News Analysis India

Tag: JDU

  • JD-U blames BJP for delay in Bihar cabinet expansion as seat sharing formula still ‘unclear’

    Express News Service
    PATNA: The ruling JD-U held a grudge against BJP for continued delay over the issue of Bihar cabinet expansion.

    Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, not long ago, had expressed his dismay over inordinate delay in the cabinet expansion saying that it is was the first time such a long delay is being carried out in NDA history.

    JDU MLC Devesh Chandra Thakur, on Thursday, directly blamed the BJP for delay in the state  cabinet expansion. The three-time MLC said “as a result of the delay in cabinet expansion, the functioning of many government departments is getting affected.” 

    ​ALSO READ | Shahnawaz Hussain, Mukesh Sahni elected unopposed to Bihar legislative council

    He further reminded that cabinet expansion used to place just three days after a new government is formed.

    Almost two months have gone by since Nitish Kumar-led NDA government was elected in Bihar, but the cabinet has not been expanded despite heavy work pressure on 14 ministers. Thakur said that the delay in the cabinet expansion is sending a wrong message to people of Bihar.

    A speculation floated that the cabinet expansion will be held after January 26 as BJP leader Shahanwaz Hussian and VIP leader Mukesh Sahni were elected unopposed to the state council as MLCs.

    Sources close to both the JD-U and BJP said that “the Bihar unit of BJP has already sent a list of MLAs and MLCs for their inclusion in the cabinet to the central leadership of BJP in New Delhi.”

    A reliable source told The New Indian Express that the cabinet expansion is getting delayed because JD-U is not agreeing to the seat sharing formula proposed by BJP.

    Meanwhile, BJP leader Mithilesh Tiwari told the media that cabinet expansion is the chief minster’s prerogative. “The expansion of the cabinet will be held at an auspicious time and the NDA government will run smoothly to complete its full term,” Tiwari said. 

    He rebuked at the opposition for creating uproar over the cabinet expansion.

    Both JD-U and BJP are mulling over whether to include young faces in the cabinet instead of the old faces or those who were the ministers earlier.

    Bihar Deputy CM Tarkishor Prasad also claimed that the cabinet expansion will take place at the earliest. But when asked when, he refused to make any direct comments.

    ALSO READ | Bihar cabinet expansion likely soon, assures CM Nitish Kumar

    Some officials of the state government, posted at the secretariat, admitted that the functioning of the government has been affected due to delay in the cabinet expansion.

    “At present 14 ministers, against sanctioned 44 departments, are bearing heavy work load of multiple departments. The date of the budget session has also been announced. In such a situation, if cabinet is not expanded it will certainly create a major problem,” some senior officers said.

    Among 14 ministers, seven are from the BJP, five from JDU and one from each Hindustan Awam Morcha (HAM) and the VIP parties.

    As per sanctioned norm, only 36 ministers, including the Chief Minister, can be in the cabinet out of a total 243 seats. After the 2020 electionss, the NDA has got only 125 seats, out of which BJP has got 74 seats, JD-U has 43, HAM and the VIP each has got four seats.

    It is said that the BJP is demanding more ministerial berths on the basis of seats won this time. 

    Last time, the total number of JD-U MLAs was 71 while BJP had 54. But this time BJP has 74 MLAs and JDU has 43, so the BJP is reportedly claiming for more ministerial berths in the cabinet but the JD-U wants ministerial posts on the basis of 50-50 formula.

  • Bihar cabinet expansion likely soon, assures CM Nitish Kumar

    By PTI
    PATNA: Decks have been cleared for expansion of the recently formed cabinet in Bihar and the same would take place in near future, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said here on Monday.

    He, however, debunked speculations in a section of the media during the course of the day that it was likely to take place on Tuesday.

    “Not tomorrow. you do not worry we would duly inform people in advance. I cannot say whether it will take place after two days or ten days. But, it will be sooner rather than later”, Kumar told reporters who approached him with frenetic queries about cabinet expansion.

    The state cabinet can have up to 36 members and at present it has only 13, besides the Chief Minister.

    Kumar had been maintaining that the same did not take place for want of a “prastaav” (proposal) from the BJP which has the largest number of MLAs in the ruling NDA.

    NDA sources say that there had been a tussle between Kumar and the BJP over the issue of representation of his JD(U) and the saffron party.

    While the BJP is said to have been demanding a lions share, Kumar is said to have been keen on a formula in which the saffron party and the JD(U) had equal representation.

    It has been the contention of the JD(U), which had been the senior coalition partner in the state until the assembly elections, that it has not lost its support base as evident from its vote share and that the steep decline in its tally was to be blamed on the rebellion from LJP headed by Chirag Paswan whom the BJP failed to rein in.

