DailyOh! The storm ‘Congressi by DNA’ Sanjay Jha stirred, to why Facebook executive has gone to cops

Over the weekend, MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina retired from international cricket. Of course, they will continue to play Indian cricket at Indian Premier League (IPL) that starts next month in UAE with Indian and international players.

When the week began, sacked Congress leader Sanjay Jha said Congress wants interim Congress president Sonia Gandhi to retire. According to Jha, over 100 Congress leaders, including MPs, have written a letter to Sonia Gandhi asking her for a leadership change. Given that Sonia is the interim supreme leader of Congress, a change would mean she goes. Leaders approaching the ‘Leader’ against leadership must be next-level democracy.

It is estimated that around 100 Congress leaders (including MP's) , distressed at the state of affairs within the party, have written a letter to Mrs Sonia Gandhi, Congress President, asking for change in political leadership and transparent elections in CWC. Watch this space.

— Sanjay Jha (@JhaSanjay) August 17, 2020

Why is Jha bringing out these distressing details in public? Because he is a “Congressi by DNA. Sacked & Suspended by Congress for wanting internal democracy”. You can isolate DNA from a person, but how do you isolate a person from the DNA? By sacking them from their DNA. The party has meanwhile rubbished both the existence of the letter and distress. It has also rubbished Jha’s existence as a ‘Congressi’. We don’t know what hurt Jha more.

The storm started on Twitter today, but it was Facebook yesterday. The Congress accused the BJP of hate speech and Facebook of turning a blind eye to BJP’s hate speech. All of this started after an article in the article in the Wall Street Journal.

The WSJ article reported an executive of Facebook, Ankhi Das, asked the company to close its eyes to hate speech by BJP workers because not doing so “would damage the company’s business prospects in the country” and that Das had links with BJP leaders.

Das today filed a police complaint alleging she has been receiving death threats. When hate meets hate, there is more hate. Where do they meet? Could be anywhere but social media is the most preferred. It’s convenient for all parties to make it there in the shortest possible time.

The meeting between actor Aamir Khan and Turkey’s First Lady Emine Erdogan in person in Turkey too has led to furore over social media. The meeting between Khan and Erdogan has come at a time when relations between India and Turkey are strained and allegations that Turkey is funding terrorist activities in Kashmir and Kerala are rife. Khan reportedly met Erdogan to apprise her of the work his NGO Paani Foundation is doing in the area of water management in areas of Maharashtra. It has been however been raining criticism for Aamir since then.

But Rajinikanth is happy. Not because of what’s happening with Aamir but because singer SP Balasubrahmanyam, who was hospitalised earlier this month after testing positive for the coronavirus, has “crossed the danger zone” and is breathing easily.

Sadly, classical vocalist Pandit Jasraj died today at the age of 90. He breathed his last in New Jersey, the United States. But his work will continue to infuse into us with the energy that only soulful music can. 

From Pandit Jasraj's music let's now move to Parliament.

Danger was sensed at Parliament House today after a fire broke out at Parliament annexe. Since the incident was reported early morning at 7.30, nobody was harmed. Don’t begin to count that as an advantage of being a late riser. The two are not connected. This is not to be read as a value judgment on late risers because this is about Parliament and not body clocks.

So coming back to Parliament, have you noticed the carpets in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha? No, the carpets weren’t damaged in the fire because the fire as we said was not in the main building. That concern addressed, let’s get to the colour-coded carpets in Parliament.

The carpets laid out in Rajya Sabha are ‘R’ for red. But carpets laid out in Lok Sabha are ‘G’ for green. You may disapprove of the monotony but a rule is a rule and is to be followed even if you disapprove of it.

The carpets in Lok Sabha are green because green denotes that India is an agricultural land and that people who make it to Lok Sabha are grassroot workers. Talking about going literal.

The red carpets in Rajya Sabha denote royalty and the sacrifices made by India’s freedom fighters.

When MPs stand and exchange barbs in Parliament, we wonder how many of them remember the colour of the carpet they are standing on and what it denotes. Anger, real or manufactured, can make you forget a lot of things. But now that we are talking of Parliament, let’s also look at what the word parliament denotes. It denotes ‘talk’.

Parliament, our Word Of The Day, comes from the French word parler, which means ‘a talk’. What you hear on TV happening in Parliament is mostly shouting. But many good speeches have been made in Parliament and many good ones are still made. Every country names its Parliament differently like we, following a bicameral model, call it Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Iceland’s Althing is however the oldest one still existing. Fun fact: a group of owls is also called a parliamnet because owls are supposed to be wise and all that.

From India, let’s head to the US. There is an air bubble now between India and the US, but we shall still make a mental journey to avoid the risk of infection. Kamala Harris, who is in the US vice-presidential race, has appointed an Indian-American Sabrina Singh as her press secretary.

Indians would want to see Indian-Americans as Indians first, but truth be told, that ain’t the truth. A politician is a politician first. Aap choronology samajh gaye honge.

What remains to be understood is what led to Sushant Singh Rajput’s death. The Enforcement Directorate is probing the money angle. The CBI is probing its own angle. That doesn’t mean Mumbai Police is not probing anything. Everyone is probing, including those on social media.

So far the only things that have been found are videos and WhatsApp messages. Videos that families make in happy and sad times because our cameras allow us to make them all the times.

“We had joy, we had fun! We had seasons in the sun ☀️But the smile and the songLike the seasons have all gone”How I wish we were all together again...❤️ #Youwillstayinourheartsforever #comeback @itsSSR pic.twitter.com/HJNF3fUTg5

— shweta singh kirti (@shwetasinghkirt) August 16, 2020

Do they prove anything? That is for the probe to find out.

We will be there to tell you what the probe has found.

For now, that is all.

See you tomorrow.

Also Read: How MS Dhoni gave a nation hope