The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday complained to the Karnataka election panel’s chief that the police were acting like the ruling Congress’ “puppet,” harassing and implicating its party workers in criminal cases in the run up to the May 12 assembly polls.

In its memorandum to Karnataka chief electoral officer Sanjiv Kumar, the saffron party also complained of ‘rigid and arbitrary” interpretation of the Model Code by poll panel’s officials and said it was creating problems for them.

A BJP delegation, including Union ministers Prakash Javadekar and Ananthkumar and party general secretary P Muralidhar Rao met CEC and submitted the party’s memorandum to him.

Accusing the police of harassing BJP workers and its others sympathisers, the memorandum said false cases were being lodged against them.

“The police department is acting as a puppet of the ruling Congress party, arresting several right wing activists. No action has been taken against the biased officials,” it said.

The BJP petition also referred to the implementation of the election code of conduct with “rigid and arbitrary interpretation.”

It said the “Mushti Dhaanya” programme (collecting of fistful of food grains from farmers household), aimed at showing solidarity with farmers in distress, covering all 224 assembly constituencies, was to conclude with sharing food with them at Yeddyurappa’s residence.

The government officials, however, restricted the party leaders from holding the event. The programme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a public rally recently.

“The programe had begun much before the announcement of elections. However, the Election Commission officials, under the guise of Model Code of Conduct, are restricting farmers from reaching the house of Yeddyurappa.

“It is beyond our imagination why the EC is creating obstructions to the smooth conduct of the in-house programme,” the memorandum said.

It also alleged that officials were preventing party workers from holding bike rally, though BJP is a cadre-based party having a large base of workers who voluntarily want to participate in the programmes.

It is a fact that most of those who raged and fulminated and fatwa-ed against Salman Rushdie had never ploughed through The Satanic Verses. Geoffrey Robertson who defended Rushdie in the blasphemy case writes "As with the Red Queen from Alice in Wonderland, his fatwa was a case of sentence first and trial later." And so it is with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmavati, a film that has not yet been released but has already become target practice for the likes of the Shree Rajput Karni Sena, issuing threats of violence and bodily injury.

Mahipal Singh Makrana, the president of the Sena has threatened to do to Deepika Padukone, the lead actor in the film what "Lord Ram's brother did to Surpanakha." Her latest "provocation" was to say that nothing can stop the release of Padmavati. The film's sets have already been vandalised, not once, but twice. Bhansali himself was attacked while shooting in Jaipur. Thakur Abhishek Som, national president of the Akhil Bharatiya Kshatriya Yuva Mahasabha demanded that Padukone leave the country or face beheading. He announced a Rs 5 crore reward to anyone beheading Bhansali or Padukone though he offered no proof the Yuva Mahasabha has Rs 5 crore to spare. He has finally been booked but remains defiant. The Bajrang Dal has already protested against even showing the trailer of Padmavati in Meerut. The Karni Sena vandalised shops in a mall in Kota in Rajasthan where a theatre was screening the trailer. To add more drama the Shri Rajput Karni Sena has vowed to write letters of protest in their own blood. At least it's their own blood.

It is time, yet again, for the lumpen fringe to relish their fifteen minutes of fame.

Bollywood films often do not even pretend to pay lip service to logical accuracy. It's ludicrous that they are being held to demands of historical accuracy.
At one level, one could ignore them, deny them the media oxygen they desperately crave as they posture before news cameras. But when the Uttar Pradesh government says they are concerned that the release of Padmavati could be provoke "serious law and order problems" it means the fringe has very much entered the mainstream. "The release of the film of December 1 is not in the interest of peace and order," the Uttar Pradesh Home Department has told the Union Information and Broadcasting ministry. The Sarv Samaj Samiti blocked the gates of Chittorgarh shouting "Jai Jai Rani Padmini." The CBFC has returned Padmavati's application for certification citing "technical difficulties" which will probably delay its release.

