When Roop Rekha Verma arrived at Lucknow University on July 3 to join a protest by students, she saw a massive poster of Hindu deity Hanuman draped over the familiar gates.

Verma, who had taught philosophy at the university for 39 years before she retired in 2005, was aghast but not entirely surprised. The 75-year-old former Vice Chancellor of the university has been a vocal critic of Hindu religious activities — like Saraswati Puja to begin the semester — that have been woven into university life.

Days after she sat in protest with students who were being denied admission by the university, five lawyers familiar with the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court informed her associates that the court had directed the police to file a criminal case against her for instigating students to attack teachers of the university.

A report on the court proceedings on The New Indian Express stated:

"Efforts were on to arrest others also, said the SSP [Senior Superintendent of Police], mentioning the name of ex-Vice Chancellor Roop Rekha Verma claiming that she was supporting the cause of expelled students."

SP Singh, the Vice-Chancellor of the university was present at the hearing.

Verma's name was not mentioned in the final court order, but several Hindi news outlets reported that the university had also set up an inquiry committee to investigate the day's events and that Verma's role in the violence would be probed.

"I have heard that the court has asked the police to investigate her," NK Pandey, spokesperson for Lucknow University, told HuffPost India. "We have not started any inquiry against her."

Verma said that a 'charitable' guess on why she may have been targeted for a while is the fact that the police had to take a name to cover-up for its inaction.

"Since I am a familiar name in protests, they may have just taken my name as an excuse," she said.

"The right approach groups like RSS or Jamat-e-Islami would not appreciate me. Rather, they are in an inimical relationship with me."

Another reason could be that she has been a vocal critic of communal forces and the Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh (RSS) all her life.

"I have been, since a very young age, against dictatorial values and I have been campaigning for democratic rights. Politically, I am against the right-side ideology," she said. "I am not a communist, but I want to see an egalitarian society with maximum freedom of individuals with respect for all religions.'

Her work as an activist, she said, has also put her in a permanent relationship of conflict with various ideological groups. "The right approach groups like RSS or Jamat-e-Islami would not appreciate me. Rather, they are in an inimical relationship with me," she added.

PAST STRUGGLE WITH RSS

In the 1980s, when Roop Rekha Verma was heading Lucknow University's philosophy department, she waged a long, lone battle against colleagues who she said were affiliated to the RSS and wanted to use the department to propagate the organisation's ideologies.

For one year, Verma said, her students were instigated to strike against her, they refused to take her classes based on rumours aired by Verma's colleagues. "These teachers said that I made sure some students got less marks than others. Since these statements were made by professors, the students took them seriously and went on a strike," she said.

The harassment did not end there. Lucknow University's sprawling campus was splashed with posters accusing Verma of several crimes, some of these posters also made their way to other busy parts of the city. Letters attacking Verma's moral character were sent to colleagues, students' parents and family.

Two cases were also filed against her during that time accusing her of manipulating marking. Verma won both the cases.

"I had never used my department for my views, and I couldn't not allow them to propagate their views through it. So they wanted to oust me and the RSS people of the city were working overtime to make sure I left, and a person who owes allegiance to the organisation can head the department," she said.

"They will ignore if the person opposing their views is not strong and important, but if he or she is, then they basically surround the person with all sorts of nuisance. They hope that the person will eventually feel tired of all this and give up his or her intellectual position."

Verma pointed out that it was not just her, over the years that she has fought a battle against RSS' ideologies, she had seen the organisation use harassment and intimidation as weapons to silence voices critical of their politics.

"They will ignore if the person opposing their views is not strong and important, but if he or she is, then they basically surround the person with all sorts of nuisance. They hope that the person will eventually feel tired of all this and give up his or her intellectual position. Ninety nine percent of the people they target will be silenced because they want to avoid this nuisance," she said, explaining what she calls RSS' 'methodology'.

Verma never married or started a family, but her aged mother was in shock when rumours of professional and sexual misconduct started doing the rounds of Lucknow. "She asked me to stop fighting them and instead stay at home. I didn't listen to her. But if there are people with families and children, it won't be surprising if they backed off," she said.

Her experience over the last four decades, Verma said, has made it very clear why there is a surge of right-wing politics in the country. The harassment that Verma faced in the 80s is uncannily similar to the strategy right-wing trolls employ to silence dissenting women, especially on social media. Operating in packs, they target a person relentlessly by spreading fake news, in the present scenario doctored tweets and photos, and often stoop to casting aspersions on a woman's sexual character.

In Verma's case, this took the form of letters signed off by someone claiming to be an 'old friend' of her deceased father. "My brother received one of those letters and he showed me. The letter accused me of various dirty things and then said, 'I cannot bear to see this condition of Rooprekha, I cannot believe how low she has become'," it said.

Verma said that much to her chagrin, her brother tried to broker peace with the RSS. "They were scared that they would physically hurt me. So he reached out to them and requested them to leave me alone. But they kept at it saying I should back off," she said.

"It may be because they wanted to see that I am 75, I may not have the same kind of resolve and may yield to them now. They are wrong."

Her most recent brush with the university administration, Verma surmised, could be an attempt to see if her resolve had mellowed with age.

"It may be because they wanted to see that I am 75, I may not have the same kind of resolve and may yield to them now. They are wrong," she said.

In Political Process in Uttar Pradesh: Identity, Economic Reforms, and Governance, edited by Sudha Pai, Verma finds mention in a chapter called "The Rise and Fall of Hindutva in Uttar Pradesh".

The book traces how, in the 90s, RSS had made a bold attempt to infiltrate the education system in Uttar Pradesh. It recounts how people affiliated to the RSS were appointed as vice-chancellors in Kashi Vidyapeeth, and universities in Lucknow, Kumaon and Purvanchal. Several RSS ideologues were also placed as chairmen of higher education bodies and several cultural organisations. During that time, Verma was targeted once more. An ABVP functionary, the book narrates, verbally attacked her during a swearing in ceremony of the student's body held in the presence of BJP's first chief minister in UP, Kalyan Singh.

"All the bigwigs of the BJP in the state are very aware of my politics," Verma told HuffPost India.

BATTLE AGAINST SAFFRONISATION OF EDUCATION

To her peers, Verma is known as a firebrand women's rights activist and someone who has been an unwavering advocate of secularism in Uttar Pradesh's turbulent political atmosphere, often vitiated with communal tension. Verma has never supported a political party.

"When Mulayam Singh made those reprehensible comments against women and rape, I was the first one to organise a protest rally against him in Lucknow," Verma said.

