Tag: Maharashtra

Congress fog spreads to Jharkhand.

Source – telegraphindia.com

The Congress’s lacklustre campaign in Jharkhand shows the party has learnt no lessons from Maharashtra, and the dominant view within is that “the confusion at the top” continues to cast a shadow over the revival process.

Although Rahul Gandhi did campaign in Jharkhand on Monday, party seniors said the overall level of preparedness and intensity was unsatisfactory.

They contended the party’s attitude had not changed despite the shot in the arm provided by Maharashtra and Haryana, where the BJP juggernaut got derailed despite the Congress central leadership’s lack of interest in the campaigns.

While Congress politicians in Jharkhand complain of an absence of support from the high command — virtually a repeat of the Maharashtra story — many senior leaders in Delhi allege the party has not involved them in the electoral process at all.

“The main reason for this miserable state of affairs is confusion over the leadership. We all know that Sonia Gandhi is not going to continue for too long. The question on everybody’s mind is whether Rahul Gandhi will return,” a senior politician told The Telegraph.

Another senior hinted at a renewed generational tussle in the party. “The disconnect is not only with the masses; the disconnect within the party is shocking. There’s no collective effort, no central command trying to marshal all resources to win elections.”

“We saw some coordination recently to ensure that the December 14 rally on (Delhi’s) Ramlila grounds is a success, but there’s no such interest in elections. It’s a misconception that the Maharashtra turnaround has injected fresh life into the Congress machinery. The workers are enthusiastic but there’s no plan of action to channel that energy.”

The dominant view within the party is that Sonia’s leadership is a “stopgap arrangement” and it has stalled the much-needed restructuring Rahul had suggested after the defeat in the general election.

Party seniors say an effective command can be developed only with the arrival of a leader with a long-term plan. Most of them feel the situation can only get worse if Rahul refuses to return to the top job.

However, fears of drastic changes if Rahul returns may prompt some in the party to create hurdles before him.

Although the seniors admit that Rahul has improved vastly as a leader and built a formidable challenge to Narendra Modi — which the results did not reflect because of various factors — they remain concerned about his choice of functionaries.

Many of them object particularly to Rahul’s “over-reliance” on K.C. Venugopal, who was given the key post of general secretary in charge of organisation after the veteran Ashok Gehlot became chief minister of Rajasthan.

“Venugopal barely knows the Congress organisation but was appointed chairperson of all the state steering committees that chose candidates for the last Lok Sabha elections. We don’t know of anyone else in the Congress who was given that kind of importance — not even the veterans who knew the party inside out.”

Rahul has been criticised in the past for investing heavily in office-bearers such as Madhusudan Mistry, Mohan Prakash and C.P. Joshi who were widely viewed as incompetent. They were eventually removed after prolonged and open opposition from senior leaders and party workers.

Some in the Congress blame Venugopal for the poor Assembly election campaigns and say he has neither the stature nor the vision to handle big assignments.

Many party insiders, informed by their “own sources”, say the BJP would not gain a majority in Jharkhand and that proper election management and the selection of the right candidates by the Congress and the JMM could have pushed the ruling party out of the frame.

But, they rue, the party has left everything to state minder R.P.N. Singh instead of mounting a collective effort. Most party seniors on Monday expressed ignorance about the electoral process in the state.

One MP summed up the mood, saying: “Are we too fighting (the Jharkhand polls)?” 

Amit Shah Says Jharkhand Will Again Pick ‘Twin-Engine’ Govt, Confident of Old Ally’s Return.

Source – news18.com

New Delhi: The BJP may have lost its old ally, the Shiv Sena, in Maharashtra, but party chief Amit Shah is confident of a reunion with estranged ally AJSU in Jharkhand, which goes to polls from November 30.

Speaking at News18’s Agenda Jharkhand summit on Thursday, the BJP chief expressed confidence that the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), which is contesting the upcoming Assembly elections alone, will return to the NDA fold after the elections.

