Nitish, Tejashwi and PK : Game on in Bihar
Filing of nomination papers began for the first phase of Bihar assembly elections to 121 seats on Friday. Seat-sharing in both the NDA and Mahagathbandhan is yet to be finalized.
BJP leaders claim, LJP-R leader Chirag Paswan has been persuaded to accept between 24 to 26 seats. Paswan had been demanding 43 seats. According to reports, NDA’s seat-sharing formula has been almost finalized and it may be announced next week.
In RJD-led Mahagathbandhan, RJD is trying hard to persuade Congress to contest lesser number of seats. The top development of the day was RJD chief Tejashwi Yadav’s announcement to give at least one government job to each family in Bihar. Tejashwi Yadav said, within 20 days of forming his government, a legislation will be enacted and within 20 months, government jobs will be given to each family.
Asked how his government would arrange jobs and salaries for the new employees, Tejashwi Yadav said, there is no need to worry, the roadmap is ready and we are waiting for the election results.
Nobody should be surprised over Tejashwi’s promise to give government job to each family. Such promises are made at the time of elections, but BJP has raised the query as to how each member from 2.7 crore families can be given govt jobs?
Presently, the main focus of all parties is on selecting the right candidates. BJP leaders are trying their best to persuade Chirag Paswan to scale down his demand. In the last elections, Chirag Paswan caused big losses to Nitish Kumar, because of which BJP won more seats compared to Janata Dal(U). BJP will ensure it will not allow this to be repeated this time.
In Mahagathbandhan, Tejashwi Yadav is facing a tough time persuading Congress to scale down its demand for seats. In the last elections, Congress could win only 19 seats despite contesting 70, and this resulted in a big loss for Tejashwi’s alliance.
Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor is exuding quiet confidence. On Thursday, his party announced names of 51 candidates. It consists of singers, mathematicians, and family members of late Karpoori Thakur and R.C.P. Singh. PK’s candidates are different from the traditional candidates and his party may gain some advantage.
Mayawati is not a spent force in UP
On Late Kanshi Ram’s death anniversary, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati addressed a big rally at Kanshi Ram Park in Lucknow to display her organisational strength.
Surprisingly, Mayawati praised UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath for taking care of the maintenance of several monuments of Dalit leaders. Mayawati said, she had built monuments to Kanshi Ram and Babasaheb Ambedkar and set rules under which money collected as entry free to Dalit monuments should be used for their maintenance.
She alleged, when Akhilesh Yadav became CM, most of the money that was collected from entry fee was spent on other heads elsewhere. Mayawati said, she wrote a letter to Yogi after which the BJP government improved the maintenance of all these monuments.
Mayawati indirectly hinted that her nephew Akash Anand would inherit her political legacy. The huge turnout of supporters at Mayawati’s rally clearly shows she has a solid support base.
For the last several years, Mayawati had taken her supporters for granted. She used to move out of her residence on very few occasions. She only used to go to press conferences, read out her statements and return. On her political succession issue, she made several flip-flops about her nephew. The result was, BSP lost most of the elections.
It now appears that Mayawati has prepared a sound strategy to revitalize the party. The manner in which she attacked Akhilesh Yadav and Congress on Thursday, clearly reminds one of vintage Mayawati.
Today, her party may be having only one MLA, but BSP has a big support base which was nurtured by Late Kanshi Ram after much toil. Mayawati cannot be ignored any more in UP politics.
Shehbaz and Munir: Did they betray the Muslim world
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and army chief Asim Munir are now facing trouble after supporting Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan.
In Lahore on Wednesday night, police had to fire on crowds and dozens were killed. Islamic clerics in Pakistan have raised a banner of revolt against Shehbaz and Munir for supporting Trump’s Gaza plan.
The chief of fundamentalist outfit Tehreek-e-Labbaiq Pakistan (TLP) Maulana Saad Rizvi gave a call to gherao the US embassy in Islamabad on Friday after prayers.
On Wednesday night, police surrounded the Lahore HQ of TLP and tried to arrest Maulana Saad Rizvi. There were clashes and police had to resort to firing.