PK Srivastava, a former head of the department of Western History in Lucknow University, said when he was a student at the same department, Verma was perhaps the only woman who they knew who was fearlessly and relentlessly taking on communal elements.

"Everything is being saffronised in Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere now. She keeps speaking and writing against it."

"She was a formidable figure, she is one now too. And most ideological groups which work on ideas of communal polarising know and loathe Verma. From the late 80s through the 90s, when Uttar Pradesh was witnessing a spate of communal flare-ups, Verma worked relentlessly writing and speaking against politics that pits religion against religion," Srivastava said. The retired professor said he gave up activism after his student days, but said he was impressed that Verma didn't give up her particular fight.

"Everything is being saffronised in Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere now. She keeps speaking and writing against it," he said.

"The new VC has this idea of beginning a session with Saraswati puja. I had opposed this saying a university is a secular place, students of all religion come here. So anything that is a ritual belonging to just one religion should not be performed here," Verma said. She said that this could also have been the reason for the university's alleged 'inquiry' against her.

She pointed out that not only educational institutions, government-run departments have been painted with a broad sweep of saffron over the last couple of years.

"The tourism department's hotels all have a Ganesh at the entry. If it was just for beauty, I would have understood. But no, there's a puja done everyday. There's nothing associated with other religions present in these buildings I have noticed," she said.

She remembers seeing a mini temple inside the main hallway of a new building of the State Urban Development Authority (SUDA). She said, the hallway has a cluster of various Hindu deities and a life-size statue of Hanuman.

"Lucknow is a capital of Uttar Pradesh," she said. "It should represent the whole of UP, right?"

HAPUR, Uttar Pradesh — Naseem knew that getting justice for her murdered husband would be difficult and painstakingly slow. The 35-year-old Muslim woman was reconciled to the police and the courts moving at a glacial pace. She was ready to wait for months, even years, for closure.

But Naseem had never imagined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Uttar Pradesh would show no interest in punishing the men who had accused of lynching Qasim. She had never imagined the UP police would seemingly sabotage their own investigation.

One month after her husband was killed, Naseem asked why, despite there being video footage of 12 to 13 men and boys present at the crime scene, the police had failed to identify and arrest them.

"The whole country has seen the video, seen the faces of the men who were watching my husband die, but the police cannot find the people who killed him," she said. "If this is reality, then a poor person should not expect justice in this country."

Naseem is observing idta, a four-month period of confinement following the death of a husband, but she gets all the news about her husband's case from her female relatives and neighbors. When one of the four men arrested in connection with the lynching was granted bail on July 6, she was devastated.

"I don't understand how one man has got bail before all the people in the video have not been caught and questioned yet," she said. "If the police has put up such a bad case then perhaps the rest will also get bail and get out."

The news of the bail was a shock and a wake-up call for the family, Naseem said. "Till then, we had relied on the police, but now we are getting lawyers. The family is very tense. The men are fruit and vegetable sellers, who have no knowledge of legal matters. They are not sure of what to do."

If this is reality, then a poor person should not expect justice in this country.

A month after Qasim and another Muslim man Samiuddin were attacked by cow vigilantes near Bhagera Khurd village in Hapur, the case is in shambles as lawyers for both, the defence and the prosecution, have poked holes in the police investigation.

READ: The Uttar Pradesh Police Are Sabotaging Their Own Investigation Into The Hapur Lynching, Lawyers For The Victims Say

Survivor and Key Witness Says Police Concocted Statement Submitted in Court

Forgotten so quickly

Naseem, who has six children, fears that her husband will be soon be forgotten by the state and the public.

"I can feel the difference. For a week or two after the murder, there were so many politicians and journalists coming to the house, but now hardly anyone visits. When so many people were visiting us, I felt confident that I would get justice, there was a momentum, there was hope, but it has gone in less than a month."

An elderly woman sitting next to Naseem said, "There is no coverage of Qasim in the news." Another woman chimed in: "For the first week after it happened, it was always in the news, but now there is nothing. Nothing. Even the news of the bail did not make news."

As she brought out a photograph of Qasim from a plastic bag, Naseem said, "It's like he never existed, it's as if nothing happened. Everyone has forgotten. There will come a time when only I will remember him."

It's like he never existed, it's as if nothing happened.

Politics of hate

A fews days after her husband was murdered by cow vigilantes, Naseem, in a conversation with HuffPost India, said that she blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the violence against Muslims, which had become routine in the four years since the BJP came to power at the centre.

Naseem spoke of the fear that her Qureshi community, traditional cattle traders and butchers, lived with.

A month on, after witnessing the shoddy investigation of the BJP government in the state, Naseem was even stronger in her criticism of the prime minister. "I felt angry yesterday, I feel angry today and I will feel angry tomorrow," she said.

Speaking in a soft tone, she said, "The killing of Muslims is being encouraged. Muslims are being slaughtered like animals. If the Modi government was against it, if his government had come down heavily against it, these kinds of crimes would not be tolerated. There were governments before this one, but these kinds of killings did not happen. So would it not be fair to say that Muslims are being targeted and killed under the Modi government?"

Would it not be fair to say that Muslims are being targeted and killed under the Modi government?

As a hush fell over the small room with green-colored walls, Naseem continued, "Modi should not appeal to Hindus to hate. Today, it is my family that has fallen prey to the hate, tomorrow it will be someone else, and the situation will keep getting worse."

When it was pointed out that Hindus and Muslims had a history of violence in India, Naseem said, "There was fighting between Hindus and Muslims earlier as well, but not like this. Muslims were not targeted and beaten by mobs. You have seen the video of how he was beaten to death, how did you feel when you saw it. Now imagine my pain, I am his wife."

"Muslims and Hindus don't have different blood, but there are two religions which have been created in the world. The way things are in the world should continue, but something very different and wrong is happening," she said.

You have seen the video of how he was beaten to death, how did you feel when you saw it. Now imagine my pain, I am his wife.

READ: I Blame Modi, Says The Muslim Woman Who Watched Her Husband Lynched And Dragged By A Hindu Mob In Hapur

Coping with a lynching

When a male relative entered the room, Naseem turned her back to the door and pulled the paloo of her sari over her face. When she removed the paloo, a few minutes later, there were tears in her eyes.

"It is difficult for me to speak like this. There is pain inside, but I speak to the media in the hope that people will read about Qasim, it will keep his story alive and our fight to get him justice can continue," she said.

At this point, her female relatives talked about how hard life would be for Naseem, without her husband.

"We will go away soon. Who will be left with her? Her daughter has come with today from her in-laws place but she cannot stay for long. A woman is nothing without her husband," the elderly woman said, as the other women hummed in agreement.