“I am confident that the BJP will return to power with a thumping majority in Jharkhand and will not need support… Jharkhand will again chose the twin-engine government. But I am also confident that AJSU will be back by our side,” Shah said.

Invoking Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Shah said it was the former prime minister and BJP stalwart who ensured the creation of Jharkhand. “The state could not be created when Congress was at power in the centre despite the sacrifices of thousands of youth. It was only after Atal ji came to power that Jharkhand was created. Since 2014, PM Narendra Modi has given shape to the state and CM Raghubar Das is taking it forward,” he said.

Shah added that the state’s tribal population and residents feel cheated when they see a party like the JMM, which fought for Jharkhand’s creation, rubbing shoulders with the Congress.

The BJP chief also said at the event that incumbent Raghubar Das is the party’s CM face for the upcoming elections as well. Jharkhand will vote in five-phased elections beginning this Saturday and the counting of votes will be held on December 23.

In its manifesto, the BJP has promised to end Naxal violence in the state, provide job or self-employment opportunities to one member of the each BPL (below poverty line) family, launch of the Krishi Bima Yojna to provide full insurance cover to crops, and construction of water grid to every cultivable plot of land.

The manifesto also promises 33 per cent reservation to women in government jobs, 70 new Eklavya Schools by 2022, free job training camps for tribal students, construction of tribal hostels in every district, two skill development centres in each district and a new sports university. It assured Rs 1,000 crore fund to provide modern facilities at government schools and colleges, and setting up of an agro industrial corridor.

Maharashtra political drama may impact BJP-JDU alliance in Bihar.

Source – indiatoday.in

he breaking of pre-poll alliance between the BJP and the Shiv Sena after the declaration of the 2019 Maharashtra Assembly election results on October 24 has led to some serious mulling over the fate of the BJP and its alliance partners in others states. The concern looks more serious in Bihar where the BJP-JDU combine is in power at present than other states.

Bihar goes to polls in just about 10 months and the breaking up of 30-year-old BJP-Shiv Sena alliance has become the biggest talking point in the state with many speculating what will happen to the BJP-JDU alliance. Barring four years between 2013 and 2017, the JDU and the BJP are alliance partners for 22 years.

JDU president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had severed ties with the BJP after it became clear that then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi would be elevated as the prime ministerial candidate of the NDA for 2014 Lok Sabha election.

Nitish Kumar’s JDU has always donned the cap of the big brother in Bihar since he came to power in 2005 with BJP choosing to remain second fiddle. Though the BJP and the JDU contested equal number of seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections (17-17), it should not be perceived that both parties were at par.

The BJP with 22 MPs in 2014 had to sacrifice five sitting seats to accommodate the JDU, which turned out to be the biggest gainer. It had just two MPs in 2014 and managed to win 16 of the 17 seats in Bihar in 2019.

However, only a few months back, the BJP and the JDU had engaged in massive war of words over who would lead the NDA in the next assembly polls in Bihar. BJP’s Dalit face Sanjay Paswan suggested Nitish Kumar should make way for a BJP chief minister in 2020 and graduate to national politics.

The remarks by Sanjay Paswan left the JDU fuming and the normalcy returned only after Union Home Minister and BJP president Amit Shah said the BJP-JDU alliance in Bihar is “atal” (immovable) and that the Bihar Assembly election will be contested under the leadership of Nitish Kumar.

Amit Shah’s effort to put an end to all sorts of speculation over Nitish Kumar’s role in the NDA for 2020 Bihar Assembly election was seen as the BJP’s inability to gain foothold in the state where it faced a massive defeat in 2015 state polls following split with the JDU.

Though in 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP made a clean sweep winning all the 17 seats it contested, the party still believes assembly election is a totally different ball game. The party does not want to risk going alone in the election and prefers to bank of the image of “Sushasan Babu” Nitish Kumar. The combination has worked well for the alliance in 2005 and 2010 when it registered emphatic victories.

However, following the Maharashtra episode, the BJP in Bihar has started targeting the JDU signaling that any move mirroring the Shiv Sena could spell disaster for the regional party.

Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi congratulated Devendra Fadnavis after his Saturday swearing in with a twisted tweet taking a veiled aim at Nitish Kumar too. He said, “Sharad Pawar like Nitish Kumar knew that BJP is more reliable than Congress. Shiv Sena was like RJD. Very difficult to work with party like Shiv Sena or RJD, full of lumpens.”

Sources say, Sushil Modi, considered close to Nitish Kumar, through this tweet obliquely hinted at Bihar chief minister advising him to keep distance from the Congress, which has never appeared averse to Nitish Kumar for his secular credentials. Sushil Kumar Modi also warned Nitish Kumar against allying again with the RJD the way he did in 2015.

Speculation is rife that BJP firebrand leader and Union minister Giriraj Singh’s comments after Fadnavis took oath as Maharshtra chief minister was also aimed at Nitish Kumar. Singh said, “Greed and arrogance invite disaster.”

Lok Janshakti Party leader and Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan’s statement is too being seen as a veiled message to the JDU national president. “Animal which is indecisive whether to go left or right gets killed on the road,” Paswan wrote on Twitter.

The JDU too obliquely criticized BJP for allying with NCP (Ajit Pawar) and relinquishing its ideology for power.

In such circumstances, the bone of contention could be the seat-sharing agreement between the BJP and the JDU. Both parties would be keen to grab a larger piece of the cake. Remember, some seats also have to be given to the LJP, another alliance partner of the NDA in Bihar.

The BJP would be keen to settle for the seat-sharing formula based on the Lok Sabha elections where both parties fought equal number of seats. However, the JDU would want to keep the 2010 formula as the reference point when both parties fought elections together. The JDU contested on 141 seats and BJP on 102.

However, the BJP, in any case, would not want the JDU to fight on more number of seats that itself. This would not only send a message of the JDU being a big brother in the alliance but might also give the JDU an opportunity to dump the BJP post-poll if it wins more than 100 seats in a house of 243. The half way mark in Bihar Assembly is 122.

Interestingly, results of the assembly elections in neighboring Jharkhand may also have a bearing on the BJP-JDU alliance in Bihar. The BJP is fighting the Jharkhand election alone, snapping ties with All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU). If it wins Jharkhand election, it will not only strengthen its position in NDA but will also shield from pressure politics of the alliance partners.

Tejashwi Yadav’s Bihar Reminder To Sushil Modi After Tweet On Maharashtra.

Source – ndtv.com

PATNA: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav took a jibe at Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi on Monday, reminding of the “khela” (play) enacted in Bihar a couple of years ago in the that helped the BJP achieve power despite having lost the mandate.

Mr Yadav added that had his party joined hands with the BJP, Sushil Modi would have still been the deputy but serving under “a Chief Minister of our party.”

The RJD leader rose from his seat in the state assembly, speaking in support of other opposition MLAs were raising slogans against police clamp down on a Congress procession by

As Mr Yadav began speaking about alleged attempts by the Nitish Kumar government to “muzzle the oppositions voice”, he turned towards Sushil Modi and said, “Modi-ji says many fine things happen in the night. Bihar too has seen such a khela, when a government was formed in the thick of the night”.

Mr Yadav was referring to a tweet by Mr Modi in which he had defended his party against criticism from the opposition over the developments in Maharashtra.

“Many big things have happened in the thick of night. Independence was achieved and the Union Jack was lowered at midnight,” Mr Modi had tweeted in Hindi.

Mr Yadav’s insinuation was about the developments that took place in Bihar in July, 2017 when Nitish Kumar resigned, disapproving of the RJDs refusal to heed demands for his resignation in the backdrop of a money laundering case.

Mr Kumar sprung a surprise less than 24 hours later when he was sworn in as Chief Minister again as he staked claim to form a new government with the support of BJP, paving way for Mr Modi’s return as deputy, four years after he was stripped of the post as Mr Kumar snapped ties with the BJP.

