BJP chief JP Nadda (right) at a roadshow in Hajipur. (Source: Twitter/JP Nadda)BJP President JP Nadda on Saturday asserted that NDA ismoving towards a historic victory in Bihar. At a roadshow in Hajipur, attacking the opposition, Nadda said: ” The public has once again made up its mind to teach a lesson to those doing politics of lies, loot, fear and corruption. ”
Meanwhile, in his latest attack on Nitish Kumar, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav alleged that 60 scams worth Rs 30,000 crore have taken place under the chief minister’s term till date. He added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had himself counted 33 of the total five years ago when the BJP and JD(U) were not in alliance during the 2015 assembly polls. “The scams are related to paddy, toilet construction and scholarships,” he tweeted.
In other news, observers have not recommended reelections in any of the 71 seats that went to polls in the first phase of the Bihar assembly elections on October 28, sources in the Election Commission told news agency PTI on Friday. State Chief Electoral Officer H R Srinivas, in his report based on inputs provided by returning officers and district election officers, said that repolling was not required in any of the seats, they added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) with Bihar CM Nitish Kumar during an election rally in Bihar on Friday. (PTI)
LJP chief Chirag Pawan has shared a video on Twitter of his father Ram Vilas Paswan explainig why Chirag was named so. "Miss you papa... I’m incomplete without you... Nothing will ever be the same!" Chirag posted along with the video.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for the "misleading" claim that China had intruded "1200 kilometres" into India's territory.
Addressing four rallies in poll-bound Bihar, Singh also tore into the opposition party for having sought "suboot" (proof) of the Balakot air strikes and demanded an "apology" in the wake of Pakistan minister Fawad Chaudhry's recent statement on the floor of the national assembly.
"Some opposition parties are misleading the people. The leader of the Congress is saying that intrusion has been made into 1200 kms of our territory and the land has been captured. When the fact is, our jawans showed commendable shaurya and parakram (valour) in defending the countrys maan, samman and swabhiman (honour)", said Singh, who spoke in Baikunthpur and Baniapur assembly segments of Gopalganj and Saran besides Maner and Bakhtiyarpur in rural Patna. PTI
From BJP's jibes at Tejashwi Yadav's educational qualifications to the RJD attacking the government over potato prices to the strange loneliness of Nitish Kumar, all you need to know about Bihar polls today
The EC has showcaused 104 candidates who were in the fray in the first phase of polling for the assembly in Bihar for their failure to publish/broadcast even for once their criminal records in newspapers and electronic media, state chief electoral officer said. As per the Supreme Court order and Election Commission guideline a poll contestant is required to publish/broadcast information about their criminal antecedents, convicted or pending, thrice in newspapers and electronic media during campaigning, Additional Chief Electoral Officer (ACEO) Sanjay Kumar Singh told reporters here. Out of 1066 candidates who contested the 71 assembly seats in the first phase of polling held on October 28, 327 candidates have criminal antecedents. A total 104 of them did not abide by the guidelines and the SC order.
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said on Saturday that he would not be surprised if the Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav became chief minister after the Bihar Assembly polls. Speaking at an event organised by the Pune Union of Working Journalists, Raut said all eyes are on ongoing elections in the northern state. 'There is a youngster who does not have any support, andinvestigation agencies like CBI and ED are hounding him. He is challenging the Union government as it is suppressing opposition parties,' the Sena leader said, referring to Tejashwi. 'Therefore, I will not be surprised if he became the chief minister of Bihar,' Raut added.
BjP chief JP Nadda hold roadshow in Hajipur.
A section of voters may have a sense of fatigue following the nearly 15-year rule of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, but people will still opt for his experience and "unblemished" track-record over the opposition alliance's chief ministerial candidate Tejashwi Yadav, Bihar JD(U) working President Ashok Choudhary has said. Speaking to PTI, Choudhary, a confidant of Kumar and a Dalit face of the party, also underlined the JD(U)'s opposition to any move to bring Lok Janshakti Party back in the ruling National Democratic Alliance after the Bihar polls, saying its president Chirag Paswan will not be welcome after all he has said against Kumar.
