BY SANJEEB KUMAR SAHOO
Good morning to all of you. I understand that many of you are ready for the office or work; many are on the way to work or the office; #children are in #school; and many are having tea, but I must express my views on #Indian and international #politics, as well as what happened on April 23, why it will never be forgotten, and why the MEA Official Spokesperson was forced to make a special statement on the subject at 9:51 p.m. on April 23 due to its “I leave it” statement after noon on April 23.
However, I would like to state that I have no interest in obtaining a visa to the United States of America (USA) or visiting any #American city, and that I am extremely capable of making any Indian city look like a New York City, as I am competing with the #NewYork-based weekly magazine #TIME through #NationalPoliticalMirror, the #world’s only #political magazine, while using my creativity and skills.
And believe me when I say that I will definitely remove TIME magazine from its global position—but not today, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, next week, next month, or next year. And believe me, I don’t know about big corporate media houses led by #Ambani, #Adani, #Birla, #Jain, #Agarwal, and #Rao, but as a political journalist and National Political Mirror founder, I consistently respond strongly to US President Donald Trump’s statements that hurt respected citizens of India. I will continue to respond strongly, no matter what.
To get to the point, no one knows when or what USA President Donald Trump will say, but he spoke again on April 23 as he endorsed American radio host Michael Savage’s racist rant and reposted his letter on Truth Social, in which he referred to India, China, and other countries as “hellholes”.
“A baby here becomes an instant citizen, and then they bring the entire family in from China or India or some other hellhole on the planet. You don’t have to go too far to see that. English is not spoken here anymore. There is almost no loyalty to this country amongst the immigrant class coming in today, which was not always the case,” read the letter shared by the US President #DonaldTrump.
However, I fail to see why Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi or any of his cabinet colleagues did not strongly condem USA President Donald Trump’s use of the term “hellholes” for India. It’s interesting to note that Randhir Jaiswal, the official spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), did not take seriously a question posed to him regarding Donald Trump’s use of the term “hellholes” during the weekly press conference in New Delhi, as he responded carelessly, saying, “We have seen some reports. That is where I leave it” when a #journalist asked a question to the MEA Official Spokesperson about whether Donald Trump has endorsed a post. The post compares India and China as hell holes. What is the Indian government’s response to the US president comparing and terming India in a derogatory manner?
However, after hours of its weekly press conferences, as it appeared that the MEA admitted its error on April 23, Randhir Jaiswal, the official spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), issued a special statement at 9:51 p.m. on April 23 on Donald Trump’s use of the term “#hellholes” and said, “We have seen the comments, as also the subsequent statement issued by the US Embassy in response. The remarks are obviously uninformed, inappropriate and in poor taste. They certainly do not reflect the reality of the India-US relationship, which has long been based on mutual respect and shared interests.”
It’s time to discuss the West Bengal Assembly elections of 2026. The first round of voting took place on April 23, and the highest turnout was recorded at 92.59%, compared to 82.30% in the 2021 Assembly election. On April 23, 2026, 92.59% of the 3.6 crore registered voters voted, with the second phase of voting scheduled for April 29.
However, keep in mind that the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (#SIR) of electoral rolls reduced the number of voters in West Bengal from 7.6 crore to 6.8 crore. On April 19, the Election Commission announced the addition of seven lakh new voters to West Bengal’s electoral rolls ahead of the first phase of voting.
Now, I would like to discuss Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, who clarified his words during live press conferences on April 21 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, saying that what he meant when he called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “terrorist” was that “PM Modi is terrorising people and political parties”. He also added that he never referred to the Prime Minister as a terrorist when a reporter asked for context behind the assessment.
On April 23, Congress responded to the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) April 22 show cause notice, saying that party chief Mallikarjun Kharge had not violated the model code of conduct and had already clarified his comments about Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
On the other hand, Congress said that the poll panel had not acted against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) when the BJP first violated the rule when the prime minister #NarendraModi held a national address on April 21 after the failure of the 131st Constitutional Amendment and, second, on April 21, a post by Union Home Minister #AmitShah on the BJP’s X handle promised Rs 3,000 monthly for women, Rs 3,000 for unemployed youth, Rs 21,000 for pregnant women, and free government bus travel. The Congress alleged that this was a case of quid pro quo and bribery under Section 123 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
I would like to conclude by mentioning the Iran Consulate General in #Mumbai, who firmly supported India and showed the mirror to USA President Donald Trump with a video that he tweeted on April 23 at 11:53 p.m., saying, “Maybe someone should book a one-way cultural detox for Mr. #Trump, it might just reduce the random bakwaas Kabhi #India aa ke dekho, phir bolna.”
