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Those with vested interests not learning from Bihar debacle: Shatrughan Sinha

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shatrughan-sinha

Patna: Launching a frontal attack on the party leadership, BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha today said those with “vested interests” are refusing to learn lessons from the Bihar debacle and asserted that no one has the guts or DNA to tick him off, an apparent dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Siding with veterans’ demand for fixing accountability for the loss, Sinha said the “camouflage” of collective responsibility is unacceptable and responsibility must be fixed on individuals for corrective actions.

The Lok Sabha MP ridiculed any move to take action against him for his ceaseless criticism of the party, saying it is just bravado of the ill-advised to talk of action.

“Some vested interests are still at it… refusing to learn any lessons, still working on creating misunderstandings through misinformation. R K Singh, former Home Secretary and a proud Bihari Sher (a tough nut to crack) is right. No one has the guts (or DNA) to give us a ‘fatkaar’,” he tweeted.

His DNA barb is an apparent reference to Modi’s DNA dig at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who had made it a major campaign issue in the Bihar assembly election.

“Those responsible for the debacle must answer what, why, where and how it all happened. They must satisfy the real stalwarts/veterans of BJP. It’s just bravado of the ill-advised to talk of action. The time is for reaction, understanding, apology and satisfaction of party godfathers,” he said.

Sinha has been critical of BJP since Bihar poll campaign took off but had been so far guarded in his attack on the top brass, bringing instead the state leadership in his line of fire.

His sharp attack indicates that the film actor-turned-politician has decided to escalate his attack even as he has been effusive in his praise of Kumar, who led the grand alliance of JD(U)-RJD-Congress to a massive victory.

(PTI)

Bihar results prove majority of Hindus still believe in peace: Dalai Lama

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Dalai Lama

Jalandhar: Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama has said India is a nation of non -violence and noted that the Bihar election results show that a majority of the Hindus believes in peace and amity.

“India has a long tradition of peace and amity. The people of Bihar in the recent Assembly polls have proved that a large section of the Hindu community still believes in peace and amity,” the 14th Dalai Lama said without naming any political party or leader.

“It is because of this amity that India is known worldwide as a country of religious tolerance. All religions and individuals are given equal respect here,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a function in Jalandhar.

“Religious tolerance not only means respecting all religions but also the people. Buddhism too started in this nation and because of this, India is the guru and all Buddhists are students,” he said.

Asked about terrorism, the Tibetan spiritual leader said, “First we must create an atmosphere of peace and it should be initiated from one’s own home. Encouraging religious tolerance is the need of the hour and should be done through schools and universities.”

Speaking on climate change, the Dalai Lama said, “This is everyone’s responsibility. We all need to work together and give primacy to it. The big nation gives main importance to its own profit while the issue of climate change comes way down its agenda.”

(Agencies)

Nitish Kumar to take oath as new CM on Nov 20

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nitish-kumar

Patna: Though the official announcement is awaited, JD(U) Nitish Kumar in all likelihood would take oath as the new chief minister of Bihar on November 20.

“People are busy with Diwali and after that comes the Chhath festival which ends on November 18. So oath of the new government in all likelihood will be administered after Chhath,” state JD(U) President Basistha Narayan Singh told PTI.

Though the decision to this effect will be taken by the chief minister but the date seems likely, he said.

Two senior ministers of Nitish Kumar’s outgoing cabinet have also indicated November 20 as the likely date and talks are on among top leadership of the three constituent parties of the Grand Alliance on government formation.

It is yet to be decided as to which constituent party would the speaker be from and if Lalu Prasad’s son Tejaswi would be made the deputy chief minister.

Kumar had on November 8 told mediapersons that the term of the current Assembly is till November 29, hence there was no hurry to form a new government.

Refusing to commit a date, he had merely said a new government would take oath in the state soon.

This would be the fifth time that Kumar would take oath as chief minister. His first stint was in 2000 when he headed a government for only seven days. He rode to power in Novermber 2005 and again in 2010. In February 2015 he took oath for the high office for the fourth time after Jitan Ram Manjhi was removed from the chair.

