My Opinion

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday continued his attacks on Congress and party chief Rahul Gandhi over the controversial “hua toh hua” ( it happened, so what?) remark made by Rahul’s guru Sam Pitroda relating to 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

At a rally in Bathinda, and in rallies in other states too, Modi described Congress as “a party with a confused leader and diffused thinking”. Modi asked whether Rahul Gandhi reprimanded Pitroda for “revealing” what Rahul’s family thought of the 1984 riots.

The Prime Minister said, the “hua toh hua” remark by Pitroda, whom he described as “a mentor who has specially come from America”, “reflects the party’s thinking and arrogance”.

Punjab is going to the polls for 13 Lok Sabha seats on May 19 in the last phase. Since the 1984 anti-Sikh riots is a highly emotive and painful issue among voters of Punjab, Rahul Gandhi has publicly said that he has reprimanded Pitroda and asked him to apologize for the remark.

This “self-goal” by Pitroda has given Modi a handle to beat the party with. In rally after rally, the Prime Minister is linking all other mistakes of the Congress era with this “hua toh hua” remark, to the glee of his listeners.

Politically, this objectionable remark by Pitroda, who has already apologized, is going to cost the Congress heavily in Punjab.

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The Congress Party had to face acute embarrassment on Friday, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi took up a seemingly dismissive remark “hua toh hua” made by Rahul Gandhi’s adviser Sam Pitroda over the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. There were strong protests by Sikh organisations in Delhi and Punjab and the party’s effigy was burnt.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing election rallies on Friday sarcastically pulled up the Congress for Pitroda’s “hua toh hua” remark, and said this revealed the mindset of the Congress leaders towards the anti-Sikh pogrom that took place soon after the assassination of the then PM Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards in 1984.

In the evening, Congress President Rahul Gandhi tweeted: “I think what Sam Pitroda Ji said was completely out of line and he should apologise for it. I think 1984 was a needless tragedy that caused tremendous pain. … The Former PM Manmohan Singh Ji has apologised. My mother Sonia Gandhi Ji has apologised. .. What Mr Sam Pitroda has said is absolutely and completely out of line and is not appreciated. I will be communicating this to him directly. He must apologise for his comment.”

Clearly the party president is rattled, but this is not the first time Sam Pitroda has made comment that is out of line. He had made the remark that the Rs 72,000 to be disbursed annually to poor families under NYAY scheme will be managed by taxing the middle class, which he said was selfish. Rahul Gandhi had to deny this in almost every rally and he had to tell voters that the middle class will not be burdened.

Sam Pitroda had also questioned the outcome of Balakot air strike and he had given Pakistan a clean chit for 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. By scoring self-goals, Pitroda has allowed BJP to become aggressive again. He has rubbed salt into the wounds of Sikh voters who will be going to the polls in Delhi and Punjab. It is a strange coincidence that during every major election, somebody from the Congress has been scoring self-goals.

The “hua toh hua” remark by Sam Pitroda is not only insensitive towards the 1984 riot victims, but has also angered the Sikh community across India. Naturally, senior Congress leaders are now questioning, “Yeh Kya Hua”.

Pitroda has been active in the Congress since the days of Late Rajiv Gandhi, and nowadays he is considered adviser and “political guru” to party president Rahul Gandhi. He had been claiming that it was he who has been the brain behind the political evolution of Rahul Gandhi as a leader.

For the Congress, it will be difficult for the party to distance itself from Pitroda. Remember Mani Shankar Aiyar, who had taunted Narendra Modi as a ‘chaiwala’ during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections? He had called Modi a “neech” during the Gujarat elections.

It seems during every election, some Congress leader pops up to score a self-goal by shooting off his mouth. The party leadership should be wary, now that the electioneering is entering its last phases.

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On Wednesday, while addressing an election rally in Haryana, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in a combative mood. He read out a list of abuses hurled at him during the last 17 years by Congress leaders, starting from Sonia and Rahul Gandhi to leaders at the lower rung.

