Tag: Nitish-Kumar

Bihar: People May Be Tired of Nitish, but a BJP CM Unlikely to Solve Problems.

Source – thewire.in

Last week, prominent Dalit BJP leader in Bihar Sanjay Paswan in an interview with the Indian Express claimed that people of Bihar are now “tired” of Nitish Kumar and need a chief minister from the BJP. “What I have gathered from my extensive tours in nearly 20 districts of the state is that people are now tired of Nitish Kumar. The state now needs a BJP CM, be it is Sushil Kumar Modi, Nityanand Rai, or anyone else,” Paswan, a and a Member of Legislative Council (MLC), told the newspaper.

BJP’s state spokesperson Nikhil Anand was quick to intervene, saying the remarks were Paswan’s personal views. Meanwhile, Janata Dal United (JDU) spokesperson and state information and public relations minister Neeraj Kumar said, “After Amit Shah made it clear that NDA would contest the elections under Nitish Kumar, there is no meaning in Paswan’s statement.” Indeed, on Thursday, while addressing a rally in Vaishali district of Bihar, Shah reiterated that the NDA will contest the next assembly election (due later this year) under the leadership of Kumar, adding the CM will be the face of the alliance.

However, it would be a mistake to believe that there is no substance in what Paswan actually claimed. It is a fact that the Bihar CM, unlike in previous elections, is facing an anti-incumbency sentiment. He is not as popular as he used to be a few years ago. In conversations with several observers of Bihar politics and visits to the state in recent years, I sensed growing resentment amongst people about Nitish Kumar’s rule. His image of Sushasan Babu (the Man of Good Governance) is no longer intact. This is something that he, his party and the BJP’s leadership are acutely aware of.

Signs of Kumar feeling under-confident can be also noticed in his party changing its slogan recently. It can be recalled that in 2015, ahead of the assembly elections, the JDU’s slogan was, “Bihar Mein Bahar Hai, Nitish Kumar Hai (Bihar is blooming, there is no alternative but Nitish Kumar)”. The slogan became very popular and played an important role in his return to power. However, in September last year, the slogan was changed to “Kyun Karen Vichar, Theek To Hain Nitish Kumar? (Why have second thoughts, what is wrong with Nitish Kumar’s rule?)”.

There is a marked difference in the tone and tenor of the slogans. The earlier slogan clearly indicated confidence, claiming there is no alternative to Nitish Kumar as far as the chief ministership of the state is concerned. The latest one, on the contrary, hints that Kumar and his party may be lacking confidence and acknowledges that people may be having second thoughts and that he is no longer invincible.

The BJP and other allies of the NDA also know this well and are hence trying to put pressure on him, albeit indirectly. Last year, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leader Ram Vilas Paswan also hinted that Nitish will be the face of the alliance, unless the BJP decides to bring in a different captain. Hence, the latest statement by the BJP leader should be seen in that context.

Reasons for Nitish’s declining popularity

There are several reasons for Kumar’s decreasing popularity. In recent years, several cases of misgovernance have surfaced. This includes, to name a few, Srijan scam, Muzaffarpur shelter home case, death of more than 100 children due to encephalitis, rise in crime in recent years and massive floods in several parts of the state, including the capital. These events have shattered Brand Nitish, the image of a leader who rescued Bihar from the “dark ages” and provided much needed good governance.

As with anywhere else, the media plays an important role in shaping a politician’s image. Local media and journalists played a crucial role in both portraying Nitish as popular and abled leader over the years and also now holding him responsible for the aforementioned events. However, in recent years, unlike his previous regimes, Nitish does have a similar level of control over local media. There was a time when “journalists in Patna often refer to Nitish as Bihar’s editor-in-chief instead of Chief Minister”. As per a report, nobody wanted to annoy the state’s ‘editor-in-chief’ even if the truth flew in their face and hence stories of alleged misrule in the state went unreported.

Assuming that people are really tired of Nitish Kumar, the question then is if a Sushil Kumar Modi or Nityanand Rai – or any other BJP leader for that matter – can provide a pro-people government? The answer is: a state government headed by a BJP leader is unlikely to be any different from the current one. There are two main reasons for this. The foremost reason is, barring a few years, the BJP has been an integral part of the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government in the state since 2005. Sushil Modi is perhaps the longest serving deputy CM of Bihar. Unlike parties like LJP, the saffron party has been a prime partner of the Bihar government and cannot absolve itself from the ‘misrule’ of the Nitish government.