Naseem said, "There are somethings that a husband and wife can only tell each other. They cannot even share with their children."

During the day, in the company of her many female relatives, Naseem said she can cope with her grief, but the nights are overwhelming. "My heart feels heavy and lonely. When I'm trying to fall sleep, I think about how I will live, how will I spend my days, how will I spend my life."

Naseem, who can neither read nor write, says that it is frustrating for her to sit in a room while the men in her family handle the lawyers and the police. Having a more active role would help alleviate her pain in some measure, she said.

"I'm the one feeling the most pain, but I can do nothing to help," she said. "But I can speak, and I will keep speaking until we get justice. I won't let this go."

Also on HuffPost India:

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While a 32-year-old techie from Hyderabad was lynched to death in last week's mob violence in Bidar, latest reports about the incident suggest that a policeman posted in the area on Friday managed to save four others from the mob.

Police constable Mallikarjun, who belongs from Karnataka's Murki, where the incident took place has said that he was shocked by the anger and was surprised that the people from his own village could turn so violent.

Speaking to The News Minute, Mallikarjun said that while he and the other cops were horrified by the anger shown by the mob -- which he said was about 2,500 people -- they tried to pacify the mob telling them that the law will take its course.

Apart from Mohammad Azam, the man who was killed, there were four others that Mallikarjun and his colleagues managed to save.

Azam who is was a techie in Hyderabad had gone to Bidar with his friends for a picnic. The villagers became suspicious of them being child lifters -- fuelled by rumours of WhatsApp -- after they were seen offering chocolates to children in the Bootakula village. But as the men left the village and went towards Murki, residents of Bootakula are said to have informed their friends in Murki about their suspicions about the mob.

Police constable Mallikarjun says that the police were about 10 people agains a mob of thousands. But they somehow managed to get the others out of the situation.

"When we saw that there were no machetes or rifles in the car, we began talking to the mob and pleaded with them to disperse. I told people that the law would take care of the matter but they did not listen. The people accused us of colluding with child abductors and that they had to protect their own," he told The News Minute.

The report says that Mallikarjun himself has suffered serious injuries including a broken knee cap, and bruises on other part of the body.

A report in NDTV says that in a new video of the lynching that has emerged, the police were seen pleading with the mob with folded hands.

The NDTV report says 28 people have been arrested for the incident.

Read Mallikarjun's account of the incident on The News Minute here.

NEW DELHI — Rakesh Sisodia, a prime accused in the Hapur lynching case, was granted by a Sessions Court in Hapur today. Yudhishtir Singh, also accused in the case, was granted bail on July 6, meaning that two of the four men arrested for the crime have been granted bail.

The police had arrested both men under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (murder) a few days after a Muslim man, Qasim, was lynched by cow vigilantes near Bhagera Khurd village in Hapur. Samiuddin, another Muslim man, was also badly beaten by the mob accusing him of cow slaughter, but survived.

Speaking to HuffPost India, Bhopal Shishodia, who is representing Sisodia, said that Judge Renu Agarwal had granted Singh bail today. Shishodia said that Judge Agarwal had referred to the First Information Report (FIR) which says that Qasim and Samiuddin were beaten up after a motorcycle accident.

Javed Khan, who is representing Qasim's family, confirmed that bail had been granted to Sisodia.

Responding to the bail order, Superintendent of Police (SP) Hapur, Sankalp Sharma, said, "It is shocking for us as well because bail is not granted so easily under Section S.302. We have included every evidence including the videos of the incident to make our case stronger."

Thursday's bail order, a month after the two Muslim men were attacked, adds weight to the impression that the police investigation in the incident is a shambles.

The FIR says the violence on June 18 was a case of road rage, triggered by an argument over a motorcycle accident. The case diary, an account of the investigation, says that the two men were attacked when they were slaughtering a cow. Neither a cow nor a motorcycle was recovered from the scene of the crime.

The police claim to have taken a statement from Samiuddin, who survived the attack. Samiuddin says the police has never taken his statement. His brother, Yasin, says the police threatened to file a case of cow slaughter against their family if he did not file a complaint that stated he and his brother were involved in an motorcycle accident.

Responding to Samiuddin's accusation, Sharma said that the police had recorded his statement, not once but twice while he was admitted in Dev Nandini hospital, and he had named Singh and Sisodia. "We have a videograph of the statement of Samiuddin," he said.

The UP police have issued non-bailable warrants against another seven men in connection with the case.

READ: Survivor and Key Witness Says Police Concocted Statement Submitted in Court

Just One Month After Hapur Lynching, Qasim's Wife Says 'It's Like He Never Existed'

The Uttar Pradesh Police Are Sabotaging Their Own Investigation Into The Hapur Lynching, Lawyers For The Victims Say

I Blame Modi, Says The Muslim Woman Who Watched Her Husband Lynched And Dragged By A Hindu Mob In Hapur

The Karan Johar-produced Dhadak, which is the Hindi remake of the Marathi blockbuster, Sairat, opens in cinemas today. Directed by Shashank Khaitan, who previously made Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania and Badrinath Ki Dulhania, the film features Sridevi's daughter, Janhavi Kapoor and Ishaan Khattar, who is Shahid Kapoor's half-brother and was first seen in Beyond the Clouds.

Early reviews of the film are in and here's what the critics are saying:

Rachit Gupta of Filmfare wrote, "The strength of Dhadak lies in its freshness and innocence. That this film presents the new faces of Ishaan (one film old) and Janhvi (who marks her debut in Bollywood) works in the favor of its narrative. Like its original inspiration, Nagraj Manjule's Sairat, the facet of love trying to survive the cruel world of politics and ruthless societal pressure, makes Dhadak engaging."

In a 4 star review, Tushar Joshi of BollywoodLife called it a 'beautiful homage to Sairat.'

However, he also pointed out the places during which the performances falter. "The issues crop up with the backdrop where the film is set and the dialect. There are scenes where Jhanvi's dialogues seem to fumble and she gets out of the character. The same holds true for Ishaan where the Rajasthani dialect goes missing and you are left wondering if that is Shahid Kapur speaking."

Pinkvilla carried a positive review of the movie, saying, "Janhavi's screen presence is undeniable and she has an old world charm."

Trade website Koimoi.comgave it 3 stars, saying, "If you've watched Sairat, go and watch for some additional comical moments, heart-touching drama and honest performances."

(This post will be updated as more reviews trickle in)

NEW DELHI — "Who says we don't have the numbers?" Congress Party leader Sonia Gandhi said on Wednesday, but the no-confidence motion against the Modi government today is more than just a number game; it promises to be a day long war of words that kicks off at 11:00 am.

