- 18 hours ago
Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi met the parents of Ankita Bhandari alongside activist Yogita Bhayana during a protest at India Gate, where the family demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry and questioned the appointment of BJP leader Dushyant Gautam as Governor of Sikkim.
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00:00Good evening, you're watching India First. I'm Gaurav Sawant. Breaking news coming in.
00:04Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, is meeting the family of Ankita Handari,
00:10a young woman from Uttarakhand who died under mysterious circumstances in 2022.
00:18This is a murder investigation in Uttarakhand in 2022.
00:23Her parents, her family, they've been protesting, demanding justice.
00:31Ankita Handari was all of 19. She was working as a receptionist.
00:36She was murdered. She was murdered after disappearing from a resort in Pauri, Garhwal in September 2022.
00:45And the main accused in this case, including that resort owner in Garhwal, Pulkit Arya,
00:53they were convicted in this case.
00:56But the family are not convinced.
00:58Ankita Handari's family want a detailed investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation
01:05into the alleged role of a VIP in this case.
01:10They're saying it's not just a simple case.
01:12Initially, as it was called out to be as a mysterious death, some tried to pass it off as a
01:18suicide.
01:19It was proven this was murder.
01:21People were convicted, but the family says, who is the VIP who is being protected?
01:27The VIP, according to reports that appeared at that point of time,
01:31Ankita Handari, a 19-year-old girl, she was asked to provide some special services.
01:36She was working as a receptionist and she refused.
01:39The images that you see on your television screen are that of leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi
01:44going to India Gate to meet the parents of this young lady who was murdered
01:50and promise them justice.
01:52That is what we have been told.
01:53Listen, and I think there you see images of Ankita's family who are carrying out the protest
01:59and Rahul Gandhi flanked by Congress leaders and workers and the media.
02:05They are there at India Gate.
02:08Now, what is extremely interesting, the latest flashpoint, the Congress party has hit out
02:16at the BJP for the appointment of BJP leader Dushan Gautam as the governor of Sikkim.
02:23Ankita's parents have made certain allegations about the VIP who was present at that hotel.
02:31Her father has questioned the pace of investigations.
02:35Her father wants directions to the Central Bureau of Investigation
02:41to carry out an independent investigation in this case.
02:45And they want technical evidence.
02:49They want scrutiny of documents.
02:50And in just a moment, Ankita's family.
03:01She's been fighting for justice.
03:04Ankita's family.
03:06Let's try and listen in.
03:11Let's try and listen in.
03:41And there you see images of Rahul Gandhi.
03:45Let's try and listen in.
03:53They want to attack us.
04:03You can't have a condition.
04:06They want us to attack us.
04:07They want us to attack us.
04:17So the CBI probe which started with the parents demanding that action be taken and technical evidence be gathered in
04:27October it started family says yes there there is renewed hope but there's frustration over the time that is taking
04:35Rahul Gandhi as you see in those images is meeting the family
04:39will the renewed attention lead to a transparent time-bound investigation and answers about the so-called VIP presence at
04:48the hotel Preeti Chaudhary my colleague joins me for more on this Ankita's family Preeti they continue to wait for
04:55justice but the presence of the leader of opposition there will will renew hopes that there's national attention on on
05:03their plight and perhaps there will be justice.
05:06Gaurav what we see clearly on our television screen right in the middle is Yogita Bhayana she's a woman rights
05:12activist the parents of Ankita got in touch with Yogita and they are holding a flash dharna of sorts at
05:18India Gate also Gaurav what one needs to put the spotlight on is that Uttarakhand is headed for elections in
05:25February 2027 along with Punjab.
05:28Gaurav the death of the death of Ankita has become a political flashpoint especially in the state of Uttarakhand and
05:35the Hill region we've seen mobilization of the Congress along with the parents of Ankita who constantly now blame Dushyant
05:44Gautam who is a BJP leader constantly claim that the government is protecting Dushyant Gautam.
05:49So this is a massive political flashpoint in the state of Uttarakhand in a state that is headed for elections
05:56the optics that are now coming out Gaurav from Jantar Mantar where you have Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi aligning
06:03with the family of Ankita at the back of which there have been multiple dharna's in the state of Uttarakhand
06:10by multiple organizations which include a political party who is the principal opposition in Uttarakhand.
06:16Now you know goes full circle will they get justice will it somewhere down the line bolster the claim of
06:24Ankita's parents because it's not just a claim against Dushyant Gautam who is a BJP leader but also the owner
06:32of the resort that had employed Pulkit that had employed young Ankita as well.
06:39Okay so the court verdict had sentenced Ankita and two other accused they found them guilty they were sentenced Preeti
06:48you've been tracking this case was there any evidence that came to light that seemed to indicate the role of
06:54the BJP leader mentioned they saying he's been appointed a governor when the family alleges that you know they still
07:02have accused him there is no action that's been taken but Preeti is there anything that came out in initial
07:07investigations
07:09He was never named you know Gaurav by the police so this is a point of view of the family
07:18where they if you remember it all started off as a VIP who's being protected the name came out much
07:24later of Mr. Gautam who is a BJP leader.