The Jharkhand experience

Moreover, even if the BJP is voted to power with a clear mandate or have an upper hand in the government, there is no guarantee that it will act differently. Clues can be found in the way the BJP ruled in Jharkhand, where the party recently suffered a bad defeat due to its ‘anti-people policies’. During the 2014 assembly elections, the party argued that the people of Jharkhand are disillusioned by lawlessness, corruption and bad governance first during the regime of Madhu Koda and then Hemant Soren. If the BJP is given a clear mandate, it will bring development to the state, the party said. The people did so, voting in the BJP-led alliance. But the way the government functioned, forced the voters to unseat the BJP five years later.

Under Raghubar Das, anti-Adivasi and pro-corporate policies were brought in Jharkhand. Those who tried to protest and resist the policies were branded ‘anti-national’, charged with sedition and jailed. Incidents of mob lynching also increased in the state. Death due to hunger became a common phenomenon. Apart from tribals, Dalits and minorities, other sections of society also suffered. All this irked a large number of voters. So much so that five-time MLA and sitting CM Das lost his traditional seat. Moreover, Das’s former cabinet colleague levelled serious charges of corruption against him.

Today, the situation in Bihar is not very different from Jharkhand in 2014. While it would be a mistake to think people are not tired of Nitish Kumar, the bigger mistake would be to think that a BJP regime will solve the problems the state faces. That’s because the party and its leadership have been part of the problem equally. Denying that is nothing but cheating the people of Bihar.

After Jharkhand Loss, BJP’s Bihar Mission Is To Keep Nitish Kumar Happy.

Source – ndtv.com

Patna: With the BJP suffering a crushing defeat in the Jharkhand elections after its separation from the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), the party leadership in neighbouring Bihar on Thursday insisted that its alliance with Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal United remains strong and unaffected by differences over seat-sharing.

“The NDA is united in Bihar, and there are no differences over seat-sharing. Our alliance is led by five-time Chief Minister Nitish Kumar,” tweeted Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi.

Significantly, he also praised Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Hemant Soren – who is set to lead the alliance government in Jharkhand – even if it was only to put down the opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Tejashwi Yadav.

“The Mahagathbandhan‘s (grand alliance’s) leadership is not in the hands of a person who is educated, simple and polite like Hemant Soren, but with a young man who has been charged with 54 benami property cases at the age of 29,” Mr Modi further claimed in his tweet.

The Congress-JMM combine scored an impressive victory in Jharkhand in the just-concluded elections, bagging 47 seats as compared to the BJP’s 25 and the AJSU’s two. Even as the results were coming through, Tejashwi Yadav – who is also the leader of the opposition in the Bihar assembly – hinted that it would have a cascading effect on the assembly elections next year.

Mr Modi’s tweet was seen as a response to this claim.

Besides Jharkhand, the BJP also suffered a massive loss in Maharashtra last month after the Shiv Sena ended their 30-year-old alliance after differences over sharing the chief minister’s position on a rotational basis. After the latest defeat, Janata Dal United spokesperson Sanjay Singh warned the BJP against pushing its luck with allies. Even Shiromani Akali Dal leader Naresh Gujral said that a bulk of the ruling party’s allies were “unhappy” over issues like the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

However, BJP MP Ramkripal Yadav rejected suggestions of dissent among allies in Bihar, saying that the extraordinary work done by Nitish Kumar would ensure the coalition’s return to power next year.

For now, the party leadership in Bihar has resolved to keep the Janata Dal United in good humour at all costs. BJP leader Giriraj Singh – who had clashed with Nitish Kumar during the Patna floods earlier this year – has been told to not make any controversial statements on the Citizenship Amendment Act or the NRC, and the party is wary of the Janata Dal United seeking a bigger slice of the seat-sharing pie ahead of the polls.

Nitish Kumar drops Bihar from NRC list, asks why should it be implemented.

Source – hindustantimes.com

Just a day after he told minorities in Bihar that they had nothing to worry, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday signalled that he didn’t want the Centre to roll out the National Register of Citizens, or NRC, in Bihar.

“Why will it be implemented in Bihar,” Nitish Kumar shot back with a counter-question when reporters asked him for his stand on the Centre’s plan to roll out a nationwide citizens’ list.