A few days ago, Modi had said in Pratapgarh in Uttar Pradesh that “your (Rahul’s) father was praised as ‘Mr Clean’ by his courtiers, but his end came as ‘Bhrashtachari (Corrupt) No. 1″. This remark raised the heckles of Congress leaders, who alleged that the PM has insulted the memory of their departed leader. The Congress even complained to the Election Commission.

It was in this context that Modi read out the list of abuses that had been hurled at him over the years. Sonia Gandhi had described him as ‘maut ka saudagar’ (merchant of death), Mani Shankar Aiyar had described him as “neech” and Rahul Gandhi had been parroting the line ‘Chowkidar Chor Hai’ in almost all his rallies and press conferences.

Rahul Gandhi had also tweeted to Modi after the remark about his father: “The battle is over. Your Karma awaits you. Projecting your inner beliefs about yourself on to my father won’t protect you. All my love and a huge hug.”

A few days ago an interviewer had asked Rahul why he had insulted the then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh by tearing up the ordinance. Rahul replied: “I love him. There is absolute mutual respect between us. I use the words love and respect for him, not just respect.” So, if Rahul can insult his own Prime Minister and say he loves him, then there is nothing to be surprised about if he abuses the present PM as ‘chor’.

There is no doubt that Narendra Modi has himself become the main issue in this general election. If you remove Modi’s name, at least 90 per cent of the speeches of Congress leaders would go waste. Modi, on his part, chooses his topic depending on the time, occasion and venue. Modi was to address two election rallies in Haryana on Wednesday, and raised the issue of Robert Vadra’s controversial land deals.

Modi said: “This chowkidar has taken the person who looted farmers to court. He is making rounds of ED and court to take bail. He used to think he is Shahenshah, now he is nervous. I have already taken him to the jail door. Give blessings and I will put him in jail within the next five years.”

Vadra responded to Modi by saying: “I am shocked to hear my name again in your rally. Please stop digressing from glaring issues by taking my name.” Vadra went on to tweet on Thursday: “Are they above the law to decide and claim who they can send where?”

Congress leaders are feeling the pinch because of Modi’s remarks against Vadra, but they are silent. They have left it to Vadra to defend himself.

Modi did not stop at this. At the Ramlila ground in Delhi on Wednesday, Modi alleged that the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had taken his wife, in-laws from Italy, other family members and friends like Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan to spend an idyllic year-end vacation at Bangaram island near Lakshadweep in 1987. He alleged that Rajiv Gandhi had used the Indian Navy’s largest warship INS Virat “as a taxi” for holidaying.

The 10-day holidaying began on December 30, and I still remember newspapers and magazines splashing stories and articles about Rajiv’s year-end vacation. There were no private news channels those days and it was left to the print media to publish stories about the vacation. Clearly, Modi is raising issues where it hurts the Gandhi family.

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On Tuesday, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee told an election rally that “I feel like giving Modi a tight slap of democracy”. The constitutional head of government of a state was using such words against the constitutional head of government at the Centre. Really shocking.

There is no doubt that Mamata Banerjee is a grassroots political leader who has created her party’s base by dislodging the Left after a protracted struggle. She is indeed a firebrand leader and people appreciate her fighting spirit. But this does not mean that she can insult the Prime Minister for political gains. How can the Chief Minister of a state use such demeaning remark against the Prime Minister of India?

Elections may come and go. Leaders may win or lose power. All this is part of democracy, but to use such words for political gains is unacceptable.

And why is Mamata angry? She is angry because she does not want what she calls ‘outsiders’ coming to Bengal and taking away her chunk of Hindu votes by raising the issue of Muslim appeasement.

By raising the slogan of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and the issue of restrictions on immersion of Durga Puja idols , BJP has been alleging that Hindus in Bengal are being sidelined and the TMC government is appeasing Muslims. BJP leaders are trying to make a big issue out of Mamata’s mistakes, and, on her part, Mamata has started realizing that mobilizing Muslim votes alone will not help.