07:28The family though in the last couple of years has been very very vocal and persistent that there is an
07:35attempt or to camouflage and cover up for Mr. Dushyant Gautam at the behest of the Uttarakhand police.
07:44Now this is of course the word of the family and now it has also become a huge political flashpoint
07:51in a state that is election bound.
07:53Stay with me I want to quickly bring in Rahul Gautam who joins us from ground zero on the story.
07:59Rahul like a flash protest was this planned how long has the family been sitting there for protest because India
08:09gate is otherwise a restricted area?
08:15Well Gaurav this was just not planned in fact around 6pm this evening the parents of Ankita Bhandari along with
08:24the women activist Yogita Bayana reached here in fact you know expressing their strong resentment over the fact that Dushyant
08:32Gautam has been nominated as the next governor of Sikkim.
08:36I'll just show you what's really happening here. I'll just show you what's really happening here. You can see there
08:39Priyanka Gandhi Vatra and Rahul Gandhi in conversation with parents of Ankita Bhandari and Yogita Bahana.
08:46There are two placards also which you can easily see that says that Ankita Bhandari ko niae do VIP culture
08:55band karo.
08:56Essentially saying that the big leader you know whose family has been claiming you know was the one for which
09:05allegedly Ankita Bhandari was supposed to go and you know this was a case of a sexual exploitation in political
09:13circles and obviously they are saying that they have not got justice in this case.
09:18I must also tell our viewers that Rahul Gandhi had met earlier also this family and in fact assured justice
09:25to them.
09:26At that point of time also he shared numbers of his office to you know stay in touch and seek
09:32whatever help they want in their bid to pursue justice.
09:38And when this news came out that the family is sitting on a dharna near India gate Rahul Gandhi you
09:47know also decided that he's going to go and meet them come in solidarity with the family.
09:51And we have seen you know earlier also these you know these surprise you know flash protests flash marches flash
09:59appearances public appearances has become a core part of Rahul Gandhi's you know politics and that's why you can say
10:06that you know Rahul Gandhi there is sending a strong political message that he is standing in solidarity with the
10:14family and would obviously you know strive to get justice for Ankita Bhandari's family.
10:20Clearly you know as you can see Ankita Bhandari's family is also alleging that once you once the said leader
10:30said BJP leader would become the governor he would get constitutional immunity and therefore he should not be appointed as
10:35the next governor and which which only shows that how they've been denied justice in this case and that's why
10:41they're going to you know take this fight to the logical end.
10:44And they were left with no other option but to come here at India gate to make themselves heard.
10:50Keep tracking that story Rahul I will come back to you for more for the moment Rahul and Preeti many
10:56thanks for joining me.
11:01I now shift focus to our top story 24 hours after Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke of what he
11:07called was Congress Party's real agenda to stop the special intensive revision of the electoral rolls to help ghuspaitiyas or
11:16infiltrators.
11:17He seems to have stirred a hornet's nest the congress hit back saying stop hiding behind the ghuspaitiyas give details
11:27give details of how many ghuspaitiyas have been detected deleted and then deported.
11:35Where is the data?
11:39The congress claims ghuspaitiyas is a convenient bogey to justify the deletion of 13 crore voters.
11:48The Union Home Minister was unrelenting in his attacks on the congress.
11:53He called out the congress in particular and the opposition in general accusing them of opposing the special intensive revision
12:00of the electoral rolls.
12:01Not to protect genuine voters but to shield the ghuspaitiyas, to shield infiltrators.
12:08He said the nation will no longer fall for the opposition's alleged ploy and that the congress is opposing the
12:16SIR to protect its vote bank.
12:19Amit Shah invoked the Supreme Court's monitoring of the SIR process and cited percentages of alleged infiltrators detected in different
12:29phases.
12:30He spoke of 30%, 20%, 15%, and 11% of infiltrators being weeded out of the system.
12:41Amit Shah's attacks then moved from SIR to Rahul Gandhi's political leadership.
12:48He in fact went on to predict another congress defeat in 2029.
12:52He actually asked Rahul Gandhi to introspect.
12:55He argued that BJP's victories reflect not only the people's trust in Prime Minister Narendra Modi,
13:01but also the public rejection of Rahul Gandhi's leadership and the congress party and opposition's claims.
13:09The political context of Amit Shah's attack is difficult to ignore.
13:13The congress has struggled to retain power or in some instances regain power across several states.
13:21And let me get you some data that the BJP, the Union Home Minister Amit Shah and FATS put out.
13:31So Tamil Nadu.
13:32Tamil Nadu for 59 years has not had a congress-led government,
13:38though they've been a part of the government with post-poll coalition with Vijay's TVK in Tamil Nadu.
13:44But the congress has not headed the government in Tamil Nadu since 1967.
13:50West Bengal, the number is 49 years.
13:55Uttar Pradesh, 37 years.
