Archives for 2023

KOCHI: Popular Malayalam film actor Innocent, known mostly as a comedian for his unique style and dialogue delivery in a career spanning over four decades and 500 films, died here on Sunday. He was 75. Innocent was also a former member of Lok Sabha from 2014-19, winning the seat from Kerala’s Chalakkudy constituency as an independent candidate backed by the Left. He also served as president of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) for several years.

The actor, a cancer survivor after he was detected with the deadly disease as far back as 2012, had been undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Kochi for the last two-and-half weeks for breathing issues. He is survived by his wife Alice, and son Sonnet.

Innocent’s body will be kept at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium, Kadavanthra in Kochi from 8 am to 11 am on Monday for the public to pay their homage. Later, his body will be brought to his hometown in Irinjalakkuda, where the body will be kept at the Irinjalakkuda Townhall there from 1 pm to 3.30 pm, and later at his residence.

The funeral will be held at the St Thomas Cathedral, Irinjalakkuda at 10 am Tuesday.

Innocent, who carved a style of his own, peaked as an actor from 1985 to the late 1990s, where he played a string of roles as a comedian, character roles, and even a few villain roles for directors like Priyadarshan, Sathyan Anthikkad, Fazil, and Kamal. His performance in blockbuster films like Kilukkam (Priyadarshan, 1991), ‘Azhakiya Ravanan’ (Kamal, 1996), ‘Ramji Rao Speaking’ (Siddique-Lal, 1989), ‘Nadodikkattu’ (Sathyan Anthikad, 1987), and ‘Devaasuram’ (I V Sasi, 1993) are still talked about, decades after their release.

However, he got his first big recognition in ‘Mazhavil Kavadi’, the 1989 film directed by Sathyan Anthikkad, for a serious character as ‘Kalarickel Kizhamkamthudiyil Shankarankutty Menon‘, in a full-fledged role alongside the film’s hero Jayaram. The role fetched him the state government’s best actor in a supporting role. Reportedly, Innocent struggled during the dubbing of the film when his lip movement would not match the dialogue, and when both lip movement and dialogue come in sync, the emotion would not match up. Finally, Sathyan Anthikkad told him that he would be forced to pray at the Mookambika temple to get Innocent going. To this Innocent, then slowly finding his feet in the industry, retorted, half-jokingly, ‘Who asked you to cast me in this role? You could have cast some famous actors in this role.’

“Innocent, along with Oduvil Unnikrishnan and Kuthiravattam Pappu, are actors who have created a style which no one can emulate,” Satyan Anthikkad would later say in an interview. “In ‘Azhakiya Ravanan’, the scene where Innocent appears before a camera for a film shoot is a classic. It’s almost impossible for another actor to play that scene,” said Sathyan Anthikkad.

Innocent took his first steps in show business by producing a few Malayalam films in the early 1980s, mostly serious offbeat films including award-winning ‘Vida Parayum Munpe’ (Kerala government’s second-best film in 1981, directed by Mohan) and ‘Oramakkayi’ (Kerala government’s second-best film in 1982, directed by Bharathan). ‘Lekhayude Maranam Oru Flashback’, a 1983 film directed by K G George that is considered a landmark movie and loosely based on the life of actress Shobha, was also produced by Innocent (along with David Kachapally).

After seeing the films he produced failing to ring the cash registers, Innocent decided to seriously involve himself as an actor in Mollywood even as he dumped the producer hat, which left him nearly bankrupt. But, it was in the 1972 film ‘Nrithashala’ that the veteran made his debut, and in ‘Football Champion’, the next year, where he uttered dialogue for the film time on the silver screen.

Born Innocent Vareed Thekkethala on February 28, 1948, in Irinjalakuda, then a small village near Thrissur, as the fifth child of his parents, who had eight children, his early life has not been anything to write home about. He studied only till the eighth grade after he found studies very difficult to cope with. 

He later tested political waters, contesting and winning the Irinjalakuda municipal council elections as a Revolutionary Socialist Party-backed candidate in 1979. He is also the author of five books including ‘Njan Innocent’ and ‘Cancer Wardile Chiri’ (Laughter in the Cancer Ward), where he narrates his experiences while undergoing treatment for throat cancer.

Irinjalakudakku Chuttum won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Humour in 2020.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan, Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor and actors Mammootty and Mohanlal are among the people who condoled his passing.

