Tag: jharkhand

Jharkhand Assembly polls: Campaigning for final phase ends.

Source – newsonair.com

Campaigning for the fifth and final phase of Assembly elections in Jharkhand ended today.

Sixteen constituencies spread over Sahebganj, Pakur, Dumka, Jamtara, Deoghar and Godda districts of Santhal Pargana region will go to polls in this phase on Friday.

In five assembly segments of Borio, Barhait, Litipara, Maheshpur and Sikaripara campaigning ended at 3 PM due to security reasons. In the remaining 11 seats, campaigning concluded at 5 PM.

AIR Correspondent reports that star campaigners of political parties, including BJP, Congress, JMM, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha and AJSU, made the last-ditch efforts to woo voters.

Addressing an election meeting at Sarath in Deoghar, Executive President of BJP JP Nadda said if the party is voted to power a committee would be constituted to give additional reservation quota to OBCs, without affecting the existing reservation given to SC/STs.

Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Arjun Munda said the speed of development will be further stepped up if the BJP is voted to power again in Jharkhand.

Sharing dias with JMM and RJD leader in Pakur, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadera alleged that BJP leaders are making false promises before people of Jharkhand. Accusing Raghubar Das government, she said, tribals were deprived from their land right.

BJP leaders Babul Supriyo in Jamtara and Ravi Kishan in Godda held roadshows. JMM President Shibu Soren said, interests of tribal communities were ignored during the BJP rule. Jharkhand Vikas Morcha President Babulal Marandi assured people that his government will establish industries in Jharkhand.

AJSU President Sudesh Kumar Mahto said, his government will fill up vacant government posts immediately and allowance will be given to unemployed youth.

Leaders of RJD and the Left parties also addressed election rallies in support of their party candidates.

Ranchi shivers at 8.6°C

Source – telegraphindia.com

The prevailing cold wave in northern India has made way for the return of the morning chill in Jharkhand.

The dry and crisp north-westerly wind that is sweeping across the state has dragged down minimum temperatures below the 10°C mark in several places, including state capital Ranchi, and has ensured another 48 hours of bone-numbing chill.

Weathermen at the Ranchi centre of the India Meteorological Department on Wednesday predicted a drop of at least three degrees in minimum temperature in the next two days.

Besides the capital and Khunti , places such as Bokaro and its adjoining areas had a brush with the sub-10 jitters for the first time this winter.

Ranchi on Wednesday recorded a minimum reading of 8.6°C, one point below the average normal. On Tuesday, it was cosier at 14.6°C, which means the temperature plunged by six degrees in just 24 hours.

Kanke on the outskirts of the capital, which usually touches temperatures close to the freezing point in December, recorded a minimum of 9.6°C on Wednesday.

The mercury plungedto 10.5°C in Bokaro from 16.1°C on Tuesday, two points below normal.

In Jamshedpur, too, the Celsius has been on a plummeting spree. The local observatory on Wednesday recorded a minimum of 14.6°C against Tuesday’s 17.2°C. The reading on Wednesday was three notches below the average normal. Weathermen said a further fall in minimum reading was expected in the steel city in the next 48 hours.

The night temperature in Daltonganj nose-dived to 11.9°C from Tuesday’s 17°C, Wednesday’s reading being three notches below normal.

Chaibasa in West Singhbhum also witnessed the Celsius sliding to 12.8° from 16.6°, two notches below normal.

Minimum readings in Dumka, Giridih, Koderma, Hazaribagh, Dhanbad, Deoghar, Simdega , Gumla, Ramgarh and Seraikela-Kharsawan witnessed significant drops.

Early morning fog was witnessed in southern and central Jharkhand, including Jamshedpur.

Forecast of shallow and moderate fog in the state has been extended for another 48 hours.“The current spell of cold wave sweeping northern India has given fresh momentum to north wind. This is causing the Celsius slide in Jharkhand. Such weather is likely to prevail for a few days,” said S.D. Kotal, director of the Ranchi Met centre.

Polling peaceful in Jharkhand 4th phase, voting in 65 of 81 seats over.

Source – hindustantimes.com

Voting in the high-stakes fourth phase of Jharkhand assembly polls concluded on Monday. Voters came out in large number across 15 assembly constituencies, registering a 62.46% turnout, a marginal decline of 2.12% over 2014 assembly polls.

