Latest news with #NayaBharat
News18
4 hours ago
- Politics
- News18
‘Delhi Tourism…': Kunal Kamra Reacts After Rekha Gupta Warns Him Of Performing ‘At Own Risk'
Kunal Kamra responded to Delhi CM Rekha Gupta, who earlier warned the stand-up comic that he can perform in the national capital "at his own risk". Stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra, who triggered a massive controversy with his recent ' gaddar ' remark directed at Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, took a jibe at Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta who had warned the stand-up comic that he can perform in the national capital 'at his own risk". While speaking at an event organised by The Indian Express, Gupta was asked if she would allow comedians like Kunal Kamra to perform in Delhi, where he would possibly crack jokes on the Prime Minister and other politically-affiliated people. The Delhi CM responded, 'He can come at his own risk. People of Delhi would listen to him." When asked about how a chief minister can say 'at his own risk' and not at her assurance, Gupta responded, 'Right, you come, I will welcome you." Hours after Kamra responded to Gupta's statement and suggested that 'come at your own risk" should be a tagline for Delhi Tourism. ''Come at your own risk' should be a tagline for Delhi Tourism," Kamra said in a post on X. 'Come at your own risk" should be a tagline for Delhi Tourism.— Kunal Kamra (@kunalkamra88) June 27, 2025 Kunal Kamra Row Kamra stoked a row after giving a spin-off to a popular Hindi song in which he took a veiled dig at Shinde, calling him a 'gaddar" (traitor). He allegedly referred to the 2022 Maharashtra political crisis in which Shinde led the collapse of Uddhav Thackeray's state government. Recorded in February, the programme called 'Naya Bharat' was uploaded on Kamra's YouTube channel on March 23, drawing strong reactions from the Shiv Sainiks. Shiv Sena leaders condemned his remarks, demanding an unconditional apology from him. The controversy escalated into violence when Yuva Sena, the youth wing of Shinde's Shiv Sena, vandalised the Habitat comedy venue where the show was filmed. Despite having multiple clashes with the BJP-led Centre in the past, the comedian has refused to apologise for his remark but had expressed willingness to cooperate with the police. Three separate cases were filed against the stand-up comedian at Khar police station, with one complaint lodged by the Mayor of Jalgaon city and the other two by a hotelier and a businessman from Nashik, according to the Mumbai Police. For the unversed, Kamra, in 2019 and 2024, contributed to the crowdfunding drive launched by Kanhaiya Kumar, who was then a Congress candidate from northeast Delhi, against the Bharatiya Janata Party's Manoj Tiwari. First Published: June 28, 2025, 09:24 IST
Mint
17 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Mint
CM Rekha Gupta warns Kunal Kamra can perform ‘at his own risk', comedian mocks it as 'Delhi tourism tagline'
Comedian Kunal Kamra took a swipe at Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta by suggesting that 'come at your own risk' should be a tagline for Delhi Tourism. Kamra's remark was in response to Gupta's earlier said that Kamra could come and perform in Delhi, but 'at his own risk'. "'Come at your own risk' should be a tagline for Delhi Tourism," Kamra posted on their social media handle X. While speaking at a media event organised by The Indian Express group, Chief Minister Gupta was asked if she would allow comedians like Kunal Kamra to do a show in Delhi, where he would likely crack jokes on the Prime Minister and other people. The CM responded: 'He can come at his own risk. People of Delhi would listen to him.' When another newspaper representative asked how a chief minister can say 'at his own risk' and not at her assurance, Gupta responded, 'Right, you come, I will welcome you.' In another post, Kamra said, 'Spoke like a true ABVP Karyakarta while having the opportunity to speak as a dignified Chief Minister.' Stand-up comic Kamra has been in the eye of a storm over his February 2025 YouTube special, Naya Bharat, in which he used a modified version of a Hindi song from the Shahrukh-Khan starrer Dil Toh Pagal Hai to describe the 2022 rebellion of Eknath Shinde against Uddhav Thackeray. 'Come at your own risk' should be a tagline for Delhi Tourism. In the video, filmed at the Habitat Studio at the UniContinental hotel in Mumbai's Khar district, Kamra took a dig at Eknath Shinde through a parody of a Bollywood song, labelling him a 'gaddar' for his political manoeuvrings. The Habitat Studio was allegedly vandalised by workers linked to Shiv Sena (Shinde Group). In 2020, Kunal Kamra shared a video of him heckling Republic TV founder Arnab Goswami on board a Mumbai-Lucknow Indigo flight in 2020. In a two-minute video he posted on his Twitter account (now X), Kamra is heard saying to Arnab, 'Here, I am asking coward Arnab about his journalism and he is doing exactly what I expected him to do.' Throughout all this, Arnab kept quiet. The video divided the internet. Some, including Congress MP Shashi Tharoor supported Kamra. Others, including the then Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri called Kamra's behaviour 'offensive' After an investigation, IndiGo banned Kamra for six months, deeming his act a Level 1 offence. Later, the ban was reduced to three months. Other airlines, including Air India, SpiceJet, and GoAir, also followed suit, imposing similar bans on the comedian. Key Takeaways Political satire remains a contentious issue in India, especially regarding public performances. Comedians often use humor to address and critique political statements and figures. Public figures should be prepared for their comments to be scrutinized and satirized.
