Tag: BJP

Doctor Part of Inspection Team in Patna Now Patient of Dengue, Chikungunya.

Source – news18.com

An entomologist from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, New Delhi, who was visiting Patna to inspect the houses breeding dengue spreading mosquito Aedes aegypti larvae, has been tested positive for dengue.

Dr Ram Singh, joint director of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), and head of the Centre for Medical Entomology and Vector Management, New Delhi, was sent to Patna on October 3, Hindustan Times reported. However, he was rushed to sickbay after he was tested positive for dengue and chikungunya on Saturday.

Dr Ram Singh is one of the members of the central team dispatched by Union Minister of State for Health Ashwini Kumar Choubey, to help prevent the spread of mosquito-borne diseases in Patna and other parts of Bihar that witnessed rains between September 27 and 29.

Singh, who is suffering from high-grade fever and excruciating pain in joint, could not return to the national capital with the rest of the members of the team on Saturday. A fortnight-long operation by the Central team in Bihar came to an end this weekend.

Dengue, chikungunya and other mosquito-borne diseases including malaria, zika virus, and Yellow fever spread during monsoon and post-monsoon seasons. These mosquitoes breed in fresh stagnant water.

Initial symptoms of dengue include high fever and severe headache which is usually accompanied by fatigue, rashes, vomiting, soaring of eyes, joint and muscles pain among others.

Singh said he has been shivering with high fever and have pain in my joints since Friday. “I had to return to Delhi yesterday (Saturday) but am still here under the care of Dr Krishna Pandey of the Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (RMRIMS) after my blood serum test tested positive for Dengue and Chikungunya,” he added.

During the inspection, Dr Singh had visited a number of waterlogged houses to check for larvae of dengue spreading mosquitoes. He was accompanied by microbiologists and entomologists who collected the samples of water from piped sources and tanks to check for the presence of microbes and those in buckets, planters, toys, pools, birdbaths, flowerpots, or trash containers, to check vector density of Dengue.

Health camps were also set up by the Central team and blood samples of patients with fever and other dengue-like symptoms were collected. The Central team concluded its operation on October 18 after consultation with the state government.

The Central team included doctors from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi; Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, New Delhi; Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi; the National Institute of Malaria Research, New Delhi; Regional Malaria Research Centre, Bhubaneswar, directorate of National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP), New Delhi; the NCDC, New Delhi; AIIMS-Patna and the Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (RMRIMS), Patna.

Earlier, two BJP lawmakers of Bihar — Nitin Navin and Sanjiv Chaurasia — both residing in Patna, were tested positive for dengue.

So far this year, 2,538 people from Bihar have tested positive for dengue of which 1,916 are from the state capital Patna.

On the other hand, 293 patients were tested positive for Chikungunya, of which 268 were from Patna.

Dengue has claimed lives of at least five people in Patna since October 15, but the state government has so far not attributed any of these deaths to the mosquito-borne disease.

After success in Maharashtra polls and Bihar bypoll, AIMIM sets sight on Bihar, Jharkhand.

Source – livemint.com

HYDERABAD : After winning two new seats in the just concluded Maharashtra assembly elections and the Kishanganj assembly segment in the Bihar by-elections, the Hyderabad-based All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) has now set its sight on the upcoming Bihar and Jharkhand state polls which will be held next year.

AIMIM, led by member of parliament from the Hyderabad seat Asaduddin Owaisi, is all set to contest a chunk of the seats in both states, which might change the political landscape, especially for the Congress (which relies on minority or Muslim votes). In Maharashtra, the AIMIM contested 44 assembly seats and managed to win the Malegaon and Dhule City seats, getting about 7.4 lakh votes. It was an increase from the 5 lakh votes in the 2014 pols, where it contested 24 seats.

In the Kishanganj bypoll in Bihar, the AIMIM’s Qamrul Hoda won the seat with a margin of over 10,000 votes the BJP’s Sweety Singh. More interestingly, the Congress lost its deposit, getting just 25,825 votes, indicating a shift among Muslims voters. The seat falls under the Seemanchal region, which is one of the most backward areas In Bihar.