In readily agreeing to the no-confidence test in Lok Sabha, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wants to exude confidence ahead of four state polls and the general election in 2019, while highlighting the chinks in the armor of the so-called united Opposition.

BJP leaders will use today to talk up four years of the Modi government, at a time when many feel the party has struggled to fulfill its campaign promises, especially when it comes to providing jobs. They will also use this opportunity to question the unity and leadership of the parties that have come together to challenge them.

The Opposition is looking to embarrass the BJP government and hold its feet to the fire on a range of issues including religious intolerance, lynchings, violence against Dalits, farmer distress, the problems arising from the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir, women's safety, and demonetisation.

In 2016, Congress President Rahul Gandhi had famously warned of an "earthquake" if he was allowed to speak on demonetisation in Parliament. In April, he dared the prime minister to have a 15-minute debate.

BJP's national general secretary Ram Madhav said on Thursday, "We will see today and tomorrow which regional parties get together with Congress as B team." Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said, "Sonia Gandhi's maths is weak."

This is the first no-confidence motion against the ruling government since 2003, when the BJP government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee was in power. At the time, the Vajpayee government defeated the no-confidence motion, went on to win three major state elections in Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, and advanced the date of the general election. The BJP (with 138 seats), however, lost the general election in 2004 to the Congress (with 145 seats) by seven seats.

A looming question is whether the Modi government will advance the 2019 general election. Those who believe that the BJP will lose or barely scrape by in the upcoming four state elections, especially in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, are in favor of advancing the election. They worry that consecutive losses could trigger a downward spiral for the BJP, culminating in a loss in 2019.

Numbers favour BJP

When Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan accepted the Telegu Desam Party's (TDP) no-confidence motion, earlier this week, it was clear that the BJP felt that its National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would pass the numerical test.

Following Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP's exit from the NDA in March, over the issue of Special Category Status for Andhra Pradesh, the strength of the ruling alliance came down from 330 to 314 seats in Lok Sabha.

"In view of continued adamant attitude of BJP led NDA Govt, TDP has moved a no confidence motion against them. I appeal to you to support the motion moved by our MPs," Naidu wrote in a letter to all lawmakers on Thursday.

Of the 535 seats in the present Lok Sabha, the BJP alone has 273 seats, which takes it over the half way mark of 268. The BJP is counting on the support of its 26 allies including Shiromani Akali Dal, Lok Janshakti Party, the Janata Dal (United), and Apna Dal.

BJP's ally, Shiv Sena, which has 18 lawmakers in Lok Sabha, has said that it will vote against the no-confidence motion, according to various reports. On Thursday evening, however, Hindustan Timesreported that the Maharashtra-based party was non-committal. We have not decided yet...we will arrive at a decision by Friday morning," said Chandrakant Khaire, a party leader and lawmaker.

The Opposition comprises of the Congress (48), Trinamool Congress (34), TDP-16, Communist Party of India (Marxist)-9, Samajwadi Party (7), Nationalist Congress Party (7), Rashtriya Janata Dal (4), the Aam Aadmi Party (4), amongst others.

The Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD), which has 20 lawmakers, has called on all its MPs to be present in Parliament.

Two other parties, AIADMK (All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) - 37, and the TRS (Telangana Rashtra Samiti) - 11, have not made their position clear.

Even if the AIADMK, the TRS and BJD vote against the NDA, the Opposition would still be well short of passing the no-confidence motion.

"I think there are intellectuals in opposition but they should've done it later. We have the numbers and our moral is also up. I haven't left BJP and party hasn't left me," said Shatrughan Sinha, who is known to criticize his own party and defend political rivals.

Speaking games

The speaking time allotted to the various parties is as follows: BJP- 3 hours 33 minutes, Congress-38 minutes, AIADMK-29 minutes,TMC-27 minutes, BJD-15 minutes, Shiv Sena -14 minutes, TDP-13 minutes,TRS- nine minutes, ANI reported.

Given how readily the BJP agreed to the no-confidence motion, there is speculation as to whether the Amit Shah-Narendra Modi duo have a strategy in place to convince voters that despite the BJP's lackluster performance, Modi is the only leader who can run the country for now, and the so called united opposition is a doomed project.

The so called united opposition has had some measure of success, but suffers from internal rivalries and the failure to project a leader who can front the amalgam of parties.

In Uttar Pradesh, BJP's three successive by-poll losses are attributed to a large extent to an alliance between regional rivals SP and Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). In Karnataka, the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) came together to block the BJP from forming the government, even after it emerged as the single largest party in the state election, earlier this year.

The BJP is already in campaign mode, with Modi addressing multiple rallies in Uttar Pradesh, the country's most populous and politically significant state, and scheduled to make an appearance in Shahjahanpur, later this month.

The PM will be the final speaker on Friday, when the vast majority of the public can view his speech from home.

Also on HuffPost India:

12:10 pm: We Are Only Demanding The Rights Of The People Of AP, Says Jayadev Galla

Concluding his speech, Jayadev Galla demands justice for the people of AP. He says, "The BJP has been delaying and colluding with the rival parties of Andhra Pradesh."

"We are not asking to turn the clock back, but do justice to Andhra Pradesh," he says. He quotes Sardar Vallabbhai Patel saying -- "It will be a folly to ignore realities".

11:51 am: TDP's Jayadev Galla Threatens Modi Govt With 'Shraap'

You're (PM) singing a different tune which people of AP are keenly observing & they would give a befitting reply in coming polls. BJP will be decimated in AP the way Congress was if ppl of AP are cheated. Mr PM, it's not a threat,it's a 'shraap': Jayadev Galla #NoConfidenceMotionpic.twitter.com/howKPNmCRh

— ANI (@ANI) July 20, 2018

11:30 am: Shiv Sena MPs To Stay Absent From Lok Sabha Today

#NoConfidenceMotion: Shiv Sena MPs will not attend Lok Sabha today pic.twitter.com/pnNpyloHjy

— ANI (@ANI) July 20, 2018

When asked if they will they will participate in the discussion on the no-confidence motion they told ANI:

#WATCH Anandrao Adsul, Lok Sabha MP from Shiv Sena on being asked whether his party will take part in #NoConfidenceMotion debate & voting says 'We are boycotting parliamentary work today and haven't even signed our attendance' pic.twitter.com/iHu3d2O7vu

— ANI (@ANI) July 20, 2018

11:20 am: Modi Has Betrayed The People Of Andhra Pradesh, Says TDP MP Jayadev Galla

TDP MP Jayadev Galla, TDP begins debate in Parliament. He says the Modi government has betrayed the people of Andhra Pradesh by ignoring the people in the state.

