Tag: JD-U

  • Arunachal Pradesh Assembly elections: Counting of votes for Arunachal Pradesh Assembly elections to begin at 6 am on June 2

    Counting of votes for the Arunachal Pradesh Assembly elections will begin at 6 am on June 2, an official said here on Wednesday. Assembly and Lok Sabha elections were held simultaneously in Arunachal Pradesh on April 19.

    “Over 2000 officials will be deployed for counting of votes on both the days – (June 2 Assembly election and June 4 Lok Sabha),” the official said.

    Counting of votes for assembly elections will start from 6 am on June 2 while that for Lok Sabha polls would start from 8 am on June 4, Chief Electoral Officer Pawan Kumar Sain said. “This time we have decided to conduct counting for all constituencies in a district simultaneously and will try to announce the results by noon,” Sain said, adding that media centres would be set up in all counting centres to disseminate information on counting updates. AllUttar PradeshMaharashtraTamil NaduWest BengalBiharKarnatakaAndhra PradeshTelanganaKeralaMadhya PradeshRajasthanDelhiOther StatesCounting of votes for 50 assembly seats out of a total of 60, will be held in 24 centres in the state on June 2 while that for Lok Sabha seats would be conducted in 25 centres on June 4, Joint Chief Electoral Officer Liken Koyu said. The ruling BJP has already won 10 seats in the 60-member assembly unopposed. The second round of training for officials for counting of votes ended on Tuesday, an official said. “A three-tier security barricade have been made in all the counting centres comprising personnel of central paramilitary forces, state armed police and state civil police, available in the state,” the CEO said.

    “I had already convened a coordination meeting with all the district electoral officers (DEOs) and superintendents of police (SPs) to review the law and order situation along with chief secretary and director general of police, where the DGP directed all SPs to ensure peaceful counting process,” Sain said.

    The CEO said that the DEOs have been instructed to ensure that counting agents of various political parties enter the counting centres without cell phones.

    A total of 133 candidates contested in the assembly seats while 14 in the two Lok Sabha seats.

    In the Arunachal West Parliamentary seat, eight candidates including Union Earth Sciences Minister Kiren Rijiju and state Congress president Nabam Tuki contested the elections.

    Sitting BJP MP Tapir Gao and state Congress vice-president Bosiram Siram are among the six candidates who contested from Arunachal East Lok Sabha seat.

    The BJP had won both the Lok Sabha seats in the 2019 elections while in the assembly the party had bagged 41 seats. The JD (U) had won seven seats, NPP in five, Congress in four while the PPA had secured one seat and Independent candidates got two.

  • Nitish Kumar: Running strong despite twists and turns

    By Agencies

    The longest-serving chief minister of any Hindi- speaking state, Nitish Kumar seems to have acquired an aura of indispensability when it comes to the highest seat of power in Bihar.

    A crafty politician, he kept the BJP guessing till the eleventh hour before severing ties with the ally, following “unanimous sentiments” in his JD(U) that it was to be blamed for the party’s dwindling fortunes.

    Kumar then clinched a new deal in no time with the opposition which, bereft of power and coherence, welcomed him with open arms.

    In a political career spanning four decades, Kumar, 71, has kept at bay taints of corruption, nepotism and misgovernance, leaving critics with little except “opportunism” as a stick to be beaten with.

    Born on March 1, 1951 in Bakhtiyarpur, a nondescript town on the outskirts of Patna, to an Ayurvedic practitioner-cum-freedom fighter father, Kumar is an electrical engineer by training.

    During his days at the Bihar Engineering College, now known as NIT, Patna, he became active in student politics and got associated with the ‘JP movement’, which introduced him to many of his future associates, including Lalu Prasad and Sushil Kumar Modi.

    His first electoral success came in the 1985 assembly elections, which the Congress swept though he managed to win the Harnaut seat for Lok Dal.

    Five years later, he moved to Delhi as an MP from the now- abolished seat of Barh.

    ALSO READ | Nitish Kumar sworn in as Bihar CM, Tejashwi his deputy

    After another half a decade, when the Mandal wave was at its peak and Prasad was reaping its dividends, Kumar sided with George Fernandes to float the Samata Party, which would later morph into the JD(U) and share power with BJP at the Centre and, 2005 onwards, in the state.

    His first five years as chief minister are recalled with admiration even by critics, marked by vast improvements in restoration of law and order in a state that made headlines for massacres by rivalling militias and kidnappings for ransom.

