Spoke the then leader's language: Khushbu Sundar on Cong picking her for old tweet against PM Modi
Bengaluru, Mar 25: Targeted by the Congress over her 2018 tweet criticial of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP leader Khushbu Sundar on Saturday hit back at the opposition party saying she was speaking the "language of the leader" then as she was told to do so and questioned its 'desperation.'
She has not deleted the five year-old social media post and will not do so now, she said.
Congress picking on her in the wake of party leader Rahul Gandhi's Modi surname remarks that led to a Surat local court convicting him and him being disqualified as a Lok Sabha member, Sundar said it exposed how desperate the opposition party was.
The 2018 tweet of the National Commission for Women (NCW) member has gone viral and she has not deleted the post.
Sundar, also BJP national executive committee member who had quit the Congress party and joined the saffron organisation in 2020 had posted a tweet in 2018 saying "...Let's change the meaning of #Modi to corruption..suits better."
Explaining the tweet, Khushbu said "I was in Congress party then and I was only performing my duty as the spokesperson of the Congress. This is the language we were supposed to speak and that is exactly what I was doing. I was following the party leader. This is his language."
"Not only does it show how desperate they (Congress party) are, but it exposes their level of ignorance on the issue they are raking up," she told PTI.
In the wake of Rahul Gandhi's disqualification over his equating the surname Modi to "thieves" the party was quick to pick on Khushbu's old tweet.
Party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi via a Twitter post on Saturday morning, "will you make one of your disciples named Modi file a defamation case against Khushbu Sundar too?"
"I have never deleted any of the tweets on my timeline and I will not do so now," Sundar said.
She asked "what are the Congress leaders trying to do by picking on me? Are they equating me to Rahul Gandhi?"
Asked if she saw nothing wrong in insulting the 'Modi' surname, she said, "Rahul Gandhi has stooped down to the level calling all Modis as thieves, I have only used the term 'Corruption'. The Congress party is incapable of seeing the difference. But if they have the guts, I challenge the Congress leaders to file a case against me and I will face them legally."
Sundar also pointed out that the Congress Party never liked her appreciating the positive steps taken by the ruling BJP. "Whether it was the Triple Talaq, Abrogation of Article 370 or the launch of the New Education Policy (NEP), the Congress party always had a problem when I tweeted appreciations," she recalled.
An actor who has acted in over 100 films, Khushbu Sundar initially joined the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and then switched over to the Congress party before joining the BJP.
I will not delete my tweet. It’s out there. There are many more. Pls use your time, as CONgress is absolutely jobless, to dig out a few more. BTW I like to see how the CONgress is putting me and @RahulGandhi on the same platform. I like the fact that I have earned enough name n…
— KhushbuSundar (@khushsundar) March 25, 2023
How more desperate can they be!! A 5 yr old tweet is what now @INCIndia is taking to defend themselves? I as a spokesperson for the CONgress than was speaking the same language of @RahulGandhi . Just followed the line of this man. Why raise a question to my party? File a case on…
— KhushbuSundar (@khushsundar) March 25, 2023
BJP leader Khushbu Sundar says Hie to all corrupt Modi's ✋✋
— Srinivas BV (@srinivasiyc) March 25, 2023
But there is neither a defamation suit nor any punishment after a dip in the BJP's washing machine. pic.twitter.com/CjmKhFdpWC
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IOA Impasse: Usha, EC members clash on CEO appointment; deadlock persists
New Delhi (PTI): Indian Olympic Association President PT Usha had another heated confrontation with the body's Executive Council on Thursday after a majority of its members reiterated their opposition to Raghuram Iyer's appointment as CEO but the embattled track-and-field great refused to back down and rejected their demand for his removal.
The main agenda of the meeting called by Usha was ratification of Iyer's appointment as CEO on January 5 but it ended in a deadlock. With both sides sticking to their earlier stands, the bitter feud is expected to worsen in the coming days.
"They want to re-initiate the whole process, they want to re-advertise afresh. It's like saying we don't want this person and let us start the process from the scratch," a furious Usha said after the meeting.
"This process (of appointment of CEO) took two years and now they want to start all over again. This is going to have repercussions (from the IOC). It can jeopardise India's chances of bidding for and hosting the 2036 Olympics," she warned.
"I am not going to accept this. I have told this to the IOC (International Olympic Committee). I am not a quitter, I am not going anywhere without cleaning the IOA," she asserted.
Interestingly, IOC Director Jerome Poivy joined the meeting online and watched the confrontation unfold.
Undeterred by Usha's warnings, 10 members of the EC, who attended the meeting in person, issued a statement, saying that they have decided to re-initiate the process of appointment of the CEO.
"The ratification of Mr lyer as the CEO was not approved. Further it was decided that process of the appointment of the CEO be re-initiated with new terms of reference," the statement said.
They stated that IOC representative called the entire fiasco "an internal matter of the IOA" and had "no specific views or interference" on the subject.
Before joining the IOA, Iyer had worked as EO of IPL sides Rajasthan Royals and Lucknow Super Giants. He had also held administrative roles in football's Indian Super League and Ultimate Table Tennis.
"The Members further, in the presence of the IOC Director, stated that the process for the advertisement of the CEO should be initiated at the earliest where it was anticipated that the appointment can be concluded in the next two months," the statement from the revolting EC members read..
Senior vice president Ajay H Patel, vice presidents RajLaxmi Deo and Gagan Narang, Treasurer Sahdev Yadav, Joint Secretary Alaknanda Ashok, other Executive Council members Amitabh Sharma, Bhupender Singh Bajwa, Rohit Rajpal, Dola Banerjee, and Yogeshwar Dutt were present in person.
Joint Secretary Kalyan Chaubey and Executive Council member Harpal Singh joined online.
The members felt that while a "CEO is a must and should be appointed", but voted against the nomination of lyer for the position.
"...the agenda was to put to vote where the 10 physical members and 2 members who joined online expressed their dissent on the agenda and the vote was 12 against the ratification of the CEO."
"...the acting CEO Kalyan Chaubey, who is the Joint Secretary of the IOA, shall continue to discharge the duties as per the provisions laid out in the Constitution," the statement of the majority EC members said.
Usha, on her part, said that the EC members have gone back on their word as they had agreed to the appointment of the CEO in the January meeting.
"The EC meeting held in January was video-recorded. I asked each one of them whether they agree to the appointment of Iyer as the CEO or not. All of them said Iyer is good and everything about him is all right. Only his salary will have to be negotiated," she stated.
"I asked them what is the lower rate (limit) and what is the higher limit of his salary. That (salary) they did not mention.
"Then his (Iyer's) appointment was done and I communicated it to IOC and OCA and everybody accepted it."
The bone of contention is the Rs 20 lakh per month salary for Iyer, along with other perks.
Usha said she offered to renegotiate Iyer's salary in Thursday's meeting but the 12 EC members were adamant about starting the process afresh.
She said the latest development could jeopardise India's chances of bidding for the 2036 Olympics.
"Only after the appointment (of the CEO) was done, the Future Host Commission agreed to have a dialogue with us, otherwise they would not agree to it. The CEO will have to lead the negotiations, we have to show professionalism, otherwise how would we got to present our bid?" she asked.
She said the IOC could have taken a drastic step even before the Paris Olympics but desisted from that.
"I was there, that is why IOC was waiting for two years. It (IOC action) could have happened before Paris Olympics but they waited.
"Iyer was in the Co-ordination Committee and not the IOA president, that was why we could compete under Indian flag and not under the IOC flag."
She said Iyer and her personal assistant Ajay Narang, whose appointment was "cancelled" by the majority EC members, have not got salary since their appointment.