Mr Yadav’s tongue-in-cheek remark was, however, drowned out in the shouting of slogans by agitated members which prompted Speaker Vijay Kumar Chaudhary to adjourn the proceedings till

Mr Yadav said his party too had the option of tying up with the BJP and retaining power but decided otherwise on account of ideological commitments.

“It seems to have become the BJPs style of functioning. We saw similar things happening in Goa. As the matter is sub judice, I would not like to say much about Maharashtra but wait for the Supreme Courts verdict,” he said.

Incidentally, Mr Modi had claimed during the Lok Sabha polls this year that Mr Kumar’s exit from the grand alliance had come months after a meeting Lalu Yadav had with the late Union minister Arun Jaitley.

JD(U) frets about BJP repeating Maharashtra drama after 2020 Bihar polls.

Source – theprint.in

Patna: The Janata Dal (United) is not warming up to its partner BJP’s alliance with Ajit Pawar in Maharashtra. Though Nitish Kumar’s party doesn’t have any stake in the western state, it is concerned about the post-poll scenario developing there because Bihar goes to the polls next year.

The JD(U), now the BJP’s biggest ally in Parliament, is concerned about the developments, spokesperson Pavan Varma told ThePrint. “Whether you see Ajit Pawar with the BJP or the Shiv Sena with the Congress, where is their ideology? Combinations are being made in Maharashtra in pursuit of power,” he said.

Varma said combinations which have been invited to form the government must prove their majority on the floor of the house as soon as possible, to “Prevent the unethical practice of horse trading”. He maintained that JD(U)-BJP alliance in Bihar is strong, but added that “it is confined to Bihar”.

JD(U)’s reaction stands in sharp contrast to the BJP’s other Bihar ally, the Lok Janshakti Party. Ram Vilas Paswan, the party founder and Union cabinet minister, was among the first to congratulate the swearing in of the BJP-Ajit Pawar government Saturday morning.

Echoes of 2005, eye on 2020

The developments in Maharashtra echo what happened in Bihar after the 2005 elections, which produced a hung assembly. The LJP was part of the Congress-led UPA at the time, and 15 of its MLAs “disappeared” and later surfaced in Jharkhand, in a bid to install an NDA government led by JD(U)’s Nitish Kumar. The move was torpedoed by then-governor Buta Singh, who recommended the dissolution of the newly-elected assembly on the grounds of “horse trading”.

BJP chief Amit Shah had announced that Nitish will be the leader of the NDA in the 2020 assembly polls, but after the Maharashtra developments, this has begun to look less assuring to the JD(U).

“Suppose the BJP gets more seats than JD(U) and, with the support of LJP, breaks away some RJD MLAs and stakes claim to form the government. This is the level the BJP is willing to go for power,” a senior JD(U) leader said on the condition of anonymity. “There is a clear possibility of the Maharashtra episode being repeated in Bihar.”

The seat-sharing formula between the BJP and its allies for the 2020 assembly polls is yet to be decided. But the BJP has made it clear that it expects Nitish Kumar to be generous and reciprocate its generosity from the 2019 Lok Sabha polls — the party dropped five sitting MPs to accommodate Nitish’s demand for an equal number of seats (17 each, with the LJP getting six).

There is talk of the BJP and the JD(U) contesting 100 to 110 seats each, leaving the rest to the LJP in the 243-member house.

The alleged BJP-RJD nexus

Bihar’s Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi made a statement comparing the Shiv Sena to the RJD, and calling it a party of goons. The RJD reacted by declaring that Modi faces an identity crisis and cannot make any statement without dragging in the RJD.

When RJD founder Lalu Prasad first came to power in 1990, it was with the support of the BJP. However, after the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992, the parties have been the two poles of “secular” and “communal” politics in the state. Their vote bank compulsions will not allow them to come together — the RJD has to protect its Muslim votes while the BJP wouldn’t want to antagonise its upper caste votes.

However, recently, there have been charges that Lalu’s son Tejashwi Yadav has been helping BJP indirectly by ruling out the possibility of the JD(U) and Nitish Kumar returning to the fold of the Mahagathbandhan. The perception, fuelled by former allies Jitan Ram Manjhi and Mukesh Sahani, is that Tejashwi is toeing the line due to the CBI and Enforcement Directorate cases against him and his family. This has weakened Nitish Kumar’s bargaining power against the BJP.

