Analysing BJP’s failure in Jharkhand.

Source –

The decisive victory of the ‘Mahagatbandhan’ of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) is an interesting turning point in Jharkhand politics, and perhaps of the country’s, too. This is significant in terms of (i) regulating the political ascendance of BJP, (ii) reaffirming the criticality of regional political parties, and (iii) synchronization of national, state and local issues and people’s aspirations.

Immediately after the Jharkhand Assembly election results, many newspapers and TV news channels published two maps of India depicting how the BJP has shrunk in the states after reaching a peak in 2017. The Jharkhand results are important because it was the first election in a north Indian state after the Narendra Modi government’s move to scrap the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, the Supreme Court verdict on the Ayodhya dispute and the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019 – all part of the BJP’s Hindutva agenda. Yet, Jharkhand became the fifth state since November last year (after Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan) to throw the BJP out of power. The BJP’s presence is now limited to Karnataka, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh as far as the larger states are concerned. In this context, it is essential to understand the contributing factors behind the BJP’s defeat and its implications for the upcoming Delhi and Bihar elections and for national politics.

The contributing factors for the BJP’s defeat in Jharkhand are many. Some of the crucial ones are the denial of party tickets to genuine and honest candidates, fissures in the local leadership, selection of non-Adivasi chief ministerial candidate in a tribal-dominated state, the rift between the chief minister and the party cadre, the party’s inability to read the needs of the state, the undemocratic arrests of Adivasis who participated in the ‘Pathalgadi Movement,’ the misadventure of pushing amendments to the Chotanagpur Tenancy (CNT) Act and Santhal Parganas Tenancy (SPT), the passage of the divisive Religious Freedom Bill, 2017.

Significantly, the contentious Land Acquisition (Jharkhand Amendment) Act of 2017, aimed at modifying crucial provisions of ‘The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation & Resettlement Act, 2013, nullified the role of Gram Sabhas by doing away with the requirement of Social Impact Assessment. The way the BJP dealt with the issues of traditional forest-dwelling communities in the wake of the Supreme Court’s order in February, asking for the eviction of people whose claims under the Forest Rights Act (FRA) of 2006 had been rejected, played a prominent role. The proposed amendments to the Indian Forest Act (IFA), 1927, diminished the poll prospects of the BJP.

The BJP, with its leaders and local organisational strength, took the opposition political parties for granted. A cursory look at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah’s rallies and speeches indicates the same. The duo focused only on highlighting the government’s role in abrogation of Article 370 and construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya. Rarely did they touch upon people’s real issues, such as land alienation in Adivasi areas, implementing the Forest Rights Act, mitigating poverty levels, addressing malnutrition and hunger, reforming the public distribution system and reducing the development deficit in the state.

The BJP has equated the development requirements of the Adivasi-populated state with that of mainstream areas. It could not assess the uniqueness of Jharkhand’s Adivasi society and the historical legacy of the Adivasi struggle for land rights. Nor could it speed up the state’s development.

One significant aspect is that the BJP has not been able to discern between its national aspirations and the regional and local issues of development in the states. The false cases filed against the Adivasis who participated in the Pathalgadi Movement, a democratic assertion of the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution), mainly in the districts of Khunti, Gumla, Simdega and West Singhbhum backfired on the party. Of these, the BJP lost in three and was able to retain only Khunti. The BJP government tried to suppress this people’s movement by linking it with the Maoist insurrection. Another fault line is the negligence of Adivasi identity, especially in choosing the chief ministerial candidate. This may not have been a critical factor, yet it added to the general mood in Jharkhand.

Adivasi assertion

The shift in Adivasi votes and the losses in the Scheduled Tribes constituencies affected the BJP in a big way. The data shows that the BJP won only in two ST constituencies compared to 11 in the 2014 Assembly elections. In terms of vote share, the BJP’s came down from 46% in 2014 to 7% in 2019 in the ST constituencies. That decline is an indicator of the significant role of Adivasi votes in changing the political regime.