    A product of the Mandal churn, the Kurmi leader also realised that he did not have the advantage of belonging to a populous caste group and created sub-quotas among OBCs and Dalits, who were called ‘Ati Pichhda’ (EBC) and Mahadalits, which was resented by the dominant Yadavs and Dusadhs (supporters of Ram Vilas Paswan).

    He also gave patronage to “Pasmanda” Muslims which, besides his ability to keep Hindutva vigilantes in check, endeared him to the minority community despite an old alliance with the BJP.

    ALSO READ | Nitish was uncomfortable with BJP, claims Prashan Kishor

    Kumar brought in measures like free bicycles and school uniforms for school-going girls, which won him much adulation and the exuberant public mood saw him returning to power in 2010, leading the JD(U)-BJP coalition with a landslide victory in assembly polls.

    The period, however, also saw the end of the “Atal-Advani era” in BJP and Kumar ended up locking horns with Narendra Modi, then his Gujarat counterpart whom he never allowed to campaign in Bihar, and snapped ties with the saffron party in 2013.

    He survived in power as the JD(U) was formidably placed in the assembly, but stepped down in 2014, owning moral responsibility for the party’s drubbing in the Lok Sabha elections, wherein it returned with a dismal tally of just two seats.

    In less than a year, he was back as chief minister, elbowing out his rebellious protege Jitan Ram Manjhi with ample support from the RJD and the Congress and came to be seen, nationally, as a potential challenger to the Modi juggernaut.

    The Grand Alliance that came into being with JD(U), Congress and RJD coming together, won the 2015 assembly polls handsomely, but came apart in just two years.

    ALSO READ | ‘Sushasan Babu’ or ‘Paltu Ram’? Meet Nitish Kumar, master of the art of changing governments

    Kumar returned to the NDA in 2017, hoping to get some traction by virtue of taking a stand against corruption taint on his then deputy Tejashwi Yadav.

    His tie-up with the BJP, now in power at the Centre with a brute majority, proved to be electorally successful though his own stature seemed to diminish, as evident from the 2020 assembly poll results in which the JD(U) could win under 45 seats in the 243-strong House.

    The BJP’s aggressive style, seeking to vanquish adversaries and gobble up allies, appears to have got the goat of Kumar, who now seems to have decided that he is better off with his former allies who showed limited ambition.

    Whether common ground with his new allies with regard to communalism and social justice will be strong enough a glue to hold the coalition together will be known in the days to come.

    Cynics may view the move as a survival tactic on his part, but Kumar’s parting ways with the BJP has held out the promise of infusing fresh vigour in the dispirited opposition in the country.

    The longest-serving chief minister of any Hindi- speaking state, Nitish Kumar seems to have acquired an aura of indispensability when it comes to the highest seat of power in Bihar.

    A crafty politician, he kept the BJP guessing till the eleventh hour before severing ties with the ally, following “unanimous sentiments” in his JD(U) that it was to be blamed for the party’s dwindling fortunes.

    Kumar then clinched a new deal in no time with the opposition which, bereft of power and coherence, welcomed him with open arms.

    In a political career spanning four decades, Kumar, 71, has kept at bay taints of corruption, nepotism and misgovernance, leaving critics with little except “opportunism” as a stick to be beaten with.

    Born on March 1, 1951 in Bakhtiyarpur, a nondescript town on the outskirts of Patna, to an Ayurvedic practitioner-cum-freedom fighter father, Kumar is an electrical engineer by training.

    During his days at the Bihar Engineering College, now known as NIT, Patna, he became active in student politics and got associated with the ‘JP movement’, which introduced him to many of his future associates, including Lalu Prasad and Sushil Kumar Modi.

    His first electoral success came in the 1985 assembly elections, which the Congress swept though he managed to win the Harnaut seat for Lok Dal.

    Five years later, he moved to Delhi as an MP from the now- abolished seat of Barh.

    ALSO READ | Nitish Kumar sworn in as Bihar CM, Tejashwi his deputy

    After another half a decade, when the Mandal wave was at its peak and Prasad was reaping its dividends, Kumar sided with George Fernandes to float the Samata Party, which would later morph into the JD(U) and share power with BJP at the Centre and, 2005 onwards, in the state.

    His first five years as chief minister are recalled with admiration even by critics, marked by vast improvements in restoration of law and order in a state that made headlines for massacres by rivalling militias and kidnappings for ransom.