The senior JD(U) leader quoted above pointed out that though the BJP has been attacking the RJD over corruption since Lalu Prasad was convicted and jailed in the Rs 900 crore fodder scam, it pales in comparison to the magnitude of the scam allegedly committed by Ajit Pawar and other NCP leaders in Maharashtra.

“Corruption is not an issue which the BJP holds dear when it is after allies,” the leader said, stressing that Maharashtra episode has thrown the gates open to possibilities in Bihar.

Is BJP a reliable ally? A look at its alliance politics beyond Maharashtra logjam.

Source – indiatoday.in

I am not a BJP wala. I do not lie. With these words, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray parted ways with the BJP earlier this month asserting that the leading NDA partner is not trustworthy. The Shiv Sena leaders have referred to the troublesome relation of the BJP with alliance partners in other states.

Recently, the Lok Jan Shakti Party (LJP) complained that the BJP did not entertain its request of a respectable tie-up in Jharkhand for the upcoming assembly election. The BJP and the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) too fell out failing to arrive at a seat-sharing agreement. The AJSU is the oldest ally of the BJP in Jharkhand. They have never fought state elections separately before.

During the Haryana Assembly election, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) lashed out at the BJP on quite a few occasions. The SAD had in June this year proposed an alliance with the BJP in Haryana but the BJP did not pay heed to the call.

In the run-up to the Haryana election, the BJP inducted its lone MLA in the party prompting SAD chief Sukhbir Badal to remind the BJP of maryada (dignity) of the alliance. Later, campaigning for the Haryana election, Sukhbir Badal hit out at the BJP claiming those sitting in power [read the BJP] will be soon in Opposition.

At the NDA meeting in New Delhi last week, LJP president Chirag Paswan stressed the need for a convener of the alliance saying the presence of the Shiv Sena was missed.

This appears as if the alliance partners of the BJP are not comfortable with the parties at present. But a look at the BJP’s relationship with its alliance partners points to a similar tumultuous equation.

THE JAN SANG DAYS

The RSS floated the Bharatiya Jan Sangh (BJS) in 1951 making debut politics. The BJS tasted power for the first time in 1967 in Madhya Pradesh when about 60 MLAs of the ruling Congress defected to the Opposition and various parties including the BJS formed the Sanyukta Vidhayak Dal. A government was formed but soon they started quarreling over ideological differences. The government collapsed in 1969.

At the national level, the BJS ceased to exist in 1977 merging itself with other anti-Congress parties to form the Janata Party. It was a grand-alliance of the time. It too collapsed in less than three years. These experiences left such a deep imprint on the RSS-trained leaders of the Jan Sangh that when they founded the BJP (the new version of the BJS) in 1980, they were reluctant to go for alliances.

The Shiv Sena came along over 1984-89 period in Maharashtra, where the BJP was very weak those days. By 1989, the BJP had gained enough strength. The Janata Dal (of VP Singh, Chandrashekhar and Devi Lal) had fallen short of a majority in the election. The BJP had the choice of joining the government giving it stability but it refused. BJP leadership of LK Advani and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, instead, extended outside support to the VP Singh government. They withdrew support over Mandal-Kamandal episode.

NEW ERA OF ALLIANCES

In 1996, the BJP emerged as the single-largest party in the Lok Sabha election. But 161 seats in the Lok Sabha election at that time appeared as the BJP’s cap forcing it to consider a wider alliance to see it gets power at the Centre. Vajpayee was sworn in as the prime minister with a futuristic strategy. Back then, Advani was considered hardline Hindutva leader and Vajpayee moderate.

In 1998 emerged a multi-party alliance called the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) that the BJP stitched up to come to power. The Janata Dal (United), the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), the Janata Dal (Secular), the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference, the Shiv Sena, the Shiromani Akali Dal, the Biju Janata Dal, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and the Haryana Vikas Party were the BJP’s allies among others.