    On Sunday evening, state BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal, accompanied by Deputy CMs Tarkishore Prasad and Renu Devi both from his party had called on Kumar at his official residence where the differences over the issue appear to have been ironed out.

    The formula agreed upon by the two parties was, however, not known.

    The NDA in Bihar has altogether four constituents BJP, JD(U), former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhis Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and Bollywood set designer turned politician Mukesh Sahnis Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP).

    At present, the BJP has seven members in the cabinet, including the two Deputy CMs while the JD(U) has only four, besides the Chief Minister.

    Manjhis son has been accommodated from HAM while Sahni has been made a minister despite having lost his seat in assembly polls.

    The BJP has given Sahni the legislative council seat vacated by former state minister Binod Narayan Jha, who has now become an MLA.

    Sahni filed his nomination for the council seat during the day.

    Speculations are rife in the political circles that BJP national spokesman Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, who has been fieleded by the party in the by-poll on the legislative council seat vacated by former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, could get a berth in the state cabinet.

    When a question in this regard was posed to Hussain by the media persons, he refused to make any direct comment and merely said as a disciplined soldier of the BJP he has always been obeying party’s order.

  • Nitish under pressure in NDA, should return to Grand Alliance: Congress

    A statement to the effect was made by Congress Legislature Party leader Ajeet Sharma, though it was promptly dismissed as being quot;not official quot; by the RJD.

  • JD-U to RJD: Cross-defection fears drive Bihar’s political parties into a frenzy

    Express News Service
    PATNA: Despite the end of ‘kharmas’ (a period under which no auspicious work is done as per Hindu calendar) on Makar Sankranti, the fear of cross ‘defection’ continues to plague all political parties in Bihar.

    On Thursday, state’s JD-U chief Umesh Kushwaha dropped a bombshell predicting a major breakup within the RJD-led Grand Alliance in the next few days.

    Recently, an ex-MLA from Congress, Bharat Singh, had also expressed worry that 11 out of 19 MLAs could switch over to the saffron side.

    Senior RJD spokesperson Mritunjay Tiwari however denied any possibility of distress in the party and claimed that many from the ruling alliance instead were keen on jumping ship after being disgruntled with the state of affairs. 

    Shyam Rajak also claimed that 17 MLAs of the ruling party were hobnobbing with him to switch over to RJD after January 14, a claim JD-U quashed.

    The NDA has formed the government under the leadership of Nitish Kumar with a thin majority and support of two smaller allies – with 4 MLAs from VIP, another 4 from HAM, and 1 independent.

    Concerns over defection, both in the NDA and opposition, gained momentum after the Arunachal Pradesh incident, and have since caught the parties by a frenzy. 

    For RJD in particular, fear of a split has intensified in the wake of JDU MP of Lok Sabha Rajiv Ranjan Singh’s (alias Lallan Singh) support to Bhupendra Yadav’s claim about major desertion of MLAs from RJD.

    Inside sources from both GA and NDA however claim that all parties are treading with caution.

  • Now, JD(U) predicts split in RJD after January 14

    Express News Service
    PATNA: The claim of BJP in-charge of Bihar Bhupendra Yadav on Sunday that there would be a major desertion of MLAs from the opposition RJD in the coming weeks has raised the political heat in the state. Interestingly, BJP’s ally JDU reiterated the claim on Monday.

    Supporting Bhupendra Yadav’s claim, Munger MP and JD(U) leader Rajiv Ranjan Singh said the “break-up of RJD can’t be prevented”. “Whenever Bhupendra Yadav ji wants, the RJD will merge with the BJP. His prediction about a break-up in the RJD after Kharmas (January 14) can’t be taken lightly,” he said. Taking up any works before Kharmas is believed to be inauspicious by many.

    JDU national spokesperson and a close aide of Nitish Kumar, KC Tyagi, also aired the same view. Bhupendra Yadav on Sunday said the RJD would break-up after Kharmas. “We will be silent till Kharmas. After that, the RJD will break-up. If you can save the party, save it,” he challenged the RJP leadership. The RJD has reacted sharply to the claim. The party said it was the NDA that would break-up after January 14. “NDA is going to face desertions after the Kharmas,”said RJD Spokesperson Mritunjay Tiwari.

    It was only two weeks ago the RJD leadership had claimed that the Nitish-led government would fall as reports surfaced about the friction in the NDA over JDU lawmakers switching allegiance to the BJP in Arunachal Pradesh. Also, RJD leader Shyam Rajak had claimed that 17 MLAs of the JD(U) were in touch with the RJD and that more would cross over very soon.

  • Fresh caste math with new JD(U) Bihar chief as Nitish springs another surprise

    Express News Service
    PATNA: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday sprung a surprising organisational rejig, preferring Umesh Kushwaha (46) as the replacement for septuagenarian Vashistha Narayan Singh as the state unit president of JD(U).