    A product of the Mandal churn, the Kurmi leader also realised that he did not have the advantage of belonging to a populous caste group and created sub-quotas among OBCs and Dalits, who were called ‘Ati Pichhda’ (EBC) and Mahadalits, which was resented by the dominant Yadavs and Dusadhs (supporters of Ram Vilas Paswan).

    He also gave patronage to “Pasmanda” Muslims which, besides his ability to keep Hindutva vigilantes in check, endeared him to the minority community despite an old alliance with the BJP.

    ALSO READ | Nitish was uncomfortable with BJP, claims Prashan Kishor

    Kumar brought in measures like free bicycles and school uniforms for school-going girls, which won him much adulation and the exuberant public mood saw him returning to power in 2010, leading the JD(U)-BJP coalition with a landslide victory in assembly polls.

    The period, however, also saw the end of the “Atal-Advani era” in BJP and Kumar ended up locking horns with Narendra Modi, then his Gujarat counterpart whom he never allowed to campaign in Bihar, and snapped ties with the saffron party in 2013.

    He survived in power as the JD(U) was formidably placed in the assembly, but stepped down in 2014, owning moral responsibility for the party’s drubbing in the Lok Sabha elections, wherein it returned with a dismal tally of just two seats.

    In less than a year, he was back as chief minister, elbowing out his rebellious protege Jitan Ram Manjhi with ample support from the RJD and the Congress and came to be seen, nationally, as a potential challenger to the Modi juggernaut.

    The Grand Alliance that came into being with JD(U), Congress and RJD coming together, won the 2015 assembly polls handsomely, but came apart in just two years.

    ALSO READ | ‘Sushasan Babu’ or ‘Paltu Ram’? Meet Nitish Kumar, master of the art of changing governments

    Kumar returned to the NDA in 2017, hoping to get some traction by virtue of taking a stand against corruption taint on his then deputy Tejashwi Yadav.

    His tie-up with the BJP, now in power at the Centre with a brute majority, proved to be electorally successful though his own stature seemed to diminish, as evident from the 2020 assembly poll results in which the JD(U) could win under 45 seats in the 243-strong House.

    The BJP’s aggressive style, seeking to vanquish adversaries and gobble up allies, appears to have got the goat of Kumar, who now seems to have decided that he is better off with his former allies who showed limited ambition.

    Whether common ground with his new allies with regard to communalism and social justice will be strong enough a glue to hold the coalition together will be known in the days to come.

    Cynics may view the move as a survival tactic on his part, but Kumar’s parting ways with the BJP has held out the promise of infusing fresh vigour in the dispirited opposition in the country.

  • Conspiracy hatched against Bihar CM Nitish Kumar to weaken him: JD-U national chief

    By Express News Service

    PATNA: Battle lines seem to have been drawn between BJP and JD-U with the latter alleging that a conspiracy was hatched against Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to weaken him.

    “Iske liye dusra Chirag Paswan taiyyar kiya ja raha tha (second Chirag Paswan was being created for the purpose),” alleged JD-U national chief Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh.

    Talking to media persons on Sunday, JD-U national president said that who were behind the conspiracy against Nitish Kumar and where it was planned would be exposed at an appropriate time. “It’s an open secret that things didn’t happen in a day. It was going on for long,” he said in a veiled attack on JD-U’s major ally in Bihar, BJP.

    Chirag factor had, indeed, played a decisive role in JD-U’s performance in 2020 assembly election in the state. JD-U lost with a slender margin of nearly 20 seats as Chirag Paswan had fielded his candidates against JD-U on those seats. As a result, the JD-U tally was reduced to 43 and thus become third after RJD and BJP as a number of seats in the state assembly is concerned.

    Referring to the resignation submitted by former JD-U chief RCP Singh from the party’s primary membership, Lalan said that it was well decided that he would quit the party. “Unka tan yahan tha aur mun kahin aur (His body was here (with JD-U) but his mind somewhere else),” he said, adding that now he was free to do whatever he aspired for.

    Responding to a query, Lalan said that JD-U would stick to its 2019 stand so far as joining the union cabinet is concerned. In 2019, Nitish Kumar announced after consultations with senior leaders of the party that JD-U would not be part of the union cabinet. “We stick to our earlier stand today,” he asserted.