The saga of Andhra Pradesh during this Modi-Shah regime is a saga of empty promises: Jayadev Galla,TDP in Lok Sabha #NoConfidenceMotionpic.twitter.com/OmlGBHjFkd

— ANI (@ANI) July 20, 2018

He says when AP was divided, it was done in an undemocratic way, amid loud objection.

11:10 am: BJD Walks Out Of Parliament

Biju Janata Dal (BJD) walks out of the Lok Sabha ahead of #NoConfidenceMotionpic.twitter.com/0fKHuRZGju

— ANI (@ANI) July 20, 2018

#NewsAlert | BJD stages a walkout from Lok Sabha, says 'we won't participate' #NoConfidenceMotion

— India TV (@indiatvnews) July 20, 2018

11:09 am: Lok Sabha Proceedings Begin

Lok Sabha proceedings begin for the day. #NoConfidenceMotion#MonsoonSessionpic.twitter.com/0tFSvB7L5j

— ANI (@ANI) July 20, 2018

10:30 am: Rajnath Singh, Rakesh Singh Among Others To Speak In Lok Sabha For The Government

As the government gears up to make a case for itself in the Parliament today ahead of the no-confidence motion debate and voting, reports suggest that Rajnath Singh, Rakesh Singh, Virendra Singh Mast and Arjun Ram Meghwal will speak today.

Rajnath Singh, Rakesh Singh, Virendra Singh Mast and Arjun Ram Meghwal to speak from the government on #NoConfidenceMotion in Lok Sabha today

— ANI (@ANI) July 20, 2018

9:30 am: Important Day For Parliamentary Democracy, Says PM Modi Ahead Of Voting In Parliament

The vote for the no-confidence motion against the Narendra Modi-led BJP government at the Centre will play out in Parliament today.

The session that will begin at 11 am will likely see speeches from the prime minister himself and Opposition leader and Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

Early in the morning, Modi took to Twitter to express confidence calling it an important day for democracy:

Today is an important day in our Parliamentary democracy. I am sure my fellow MP colleagues will rise to the occasion and ensure a constructive, comprehensive & disruption free debate. We owe this to the people & the makers of our Constitution. India will be watching us closely.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 20, 2018

Speaker Sumitra Mahajan had accepted the opposition motion on Wednesday, at the beginning of the monsoon session of Parliament.

The BJP has said that it will win the trust vote, but all eyes will be on the AIADMK in Tamil Nadu and the Biju Janata Dal in Odisha, to see how they vote.

Also read: No Confidence Motion Against Modi Government Is Not About Numbers, But A War Of Words

The government and the opposition parties will both be given a chance to speak. The Opposition is likely to take on the government over lynchings, polarisation in the country and unfulfilled poll promises.

NDTV reported that BJP has been allotted a time slot of 3 hours and 33 minutes to speak in the House. Meanwhile the Telegu Desam Party, that moved the motion, has been given 13 minutes.

The NDTV report said that AIADMK has been allotted 29 minutes and the Trinamool Congress 15 minutes.

MUMBAI, Maharashtra — When Netflix launched Lust Stories, an anthology of four films exploring modern love, ALT Balaji, the digital arm of Ekta Kapoor's Balaji Motion Pictures, had something to say:

Chahe Hindi mein kaho ya English mein, baat toh wahi hain! #GandiiBaat : https://t.co/3H5pFlLAmipic.twitter.com/JyPMCvz9zk

— ALTBalaji (@altbalaji) June 15, 2018

Gaandi Baat is a campy ALT Balaji original set in rural India.

A little over a year after it was launched in April 2017, ALT Balaji has emerged as an unlikely force in the race for subscribers in the streaming-content wars that have pitched global giants like Netflix and Amazon Prime against local players that include Hotstar, Voot, Zee 5 and Eros Now.

ALT Balaji offers 22 original shows, good for about 250 hours of binge-watching, to its 3.2 million subscribers, compared to Netflix which has just released its first original series, Sacred Games, and Amazon Prime — which released Inside Edge last year. Netflix and Amazon do not break out their India numbers, but ALT Balaji insiders insist they have a better handle on the tastes of India viewers than their international counterparts.

"Right now, India is somewhere between Naagin and Narcos," said Manav Sethi, ALT Balaji's Chief Marketing Officer. "We, as experienced content producers are aware of that and cater to that demographic."

The shows on offer reflect this strategy: Romil and Duggal (a spin on Romeo and Juliet with a gay couple), Boygiri, Dev DD (a show where Devdas is a woman), sound pretty radical, but have a low-budget almost camp appeal, compared to the lush, and visibly expensive production values of the 'prestige TV' put out by more established players.

The Test Case and Bose: Dead or Alive, shows that were outsourced to different production houses, are two slick exceptions.

Sethi, of ALT Balaji, said there was a clear method to the madness.

Eighty-eight percent of videos watched on YouTube, which still remains the most widely consumed video service in India, is in Hindi, Sethi said, a telling sign of the pressing need to tailor content to suit local audiences. "So in this scheme of things, Narcos and House of Cards have a very, very minuscule viewership."

Internet versus TV

A robust catalogue of hits is a big reason why many legacy production houses hope to find success online. Balaji, for instance, has an extensive library of TV shows that have become a genre unto themselves. Yet Sethi said fresh programming was vital to attract subscribers.

"If catch-up TV worked as an idea, Hotstar wouldn't have gone on and paid a stupendous amount to buy the IPL rights for (live streaming)," Sehti said. "That deal was an attempt to extend its subscriber base. We realized we couldn't be streaming Kumkum Bhagya on the Internet. The reason is simple -- as far as fiction shows go, people don't want to watch stuff on the Internet that they can watch in their drawing rooms."

Hanish Bhatia, an analyst at the research firm, CounterPoint Research said that ALT Balaji's appeal lies in its cost-effective pricing (it's Rs. 300 for a year versus Netflix's Rs. 500 for a month) and a significant amount of original Indian content, which other streaming platforms have been relatively slow in pushing out.

"They have also marketed themselves quite well digitally and fill a gap that exists between the high-brow stuff on Netflix and the stuff one sees on Indian television."

Sethi said achieving this subscriber base in a little over a year is no mean feat.

"See, we don't have the deep pockets that Netflix does, nor do we have the privilege of birth that Hotstar enjoys. We started with a team of 60 people and built it up from thereon. No other Indian platform can boast of the varied, prolific content that we do," Sethi said.

