Category: Jharkhand

BJP’s ally problem in poll-bound Jharkhand.

Source – indiatoday.in

For the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which lost an opportunity to form a government in Maharashtra because of the difficult attitude of ally Shiv Sena, it may not be an end of story in terms of problems from partners as it was facing a similar situation in poll-bound Jharkhand too.

In Jharkhand, where elections to its 81-member Assembly will be held in five phases from November 30, the BJP will have to fight against one of its oldest alliance partners, the Janata Dal-United (JD-U), which has decided to contest separately on all the seats in the state.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had made the party’s stand clear during the national council meeting last week in New Delhi, where he was re-elected as the JD-U chief for a second consecutive time.

A senior JD-U leader said the party will contest independently in the five-phased Jharkhand Assembly polls and not in alliance with the BJP.

The JD-U has a history of snubbing the BJP.

In 2013, after the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was projected as the BJP’s Prime Ministerial face, the JD-U opposed the move and walked out of the alliance.

After the debacle in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the JD-U stitched a Grand Alliance with Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress in the state for the 2015 Assembly polls.

The Grand Alliance comprising the three parties cornered the BJP in the Assembly polls in the state. However in June 2017, the JD-U walked out of the alliance and again joined the NDA to form a government in the state.

The BJP and the JD-U contested on equal number of seats in the state during the Lok Sabha polls. However, the Nitish Kumar-led party did not join the Cabinet over differences on the respectable representation in the government.

Following the snubbing at the Centre, Nitish Kumar also did not gave more prominence to the BJP in the state in his cabinet expansion.

The JD-U also did not back the Modi government’s ambitious Triple Talaq Bill in Parliament.

On the other hand, the BJP is also facing an uphill task of gaining the trust of other allies in the state.

The BJP had the Hemant Soren-led Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) as an alliance partner in the state till 2012. But the JMM also ditched the BJP and joined hands with the Congress in the state.

The Grand Alliance consisting of the JMM-Congress and the RJD have already announced their alliance in the state with Soren as its Chief Ministerial candidate.

The JMM will be contesting on 43 seats while the Congress 31, leaving the rest of the seven seats to the RJD.

The 81-member Jharkhand Assembly is set to go for a five-phased election from November 30 to December 20. The counting of votes will take place on December 23.

Murder, Rs 130-crore scam accused: BJP fields tainted candidates in Jharkhand polls.

Source – indiatoday.in

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which generally talks about morality in politics, seems to be going the opposite way in the upcoming Jharkhand Assembly elections. A lot of candidates belonging to other parties earlier have been given tickets by the party and it also includes some of those who have serious allegations of corruption against them.

Two candidates who recently joined the BJP are Bhanu Pratap Shahi, who was a minister in Madhu Koda’s government and is now the BJP candidate from Bhavnathpur Assembly constituency and is accused in a Rs 130 crore medicine scam. The second is Shashi Bhushan Mehta, who has been given the ticket from Panki and is accused of killing a teacher working in his school.

As per court sources, the chargesheet submitted by the CBI and the ED in the 2008 medicine scam has the name of Bhanu Pratap Shahi, who has been included in the first list of 52 candidates by the BJP.

According to sources, the government made a provision to purchase medicines from public sector undertakings under the National Rural Health Mission but Shahi, during the Madhu Koda government, defied the rules and purchased a huge quantity of medicines from private companies.

Shahi was arrested in this case in 2011 and is out on bail since 2013. Sources say that Shahi is an accused in a money laundering case also. The BJP leaders are also not happy with the party for giving tickets to such people. This is the reason Anant Pratap Dev, a former MLA from Bhawanthpur constituency, quit the BJP and joined the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU).

“I never thought that the party which used to talk about morality is now giving tickets to the tainted leaders. Everyone knows about corruption during the Madhu Koda government. The BJP in the state won the elections on the issue of corruption only. Bhanu Pratap Shahi is facing several charges and all these things were ignored,” Dev told IANS.

Mehta, accused of killing a teacher of his school, joined the BJP in October and has been given the ticket from Panki whereas there has been no announcement on giving a ticket to the whistleblower in the fodder scam and senior BJP minister Saryu Rai.

Jharkhand Assembly Polls 2019: AJSU party announces first list.

Source – moneycontrol.com

Jharkhand’s ruling NDA constituent, the AJSU party, on November 11 announced the first list of 12 candidates.