The Wire
19 hours ago
- Politics
- The Wire
Fifty Years of the Emergency: Delhi CM Says Kunal Kamra Can Perform in Delhi ‘At His Own Risk'
CM Rekha Gupta's comments come at a time when BJP has been trying to convey that it is the opposition Congress which is the party of repressing free speech. Comedian Kunal Kamra performing a show (L); Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta at the Jansatta event (R). Photos: X/@kunalkamra88, YouTube/Jansatta New Delhi: Fifty years after the Emergency, declared by then prime minister Indira Gandhi on June 25, 1975, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is using the anniversary to portray the Congress as being a party of suppression of free speech. But after a twitter poll boomeranged on the BJP's official handle, where the question asked was if a Congress government of the future would impose Emergency and over two-thirds of those who voted disagreed, comments from Delhi's chief minister, BJP leader Rekha Gupta have added to the party's embarrassment. While speaking in a media event organised by Jansatta, a Hindi daily of The Indian Express group, Gupta said that Kunal Kamra, a stand-up comic and petitioner in the matter against IT rules, could come and perform in Delhi, but 'at his own risk'. When pushed by a representative of the newspaper group how a chief minister can say 'at his own risk' and not at her assurance, Gupta reluctantly demurred. Stand-up comic Kunal Kamra has been in the eye of a storm after vandals connected with the ruling Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) attacked the venue of his show in Mumbai and threatened him with consequences for political satire he put up on YouTube. Attacks on Kamra and the comedy venue, now shut down, have already put Maharashtra in the spotlight for its inability to provide a safe space for commentary, free expression or even satire. The chief minister and top leaders of the BJP and Shiv Sena have not been able to massage the impression that freedom of expression is imperilled in the state and city that houses the Hindi film industry and as before at the forefront of protest protest-literature and poetry, now reeling under an environment that allows lumpen protests to hold sway. Meanwhile, responding to Gupta, Kamra said, 'Spoke like a true ABVP Karyakarta while having the opportunity to speak as a dignified Chief Minister'. He later also said that Gupta's comments could be 'a tagline for Delhi tourism' 'Come at your own risk' should be a tagline for Delhi Tourism. — Kunal Kamra (@kunalkamra88) June 27, 2025 With the BJP now running the Delhi government, and boasts of a 'triple engine' government being rife in the capital, the inability of the Delhi chief minister to be able to offer a safe space for the articulation of political satire and comedy, has rung alarm bells. In March, Kamra released a video of his new show 'Naya Bharat'. In his performance, Kamra, known for his sharp take on the state of affairs in the country and the government, performed several parody songs. Shiv Sena members vandalised the comedy club in Mumbai where the video was recorded, but the FIR was registered against Kamra. In the show, taking a dig at PM Narendra Modi, Kamra sang a song titled 'Tanashah,' or a dictator. In the other, set to the tune of Dil to Pagal Hai, he targeted Shiv Sena leader and Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Eknath Shinde. The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
The Wire
a day ago
- Politics
- The Wire
Unimpeded Mass Murder, Safari Style
You just may have noticed that a new ingenious modality of mass murder has been in operation in Gaza. Call it game-hunting, safari style. Recall how when some royals used to be taken on a tiger shoot, a bait would be tied to a tree so a big cat could be drawn to it for the dignitary's convenient aim. So now, dangerously famished Palestinian children, women, old folk on spindly legs are got the better of by being drawn to the bait where ostensibly benevolent patrons are ready to hand out food packets. As soon as they rush to the bait, the guns blaze. As most are eliminated, some manage to grab a packet or two, proving to the world how the scheme remains such a success at both ends – some get to eat, salving the qualms of those upset at being accused of allowing genocide, others swell the ranks of the dead, facilitating the grand project of ethnic cleansing. When did the world see so clever a two-timing enterprise? The genocidaires of the past gave no food packets; they only killed. Trump and Netanyahu do both at once. What could be smarter? And how could anyone object, not that anyone is objecting. You see, the killings in Gaza are game-hunting; in Ukraine it is people who get killed. Which brings home another sad reality: Curse me if you will, but as a true follower of the Sanatan Dharma, I