He insisted that they were able to become a prolific streaming platform thanks to Balaji's experience in TV. "Producing 30-minute episodes on TV gave us the experience to recreate that template digitally."

Sethi is quick to point out that he's referring only to an 'operational template' and not a 'creative' one as their aesthetic approach and production quality for ALT is 'different' from what Balaji produces on TV (which is melodramatic soap operas).

"I can't spend 5 minutes of my viewer's time showing a man putting sindhoor on a woman's forehead. Neither can there be three dramatic zoom-in," he laughs, pointing out an oft-repeated cliche in Indian serials.

According to Outlook Finance, ALTBalaji will nearly 1.15 billion in making 24 original shows, clocking in 100 hours of original content, in the near to medium term.

Sethi clearly takes great pride in having put out a bank of content. He said even though Netflix has been in India for over 2 years, it's only now that they've been able to bring out an original series.

When I pointed out that they have a slate of multiple projects (Ghoul, Selection Day, Bard of Blood) in the pipeline, he said, "Having a slate is a function of being moneybags. Execution is a function of your executing abilities which requires an understanding of the ecosystem of the industry you've entered."

He said he doesn't see Netflix as a threat.

"They are helping build the ecosystem and the guys who are working for them will tomorrow work for us and bring in their own sensibilities, "Sethi said. He said he admires shows such as 13 Reasons Why, Narcos, and House of Cards, but he hasn't met a 'single soul' who liked Lust Stories.

Ultimately, the problem for viewers is likely to be the absence of a reasonably-priced streaming bundle to watch Netflix, Amazon, Hotstar and ALT Balaji the way we watch multiple channels on television. And that, right there, is the real Gandi Baat.

Also see on HuffPost:

NEW DELHI — On July 17, Farah Faiz, a lawyer who filed a petition to abolish the practice of triple talaq, and Maulana Ejaz Arshad Qasmi, a Muslim cleric, appeared on a television channel to argue over the proposed changes to the law.

Faiz and Qasmi are familiar foes, having crossed paths in several television studios in discussions that quickly devolve into name calling.

This time was different: Faiz and Qasmi stood up mid-way through the show, each waving their hands in the other's face, before Faiz hit Qasmi on the head. Qasmi responded by lunging at Faiz, and hitting her across the face, before he was physically restrained by another studio guest. Qasmi has since been arrested.

In an interview with HuffPost India, Faiz offers her versions, explaining why she hit Qasmi and why she feels it is important to participate in televised arguments that are "debates" only in name.

In course of the argument, you whacked Qasmi first. Why did you do it?

He used a lot of abusive language against me. The kind of expletives he used and in the past he has used, I couldn't bear it.

Did you regret hitting him or thinking later than hitting someone is not a way to argue?

Not at all. Actually, an attack is an attack — be it verbally, be it physically. You can say I did it as self defence. I didn't hit him, I practiced self defence. Had I not hit him, he would have misbehaved with me and abused the women even more. It's a 'slap' in your language, in my language, it is self defence.

It is being argued that this entire fight was staged to divert people's attention from the recent spate of lynchings of Muslims. The hashtag about this incident was trending around the same time the #TalkToAMuslim was.

People can say anything. We are free in India. Everyone has freedom of speech in India. But reality is totally different. If you watch the entire video, this man started misbehaving first, I didn't. He was provoking me and he had his mind set. If there was any manipulation, it could have been on his side. I have not manipulated anything.

You run an organisation called Rashtravadi Muslim-Mahila Sangh. Is it associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's Muslim Rashtriya Manch or any political party?

No, I don't have a tie up with any party or any organisation. But I am very inspired by Mohan Bhagwat ji,especially his working style. The RSS has existed since before him and its working was very different then. But now it's different.

You must have realised that far-right Hindutva activists occasionally try to paint Muslims as problematic as a community itself.

I am married with a non-Muslim. His name is Vinod Verma. And both often go overboard about this fact. "This is not Farah Faiz, this is Laxmi Verma. She is not a Muslim, she is a Hindu.." These maulanas accuse me of not knowing Islam, but do they think others can't read and figure out what Islam says and teaches?

The kind of polarisation that is there, it is often seen that one incident is used to demonize Muslims as a community. Are you afraid that this incident will be used to stereotype Muslims?

Yes, definitely! Definitely the BJP will use this incident and they will create an issue for it. And they will use this issue at the time of election.

What do you feel about that?

Honestly, I don't care. Politicians hai, badtameezi se baaz nahin ayenge (Politicians will never mend their ways.)

My demand is do whatever politics you want to but the rights that a woman should have, you have to give it to her. There are family laws for every religion, why shouldn't Muslims also have it?

If you are making a great pomp and show about caring about women's development, claiming that you care a lot about Muslim women and pompously declaring you are moving a bill against triple talaq...you can't just sit at that. Bring bills against polygamy, against nikah halala, offer a complete family law package for Muslims like Hindus have. Or like Christians or Parsis have.

Just because you have some maulvis as your stooges and you keep them happy. You give them important posts. Then during elections, you use them to polarise people — people get divided into two segments and you walk away with the election.

Were you acquainted with Qasmi before you went for that debate?

Yes, I had met him in many debates during the hearing of triple talaq. I had also complained against him and his accomplice, Sajid Rashidi in Noida's Sector 20 police station in 2017. But they did not register a FIR at that time.

They had misbehaved exactly the same way with me during a debate on an Urdu channel. Rashidi had abused me on a Hindi channel called Samachar Plus as well. They used really abusive language and hurled expletives directed at my son and daughter, who have no part to play in this. He was turned out of a studio once, and then made to participate from a separate isolated room.

I went to file a complaint against them on 25 May, 2017.

What reason did the police give to not file the FIR?

They said it's a very controversial issue. They can't just file an FIR against these maulanas.

'We can't create an issue', they said. Then we met a DGP in the Lucknow police headquarters. He told me, "People keep saying things like this. Now you see, people call police names all the time. Now, should we file FIRs against all of them?

Now what could I have done after that? Who will you go to?

So when I didn't get any relief from the police station, I lodged a suit in the criminal court, under Section 156. That application is pending.

For the past one year, these men have been receiving notices from the court, but they have not been signing and receiving the notices. So I think, they have been seething against me for a while and that came out.

I went to a News18 debate where these men were there, before I went to the Zee News debate. Even there, these men behaved reprehensibly with me. I ignored Qasmi. When he saw that I am barely responding to his boorish behaviour, he told me, "You will speak only when you are in a condition to speak isn't it?".