She has, therefore, changed her stance and is trying to project BJP leaders as ‘outsiders’ in order to create an issue of Bengalis versus outsiders. It is because of this that in the heat of poll campaign, the West Bengal CM is making intemperate remarks about the Prime Minister.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday alleged that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee repeatedly turned down his offer for providing aid to those affected by Cyclone Fani.

Modi said, “I tried to speak to Mamata Didi over telephone twice after the cyclone. I kept waiting, thinking maybe she would return the call. But she never called back. Such is her arrogance that she did not talk to me over cyclone. ..Didi has left no stone unturned to do politics even with cyclone relief.”

Ten minutes later, Mamata Banerjee responded to Modi’s allegation while addressing her party rally in Gopiballavpur in West Midnapore.

Mamata said: “I do not consider him the Prime Minister, so I did not sit with him for the cyclone review meeting. I do not want to be seen with him on the same platform. I will speak to the next prime minister. We can take care of the cyclone damage ourselves. We do not need the Centre’s help ahead of the polls. ”

Amidst such a vitriolic attack, all that I can says is that the people of Bengal are fortunate that the cyclone weakened when it crossed over from Odisha to their state. There was not widespread damage like Odisha. Had there been widespread damage, Mamata Banerjee would have mounted a big attack on the Centre alleging discrimination.

Mamata Banerjee is a good political fighter, no doubt. She knows how to respond to political attacks, but in times of natural disaster, when the common man is facing crisis, it is not proper to bring political rivalry to a personal level. It was wrong on her part to say that I do not consider Modi a Prime Minister and I will not talk to him.

Narendra Modi has a wide experience in natural disaster management. He learnt a lot from the 2001 Gujarat earthquake.

Cyclone Fani struck the Odisha coast on May 3. A day before, on May 2, the Prime Minister came to our show to give a mega interview. When I interviewed him in the evening, the Prime Minister said that he had just come in from a disaster management meeting with officials to minimize the damage from the cyclone.

At that meeting, both the Centre and Odisha government devised strategy to make solid preparations to avoid major damages. They had already started evacuating more than a million people to safer places in Odisha, and had posted disaster relief teams in advance.

Modi discharged his responsibility as Prime Minister, and Naveen Patnaik as chief minister provided the fullest cooperation. For saving nearly a million lives, the United Nations praised the disaster management efforts in Odisha. But unfortunately, Mamata Banerjee took a completely diverse stand. This does not augur well for Centre-State relations.

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Thursday May 2 was a red letter day, personally for me and for our institution India TV, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to Jawaharlal Nehru stadium for a mega interview in the presence of more than 2,500 strong audience, with more waiting outside to come in.

The question-answer session, that went on for nearly two hours, in front of a rapturous audience, was engaging.

In this no-holds-barred interview, the Prime Minister revealed for the first time the circumstances in which Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan was released by Pakistan.

He also revealed, for the first time, how on the spur of the moment, he rang up the then Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif to congratulate him on his birthday from Kabul, and the Pakistani leader suddenly invited him to drop in at a family wedding taking place at his estate near Lahore.

The Prime Minister also revealed how Chinese President Xi Jinping rang him up in May, 2014 to congratulate him and suddenly said that he wanted to visit his hometown Vadnagar in Gujarat. According to Modi, Xi Jinping told him that the hometowns of both leaders in India and China had a common link – the 7th century Chinese Buddhist monk traveller Xuanjang (whose name we read in history books as Huien Tsang), who had visited both the places 1400 years ago.

Modi also revealed how the wife of Argentine President Mauricio Macri and his wife served him tea in Buenos Aires, and when they visited India, the leader’s wife served him tea in similar looking cups. He also disclosed how Singapore Prime Minister Li Hsien Loong and his wife took him to a South Indian restaurant for a quiet dinner.