It is clear that the policies of the BJP government and the follow-up actions laid a fertile ground for the rise of opposition political parties in Jharkhand. ‘Don’t take your opposition lightly’ seems to be the big takeaway from the Jharkhand elections.

The results have larger implications for national politics in the sense that a strong and firm alliance can defeat the majoritarian. dominant party. It is also hope for those who were despairing that India’s multi-party system was in decline. From a citizen’s perspective, the BJP has underestimated the voter’s political wisdom and people’s ability to differentiate the emotive (Article 370, Ram Mandir, CAA) from the substantive (land rights, local development, etc) issues. Will the BJP top brass reflect on these and make course corrections, perhaps ahead of the Delhi and Bihar Assembly elections in 2020?

BPSC 2018 Assistant Main exam cancelled; re-exam to be held in February 2020.

Source – scroll.in

Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) has cancelled the Main exam for the recruitment of 2018 Assistant position. In a notice released today, the Commission stated that the exam will be conducted again on February 1st, 2020 in two sessions.

The reason for the cancellation has not been revealed. The Main exam for the 2018 Assistant recruitment was conducted on June 15th, 2019 in two sessions. The notice said that candidates who had attended the June 15th, 2019 General Hindi exam will be allowed to appear for the re-exam.

The notification for the recruitment of Assistants was issued on October 31st, 2018 and the last date to apply for the same was November 30th, 2018. The recruitment drive is being conducted to fill 51 vacancies.

The Preliminary exam for the recruitment was released on May 2nd, 2019. A total number of 35,997 candidates had appeared for the exam and 695 candidates have cleared the exam and have qualified for the next stage (Main Exam) of the recruitment. The exam was conducted on March 17th, 2019 at 127 exam centres situated in five districts.

CAA protest plan in place.

Source – telegraphindia.com

Aprotest meeting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR) drew around 1,000 people to Zilla School ground here on Monday where a decision was taken to launch a series of peaceful protests in the capital next month.

“We will organise peaceful protests beginning from January 2 in Ranchi next month. The first programme will be held near the Gandhi statue in Morabadi on January 2. We will observe it as Sankalp Divas,” activist Balram said on behalf of Sajha Manch, a united forum of social and political activists.

Another activist, Ashok Verma, said they would read aloud the Preamble to the Constitution and sit on a dharna there.

“We will organise similar programmes on January 8, 16, 23, 26 and 30,” said Ibrar Ahmad, the chief of the local Anjuman Islamia.

On the Republic Day, the protest meeting will be held at the gram sabha level where people will read out the Preamble and take a pledge to protect its spirit.

The Constitution gives guarantee of equality to all citizens, but the government’s move violates it, the activists said.

“There are many tribals and poor people in the state who can’t submit documents as proof of their being citizens of this country. The Mundas of Khunti don’t even have ownership documents as their land is a community property,” Balram said, explaining why they were opposing the NRC and NPR.

Nadim Khan, a Left leader who conducted the meeting, said they had initially planned a Samvidhan Bachao March (Save the Constitution rally), but the district administration didn’t give permission.

Congress leader Subodh Kant Sahay was also present at the the meeting that demanded the repeal of the CAA and withdrawal of the NRC and NPR proposals.

The participants also expressed solidarity with the students of 33 universities who are protesting against the CAA and the NCR and condemned Uttar Pradesh police’s high-handed attitude against the protesters.

Fought Jharkhand Assembly election based on people’s issues, happy they voted: Tejashwi Yadav.

Source – indiatoday.in

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav on Sunday said that he was happy that the people of Jharkhand voted by keeping in mind the issues they faced in their everyday lives.

“We formed an alliance in Jharkhand and had great coordination. We fought the elections based on people’s issues. I am happy that the people there voted by keeping in mind the issues faced by them in their everyday lives,” Tejashwi Yadav told reporters.