    He, however, clarified that the decision to join the union cabinet in July 2021 was taken by the then national president of the party. RCP Singh was inducted in the union cabinet and allotted Steel Ministry by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. RCP had to resign from the post after his term in Rajya Sabha came to an end on July 7, 2022.

    Lalan alleged that then national president RCP Singh had not consulted other senior leaders of the party before jumping to the conclusion that JD-U would join the union cabinet. “Nitish Kumar could not react to his decision for obvious reasons,” Munger MP said.

    When asked about the future of the ruling alliance, JD-U chief said that JD-U is with NDA. “JD-U MPs voted for NDA’s candidate for vice president,” he added.

    PATNA: Battle lines seem to have been drawn between BJP and JD-U with the latter alleging that a conspiracy was hatched against Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to weaken him.

    “Iske liye dusra Chirag Paswan taiyyar kiya ja raha tha (second Chirag Paswan was being created for the purpose),” alleged JD-U national chief Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh.

    Talking to media persons on Sunday, JD-U national president said that who were behind the conspiracy against Nitish Kumar and where it was planned would be exposed at an appropriate time. “It’s an open secret that things didn’t happen in a day. It was going on for long,” he said in a veiled attack on JD-U’s major ally in Bihar, BJP.

    Chirag factor had, indeed, played a decisive role in JD-U’s performance in 2020 assembly election in the state. JD-U lost with a slender margin of nearly 20 seats as Chirag Paswan had fielded his candidates against JD-U on those seats. As a result, the JD-U tally was reduced to 43 and thus become third after RJD and BJP as a number of seats in the state assembly is concerned.

    Referring to the resignation submitted by former JD-U chief RCP Singh from the party’s primary membership, Lalan said that it was well decided that he would quit the party. “Unka tan yahan tha aur mun kahin aur (His body was here (with JD-U) but his mind somewhere else),” he said, adding that now he was free to do whatever he aspired for.

    Responding to a query, Lalan said that JD-U would stick to its 2019 stand so far as joining the union cabinet is concerned. In 2019, Nitish Kumar announced after consultations with senior leaders of the party that JD-U would not be part of the union cabinet. “We stick to our earlier stand today,” he asserted.

    He, however, clarified that the decision to join the union cabinet in July 2021 was taken by the then national president of the party. RCP Singh was inducted in the union cabinet and allotted Steel Ministry by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. RCP had to resign from the post after his term in Rajya Sabha came to an end on July 7, 2022.

    Lalan alleged that then national president RCP Singh had not consulted other senior leaders of the party before jumping to the conclusion that JD-U would join the union cabinet. “Nitish Kumar could not react to his decision for obvious reasons,” Munger MP said.

    When asked about the future of the ruling alliance, JD-U chief said that JD-U is with NDA. “JD-U MPs voted for NDA’s candidate for vice president,” he added.

  • Nitish’s JD-U serves show cause notice on ex-party president, seeks details of land deals

    By Express News Service

    PATNA: Former union minister and estranged leader of JD-U, RCP Singh, who had resigned from the Narendra Modi cabinet on July 6, on Saturday courted fresh controversy after two party leaders accused him of purchasing big land parcels in a clandestine manner.

    RCP Singh allegedly purchased these properties in Nalanda, his home district and did not declare them in his election affidavits.

    JD-U has served a show cause notice to RCP in this connection, asking him to share information of all the properties he has acquired in the last nine years.

    In the show cause notice, Bihar JD (U) president Umesh Singh Kushwhaha said that several irregularities seem to have been committed to amass these big land parcels from 2013 to 2022.

    ALSO READ | High uranium in groundwater in Bihar leaves authorities worried, sample sent to Lucknow lab

    “Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has a zero tolerance policy against corruption and so you (RCP) should immediately reply to the allegations of corruption,”  Kushwhaha directed in the notice served to the former union minister.

    RCP Singh, however, described the allegations levelled against him as baseless.

    “There is no discrepancy in the purchase of land in the name of my two daughters during the period,” he told The New Indian Express.

    RCP, a former IAS officer, was once a close aide of Nitish and nominated to the Rajya Sabha twice. He was also JD-U national president.

    His relationship with Nitish soured after he joined the union cabinet without the consent of the Bihar CM. Nitish apparently lost his patience when RCP claimed that he had climbed the ladder of success in his political career due to his own capability and hard work, and failed to acknowledge the former’s support in his political rise.