The Prime Minister also spoke on the current general elections, Gandhi family, poll violence in West Bengal and several other current topics. Towards the end, he looked a bit introvert and spoke extensively about his personal life.

Do watch this exclusive mega interview with Narendra Modi this Saturday May 4 from 8 pm onwards on India TV.

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On Wednesday, the United Nations Security Council at last designated Jaish-e-Mohammed founder Maulana Masood Azhar as a ‘global terrorist’, after permanent member China yielded to international pressure. China relented after intense diplomatic pressure from France, UK, and the US, and even Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, which chaired the UN Sanctions Committee asked China to lift its ‘technical hold” on the issue. Masood Azhar was the mastermind of the heinous Pulwama attack in which 40 of our CRPF jawans were martyred in February this year.

India has been pursuing the case in the UN for more than ten years, and at last, its efforts have borne fruit.

Masood Azhar, as part of the global UN sanctions list, cannot move abroad, and his assets worldwide will be frozen. Jaish-e-Mohammed has been the sword arm of Pakistan’s spy agency ISI in the Kashmir valley. After the UN sanction comes into force, all sources of funds for JeM will dry up, because any fund transfer to this terror outfit and its affiliates will immediately invite action from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) against the host country.

Much spadework was done by India’s External Affairs Ministry, and by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in particular. Modi established close rapport with the Chinese President Xi Jinping, invited him to Gujarat and struck friendship. The two top leaders have been meeting frequently on the sidelines of international summits.

When China vetoed the resolution to declare Masood Azhar as global terrorist on technical grounds, there were derisive reactions in Opposition circles. Congress President Rahul Gandhi had once tweeted that Modi is afraid of Xi Jinping.

Clearly, Wednesday’s announcement is a personal victory for Prime Minister Modi. This comes in the midst of Lok Sabha elections, and Modi can go to town to tell his voters that the Big Powers like the US, France, UK, Russia and Germany are with him in the fight against terrorism, and now China, too, has joined. This is a big victory for the people and government of India.

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The Supreme Court on Tuesday pulled up Congress President Rahul Gandhi for his ambiguously worded affidavit in which he had expressed ‘regret’ for saying that the apex court has found Prime Minister Narendra Modi guilty in the Rafale deal.

The apex court told his lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi: “What is the meaning of regret within brackets? …You needed a 22-page affidavit to express complete regret? You make a statement and try to justify? Where have we said what you have attributed to us in public speeches?”

The apex court gave Rahul Gandhi time till May 6 to file an apology affidavit. The court said: “While we observe that it will be open for the respondent to file an additional affidavit if he so desires, we make it clear that admissibility and acceptance of any affidavit, if filed, will be considered on the next date fixed, that is May 10.”

Even Rahul Gandhi and his lawyers feel that filing of a ‘regret’ affidavit, and that too, mentioning the word in brackets, was a big mistake, because the Supreme Court is the apex law court of India, and any incorrect remark made about its orders or observations can invite contempt proceedings.

When Rahul Gandhi said in Amethi and Bihar that the Supreme Court has found “chowkidar” (Modi) a “chor” (guilty) and has “found him guilty of giving away Rs 30,000 crore to Anil Ambani in the Rafale deal”, he was treading into dangerous waters.

This was not a remark made out of lack of proper perception or an oral blunder, it was clearly an attempt to seek political capital by misusing the name of the Supreme Court. The easiest way out could have been that the Congress President should have tendered unconditional apology for making this remark, but his lawyers drafted a long affidavit which offered ‘regret’, and that too, in brackets!

Clearly Rahul Gandhi has complicated this case himself and he has very few options left. The sword of contempt of court still hangs over his head.

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West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee is worried over reports of heavy polling that took place in the fourth round on Monday in her state. In the last several elections, including assembly and panchayat polls, there were incidents of large scale violence and there were allegations about TMC workers trying to prevent Congress and BJP supporters from voting. There used to be incidents of bomb throwing and stabbing in the recent past.