“Right now we are focussed on building our organizational strength. We had 1.5 lakh members and that may not go up to five lakh, and our aim is to have 15 lakh members across Bihar till December. The voters in Seemanchal and other areas now have faith in Barrister (Owaisi), who has raised various issues of ours in the parliament. Minority areas in Bihar are the most deprived from decades,” said Adil Hassan, leader of AIMIM’s youth wing in Bihar.

Hassan did not say how many seats the AIMIM plans to contest in the Bihar state polls next year. Another AIMIM leader, who did not want to be quoted, said that in the 2015 elections, the party had contested in just six seats of the 24 in the Seemanchal region, and that a decision will be taken on the final tally later for both Bihar and Jharkhand. “We will be contesting in Bihar for the first time, and will also put up tribal candidates,” he added.

While the AIMIM lost both the Byculla and Aurangabad Central assembly seats (which it won in 2014), the party would have won a few more had its alliance with the Prakash Ambedkar-led Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (an alliance of Ambedkar’s Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh and other caste/community organizations) gone through. The VBA, which managed to get significant deposits in some the 250-plus seats it contested (like Aurangabad Central), however, did not win any seats.

“The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress would have won some more seats had the VBA and AIMIM not been in the fray. This very much goes much in line with what Owaisi said during the results of the 2019 general elections, that the myth of the Muslim vote bank has been broken. He said that if there is any vote bank, it is the Hindu vote bank (with the BJP),” said political analyst Palwai Raghavendra Reddy.

Reddy added that the results of the Maharashtra state polls and the Bihar bye-poll will only help Owaisi and the AIMIM in expanding across the country. “He will go ahead with his plans, and it is to be seen how the opposition and Congress will deal with that situation,” he opined.

Regional parties eye political pie in State polls.

Source – dailypioneer.com

Despite the NaMo wave in the country and the State, where the BJP repeated its 2014 feat of victory on 12 out of 14 Lok Sabh seats in 2019 General Elections, several regional and smaller political parties are enthusiastically eyeing to make their political ground in Jharkhand. So much so that a number of parties have already announced the number of seats, on which they will field their candidates.

While the Nitish Kumar led Janta Dal United has decided to go alone in State Assembly polls, terming its alliance with the National Democratic Alliance just for Lok Sabha polls, it has also made announcement of tentative candidates for about 14 seats in the State.

 The party that had two legislators in the third Assembly of the State, is eyeing its traditional voters alongwith the Kurmi voters, who play a significant role in Jharkhand politics.

The AAP Jharkhand unit has also got a shot in the arm after former Jharkhand cadre IPS officer and ex State in-charge of Congress Dr Ajoy Kumar joined the party recently. The party is also ready to contest elections on more than 40 seats and organising workers conferences across various Assembly segments.

“Our assessment of applications on 40-42 seats across the State is going on. It’s a process through which we finalise whether to contest elections on a particular seat or not. It mainly depends on the number of active workers in the area and also the background of applicants is checked before a name is finalised.

We have been organising workers conferences in Ranchi, Dhanbad, Jamshedpur and other prominent places of the State to boost the morale of workers,” said Rajesh Kumar, Spokesperson AAP, Jharkhand.Similarly, The Nationalist Congress Party, State unit has announced to contest elections on 30 seats in Jharkhand. Former Minister and State president of NCP Kamlesh Kumar Singh said that they were in constant touch with other opposition parties to get into an alliance.

 If there is an alliance, the NCM will contest on 10 seats. However, if the NCP is not in any alliance it will contest polls on 30 seats, he added.

The All India Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), which has won two Assembly seats in Maharashtra and one seat in Bihar in the recent elections, is also gearing up to field its candidates in the coming elections. AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, who had recently organised a rally in the Capital city has been getting scores of letters and calls for candidature in the polls.

The AIMIM has recently announced that it will contest the State elections on 50 seats if there is no alliance with likeminded parties. The party has claimed that it will win at least 12 seats this time.

Opposition looks to build on state poll results in winter session, Jharkhand polls.

Source – livemint.com

NEW DELHI : The performance of Congress – Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in Maharashtra, one of the most time tested political alliances, has given hope to opposition parties to build upon the peformance to boost index of opposition unity particularly in upcoming winter session and Jharkhand polls later this year. The development comes on the back of the failure of opposition parties to come together on a broader national pitch during Lok Sabha elections earlier this year.

