- 4 hours ago
On this Special Report, the focus is on the political firestorm over the suicides of Booth Level Officers (BLOs) amid the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) drive. The opposition, led by Congress National Spokesperson Salman Soz, demands accountability for the death of BLO Sarvesh Singh, citing 'extreme work pressure'. In a heated exchange, BJP National Spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari defends the EC, dismissing the allegations as 'politics' and citing the '100% productivity' of the Parliament. The programme explores the clash between the government and opposition over the SIR deadline and the plight of election workers.
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00:00Pradeep Bhandari, you know, the fact is, like I said, some of those videos, some of the heart-rending messages of the BLOs, you can't unsee and unhear them.
00:09And that needs to cut deep where the government is concerned.
00:12And that needs to be addressed ASAP.
00:15Keep the politics aside.
00:16Whatever the opposition might be saying, whatever the government wants to counter, that can be done separately.
00:22But one must address this issue.
00:25One must debate this issue on the floor of the House.
00:27It cannot be TMC trying to instigate BLOs in West Bengal and in Tamil Nadu.
00:32It is at the DMK's behest.
00:34Or in Uttar Pradesh, it is Samajwadi Party.
00:41Well, Preeti, at the outset, my dear friend from the Congress Party has forgotten that it's not the Congress government at this moment.
00:47It's Prime Minister Rendra Modi's government.
00:49When the Congress was in power, this gentleman, a corrupt man like Naveen Chabla, was appointed by Sonia Gandhi.
00:54And the government used to appoint the Election Commission.
00:56At this moment, there is a three-member committee which appoints the Chief Election Commissioner.
01:00And the Congress Party had gone to challenge it in the Supreme Court.
01:03And the Supreme Court rejected the petition of the Congress Party, saying that under Article 3 to 4, the government is very well justified to have a committee.
01:10So for the first time in India's independence, you have a committee deciding the Chief Election Commissioner.
01:13The Congress Party always had a Chief Election Commissioner like a man who used to be a loyalist to Sonia Gandhi.
01:18That is fact number one.
01:20Fact number two, I completely agree with you that there should be a deeper investigation which has to be ordered.
01:24And I will tell you why.
01:25Please look at the gentleman who was protesting today as a BLO.
01:28This gentleman was till yesterday with Abhishek Banerjee in his local party meeting.
01:33And today he claimed to be a BLO who was protesting against Shuvendu Adhikari.
01:37So definitely I believe these are not representatives of BLOs.
01:40And there has to be a larger inquiry ordered that who are these gentlemen, who is pressurizing them.
01:46That is point number two.
01:47Now please look at the seriousness and the difference between the intention.
01:50This is Mrs. Renuka Chaudhary who takes her dog to the parliament and calls the parliamentarians as dog.
01:56And she believes that this is the issue which has to be discussed and this is the most important issue.
02:00When quote unquote the SIR is an issue which the opposition wants us to discuss.
02:04So this is the seriousness of the India's opposition which is reflected by Renuka Chaudhary on which Ashutosh,
02:10who might be a very well established man and there are very rich people in opposition like Rahul Gandhi,
02:13who believe that 2.5 lakh rupees of taxpayers money per minute does not matter.
02:17This is what their mindset is.
02:19Our intention is reflected from how there was 100% productivity in the parliament session in April 2025
02:25because the opposition did not disrupt the parliament.
02:28I will give you another instance.
02:29You recall this video of Rahul Gandhi?
02:31For months they used to say that why is there no discussion happening on Manipur?
02:36When the prime minister started to speak on Manipur,
02:38it was Rahul Gandhi instructing his member of parliament to stop the prime minister and go to the well.
02:43This is the intention of the congress party.
02:45So the intention of the congress party is neither to let the house function,
02:47neither to have a discussion on SIR and they are even not serious on BLO.
02:51Pradeepji, the time is up. I'll circle back to you. We might have just one more minute for all of our panellists.
02:57But Pradeepji, you bring up the case of one BLO which needs to be investigated.
03:02There are 10 other pictures that, like I said, should cut in deep the heart-rending messages,
03:07including of this man who says, take care of my daughter before he killed himself.
03:12And I think, you know, that needs to be addressed, Pradeepji.
