Archives for June 2021

New Delhi: The Lok Janshakti Party appears set for a split as five of its six Lok Sabha MPs are learnt to have joined hands to oust Chirag Paswan as their leader in the House by electing his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras in his place.

A source said the group of MPs has conveyed their decision to the Lok Sabha Speaker.

There has been no official comment from either Chirag Paswan, who has not been keeping well, or the rebel group so far.

While the rebel group, which includes MPs Prince Raj, Chandan Singh, Veena Devi and Mehboob Ali Kaiser, has long been unhappy with Chirag Paswan’s style of functioning, sources said, the LJP president has now been left virtually isolated at the top after taking on the mantle following his father Ram Vilas Paswan’s death in 2020.

Sources close to him have blamed the JD(U) for the split, saying the party had long been working to isolate the LJP president after his decision to go all out against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in the 2020 assembly polls damaged the ruling party badly.

The rebel group may back the JD(U) in the coming days, the sources said.

Jerusalem: Naftali Bennett was on Sunday sworn in as Israel’s new Prime Minister, ousting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from power after an uninterrupted 12 years at the helm of affairs.

Bennett, the 49-year-old leader of the right-wing Yamina party, took oath of office after the Knesset (Parliament) elected him as the 13th Prime Minister of Israel by a 60-59 vote in the 120-member house. One lawmaker abstained.

His government has 27 ministers, nine of them women.

The new government – an unprecedented coalition of ideologically divergent political parties drawn from the Right, the Left and the Centre, along with an Arab party – has a razor-thin majority in a 120-member house.

Mickey Levy of Yesh Atid party was elected as the speaker of Parliament with the support of 67 lawmakers.

Earlier, Bennett presented his new government’s ministers in the Knesset (Israeli parliament) in a speech constantly interrupted by supporters of 71-year-old Netanyahu.

Amid incessant heckling from rival bloc’s lawmakers, Bennett said that he is proud “of the ability to sit with people of different opinions”.

“At the decisive moment we took responsibility,” he said. “The alternative to this government was more elections, more hate, which would have broken up the country.”

“It is time for responsible leaders from different parts of the nation to stop this madness, he asserted.

Agitated Likud, ultra-orthodox and ultra-nationalist lawmakers constantly jeered at Bennett during his speech calling him “a criminal” and a “liar”.

In his speech, Bennett also said that Israel “will not allow Iran to arm itself with nuclear weapons.”

“Israel will not be a party to the agreement and will continue to preserve full freedom of action, he said, opposing the US efforts to revive Iran’s nuclear deal.

Bennett, a former ally turned rival of Netanyahu, is leading a fragile coalition of eight parties – Yamina, Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid, New Hope, Labor, Meretz, United Arab List, Kahol Lavan and Yisrael Beiteinu.

The alliance contains parties that have vast ideological differences, and perhaps most significantly includes the first independent Arab party to be part of a potential ruling coalition, Ra’am.

Bennett has entered into a power-sharing agreement with Centrist leader Yair Lapid, the head of the Yesh Atid party, under which the latter would take over Premiership in September 2023, serving for two years till the end of the term.

Lapid, the leader of the second-largest faction in the Knesset with 17 seats was invited by President Reuven Rivlin to form a coalition after Netanyahu, leading the Likud party with 30 seats, expressed his inability to put together a government backed by a majority of the lawmakers.

The unstable coalition that Lapid has managed to put together faces severe challenges and the glue that seems to hold them together is the ‘unity of purpose’ created by the agenda of ousting Netanyahu.

The approval of the new government by the Knesset ended 12 years of uninterrupted rule by Netanyahu, who holds the record of being the longest-serving Prime Minister in the country’s history.

Having served in the position earlier between 1996 and 1999, Netanyahu last year surpassed the record held by one of the Jewish state’s founding leaders, David Ben-Gurion.

In his address to parliament, Netanyahu vowed to bring down this “dangerous government”.