While the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is on course to form government in both the recently polled states of Maharashtra and Haryana, the opposition parties in both the states managed to increase their tally compared to previous election. In Haryana, chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar led BJP could not cross half way mark and had to take support from Dushyant Chautala led Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) to make its bid for power.

Opposition parties, particularly Congress, is now hopeful that the result could be used to build consensus upon electoral understandings, political positioning and policy views. Senior opposition leaders say that the immediate impact of this can be seen in upcoming winter session of Parliament and elections in Jharkhand slated for later this year.

“There has always been issue based understanding between all the key opposition parties but Thursday’s result will boost that unity. NCP has always been a strong ally of ours and Maharashtra’s performance showcases that when opposition parties are together then the BJP faces a stiff competiton. We are hopeful that a similarly strong alliance is struck ahead of Jharkhand polls,” a senior Congress leader said requesting anonymity.

In Jharkhand, Congress is in talks with Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Left Parties to contest the upcoming state polls. The opposition’s performance in the BJP incumbent state will be crucial as just five months ago, the NDA had won 12 out of 14 Lok Sabha seats.

Opposition parties are also hopeful that the state polls’ performance will boost greater coordination on the floor of Parliament during winter session. Two key issues which a united opposition is likely to take up in the session includes state of economy and situation in Jammu and Kashmir. The issue of Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank could also be taken up by both Congress and NCP in the next session of Parliament.

Bypolls: BJP, allies come first, AIMIM gains toehold in Bihar.

Source – indiatoday.in

The BJP and its allies on Thursday won 26 of the 51 assembly seats at stake in the bypolls across 18 states and the Congress emerged victorious in 12 constituencies while Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM tasted its maiden electoral success in Bihar.

In bye-elections to two Lok Sabha seats, Prince Raj of the Lok Jan Shakti Party won in Samastipur (SC) in Bihar defeating Ashok Kumar of the Congress, while Shriniwas Dadasaheb Patil of the NCP emerged victorious in Maharashtra’s Satara constituency over Udyanraje Pratapsinhmaharaj Bhonsle of the BJP.

The Samajwadi Party turned out to be a major gainer in Uttar Pradesh, wresting a seat each from the ruling BJP and the BSP, while the NDA got eight, one less than it held.

The SP wrested Zaidpur seat from the BJP and Jalalpur seat from the BSP, while retaining Rampur. The BJP won seven seats and its ally Apna Dal (S) bagged one.

The BJP, which yielded Zaidpur to the SP, retained Balha, Gangoh, Manikpur, Ghosi, Iglas, Lucknow Cantt and Govindnagar, while Apna Dal (S) retained Pratapgarh.

Setback for JDU

The ruling JD(U) suffered a setback in Bihar managing to win only one of the four seats it contested. Bypolls were held in five seats of which RJD won two and AIMIM one. The remaining seat was won by an Independent.

The results gave the once mighty RJD a reason to smile, while Hyderabad MP Owaisi’s AIMIM gained a toehold in the state clinching Kishanganj, a Muslim dominated constituency. BJP rebel candidate Karnjeet Singh won the Dharaunda seat as an Independent.

The JD(U) could win only Nathnagar where its candidate Laxmi Kant Mandal beat Rabia Khatun of the RJD by little over 5,000 votes.

Of the five seats where by-polls were held, four were held by BJP ally the JD(U) and one by the Congress.

Among the states ruled by the BJP and its allies, bypolls were held for the maximum 11 seats in Uttar Pradesh, followed by six in Gujarat, five in Bihar, four in Assam and two each in Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Other states where bypolls were held

The other states where bypolls were held are Punjab (4 seats), Kerala (5 seats), Sikkim (3 seats), Rajasthan (2 seats) and one seat each in Arunachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Puducherry, Meghalaya and Telangana.

The BJP and its allies held nearly 30 of these assembly seats, while the Congress had won 12 and the rest were with regional parties.

