Tag: Mahagathbandhan

Pawan Varma can go to any party he wants, says Nitish.

Source – thehindu.com

Two days after party leader Pawan Varma sent him a stinging two-page letter asking for his “ideological clarity on the electoral tie-up with the BJP for the coming Delhi elections”, JD(U) president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday broke his silence to say, “if he [Mr Varma] wants to go to some other party, he has my wishes”. 

Mr Varma later said he would continue to speak what he “believes good of the country and for the party”.

On December 21, Mr. Varma,said in his letter that he was “deeply perplexed” over the development of ties with the BJP beyond Bihar. He ‘reminded’ Mr. Kumar of his confession to him, on more than one occasion, about his “grave apprehensions” of the BJP-RSS combine. He also mentioned about the “private conversations” he had had with Mr. Kumar on ties with the BJP.

“He [Mr Varma] is a learned man for whom I’ve a lot of respect, even if he may not have the same for me. But this is not the way to share such things in public… it is surprising…he says I’ve told him certain things in private…what if I should tell you what he had told me?”, Mr Kumar told journalists. “if he wants to go to some other party which is his decision… he has my wishes”, Mr Kumar said while coming out of a function organised at Patna’s Gandhi Maidan on the occasion of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s birth anniversary.

However, an hour later, Mr Varma responded to Mr. Kumar’s statement and told journalists that he would decide his next course of action after getting response to his letter from Mr. Kumar. “Awaiting reply of my letter to Nitish Kumar… will decide future course of action after that but I’ll continue to speak what I believe is right, what is good for the country and the party”, he said in Delhi. 

Though he was in Patna on Wednesday to participate in a function, Mr. Varma chose not to meet Mr. Kumar. 

Mr. Kumar said, “If he has any confusion he should have put it before me or at the party forum but there should not be any confusion in anyone’s mind about how the JD(U) as a party runs”.

Mr. Varma said in his letter, “In my first meeting with you in Patna in August 2012 you had spoken to me at length and with conviction on why Narendra Modi and his policies are inimical for the country… when you were leading the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ you had openly made a call for RSS Mukt Bharat. I remember your confession to me in private how the current leadership in BJP party has humiliated you. You maintained on more than one occasion, that the BJP is leading India into a ‘dangerous space’. 

Action likely

A JD(U) source told The Hindu that Mr. Kumar may take action against Mr. Varma and Prashant Kishor, who have of late been hammering him with tweets and letters, on January 27, when he would meet party leaders at his official residence, 1 Anne Marg.

State JD(U) chief Basistha Narayan Singh had said he would urge Mr. Kumar to take action against these party leaders.

Mahagathbandhan will come to power in Jharkhand: Congress leader Sanjay Paswan.

Source – indiatoday.in

Jharkhand Congress Working President Sanjay Paswan has claimed that the ‘Mahagathbandhan’ will come to power in the mineral-rich state as the people have witnessed that the BJP-ruled government has not been able to deliver on any front in the last five years.

When asked why being a national party Congress was contesting on lesser seats than a regional party like the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Paswan told IANS: “Congress always believed on coalition dharma. Wherever we think we are strong, we are contesting. We (JMM, Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal) share a same ideology.

“If they think we are afraid of the BJP, it is their misunderstanding. People of Jharkhand have seen them in the past five years. Infact, the BJP is themselves afraid of losing as they are contesting the elections in five phases. Once they said they will remove ‘Naxalism’ from our state, when they chaim it has been removed then why are the elections going four five phases?”

“They (AJSU) are more or less the same. I feel after the results they will again switch hands with them (BJP). We have seen them for last 19 years, we don’t know about them.”

If it comes to power, the Mahagathbandhan’s roadmap would be about taking Jharkhand on the top of the country, Paswan said.

“Firstly, we will provide employment to the youth of Jharkhand so we don’t have to go away from our state. The present BJP-led government did nothing for the youths except looting them. They have given all the mineral-rich lands to the industrialists who are getting benefitted while our youths are struggling for jobs.

“We will change whatever has happened. Every single person of Jharkhand will be happy when we take charge,” he concluded.

Jharkhand will go to polls in five phases from November 30.

Fighting in alliance with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Congress is contesting 31 of the state’s 81 seats, the JMM 43, and the RJD seven.

Manjhi in touch with NDA partner for Jharkhand polls

Source: deccanherald.com

Former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi on Sunday disclosed that his Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM), a constituent of the opposition Mahagathbandhan in the state, would be contesting the upcoming Assembly polls in Jharkhand in collaboration with an NDA partner.

“Our talks with Ajsu is in the final stages. Seat sharing arrangements will be decided soon. We hope it will be mutually beneficial and there will be a seamless transfer of votes during elections”, Manjhi told PTI in Gaya, his native district.

Asked why he would not be contesting as part of the Mahagathbandhan in the neighbouring state, Manjhi said “HAM was never a part of the Mahagathbandhan in Jharkhand. We joined the coalition comprising Congress, RJD and others only for Bihar. Beyond the boundaries of the state, the alliance does not exist. So our move should not be seen as a betrayal”.

He also declined to comment as to whether he was in talks with leaders of the BJP, the senior NDA partner in Jharkhand, and added: “our alliance with Ajsu will be taking place mainly because of the personal friendship I have with its president Sudesh Mahto”.

He also denied that the development was a signal of his plans to return to the NDA in Bihar.

Manjhi had floated his own party after walking out of JD(U) in 2015 after he was asked to step down as chief minister to make way for the return of his political mentor Nitish Kumar.

The Mahadalit leader went on to contest the Assembly polls held later that year as an NDA constituent, but his party fared poorly as only Manjhi managed to win one of the two seats he had contested.

About six months after Kumar returned to the NDA in July 2017, Manjhi changed track and joined the Mahagathbandhan, which then comprised only the Congress and the RJD.

The RJD, which at present has the highest number of MLAs in Bihar, helped his son Santosh Manjhi get a berth in the legislative council.

Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the Mahagathbandhan came to include Upendra Kushwaha’s RLSP and Mukesh Sahni’s VIP and Manjhi initially threw a fit stating that his party should be given a share of seats that was greater than those of all alliance partners except the RJD.

He, however, relented and settled for only three – far less than the nine given to Congress and five to RLSP. At the hustings, his party lost all the seats including Gaya where he was pitted against a relative newcomer Vijay Manjhi.

Earlier, Manjhi toured the adjoining Nawada district where he came out in defence of Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan saying he must not resign though he should accept the demand for an apology over his remark about Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker Rama Devi.

“When brothers and sisters, mothers and sons meet and plant a kiss by way of affection, the gesture is not seen as having sexual overtones. Azam Khan’s words are not being taken in the right spirit. I, therefore, hold the opinion that he need not resign but since all parties have objections he should tender an apology and be done with the matter.