This phase will decide the fate of 221 candidates, including two ministers and 12 sitting legislators. Chief electoral officer (CEO) Vinay Kumar Choubey said, “Polling was peaceful with no untoward incident recorded from any constituency.”

He said the final voter turnout might change once the data is compiled in a couple of days. With this phase, polls have been completed in 65 of the 81 assembly seats in Jharkhand. Voters defied Maoists’ poll boycott call in a few pockets of Dhanbad and Giridih districts. Shankar Mahto, a voter in Sindri assembly constituency, said, “Polling started at 7am but the EVM was defunct by 9am. It was restored around 10.30am.”

Poll boycott was reported from a few booths in Jamua constituency under Giridih district. “We received reports of poll boycott from a few booths but it is being verified,” Choubey said.

The fate of several prominent candidates, including revenue and land reform minister Amar Kumar Bauri, labour, employment and training minister Raj Paliwar and former ministers Mannan Mallick, Haji Hussain Ansari and Mathura Mahto was sealed in the EVMs.

The phase is crucial for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as it had won 11 seats of the 15 in the 2014 assembly polls. The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), AJSU Party, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik (JVM-P) and Marxist Co-ordination Committee (MCC) bagged a seat each in the last assembly polls.

However, the BJP is confident of making clean sweep in the penultimate phase of Jharkhand polls. “We will win all 15 seats in the phase,” said BJP state spokesperson Pratul Shahdeo.

Likewise, Kishor Nath Shahdeo, spokesperson of the Congress, which allied with JMM and RJD, said, “We are giving good fight on 12 seats and hoping to win them all.” He said, “Voters’ aspirations remained unfulfilled in the past five years, there is resentment against the BJP. So, people have turned up to show their support for alliance candidates.”

‘Can’t Differentiate Miscreants Through Their Attire’: Mamata Banerjee Responds to Modi’s Charge.

Source – news18.com

Kolkata: Terming the ongoing violence and arson in the state over the citizenship law as a “few minor incidents”, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said just because the BJP has requisite numbers in Parliament, it cannot bully the states into enforcing the law.

Addressing a gathering against the Citizenship Act and the National Register for Citizenship (NRC), Mamata said, “They (BJP) are distinguishing people with their caps. They are identifying you with the clothes you wear. The country is passing through its worst phase and they talks about clothes.”

“Can they tell me who I am with the dress I am wearing? Can they tell me who is he (pointing at film director Gautam Ghose) with the dress he is wearing? What is going on?” she fumed.

Mamata’s comments came after Modi in a rally in Jharkhand had blamed the recent violence over the Citizenship Act blamed the Congress and “their allies” saying that those who are responsible can be identified by their clothes.

” Whatever the BJP is doing is for their own vested interest. They are indulging in divisive and hate politics, the result of which is in front of everyone. Look what is happening in Assam. Look what is happening in Tripura. In the coming days, even the citizens of BJP ruled states will also oppose this. According to them, we are not Indians. According to them, those who have fought for the freedom struggle are not Indians and they (BJP leaders/workers/supporters) are the only Indians,” Mamata said.

The Trinamool Congress supremo also spoke about the situation in Assam saying that nearly 100 people have committed suicide while others were shot dead.

“In Bengal 30, people have committed suicide due to NRC. Who will take the responsibility of their deaths?” she said and urged people to protest but not to take law and order in their own hands.

Mamata also claimed that the Centre has stopped railway services in the state over “one or two minor incidents” of violence. “Owing to one or two small incidents, the Centre has stopped railways services in Bengal. It is the duty of the Railway Protection Force personnel to protect railway property, yet we provided them support.

Condemning the violence at Jamia Millia University in Delhi, the CM said the “torture meted out to the students at the varsity was unprecedented”.

Alleging that the BJP was instigating violence in the country, she said the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill was passed in a hurry in Parliament. “The BJP didn’t give opposition parties time to think and discuss the bill. It sought its passage in a hurry,” she added.

A day before Mamata had spoken staunchly against the Citizenship Act and asked the protestors to write a letter to President Ram Nath Kovind, in which they should etch their names in blood.

“I would like to tell the ‘majority section’ that this battle is not for the ‘minorities’ alone. This is a battle for all. This is a battle for our existence. Go for signature campaigns holding black flags,” she added.

In opposition to the Centre’s order, she also stayed orders on work related to the National Population Register (NPR) across the state.