Tejashwi Yadav was among the opposition leaders who attended the swearing-in ceremony of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren at the Mohrabadi Ground in Ranchi.

In a show of strength by the opposition parties, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, and Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD) leader Sharad Yadav were among the senior leaders who graced the occasion.

Tejashwi Yadav accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of spreading hatred amongst communities and took on the party over issues like inflation and unemployment.

“We are seeing that the country is in a state of an undeclared emergency. Hatred is being spread. Inflation is rising, unemployment has increased and GDP is falling. When Jharkhand was carved out from Bihar 19 years ago, BJP was in power for 16 years and had the opportunity to take the state to great heights. Instead, Jharkhand is lagging behind today,” Tejashwi Yadav said.

Tejashwi Yadav’s RJD, which fought the Jharkhand Assembly elections in alliance with Congress and JMM, won a comfortable majority by securing 47 seats in the 81-member house.

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) won 30 seats, while Congress and RJD garnered 16 and one seat respectively.

CSBC Bihar Admit Card 2020 out@csbc.bih.nic.in, Check CSBC Bihar Admit Card 2020.

Source – jagranjosh.com

CSBC Bihar Admit Card 2020: Download Link has been activated at the official website of Central Selection Board of Constable (CSBC).i.e.csbc.bih.nic.in. With the releasing the admit card, now all the candidates applied for Bihar Police Constable Exam 2020 against the advertisement number 02/2019 can download their admit cards through the official website or following the instructions given below. 

It is to be noted that CSBC Bihar Police Constable Exam 2020 is scheduled to be held on 12 January and 20 January 2020 in two sessions. i.e. Morning and Afternoon Session at various exam centres of the state. The morning session will start from 10 AM to 12 PM while the afternoon will be conducted from 2 PM to 4  PM. Candidates are advised to check their exam centre details by downloading through the official website.

Candidates can download the admit cards from the official website and those who will not be able to download their admit cards, they can obtain their admit cards through the offline mode from 6 to 7 January 2020.

The board will release the details regarding the exam centre on 9 January 2020. Candidates are advised to visit the official website of Central Selection Board of Constable (CSBC) for the latest updates. Candidates can also download their admit cards by following the instructions given in this article or by clicking on the provided link below. 

Process to Download Bihar Police Constable Admit Card 2020

  • Candidates are required to visit the Central Selection Board of Constable (CSBC) Website. i.e. csbc.bih.nic.in.
  • Click on Bihar Police Constable Admit Card 2020 flashing on the homepage.
  • Enter Registration Number/Roll Number, Mobile Number, Captcha Code and click on the submit button. 
  • The Bihar Police Constable Admit Card 2020 will be displayed on the screen.
  • Candidates can download the Bihar Police Constable Admit Card 2020 and save it for future reference.

Bihar Police Constable Exam 2020 Highlights

  • Bihar Police Constable Exam 2020 – 12 January and 20 January 2020
  • Admit Card (Offline)- 6 to 7 January 2020
  • Exam Centre Details will be available on 9 January 2020

IIT Hyderabad researcher finds people from rural Bihar migrate to urban areas but do not settle.

Source – indiatoday.in

Dr Amrita Datta, Assistant Professor of Development Studies, Department of Liberal Arts, IIT Hyderabad, has found that 78 per cent of all migrants from Rural Bihar went towards an urban destination. Those in the upper end of the social and economic hierarchy in villages are disproportionately represented in the rural-urban migrations.

Characteristics of migrants

These migrant workers are more educated and tend to step out of the village without having worked at all in the local rural economy. This relatively better off migration stream contrasts with the other, more precarious migration stream in which workers predominantly undertake manual work, and when they migrate, they are more likely to work in rural areas.

Instruments of study

These differentiated migrant labour markets pathway suggest that social and economic hierarchies in source regions are translated in destination regions. Where one is located in the social and economic ladder in the village determines what kind of work she/he will undertake at the destination of migration.