In a morale booster after the Lok Sabha poll drubbing months ago, the ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu wrested two seats from arch-rival DMK and its ally Congress. AIADMK won by impressive margins in Vikravandi and Nanguneri constituencies.

In Kerala, the Congress-led UDF tasted defeat at the hands of the ruling LDF headed by the CPI-M in its strongholds of Vattiyoorkavu and Konni, while it retained two seats and won from the Marxist bastion of Aroor.

Thiruvananthapuram Mayor V K Prasanth won from Vattiyoorkavu by a margin of over 14,465 votes against his nearest Congress rival K Mohankumar.

Another UDF bastion, Konni, went to the LDF kitty with its candidate K U Jenish Kumar winning by 9,953 votes defeating P Mohanraj (Cong).

However, the LDF tasted defeat at Aroor, a CPI(M) stronghold where UDF’s Shanimol Usman, who had unsuccessfully contested the April Lok Sabha poll from Alappuzha, won with a margin of 2079 votes.

Usman defeated her nearest rival Manu C Pulickal of the LDF by a margin of 2,079 votes.

The UDF won the Manjeshwaram seat where M C Kamaruddin (IUML) won by a margin of 7,923 votes against BJP’s Raveesh Thanthri Kuntar.

It retained the Ernakulam seat as its candidate T J Vinod, deputy Mayor of Kochi corporation, defeated his nearest rival advocate Manu Roy, the LDF-Independent candidate by over 3,750 votes.

The defeat at Vatiyoorkavu and Konni comes as a rude shock for the UDF which had won 19 of the 20 Lok Sabha seats in the Lok Sabha polls in May.

Following the bypoll outcome, the LDF’s strength has now gone up to 93, while that of UDF 45 in the 140-member house.

In Madhya Pradesh, the Congress wrested back its traditional Jhabua assembly seat from the BJP. Congress candidate and former Union minister Kantilal Bhuria won by a margin of over 27,804 votes, defeating BJP’s Bhanu Bhuria.

The Congress lost the seat to BJP in last year’s assembly polls with GS Damor defeating Kantilal Bhuria’s son Vikrant Bhuria by 10,437 votes. However, the BJP fielded Damor in the general elections from the Ratlam-Jhabua seat, which he won by defeating Kantilal Bhuria.

The Congress now has 115 members, one short of simple majority in the 230-member house. It enjoys the support of 4 Independents, two BSP MLAs and one SP MLA.

The ruling Congress in Rajasthan increased its tally in the state assembly by winning the bypoll to Mandawa seat while MP Hanuman Beniwal’s Rashtriya Loktantrik Party retained the Khinwsar seat.

Congress’s Rita Chaudhary won from Mandawa by a margin of 33,704 votes while RLP candidate Narayan Beniwal won Khinwsar by 4,630 votes.

Now the Congress tally in the 200-member assembly has increased to 107, including six those who had defected to the party from the BSP last month. The BJP has 72 MLAs. The RLP now has three MLAs.

The ruling Congress consolidated its position in Punjab winning three assembly segments while opposition Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) won one seat, where bypolls were held.

Raminder Awla defeated SAD nominee Raj Singh Dibipura by 16,633 votes from Jalalabad, considered an Akali bastion.

Earlier, the segment was represented by Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, who was elected to the Lok Sabha in May.

In Phagwara, which fell vacant after sitting BJP MLA Som Parkash was elected to the Lok Sabha, Congress candidate and former IAS officer Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal defeated BJP nominee Rajesh Bagha by a margin of 26,116 votes.

Congress’s Indu Bala won from Mukerian by defeating BJP’s Jangi Lal Mahajan by a margin of 3,440 votes.

But the ruling party suffered a setback as SAD’s Manpreet Singh Ayali defeated its nominee Sandeep Singh Sandhu by a margin of 14,672 votes in Dakha.

TRS defeats Congress in Telangana’s Huzurnagar

The ruling TRS in Telangana won the Huzurnagar seat with its nominee S Saidi Reddy defeating Congress rival N Padmavati Reddy.

The BJP in Assam won three seats with its candidates Bijoy Malakar (Ratabari), Rajen Borthakur (Rangapara) and Nabanita Handique (Sonari) defeating their respective Congress opponents. All India United Democratic Front’s Rafiqul Islam prevailed over Congress’s Shamsul Hoque in Jania.