Party president Sudesh Kumar Mahto was re-nominated to contest from Silli assembly constituency. Mahto had lost the seat in 2014 assembly polls.

The party also named Jharkhand Water Resources Minister Ramchandra Sahis to contest from Jugsalai, a party release issued here said.

The AJSU party also nominated Kushwaha Shiv Pujan Mehta, who won the Hussainabad seat on Bahujan Samaj Party ticket in 2014 assembly elections and recently joined the AJSU party, from the same constituency.

Former minister Umakant Razzak has been re-nominated to contest from Chandankiyari, which he lost in the last polls.

Niru Shanti Bhagat, who has been re-nominated from Lohardaga, is the wife of party leader Kamal Kishore Bhagat, who won the seat in 2014, but was disqualified after his conviction in a case. In the subsequent bypoll held in December 2015, Sukhdeo Bhagat, contesting on Congress ticket defeated Niru Shanti Bhagat.

Sukhdeo Bhagat, who held the post of Jharkhand PCC president, joined the BJP last month, apparently with the hope of getting Lohardaga seat.

Lohardaga is not in the BJP’s first list of 52 candidates announced on Sunday.

The five-phase election to the Jharkhand assembly is beginning on November 30 and the last phase will be held on December 20.Counting will be taken up on December 23.


All Jharkhand Students Union Announces First List Of Candidates For Polls.

Source – ndtv.com

RANCHI: Jharkhand’s ruling NDA constituent, the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) party, on Monday announced the first list of 12 candidates.

Party president Sudesh Kumar Mahto was re-nominated to contest from Silli assembly constituency. Mr Mahto had lost the seat in 2014 assembly polls.

The party also named Jharkhand Water Resources Minister Ramchandra Sahis to contest from Jugsalai, a party release issued said.

The AJSU party also nominated Kushwaha Shiv Pujan Mehta, who won the Hussainabad seat on Bahujan Samaj Party ticket in 2014 assembly elections and recently joined the AJSU party, from the same constituency.

Former minister Umakant Razzak has been re-nominated to contest from Chandankiyari, which he lost in the last polls.

Niru Shanti Bhagat, who has been re-nominated from Lohardaga, is the wife of party leader Kamal Kishore Bhagat, who won the seat in 2014, but was disqualified after his conviction in a case.

In the subsequent bypoll held in December 2015, Sukhdeo Bhagat, contesting on Congress ticket defeated Niru Shanti Bhagat.

Sukhdeo Bhagat, who held the post of Jharkhand PCC president, joined the BJP last month, apparently with the hope of getting Lohardaga seat.

Lohardaga is not in the BJP’s first list of 52 candidates announced on Sunday.

The five-phase election to the Jharkhand assembly is beginning on November 30 and the last phase will be held on December 20. Counting will be taken up on December 23.

LJP Ready to Contest Jharkhand Assembly Election on its Own: Chirag Paswan.

Source – news18.com

Patna: Lok Janshakti Party national president Chirag Paswan on Monday said the party is ready to contest the coming assembly poll in Jharkhand on its own. BJP has announced candidates for most of the seats in the state which the LJP had sought from the saffron party as a partner of the NDA.

Election for the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly will be held in five phases beginning on November 30. Paswan emphasised that LJP will not accept seats given to it in as “tokens” this time.

BJP, which is seeking to retain power in Jharkhand amid a determined bid by opposition parties, released its first list of 52 candidates on Sunday for the assembly polls.

Paswan had categorically said a few days ago that LJP would like to contest assembly elections in Jharkhand under the banner of NDA and conveyed this to the alliance leaders. “Now, there are no talks on contesting polls as an alliance. We will take a decision by late evening today as LJP is ready to contest assembly elections on its own,” he told reporters here.

LJP will not accept seats given to it as a “token” this time, Paswan said. “We had demanded six seats as part of the alliance(NDA) but BJP on Sunday declared candidates for most of the seats that we had demanded.”

“If we are offered seats under the alliance where our party (LJP) is not prepared properly or does not have strong candidates, then we will not contest such seats,” he said. The LJP leader said that the party’s Jharkhand unit has been for contesting the assembly polls on its own as the party’s organisation has become stronger and it has better candidates than before.

The state unit has sent a list of 37 seats to the party’s central office which it wants to contest, Paswan said.

BJP releases first list of 52 candidates for Jharkhand polls, CM Raghubar Das to contest from Jamshedpur.