“If it is destined for us to be in the opposition, we will do it with our backs straight until we topple this dangerous government and return to lead the country in our way, Netanyahu said as he made clear he has no plans on giving up leadership of the Likud Party.

Iran is “celebrating” the formation of a “weak government in Israel, Netanyahu said.

“From the moment the US returns to the nuclear deal with Iran, the incoming government won’t approve significant operations in Iran,” he said.

“A government that is not able to forcefully oppose the international community on the pressing issues for our fate is not worthy of leading Israel,” he said, claiming that Bennett doesn’t have the credibility or the global standing to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear capability.

The formation of the new government ended the political impasse in the country that saw four elections in less than two years leading to inconclusive results.

But opinion polls suggest that majority of the Israelis do not look too hopeful regarding the longevity of the coalition of eight parties who do not see eye-to-eye on most of the critical issues facing the country.

Many analysts feel that the two factors likely to prolong or determine the tenure of the new fragile coalition are the fear of Netanyahu’s return and also a possible political demise of some of the right-wing factions that have gone against the wishes of their voting constituency to join hands.

It also includes Bennett’s Yamina party which has to score some “major wins” to restore the faith of its supporters in the movement.

Interestingly, almost one-third of the people standing in unity to oust Netanyahu would otherwise be his ‘natural allies’ ideologically, having also worked as his close associates in the past.

Many analysts believe that Netanyahu’s long-term ‘invincibility’ led to arrogance because of which he went on pushing his friends away from him each time there were differences of opinion, simultaneously also labelling them as Leftists as if it was a stigma.

It is still not all over for Netanyahu, who has dominated Israel’s political landscape for years and would remain the head of the right-wing Likud party and become the leader of the opposition.

The coalition agreement involving eight factions with the 61 seats required for a majority was signed on June 2, just about half an hour before a deadline was due to expire.

Netanyahu is fighting corruption cases on fraud, bribery and breach of trust charges, which he denies. If he were to go into the opposition, he might be denied parliamentary immunity.

KOLKATA: Mukul Roy’s ghar wapsi has sparked concerns not only in the BJP but also in West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress. The worry in the BJP camp is over the possibility of more Trinamool Congress turncoats in the party following Roy’s footsteps.

Concerns have mounted after former Trinamool Congress minister Rajib Banerjee, who is now in the saffron camp, held talks with TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh on Saturday. “Now he (Rajib) is criticising BJP for its divisive politics. But before the election, he organised a rally comprising Hindu hardliners and used the Election Commission against TMC workers in Domjur. He visited Kunal’s house but it doesn’t mean that he washed all his sins by taking a holy dip in the Ganges,” said Serampore Kalyan Banerjee, a TMC MP. Rajib contested from Domjur constituency for the BJP, but failed to win.

There is also strong buzz that former TMC MLA Sabyasachi Dutta, who joined the BJP, is set to follow his mentor Roy into the party. It was Roy, who is known for his ability to poach functionaries from rival camps, who brought Dutta to the saffron party.

Some in the TMC have already raised their voice against Dutta’s possible induction. TMC minister Sujit Bose is one of them. “The party will take the decision. But if the leadership wants to know my opinion, I will let them know my stance on his return,” said Dutta.

Even when Dutta was in the TMC, a rift between him and Bose had surfaced on many occasions. While campaigning for the election, Dutta had aggressively attacked Bose. Not just Dutta and Rajib, at least eight MLAs and an MP from north Bengal are expected to jump ship to the Trinamool Conrgess as an after-effect of Roy’s return to his old battle-pitch.

The Congress on Sunday alleged that scams are happening by taking donations in the name of Lord Ram after two opposition leaders accused Shriram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust general secretary Champat Rai of buying a piece of land at an inflated price for the Ram temple premises.

The allegation that the land worth Rs 2 crore was brought at an inflated price of Rs 18.5 crore was made by AAP’s Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh and a former minister in the Samajwadi Party government, Pawan Pandey.