When contacted, state Congress President Ashok Choudhary told PTI that party high command would take a call as to whether to join the government or not.

“I will go to Delhi after Diwali and discuss the Bihar issue with the top leadership,” he added.

Bihar JD(U) chief Basistha Narayan Singh said though decision would be taken by the leaders of Congress it would be better if all three partners are part of the state government.

“We have fought together and it would be good for them (Congress) too that they be part of the government,” he said.

Singh refused to confirm media reports that a criteria of one minister on every five MLAs is being fixed for selection of ministers in the new Nitish Kumar government.

(PTI)

BJP concedes defeat in Bihar battle

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(AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

(AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday conceded defeat in the Bihar elections.

“BJP lost only because of alliance arithmetic,” union minister Prakash Javadekar told the media.

BJP vice president Prabhat Jha added: “We failed to understand people’s mind. We will have to change our election strategy.”

(IANS)

Grand Alliance heads to victory in late surge

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Mahagathbandhan

Patna: The Grand Alliance on Sunday celebrated all across Bihar as its candidates forged ahead in more than half of the 243 seats, stunning the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Two-and-a-half hours into the vote count, trends from counting centres showed the JD-U camp was ahead in 135 seats – 13 more than the 122 needed to secure a majority in the assembly – while the BJP alliance was on the front in 92 seats.

Smaller parties, including the BSP and MIM, were on the winning track in nine constituencies.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leaders claimed victory and said the JD-U and its two allies – the RJD and Congress – were confident of forming the government.

JD-U leader Sharad Yadav said the Grand Alliance would win about 150 seats. “It was a very tough fight, it was a straight fight.”

JD-U’s Pavan Verma added: “The Grand Alliance has moved towards victory. It is a defeat for (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi and (BJP president) Amit Shah. We will form a government with a clear majority.”

It was one of the most bitterly contested assembly election in recent times, with Modi personally taking charge of the BJP combine’s campaign, pitting himself against Chief Minister and JD-U leader Nitish Kumar and RJD leader Lalu Prasad.

When the final results are declared, it would be the BJP’s second straight defeat in assembly elections since it was routed by the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi in February.

Early celebrations in the BJP office in New Delhi and Patna gave way to gloom as it became clear that the initial leads its candidates took proved to be a mirage, with the Grand Alliance members clawing back in the vote count.

“I congratulate the people of Bihar for voting for development. The credit goes to Modi’s and (BJP president) Amit Shah’s leadership,” BJP spokesman Kailash Vijayvargiya told the media earlier.

Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad too said earlier: “We will win with very conclusive majority. People of Bihar need change.”

BJP leaders ordered a huge quantity of sweets, saying they were sure of a victory. In no time, the atmosphere became sombre in the BJP office here.

BJP candidates were leading in 74 seats, former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) in four, the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) of Ramvilas Paswan in nine and the Rashtriya Lok Sama Party (RLSP) in five seats each.

In the Grand Alliance, the JD-U was ahead in 64 seats, the RJD in 55 and the Congress in 12 seats. The RJD and the JD-U fielded 101 candidates each and the Congress 41.

The BJP contested 160 seats and its allies the LJP 40, the RLSP 23 and the HAM 20 seats.

The bitterly contested five-phase electoral battle began on October 12 and ended on November 5.

(IANS)

Bihar battle ends, exit polls split on outcome

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bihar-votes

New Delhi: Bihar’s bitterly-contested staggered elections ended on Thursday evening, with exit polls sharply split on who would get to rule the state: the BJP-led alliance led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s Grand Alliance.

While three of the nine surveys at the end of five rounds of polling predicted a clear win for the Bharatiya Janata Party and another gave an upper hand to it, five exit polls forecast a narrow or clear majority in the 243-member house to the Grand Alliance.

Despite the exit poll suspense, leaders of both the BJP and the Grand Alliance — the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) of Nitish Kumar and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) of Lalu Prasad — claimed they were sure of victory.

“We are hopeful of getting a clear majority,” said BJP spokesman Nalin Kohli. “Although the (exit polls) ranges are close, I won’t arrive at any hasty assessment,” he said, indicating cautious optimism in the BJP.