    The proposal was unanimously approved by the party leaders, signaling JD(U)’s thrust on youth power to blunt the attack from Tejashwi Yadav (RJD) and Chirag Paswan (LJP). Earlier, party veteran Ram Sewak Singh’s name was doing the rounds as Vashistha’s successor.

    Kushwaha’s, a former MLA, elevation marks Nitish’s return to the Luv-Kush equation, which he devised in the 1990s to neutralise Lalu Yadav’s Muslim-Yadav (MY) formula. Nitish proposed Kushwaha’s name on the second day of JDU State

    Executive meeting on Sunday when Vashistha Narayan Singh stepped down over health reasons. Kushwaha is consider close to JD(U) national president RCP Singh, and said to have a stronghold in the Kushwaha community.

    Party MP from Munger Rajiv Ranjan Singh told media that the appointment of Kushwaha was approved by Nitish in a move to encourage youth leaders. Dismissing the opposition speculation, Singh said: “Those fanning rumours of NDA’s disintegration must know that JD(U) is strongly with the NDA.”

    JD(U) going strong in NDA: Senior leader 

    The speculations of JD(U) walking out of NDA were fanned by Nitish’s comments that he could not differentiate between friends and enemies during the recently-concluded Bihar election.

    “While our seats have come down, our vote share has increased,” Singh said, adding that the party is committed to working on Nitish Kumar’s Seven-Resolves (Part-II) on development with justice.

  • We are firmly with NDA: Senior JDU leader Lalan Singh dismisses rumours of ‘alliance exit’

    By PTI
    PATNA: Scotching rumours of JDU quitting NDA in Bihar amid talks of discomfort with the ally BJP, the ruling Janata Dal(United) on Sunday made it clear that the party is firmly with the ruling coalition in the state.

    JDU, one of the major constituents of Bihar NDA, is running a coalition government in the state with the help of BJP, Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP). “Speculations are doing the rounds in media circles with regard to our leader and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Some sends him somewhere while others are sending him somewhere else. “But, we would like to make it clear that our party (JD-U) is firmly aligned with the NDA,” senior party leader and MP Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh said.

    Singh was talking to reporters at the partys state headquarters on decisions taken at the two-day meeting of its state executive and state council. He was accompanied by partys newly elected state president Umesh Kushwaha and working president and minister Ashok Choudhary.

    Singh’s statement assumes significance in the backdrop of opposition leaders speaking of political instability in the state in view of alleged lack of compatibility between the two major NDA partners- BJP and JDU.

    Eversince en masse migration of the JDU MLAs in Arunachal Pradesh to the BJP, speculations are rife of “differences” cropping up between the two allies even in Bihar on several issues.

    Seeking to fish in troubled waters, the opposition RJD and the Congress have been talking of mass defection of the JDU MLAs and some of their leaders also suggesting Nitish Kumar to leave the saffron party once again like in 2015 and join them.

    Kumar had himself, while speaking at the state council meeting Saturday, asserted that his government would complete its five year term, in an indirect rebuff to opposition leaders who have been speaking of political instability.

    The JDU de facto leader, who relinquished the post of the partys national president earlier this month, had also urged his party workers to look at the future banishing memories of the recent assembly elections in which the party suffered humiliating losses.

    Talking about partys other decisions and proposals that were passed at the state council meeting, Singh, who is JDU leader in Lok Sabha, said the party also discussed about strengthening its organisation. “It was general opinion of the party members that though the partys strength has dwindled but not its mass base (janadhar). We are not discouraged by it (the poll outcome)…we will rather work hard to further strengthen our partys organisation and move ahead,” Singh said.

    Though JDU’s top leader Nitish Kumar is on the chief ministerial chair in Bihar, the party’s strength went down to 43 in the recently concluded state polls as compared to 71 in 2015. On the other hand BJP bagged 74 seats in the October- November elections and catapulted the NDA to power in the state.

    The party also lauded the state governments role in combating novel coronavirus in the state which efficiently and effectively took measures to curb its spread, he said while stating that the state governments efforts have been appreciated by the central government which is evident from the fact that President conferred award on the state government.

    It may be noted that President Ram Nath Kovind had on December 30, 2020 conferred ‘Digital India Award 2020’ for transferring financial assistance directly into the beneficiaries bank accounts during COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.

    A resolution was passed at the meeting affirming that the party will unitedly work to implement the state governments ‘Saat Nischay- Part II’ (seven resolves-part 2) programme in order to make Bihar a strengthened, prosperous and self reliant state, the JDU leader said.

    Stating that the state government has started working on to provide 20 lakh jobs to youths of the state, Singh said that soon after the formation of Nitish Kumar government in the state, it gave its nod to create 20 lakh jobs in the very first meeting of the cabinet.