The allegation was strongly refuted by Rai. Tagging a tweet on Rai refuting the allegation, Congress’ chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala had said on Sunday, “Lord Ram, what kind of days are these? Scams are happening by taking donations in your name. Shameless robbers are intoxicated with arrogance like Ravana and are selling faith.”

“The question is how the land bought for Rs 2 crore was sold after 10 minutes to ‘Ram Janmabhoomi’ for Rs 18.50 crores?” he asked. “Now it seems – Kans are ruling, Ravana is everywhere!” Surjewala had said in a tweet in Hindi.

Terming it a case of money laundering, Singh and Pandey had sought a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate.

Sources said that the LJP president has now been left virtually isolated at the top after taking on the mantle following his father Ram Vilas Paswan’s death in 2020.

The Chirag Paswan-led Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) suffered a major jolt after five of its six Lok Sabha MPs have reportedly united against him and demanded his replacement with a new leadership. The five MPs have demanded that Hajipur MP Pashupati Kumar Paras, who is also Chirag Paswan’s, uncle be declared as the new president of the LJP. 

Speaking to the media over the phone, Paras said that he had to take this step it order to save the party and carry on the political ideologies with which late Ram Vilas Paswan had formed the LJP. “The LJP in Bihar assembly election had suffered badly. I will try and revive the party and take it further to provide peace to the soul of its founder,” he said.

According to the sources, the formation of a new party with a ‘renewed’ leadership was decided late on Sunday evening in New Delhi at Paras’ residence. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla was informed about this decision to form a new fraction of LJP with five MPs. However, it is also being speculated that this was not a random development and has been on the cards since the death of Ram Vilas Paswan. Chirag was allegedly accused of undermining the seniors in the party, which left the leaders quite unhappy. 

Meanwhile, local political sources said that a senior JDU leader had also met Paras recently. “A new political game is being played from behind to teach Chirag Paswan a lesson,” an LJP leader close to the party chief said here.

A formal announcement on this leadership development is likely to be made in New Delhi on Monday after Lok Sabha Speaker’s approval. Political circles in Bihar have sparked a new buzz after Paras recently lauded CM Nitish Kumar as a good administrator.

While the rebel group, which includes MPs Prince Raj, Chandan Singh, Veena Devi and Mehboob Ali Kaiser, has long been unhappy with Chirag Paswan’s style of functioning, sources said, the LJP president has now been left virtually isolated at the top after taking on the mantle following his father Ram Vilas Paswan’s death in 2020.

Sources close to him have blamed the JDU for the split, saying the party had long been working to isolate the LJP president after his decision to go all out against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in the 2020 assembly polls damaged the ruling party badly.

The rebel group may back the JDU in the coming days, the sources said.

CHANDIGARH:  Residents of Badkali village in Haryana’s Nuh district bordering the national capital on Saturday clashed with police and set a government vehicle on fire after a 22-year-old youth died at his house, allegedly after being tortured by the police. The deceased, Junaid was a painter and his family alleged that the youth was illegally picked up and detained by Faridabad Police without registering any case against him. 

Subsequently, a team of police personnel from Nuh came to the spot and asked villagers to clear the highway. However, tension mounted after the two sides engaged in an argument, which led to clashes.
The local residents pelted stones, beat up police personnel and damaged vehicles and also set an official vehicle ablaze, said the police.

Meanwhile, the family of Junaid claimed that he was going for a wedding in Rajasthan along with five others in a car and was picked up instead of another youth who was involved in a fraud case. Meanwhile, Faridabad Police stated that the allegations of illegal detention and torture raised by Junaid’s family are “baseless” and “far from facts”. 

“We deny all the allegations raised by the family of the deceased. Junaid died due to kidney problem. A case of fraud was registered as one Sonu was cheated of Rs 80,000  and two brothers of Junaid and his cousin were involved in the crime and were arrested,’’ said  spokesman of the police.