In Himachal Pradesh, the ruling BJP retained both the Dharamshala and Pachhad seats. In Pachhad, Reena Kashyap defeated her nearest rival, former minister Gangu Ram Musafir of the Congress, by a margin of 2,742 votes.

Vishal Nehria defeated Independent Rakesh Kumar by a margin of 6,758 votes in Dharamshala.

In Puducherry, the ruling Congress retained the Kamaraj Nagar Assembly seat with its nominee A John Kumar defeating his nearest AINRC rival S Bhuvaneswarane by a margin of 7,170 votes.

With this win, the Congress’s strength in the assembly has been restored to 15 in which the Congress enjoys the support of the DMK, its alliance partner, from outside.

The bypoll was necessitated after the incumbent legislator V Vaithilingam (Congress) quit following his election to the Lok Sabha from the lone seat here in April.

The ruling Congress won the bypoll from the Naxal-affected Chitrakot constituency, reserved for Scheduled Tribes, in Chhattisgarh with Rajman Benzam defeating Lachhuram Kashyap of the BJP by a margin of 17,862 votes.

BJD candidate Rita Sahu won the Bijepur Assembly seat in Odisha defeating Sanat Gartia of the BJP by 97,990 votes, which is the highest-ever margin in the history of the state’s assembly polls.

Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang aka PS Golay won the bypoll to the Poklok Kamrang Assembly seat by 8,953 votes. The Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) founder defeated his nearest rival Moses Rai of the Sikkim Democratic Front.

The SKM’s alliance partner BJP tasted its first electoral victory in the northeastern state winning the Martam Rumtek and Gangtok seats.

Sonam TSH Venchungpa won from Martam Rumtek seat, defeating his nearest rival Nuk Tshering Bhutia of the SDF by 6,150 votes while Yong Tshering Lepcha beat Delay Namgyal Barfungpa of the Sikkim National People’s Party by 1,010 votes in Gangtok.

Former Indian football team captain Bhaichung Bhutia, who contested from Gangtok seat on a Hamro Sikkim Party ticket, managed to bag only 579 votes.

The ruling SKM’s tally in the 32-member House has now gone up to 19 while the BJP’s strength in the House is 12. Ten SDF legislators had earlier switched to the BJP.

United Democratic Party candidate Balajied Kupar Synrem won the bypoll to Shella constituency in Meghalaya by over 6,000 votes. The bye-election was necessitated due to the death of UDP president Donkupar Roy, who had represented the seat for a record seven times, earlier this year. Synrem is Donkupar Roy’s son.

In Arunachal Pradesh, Independent candidate Chakat Aboh, wife of National People’s Party (NPP) leader Tirong Aboh who was shot dead in May, emerged victorious defeating another independent nominee Azet Homtok by 1,887 votes.

BJP and the Congress shared the spoils in Gujarat

The ruling BJP and the Congress shared the spoils in Gujarat winning three seats each. OBC leader Alpesh Thakor, who switched sides from the Congress to the BJP, lost from Radhanpur by a margin of 3,807 votes to Congress’s Raghubhai Desai.

Congress candidate Jashu Patel defeated BJP’s Dhavalsinh Zala in Bayad, while in Tharad, Congress nominee Gulabsinh Rajput prevailed over BJP’s Jivraj Patel.

In Kheralu seat, BJP’s Ajmalji Thakor beat Congress’s Babuji Thakor.

In Lunawada, BJP’s Jignesh Sevak beat Congress’s Gulabsinh Chauhan while in Amraiwadi, Congress’s Dharmendra Patel lost to BJP’s Jagdish Patel.

Mad rush among Congress, JMM MLAs in Jharkhand to join BJP.

Source – indiatoday.in

Speculations are rife that three MLAs from the Congress and three MLAs from Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) camp may join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on October 23.

The reports come just ahead of formal announcement for Assembly elections in Jharkhand.

It may come as a jolt for the Congress and JMM. The list doing rounds in political circles includes the name of former state Congress president and MLA from Lohardagga Sukhdev Bhagat, formidable MLA from Barhi (Hazaribag) Manoj Yadav and Badal Patralekh from Jarmundi (Dumka).