Going to polls on November 3, Bhagalpur is one of the five Assembly seats being contested by the BJP where the LJP, which has exited the NDA in Bihar, has fielded candidates. While LJP chief Chirag Paswan is seen as propped up by the BJP to undermine Nitish, in Bhagalpur, this might boomerang on the BJP. While the BJP candidate is its district president Rohit Pandey, a Brahmin, the Congress’s Ajit Sharma, the sitting MLA, is a Bhumihar, and the LJP has fielded Bhagalpur Deputy Mayor Rajesh Verma, a Marwari. A largely urban constituency, Bhagalpur is dominated by Banias, Brahmins, Marwaris and Muslims.
Sharing a video clipping of his rally in Bihar, Tejashwi Yadav tweeted: "This is not only for the elections but also to get rid of unemployment. We need your support to make Bihar free from unemployment. The NDA has deployed 30 helicopters behind him but I have alone managed to make my helicopter into a tractor. Now, you be ready at the booth."
Besides this, Choubey also termed the coalition of the RJD and Congress as 'Gappu' and 'Pappu'. "The people of Congress-RJD alliance are Gappu and Pappu and will only give 'lappu'.. that means making false tall promises and people should be aware," he said.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Ashwini Choubey took a dig at RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav over a spelling mistale. "That person who doesn't understand the issue and couldn't even clear class 10th exam is criticising Nitish Kumar who is a qualified engineer. He cannot even write the spellong of Cabinet. His father's cabinet decision that one lakh jobs will be provided but he collected money from them and the applications for the jobs are still there in the dustbin," the minister was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Speaking on Tejashwi Yadav's efforts during the polls, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut today said: "He is a young man without any support, whose family members are in jail while the CBI and Income Tax departments are behind him. He is challenging everyone in a state like Bihar. I won't be surprised if he becomes the chief minister tomorrow." On the poll panel's decision that the saffron party had not violated the poll code by offering free vaccines if voted to power, Raut said: "The Election Commission of India is a branch of the BJP, so you can not expect anything else from them."
The BJP today took a dig at RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav for his tweet on the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. "I humbly pay my rich tributes to the great 'Iran Man' of India, the man with unparalleled resolve who unified the whole Nation after Independence, Bharat Ratna Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel on his birth anniversary! #SardarVallabhbhaiPatel," Tejashwi had tweeted. Responding to this, the saffron party said: "Instead of writing 'Iron Man', you have written 'Iran Man'. Is this the way you will remember him?"
While referring to news reports, Kumar said: "The people of Bihar can notice the development made in the state through the supply of tap water, uninterrupted power supply, solar lights, the rule of law, good governance among other works. We are committed to the all-round development of Bihar and our goal is to make the state developed."
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav will address 17 rallies at different locations -- Sitamadhi, Motihari, East Champaran, West Champaran, Gopalganj, Siwan, Saran and Vaishali -- today. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, on the other hand, will hold six rallies in four districts today.
In his latest attack on Nitish Kumar, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Saturday alleged that 60 scams worth Rs 30,000 crore have taken place under the chief minister’s term till date. He added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had himself counted 33 of the total five years ago when the BJP and JD(U) were not in alliance during the 2015 assembly polls. “The scams are related to paddy, toilet construction and scholarships,” he tweeted.
BJP chief J P Nadda is scheduled to hold a massive road show in Hajipur today.
The BJP’s promise of free Covid-19 vaccine to the people of Bihar in its election manifesto is not violative of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), the Election Commission (EC) has said in its decision on a complaint filed against the announcement last week.
The EC’s clean chit came in response to a representation by RTI activist Saket Gokhale, alleging that the announcement was a gross violation of the Union government’s powers, and an attempt to mislead voters, given that the vaccine policy is not decided yet.
The EC had taken the same stand on a complaint received during the Lok Sabha elections last year against the Congress’s NYAY scheme that guaranteed a minimum income of Rs 6,000 per month, or Rs 72,000 a year, for 25 crore people. Read full story here
Anti-incumbency does not quite describe it. This election is dealing two cruel ironies to Nitish Kumar. One, for the first time in 15 years in Bihar, he is at the receiving end of, not in the driving seat of, the desire for change.