    PATNA: Former union minister and estranged leader of JD-U, RCP Singh, who had resigned from the Narendra Modi cabinet on July 6, on Saturday courted fresh controversy after two party leaders accused him of purchasing big land parcels in a clandestine manner.

    RCP Singh allegedly purchased these properties in Nalanda, his home district and did not declare them in his election affidavits.

    JD-U has served a show cause notice to RCP in this connection, asking him to share information of all the properties he has acquired in the last nine years.

    In the show cause notice, Bihar JD (U) president Umesh Singh Kushwhaha said that several irregularities seem to have been committed to amass these big land parcels from 2013 to 2022.

    ALSO READ | High uranium in groundwater in Bihar leaves authorities worried, sample sent to Lucknow lab

    “Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has a zero tolerance policy against corruption and so you (RCP) should immediately reply to the allegations of corruption,”  Kushwhaha directed in the notice served to the former union minister.

    RCP Singh, however, described the allegations levelled against him as baseless.

    “There is no discrepancy in the purchase of land in the name of my two daughters during the period,” he told The New Indian Express.

    RCP, a former IAS officer, was once a close aide of Nitish and nominated to the Rajya Sabha twice. He was also JD-U national president.

    His relationship with Nitish soured after he joined the union cabinet without the consent of the Bihar CM. Nitish apparently lost his patience when RCP claimed that he had climbed the ladder of success in his political career due to his own capability and hard work, and failed to acknowledge the former’s support in his political rise.

  • JD-U downplays party leader’s pitch for ‘President Nitish’, says he is not in the race

    By Express News Service

    PATNA: Two days after a senior JD-U minister claimed Bihar CM Nitish Kumar has all the abilities to become President, JD-U national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh on Saturday scotched all speculations over it by asserting Nitish would not be a Presidential candidate.

    JD-U chief Lalan Singh, also the party MP from Munger, said, “Nitish Ji is neither a candidate nor he is going to become President. He has got the mandate to serve people of the state till 2025.”

    Senior JD-U minister Shravan Kumar had created a flutter in political circles when he commented that Nitish possessed all the qualities to become the President a few hours after the Election Commission announced Presidential election schedule on Thursday.

    Besides Lalan, two other ministerial colleague of Nitish Kumar — Sanjay Kumar Jha and Ashok Choudhary—heaped praises on Nitish saying that although Nitish possessed all the qualities for the post, he was not eager to be in the race for the President’s post.

    The main opposition party, RJD, also extended its support to Nitish if he was declared Presidential candidate. It would be a matter of pride for Bihar if somebody from the state becomes President, the party commented. Earlier too, there were speculations over Nitish Kumar being projected as Presidential or Vice Presidential candidates but he had himself rejected all these conjectures.

    But the issue revived after the JD-U minister Shravan’s statement on CM as Presidential candidate. But it is still shrouded in mystery why Shravan pitched for making Nitish a Presidential candidate when other senior JD-U leaders had to clarify later that Nitish would not be presidential candidate.

    Two other senior JDU ministers- Sanjay Jha and Ashok Choudhary- had also earlier said that Nitish had no wish to become President and would continue to serve the people till 2025.

    On being contacted, Shravan Kumar, who hold rural development portfolio, said, “Such kinds of talks keep on doing the rounds in the air given his (Nitish) long and illustrious political career. But the fact is that he no lust to become either the Prime Minister or the President.”

    The reversal of JD-U’s stand on the issue came soon after some BJP leaders took a dig at JD-U for projecting Nitish Kumar as Presidential candidate. “It is not that only one person deserves this post. There are millions of people in the country who have the qualities to become the President,’ remarked state agriculture minister Raghvendra Pratap Singh.

    Singh is a cabinet minister from BJP quota.

  • Former Manipur cop Brinda to contest polls on JD-U’s ticket

    By Express News Service

    GUWAHATI: Former decorated cop Thounaojam Brinda will contest the Manipur elections on the ticket of Janata Dal (United).

    After she had joined the party on Sunday, it was decided to field her from the Yaiskul constituency in the Imphal valley. 

    Brinda told this newspaper that she believed JD-U was a good choice. “I took into consideration the local conditions. People wanted me to contest from a party that is a partner of the ruling party (BJP),” she said.

    She said she could have contested from the Congress but it did not have a bright prospect. She will be up against sitting MLA Thokchom Satyabrata Singh of the BJP among others.

    BJP leader Thangjam Arunkumar, who resigned from the party after being denied a ticket, also joined the JD-U.