13:57No congress government leading Uttar Pradesh in the past 37 years.
14:01In Bihar for the past 36 years.
14:04In Tripura for 33 years.
14:07Gujarat for 31 years.
14:09And the national capital, Delhi, where Sheila Adikshir formed one government after the other for three terms.
14:16One after the other.
14:1715 years.
14:18But then, 13 years since the congress last governed Delhi.
14:23For a party that once dominated India's political landscape,
14:27these are some sobering numbers.
14:30But is the issue special intensive revision of the electoral rolls from Tamil Nadu to Tripura to Gujarat to Delhi?
14:40The question is not merely why congress has lost power in these states.
14:44It is why it has struggled for decades to regain power.
14:49To rebuild a winning organization in so many of these states.
14:53And all of this before SIR.
14:55The national election numbers, however, tell a more nuanced story.
14:59Now, according to Assembly Poll's tally, again, we're putting that out on your television screen,
15:03Congress recorded 17 wins against 60 losses.
15:07And this is between 2014 and 2026.
15:1117 wins and 60 Assembly losses.
15:16In Lok Sabha elections, Congress won 44 seats in 2014.
15:20All this is pre-Gyanesh Kumar rose to 52 in 2019.
15:26Again, pre-Gyanesh Kumar.
15:282024, the congress actually soared to 99.
15:33So imagine in 10 years, from 44 in 2014, it soared to 99.
15:38And the congress was actually celebrating 99 in 2024.
15:41But now, it's talking about vote jury.
15:45So, there is a recovery from 2014.
15:48But 99 seats has still left the party far short of being anywhere close to majority on its own.
15:55Or even with partners.
15:57So, yes, the party has shown signs of revival in national politics.
16:01But translating that into recovery, into consistent electoral victories across state elections,
16:07remains a challenge for the congress.
16:09The BJP says, that's the reason.
16:11Because the congress cannot win elections under Rahul Gandhi,
16:14they choose to blame, instead of Rahul Gandhi, the SIR or the Election Commission.
16:20Year-on-year record gives you another perspective.
16:22Congress suffered repeated setbacks through much of this period with particular difficult years.
16:292016, 2020, 2022 and of course 2025.
16:342025 is when Gyanesh Kumar became the Chief Election Commissioner.
16:40There are also important breakthroughs.
16:42Victories, for example, in 2018 and in 2023.
16:46And the parties improved Lok Sabha tally in 2024.
16:48So, the record is neither of uninterrupted defeat nor uninterrupted victory.
16:54But it does reveal a persistent problem for the congress party.
16:58It struggled to turn individual victories into sustained electoral momentum across states.
17:05The congress now chooses to blame the SIR and the CEC.
17:10But the problem, perhaps, does the congress need to look within as the home minister suggests.
17:16And that brings us to the SIR confrontation.
17:20Amit Shah says, Congress must prepare for a 2029 rout.
17:24Congress responds by telling the BJP to worry about surviving 2029 on its own.
17:30Amit Shah accuses the congress of using the special intensive revision as a shield to protect infiltrators.
17:36Congress counters that the deletion of 13 crore names does not mean 13 crore infiltrators deleted from the system.
17:44Amit Shah says, Congress was losing elections even before SIR became an issue.
17:48Congress alleges the election commission has been reduced to a puppet in the hands of the Prime Minister, the Home
17:55Minister and the Rashtriya Swahamsevak Sangh, Sarsangchalak.
17:58So, as Amit Shah invokes what he calls is Jhoot Ki Goonj, Congress now raises the question of the Jhoot
18:08about infiltrators.
18:11They ask, identify how many identified, how many deleted and how many deported.
18:17Now, that's another political angle to this confrontation.
18:21The police action that followed.
18:23In Delhi, for example, Congress leaders took to the streets, not only against the SIR, and remember, you had Karnataka
18:29Chief Minister D.K. Shivkumar marching alongside Rahul Gandhi, as you see in these pictures.
18:34But let's contrast this.
18:36The other picture that you see on your television screen is from Bengaluru.
18:39October 10 saw police detain more than 100 demonstrators in Karnataka.
18:44Now, according to information on your screens, as you look at that, look at the story.
18:50In Delhi, they march and hit out at the police.
18:53In Karnataka, the police arrests protesters in the name of SIR.
18:59It's the same story in Chennai.
19:01In Delhi, the Congress slammed police action.
19:03In Chennai, protesters were arrested on October 10.
19:05The opposition has every right to question the government, the electoral process.
19:11But then, protests must remain peaceful.
19:13Equally, any allegation of wrongful detention or selective enforcement of law must also be examined.
19:19We will debate all of this.
19:21But, first, to set the tone for this debate, listen in to the War of Words.
19:27I want to tell you, Rahul Gandhi Ji, SIR के बहाने भूस पेठिया बचाने का आपकी जो कारे योदना है,
19:40उसको देश की जनता भली भांती समच चुकी है, और अब भारत की जनता आपके जासे में आने वाली नहीं
19:49है.