Nitish Kumar is the first chief minister of a NDA-ruled state to shut its doors on the citizens’ register that would be crucial to the Bharatiya Janata Party-led national coalition delivering on its promise to expel infiltrators. Home Minister Amit Shah had earlier this month set a 2024 deadline for his government to throw out all infiltrators, a term usually used by the BJP to refer to Muslim undocumented migrants from Bangladesh.

His party, Janata Dal United, had voted in favour of the controversial changes in the Citizenship Act that allows the government to give citizenship to minorities from three Muslim countries Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan. In the past, Home Minister Amit Shah has described this amendment as the first step, or a precursor to the National Register of Citizens.

Of the parties that backed the amendment to the citizenship law, Nitish Kumar is the second.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, whose party Biju Janata Dal had supported the citizenship law change in parliament, has also spoken out against the citizens’ register. But his party isn’t part of the NDA and takes a stand on legislations on a case-to-case basis.

Nitish Kumar’s decision to clear his stand on the citizens’ list comes a day after protests erupted in several parts of the country against the CAA. His party’s vice president Prashant Kishor has been a vocal critic of both, the citizenship law and the register.

Watch l Why Prashant Kishor says Rahul isn’t protesting loud enough on NRC Why Prashant Kishor says Rahul isn’t protesting loud enough on NRCAs protests against the recent amendments to the Citizenship Act intensify across the country, a vocal critic of the new law, Prashant Kishor, spells out his personal and his party’s stand.

Yesterday, Prashant Kishor told Hindustan Times that he had an assurance from Nitish Kumar that he would not let the NRC to be implemented in Bihar. Before the day was out, Nitish Kumar sent a clear message to minorities that they had nothing to worry about as long as he was around. That was a message assuage the sentiments of minorities, who make up for about 17 per cent of Bihar’s population.

Within the JDU, Prashant Kishor wasn’t the only one to express his concerns.

Others including national spokesperson Pawan Varma and party MLC Gulam Rasool Bulyawi had gone public distancing themselves from the party’s support to the Citizenship Amendment Act,

“For us, people are more important than party and we’ll fight against the draconian Act (CAA) and NRC,” Kochadhaman JD-U MLA Mujahid Alkam said in public, while participating in the meetings and agitation being organized in protest of the CAA and NRC in the district in Purnia.

Nitish Kumar To Begin Bihar Tour Against Climate Change From December 3.

Source – ndtv.com

Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will begin his statewide ”Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali Yatra” against climate change from December 3, officials said on Monday. Emphasising the importance of water conservation and afforestation, the chief minister will undertake the four-day first phase of the tour in the northwestern districts of the state, they said.

“Nitish Kumar will commence the ”yatra” from Bagha in West Champaran district and after traversing East Champaran and Siwan districts, he will conclude the first phase of the tour at Gopalganj district,” a senior official said.

The chief minister will speak in public meetings on climate change, launch projects under his ”Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali  Abhiyan”, inspect ponds and waste management units and hold talks with officials concerned, he said.

The entire ”yatra”, during which the chief minister will traverse the length and breadth of the state, is expected to conclude by January 19, following which a human chain would be formed, the official said.

The human chain will showcase state government initiatives such as a ban on sale and consumption of liquor and drives against dowry and child marriage. The Bihar chief minister has won accolades from American business magnate Bill Gates for the initiative.

The tour comes less than a year ahead of the state Assembly elections, success in which will enable Nitish Kumar to return to power for the fourth consecutive time and ultimately make him the longest-serving chief minister of Bihar.

The JD(U) national president is known for conducting statewide tours to review progress made in the remote corners of Bihar.

The ”Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali Yatra” shares a name with the chief minister’s drive launched a few months back against climate change.

The drive was conceptualised after an all-party meeting in July this year in which members of both the Houses of the state Assembly had unanimously agreed to make efforts in combating climate change. 

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.

Liquor ban: Over 200,000 cases pile-up, irked Patna HC raps Bihar govt.

Source – business-standard.com

Bihar government’s alcohol ban in the state may or may not have delivered desired results yet, but the move has put a huge burden on the judiciary.

The judiciary, already burdened with a large number of pending cases, has to now settle over 200,000 prohibition-related cases, including nearly 40,000 bail petitions pending with the Patna High Court.