I called up the SHO of my local police station in Ghaziabad where I live and said this man has been threatening me and he may just do something. The SHO said that when I meet him for another debate, we will be in a district which will not be under his jurisdiction so he won't be able to do much. My husband said, 'Don't speak to Qasmi, only answer the questions the anchor asks'.

When I turned up at the Zee office, I met the anchor and immediately showed her the court papers and explained my situation. I also expressed my concern and told her that they may try to misbehave with me again. But she said, "Don't worry at all, you sit." I joined the debate only after that.

I think he had made up his mind to attack. The moment he started to address me in the debate, he started talking to me indecorously. He was using 'tera', 'tu' (Hindi pronouns meant to informally address someone or slight someone) right from the beginning of the debate.

You showed your documents and told them about the conflict going on. Yet, why do you think they invited him to participate in this debate? Do you think they should not have invited them?

Absolutely. Even I said that so many times. But these TV people usually say that if these men are not exposed on television and people don't see what kind of people they are, how will they now how horrible these men are? When they come and talk, only then people will know the truth about them.

It is their show, their management, their people. If you insist too much, they will just say, 'you don't come then'. But I should be able to talk about the atrocities women face because of laws like triple talaq right? And television reaches many people.

If I don't come or boycott, it would mean I have lost, or I am wrong. So I thought, I should not be silent about this. If I get scared and back off, it will mean a win for these maulanas only. They will find more ways and places to hurt and humiliate us.

I mean, given the work I am doing, I have to face them somewhere or the other, right?

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has said Qasmi never officially represented them, (he is mentioned as a 'general member' on their website) but they have not condemned his behaviour.

They will never do it, they will never condemn his actions. Just see, it's not like the first time these men claimed to have appeared on behalf of the AIMPLB. They have been doing this for the past two years since the debate around triple talaq began. And senior members of the board have participated alongside them in various debates. Then you never said, that 'these guys don't represent the law board'. You have never informed any channel prior to this that they don't represent you, you never tweeted about it. Suddenly, you are distancing yourself from them? They just want to save their own backs.

Prior to this have you face threats of physical violence?

The personal law board has always been aggressive. Their opinion is women like me are 'na-mazhab' (without religion), there's no place for them in Islam. They don't know the shariat, they have no relation to Islam.

Once in 2016, I was attacked on a train. I am a fairly familiar face, so I guess some men followed me. Don't know who sent them. They got onto the train from Delhi and after it had left the station they started abusing me and pushing me around. I fell and fractured my left arm. When my co-passengers tried to catch them, the train pulled into the Ghaziabad station. They got off and fled.

Once, I had organised a rally in my hometown Saharanpur to spread awareness against triple talaq. A group of these men had gathered and were opposing the rally. Then they surrounded the bus and tried to intimidate me and my teenage daughter.

In traditional Muslim families, elders ask children to look up to maulvis and clerics as people who are well-read, who know about religion, culture and life. By default, many of them think that what these maulanas do is always right. So when they see people like Qasmi hitting a woman who is going against him on television, they'll think this is the right way to deal with women who oppose them to question them right? This is toxic.

As he hugged Narendra Modi in Lok Sabha today, Congress Party president Rahul Gandhi declared that he had no anger in his heart for the Prime Minister. "You call me pappu, you hurl other abuses at me, but there is no anger inside me for you," he said.

Even as Gandhi injected his speech with levity, the Congress leader jibed at Modi, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) over the wave of Hindu nationalism and intolerance that is pervading the country.

And while his performance brought smiles, cheers and jeers, even from the Prime Minister, Gandhi unmistakably took the opportunity to reinforce his own Hindu credentials.

Referencing Modi, the BJP and the RSS in the context of rising intolerance, Gandhi said, "You taught me the meaning of being a Shiv ji bhakt. You taught me the meaning of being Hindu...You have taught me the meaning of Congress and Hindustan. You have taught me that no matter what anyone says or hits you, you don't attack them."

Earlier in his speech, Gandhi said, "For the first time in the history of India, women are not being protected. Wherever you see, Dalit, Adivasis, minorities are being thrashed, killed, but the Prime Minister does not speak a word. Are these minorities, Adivasis, women, not a part of India?"

Referencing Union Minister Jayant Sinha who recently met with lynching convicts in Jharkhand, Gandhi said, "Instead, their ministers garland the convicts. An Indian getting beaten in every corner, but the PM is quiet."

A war of words erupted in Lok Sabha today after the no-confidence motion against the Modi government kicked off in the lower house of Parliament shortly after 11:00 am. While the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance has the numbers to beat the motion, the government and Opposition are using the trust-vote as a curtain raiser for the 2019 general election.

#WATCH Rahul Gandhi walked up to PM Narendra Modi in Lok Sabha and gave him a hug, earlier today #NoConfidenceMotionpic.twitter.com/fTgyjE2LTt

— ANI (@ANI) July 20, 2018

READ: No Confidence Motion Against Modi Government Is Not About Numbers, But A War Of Words

Accusing Modi of unfulfilled promises, Gandhi said, "I want to tell you that you are the victim of a 21st century political weapon. The political weapon is the jumla strike. First, there is a great sense of excitement and happiness. Then, there is a sense of shock..." he said.

Gandhi raised a host of issues including unemployment and intolerance, calling out the Prime Minister for failing to provide the two crore jobs that he had promised while campaigning for the 2014 general election. "This is the hollowness of his words... sometimes they say make 'pakodas'... open a shop... who will bring jobs?" he said.

Gandhi also accused Modi of altering the Rafale fighter jet deal with the French government in favor of a "businessman" who had debts worth ₹35,000 crores, and who ended up benefitting to the tune of ₹45,000 crores.

As BJP supporters rose to their feet in protest and Modi started smiling, the Congress leader said, "He (Modi) must explain why. He is smiling. There is a touch of nervousness in the gentleman. And now he cannot look into my eyes."

Gandhi said that BJP President Amit Shah and Modi were "different" types of politicians.

"Amit Shah and Narendra Modi are two very different types of politicians. The difference between all of us and the prime minister and the president of the BJP is that we are okay with losing power, we can see ourselves being in and out of power, but for reasons everyone knows, the president of the BJP and the prime minister cannot afford to lose power. If they lose power, other processes will start against them...," the Congress leader said.

"The president of the BJP and the prime minister act out of fear," he said.

Gandhi told Lok Sabha that BJP members had congratulated him for his speech during the break. He winked after giving Modi a hug.

#WATCH Rahul Gandhi winked after hugging PM Narendra Modi in Lok Sabha earlier today #NoConfidenceMotionpic.twitter.com/206d6avU07

— ANI (@ANI) July 20, 2018

With streaming platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hotstar, Voot competing for our attention, it can be quite overwhelming to browse all of them to pick the perfect show for your weekend bingeing.

