News Analysis India

Tag: Nitish Kumar

  • BJP senses growing affinity between former allies after Nitish wishes Lalu for speedy recovery

    Express News Service
    PATNA: Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s wish for a fast recovery from illness to his political bete noire RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on Sunday sparked a speculation about growing affinity again in Nitish Kumar for Lalu Prasad Yadav.

    After Kumar’s wishes, the BJP’s political circle in Patna have started to analyse the situation, albeit silently, and reading between the lines.

    “Kumar has tried his best to kill two birds with one stone by wishing for the fast recovery of ailing RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav. The first, Nitish Kumar has given a strong message shrewdly to BJP not to take his alliance for granted and the second, Nitish Kumar showing a soft corner for Lalu Prasad Yadav, who once was with him and called as ‘chhote Bhai'( younger brother)”, said some keen observers of Bihar politics.

    Sources also said that whenever Nitish Kumar feels “uncomfortable” in alliance with any party, he tries to convey a message in this manner. “Recall, how he had done the same with the RJD when he felt interference in governance”, said a source.

    Nitish Kumar’s admission that he had been taking “haal-chaal”(information on wellness) of Lalu Prasad over phone but now stopped it because of some people who started speak otherwise.

    In 2017, Nitish Kumar had surprised everyone and alliance partner RJD when he took an abrupt decision to walk away from the Mahagatvandhan citing corruption charges against Tejashwi Yadav.

    HOwever, in the assembly after forming the government, Nitish Kumar had exhibited his affection for Lalu Prasad Yadav when he had chided Tejashwi Yadav over his astatement.

    Kumar had said that he had been overlooking Tejashwi Yadav for long time just because of he (Tejashwi Yadav) was the son of his “bhai saman dost” (brother like friend).

    Meanwhile, some BJP sources said Nitish wishing Lalu  will not hamper the continuation of the alliance but admitted that they will read between the lines ofevery statement of Nitish Kumar.

    A source from the NDA said, “How delicate the alliance of BJP with JDU is going on this time can be understood from the fact that even a wish by CM Nitish Kumar is learnt to have worried the BJP silently”.

  • Bihar CM Nitish Kumar wishes speedy recovery to RJD chief Lalu Prasad

    By PTI
    PATNA: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday wished speedy recovery to his arch rival Lalu Prasad, who has been rushed to New Delhi following marked deterioration in health and with whom he has shared a love- hate relationship for close to five decades.

    The JD(U) de facto leader also rued the fact that he now had to remain content with news about the ailing RJD supremo gathered from newspapers since his telephonic enquiries about the latters health in the recent past had triggered a controversy.

    “It is my fervent wish that he gets well as soon as possible”, Kumar told reporters here when asked about Prasad whom he had dethroned in 2005, less than two decades after having supported his ascent in the states politics.

    The chief minister was talking to journalists outside the JD(U) state headquarters here, where he had gone to pay tributes to former Chief Minister and OBC stalwart Karpoori Thakur on his birth anniversary.

    Both Kumar and Prasad consider Thakur to be their political guru.

    With a hint of regret in his voice, Kumar added “I used to frequently call up his personal attendants and enquire about his well being when he had similarly fallen ill in 2018. So many things were said about me because of that”.

    Notably, in 2017 Kumar had abruptly walked out of the coalition he had formed with the RJD and the Congress and formed a new government with the BJP.

    The soft corner he displayed for Prasad during his illness had triggered speculations that he was feeling uneasy in the BJP-led coalition and seeking a rapprochement with the RJD chief.

    Their bitter rivalry notwithstanding, Kumar has often displayed his person affection for Prasad against whom he pulls no punches in the political arena.

    Recently, while admonishing his son Tejashwi Yadav for impudence on the chief minister had underscored that he has been too charitable with the 31 years old, who was also his former deputy, because he was “mere bhai samaan dost ka beta” (the son of a friend, dear to me like a brother).

    Replying to queries about the states budget for the next financial year, which is scheduled to be tabled in the assembly on February 22, the chief minister said the people of Bihar may look forward to more development and many new schemes besides completion of the existing ones.

  • ‘JP to BJP’: A book that speaks about Bihar’s changing politics

    Express News Service
    PATNA: The recent Bihar assembly elections were more meaningful than ever for the all parties in the state, including the NDA and the opposition.  

    A book titled JP to BJP- Bihar after Lalu and Nitish by Patna based senior journalist Santosh Singh has brought in a bunch of ‘less known’ political facts to the readers.

    Singh, based in Patna, in a chapter of the book ‘The Churn-Bihar after Lalu and Nitish’ states that “The NDA had to also face the migration blues, and a not-so-great development index, beyond the basic ‘bijali, sadak and paani in the last three terms of Nitish Kumar as the Bihar CM”.

    The book, written with lucid facts, has proved to be an instant hit in the political as well as academic circles of the state. But what lures the readers to buy this book is its objective narration depicting political profiles and personalities of Bihar. The book also talks about the young political figures, namely Chirag Paswan, Kanhaiya Kumar and Tejashwi Prasad Yadav.