On Monday too, clashes took place in some pockets, but voters at large were unafraid because of heavy presence of central paramilitary forces outside polling stations. The TMC supremo is naturally worried and she has alleged that, in one incident, security forces forced people to vote in favour of BJP. Her allegation is yet to be verified.

The second point to note is that there has been heavy polling in those constituencies on Monday, where BJP has fielded strong candidates. This has caused more worry for the TMC supremo.

Mamata Banerjee is also wary about Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who told a rally in West Bengal on Monday that at least 40 TMC MLAs are in touch with BJP and they may cross over if her party suffers electoral defeat on counting day (May 23). Mamata has asked her party leaders to lodge a complaint with the Election Commission blaming the PM for “encouraging horse trading”.

Naturally Modi’s remark has let the cat among the pigeons in the TMC camp, and the party leaders are now busy giving clarifications.

In one of his recent interviews, the PM had revealed how Mamata Banerjee used to send her kurtas and rosogollas. A furious TMC supremo publicly said in her rally that she would now be sending soil and stones in the shape of rosogollas to the PM.

Modi knows how to turn abuses and threats made by rivals into weapons. He promptly told his rally in West Bengal on Monday that he would love to have rosgollas made of Bengal’s sacred soil on which titans like Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Rabindranath Tagore and Dr. Shyama Prasad Mookerjee walked. Mamata Banerjee had no answer to this quip. Such are the hassles of reacting to remarks without putting any serious thought.

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On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi taunted West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee by saying that if the post of Prime Minister had been available through auction, she would have tried that option too, but the problem is that the post of PM is not auctionable. Modi was addressing an election rally in Asansol, from where Union Minister Babul Supriyo is trying to retain his seat.

On the same day, Mamata Banerjee openly objected to the posting of Central paramilitary forces at polling booths. She alleged that officers of paramilitary forces were telling voters to vote for BJP. Her charges are yet to be verified but it clearly denotes uneasiness on her part about the possible Lok Sabha results from West Bengal.

Huge turnouts at PM’s rallies are common, but the surprising element this time is that large turnouts have been noticed at BJP President Amit Shah’s election rallies in places like Birbhum and Bardhaman, considered to be strongholds of Trinamool Congress. Clearly a shift in the rural voters’ mood in Bengal is discernible.

You may remember, in 2014, when Modi wave was sweeping across the rest of the country, it had hardly any effect in Bengal. There was hardly any optimism in the state BJP camp, and Mamata did not take BJP as her main challenger. Finally, the BJP won only two out of a total of 42 LS seats. But, in the last five years, both Modi and Amit Shah toiled hard to expand the BJP’s election machinery in Bengal, and the results are showing. BJP flags now flutter over housetops in the interior areas of Bengal.

BJP top brass now believe that Bengal and, to some extent, Odisha can compensate for any electoral loss that the party may suffer in the North Indian states. During the last panchayat elections in Bengal, TMC workers prevented BJP workers from reaching polling booths. This is no more the case now.

The Election Commission is holding polls in seven phases in Bengal, with four to five constituencies going to the polls in each phase. Central paramilitary forces have been deployed in large numbers, and there has been heavy polling in all the phases so far. This has caused worry in Mamata’s camp.

In neighbouring state of Odisha, assembly polls are being held simultaneously with LS elections, and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal is fighting to get a fifth term in office. Patnaik has been in power since last 19 years and he is quite popular. In the 2014 LS polls, BJD had won 20 out of 21 seats, and the lone remaining seat was won by BJP.

In Odisha, the main opposition party Congress has weakened and the ruling BJD dominates in most of the constituencies. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has personal worries about his health and there is the anti-incumbency factor too.