03:15That can't be washed under the ambit of larger investigations, who is pressurizing them, political pressure.
03:20Absolutely. An investigation has to be ordered.
03:23I want to bring in Salman Sars into this conversation.
03:27Salman Sars, you know, while the Treasury benches, the government is responsible for the functioning of the parliament,
03:33so is the opposition, Salman Sars.
03:35And if the opposition is serious about addressing the issues of the plight of BLOs today,
03:43then play by the rules, have that discussion.
03:45I think the rule is that when you have such a horrible situation in the country where so many of our workers are dying,
03:56these election workers are dying, I think this should be prioritized.
04:01And what the prime minister and the BJP want to do is they'll basically cast aspersions on anyone
04:07who raises the issue or the plight of these workers.
04:11And the craziness of the SIR process that the Election Commission has instituted.
04:18And by the way, if I was a BJP spokesperson, I would not bring up Manipur.
04:23Manipur is one state you should not bring up.
04:26That is a state where women and children have been raped, where women have been paraded naked.
04:32You should be ashamed that the prime minister did not visit Manipur at all, would not say anything about it at all.
04:43So I would not, if I was a BJP spokesperson, I would keep quiet.
04:47I would shut up about Manipur.
04:49Okay.
04:50As far as this parliament is concerned.
04:54Now, let us talk about parliament.
04:56In this session, it's going to be 15 days, the shortest, the shortest session in history.
05:06And there are going to be 13 bills have been scheduled.
05:0913 bills, 15 days, and 10 of these bills have not even gone to their respective standing committee.
05:18You want us to be serious?
05:20You should be serious.
05:21The BJP should be serious about 800 million people in India surviving on free government food.
05:28That is the situation of this country.
05:31That the International Monetary Fund is telling you that the data that you're putting out for our economy, that gets a C grade.
05:39You should be careful about what you want.
05:41We want answers for the people of this country.
05:44We want answers for the PLOs who have died by suicide.
05:48That is the seriousness we want you to see.
05:50We don't want you to talk about Manipur anymore because you shut up about Manipur for two years, did nothing.
05:56The Prime Minister was silent.
05:58The time is up.
05:59I want to bring in both Ashutosh and Rajat Sethi into this conversation.
06:02As political analysts, devoid of ideology, Rajat, let's begin with you.
06:06Okay.
06:07What should the opposition and including the government do that we see some work in this session?
06:16At least we see some fruitful debates.
06:18Either sides need to bridge this deficit which is where trust is concerned rock bottom.
06:24I think they should not walk into the trap that the BJP would be laying over and over again.
06:33You know, what does BJP would want?
06:36Ideally, the opposition creating a ruckus, not allowing them to table an issue.
06:40And then the BJP can also walk out saying that, see, we gave them a chance.
06:43They never wanted a chance to discuss serious issues.
06:45Why do you want to fall into that trap each time?
06:48See, if you want to raise SIR, be serious about it.
06:51There are rules which are laid out.
06:53You can have back-channel conversations, back-channel negotiations.
06:56That's how the parliaments used to work.
06:58Those are personal relations that you invoke.
07:00And again, the main subject is the election commission which is not represented on the floor of the house.
07:06So how do you ask those questions?
07:08There has to be a meaningful way of engaging that.
07:10You cannot say that SIR is illegal because it's a patently constitutional exercise.
07:15So you need to support it also.
07:17Find ways in order to be a creative part of the political class.
07:22They won't do that.
07:23The problem is that if you want to discuss economy,
07:26discuss economy, bring out issues.
07:28AI is the conversation around the world.
07:30Technology and technology dominance has completely shaken up the contours,
07:34including security contours.
07:35But as a responsible opposition, you will find all of these issues too boring
07:39because this won't garner votes for you.
07:41But let me tell you, contrary to how you think that the Indian public falls for,
07:46these are the genuine issues public is worried about and concerned about.
07:50But as a responsible opposition, have you ever chosen to raise these issues?
07:55Has your leader ever spoken on these issues in proper depth that is needed to handle it?
08:00And even corner the government for that sake.
08:02See, the problem is you want to only look for theatre.
08:04You want to only look for acting roles.