    Singh has stated that BJP has a compulsion to remain in political alliance with the JD-U but in the near future, BJP may dare to go alone with determination to have full political independence in Bihar.

    As mentioned in the book, “For the BJP, alliance with Nitish may well be political compulsion. Bihar BJP is not daring enough. But it (BJP) wants to dare and has been waiting just for the right time”.

    That means, BJP will never give second thought to take jump in the state independently.

    The book elucidates well that Bihar politics is at the far end of the era of Jayaprakash Narayan’s scions, with Nitish Kumar as the last holding the stand of politics from the socialist camp.

    “He (Nitish Kumar) looks good for a few more years, but the politics in the state in another ten years may have an altogether different templates and political proper nouns. Politics in Bihar is now entering an era that will make it bipolar. It is Saffron versus Socialists”, the book predicts.

    The book broadly claims “Bihar has crossed over the Nitish Kumar phase. Nitish might decorate the chair but he may not hold on to it for a long time”.

    It is a fact that no body honestly can deny that BJP has no leader parallel to Nitish Kumar to project as face to Chief Minister of the party in case it disassociates from the alliance. The BJP has majority of its leaders as well ministers, who feel privileged remaining ‘inaccessible’ to the both media and the common people.

    The same situation, directly or indirectly, goes with JD-U with a majority of its ministers including national president RCP Singh and CM Nitish Kumar, who remain ‘inaccessible’ to the media and the people in general with a few exceptions.

    But what JDU has an edge over the BJP is Nitish Kumar’s face-which carries a credit of ,indeed, transferring the Bihar from ‘backward’ to now somewhat ‘cleaned’ and ‘moving’ in development as a state  as the leader heading the state since 2005 with the political alliance wit BJP.

    Singh’s book reads “There can be three possibilities, BJP taking the centre–state with its aggressive brand of politics, Tejashwi cobbling a strong anti-BJP alliance, with the Congress and the left. Someone like Kanhaiya Kumar can become the fulcrum of a non-RJD and non-BJP alliance with the support of the Congress”.

    The book also says that caste politics has slowly started losing importance in Bihar. But it can not be easily agreed upon as having seen the recent caste equations mainlined by all parties in ticket distributions to ministerial formations by NDA.

    But, it has rightly been stated that, “Bihar is fast heading towards a BJP versus the rest of the political dispensation contest’. The book also says that Tejashwi, with his reserve of 20-22 per cent base, alone has a chance to give some resistance to the BJP, after Nitish Kumar is out of the race”.

    By going through the books, it goes without saying that the book by a journalist on Bihar politics will certainly prove handy in giving ‘intelligent insight’ on the state politics.

    Another senior journalist, Raj Kamal Jha, has said “To understand the India story today, any journey to and through Bihar is vital-it is both a pilgrimage and a reality check. This book is an invaluable compass for that journey”.

    Indeed, this is the book that speaks about ‘Bihar’s politics’ from past to future as an unputable down one.

  • BSP’s lone MLA Jama Khan joins Nitish Kumar’s JD-U in Bihar

    Express News Service
    PATNA: A day after BJP leader Syed Shahnawaz Hussain was elected unopposed to the Bihar Legislative council, JD-U also managed to get a Muslim face in the party.

    Chainpur MLA Jama Khan joined JD-U as an Independent legislator pledging full support to his government.

    Political analysts say that MLA Khan joining the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) is a well calculated move, almost parallel to BJP getting Shahnawaz Hussain.

    “But Shahnawaz Hussain’s political stature is far better than that of Khan’s but both are influential to represent the minority community,” said a BJP leader who chose not to be named.

    The JD-U with no Muslim candidate elected in the 2020 assembly election, was desperately trying to get a Muslim face in the party and its search ended with Khan included in the team.

    Sources also said that Khan may be included in the bihar cabinet during expansion, which is expected to be held after January 26, especially if the BJP includes Shahnawaz Hussain in the cabinet.

    Khan had earlier met Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and then joined the party in presence of JD-U leaders and ministers including Ashok Chaudhary.

    In the assembly elections, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) opened an account in the border district of Kaimur in Uttar Pradesh. JD-U was trying to bring the BSP MLA soon after the result were announced.

    In fact, the JD-U fielded 11 Muslim candidates in the 2020 assembly elections but none of them were elected causing a great political inconvenience to ensure minority representation in the cabinet formation.

    Sources from JD-U hoped that Khan may get the Ministry of Minority Welfare and others because of his towering political influence in the Chainpur assembly areas.

  • Now, sharing ‘defamatory’ social media posts on Bihar govt, MPs, MLAs can land you in jail

    Express News Service
    PATNA: Now, sharing ‘defamatory’ posts against the Bihar government, legislators, MPs and bureaucrats on social media can land you in jail.

    The state economic offence wing, which is also the nodal office to deal with cyber crimes, issued an order to all department heads to take legal action after proper investigation against anyone who posts such false posts through social media. It is pertinent to recall that CM Nitish Kumar had recently held social media responsible for propagating fake news. Kumar had asked officials to share information on development work done by the government to counter the false allegations on social media. He also admitted that wrong information about the party during the assembly elections had led to disastrous consequences. Nitish Kumar has been requesting his supporters not to trust social media posts. In his public meetings, be it in government or party forums, he has described social media posts as misleading and full of false information against his government.