The people of Pakistan have now realized that both Asim Munir and Shehbaz Sharif have clearly surrendered to Donald Trump in their bid to run their business. Pakistan had always been a staunch supporter of a free Palestine and the anger of the common people is now visible on the streets.
The Shehbaz-Munir duo even went to the extent of nominating Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, but it was awarded to a Venezuelan opposition leader by the Nobel Peace Prize Committee on Friday.
Trump had been claiming that he stopped seven wars across the globe and deserved the Nobel Peace Prize. The question is: Why is Trump so eager to get the Nobel Peace Prize?
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Bihar Police : Learn from Yogi’s style
It seems that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s police in Bihar has taken a leaf out of Yogi Adityanath’s book in the murder case of businessman Gopal Khemka. One of the accused, Vikas alias Raja was killed in an encounter near a brick kiln, the main shooter Umesh Yadav and the rival businessman Ashok Sao, who had given Rs 4 lakh as ‘supari’ to the killers, have been arrested.
Bihar deputy CM Samrat Chaudhary said criminals in the state will now be liquidated (‘thoka jayega’), while another deputy CM Vijay Sinha has said bulldozers and bullets will be used to punish criminals.
Bihar police claimed the main shooter Umesh Yadav was nabbed first, when police got cctv footage of his motorbike. Yadav spilled out the beans. He had earlier worked with businessman Ashok Sao, who offered him Rs 4 lakh ‘supari’ for killing his business rival Khemka over a land deal. It was Ashok Sao who gave him advance money and weapon.
Question arises about the encounter of the third accused and police has no concrete reply.
Police said, Vikas alias Raja was a professional criminal and he used to supply weapons. According to police, Umesh Yadav asked Vikas to provide weapon, but the latter was demanding more money. While police was taking him to a brick kiln in search of hidden weapons, Vikas alias Raja fired on police and in retaliatory firing, he was killed.
Khemka murder case clearly shows how human life is cheap in Bihar. It was a land dispute and Rs 4 lakh‘supari’ money was given to kill a rival. The shooter coolly murdered the businessman and went away to do his daily chores. He was caught by police when he was going to leave his daughter in school. He did not try to hide anything and it became an open-and-shut case for police.
It is good that Bihar Police has now swung into action because of political and media pressures.
Police officials themselves claim that they can pick up criminals swiftly and bump them off in encounter. This is not the matter of a single murder and police action must not stop here.
Murders and robberies have become a regular feature in Bihar and the state police must show to the criminals who calls the shots. Elections may come and go, but the majesty of the state and its police must remain.
Fight for what: Marathi pride or Marathi votes?
Maharashtra is witnessing a drama of a different sort. Both the Thackeray cousins are fanning Marathi pride and BJP and its allies are on the defensive. Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena has taken a middle path.
In Mira-Bhayandar of Thane district, supporters of Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sinha, under the banner of Marathi Swabhimaan Morcha, carried out a protest march. It was a counter against a traders’ protest against the beating of a non-Marathi food stall owner by MNS supporters.
A state minister Pratap Sarnaik, belonging to Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena tried to join the protest, but was asked by protesters to leave.
NCP(Sharad Pawar) leader Rohit Pawar questioned why the state police allowed non-Marathi traders to protest, but did not allow MNS supporters to take out a march.
The controversy began two weeks ago, when the Maharashtra government issued an order asking all primary schools to teach Hindi as a third language. After a hue and cry by Uddhav Thackeray, Raj Thackeray and other opposition parties, the state government withdrew its order.
The Thackeray cousins addressed a victory rally in Mumbai on Sunday. What was the need to create a fresh controversy in Thane? Actually, the cousins want to flex their political muscle to the shopkeepers. They wanted to tell the North Indian shopkeepers how they dared to stage a protest against Marathi?
The main aim of Thackeray cousins is to project themselves as the protector of Marathas, and to rejuvenate their parties. But the public knows the truth.