    “The state government is working on it,” he said while asserting that 20 lakh jobs will be created in times to come and 20 lakh youths will get jobs. Employment was a major poll promises of main political parties in Bihar polls. RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav’s 10 lakh government jobs promise enthused youths during the polls.

    To counter this the BJP had promised creation of 1.9 million job opportunities in the state.

  • Forget assembly poll results and look ahead: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar tells JDU workers

    By PTI
    PATNA: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday urged workers of his Janata Dal (United) to look at the future banishing memories of the recent assembly elections in which the party suffered humiliating losses.

    The JD(U) de facto leader, who relinquished the post of the partys national president earlier this month, also asserted that the government in the state will “complete its five-year term”, in an indirect rebuff to opposition leaders who have been speaking of political instability.

    Kumar was addressing the partys state council and state executive meetings here, in presence of leaders like RCP Singh, who has succeeded him as the national president, and state unit chief Vashishtha Narayan Singh.

    The JD(U) could win only 43 seats in the October-November polls, down from 71 in the last elections in 2015.

    The Chief Ministers assertions of completing the term came at a time when opposition leaders like Tejashwi Yadav and ally turned adversary Chirag Paswan have been speaking of the possibility of “mid-term polls” pointing towards the changed equations in the NDA in which the BJP now seems to have gained the upper hand.

    Moreover, the BJPs failure to rein in the rebellion by Paswan, who continues to swear by his loyalty towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has riled the JD(U) cadre.

    “We must strive to work for all those who voted for us as well as those who did not. I would urge the candidates who fought and lost in the recent elections to devote themselves to serving the people with gusto,” Kumar said.

    He also asked party workers to “make use of the social media to spread positivity and counter those who misuse the virtual mediums for spreading falsehoods”.

    The 69-year-old, who returned as the Chief Minister for the fourth consecutive term after the elections, reiterated that he was reluctant to hold on to the seat of power “but agreed only because you all insisted that I continue working”.

    Addressing the function, JD(U) president RCP Singh cautioned the rank and file against the hubris that comes from being the party in power.

    Vashishtha Narayan Singh said “we are incapable of treachery though we might ourselves get cheated sometimes. But we have held our own in the face of adverse circumstances and there is no alternative to our leader (Nitish Kumar) nor can anybody match his calibre”.

  • ‘No question’ of approaching him: RJD says no to CM Nitish Kumar even if latter leaves NDA

    Express News Service
    PATNA: Putting an end to all political speculations, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said that his party has not made any offer to CM Nitish Kumar, even if the latter deserts the NDA.

    Replying to a media query,  Yadav categorically denied that any offer has been made to Nitish Kumar from his party adding that there was ‘no question’ of approaching him (Nitish Kumar).

    “It is wrong to ask such a question. Bihar’s mandate is against Nitish Kumar.  They have no policy, no ideology.  They are neither for the poor nor for the labourers, ” he asserted.

    “We are ready to go for mid term polls in Bihar, ” he said, adding the state government’s days are numbered.

    ALSO READ | ‘Political jealousy’: Ex dy CM Sushil Modi accuses Lalu Prasad Yadav of ‘destabilising’ Bihar govt

    He also added that there has been a big loss of Bihar within the last 16 years.  “The NDA government is a curse for the state. They have increased unemployment. The JDU-BJP combine stole the mandate of people, that had been given to the Mahagathbandhan,” he alleged.

    Yadav also dubbed the NDA as “greedy for power”.

    Former CM and Tejaswi’s mother, Rabri Devi, and many other senior RJD leaders including Uday Narayan Choudhary and Shyam Rajak had said that if Kumar comes quits the NDA and wants to join the Mahagavabdhan, the alliance will consider him but on a condition that he must support Tejashwi’s candidature for the next Chief Minister of the state. 

    Kumar was offered to be projected as the opposition’s PM face for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

    But JDU has refused to accept any such offer and dubbed it a desperate move by the opposition to consolidate power.

  • JDU MLA claims Nitish will leave CM post after six months, Tejashwi will form government

    By ANI
    BHAGALPUR: JDU MLA Gopal Mandal has claimed that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will step down from his post after six months and RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav will form the government in the state.

    On Wednesday there was a phone conversation between Gopal Mandal and Bihpur MLA E Shailendra in which it was alleged that Gopal Mandal was abusing and using casteist slur. About this, the Navagachiya JDU held a press conference at the local hotel in Bhagalpur on Thursday.

    During the press conference, JDU MLA Gopal Mandal from Gopalpur denied the allegations in the viral audio and said that the viral audio was not correct.

    During this, he said that it was made viral by E Shailendra. “What kind of coalition is this,” he said.

    He even said, “After 6 months, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will step down from his post and the government of Tejashwi Yadav will be formed.”