An official order issued by the additional secretary of Home and Hill Affairs Department read, “I am directed to inform you that all activities regarding the preparation and updation of the National Population Register (NPR) are hereby stayed in West Bengal. No activity regarding NPR may be taken up without prior clearance from the state government. The order has been issued in the interest of public order”.

Met predicts chilly nights ahead.

Source – telegraphindia.com

Cloud cover over most parts of the state will recede by Tuesday, resulting in an abrupt fall in night temperatures across Jharkhand after the next 24 hours, weathermen predicted on Monday.

“Favourable winter conditions in Jharkhand will return after 24 hours. Two climate systems — a Western Disturbance and a cyclonic circulation over Bay of Bengal — which resulted in clouds and showers for the past two days in several places, including Ranchi and Jamshedpur, will clear by tomorrow (Tuesday),” S.D. Kotal, director of Ranchi Meteorological Centre, said.

IMD’s Ranchi Met centre on Monday afternoon forecast dry weather with partly cloudy sky in some places after the next 24 hours. This will result in an abrupt fall in minimum readings by 2-4°C. The Met office has also predicted shallow to moderate fog in several districts during the next 72 hours. The fog is expected to reduce early morning visibility below 1,000 metres.

Capital Ranchi, which recorded a minimum of 14.5°C on Monday against 15.6°C on Sunday, gave a preview of what was in store.

The local observatory in steel city recorded a minimum of 18°C on Monday compared with 19°C on Sunday.

Data showed that the minimum readings dropped by a degree in Bokaro and two degrees in Koderma and Hazaribagh.

A senior weather analyst at Patna Met centre said the north wind, which had stopped due to the twin climate systems, had started to flow again.

“The north-westerly wind would continue to dominate over the state after the next 24 hours,” he said.

Blanket ban

In Ranchi, the poor on the roads were spotted burning garbage dumps and using sacks to keep the chill at bay as the RMC blamed the model code of conduct for the delay in the distribution of blankets and lighting bonfires in public places.

“Last (Sunday) night, I distributed blankets among 15 beggars near Shiv Mandir lane in my locality,” social worker Jyoti Sharma said.

The district administration had given 14,000 blankets to RMC in October for distribution across 55 awards.

On why they had not been distributed so far, municipal commissioner Manoj Kumar said: “The blankets have reached every ward, but it is not possible to distribute them without permission of the Election Commission. I don’t think it is possible to do it before December 23,” Kumar said.

Deputy development commissioner Ananya Mittal said the same.

“Till December 23, work on the distribution of blankets and burning bonfires by the district administration is not possible,” she said.

On the rationale behind blanket distribution at a later date when they were needed urgently, an Election Commission official: “In principle it has been decided that the blankets can be distributed and bonfires can be lit in those areas where polling is over. But we have been directed to ensure that the opportunity is not used by the ruling party for publicity. The directive will reach us within a day or two.”

Jharkhand Assmebly election 2019, Gandey profile: JMM’s Irfan Ahmed to contest against BJP’s Jai Prakash Verma.

Source – firstpost.com

Gandey election 2019 | Gandey Assembly constituency of the Giridih district will go to polls in the fourth phase of the Assembly elections in Jharkhand. The seat which lies in the Koderma parliamentary constituency, is currently held by BJP’s Jai Prakash Verma.

Demography: According to Census 2011, Giridih district has a population of  24,45, 474. With a sex ratio of 944, the district ranks seventh in the state. The district comprises of thirteen blocks Gawan, Tisri, Deori, Dhanwar, Jamua, Bengabad, Gandey, Giridih, Birni, Bagdar, Sariya, Dumri and Pirtand. As per Census 2011, the district has 2558 villages and 5 towns distributed in four Assembly constituencies. Census 2011 figures indicated that the percentage share of scheduled caste population to total population was 13.31 percent while that of Scheduled tribes was 9.74 percent. Based on the number of total rural households in Census 2011 and BPL Revision Survey of 2010-11 the percentage of Below Poverty Line (BPL)  households in the rural areas is 3.77 percent.

The district is well know for the availability of ruby mica and has several large coal fields which contain one of the best qualities of metallurgical coal in India. The extensive deposited of mica in this district are of importance not only to Jharkhand but to India and other countries also. It is mostly found near the Tisri and Gawan blocks.