The HC has asked Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government to explain the details of the infrastructure and mechanism it plans to develop to deal with mounting prohibition-related cases, according to a news report in The Times of India.

“In how many such cases has the state government appealed the high court’s order in the Supreme Court?,” a bench asked advocate general Lalit Kishore.

In reply, the advocate general said the state government had moved the SC on several occasions but he didn’t mention the number of cases.

The bench also sought to know what action the Bihar government has taken to pursue the cases filed in the SC challenging the enforcement of prohibition in the state.

Till date, 167,000 people have been arrested on charges of violating the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016 and more than 5 lakh litres of alcohol have been seized, the report said.

‘Didn’t expect to hear it in Patna’: Bill Gates talks climate change with Nitish Kumar.

Source – hindustantimes.com

Philanthropist billionaire Bill Gates, who co-chairs the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, on Sunday, said that global economies needed to change to get carbon emissions down to zero to rein in the challenges posed by climate change.

Gates was in conversation with Rishad Premji, chairman, Wipro Ltd., on a topic close to his heart: Technology for Social Inclusion as part of Mint Visionaries. Mint selected this theme since it resonates with the idea of new India.

Talking about his book on climate change which will be released next June, Gates said the idea that someday the rate of emissions will drop to zero is a very challenging one. “Most of the energy that we use comes from coal or natural gas or gasoline. By the time you get to zero, you will need to get rid of these sources of energy and move over to nuclear, renewable or hydro energy. The work on mitigation requires immense innovation. We have a lot of inventions that need to be made. We have to accelerate innovation to mitigate the risk of climate change, which won’t come if we don’t step in,” Gates said.

Referring to his interaction with Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar earlier on Sunday Gates said, “I met the chief minister of Bihar, earlier in the day and he was talking about ways to reduce climate change. When I am in Seattle, in Washington DC or in Paris, climate change is the big topic but I did not expect to hear about it in Patna. Young people are waking up to climate change but unfortunately the people who will suffer the most due to the impact of climate change in growing economies will be the poorest—the farmers and the people in the lower end of the pyramid.”

“This is the first meeting I had with Nitish Kumar and I was impressed that he was saying that they had a problem with climate change. He was trying to get our advice and help on seeds and water supply and how to deal with climate change,” Gates said.

“We have a lot of inventions which need to be made for example the way we make cement and steel are extremely heavy emission activities and yet the world will build more buildings by around 2060 than exist today as the world urbanizes. We are going to use a lot of cement and steel so accelerating innovation is a must, “he emphasized.

Gates spoke of including every country in the need to reduce climate change. “Every country in the world has to participate in tackling climate change; even if you leave out low-income countries you have to include middle income countries since 60% of humanity lives there and a lot of the emissions are going to come from there not just the rich countries. Some people think it can be dealt with in 10 or 20 years. I wish that was true. We need to engage in a plan to sort out climate change.”

Asked about his wish for India, the billionaire said the country should look into malnutrition and get rid of it because it reduces the potential of children.

Cattle trader beaten to death in Bihar, probe on.

Source – deccanchronicle.com

Patna: Nitish Kumar-led government facing attack over rising crime graph was in for another setback after a cattle trader was killed by a group of men for refusing to pay extortion money.

The incident occurred on Monday when a cattle trader identified as Mohammad Jamal was going to neighbouring West Bengal to sell his cows. The police investigating the case feel that the real cause of the incident could be personal enmity between the victim and the accused who is also involved in the cattle trading business.

The incident took place in the presence of Jamal’s younger brother who was escorting him to a weekly market in West Bengal to sell the cattle. Police investigating the case said that FIR against one Sagar Yadav and three others was registered on the basis of complaint filed by the victim’s brother.

“We have registered an FIR against those who are involved in the case. Manhunt has been launched and raids are being conducted in the area to nab the accused,” the police said.

Sources from Katihar said that Jamal was stopped by motorcycle-borne men who asked him for money. “They attacked him after he refused to pay them. He was rushed to the hospital where he was declared dead”.  

Meanwhile, local people blamed the district administration for rising crime graph in the area and demanded immediate arrest of all the accused who has been absconding after the incident. Protesters also demanded a compensation of `25 lakh for the family members of the victim.