Former chief minister Lalu Prasad, however, insisted that the Grand Alliance, which also includes the Congress, was poised to win 190 seats.

“The entire backward community of Bihar has voted for us,” he told the media in Patna. “We salute them for this.”

None of the exit polls, however, gave either alliance such a huge victory as claimed by Lalu Prasad.

While Today’s Chanakya gave 155 of the 243 seats to the BJP and its three allies, NewsX-CNX said the JD-U and its allies would get 135 seats. It forecast a mere 83 seats to the JD-U, the RJD and the Congress.

In contrast, NewsX said the BJP and its allies — the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), the Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) — would win only 95 seats.

Other exit polls predicted a close outcome.

Any party or combine would need 122 seats to secure a wafer thin majority in the 243-member assembly. The millions of votes polled in the five rounds of polling from October 12 — about 60 percent of the 66.8 million electorate voted — will be counted on Sunday.

An India Today-Cicero exit poll predicted a hung assembly, with the BJP-led alliance winning 120 seats to 117 by the Grand Alliance. It gave the BJP alliance 113-127 seats and the Grand Alliance 111-123 seats. Four to eight seats could go to other parties.

A Dainik Jagran exit poll said the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would get a majority with 130 seats as compared to 97 for the Grand Alliance.

The Times Now-CVoter survey gave 122 seats to the Grand Alliance and 111 to the NDA.

The ABP News gave the BJP and its allies 130 seats compared to 108 to the JD-U-RJD-Congress alliance.

News Nation also gave the JD-U and its allies an edge, with 120-124 seats, while the BJP and its allies could get 115-119 seats.

India TV-C Voter also predicted 111 seats to the BJP combine and 122 to the Grand Alliance.

Even before the exit polls were telecast, JD-U spokesman K.C. Tyagi told IANS in Patna that the Grand Alliance was confident of winning a “stupendous mandate”.

Neither Modi or BJP president Amit Shah — who micro-managed the Bihar election — nor Nitish Kumar spoke to the media.

Earlier on Thursday, nearly 60 percent of the 1.55 crore electorate turned out to vote in the last of the 57 constituencies spread across seven districts: Kishangaj, Purnea, Araria, Katihar, Saharasa, Madhepura and Supaul.

Despite widespread apprehensions, the staggered election passed off peacefully, even in areas considered to be strongholds of Maoists who had called for an election boycott.

The voter enthusiasm was evident on Thursday too, with tens of thousands queuing up at polling booths even before they opened at 7 a.m. A total of 827 candidates were in the fray.

Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi’s Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) contested from six constituencies, making its foray into Bihar.

Earlier on Thursday, the stock market dipped over a possible lack of clear mandate in Bihar.

The Bihar election is a big test for the BJP, whose winning streak since the 2014 Lok Sabha polls was halted by the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi in February this year.

(IANS)

JD(U), Congress approach EC, demand ban on Amit Shah’s entry in Bihar

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Amit_Shah

New Delhi: Upping the ante against Amit Shah after his “fireworks in Pakistan” remark, JD(U) and Congress today approached the Election Commission demanding that the BJP chief be barred from entering Bihar for “inciting communal tension” till the election process ends.

Taking strong objection to BJP’s poll advertisements in the state, they accused the party of using “lies and false propaganda” to vitiate the atmosphere and demanded that an FIR be registered against Shah as well Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his quota remarks.

Slamming Shah’s yesterday remarks that if BJP loses in Bihar, there will be fireworks in Pakistan, JD(U) general secretary K C Tyagi said, “Shah’s remarks are inflammatory.

“A case should be registered against him and he should be debarred from entering Bihar till the poll process is over. He is a habitual conspirator. He was earlier also debarred from entering Gujarat by the court.”

A delegation of Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala, spokesperson Ajoy Kumar and JD(U) general secretary K C Tyagi met Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi and submitted a memorandum, accusing the BJP of “vitiating” the electoral process by “promoting communal tension” through its advertisements.

It sought action including “complete withdrawal” of these ads and “prosecution” of the perpetrators.