Over the next six years, the AIADMK exited the NDA but the DMK joined in; the National Conference walked away but the Peoples Democratic Party joined. The Trinamool Congress Party of Mamata Banerjee was a part of the NDA. Banerjee was a senior minister in the Vajpayee government. The Lok Janshakti Party of Ram Vilas Paswan was also part of the NDA.

WHO FINDS BJP RELIABLE?

Today, only the JDU, the LJP and Shiromani Akali Dal are part of the BJP-led NDA. All others quit NDA blaming the BJP. The AIADMK of Jayalalithaa snapped ties with the BJP in 1999. The National Conference walked away in 2002, the DMK and the Haryana Vikas Party in 2004, the TMC in 2007, the BJD in 2009, the JDS in 2010, the JMM in 2012 and the list goes on.

The case of JDU is curious. Bihar Chief Minister and JDU president Nitish Kumar pulled out of the NDA in 2013 after it the BJP went ahead with Narendra Modi, then Gujarat chief minister, as its prime ministerial candidate.

The BJP tried to compensate the loss of JDU in Bihar by cobbling up an alliance with caste-based parties such as the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party of Upendra Kushwaha and the Hindustani Awam Party of Jeetan Ram Manjhi. The JDU came back in 2017. The RLSP and the HAM broke alliance with the BJP calling it unreliable.

The LJP too had parted ways with the BJP in 2002 in the wake of Gujarat riots. It joined hands with the BJP again in 2014. This gave Paswan the sobriquet of the political weathercock.

Most of these parties have complained that the BJP piggybacked on them to increase its vote base at their cost. Except for Punjab, where the SAD’s appeal on Sikhism plank continues to be in the lead, the charge against the BJP holds true. In most of the states, where the BJP has expanded its base, it has turned itself into a competitor of its alliance partner.

In Maharashtra, the BJP and the Shiv Sena largely compete for the same vote bank but greater resource availability helped the BJP expand at a faster rate. Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana today compared the BJP with medieval marauder Muhammad Gori who invaded India multiple times to plunder its wealth ruing that the Bal Thackeray-led party allowed the BJP flourish in Maharashtra. In Odisha, Karnataka, Bihar, Haryana and the Northeast, the BJP has followed almost the same template.

WHAT IS THE LATEST TREND?

At least half-a-dozen parties have broken their alliances with the BJP in the past two years. In 2014, the Swabhimani Paksha of Raju Shetti was said to have played an important role in the consolidation of votes in favour of the BJP in Maharashtra. The BJP was then focusing on aligning with smaller parties with the focused support group. Alliance with the Swabhimani Paksh was one such decision taken by the party.

The TDP of Chandrababu Naidu had an open fight with PM Modi and the BJP leadership and walked away from the NDA in 2018. The same year, the PDP fought with the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir and the alliance fell. The RLSP broke alliance with the BJP in Bihar in 2019.

The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha snapped ties with the BJP in West Bengal, where it was considered as a strong ally of the BJP with popular support in and around Darjeeling. The Shiv Sena and the AJSU have not ended their tie-up with the BJP blaming the party leadership of being un-accommodative to their aspirations and concerns.

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.

BJP starts early preparation for polls in Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Haryana

Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com

New Delhi: After its massive victory in the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP is eyeing to repeat the success in the assembly polls to be held later this year in three states. 

It has started preparation for the elections in Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Haryana. BJP working president JP Nadda has already started visiting the states to take stock of the preparation and further strategy of the party. 

Nadda visited Jharkhand on July 13-14, and held a meeting of the core group of the state BJP discussing the party’s preparation and candidates for the upcoming assembly elections. 

He is scheduled to visit Maharashtra on July 20-21. Other than meeting party leaders, Nadda would also visit BJP workers at a particular booth to motivate them before the elections. The central leadership has nominated a new president for Maharashtra, Chandrakant Patil, on Tuesday. 