So we got Arjun Kapoor, a self-confessed TV addict, to list down the shows he's watching on Netflix, Amazon, and Hotstar.

1. Succession (Hotstar)

It's a very addictive binge which chronicles the fight for power in a family that owns one of the largest media empires. If you liked The Newsroom (Aaron Sorkin's HBO show), you will like Succession, which is loosely inspired by Rupert Murdoch's life.

2. The Looming Tower (Amazon Prime Video)

The show depicts the rivalry between the FBI and the CIA, two of America's intelligence agencies, might have been a contributing factor in the attacks of 9/11. It's a very special, nuanced show that you won't regret watching.

3. Ozark (Netflix)

A financial crime-drama, I quite enjoyed the Ozark for its intriguing quality. It's a gripping show that remains deeply underrated.

4. Fauda -- (Netflix)

It's a very addictive action thriller from Israel that will have your attention right from the first episode.

5. Lost - (Netflix)

The show that created it all. The show that made binge a concept before we knew the word for it. From the production quality to the scale to the editing to the score and then the twists and turns, everything is great about this show. I will recommend this so that a whole generation of kids who don't know about this masterpiece go back to it and watch this gem.

OTHER NOTABLE TITLES TO WATCH ACCORDING TO ARJUN:

Counterpart,

Sacred Games,

Nobodies,

Wild Wild Country.

NEW DELHI — The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) framed Friday's no-confidence motion in Parliament as a duel between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi, and that was how the long debate proceeded.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed that if there was to be another no-confidence vote against him, it would be in 2024, underscoring his confidence that his return in 2019 was a given.

Rahul Gandhi, for his part, continued his public quest to craft a credible political persona.

A senior Congress MP described Rahul's act as an "amalgam of 'Munna Bhai MBBS' and 'Ek Tha Tiger'", alluding to two different Bollywood hits: the former features a bumbling but loveable protagonist who spreads love and smiles, while the latter stars a daredevil undercover agent.

"It was a message to our workers and to our present and prospective allies," said a source close to Gandhi. "Rahul must come across as a political pugilist, ready to confront Modi in the boxing ring, take blows and give them as good as he gets, if not better."

When the motion was finally put to vote, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won the confidence vote with 325 votes, 34 votes in excess of the 291 seats it controls with its allies.

The Biju Janta Dal and Telangana Rashtriya Samithi walked out, while the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam voted in favour of the government, suggesting that a possible opposition alliance for the 2019 elections is yet to convince influential regional parties to sign on.

Sources in the AIADMK told HuffPost that while they voted with the government on this instance, they would not go with the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

The numerical victory will arm the government to push the legislations of its choice in the remaining three weeks of the monsoon session, particularly the triple "talaq" bill, or at least force a debate in Parliament, the press and social media.

The "anti-Muslim" BJP can project itself as a saviour of Muslim women, some of who have been victims of instant "talaq", or divorce, without maintenance.

A former Congress minister said his party had no choice but to back the bill if it was linked to gender parity.

"The BJP's real motivation," he said, "is to communalise the issue and polarise the polity."

A BJP minister claimed "We want to pull Muslim women out of the social morass they have been trapped in for decades.

"If some of them want to vote us after this, what's wrong?"

Along Expected Lines

Modi and Rahul's speeches suggest the 2019 campaign is likely to proceed along expected lines: Modi framed the debate as one between a "namdar" (a celebrity bearing a famous surname, like Gandhi) and a "kamdar" (a workman).

"I am a poor man's son born in a backward caste, a 'kamdar'," Modi said, in his reply to Rahul's claim that Modi couldn't look him in the eye. "History is witness to the fate of what happened with those who looked your family in the eye, Subhash Chandra Bose, Jaya Prakash Narayan, Charan Singh, Sardar Vallabhai Patel and even Pranab Mukherjee....they were all humiliated."

He also said the Nehru-Gandhis never brooked rivals or propped up coalition governments for long. The key word was here was the Congress's purported "ahankar", or arrogance.

Rahul said Modi and his chief confidant and BJP president Amit Shah's relentless quest for power was driven by fear.

"We are okay to be out of power for reasons everybody knows," Gandhi said. "The PM and the BJP president can't afford to lose power. The moment they lose power, other processes move in. They are afraid."

This fear, he said, generates anger and this anger was transmitted throughout India.

"I want to tell you that you are the victim of a fantastic 21^st century political weapon called 'jumla' strike," he said, riffing off two pet BJP phrases.

While the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and the All India Anna DMK indicated that they would vote with the BJP in the no-confidence vote, sources in the two parties affirmed that they would not go with the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls.

The Congress president punctured Modi's pre-2014 boast of job generation and "safeguarding" the national wealth in the role of a "chowkidar" (security guard) and not a "bhagidar" (stakeholder).

He pointed to the disparity in the prices of the Rafale aircrafts that the Congress-helmed United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had negotiated with France at Rs 520 crore per aircraft and the Rs 1660 crore aircraft that the NDA dispensation signed up for.

"I can't imagine how truth can be distorted like this to deceive the country," Modi replied. "Two nations had to simultaneously clarify and rebuff the charges."

Regional Allies

Congress and BJP sources were in agreement that while neither Rahul nor Modi's performance were likely to reconfigure the 2019 contest, the ruling party has reasons other than Rahul to mull over.

Four days after the Supreme Court asked the legislature to consider instituting a new law to with increasing mob violence, a 28-year-old man was beaten to death in Rajasthan's Alwar on suspicion of cow-smuggling on Friday night.

The man has been identified as Akbar Khan but no arrests have been made thus far. According to reports, Khan and another man were transporting two cows to their village and were passing through a forest area when the incident occurred.

Khan was taken to a government hospital in Ramgarh, where doctors declared him brought dead. Khan's family members are yet to reach the hospital where the body has been kept.

NDTV quoted senior police officer Anil Beniwal as saying, "It is not clear if they were cow smugglers. The body has been sent for postmortem, We are trying to identify the culprits and arrests will be made soon."

Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje tweeted:

The incident of alleged lynching of a person transporting bovines in Alwar district is condemnable. Strictest possible action shall be taken against the perpetrators.

— Vasundhara Raje (@VasundharaBJP) July 21, 2018

Alwar is the same place where Pehlu Khan was killed over a year ago by a mob of over 200 cow vigilantes, associated with Hindutva groups. Three people were arrested for the lynching.

All held in the case are out on bail.