Submitting a list of advertisements issued by the BJP in Bihar including one which accuses Nitish Kumar-led of “snatching the plate of dalits” and accuses it of trying to carve five per cent reservation for a particular community from the quota for SC/ST/OBC, the delegation demanded quick action from the poll watchdog.

The parties complained to the EC on this matter on a day when Prime Minister Narendra raised the pitch on this issue addressing a rally in Lalu Prasad’s home turf Gopalganj and citing a speech of Nitish Kumar in Parliament allegedly favouring sub quota for Muslims.

Tyagi also said that the Election Commission should register a case against Modi for the repeated reference of his belonging to Extremely Backward Castes (EBC) in the same manner as the Election Commission had lodged a case against RJD chief Lalu Prasad for his forward versus back election remark earlier.

They also cited two more ads. While one alleges that Lashkar-e-Toiba and ISI terrorists are “thriving in Bihar due to negligence” of JD-U leaders, the other talks of Bihar government’s role in “delayed” arrest of Yasin Bhatkal from Nepal border.

The delegation alleged that it is a “shameless” attempt by the BJP at spreading “false propaganda” and “creating communal tension”.

The Nitish Kumar-led alliance claimed that one of the ads say that RJD, JD(U) and Congress leaders are “giving sanctuary” to terrorists to appease a particular community for votes.

The name of the particular community becomes clear when seen in context to previous day’s ad, which spoke about Muslim community appeasement by RJD-JD(U) and Congress by ‘robbing the plate of dalits’, the delegation alleged.

On the ad regarding Bhatkal arrest issue, the delegation said that it questions whether the ‘delay’ was to make a particular community feel the “government’s benevolence”.

“The connection between letting Bhatkar escape and a community is done to connect Bhatkal with the Muslim community,” they alleged.

“In the on-going elections in Bihar, the BJP has been promoting lies, false propaganda and communal tensions through its advertisements. This has resulted in vitiating the electoral process by promoting communal tension….

“As you will see from these ads, it is a shameless attempt at spreading false propaganda and creating communal tension by use of misuse of select words in ambiguous contexts that could be interpreted for multiple factions for inciting violence between the two communities,” the delegation said in its memorandum.

Terming these ads as “blatant violation” of the provisions of the Representation of People Act, 1951 and several provisions of the Indian Penal Code, the delegation said, “The EC must demand a complete withdrawal of the advertisement and prosecution should be initiated against the perpetrators at the earliest.”

(Agencies)

Bihar’s third phase ends, 53 percent vote

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bihar-polls

Patna: The third phase of Bihar’s staggered assembly polls ended on Wednesday evening, with 53.20 percent of the 14.5 million electorate voting in 50 constituencies across six districts.

Additional Chief Electoral Officer R. Lakshmanan said the exercise passed off peacefully, including in areas where Maoists are active. There were only minor clashes between rival political activists.

According to officials, more than 7.5 million people voted during the day in a battle that has pitted the BJP led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi against the Grand Alliance of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

The voters on Wednesday included Nitish Kumar, his ally and RJD leader Lalu Prasad, BJP leader and former deputy chief minister Sushil Modi and BJP’s dissident MP Shatrughan Sinha.

After voting in Patna with his family, Lalu Prasad, a former chief minister, hit out at Modi.

“Modi is playing the communal card on reservation. People in the country never expected such words from the prime minister,” he said.

He was referring to Modi’s statement that the Grand Alliance was trying to put in quotas in jobs and educational institutions for Muslims.

Sushil Modi also voted in Patna. And so did Nitish Kumar and Shatrughan Sinha, a Bollywood veteran who has embarrassed the Bharatiya Janata Party by publicly praising Nitish Kumar.

When journalists asked him who he thought will win the Bihar battle, Sinha retorted: “Khamosh” (silence). The MP has been sidelined by the BJP in the election campaign.

Polling began at 7 a.m. in the districts of Patna, Saran, Vaishali, Nalanda, Bhojpur and Buxar. It got over at 4 p.m. in 10 constituencies located in Maoist strongholds. Elsewhere it ended at 5 p.m.

Nalanda is Nitish Kumar’s home turf, and is widely known as ‘Kurmistan’ due to the dominance of his Kurmi caste.