But at least the Karni Sena and its cohorts are unequivocal about their demands, bloodthirsty as some of those demands are – heads and noses.

The government is playing a far more duplicitous game – talking pieties about law and order on one hand, yet indulging and coddling those threatening to disrupt law and order.

Haryana minister Vipul Goel has said "glamourising Alauddin Khilji's character" was "like praising those who carry out acid attacks on girls."And it does not really help matters when highway minister Nitin Gadkari says "People have a right to be offended... filmmakers should not distort historical facts." And he's added that freedom of expression is not absolute.

Of course, people have a right to be offended. It's probably the right exercised with most gusto in India these days. But to be offended means to not read a book, to not watch a film, to not listen to a song. To be offended can even mean a call to boycott a film. To be offended cannot mean to vandalise theatres, kill writers, ransack movie sets, and threaten to maim and behead people. And every time the government does not put that squarely front and centre, every time it says the law must be followed and then qualifies it with a "but filmmakers should show sensitivity" the vandals, the so-called fringe see it as a green signal, a wink and nudge. It is grotesque that Sanjay Leela Bhansali needs to show sensitivity in his film but the Karni Sena can threaten to cut off someone's nose in real life.

American rapper and music producer Pharrell Williams visited India for the first time last week to promote a new collection of Adidas sneakers and clothing inspired by the Holi spring festival.

The Adidas “Hu Holi” collection includes sneakers, shirts, hoodies, and shorts that come in a variety of bright colors. The company says the collection drew its influence from the “magic and beauty” of Holi celebrations in India and Nepal.

Yet while Williams did learn about the spiritual symbolism behind Holi during his trip, images of him looking slightly uncomfortable during the celebration coincided with accusations that Germany-based Adidas is commercializing a beloved Hindu tradition to sell shoes.

Some people pointed out that Adidas’ new collection seems to tread rather close to cultural appropriation: After all, a German company is using an American celebrity to sell $250 shoes that very explicitly use imagery from a Hindu celebration.

And, as at least one person noted, it would be easy (and much cheaper) to get that same “Holi-inspired” look by wearing white shoes and clothes to a real Holi event.

Shukla of the Hindu American Foundation told HuffPost that when she saw the image of Williams at the Holi party, she saw someone who was “taking it all in.”

“I remember my first Holi in India. I probably had the same look on my face,” Shukla said. “Holi there is at once beautiful and overwhelming, and you better be ready to duck!”

In an interview with the Indian news channel NDTV, Williams praised India’s “incredible” and “fascinating” culture, and said he’s trying to learn more about the country. He said he knows about a couple of Hindu deities.

Williams said his goal promoting the Adidas collection is to “give diversity as many opportunities to present itself as possible.”

“Some of the most beautiful people on the planet are in my opinion from Africa and from India and there’s from light to dark, dark to light on both of those countries and they’re incredibly vivid human beings to begin with, but then their customs and the aesthetic of their customs are just as beautiful,” he said. “The Holi festival is the perfect example, people are literally throwing color around.”

If Congress president Rahul Gandhi has to counter the Narendra Modi juggernaut in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, he will have to revitalise the party from scratch. That’s the indication UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi gave on Friday.

Referring to party’s Steering Committee meeting, she said, “Certainly, Rahul always wanted new and younger people in the party. It’s very valid that without them, how could a party grow? (sic) But he also said that older leaders who, worked for years (in Congress), can’t be ignored.”

During her interaction at the India Today Conclave, Sonia commented on Rahul’s leadership style after he took over as the new party chief and said that the leadership style doesn’t make much difference. Whether it’s Rahul or any other, Congress has its policies that everyone follows.

File image of former Congress president Sonia Gandhi. PTI File image of former Congress president Sonia Gandhi. PTI
While emphasising that Congress had to adopt a new style of connecting with people, the former Congress chief said that the need of the hour was to revitalise the party.