19:49श्री राहुल जी और उनके साथियों को मैं ये भी बताना चाहता हूँ, कि 29 में प्रचंड हार के लिए
19:57फीच एक बार मन बना लिजे,
19:59कि 29 के आम चुनाओं में एंडिये प्रचंड बहुमत के साथ जीत कराने वाला है और कॉंग्रेस की फीच एक
20:09बार लगातार चोथी बार हार होने वाली है।
20:14इस देश की जनता नरेंद्र मोदी जी के साथ है, BJP के साथ है, NDA के साथ है, इस सत्य
20:21को आप जुखला नहीं सकते।
20:44खड़े मत हो ये, इस आवाज के सामने कोई खड़ा नहीं हो सकता है।
21:14और कितनों को आपने चिनित करा और कितनों को डिपोर्ट करा उसकी सूची देश को उपलब्ध कराई है।
21:21How many Guzpaithyas have been deported?
21:24Now I want you to look at some of the images that we are putting out on your television screens,
21:28these are from last year in November when the SIR process started in Bengal.
21:34November 2025, this is the India-Bangladesh border.
21:37These images are important. These images will show you Bangladeshi's going back.
21:45As the special intensive revision of the electoral roll started on the 4th of November 2025,
21:51crowds of Bangladeshi's, as you see in these images, they were seen waiting at the Hakimpur border, not 24 Parganas,
22:00many with their belongings waiting to go back.
22:03Now how do we know they are Bangladeshi's?
22:05They themselves say so and on camera. And not today, but in November 2025.
22:11The BSF had then in writing reported a sharp spike in such exodus or movement back into Bangladesh.
22:20Many of them who are going back, India today spoke to them.
22:23Journalists on ground spoke to them.
22:25They said they had voted in elections, they had some documents, they had voter identity card,
22:32but now that information was being cross-checked and cross-verified,
22:37they knew they would be caught out and they didn't want to spend years in detention centres.
22:42That's why they were going back on their own.
22:44The authorities that time said, this is reverse exodus.
22:49India today spoke to some of them.
22:51You listen in, you decide.
22:55He says he resides in Sordlec sector 5 in Kolkata.
22:58You have a personal story?
23:00Bangladesh.
23:00Bangladesh where was it?
23:02Uttara to liya.
23:03He says that he originally hails from Bangladesh.
23:06What kind of visa did you have to go back on?
23:08No, I mean, I have to go back on Dhamakhali.
23:10They say that they had crossed over the border from Dhamakhali, another place in North 24 Parganaz,
23:15and they did not have visa, they illegally entered the Indian territory.
23:19He has passed three times.
23:21He has casted his mandate in India thrice, as he said.
23:26What do you want to go back then?
23:32obwohl
23:44He says that he had to go back on for the September 24th floor.
23:52He now has to go back on that day.
23:57He says
23:57here in india then they would be uh taken into custody and keeping that in mind they are now
24:02attempting to flee back to bangladesh
24:06so let's now throw it open for a free frank and fearless debate on facts joining me on india first
24:12pradeep bhandari national spokesperson of the bjp priyanka kakkar national spokesperson of the
24:17congress party ashutosh and rajat sethi two very well respected political analysts welcome pradeep
24:24bhandari opposition says ghuspethia is a bogey give us details were 13 crore names deleted all of
24:32ghuspethias jairam ramesh says how many ghuspethias detected deleted and deported sir
24:42gaurav you've also been on the ground and multiple people from your channel have also been on the
24:47ground and let me you've shown visuals of how people who illegitimately had entered the indian
24:53border through bangladesh were going back after the sii process has started so in principle
24:59everybody knows that the congress party had mushroomed an ecosystem where they were giving
25:04fake aadhaar cards to individuals who were illegal infiltrators now this is why if you go down and
25:09deep on the 13 crore number what does the 13 crore number say and i will quote it 2.8
25:15crore dead or
25:16disease so who was voting on the name of these 2.8 crore dead or disease they were absolutely some
25:21of
25:22them would be illegal infiltrators some can be some other forged voters one crore were duplicate or
25:26enrolled voters elsewhere but the voting was still taking place who was voting in their number
25:316.3 crore were permanently shifted and roughly 3 crore were absolutely not found so when all of this is
25:37the is the breakdown of the data and still that vote was going on it is but natural that a
25:42large
25:42chunk of this vote was illegal infiltrators and large chunk of these votes were repeated infiltrators
25:47or illegal infiltrators who were given 3 or 4 aadhaar cut all of this has been stopped and along with
25:51that also gaurav 2.8 crore new voters have been added this is why if you see that net submission
25:56does
25:56not change but the fact that these numbers have come down reflects that the illegal infiltrators which
26:01were masquerading with indian voter id card and aadhaar card have been shelved out and every individual who
26:07believes in indian constitution and article 324 which says that not a single ineligible voter should be
26:13allowed to vote should welcome it so i question to the opposition why are you backing the dead voters
26:19why are you backing the disease voters permanently shifted that is the biggest assault on the indian
26:24constitution and be the people of india that you are doing fair enough respond if dead voters are
26:30being weaned out of the system where is the problem amit shah also put out some other facts in public
26:35domain congress not being in power in tamil nad for close to 60 years uh post 1967 bengal 49 years
26:43up
26:4337 years bihar 36 years all of this long before sir and gyanesh kumar
26:53a good evening gaurav to you and your viewers uh gaurav uh it is very important to ask per tamil
26:59nadu
26:59may bjp ki sarkar kap thi do did they ever have a cm in tamil nadu in andhra pradesh in