08:06And then it results in a drama.
08:08And this is what the Prime Minister has said.
08:10And he basically, he deliberately put in that line
08:13because he knew that the Congress will fall into that trap
08:16and will create similar ruckus
08:17and will allow the government another peaceful,
08:19another 15 days or so throughout the Parliament session.
08:22This is my reading of the situation.
08:25All right, which is basically every fault lies with the opposition,
08:29none with the government.
08:30And the opposition now needs to, you know,
08:33place what Rajat Sethi says.
08:34But I want to bring in Ashutosh into this conversation.
08:36Ashutosh, you know, gone are the days.
08:39You know, Rajat seems to suggest the goodwill back channel talks
08:42where SIR is concerned.
08:43I think it's been a year or two.
08:45That doesn't happen anymore where the Parliament comes into question.
08:48There is no goodwill anymore.
08:51See, Preeti, mark my word.
08:54The government doesn't want an opposition.
08:56It's not a joke.
08:58It wasn't a joke when it was said,
09:00Congress Mukt Bharat,
09:02ya Vipaksha Mukt Bharat.
09:03So that agenda is on to discredit opposition
09:07at every given point of time.
09:10Discredit them so much,
09:12with so much government machinery and resources,
09:15that tomorrow the people will start believing the opposition.
09:17Because they don't want an opposition.
09:18There is no secrecy about it.
09:23Now, the two things which really baffles me.
09:25One, the BJP's over-vehement support to election commission
09:29despite VLO's committing suicide.
09:32Secondly, election commission's sheer rigidity
09:37that this exercise has to be done in a month's time or so.
09:42Now, are these two things linked to each other?
09:45I just don't know.
09:48If anybody and everybody wants a clean voter list,
09:52if that is the idea,
09:53that is the aim,
09:54that is the goal,
09:56then why insist on 30 days?
09:58Why not three months?
10:00Why not four months?
10:02Especially in a state where
10:03the elections are almost one and a half years away.
10:07Why so much insistence on just one month?
10:1130 days or 40 days?
10:13Just spread out for three months.
10:15The BJP's will have more relaxed time.
10:18They will do a better job.
10:19There will be better screening.
10:21There will be better scrutiny.
10:22But no, it has to be done in a month's time.
10:25Whether the people are committing suicide or not suicide,
10:27that is immaterial.
10:28How cruel a system can be.
10:31Just imagine about the family of this man, service.
10:34Just imagine about it.
10:36This could have...
10:37And since he belongs to the lowest rung of the bureaucracy,
10:41so nobody is bothered.
10:43Now, left, right and center,
10:45the FIR are lost against him.
10:47How many DMs have been sacked?
10:49How many DMs have lost their job?
10:51None.
10:51Because they are powerful people.
10:52Fair point.
10:54Because these are...
10:55The BLOs are the foot soldiers where the election commission is concerned and most taxed.
10:59I want to quickly give in one minute, I believe.
11:02And let's go with that.
11:03First up, Pradeep Bhandari, one minute to put your point forward.
11:06Please go.
11:06Well, the Congress Party speaking about North East is like Gabbar speaking about acting as
11:15Jai in a sholay because it was Congress which had bombed Mizoram.
11:18Point number one.
11:19Point number two, the fact here is that Mr. Ashutosh can go to the Supreme Court like Yogi
11:24and Riyadhav has.
11:25What is stopping him to go to the Supreme Court?
11:27Because this domain, 3 to 4, it is in the purview of the election commission and the Supreme
11:31Court.
11:31Maybe Ashutosh has not read the constitution of India very well.
11:35That is point number two.
11:36Point number three, which is a very, very important point.
11:38Please go to the...
11:39He was speaking about Congress Mukt Bharat.
11:41We do not want to do Congress Mukt Bharat on our own.
11:43It's Congress which is doing it.
11:44Bihar, the Congress people are fighting against Congress.
11:46Jammu and Kashmir is nobody to pick up Congress flag.
11:48And in Karnataka, it's the Congress CM and Deputy CM which are fighting.
11:51You did a 6 o'clock show on it.
11:52So Ashutosh called the Congress which is doing Congress Mukt Bharat.
11:55The real intention is here.