“Mourning the loss of character actor, comedian & one-time Kerala MP Innocent, who has just passed away at age 75. Aside from being a brilliantly inventive & gifted actor, he was a fine human being whom it was a pleasure to interact with in the Lok Sabha. RIP. Om Shanti,” tweeted Shashi Tharoor, Senior Congress leader. h

“Innocent was an artist who left an indelible mark in the minds of the audience with his inimitable acting style. A Leftist at heart, Innocent became a candidate in the Lok Sabha election on the request of the LDF. After winning the election, he raised Kerala’s demands effectively in Parliament, which the state remembers with gratitude,” said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

“Innocent, who made us laugh and also think at the same time for decades, is now a memory. He was a person who fought bravely against a deadly disease and gave courage to the entire society through his actions. Innocent is truly irreplaceable,” said Leader of the Opposition VD Satheesan

“The void that Innocent has left in Malayalam cinema cannot be filled. The actor, who was like a part of our daily life and came across to us as our next-door neighbour, will now remain immortal in our memories,” said Minister for Culture Saji Cherian. 

BJP’s Khushbu Sundar said, “We have lost a priceless gem.”

BHOPAL: Setting an ambitious target of 200-plus assembly seats out of the total 230 seats and over 51% vote to win the year-end assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, the ruling BJP’s national president JP Nadda gave a call to the party’s polling booth heads to connect with people across the state for detailing about party’s achievements and exposing the real political character of the opposition Congress.

“People are waiting for you across the state, go and meet every person and put before them with facts and arguments the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s policy of Reform-Transform and Perform. Go and tell them about how MP has made rapid strides during the present regime at the centre and state, spanning from recent 33 railway projects and 5,872 km of rail line projects at an investment of over Rs 84,000 crore to the opening of 14 medical colleges in the state during the last nine years. Go and tell them about Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s government’s ambitious plan of providing 1.24 lakh government jobs,” Nadda said while addressing a gathering of polling booth heads from 35 assembly segments of central MP.

He also appreciated the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government’s recently launched Laadli Bahna Scheme.

“Go and tell the people that Congress means corruption, commission, divisive politics, politics of dynasty and nepotism. Tell them about BJP’s Report Card Culture which entails that what we promise we do, what we say will be done,” Nadda said while appealing to the party workers to work for winning each and every booth and village in the state.

Importantly, the BJP’s target of 200-plus seats for 2023-end assembly polls isn’t new, as five years back also, target of 200 seats was set by the saffron party, but the party ultimately finished with just 109 seats and 41.02% votes against Congress’s 114 seats with slightly lesser 40.89% votes.   

Without naming Rahul Gandhi, he took a sustained jibe at the former Congress president, saying, the Congress of today is high on egoism and low on wisdom.

“You (Gandhi) first make casteist slur against most backward castes, when the court asks you to apologize, you don’t apologize. This proves you neither have respect for the country’s law, Constitution nor democracy. It’s time we go and expose the Congress and its leader on it, among masses in MP.”

Making light of the Congress’s ‘Satyagraha’ over Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification from the Lok Sabha, Nadda said “Mahatma Gandhi first started the Satyagraha in 1906 in South Africa and then in 1919 in India for India’s honour and self-rule, but the Congress’s call for Satyagraha is now based to further its high on ego and low on wisdom politics.”

“Go and tell the people, how the Congress’s leader has made casteist slur on most backward castes and isn’t regretting it till date, even after losing his Lok Sabha membership,” Nadda said.

Prior to addressing the BJP’s booth-level heads from 35 assembly segments, Nadda laid the foundation of state BJP’s new state-of-the-art headquarter in Bhopal. “When the PM was elected as leader of the BJP parliamentary party in 2014, he had highlighted the need for the BJP having a proper office in every district of the country. BJP now has well-equipped offices in 290 districts, while similar offices in 115 other districts are being built, land has been arranged for such offices in 123 more districts.”

Two Congress leaders join BJP, while OBC leader sacked by BJP in August 2022 returns to the party fold

Bhopal: Just four days after the Congress made a dent into one of the oldest Yadav families of BJP in Gwalior-Chambal region, by getting in its ranks son of former three-times BJP MLA Rao Deshraj Singh Yadav in Ashok Nagar district, the saffron party responded with three new joining – two of them being from the Congress.

Two women leaders of Congress, including Mona Sustani (considered close to ex-CM Digvijaya Singh’s family), former BSP MLA and presently Congress leader Usha Chowdhary joined the BJP in Bhopal on Sunday.