27:05telangana
27:05in panjab you know you can look at numbers in any ways it took them 27 years to form a
27:12government
27:12in telly and 46 years even at their peak to form a government in west bengal that speaks a lot
27:17they're nowhere to be seen in kerala tamil nadu in the southern states so and bjp abhi bara saal
27:23say sata may they should not be so arrogant about it you know that and once ganesh kumar is ousted
27:30congress is going to win all elections and i don't understand abhi bhi pradeep bhandari ji he gave a list
27:35a so-called breakup of the 13 crore people but he's saying that even 13 names of infiltrator
27:42infiltrators is not mentioned because that has to be assumed but i'm surprised their own government
27:47doesn't have any such data i'm surprised that the home minister is again showing his incompetence after
27:53so many years he doesn't have one single ghuz pethe ka naam i remember the visuals that you showed on
28:00your channel previously these were the same visuals that suvendu adhikari at the time through the media
28:06was playing that suvendu adhikari gave a speech and after seven days everyone just left west bengal if
28:13that is the case why don't you make suvendu adhikari the pm or the home minister maybe ghuz petias will
28:18go
28:18because you are going on about this and i can tell you this now i'll give you one more example
28:24gaurav one more thing now what are they doing they have said that you have to add the up in
28:30up the
28:31minister bjp ministers have given a diktat that every worker has to have add 200 votes on each booth
28:38there are 1.77 lakh booths in uttar pradesh how will they get these four crore people are these
28:44okay mr bhandari is just putting out something called fake news uh uh sir i'm uh you know before
28:51i bring in ashutosh and rajat sir what is this fake news that that you allege because on india today
28:55we verify everything but go ahead uh what is this fake news that you claim
29:02the fake news which uh priyanka kakkar just said that the bharatia janta party which she quoted on
29:08the uttar pradesh is the absolute she's saying that the indian today reporters which went on the
29:19ground are lying let's be not natural logical let me give you another data gaurav are you seeing this
29:25this was the bjp strike rate in 2019 which was 92 percentage vis-a-vis congress party it was 71
29:32percentage vis-a-vis the congress party in 2024 there was no cec there and still the congress
29:38could increase its strike rate maharashtra and haryana the bharatia janta party won there was no
29:43cec the current cec there delhi elections is where the bharatia janta party won the current cec came into
29:50february and all these for 60 years you've not been into power in tamil nadu for bia you have not
29:55got
29:55a chief minister in uttar pradesh 1989 you've not got a single chief minister none of the current cec is
30:00and the cec does not take any unilateral decision it is obviously let me get ashitosh to respond
30:05that's a pertinent point you raised sir of the election commission majority of it so the problem
30:10is inside rahul gandhi and the gandhi wadra family that's the only truth i know ashitosh will defend
30:16the congress that's a separate issue altogether but no but maybe he won't maybe he won't if the current
30:22cec was the problem if the current cec was the problem how did the congress in how did the congress
30:28lose maharashtra and haryana in delhi elections and how could the congress party even increase
30:32its strike rate before that please tell me how two opposite scenarios these are pertinent
30:37numbers and ashitosh you've covered elections for decades and you've worn multiple hats so wear
30:44every hat for a moment and respond to what you know the union home minister amit shah said let's
30:49say in the instance of gujarat he's listing out even sthanian nikai chunav as they say or local body
30:55elections he says take take for example gujarat congress out of power for 31 years delhi 13 years
31:00trippura 33 years why why blame sir or gyanesh kumar who only came to the scene in 2024 2025 in
31:08ec and
31:08as cec sir see gaurab bjp spokesperson are suffering from ashitosh phobia so before i could enter into the
31:17discussion my name was was dropped car anyway see i think what uh amit shah was saying we love you
31:26i know i love you too i know i know i love you too okay so let's move beyond this
31:31love fest go on
31:31ashitosh see what amit shah was saying was telling the half truth you know the the four biggest loser of
31:39the bjp leaders i'll i'll i'll i'll take their names shama prasad bokharji how many elections he has won
31:47as a president deen dayal upadhyay he lost his own election in 1963
31:54contested from three lost all or one lalkis advani from 1952 to 1989 bjp could not win even a single
32:05state election okay imagine and in 1984 they got only two the point the biggest number was in 1989
32:16when they got 85 okay just imagine in politics sometimes you win sometimes you lose if you but
32:26did atal bihari vajpayee shama prasad mukharji uh lal krishna adwani did any one of them blame the
32:32election commission uh for for for their losses uh you know so lal krishna advani had an issue with
32:39the evm and the vv pad system that was introduced but i tell you okay your point let me let
32:45me let
32:45let me come back to you go on sir balt madhuk was a was a great leader of jansang firebrand
32:51leader
32:52in 1971 in 1971 he accused indira gandhi that he has bought inks from russia and anybody who's
33:03putting that on on the on the on the fingers it disappears this was balra what balraj madhuk was
33:11saying then congress is saying now sir because i quickly need to bring in our other guests
33:16indira gandhi was called out by the alabar i did not interrupt anybody okay i did not interrupt anybody