In Maharashtra, both Marathas and north Indians live in peace together, there is no problem over Hindi language, nor has anyone any objection to speaking Marathi. The problem arises when elections are held. Had there been no BMC municipal elections due, so much hullabaloo would not have happened.
Is it Nitish Raj or Jungle Raj In Bihar?
Law and order situation in Bihar appears to be serious with ten murders committed within last 24 hours. In Purnea, five members of a family were burnt to death, two were shot dead in Nalanda, a government employee was stabbed to death in Muzaffarpur in front of his wife and son, the owner of a private school in Patna was shot, while a Hindu youth was killed with swords during a Moharram procession in Motihari. The state police appears to clueless.
Two days ago, a reputed businessman Gopal Khemka was murdered in Patna. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is silent over this spate of murders. Even NDA ally Chirag Paswan has raised questions on law and order. RJD chief Tejashwi Yadav has alleged that the Chief Minister “has joined hands with criminals in order to retain power.”
In Motihari, groups from two communities clashed during a Moharram procession. A 22-year-old youth Ajay Yadav was attacked with lathis and swords and he died on the spot. Two persons have been arrested. There were reports of clashes in Katihar, Bhagalpur, Araria, Darbhanga and Samastipur also during Moharram processions.
The spike in the number of crimes in Bihar clearly points to the fact that the mafia has stopped fearing the police. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is yet to comment on this situation. He does not appear to be pro-active. How can people expect police to take action? For every crime, the police has a standard reply, “investigation is continuing”.
People in Bihar have started saying that had Yogi Adityanath been the CM of Bihar, murderers would have been either killed or critically injured by now. The people of Bihar want fast and strong action from the government.
If Nitish Kumar is unable to take action, he can hand over the Home portfolio to an active minister. For JD(U) leaders to say, “those who were responsible for Jungle Raaj during the Nineties have no right to raise questions about law and order now” does not hold water. People of Bihar have the right to live fearlessly. They must be allowed to live.
Are Uddhav & Raj stoking Marathi issue for BMC elections?
More than 100 supporters of Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena under the banner of Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti, were detained by police in Mira-Bhayandar of Thane district on Tuesday, when they took out a procession without prior permission. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, permission was given for a rally, but MNS workers insisted on going in a procession on a particular route, which could have caused tension.
Fadnavis said, “Marathis have a large heart. The Marathi people always cared for the nation and are never selfish…But when it came to the rally, they were pushing for a particular route. If permission had been given, there could have been a law and order situation.”
The MNS was trying to stage a counter-protest after traders protested over MNS workers assaulting a food stall owner for not speaking Marathi.
On Monday, BJP MP from Jharkhand Nishikant Dubey alleged that both MNS and Uddhav Shiv Sena members were beating up Hindi-speaking people in Mumbai and are forcing them to speak in Marathi. He challenged them to try beating people who speak Hindu and Urdu outside Mahim Dargah. Dubey went to the extent of saying that “Ghar Mein Toh Kutta Bhi Sher Hota Hai”.
Countering this, NCP(Sharad Pawar) MLA Jitendra Ahwad said, BJP is trying to polarize voters ahead of BMC municipal elections and this conspiracy would not be allowed to succeed.
Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar compared those beating up non-Marathi speaking people with the terrorists of Pahalgam.
Uddhav Thackeray described Nishikant Dubey as a hyena who is forcibly trying to create controversy. He said, comparing Marathis with Pahalgam terrorists amounts to insulting “Marathi Manoos”. The Shiv Sena (UBT) chief said, he himself speaks Hindi and has no problem with the language, but his party is opposing imposition of Hindi on primary school children in Maharashtra.
This is not the first time non-Marathi speaking people have been targeted in Mumbai and suburbs. It is also not a secret that both the Thackeray cousins, Uddhav and Raj, are trying to stoke Hindi-Marathi controversy for cornering votes.
For the first time, after several decades, the two estranged cousins came together on a single platform on Sunday in Mumbai to save the Maratha base of their parties. Those beating and abusing people for votes in Maharashtra have no right to say that Nishikant Dubey is making such remarks to garner votes for his party in Bihar elections.