Following is a brief description of the Assembly constituency:

Constituency number: 31

Total electors: 2,69084

Males: 1,40,764

Females: 1,28,314

Transgender: 3

Polling stations: 350

Voter turnout in last Assembly Election: 70 percent

Major parties in the fray: BJP, Congress, JVMP,, AJSU, BSP, IUML

The constituency is currently represented by Bharatiya Janata Party’s Jai Prakash Verma who defeated Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s Salakhan Soren in the 2014 elections. In 2009, Soren, then the incumbent MLA, was defeated by Congress’ Sarfraz Ahmad by a margin of over 8,000 votes. In 2005, Soren had registered a victory over Ahmad.

Ahmad is contesting the 2019 election on a JMM ticket while Arjun Baitha is the AJSU candidate. Verma is also in the fray on a BJP ticket . The Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) has fielded Dilip Kumar Verma whereas the other candidates are BSP’s Avadhesh Kumar Singh, All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen’s Intekhab Ansari, IUML’s Md. Sayeed Alam and Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (Liberation)’s Rajesh Kumar.

Fifteen Assembly constituencies will go to polls in the fourth phase of Assembly election on 16 December. The counting of votes for the five-phase Assembly elections will take place on 23 December.

The state is currently ruled by the BJP (37 Assembly seats) in alliance with the All Jharkhand Students’ Union (AJSU) (5 Assembly seats). However, the BJP is seeking to come to power on its own after NDA allies, including Janata Dal-United (JDU) and AJSU decided to part ways with the saffron party.

The saffron party faces tough contest from the Opposition alliance consisting of the Congress, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and JMM. The alliance has rallied behind Hemant Soren as its chief ministerial candidate. JMM is contesting on 43 seats, the Congress on 31 and the RJD on seven seats in the 81-seat Assembly.

Out of the 81 Assembly constituencies in the state, nine are reserved for Scheduled Castes, 28 for Scheduled Tribes and 44 are of the general category. The term of the current Assembly will end on 5 January 2020.

Won’t implement CAA, NRC in Jharkhand: Hemant Soren.

Source – thehindu.com

A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi lashed out at the Opposition here over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, Hemant Soren, the chief ministerial face of the grand alliance in Jharkhand, said if voted to power his government would review both the CAA and National Register of Citizens and not implement them if they had potential to trigger violence in the State.

“Both the CAA and NRC sound similar. They will be evaluated afresh. If we feel Jharkhand could plunge into violence, both CAA and NRC will not be put into practice,” Mr. Soren told The Hindu here on Monday.

When his attention was drawn to the BJP’s concern over illegal immigration of Bangladeshis into Jharkhand through West Bengal and the porous international border, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) executive president said, “The BJP came to power in many northeastern States highlighting the issue of infiltration of Bangladeshis. Now, the northeastern States are burning. They have backstabbed people there by bringing in CAA”

“This BJP-led government does not have any work to do. It has been raising divisive issues strategically and from time to time. The issues which can flare up people’s emotions are carefully chosen. Those are intended at dividing people on caste and religion lines leading to violence,” alleged Mr. Soren.

He observed, “They will not talk on unemployment, crumbling economy, losses being incurred by major public sector units, poverty and violence against women. The focus of the present government is only on dividing society as Hindu-Muslim and tribal and non-tribals.”

Alleging that that BJP always tries to reap political dividends through non-issues, Mr. Soren said, “In 2014, they came to power giving the wrong impression on the economy and law and order. When they miserably failed to find a solution to the issues they had highlighted, they came up with the revenge attack for the Pulwama terror strike. They stirred up people on India-Pakistan sentiments just before the 2019 elections.”

“Now, the BJP is preparing for the 2024 elections with these legal instruments. They have constructed a huge statue of Sardar Valabhbhai Patel although they do not have anything to do with the ideology of this great leader. They are now talking about construction of a grand Ram Temple at Ayodhya. They know how to hoodwink people without delivering on genuine problems,” he charged.

Addressing an election rally at Dumka, where the JMM chief is contesting, Mr. Modi on Sunday had said violence over CAA was being stoked by the Congress and its allies and it was wrong as the Bill was cleared by Parliament.

The JMM, Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal have stitched up a pre-poll alliance in Jharkhand where polling will come to end on December 20 and results will be declared on December 23.