Source – hindustantimes.com

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday announced its first list of 52 candidates for the assembly election in Jharkhand which is scheduled to be held later this month.

The list includes 17 Scheduled Tribe (ST), 21 Other Backward Class (OBC) and five women candidates, the BJP’s general secretary Arun Singh announced.

As many as 30 MLAs have got tickets, and 10 have been dropped from the list.

Chief minister Raghubar Das will contest from Jamshedpur east and state president Laxman Giluwa from Chakradharpur. Several turncoats such as Bhanu Pratap Shahi also have got BJP ticket.

Jharkhand has 81 assembly seats and the BJP is discussion an alliance with the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) of former minister Sudesh Mahto.

Mahto is asking for about 18 seats but the BJP is willing to offer just 10.

A formal announcement about the alliance is expected in a couple of days.

The state elections will be held in five phases beginning November 30 and the counting of votes will take place on December 23.

In the first phase on November 30, voting will be held on 13 assembly seats. Then, 20 constituencies will vote on December 7, 17 on December 12 and 15 constituencies on December 16.

In the fifth and the last round, voting will take place on 16 assembly seats on December 20 and the results will be declared three days later.

The term of the outgoing assembly expires on January 1, 2020.

Jharkhand BJP MLA from Barhi Joins Congress Ahead of Assembly Polls.

Source – news18.com

Ranchi/Hazaribag: Former BJP MLA from Jharkhand’s Barhi constituency, Uma Shankar Akela, on Sunday joined the Congress ahead of the Assembly polls in the state.

Akela joined the Congress in New Delhi in the presence of AICC in-charge RPN Singh and Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee president Rameshwar Oraon, Hazaribag district Congress leader Devraj Kushwaha said.

Kushwaha claimed that Akela joined the Congress after not being given a BJP ticket from Barhi Assembly seat in the upcoming elections in the state.

Akela had won the Barhi seat in the 2009 Assembly elections, but lost in the 2014 polls to Manoj Yadav of the Congress.

Yadav has recently joined the BJP and got a ticket from the seat. Akela is hoping to contest the elections from Barhi seat on a Congress ticket, party sources said.

Polling will be held in Barhi seat on December 12. The five-phase polling to 81 seats in the state Assembly will begin on November 30 and end on December 20. Counting of the votes will take place on December 23.

Meanwhile, NDA’s ally AJSU Party is scheduled to meet the BJP leadership on Sunday night to discuss seat-sharing, a party leader said. When asked about the number of seats AJSU Party will

demand from the BJP, party president Sudesh Mahto told PTI that the details will be disclosed following the meeting.

Mahto, a former deputy chief minister, said his party will announce its manifesto on November 14.

Earlier in the day, the BJP announced its first list of 52 candidates for the Assembly polls in the state.

Mob lynching in Jharkhand: Mubarak becomes latest victims of lynchings.

Source – enewsroom.in

Ranchi: Mubarak Ansari, 48, becomes 22nd mob lynching victims in Jharkhand. While Akhtar Ansari, 26, has managed to live on, despite receiving serious injuries from a mob thrashing. He  is undergoing treatment in a hospital in Bokaro district of Jharkhand.

Mubarak and Akhtar were accused of stealing a battery from a truck in Govindpur colony of Bokaro. The two accused hail from a village closeby. On Nov 5, the duo was intercepted by the owners, in Govindpur, when the they were allegedly whisking away a truck battery. Following which the owners invited many more resident, who tied Mubarak to a pole and began to mercilessly beat the two.

“We were mercilessly beaten from midnight to early morning of Nov 6. Only when some villagers of my village crossed by and identified us, that they called our village Sadar (local committee president), who informed the police,” said Akhtar in written complaint to the police.  Akhtar, is at present undergoing treatment,  also mentioned in the FIR that Mubarak succumbed to the injuries that he sustained due to mob lynching.

Like other lynching case, in this case too, the entire episode of Mubarak and Akhtar being lynched was recorded on camera. Female voices could also be heard inciting the mob and also demanding for a compensation.

Bokaro police has arrested four accused in this lynching case. Interestingly, in this case one of the arrested accused is a woman, who has been named in the FIR lodged by Akhtar.

