas for his people-centric development, with what he termed as Siddaramaiah’s failure to manage Karnataka’s economy, burdening every household with debt.

Ashoka highlighted several stark differences, while Nalwadi built Mysore University over a century ago, Siddaramaiah is shutting down nine universities due to lack of funds. Nalwadi famously sold his family’s gold to build the KRS dam, whereas Siddaramaiah is accused of grabbing 14 sites meant for the public. Nalwadi established Bhadravati Iron & Steel Plant, Sandalwood Soap Factory, and Mysore Paper Mills. In contrast, Ashoka claimed Siddaramaiah's governance drove away industries, investors, and entrepreneurs. Nalwadi pioneered reservations for the backward classes long before it became mainstream. Siddaramaiah, Ashoka alleged, is reducing social justice to a gimmick by sticking labels on doors in the name of surveys.

While acknowledging Yathindra’s emotional attachment to his father, Ashoka emphasized that comparing Siddaramaiah to a visionary like Nalwadi was “laughable, baseless, and a gross insult” to the late king.

In his concluding remarks, Ashoka slammed the government for ignoring farmers’ needs despite an early monsoon. He accused the administration of being caught up in internal power struggles and negligence, forcing farmers into despair. “This government will not be spared from the curse of the farmers,” he warned.

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