Usually a new state president forms his own team. However, considering the assembly elections in less than six months, sources told ET that there would be no further change in the state committee. 

Meanwhile, BJP’s Maharashtra in-charge Saroj Pandey has already toured five districts. “I shall be visiting every district before elections,” Pandey told ET. 

While the BJP is preparing for elections, NDA partner Shiv Sena too has started campaigns projecting Aditya Thackrey as the next chief minister. 

But Pandey said the CM would be of the BJP and that “there is no second though about that”. The party has assigned private agencies to conduct four state-wise surveys to assess the mood of the people and select candidates. 

Nadda plans to also visit Haryana, but the dates have not been finalised. In the meantime, chief minister Manohar Lal would embark on a state-wide yatra beginning August 15. “We are focusing on the yatra of the chief minister,” Haryana BJP president Subhash Barala told ET. 

“Apart from that work has begun to connect with party workers at the booth level and all the party MLAs are working on the tasks assigned to them.” 

All you want to know about malnutrition in India

Source: thehindu.com

Moderate Acute malnutrition (MAM): Children aged between six months and 59 months who are between the -2 and -3 standard deviation for weight for height (wasting) score.

Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM): Children aged between six months and 59 months and have a weight for height (wasting) score 3 standard deviations below the median, have a mid-upper-arm circumference less than 115 mm, or the presence of bilateral edema.

Severe Chronic Malnutrition (SCM): Calculated with the Z-score defined as a height-for-age index less than –3 standard deviations from the mean weight of a reference population of children of the same height and/or having edema.

Stunting: Calculation is based on height-for-age. It is is associated with an underdeveloped brain, poor learning capacity, and increased nutrition-related diseases.

Wasting: Calculated by weight-for-height. It is associated with decreased fat mass. Also known as wasting syndrome, it causes muscle and fat tissue to waste away.

Underweight: Calculated by the weight-for-age formula. It is a body weight considered to be too low to be healthy. It can reflect both stunting and wasting.

Key highlights of the report

The highest levels of stunting and underweight are found in Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra.

At the national level, among social groups, the prevalence of stunting is highest amongst children from the Scheduled Tribes (43.6 percent), followed by Scheduled Castes (42.5 percent) and Other Backwards Castes (38.6 percent).

The prevalence of stunting in children from ST in Rajasthan, Odisha and Meghalaya is high while stunting in children from both ST and SC is high in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka.

Prevalence of wasting is highest in Jharkhand (29.0%) and above the national average in eight more States (Haryana, Goa, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Gujarat) and three UTs (Puducherry, Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli).

Prevalence of underweight is also highest in Jharkhand (47.8%) and is above the National average in seven more States (Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar) and one UT (Dadra and Nagar Haveli).

Food and malnutrition in the country

Over the last 20 years, total food grain production in India increased from 198 million tonnes to 269 million tonnes. Despite increase in food production, the rate of malnutrition in India remains very high.

In the food basket, it turns out that in both urban and rural areas, the share of expenditure on cereal and cereal substitutes has declined between 1972-73 and 2011-12, from 57% to 25% in rural areas and from 36% to 19% in urban areas.

The energy and protein intake from cereals has decreased in both rural and urban India, largely because of increased consumption of other food items such as milk and dairy products, oils and fat and relatively unhealthy food such as fast food, processed food, and sugary beverages.

The consumption of unhealthy energy and protein sources is much higher in urban areas.

Double burden of malnutrition

For several decades India was dealing with only one form of malnutrition– undernutrition. In the last decade, the double burden which includes both over- and undernutrition, is becoming more prominent and poses a new challenge for India.

From 2005 to 2016, prevalence of low (< 18.5 kg/m2) body mass index (BMI) in Indian women decreased from 36% to 23% and from 34% to 20% among Indian men.

During the same period, the prevalence of overweight/obesity (BMI > 30 kg/m2) increased from 13% to 21% among women and from 9% to 19% in men.

Children born to women with low BMI are more likely to be stunted, wasted, and underweight compared to children born to women with normal or high BMI.