As per an assessment over two dozen cases of lynching and mob attack have rocked the state in the last couple of months.  In view of some of the recent incidents, district administration has been asked to launch a campaign and create awareness to counter rumours leading to violence.

Social activists, however, feel that rivalry between two cattle traders led to the killing of Mohammad Jamal in Katihar and urged the police to arrest all the accused involved in the case.

Delhi HC rejects plea to summon Bihar CM as witness in copyright lawsuit.

Source – business-standard.com

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday dismissed a plea seeking to summon Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as a witness in a lawsuit on copyright violation filed against him by a JNU scholar-turned-politician.

Justice V Kameswar Rao said it is not necessary to summon Kumar, who is a defendant in the suit, as the reasoning given for calling him as a witness being so-called ‘principal actor’ and a bona fide act is “not convincing”.

In his lawsuit, Atul Kumar Singh, a former JNU student, has alleged that a book — -Special Category Status: A Case for Bihar’ – published by Patna-based Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI), through its Member Secretary Shaibal Gupta, and endorsed by Kumar, is a plagiarised version of his research work.

According to Singh, Kumar is a significant witness and will have a material impact in establishing the case of the plaintiff.

Kumar has opposed the application, saying it was an abuse of process as he can be cross-examined by Singh at the evidence stage and that the plea has been filed with ulterior motives as he is the chief minister of Bihar and the plaintiff wants to gain publicity.

The court dismissed the plea, saying there was no merit in the application.

“It appears to me that the present application has been made only to put pressure on him (Nitish Kumar) as he is being summoned, not in normal course, but as plaintiff witness without cogent reason as such not bona fide nor in the interest of justice,” the court said.

The court said it is clear that the onus is on Singh to prove that he is the owner of the copyright and it shall be his endeavour to prove the same.

On the other hand, the defendants (Kumar and others) are contesting the said position, it said.

“In other words, the stand of the parties is at variance. Each of the parties, shall have to enter the witness box to prove his / its case. The opposite party, shall naturally cross-examine the party in the witness box. So it follows, that the defendant no.1 coming as a witness, shall in his evidence make good the stand taken by him in his written statement. He shall not prove the case of the plaintiff,” it said.

The court said the reasons given for calling Kumar as a witness are not cogent and the facts of this case show that it is “not necessary to summon the defendant no.1 (Nitish Kumar) as witness of the plaintiff”.

“Surely when the defendant no.1 appears in the witness box to prove his case, the plaintiff shall be within his right to demolish the case set up by the defendant no.1 in his pleading, and ensure, the case set up by him is proved by cross-examining the said defendant,” it said.

Earlier, the court had dismissed an application by the chief minister in which he said he had no direct or indirect association with other defendants and the book. He had also contended he had only endorsed the book and not authored it.

In the suit, besides Kumar, the plaintiff has claimed damages totalling Rs 25 lakh from the defendants including Gupta, ADRI and its sister concern Centre for Economic Policy and Public Finance.

Singh, a former senior research scholar at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), moved the high court in 2010 alleging that his PhD thesis ‘Role of State in Economic Transformation: A case Study of Contemporary Bihar’ of 2006 was released on May 15, 2009 in a book format under the title – Special Category Status, A Case for Bihar.

The lawsuit stated that it was in 2006 that Singh had enrolled for a PhD at JNU. His home state, Bihar, was the subject of his research, and his thesis was to be titled, ‘Role of State in Economic Transformation: A case study of contemporary Bihar.’

It said since the subject of his research involved conducting an economic survey, he got in touch with the ADRI.

The plaintiff claimed that initially the book was shown to be “authored” by Nitish Kumar, but when Singh complained about it, ADRI brought out a fresh version which was shown to have been “endorsed” by the Bihar chief minister.

The suit, which described Kumar as the “principal actor”, said that “despite holding such a responsible post, the defendant in his present capacity has in order to draw public/media attention and to draw political mileage has along with other defendants deliberately, knowingly and malafidely breached the vested copyright of the plaintiff (Singh)”.

Singh has alleged that Gupta played the “pivotal role” in illegally transferring his research work to the Bihar chief minister.

Singh, who belongs to Bihar’s Saran district, had contested Lok Sabha elections from Chapra constituency in 2004 as an independent.

BJP’s ally problem in poll-bound Jharkhand.

Source – indiatoday.in

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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