    N H Khan, Additional Director General of Police (ADG) of the economic offence wing of the state, who issued the official circular on Thursday, could not be contacted.

    Meanwhile, leader of opposition Tejashwi Yadav attacked the Nitish Kumar-led government dubbing this an attack on the freedom of speech of the public.

    Taking to Twitter, Tejashwi dubbed the CM the “weak head of the immoral and illegal” government and the “bhisma pitamah” of corruption.

    He challenged the government to arrest him under the order.

  • 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.

  • Tejashwi Yadav hits out at Nitish Kumar govt, launches farmers awareness week

    Express News Service
    PATNA: Announcing to observe the ‘Kissan Jagrukta Saptah’ (Farmers Awareness Week), leader of opposition Tejashwi Yadav accused the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government of hatching a conspiracy to reduce the budget session by 2-3 days.

    “But it was due to my strong intervention the government had to defer its decision,” Tejashwi Yadav claimed on Thursday at a media interface.

    Lashing out at the Nitish Kumar government, he said that the government had now agreed to extend the budget session for about 22 days without reducing it by 2-3 days.

    Expressing solidarity to the agitation of farmers against the agriculture laws, Tejashwi Yadav said that the RJD will hold the ‘Kissan Jagrukta Saptah” between January 24 and January 30 to create awareness among farmers on the pernicious side effects of farm laws implemented by the Modi government.

    “We will inform the farmers of Bihar as how the new farm bills have been designed to benefit the corporate and harm the agriculture prospects of farmers. A consensus will be built against the farm laws among Bihar’s farmers also,” he added. 

    He also alleged that crimes and corruption in the state have gone beyond control and left the people at the crossroad of helplessness.

    On Wednesday, Tejashwi Yadav had staged a dharna along with striking contractual teachers.

    He slammed the state government for not issuing the appointments letters to 94000 teachers despite of the order of high court.

    “For the last 16 years, Nitish Kumar and BJP have exploited the human resources of state in the name of planning and left crores of unemployed youths at their mercy of god,” he taunted.

  • Chirag continues tirade against Nitish, dodges queries about prospects at Centre

    By PTI
    PATNA: Lok Janshakti Party chief Chirag Paswan on Tuesday dodged queries about the likelihood of his joining the Union council of ministers, in which his party has been left with no representation following the death of his father Ram Vilas Paswan.

    Paswan, however, remarked tongue in cheek that the government at the Centre was doing fine and it was the Bihar cabinet headed by Nitish Kumar where ministers were saddled with too many portfolios and an expansion was much needed.

    The LJP chief was talking to reporters upon his visit to the state after a long time.

    His father, who had founded the party two decades ago, died in October last year and in the ensuing by-election to his Rajya Sabha seat, the BJP chose to field its veteran leader and former Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi.

    Paswan had said that the seat, though held by his father, “belonged to the BJP” to which he professes to remain loyal despite having pulled out of the NDA ahead of the assembly elections last year.

    His party had claimed that the young leader was expecting a berth in the Union council of ministers since the party’s rebellion had damaged Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) but helped the BJP emerge as the “big brother” in the NDA in Bihar.

    On Monday, Kumar had hinted that expansion of the new cabinet, which was formed in November, was likely in near future.

    His remark came a day after he met top leaders of the state BJP at his official residence where differences arising out of contesting claims by alliance partners have supposedly been ironed out.

    Nonetheless, Paswan squarely blamed Kumar for the delay in cabinet expansion and alleged that the chief minister has of late been too busy with the affairs of his party which has undergone a major overhaul.

    Kumar himself relinquished the post of the national president, more than a year before the end of his tenure, and got his close aide RCP Singh appointed in his place.

    A couple of weeks later, veteran socialist leader and Rajya Sabha MP Vashishtha Narayan Singh also expressed the desire to step down citing old age and unstable health.

    Former MLA Umesh Kushwaha was appointed to the post.

    The developments have been seen as an attempt by Kumar to consolidate his support base among the Kurmi-Koeri-Kushwaha caste combine, known as “Luv-Kush” in Bihari political lexicon, in a bid to retain sufficient bargaining power while negotiating with the BJP which appears to have gained an upper hand.

    Paswan, who has in less than a year emerged as one of the most virulent detractors of Kumar, however, charged that all this showed that “the party, and not the state, is the top priority for our chief minister”.

    “This is happening at a time when law and order is in a mess and the chief minister holds the Home portfolio.

    Even well-heeled, well-connected people are being murdered,” Paswan said in an apparent reference to the recent killing of Rupesh Kumar Singh, a senior official of a private airline, which has triggered shock waves in Patna and outrage among political figures many of whom he was said to be friends with.

    The LJP chief, however, said, “We have made it clear that we will not be doing anything drastic till this new government completes six months. Thereafter, taking into account its achievements and failures, we will launch our programme”.

  • 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.