The JMM is also said to face desertion.

MLA from Bahragora Kunal Sarangi (Jamshedpur), Chamra Linda from Bishunpur (Gumla) and MLA from Mandu (Ramgarh) JP Patel are likely to join the BJP on Wednesday.

The Congress had nine MLAs. The party will be reduced to six if the three MLAs make their way to join the BJP. Similarly, the JMM will also be left with 16 MLAs if the three MLAs say goodbye to the party.

Most of the MLAs could not be contacted. Their phones are either switched off or not reachable hinting at them joining a new party.

Kunal Sarangi has confirmed that he will join the BJP. He said that he has no differences with Hemant Soren and will continue to enjoy a very good personal rapport with him in future.

The MLAs and many leaders aspiring for a good career in politics see prospects and a bright future for themselves in the BJP.

NDA will Win All seats in Bihar Bypolls, Says Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan

Source: news18.com

New Delhi: BJP ally and Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan said on Friday that the ruling NDA will win all seats going to Lok Sabha and Assembly bypolls in Bihar on October 21, asserting that a “divided and discredited” opposition stands no chance.

Polls will be held in five Assembly seats and the Lok Sabha constituency of Samastipur as incumbent MLAs were elected to Parliament during the recent general election while MP Ram Chandra Paswan died of a heart attack.

All three NDA parties — BJP, JD(U) and LJP — are involved in the elections. While the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) is contesting in four Assembly seats, the BJP and the LJP have put up their candidate in an Assembly and the Lok Sabha seat respectively.

Ram Chandra Paswan’s son Prince Raj is fighting from Samastipur.

“All our candidates will emerge victorious. We have run a united campaign and people have full faith in the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Kumar,” LJP president Ram Vilas Paswan said.

The opposition ‘mahagathbandhan’ (grand alliance) is divided and discredited, he added.

With unity eluding the grand alliance, some of its partners have put up their candidates after its two main partners, RJD and the Congress, divided all the seats between them.

His party, he said, has also deployed its workers to campaign for the BJP in Maharashtra and Haryana Assembly polls. He expressed confidence that the saffron party will retain power in both the states.

Amit Shah Ends Speculation Over Who Will Lead Bihar Poll Campaign

Source: ndtv.com

PATNA: Nitish Kumar will remain the Chief Minister of Bihar after the 2020 assembly election, which the BJP will fight under his leadership, the party’s national chief Amit Shah has said. “The Janata Dal (United) and the BJP will go to polls together and we will fight polls under the leadership of Nitish ji. This is absolutely clear,” the Union Home Minister said in an interview to News18 on Wednesday.

Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal United and the BJP are in a coalition government in Bihar. Leaders from both sides have often aired passive aggressive views over who would lead the election battle formation in the eastern state. Amit Shah’s assertion is likely to put to rest any speculation over who will lead the alliance campaign.

Mr Shah admitted there were some differences over who would lead the campaign. But he added that in collation politics, differences are signs of a healthy relationship and there should be no “manbhed” (argument) on this.

Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister from the BJP, Sushil Kumar Modi, has already said that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will contest under Nitish Kumar’s leadership. But until now, there was no official word from the BJP’s leadership.

Mr Shah’s comment has come as a big relief for all those working behind the scenes to ensure the alliance remains intact, especially after relentless attacks on Nitish Kumar by Union Minister Giriraj Singh, who criticised the Chief Minister almost every day after heavy rain led to unprecedented flooding in state capital Patna earlier this month.

When no BJP leader or MLA showed up for a Dussehra event in Patna’s Gandhi Maidan attended by Nitish Kumar, it was read as a sign of a widening rift between the allies.

Bihar BJP chief Sanjay Jaisawal has said Giriraj Singh’s comments cannot be seen as the party’s official line. “He (Mr Singh) speaks in his personal capacity. Only a statement by the party’s spokesperson should be treated as official,” Mr Jaisawal said.

The Bihar assembly election is due next year.