33:26okay i did not interrupt anybody please have a simple pradeep wants to respond good go and complete
33:29your point sir briefly sir brevity was always your forte in 2009 when bjp lost badly lalkis advani
33:36held a press conference in bangalore their member of parliament wrote a book on this yes advani wrote
33:43a foreword of this they went to the supreme court now what should i see what should i say was
33:49lalkis
33:50advani a small leader no i have a tremendous respect for shama prasad bukhardji dindya lupadya
33:57and it'll be ari vajpi and lalkis advani and bandhaj budhu you know what has become the political
34:02culture to demean disrespect insult intimidate this is the new political culture nobody nobody from the
34:13congress had ever ever insulted natal vri vajpi lalkis advani dindya lupadya shama prasad dukhardji
34:19for losing an election and they were the eternal losers let me complete again they were the eternal
34:26losers sir legan aaj to jo aaj aaj to question kuch or hai but be that as it may pradeep
34:34handari
34:34wants to respond before i bring in rajat pradeep go on sir well ashitosh ji has forgotten that indra
34:41gandhi's electoral malpractice was called out by the alabad high court this is why she imposed
34:45emergency because if she had not imposed emergency she had to step down as the prime minister
34:50that was that was by the judgment of the court she was the only person whose entire electoral malpractice
34:55was caused and despite we losing for 60 70 years we did not drain the dindian democracy this tells
35:00you how much faith we had again misquoting mr lalkis nadwani because after the election commission
35:05addressed the concerns of mr lalkis nadwani he said that all our concerns have been addressed and we
35:10are completely satisfied with the entire process so we yes we raised doubt but once the uh a constitutional
35:16body gives a specification and a clarification we believe in the judgment of the court we believe
35:20in the electoral machinery this is what you are in film you have yourself ashito said that
35:25how democratic we are and how undemocratic the congress is because congress has not shown a
35:30single proof in october rahul was saying that he will come with a plethora of proof against the indian
35:34electoral voting machine against the sir now he says that it is the others who have to prove that
35:39good point good point stay with me pradeep before i bring in rajat rajat apologies uh priyanka kakar you
35:45want to quickly respond because the president has asked for proof uh supreme court is seeking proof
35:50quickly priyanka kakar let's let's keep the ball rolling quickly sir uh quick intervention priyanka
35:55kakar i think i think gaurav anybody anybody who follows anybody who follows indian politics it is
36:01very clear that the vote story happens you know recently the evms in haryana panchayat to now the
36:06evms were called to the supreme court and the results are overturned imagine we the the the high
36:11court recently said haryana okay please release the cctvs please receive the cctvs at the time of
36:17counting and the election commission hasn't complied yet even today there was a matter where the
36:21election commission is saying they've lost the record what does this point to there were also
36:25we saw what happened with anil must see we also saw that everyone is seeing how they're repeatedly
36:29and this now this new the chores have evolved the new system of vote chori they already delete the
36:36votes which they know people are because there's so pradeep handari wants to quickly respond
36:40if you want to quickly available today that you can okay okay okay he's leaving rajat rajat you want
36:48to take this question because the congress and the opposition bloc say this narrative of vote chori
36:54has gone across the nation and they're giving instances of what the congress claims is vote chori
37:01you know we have had ad nauseam debate on this topic you know at the end of the day it's
37:06only word salad
37:07beyond that if you have to go there has to be a neutral arbiter on this issue whether there is
37:13vote chori or not that can potentially be the supreme court but you will have to respect that
37:18institution instead of trying to drag the chief justice of our country onto the streets for street
37:24level petty politics now you the congress party and the remaining opposition will have to take a call
37:29because see you cannot carry on with this day in and day out just with the hope that something
37:34i'm going to throw some mud and something is going to stick on the walls it will not i agree
37:38with the
37:39opposition when they say that it is the principal responsibility of the mha to weed out all illegal
37:44immigrants therefore all the opposition leaders should come out and support the nrc there is no other
37:50way in order to do this exercise they should ashitosh you want to quickly respond they should come out
37:56fully and entirely in support of the nrc activity these are the ones we're doing let's have a national
38:01register of indian citizens so that you know who's a guzpatia who's a bangladeshi but even when the
38:08government does a ca which is an electoral promise opposition creates a bogey there's a bogey created in
38:14this country that indian muslims will lose their citizenship and we have rights in delhi ashutosh
38:19see gaurav the only place where the guzpatias had been identified after a proper inquiry and check
38:27was assam you know 16 lakhs have been have already been identified as guzpatias out of 16 lakhs
38:367 lakhs are muslims and rest are the gurkhahs and the hindus now tell me how many of them have
38:42been
38:42deported till now even not a one percent not one percent so forget about see i basically the
38:49intent of the government is not to send these guzpatias to the bangladesh and other places