While Sustani had unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Rajgarh seat, losing by over 4.31 lakh votes to BJP candidate, Usha Chowdhary had won in 2013 assembly polls from Raigaon (SC) seat of Satna district, but finished third on the same party’s ticket in 2018, before joining the Congress.

The third new joining, however, was perhaps the most notable, as Uma Bharti-loyalist OBC leader Pritam Singh Lodhi, who was sacked by the BJP in August 2022 over objectionable remarks for Brahmins, returned to the saffron party fold. Lodhi was recently in news for trying to build a third front in the state with tribal and Dalit outfits.

BENGALURU/TUMAKURU : KarnatakA Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president DK Shivakumar on Sunday in Bengaluru alleged that the BJP government threatened Vokkaliga community religious head Sri Nirmalanandanatha Swamiji and Panchamasali Lingayat seer Sri Jaya Mruthyunjaya Swamiji to accept the 2 per cent hike each in quota.

“The government called them up 20-25 times asking them to accept the new quota. But Vokkaligas and Lingayats are not beggars to receive the quota that has been robbed from the 4 per cent OBC quota for Muslims. Are minorities not our people,” he asked.

“Do you have a legal department? Is this your property to share the quota on the whims of three or four people? No community is a beggar to receive this alms of yours. We oppose this. Reservation should be allotted to these communities on the basis of population. Congress is committed to it,” he said.

The state and central governments are resorting to hate politics as they have changed the reservation thrice in 90 days though no commission has given its report, he said. He said Congress, which will form the government in 30-40 days after winning the Assembly polls, will cancel the reservation reshuffle by the BJP government. 

“The existing 56 per cent cap on reservation  should have been expanded to hike the quota. Lingayats had asked for 15 per cent and Vokkaligs 12 per cent,” he said. Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah said the Centre should dismiss the state government as it has reshuffled the quota matrix unconstitutionally without forming a commission. 

Minorities to move court
Muslim leaders, including clerics, who met under the chairmanship of former Union minister K Rahman Khan, have resolved to move court against the scrapping of 4 per cent OBC quota for Muslims.

They discussed the pros and cons of the government’s decision. “Without any report by the state backward classes commission, the government has taken the decision which we will question in the court,” said Shivajinagar Congress MLA Rizwan Arshad.

Law Minister JC Madhu Swamy said that every citizen has a right to move the court. “Out of 10 per cent economically weaker section quota, only 1.5 per cent has been utilised by Brahmins and Jains. The remaining 8.5 per cent is open for Muslims,” he said.   

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday tore into the BJP for calling her brother Rahul Gandhi a ‘traitor’ and casting aspersions on the Nehru-Gandhi family.  Addressing a gathering at the ‘Sankalp Satyagraha’ outside Rajghat, she said BJP leaders have repeatedly insulted her family, whose members have sacrificed their lives for the country

The Congress organised similar satyagrahas on Sunday to protest  from Parliament. In Delhi, the party wanted to hold the protest at the Rajghat but Delhi police declined permission. Following this, the leaders decided to sit outside the memorial.

“You call my brother, a martyr’s son, a traitor and your minister insulted my mother in Parliament. One of your chief ministers said Rahul Gandhi doesn’t even know who his father is. Your PM asks why this family does not keep the surname of Nehru… you have insulted the entire family,” she said, adding that leaders of the ruling dispensation get away with their words and deeds. 

“You don’t get a sentence of two years, you are not thrown out of Parliament, you are not barred from contesting elections for eight years,” she said, adding the family has kept quiet till now but not any longer. 
“My brother even hugged the PM and told him that he doesn’t harbour any hatred towards him. How much will you insult one man?” she asked.

Launching a broadside against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Priyanka said: “You can slap a case on me and put me in jail. But the truth is that the PM is a coward. He is hiding behind power.”  Taking a dig at BJP leaders for portraying Rahul Gandhi as ‘Pappu’, Priyanka said the government is scared of him after lakhs of people joined his Bharat Jodo Yatra.

She added: “Our family members shed blood for this flag and the land. Those who think that they can threaten or put us in jail are wrong. We are not scared. We will continue to fight for the democratic values of the country,” she said.

Meanwhile, as a show of protest against Rahul’s disqualification, the Congress has asked its MPs to wear a black dress in Parliament on Monday.

As the Parliament session resumes on Monday, Congress Parliamentarians will wear black to protest against the conviction and subsequent of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as a Member of Parliament (MP) from Lok Sabha.