She asserted that older generation leaders couldn’t be done away with and a balance was needed between the younger lot and senior leaders.

And to revitalise the grand old party of India, Rahul obviously would have to take tough decisions, which might not go down well with the senior leadership.

Recently, the Congress has faced electoral debacle in three northeastern states — Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya. From being in power in 13 states, Congress is reduced to just four now. The party might have tasted victory in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh bypolls, but upcoming elections in Karnataka, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh will pose a tough challenge for Rahul’s leadership.

By emphasising the importance of the old guard and the need to maintain a balance vis-à-vis revitalisation of the party, Sonia has probably placed a handicap before her son.

A balancing act

For Rahul, it will be like walking a tight rope to maintain a balance between the young leaders and the old guard, while revitalising the party.

Many a times it had been a point of debate and discussion that it won’t be palatable for the old guard within the Congress party – who have worked with Rahul’s grand mother Indira Gandhi and father Rajiv Gandhi – to accept the leadership of this Nehru-Gandhi scion.

While Sonia had always backed the old order, Rahul has often faced difficulty in reining in the senior leaders.

Sources in the party said that when Rahul was vice-president, he, on many occasions, maintained distance from a few senior leaders, who are apparently close to Sonia Gandhi.

Gujarat election is a case in point, when senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar called Prime Minister Narendra Modi “neech".

Rahul was quick to control the damage and asked Aiyar to apologise. Later, Aiyar was suspended from the primary membership of the party.

Let’s not forget that Congress general secretary and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijaya Singh, who was once regarded as Rahul Gandhi’s ‘political guru’, fell out of favour in 2012 after repeatedly going against the party line on issues such as the Batla House encounter in September 2008 against Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorists.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will today launch a pension scheme for elederly with 8 per cent fixed rate of interest on their savings.

It can be purchased offline as well as online through Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India which has been given the sole privilege to operate this scheme, the finance ministry said in a statement today.

PMVVY is a pension scheme announced by the government exclusively for the senior citizens aged 60 years and above which is available from May 4, 2017 to May 3, 2018.

"Scheme provides an assured return of 8 per cent per annum payable monthly (equivalent to 8.30 per annum effective) for 10 years," it said.

Pension is payable at the end of each period, during the policy term of 10 years, as per the frequency of monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, yearly as chosen by the pensioner at the time of purchase, it said.

The scheme is exempted from Goods and Services Tax, it said, adding, loan up to 75 per cent of purchase price shall be allowed after 3 policy years to meet the liquidity needs.

Loan interest will be recovered from the pension installments and loan to be recovered from claim proceeds, it said, adding the scheme also allows for premature exit for the treatment of any critical or terminal illness of self or spouse.

On such premature exit, 98 per cent of the purchase price will be refunded.

On death of the pensioner during the policy term of 10 years, the purchase price will be paid to the beneficiary.

The shortfall owing to the difference between the interest guaranteed and the actual interest earned and the expenses relating to administration shall be subsidised by the Government of India and reimbursed to the LIC, it said.

Goodness, gracious. WWE Great Balls of Fire may have sounded like a joke when it was first announced, but it wound up being an incredible first edition of the new Raw-brand pay-per-view card. The lead up to Sunday's PPV featured two of the best rivalry builds in all of 2017. As it turned out, the two matches were just as good.

Though no titles changed hands during the show, the double main event stole the show in Dallas as Brock Lesnar defended his universal championship in a brief slugfest against Samoa Joe and Roman Reigns took his ultra-physical feud with Braun Strowman to an entirely new level of violence (not to mention attempted murder). The undercard beneath it was largely average, save for an electric Raw tag team championship match as Cesaro and Sheamus held off a late rally in the final seconds from The Hardy Boyz to win a red-hot 30-minute iron man match.
Be sure to check out the results and grades below, then subscribe to my podcast In This Corner with Brian Campbell where we will break down the entire pay-per-view Monday morning.