38:53intent is to politicize polarize create a islamophobia and get votes that's a and no but
39:00bangladeshes are to be sent back how does it create islamophobia i don't understand if you're
39:05sending this gohingyas back or bangladeshes back why this bogey of islamophobia this islam cover
39:13rajat wants to respond this government has been so inefficient you know the problem
39:19inefficient that that a few of them were sent back to the banglades and finally the court has said
39:25take them out they're the legitimate you know you have started this program by showing the hakeempur
39:34border and what is happening no opposition person wants to actually talk about how did they come in
39:39and they voted for three four times it was abhishek manu singh vi who said that there are more than
39:4550
39:45lakh illegal voters the congress spokesperson himself used to say there are 50 lakhs the let me tell you
39:502004 the sitting minister of state of home affairs from the congress government the newly formed congress
39:56government on the floor of the house he said two crore illegal migrants are there but the home minister
40:01said that but this government of then of those days and the current opposition parties which is the
40:06principal one is congress they have zero incentive in actually beating out this they will go go to any
40:12extent to ensure that there is no sir process there is no nrc process and and keep on creating this
40:18boogie
40:18that this is all the anti-constitutional and all of that and try to quickly respond before i bring
40:23in ashutosh she's the only reason why you're finding out because there's been a relentless campaign
40:28yes yes so i okay 30 seconds priyanka then i'm coming to you sir 30 seconds then i'm coming to
40:35you sir
40:36so rajat seti rajat seti also acknowledges that the top leaders in opposition parties have also called for
40:44weeding out infiltrate as well that is agreed but at the same time he also also has to see that
40:48bjp
40:49ministers like hanit puri they officially tweet tag the pmo and inform the world that they are
40:54who was the then home secretary he went to supreme court and sought citizenship and then the supreme
41:03court had to say how many citizenship do you want to give when you when indians don't have enough
41:07resources for them so really these questions have to be asked of the bjp how long will you play on
41:13this
41:13narrative and do nothing about it and always use it during elections and always use these very
41:18people to make your vote bank perhaps bjp has a lot to answer okay uh rajat you want to quickly
41:25respond because i've for as a as an analyst your take on this every time bjp wants to do it
41:32only
41:32around elections when when was their election in 2020 2019 bjp had already handsomely won the election
41:38and they they then called out the entire exercise that they want to go about cleaning up the entire
41:43country's uh national register the problem is that they don't want to do it all the crap aside
41:50for for once can we all agree the sir process was to ensure that there are no duplicate voters no
41:57dead
41:57voters okay and absolutely identify people who have dubious intent who are not the citizens of this
42:02country so now my apologies for having to cut short this debate uh it's 8 40 already and there's a
42:11big
42:12story that i have on the other side ashitosh priyanka and rajat as always many thanks for joining me a
42:18quick
42:18quick break on the other side it's death sentence for the two who murdered the woman's husband cut his body
42:26into pieces and put it in a blue drum and put cement on top it's the rarest of the rare
42:33but will it
42:34deter other murderers details coming up big verdict in the merat blue drum murder investigations merat
42:42court has sentenced the two convicts muskan rastogi and her friend sahil shukla they've been sentenced to
42:49death for the murder of muskan's husband sora rajput in a case that had shocked the nation before
42:55pronouncing the sentence the judge according to the lawyer invoked the mahabharat and made a pointed
43:03observation dand be dharma to give a verdict of punishment is also justice punishment is part of dharma
43:13the verdict comes after a 13 month long speedy trial 126 hearings and examination of 22 witnesses
43:20by the prosecution the court convicted both the accused on the 30th of september they were found
43:25guilty not just of murder but criminal conspiracy and destruction of evidence after the prosecution
43:30argued that sora's body was not only cut into three pieces then concealed in a blue drum and cement
43:38was filled in layers so that no foul smell would emanate and the conspiracy was then to throw the
43:46drum but then the two went on a holiday with the husband's phone in an attempt to show people that
43:52he was still alive the death sentence will it end in execution or will it be overturned by a superior
44:01court into a life in prison or of course they have appeals commutations judicial reviews there are many
44:08uh aspects that that will be discussed now i have two very strong guests with strong points of view
44:14on this special broadcast i have dr vikram singh former director general of the uttar pradesh police
44:19and colin gonzalves senior advocate of the supreme court dr vikram singh the honorable judge said
44:28quoting the mahabharat in your view sir is this justice will this debtor further crime
44:35uh good evening good evening respected calling sir this is indeed justice and served very
44:41appropriately in 13 months and to show any iota even an iota of mercy to muskaan and sahil would be
44:51a
44:51miscarriage of justice i know they have their own rights they will go into appeal also but i strongly
44:57feel that i have seldom seen such cold-blooded deliberate murder arising out of lust and greed and the