The party has intensified its protests across the country after the Congress leader was disqualified on Friday. On Sunday, Congress Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury conveyed the message to MPs to dress up in black to send a powerful message to the ruling party.

“We are planning that all our MPs will come dressed in black tomorrow i.e. March 27, 2023. I request you to kindly do so that a powerful collective message is sent,” he said. On Sunday, Congress held a day- Protest in the capital, where the top leaders of the party Mallikarjun Kharge, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot lashed out at the government and reiterated the demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the 

After losing his MP status, Rahul Gandhi changed his Twitter bio to ‘Dis’Qualified MP’ on Sunday.

The Monday session of the Parliament is likely to see a major showdown as Congress and other Opposition parties are planning to take on the government on and Adani issue. All the Opposition Parties have condemned Rahul’s disqualification and have extended support to the leader in his fight.

The second leg of the Budget session of the Parliament has failed to transact any business in the last two weeks due to vehement protests by both Treasury Benches and opposition on Rahul s remarks in London and Adani issue. On Friday, the government passed the finance bill in Lok Sabha amid sloganeering from the Opposition benches on the demand for a JPC probe into the Adani issue. With the passage of the Finance Bill, tax proposals envisaged in the Budget would be passed.

The Rajya Sabha is scheduled to discuss the Budget today. It has been speculated that the government may cut short the session due to the stalemate. The session, which began on March 13 was scheduled to end on April 6.  

MALEGAON: Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said he considers Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar as his “idol”, and asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to refrain from “insulting” him.

He said the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance of three parties – Sena (UBT), Congress, and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) – was formed to protect democracy and it was necessary to work unitedly for it.

Addressing a rally in the Muslim-dominated textile town of Malegaon in the Nashik district of north Maharashtra, Thackeray also said that deliberate attempts were on to provoke Rahul Gandhi.

“Savarkar is our idol and his insult will not be tolerated if we have to fight together to protect our democracy. Savarkar suffered unimaginable torture in the Andaman cellular jail for 14 years. We can only read the sufferings. It is a form of sacrifice,” he said.

”I want to tell Rahul Gandhi that we have come together to save our country’s democracy and its Constitution. But you are deliberately being provoked. If we allow this time to get wasted, then democracy will cease to exist. 2024 will be the last election,” he added.

Rahul gandhi was disqualified from Lok Sabha on Friday, a day after a court in Gujarat’s Surat convicted him in a 2019 defamation case.

Addressing a press conference in Delhi over his disqualification “My name is not Savarkar, my name is Gandhi and Gandhi does not offer an apology to anyone.”

Thackeray said he supported Gandhi for his Bharat Jodo Yatra.

“Rahul Gandhi spoke well at his press conference yesterday. He raised valid questions about to whom does Rs 20,000 crore belong. But the government doesn’t want to answer,” he said.

During his press conference on Saturday, Gandhi said the moot questions remain over who invested Rs 20,000 crore in Adani shell firms and what is the businessman’s relationship with the prime minister.

Targeting the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Thackeray alleged that those who have no connection with the country’s freedom movement were attempting to finish off democracy.

Thackeray, who was addressing his second rally here after Khed in Ratnagiri district since losing the party name and symbol to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, said he was fighting to save democracy and freedom. “The fight is not about me becoming the chief minister again,” he said.

Thackeray also said NCP leader Anil Deshmukh’s six-year-old granddaughter was questioned by probe agencies and even Lalu Prasad Yadav’s pregnant daughter-in-law was quizzed till she fainted.

“If you criticise those in power, police will be after you,” he said.

“Modi is not India. Did our freedom fighters lay down their lives for this?” he asked.

The former CM wondered how good and honest people in the BJP were tolerating the corrupt people brought into their fold from other parties.

Hitting out at CM Shinde, Thackeray said he doesn’t regret losing the chief minister’s post, but a government doing good work was shamelessly toppled. “Farmers are facing a lot of hardships and the Shinde government is doing nothing to ease their problems,” he alleged.

Thackeray said he has been robbed of his party’s name and symbol, but traitors can never rob him of the love and affection of the people.

He said his government has taken several steps for the development of the textile sector in Malegaon and farmers and during the COVID-19 pandemic. “During the pandemic, I had spoken to the religious heads in Malegaon and everyone here cooperated with the government initiatives to control the spread of the virus,” he said.