have been having trouble reconciling Dharma with ethical indifference to the mass murder of a whole innocent population. Nothing is closer in exclusionary genius to Hindutva than Zionism I am unable to swallow the trick that my noble nation's so-noble government played in the United Nations General Assembly. Where 149 countries voted in favour of demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and the resumption of humanitarian aid operated by the United Nations, Naya Bharat abstained from voting. Perhaps we were setting up an example of how to eat the cake and have it too: after all, nothing is closer in exclusionary genius to Hindutva than Zionism, and nobody more consequential for ensuring Viksit Bharat than Trump, Musk, the Pentagon, Silicon Valley etc. So, at one canny stroke of turning our face away from genocide, we accomplished the feat of not annoying either of our pals, not knowing how badly this Trump fellow would behave subsequently. But these are risks great governments have to take in the larger national interest. After all, as Vishwa Guru, the worst we can do is to take sides. Then, did we not also abandon our so-close friends in the SCO by abstaining there as well when the organisation to which India belongs issued a statement condemning Israel for attacking Iran? Nobody may thus accuse us of inconsistency in our extraordinary foreign policy towards the comity of nations. Now that I am arguing the case, I say mea culpa for not being able to square these cunning decisions with my Sanatana Dharma. So, give me time and I will follow the leader whose finesse in these matters I have thus far been too incapable of absorbing. In the meanwhile, the Mecca/Medina Islamic world more than matches us in their brand of sagacious cynicism towards the game-hunt in Gaza. Also Read: If Trump Turns Tyrant, Can Others Be Far Behind? As to the fussy International Criminal Court, their warrant of arrest against the conqueror of Palestine and the elimination of innocents remains a residual pinprick from a queasy but defeated world that no longer exists. Why these judges and prosecutors in the Hague should be receiving either the world's attention or their salaries from honest tax-payers is a conundrum that may also be up for resolution should Trump and Netanyahu go from strength to strength, should the grand nations of Europe continue to behave with customary sophistication, and should rising stars like Narendra Modi show the way to moral fusspots whose understanding of great events and great ideas remains atavistic. So help us god, and so may the Palestinian lambs-to-the-slaughter know that they serve a noble and mighty purpose in their canonical sacrifice. Badri Raina taught at Delhi University. The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
Time of India
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
How Canada, Russia, EU figure in UPBJP's campaign on 11 years of Modi govt
Lucknow: If medical treatment of over nine crore people under Ayushman scheme was more than twice the population of Canada, the construction of 12 crore toilets under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan surpassed the total population of Canada and Italy taken together. Likewise, the laying of more than 42 lakh km of optical fibre in the country was almost 11 times the distance between earth and moon. That's how the UP BJP has portrayed the scale of welfare measures and developmental initiatives rolled out during the 11 years of Narendra Modi government. The depictions came through social media posts even as the saffron outfit geared up to celebrate 11 years of PM Narendra Modi in office. The comparisons were seen as BJP's bid to simplify the figure and create relatability for people by comparing with a known, developed nation. This is especially true in case of construction of toilets under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan which underlined the massive scale of sanitation efforts, crucial for rural health and dignity—especially for women. Similarly, the metaphor vis-à-vis optical fibre, a senior BJP leader said, was meant to emphasize the depth of digital connectivity achieved even in remote areas, tying into the broader 'Digital India' vision. This is not all. The number of loans disbursed under Mudra scheme – 52.5 crore – is shown as more than the total population of US, Russia and Australia taken together. "Naya Bharat! Abhutpurva Scale! (New India! Unprecedented scale)" the party mentioned in one of the posts. Analysts said that by comparing Mudra loan beneficiaries to entire nations' populations, the BJP sought to underscore how deeply and widely its economic policies managed to penetrate. It tends to give a sense that almost every third Indian has been touched by the scheme—a powerful narrative to the informal sector, small traders, and aspiring entrepreneurs.