11:57When the election commission increased the honorarium of the BLO, you know who did not
12:00implement it.
12:01It was only one government which did not implement it.
12:03And the government is the Tirmamool Congress.
12:05So here the culprit is the Indian opposition which wants the BLOs to be pressurized, which
12:10do not want the free and fair process.
12:12Pradeep, I just want to put a small show plug.
12:15You said we have been doing Karnataka Congress versus Congress, but look at the ticker band
12:19right now.
12:19It is Mahayuti versus Mahayuti where Maharashtra is concerned.
12:23Stay tuned at 7.30 to watch that show.
12:25One minute, Salman Saur.
12:27There is no Mahayuti.
12:27That is your editorial.
12:27I'm just telling you.
12:29Stay tuned.
12:30Stay tuned for that.
12:31Okay.
12:31One minute, Salman Saur.
12:32Time starts now, sir.
12:34Go ahead.
12:34I want you to think back to what Rajat said.
12:37He said about how the prime minister set a trap and the opposition fell into it.
12:43If you think that is the case, it really tells me that the prime minister is a very non-serious
12:50person that he does not seem to understand that there is a real crisis in this country of
12:58jobs, of people not being able to afford food, of real starvation concerns if a government
13:06handout is not provided to people.
13:07I thought we were in the business of creating opportunities for the people of India so that
13:13they could fend for themselves.
13:15But what the prime minister and the BJP have been doing is actually trying to create a situation
13:21whereby the people would be dependent on a welfare state and they would benefit, the BJP
13:27would then benefit from that kind of a system because it would be where they can just donate
13:32out money.
13:33I think that the prime minister, if he thinks that's going to sustain, I think he's wrong.
13:37Sir, time mark.
13:37It'll be a half cut, sir.
13:39One minute.
13:40Rajat Sethi, make your point, please.
13:47Rajat Sethi, your turn, sir.
13:48One minute.
13:49Can you hear me?
13:51Yes.
13:52Can you hear me?
13:53He's there with us.
13:53Go ahead.
13:53Yes, go ahead.
13:54Yeah.
13:55So what I was saying is that prime minister is far too serious a politician beyond the comprehension
14:00of the Congress Party and the entire opposition put together.
14:03So for you guys to understand him, you'll have to do a PhD and go to the public, ask,
14:09solicit their support, and still you will find it very hard to understand him.
14:12If you want to debate on genuine economic issues, read up the data, read up IMF reports,
14:19this report that you're quoting as a C grade given to data.
14:22There's just one clause that has been picked up and a narrative has been built.
14:26But what is a fact is that the country is growing at the fastest possible rate, 8.2%
14:33around the world.
14:34The kind of global headwinds that are there working against India right now are unprecedented.
14:39And in spite of that, that shows the resilience of this country.
14:42If it can grow at 8.2% when such turbulence is there, that gives us confidence.
14:46It might not give Congress Party the confidence, but it gives the normal citizen of this country
14:50far too much confidence that there is future in this country.
14:53And if we work hard, we can achieve the impossible.
14:55But the problem with Congress Party is...
14:57Raja Siddhi, hard cut, sir.
14:58Time up.
14:59One minute, Ashutosh.
15:00Make your point, sir.
15:02I wish what Raja Siddhi is saying should have been true.
15:06Economy is growing at the rate of 8.02, but IMF doesn't believe it.
15:11It's the same IMF which talked about the Frasile 5 and the BJP took to the whole world
15:15and ridiculed the Congress's development, the Manmoun Singh government's development.
15:19Now, the same IMF is talking about that India's data is suspect.
15:25And that's why it has been put into the category of C.
15:27C category.
15:28Imagine.
15:29We are not discussing this.
15:31The American Chinese Economic Security Review openly say that the Pakistani army has succeeded
15:40over Indian army and it's not a terrorist attack.
15:44It's an insurrection kind of a thing.
15:45Government of India has kept his mouth shut.
15:48Not a word.
15:50That's the confidence which our Prime Minister shows in our government.
15:55What about the rest?
15:57Why we are not speaking?
15:59Why we are not telling...
16:00Why IMF to shut up?
16:01Why we are not telling the American administration...
16:03Shut up.
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