WWE Great Balls of Fire results, grades


Cruiserweight Championship -- Neville (c) def. Akira Tozawa via pinfall to retain the title: Relegated to kickoff show status, this one came to a somewhat abrupt halt just as it was heating up. One thing the match accomplished in putting over was Neville's willingness as a heel to do anything it takes to win -- a trait fans saw more and more of in his feud with Austin Aries. Tozawa appeared on the verge of victory late after Neville missed on a Red Arrow. Tozawa landed a hurricanrana and Shining Wizard to set up his senton finisher from the top rope, but Neville smartly rolled out of the ring to avoid being pinned. After being thrown back in, Neville crotched Tozawa on the ropes before kicking the ropes to add insult to injury. Neville then kicked Tozawa in the stomach to set up the pin. Grade: C+

Bray Wyatt def. Seth Rollins via pinfall: If perception is reality, it has felt like Wyatt hasn't been booked to win a pay-per-view match in years. That streak is over. Wyatt was victorious in the opening chapter of this feud, which included strong booking for his heel character. Wyatt used a thumb to the eye while the referee was distracted to injure Rollins, leaving him exposed for the Sister Abigail finisher and the subsequent 1-2-3. The match was a physical one throughout .Wyatt dominated early, including a superplex that shook the ring and a spiked DDT on the ring apron. A stiff clothesline from Wyatt stuffed a Rollins rally and sent him head over heels. Wyatt set up the finishing sequence by screaming in Rollins' face: "This is what a God looks like."

Esha Gupta, who is all set to play the "badass bombshell" in Milan Luthria's Baadshaho, is learning pole dancing. The actress posted a video of her practicing her sexy moves in a black two-piece on Instagram. "Doing some monkey business with my pretty  lanaroxy," Esha captioned the video, tagging her pole dancing instructor, Roksolana Chubenko.

Fans went gaga over the Jannat 2 actor's irresistible moves and could not stop complimenting her. In fact, some of them requested Esha to feature in a dance number and showcase her skills.

Esha's last Bollywood release was Vidyut Jammwal-starrer Commando 2, where she played the main antagonist. She will be seen next in Baadshaho, a heist drama set against the backdrop of 1975 Emergency. The film, which is scheduled to release on September 1, also features Ajay Devgn, Emraan Hashmi, Vidyut Jamwal, Ileana D'Cruz and Sanjay Mishra.

 A Chennai-based family court finalised the divorce proceedings of superstar Rajinikanth's daughter Soundarya and her estranged husband R Ashwin, reports Times Of India.

Soundarya and Ashwin were reportedly living separately for seven months and were unable to reconcile, therefore the court granted them divorce, stated the TOI report.

Soundarya and Ashwin filed for divorce by mutual consent on grounds of difference of opinion but the terms of their separation and details about the custody of the two-year-old son Ved are unknown. Their lawyers said that Soundarya and Ashwin had been living separately for about seven months now and "their misunderstanding over various issues reached a point of no return earlier than that," reports Times Of India.

Soundarya is the younger of Ranjikanth and Latha Rajinikanth's two daughters. Soundarya's sister is Aishwaryaa, who is married to actor Dhanush. Soundarya married Ashwin, a Chennai-based businessman, in 2010. In September 2016, Soundarya announced that she and Ashwin were ending their marriage in a tweet and she filed for divorce in December 2016.

Soundarya debuted as director with 2014 Tamil Kochadaiiyaan, which featured her father Rajinikanth and Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone. Soundarya's Kochadaiiyaan was the first Indian film to use the motion capture technology. Before Kochadaiiyaan, Soundarya worked as a graphic designer in films like Sivaji, Chennai 600028 and Sandakozhi.

Soundarya's next film Velaiilla Pattadhari 2 or VIP 2 releases later this month. VIP 2 features Dhanush (also the film's producer) in lead role with Bollywood actress Kajol as antagonist. VIP 2 also stars Amala Paul.