Giriraj Singh To Replace Nitish Kumar In Bihar After Assembly Polls? His Reply Shocks Everyone

Source: newsnation.in

It is being long speculated that Union minister and the firebrand leader of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Giriraj Singh is likely to replace Nitish Kumar as Chief Minister, if the Saffron party outscores JDU in Bihar Assembly polls. However, putting all the speculations to the bed, Giriraj Singh on Tuesday asserted that his political innings may “come to an end” with the completion of the second term of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

It is to be noted that that the clarification from Giriraj Singh comes in reply to the reporters’ queries about him being a probable chief ministerial candidate after the assembly polls in Bihar next year. The BJP leader said, “I am one of those party workers who entered public life to fulfil the dream of integration of Kashmir pursuing which Syama Prasad Mukherjee had sacrificed his life. PM Narendra Modi has achieved that.” 

“I did not enter politics to acquire positions of power. So now I see my political innings nearing its end. It may come to an end with the completion of Modi’s ongoing tenure, Giriraj Singh added.  

It is worth mentioning here that Assembly elections in Bihar for all 243 seats will be held in October 2020. The term of current assembly, which was elected in 2015, will culminate on November 29, 2020.  

Giriraj Singh is currently serving as the Minister of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries in Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government. In 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Giriraj Singh defeated CPI candidate Kanhaiya Kumar from the Begusarai parliamentary constituency.

RJD’s Raghuvansh Singh Joins Issue with Tejashwi Over ‘No Entry’ for Bihar CM Nitish Kumar

Source: news18.com

Patna: Fissures within the opposition RJD in Bihar came to the fore on Sunday when one of its founding members sought to join issue with the heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav over his proclamation of “no entry” for Chief Minister Nitish Kumar into the multi-party Grand Alliance.

Former Union minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, one of the national vice-presidents of the RJD, spoke disapprovingly of the remark made by Yadav jailed founding president Lalu Prasad’s younger son at a meeting of the party’s minority cell here last week.

“It does not sound like a political comment. And where does the question of no entry arise when we have not yet received a request for entry, in the first place,” Singh told reporters, when asked about the stance adopted by Yadav, who has been declared the party’s chief ministerial candidate for next assembly polls.

He also remarked wryly that “people tend to initially disagree with every idea that I propose. They tend to concur six months afterwards.

Notably, Singh has been advocating Kumar’s return to the Grand Alliance – which the latter walked out of in 2017 since the Lok Sabha elections earlier this year in which the five-party formation managed to win just one out of a total number of 40 seats in the state.

The RJD, which was floated by Lalu Prasad in 1997, contested 19 seats but drew a blank in the Lok Sabha elections its worst-ever performance since inception.

The poll debacle led to question marks being raised over the leadership of Tejashwi Yadav, who spearheaded the campaign for the Grand Alliance which comprises, besides the RJD, the Congress, former Union minister Upendra Kushwaha’s RLSP, former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAM and Bollywood set designer-turned-politician Mukesh Sahni’s VIP.

Allies like Manjhi have revolted, threatening to go it alone in the assembly elections due next year. Tejashwi Yadav, 29, went into a sulk after the Lok Sabha polls, refusing to attend party meetings and assembly session despite being the leader of the Opposition. He has shown signs of recovery from the shock with renewed interest

in political activities for the past few weeks.

He had made his political debut in the 2015 assembly polls which was followed by his appointment as Deputy Chief Minister at a tender age. His name, however, cropped up in a money laundering case relating to alleged irregular land deal under his father’s watch, when he was the Railway Minister from 2004 to 2009.

Nitish Kumar resigned as chief minister after the RJD refused to heed demands that the young leader step down. He formed a new government with the BJP, which promptly came up with an offer of support.

Kumar had made a made a veiled attack on Tejashwi Yadav a day after the latter made the “no entry” remark. “Some of their leaders come up with an idea. Somebody

else rises up and says no, it is not needed. Little do they realise that nobody is giving them any importance,” Kumar had said at the JD(U)’s state council meeting, without mentioning Yadav or his party by name.

He had also asserted that the NDA in Bihar, which also includes BJP and Ram Vilas Paswan’s LJP, will win “more than 200” seats in the 243-strong state assembly.