Why is Lalu eager to open doors for Nitish again?
Rashtriya Janata Dal patriarch Lalu Prasad Yadav spoke in public on Thursday after a long time, but his comments were loaded with political meanings, confusing all in Bihar.
Lalu Yadav said, “our doors are open for Nitish Kumar…I have forgiven all his past sins and have left old issues behind. If Nitish comes forward, we have no problem in working with him”.
Lalu’s offer was carefully planned. He said this in an interview and spoke inside a car with ease. His words were clear. The confusion was created because his son Tejashwi Yadav had been consistently saying there was no chance of any alliance with Nitish anymore.
Three days ago, Tejashwi Yadav had said in Sitamarhi that running a government with Nitish Kumar would be like striking one’s own foot with an axe. Tejashwi said, “the doors of RJD are closed for Nitish, and there is no question of his party’s entry” into RJD-led Mahagathbandhan in Bihar. On Wednesday, Tejashwi said, “Nitish’s exit from power is final…He has ruled Bihar for 20 years and Bihar requires new seeds..If you sow the same old seeds continuously, the soil will get ruined.”
But Lalu Yadav spoke differently and his remarks created ripples in Bihar politics. Nitish’s Janata Dal(U) leaders described Lalu’s remarks as useless and speculative, while Nitish Kumar laughed off Lalu’s suggestions.
At Patna Raj Bhavan, after the new Governor Arif Mohammed Khan’s swearing-in ceremony, Nitish put his hand on Tejashwi’s shoulder, patted his back and spoke to him for a minute. When reporters asked Nitish about Lalu’s remarks, the Chief Minister laughed and walked away with a quip, “What are you saying?”.
Bihar JD(U) minister Vijay Chaudhary said, “there is no confusion in our party over this, and the confusion is in RJD. This is why Lalu and his son are speaking in two different tones. It is clear Lalu Yadav is going to lose again in Bihar and he is worried. That’s why he is inviting Nitish Kumar, but his remark means nothing.” BJP leader and Deputy CM Samrat Chaudhary said, “Lalu Yadav seems to be worried because his Mahagathbandhan got a severe beating in Lok Sabha polls…Nitish Kumar knows Lalu well and he is not going to react to his offer.”
Congress leaders appeared to be enthusiastic. Congress legislative party leader Shakeel Ahmed Khan praised Nitish Kumar as a “Gandhian who is working with Godse supporters… If Lalu has offered something to Nitish Kumar then there must be some meaning behind it.” In the evening, Tejashwi Yadav again appeared before reporters to say that “no inference should be drawn from Lalu Ji’s remarks.”
The fact is, whatever Lalu Yadav said was perfectly planned. It was a trial balloon sent to test the direction of the wind. Lalu’s dream is to see his son Tejashwi as CM during his lifetime. But a master strategist like Lalu knows, caste votes are now fully divided in Bihar. Lalu knows Tejashwi cannot get a majority in this year’s assembly elections by relying on Congress and other smaller parties.
On the other hand, Nitish Kumar is leading a big alliance with BJP and he can win the assembly elections hands down to become the CM again. But Tejashwi feels, Nitish Kumar, because of old age, is now tired and this is a golden opportunity for him to come to power. Tejashwi is quite clear in his mind that he would not be joining hands with “Nitish Chacha”.
On his part, Nitish Kumar has also said that he had committed mistakes twice in the past (in joining hands with RJD), and he would not do so for the third time. BJP has already announced that it has no problem with accepting Nitish as chief minister again.
Then why this politically mischievous statement from Lalu? The old warhorse is a clever player in politics. He is a master in creating confusions. Nitish’s record of crossing over to the other camp is already bad. That’s why Lalu made this remark with a view to get some political gain. But the fallout took place in his own party, RJD, this time. For the first time, both father and son appeared to be towing two different lines. Both appear to disagree on the issue of joining hands with Nitish. The confusion is clearly in the RJD.