It’s a deep and dramatic shift: A leader seen and celebrated as the hero of Bihar’s Great Turnaround Story, is now seen as a figure of Old Guard, the obstacle for repair and progress, not the righteous vehicle for it. Read more
Two-time JD(U) Rajya Sabha MP Ram Chandra Prasad Singh, better known by his initials RCP Singh, prefers keeping a low profile. The only instance observers in Patna recall of his being vocal is when poll strategist Prashant Kishor briefly challenged his authority as de facto number two to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.Two days before the first phase of voting in Bihar though, on October 26, Singh, 62, found himself in the limelight after a violent clash during immersion of a Durga idol left one dead and several injured in Munger, allegedly in police firing. Singh faced violent protests when he visited Begusarai, with the Opposition hinting at the fact that Singh’s daughter Lipi Singh was SP of Munger. The Election Commission has since then removed Lipi Singh. Read more
Going to polls on November 3, Bhagalpur is one of the five Assembly seats being contested by the BJP where the LJP, which has exited the NDA in Bihar, has fielded candidates. While LJP chief Chirag Paswan is seen as propped up by the BJP to undermine Nitish, in Bhagalpur, this might boomerang on the BJP.
While the BJP candidate is its district president Rohit Pandey, a Brahmin, the Congress’s Ajit Sharma, the sitting MLA, is a Bhumihar, and the LJP has fielded Bhagalpur Deputy Mayor Rajesh Verma, a Marwari. A largely urban constituency, Bhagalpur is dominated by Banias, Brahmins, Marwaris and Muslims. Read full story
The Income Tax Department had detected "undisclosed" income of Rs 75 crore after it raided some contractors and traders at multiple places in the poll-bound Bihar on Friday. The searches were carried out on Thursday against "four prominent" contractor groups in Patna, Bhagalpur, Hilsa and Katihar, news agency PTI reported.
Senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala on Friday alleged that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi have put the health services in the state on a ventilator by keeping a large number of posts of doctors and nurses vacant.
Out of the 12,206 sanctioned posts of doctors, only 5,205 are filled, showing that the state has a shortage of 7,001 doctors. Similarly, 5,634 nurses are working at various health centres against 19,155 sanctioned posts, which means that Bihar has a shortage of 13,521 nurses, Surjewala said. (PTI)
Senior Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil tells The Indian Express his assessment of Phase 1 voting, dismisses LJP, AIMIM threat to Grand Alliance votes, explains why the party is raising Munger violence issue emphatically in Delhi and Patna, and believes Congress will do well despite getting tough seats. READ HIS INTERVIEW HERE
During his first term as Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar used phrases such as ‘sushashan’ (good governance) and ‘zero tolerance against corruption’ to win people’s support. Later, half-way into his second term, in an attempt to repackage his governance model, he coined the ‘Triple C’ motto of his leadership, asserting that it was against ‘Crime, Corruption and Communalism’. As he had parted ways with the NDA government in June 2013 over Narendra Modi’s shift to national politics, he often said that he could not compromise with communalism. Once Nitish was back in the NDA fold, he would often cite ‘Triple C’ to underline his commitment towards good governance. But the formula has not come up often in the current poll campaign. Click here to read more.
“Makka hai das rupiah aur bhusa chaudah (maize is selling for Rs 10 and wheat straw for Rs 14)”. This statement by Chandrasekhar Kumar, a 15-bigha (13 acres) farmer from Sapaha village in Gogri block of Khagaria district, sums up the situation of Bihar’s most profitable, if not biggest, crop.
Kumar grows maize on 10, wheat on 3, mustard on 1, and fodder sorghum and barley on the remaining one bigha for his 10 buffaloes. The 45-year-old harvested 480 quintals of maize this May-June, more than last year’s 400 quintals. But the price he got from selling to a vyapari (village-level aggregator) was just Rs 950-1,000/quintal, as against Rs 1,700 the previous year. Read the full report here.
Attacking opposition RJD, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Friday appealed to people to not "get misled" by those who "ignored" women and backward classes during their rule. Addressing an election in Parbatta, Kumar also said, "Earlier even cities did not have electricity,
but now we have ended the lantern era and every household gets power now." Lantern is the poll symbol of the RJD.
Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar Friday addressed a poll rally in Parbatta, Khagaria district.
While addressing a poll rally in Begusarai, BJP president JP Nadda said: "You'll believe the one who has done something good in the past, then only that person will do good in future. We can proudly state our achievements in front of the public, that's our strength."
A Congress party delegation led by party member Randeep Singh Surjewala met Bihar Governor on Friday over the Munger firing incident. Talking to reporters after the meeting, Surjewala said, "We demanded immediate suspension of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi. A compensation of Rs 50 lakhs must also be given to the family of the man who was killed."
