Seema Haider sends rakhis to Modi, Bhagwat, Shah, Rajnath on Raksha Bandhan
Noida, Aug 22: Pakistani national Seema Haider on Tuesday said she has sent 'rakhis' to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and others ahead of Raksha Bandhan.
Haider, who entered India illegally via Nepal earlier this year, said she has also sent rakhis to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Raksha Bandhan, falling on August 30, is a festival celebrated in India where sisters tie a decorative thread 'rakhi' around their brothers' wrists as a symbol of their bond and protection.
"I have posted these (rakhis) in advance so that they reach well in time to my dear brothers, on whose shoulders lie this country's responsibility. I am very happy. Jai Shri Ram. Jai Hind. Hindustan Zindabad," Haider said in a purported video that surfaced on social media on Tuesday.
In another clip, the 30-year-old woman from Sindh province of Pakistan is purportedly seen along with her children packing rakhis, with the song "Bhaiya Mere Rakhi Ke Bandhan ko Nibhaana" playing in the background.
Haider had illegally entered India through Nepal to live with her lover Sachin Meena who stays in Greater Noida. She had come along with her four children all below the age of 7 years in May and lived in Rabupura area in a rented accommodation secretly.
Haider and Meena, who claimed to have got in touch over online game PUBG in 2019-20, were arrested on July 4 this year, but a local court granted them bail on July 7.
The duo has been living together in Greater Noida ever since, even as the local police and the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad continue separate investigations into the case.
Seema Haider has sent Rakhi to PM Modi , Amit Shah, Yogi and Sangh chief #SeemaHaider pic.twitter.com/rkJo8GUERJ
— Smriti Sharma (@SmritiSharma_) August 22, 2023
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Confident we are going to win Kerala: Shashi Tharoor
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Thursday expressed confidence in the victory of the United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala, saying the Congress-led alliance will win more than 75 seats out of the total 140 in the state.
Tharoor, who hails from Kerala, said he was not surprised to see the results of the exit polls, most of which predicted a victory for the UDF that has been out of power for 10 years in the state.
"We have been on the ground. I have campaigned in 59 constituencies across 12 districts out of 14. I was very confident we are going to win.
"Everything that I have picked up from not just my party colleagues and workers but also from other observers, media and others have always convinced me that we were going to score a comfortable win of above 75 seats. And all the (exit) polls have confirmed the same thing," he told reporters here.
The Thiruvananthapuram MP said he was not surprised to see the results of the exit polls but in general he was not a big fan of exit polls in India.
"Because ours is not purely a homogenous society. We have to take into account gender issue, caste issue, class issue, regional disparities. You never get a convincingly large enough sample to give an accurate poll and now there is the additional complication that we have heard about in West Bengal this year that many people are unwilling to answer the questions of the pollsters," he said.
The Congress leader said normally, it used to be below 10 per cent that people said that they would not answer.
"Even if you are a reputable exit pollster, in Bengal, one polling company has said 60 per cent of people refused to answer. So, what is the worth of a poll where 60 per cent of your respondents have not answered," he said.
Several exit polls on Wednesday predicted a comeback by the Congress-led UDF in Kerala after 10 years, dethroning the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF).
Polling for the 140-member Kerala assembly was held on April 9. Results of assembly elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Puducherry, besides Kerala, will be announced on May 4.