The lynching of Mubarak is the latest one in the long list of at least 22 victims of lynching cases that has taken place in Jharkhand under Raghubar Das led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government. People have been lynched sometimes on the basis of alleged stealing charges, sometimes for transporting beef and cows and sometimes for child lifting or theft. And mostly Muslims or members from the scheduled tribe (tribals) and scheduled caste (dalits) have been victims of these heinous crimes that have been taking place in Jharkhand, over these three years.

A recent case of Tabrez Ansari was highlighted across the world and the issue was even raised in United States and in its Security Council.

However, only in two cases (Alimuddin Ansari of Ramgarh and Mazloom Ansari of Latehar), conviction of the accused took place at the lower courts.

While it is well known to every that killers of Alimuddin are on bail now and have even been felicitated by the Hazaribagh MP Jayant Sinha.

How fish farming transformed lives of dam displaced people in Jharkhand.

Source – downtoearth.org.in

Around 12,000 families lost their livelihood due when the Chandil dam came up in Jharkhand’s Saraikela Kharsawan district in the 1980s. Its reservoir on the Subarnarekha river submerged more than 100 villages.

The people affected struggled for decades with the Jharkhand government for better rehabilitation and employment.

Now they have found an alternative source of income — pisciculture.

Some of those displaced because of the dam formed a cooperative society in ’05 to rear fish in the reservoir. The right to fish in the waterbody that came up on their land was one of the demands of those affected by the project.

In the late 2000s, the Jharkhand government focused on developing fisheries as an alternative income source for the state’s farmers. The cooperative took the opportunity to benefit from the government’s push for commercial fishing in water bodies.

After testing some success the Jharkhand government introduced the cage culture in the state’s dam reservoirs to scale up commercial fish production in 2012-13.

Cage culture is an intensive fish farming technique in which fish are kept in cubicle-shaped net enclosures. It is ideal for controlled fishing in large waterbodies in which it is otherwise difficult to restrict fish movement.

Jharkhand’s catch of fish doubled to 208,450 tonnes in 2018-19 from 104,820 tonnes in 2013-14 because of cage culture. There is an annual demand for 200,000 tonnes in the state itself.

The state government trains farmers from across the state on various aspects of fish-rearing. To maximise profits, farmers prefer commercial fish such as Pangasius (Basa) for cage culture.

The fish take around nine months to reach a weight of around a kilogramme. At times the cultivators sell them even at six months. 

The Jharkhand government has presented fish farming as a success story, calling it the ‘Blue Revolution’. 

Some 128,000 fish farmers now rear fish in the state’s tanks, reservoirs, check dams, and coal pits across two lakh hectares.

Jharkhand polls: Leaders in Delhi to finalise lists.

Source – indiatoday.in

As polling day nears in Jharkhand, all the political parties are engrossed in finalising their candidates for the 81-seat Assembly.

Marathon meetings and hectic discussions are being conducted by the parties.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) have been the heavyweights in the elections here while regional parties like the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and All Jharkhand Students’ Union Party (AJSUP) also have stakes here.

For national parties like the BJP and the Congress, the scene has shifted to Delhi where state leaders are camping to finalise their lists.

A BJP leader said Chief Minister Raghubar Das, state party chief Lakshman Gilua, and other leaders are in Delhi as they were asked to reach the national capital. Before leaving for Delhi, the BJP’s state election committee met on Wednesday under Gilua’s chairmanship and a list of candidates was readied.

Sources in the BJP said the party’s central election committee would be meeting on November 8 where the names of the candidates will be finalised.

Sources also said that Suresh Mahato, chief of BJP ally All Jharkhand Student Union, has also reached Delhi to discuss the seat-sharing arrangement.

Congress state leaders, including state party chief Rameshwar Oraon and senior leaders like Aalamgir and Subodhkant Sahay have also moved to Delhi. Party spokesperson Kishore Shahdeo told IANS that the party’s screening committee had met on Wednesday. But, sources said that candidates could not be finalised as the seat-sharing arrangement with the JMM is yet to be finalised.

Congress sources said that the central election committee is likely to meet this week to finalise their candidates.

As the political parties are readying their lists, most of the aspirants are keeping a watch on the happenings in Delhi.

The Assembly polls in Jharkhand will be conducted in five phases from November 30 to December 20, an exercise spread over 21 days because of the Naxal problem that poses a security challenge.

Counting of votes will be taken up on December 23.

Of the 81 Assembly seats in Jharkhand, nine are reserved for the Scheduled Castes (SC) and 28 for the Scheduled Tribes (ST).