An element of curiosity has been introduced in the Bankipur assembly segment where a strongly placed young BJP MLAs attempt at a hat-trick has been challenged by, a still younger, Congress candidate with a formidable pedigree. The candidature of 37 years old Luv Sinha, whose father Shatrughan Sinha had lost Patna Sahib in the Lok Sabha polls last year when he fought on a Congress ticket, came as a surprise to residents of the Bihar capital, a major part of which is covered under the constituency named after a locality in the city.
The father had won the Lok Sabha seat on the trot in 2009 and 2014 when he contested on a BJP ticket, but he burnt his bridges with the party after repeated jibes at the Modi-Shah duo which he mockingly called 'one-man show and two-man army'. Last year, the 'Bihari babu' who took pride in having registered the biggest margin of victory in the state in 2014 when all credit was going to the 'Modi wave', lost by an even greater number of votes (2,84,657) to former cabinet colleague Ravi Shankar Prasad who was contesting an election for the first time.
Not much has been known so far about his children's political aptitude, though it is common knowledge that unlike twin brother Kush, Luv did evince interest in acting but failed to make it big like 'Shotgun' or, to some extent, younger sister Sonakshi. Besides being born to a famous actor whose crowd-pulling abilities in his home town remain undiminished, Luv Sinha also has caste factor on his side in Bankipur where the winner and the runner-up have been, invariably, Kayasthas.
However, defeating the incumbent Nitin Nabin remains a tall order as the city has, in reaction to the Mandal wave and the lawlessness that prevailed during the rule of Lalu Prasad and his wife Rabri Devi, turned into a saffron bastion. This explains why the 40 years old MLA, who made his debut from the now abolished Patna West seat in 2006 in a by-election necessitated by his father Nabin Kishore Sinha's death, has always been winning by astounding margins. (PTI)
The Congress on Thursday hit back at BJP chief J P Nadda over his swipe at Rahul Gandhi and asked why the BJP brought up Pakistan every time there was an election in the country. Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh said it seems the BJP chief has decided to contest elections in Pakistan and that is why he is watching Pakistani TV channels and talking about the neighbouring country at a time when elections are being held in Bihar.
"The Congress party stands with the Indian Army and will continue to be so. But, the question is why does BJP remember Pakistan when elections come? Why is it that the moment elections come, you remember Kashmir or 'shamshan versus kabristan'?" he told reporters. "This KPK (Kashmir, Pakistan, Kabristan) model will not work anymore. What will work is good governance, employment, safety and security of women. KPK model is gone, now it is only RRR (rozgaar, rozgar, rozgaar (employment) model on which we are contesting this election." (PTI)
Union minister Anurag Singh Thakur said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave special priority to Bihar by giving double funds and assistance compared to the UPA’s tenure reflecting commitment towards transforming the state. Campaigning in the poll-bound state, Thakur claimed that the Modi government, during 2014-2019, provided Bihar double the amount totalling Rs 1,09,642 crore as compared to Rs 50,008 crore during the UPA 2009-14 through grants-in-aid.
“Not only has every rupee gone directly into the bank accounts of intended beneficiaries, but also provided them a much-needed relief during the coronavirus pandemic,” he claimed. “We have taken care of every segment of the society, especially the vulnerable sections,” he added. (PTI)
A huge crowd turned up at Teghra constituency in Begusarai district as Tejashwi Yadav campaigned for CPI candidate Ram Ratan Singh.
Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) chief Jitan Ram Manjhi on Friday said that the Bihar government has taken swift action in the Munger incident. He added that the state government is doing whatever is required. Talking to reporters, Manjhi said, "It won't be right to comment on Munger firing incident before the findings of the probe are out. But the Bihar government has taken swift action into the incident and is doing what is required."
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Thursday backed population-based reservation for castes but said it can only be implemented after census data is available. Addressing a poll rally in Valmiki Nagar, Kumar said, “As far as the question of population is concerned that is decided only after the census and that decision (on the census) is not in our hands. We would like that reservation to be proportionate to the population of castes. We have no two opinions on it.”
He also attacked the RJD over its record on law and order and ridiculed Tejashwi Yadav’s promise of 10 lakh jobs. He added that his government has worked for the development of Bihar with the cooperation of the Central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Friday asked the Bihar government and Bihar Governor why they were not questioning anything over the Munger incident. Talking to reporters, Raut said, "Munger firing incident is an attack on Hindutva. If such an incident were to happen in Maharashtra, West Bengal, or Rajasthan, Governors and BJP leaders would have demanded President's rule. So, why is Bihar Governor & state BJP leaders not raising questions?"