Eden Gardens ka repeat ho jaaye? Jharkhand 1st team in Ranji Trophy to win after following on.

Source – indiatoday.in

On Thursday, Jharkhand became the only team in the rich 85-year-old history of the Ranji Trophy to win a first-class match after being forced to follow on. After conceding a 153-run lead in the first innings against Tripura in their Group C match, with more than 2 days of play left in the game, the visiting side was asked to follow on by opposition captain Milind Kumar. The rest, as they say, is history!

But the match was still in Tripura’s favour when Jharkhand batsmen Ishank Jaggi and Saurabh Tiwary got together in the middle with half their side back in the pavilion while still needing 15 runs to avoid an innings defeat. However, Jaggi’s conversation with the team manager PN Singh which had happened before the 2nd innings inspired the duo to launch a stunning fightback.

“Eden Gardens ka repeat ho jaaye? (Should we have a repeat of Eden Gardens)” Singh had asked Jaggi after Jharkhand were asked to follow on, according to ESPNcricinfo. Jaggi, though wasn’t feeling so positive and replied: “Kabhi Kabhi ho sakta hai, baar baar nahi(It might happen once in a way, not always).”

The reference to Eden Gardens was obviously the famous Test win by India over Australia in 2001 when the hosts under Sourav Ganguly stunned the then world champions to win by 171 runs in Kolkata. Even though Jaggi might not have believed it initially, his performance on the field suggested otherwise.

Jaggi retired hurt after scoring 107 off 207 balls and in partnership with Tiwary (122* off 190 balls), helped set up their team’s eventual total of 418/8 when Jharkhand decided to declare the innings.

Being set a target of 266 to win with less than a day left in the game, Tripura crumbled under pressure as Jharkhand pacer Ashish Kumar made good use of the rest to pick up a 5-wicket haul even as MB Murasingh struck a counterattacking 103 for Tripura. The game actually came to an end in the last over of the match in fading light when Ashish trapped Rana Dutta LBW to fuel joyous celebrations from all his teammates.

With the victory, Jharkhand are now the 1st team after Ganguly’s India to win a first-class game in India after following on.

Jharkhand poll: Voting for 12 seats ends, 57.96 per cent votes cast.

Source – newindianexpress.com

RANCHI: Voting ended for 12 of the 17 assembly seats at 3 p.m. in the third phase of the polls with 57.96 per cent votes being cast on Thursday.

The voting will end at 5 p.m. for the Ranchi, Hatia, Kanke, Ramgarh and Barkatha assembly seats.

Jharkahnd Governor Draupdi Murmu cast her vote at ATI Ranchi while AJSU president Sudesh Mahtyo cast his vote along with his wife at Silli. Jayant Sinha cast his vote in Hazaribagh.

In the third phase the key candidates are three ministers — CP Singh, Ramchandra Sahis and Neera Yadav, Former Chief Minister Babulal Marandi and former Deputy Chief Minister and All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) president Sudesh Mahto.

Of the 17 seats, BJP, JMM and Congress had won 10, three and two seats respectively in the 2014 Assembly elections.

There is a direct fight on between the BJP, Congress and JMM candidates on seven seats. For the Silli seat the fight is between AJSU president Sudesh Mahto and JMM sitting legislator Seema Devi. There is a triangular fight on six seats. For some seats the fight is four-cornered or multi-cornered.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Jharkahnd Chief Minister Raghubar Das have appealed to the voters to cast their votes.

Jharkhand polls: PM Modi urges people to vote in large numbers.

Source – indiatoday.in

As polling for the third phase of the Jharkhand Assembly elections kick-started today morning, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged people to vote in large numbers.

“The third phase of Jharkhand polls will take place today. Urging all those whose seats go to the polls today to vote in large numbers. I particularly urge my young friends to vote,” the Prime Minister tweeted.

The third of the five-phase elections of Jharkhand Assembly elections began on Thursday and will decide the fate of legislators in 17 seats out of the 81 assembly constituencies.

A total of 309 candidates, including 32 women, are contesting from 17 assembly seats. The constituencies, including two reserved for SC candidates and one ST candidate, going to vote on Thursday are spread over eight districts in the state.

The first phase of the election in the state took place on November 30 while the second round was held on December 7.

The fourth phase will be conducted on December 16, and the fifth and last phase on December 20.

The counting of votes will take place on December 23.