Prime Minister Modi has therefore decided to strike when the iron is hot. On Tuesday, he named Naveen Patnaik and said that he would not tolerate attacks on BJP workers by the ruling party supporters. Clearly, Modi has found a good opportunity to grab the political space in Odisha. The jury is still out.

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On Monday, Congress President Rahul Gandhi filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court expressing “regret” for linking the Supreme Court’s April 10 order on petitions seeking review of Rafale verdict to his “chowkidar chor har” campaign against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In his affidavit filed in response to a contempt of court petition by BJP leader Meenakshi Lekhi, Rahul Gandhi said, his remarks about the Supreme Court declaring ‘chowkidar’ as ‘chor’ were made “in a rhetorical flourish in the heat of the moment”. He admitted that he had not read the apex court’s order before making these remarks.

It is now clear that Rahul Gandhi had lied about the Supreme Court order and I feel that he also lied in his affidavit when he said that he had not read the court order. The Congress President had said twice, both in Amethi and in his rally in Katihar that the Supreme Court has found the ‘chowkidar’ to be a ‘chor’ in the Rafale deal. The ball is now in the apex court which has to decide on his affidavit.

Soon after his affidavit was filed, Rahul raised the ‘chowkidar chor har’ slogan in his Amethi rally on Monday. The only difference this time was that he did not say the Supreme Court has found the ‘chowkidar’ to be a ‘chor’ in the Rafale deal.

Rahul has raised this slogan umpteen number of times, and there is nothing new in this. Till date, he has not showed a single evidence to establish that the Modi government had given Rs 30,000 crore benefit to Anil Ambani in the Rafale deal.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has already stated that Anil Ambani’s company was one of the nearly 100 companies who got offset contracts from the makers of Rafale aircraft, Dassault Aviation. The fact remains that Anil Ambani’s company got only Rs 852 crore worth offset contract, and not Rs 30,000 crore from Dassault Aviation.

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History was rewritten in the sleepy town of Mainpuri in Uttar Pradesh on Friday, when Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati appeared on the dais with Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav and asked voters to elect her former sworn enemy to Parliament.

In her speech, Mayawati did refer to the infamous Lucknow guest house incident of 1995, when Mulayam’s supporters had mobbed her and she had to shut herself inside a room to protect herself.

This incident led to a bitter political feud that lasted 24 years. Mulayam and Mayawati were considered two extreme poles in UP politics

On Friday, Mayawati said in the presence of Mulayam and his son Akhilesh: “I know people must be wondering why I have come here despite the state guest house incident..Sometimes in the public interest (‘jan hit’) and our party’s movement, difficult decisions have to be taken.”

I think the ‘namumkin’ (impossible) became ‘mumkin'(possible) because of the common desire of SP and BSP leaders to oust Prime Minister Narendra Modi from power. Akhilesh Yadav acted as the catalyst in forging SP-BSP alliance and on Friday, he acted as master of ceremonies to deftly handle any leftover sparks that may have been there among the crowds .

It is true Akhilesh put in his best to forge the alliance and on Friday. He repeatedly told his supporters to give “due respect” to the BSP supremo. He also made his father Mulayam speak in the same tone, and that mattered. But the crux of this SP-BSP alliance is completely based on the convergence of Muslim, Dalit and OBC votes.

Akhilesh may be speaking about electing a new Prime Minister at the Centre, but his party is contesting only 37 seats in UP. There is no common agenda or minimum programme that is being reflected in the speeches of the SP and BSP supremos. Their unity is only aimed at ousting Modi from power.

The question is: why Akhilesh joined hands with Mayawati to oust Modi from power? Why Mayawati decided to forget the shameful guest house incident of 1995?

The answer is clear. Mayawait is presently fighting for the very existence of BSP. In the 2014 elections, her party failed to win a single seat in Lok Sabha, and she knows that if the same result is repeated this time, she may have to wind up her party. Both Akhilesh and Mayawati have joined hands because they fear that Prime Minister Modi may again retain power this time.

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