As in the first and second rounds of polling on October 12 and 16, serpentine queues formed at polling stations since early in the morning.

Officials said voters in over a dozen villages boycotted the polls to protest what they said was lack of development in their areas.

Lalu Prasad’s prestige was at stake on Wednesday as his sons Tej Pratap Yadav and Tejaswi Yadav were in the fray. They contested from Mahua and Raghopur respectively in Vaishali district.

The BJP is banking heavily on Dalits and other backward castes, including Yadav voters, besides most upper castes to get the winning votes. Its allies include the Lok Janshakti Party, Hindustani Awam Morcha and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party.

The JD-U has tied up with the RJD and Congress.

According to the Association for Democratic Reforms and the National Election Watch, 215 of the candidates in the third round faced serious criminal charges, including those of murder.

The staggered elections to pick a 243-member Bihar assembly will end on November 5. The results will be known on November 8. The fourth round of polling will take place on November 1.

(IANS)

Narendra Modi losing, Nitish Kumar winning Bihar: Arvind Kejriwal

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Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi: As the second phase of Bihar polls was underway, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday anticipated a victory for Nitish Kumar and claimed that the BJP, led by Narendra Modi, was all set to “badly” lose the elections.

The AAP convenor said that incumbent Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will get another shot at power. Kejriwal has openly endorsed Kumar’s candidature.

“As per my information, Modiji is losing Bihar elections badly. Nitishji is winning the polls,” Kejriwal tweeted.

Kejriwal had extended full support to his Bihar counterpart’s candidature at a conclave organised by the Delhi government in the capital in August.

However, he did not campaign for the JD(U) in the ongoing polls.

Making common cause against Modi, the duo also attacked him for announcing a Rs 1.25 lakh crore package for the election-bound state.

AAP has had to walk a tightrope in supporting Nitish as his party JD(U) is part of a grand alliance of which Lalu Prasad-led RJD is also a part.

(PTI)

Bihar electoral battle enters second phase

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samastipur-voters

Patna: The battle for Bihar enters into its second phase tomorrow with voters set to decide the fate of 456 candidates in 32 constituencies spread over six Naxal-hit districts, posing a big challenge to security forces.

The districts are Kaimur, Rohtas, Arwal, Jehanabad, Aurangabad and Gaya.
After the completion of the first phase of polling in 49 seats, the second phase saw NDA sharpening attack on the grand secular alliance in the backdrop of a sting video that purportedly showed a minister accepting Rs 4 lakh bribe.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi grabbed the ‘windfall’ with both hands and flagged it at his rallies in Jehanabad and Bhubua on October 12, a day after the damning video showed up on the 113th birth anniversary of socialist icon Jayaprakash Narayan.

The second phase polling constitutes a great challenge for the security personnel as the six districts are heavily affected by Naxalism. In view of the security concerns, voting time has been curtailed by one hour and two hours in as many as 23 Constituencies.

Additional Chief Electoral Officer R Lakshamanan said that while voting would start at 7 AM in all 32 constituencies it would end at 3 PM in 11 constituencies and at 4 PM at 12 others. Only 9 seats would have scheduled voting from 7 AM to 5 PM.

A total of 86,13,870 electors are expected to decide the fate of 456 candidates, 32 out of whom are women. There are 9,119 polling stations.

A total of 993 companies of Central Para Military forces and state police would be deployed on the day to ensure peaceful voting.

As many as 334 companies would be in service in Gaya, 201 in Rohtas and 193 in Aurangabad.

While contest on all the seats is intense, the battle at Imamganj (reserved SC seat) would be keenly watched where former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi of HAM is locked in a straight contest with the Speaker of the outgoing assembly Uday Narain Chaudhary of JD(U). Chaudhary is a five-term MLA from the seat.

Manjhi is also trying his luck from Makhdumpur seat in Jehanabad too.

Senior BJP leader and former minister Prem Kumar (Gaya town), former state unit chief of the saffron party Gopal Narayan Singh (Nabinagar) and state minister Jay Kumar Singh (Dinara) are among those whose fate would be decided in this phase.

(Agencies)

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