45:04manner in which they destroyed evidence goes to show how really diabolical and what calculating
45:09minds they had and they went overboard and ran the extra mile to conceal the evidence and also misguide
45:15the police by using the mobile phone and also put the police out of track because this is the level
45:22of
45:22depravity of muskaan and sahil that they fully aware and thanks to the ott platforms that guides them
45:28and in fact changes the wiring of the mind of such deviance i would say that's a very important point
45:34you raise on ott i'll come to that in just a moment but colin gonzalves in your appreciation sir
45:40does this fall in the category of rarest of rare or have there been other instances of spouses and
45:48friends slash lovers marrying the other murdering the other spouse does this warrant the harshest punishment
45:57well let me start by saying that i agree with my colleague on the panel
46:02in terms of the brutality of the crime but i have a feeling that the superior court will not
46:09uphold the death sentence because despite the brutality it might not meet the standard
46:16in fact i think it will certainly not meet the standard and why do you say that sir
46:26and that's because diabolical crimes in india are not uncommon and the supreme court is generally
46:34giving the death sentence only in very like we say rarest of the rare in common parlance it could be
46:42very very extreme case now a wife and a boyfriend getting together and killing her husband
46:49is not a very uncommon occurrence in this country so i i respect the opinion of my colleague on the
46:56panel and he may turn out to be correct okay but my guess is that it will be it will
47:01be commuted to life
47:04dr vikram singh in your view and since you've been dgp of uttar pradesh for over four decades a police
47:20officer for over four decades you've served in uttar pradesh for long uh does this fall into the
47:25category of rarest of rare and sir is death sentence actually a deterrent for future crimes
47:31very much gaurav ji i respect and salute the wisdom of my esteemed co-panelists respected
47:37colleen consalves sir and i would say yes that it is indeed the rarest of the rare but the supreme
47:43court in its wisdom may not approve of the death penalty but it is a major deterrent all those lovebirds
47:50who think has smitten by love and by lust also would be deterred because this is one thing that
47:55everybody not only in ut but in the country and i went to the us recently they were talking of
48:00the
48:00nila drum murder nila drum murder is something that has indeed shocked the conscience of the
48:05nation and therefore i would say my in my own small way that this is the rarest of the rare
48:10case
48:10to kill the wife and the boyfriend killing the husband is one thing it happens very commonly
48:15as mr gonsalves has said but the manner in which the body was hacked chapped to pieces
48:19and also to conceal the evidence and to derail the investigation that again falls in the rarest of
48:25the rare cases i've handled criminals of all varieties also anti-national helmet but this
48:30is something that is very very different okay colin gonsalves is this rarest of rare in terms of
48:36not the murder as you and dr wikram singh both pointed out that there have been many instances of
48:43you know a spouse and a lover killing the other spouse but the manner in which evidence or the
48:49mortal remains they sought to conceal and destroy that makes it rarest of rare and perhaps may not
48:55fall in the category and on the second point sir does a death sentence debtor future crime
49:02well on the second point let me say there is a lot of material academic material to demonstrate
49:10that the death sentence is not really a deterrent now people have very strong views
49:17in one way or the other but there is an enormous amount of material that the death sentence is not
49:25a deterrent at all and as far as the the second point that you make is quite valid that the
49:32actual act
49:33of murder may not have been very rarest of the rare but the way in which the body was disposed
49:39of
49:40was rarest of the rare but i doubt i have strong reservation and i think broadly the supreme court will
49:49commute
49:50to life sir this was a speedy trend the argument is either life or life until death and even there
49:59i
50:00think they will go in the direction of life which is not life until death in prison uh but dr
50:06wikram singh is
50:08that the delay from the initial conviction to the final process that final judicial process superior
50:15court supreme court curative petition mercy petition presidential pardon that needs to be curtailed for
50:21the view for people to have it in current memory and not after 30 40 years would that be a
50:28deterrent
50:28if there is a speedy trial all the way through absolutely justice delayed is justice denied and
50:34punishment if it is not swift is no punishment at all it gets diluted over a period of time therefore
50:40if it is not swift and in absolute i wouldn't say urgency but a reasonable time i would say reasonable
50:47time then the entire sting of the punishment is taken out therefore i would say and the current bnss
50:54incorporates and would ensure that right from the stage of investing if ir right up to the period of
51:00bill has been quantified and it is not anybody's liberty to take it to for decades together i do
51:06hope it works out that way fair enough i wish we had longer time for a detailed discussion because
51:13this is a very interesting topic that we shall continue to pursue uh colin gonzalez senior advocate
51:18in the supreme court and dr wikram singh former dgpu thar pradesh for joining me here on india first many
51:23thanks that is all i have for you on india first this evening many thanks for watching news and
51:27updates continue on india today stay with us