Name of the study

Titled ‘Poverty, Migration and Development in rural Bihar,’ this study was undertaken by Dr Amrita Datta, Assistant Professor of Development Studies, Department of Liberal Arts, IIT Hyderabad. This work has been done in collaboration with the Institute for Human Development, New Delhi and supported by Indian Council of Social Science Research.

Highlighting the importance of such studies, Dr. Amrita Datta said, “This study is important in a context where migration from rural Bihar is significant, but it remains an understudied area of research, and little is known about its magnitude, patterns and processes. The broad objectives of this research were to study the socio-economic attributes of migration; changes in the patterns of migration over time; linkages between poverty, migration and development; shifts in the sources of rural income, and the role of remittances therein.

Dr Amrita Datta added, “Based on a specially-designed migration module, information related to the migration destination was also collected to focus on the linkages between Bihar and rest of the Indian economy as well migrants’ social and political lives at the destination. In addition, data on return migration and permanent migration was also collected.”

Outcomes of study

Another major finding was that 98 per cent of return migrants reported that migration was beneficial.

At the same time, 9 in 10 such migrants did not desire to migrate permanently.

This cannot be seen a paradox, as material gains of migration come at the high cost of separation from family members.

People who participated in the research

A survey-based primary study was undertaken in 12 villages in 7 representative districts of Bihar, viz., Araria, Gaya, Gopalganj, Nalanda, Madhubani, Rohtas, and Purnia.

The current survey covered 9,737 individuals in 1,588 households, of which about two-thirds of the households were also studied earlier in 1998-99 and 2009-11.

Over time, the percentage of households with migrants increased from 45 per cent in 1999 to 62 per cent in 2011 to 65 per cent in 2016.

Thus, data from recent rounds suggest that Bihar’s high rates of migration may be stabilizing.

Source of income

That said, there has been a striking increase in the proportion of long-term migrants in total migrants; more than two-thirds of the migrants had migrated for 10 months or more in the year preceding the survey. These migrants work in a wide variety of occupations, predominantly in urban areas across India in its services-oriented economy in its burgeoning informal sector, and they remain delinked from rural labour markets in source regions.

For rural households, migration of its members is a pathway to higher incomes, and households with migrants reported a higher annual income than households without migrants. More than 90 per cent of all migrants sent remittances, and remittances comprised 55 per cent of the total income of households with migrants. That the share of remittances in total income was relatively higher among the poorer households demonstrates their critical dependence on this income source for their sustenance. Remittances were predominantly used in consumptive expenditures – food, education, health, but also sometimes invested in productive sources.

Low rate of relocation

While migration has increased and become longer-term, it remains circular; migrants eventually return to the village after having worked for a long time in distant labor markets. The survey reveals that permanent migration that entails relocation of the entire household from the village is very low. In the sample, only 39 households had permanently migrated.

What is the relationship between migration and income poverty?

In 2016, migration rates were the lowest in the bottom-most income quintile and kept increasing until the fourth quintile, only to fall again in the top income quintile. Over time, this pattern holds across all three waves: 1999, 2011 and 2016.

Thus, while there appears to be no linear relationship between migration and poverty, the data clearly shows that migration is the lowest among the poorest households.

Poverty, therefore, appears to be a constraining factor in the ability to migrate, at the bottom-most quintile, but not in subsequent income quintiles.

Nalanda: Rajgir is the land of all religions: CM Nitish Kumar.

Source – prabhatkhabar.com

Rajgir (Nalanda): On Sunday, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar attended the closing ceremony of the 550th Prakash Parv of Guru Nanak Dev Ji Maharaj, the first Guru of Sikhism. Ardas joined after paying obeisance at CM Rajgir’s Sheetal Kund Gurdwara. Jathedars from different parts of the country welcomed the Chief Minister by presenting him with a saropa and a symbol.

After serving the langar to the devotees, the Chief Minister himself anchored the langar in the anchor hall at Rajgir’s hockey ground. On this occasion, the Chief Minister said that Rajgir is the land of all religions. The message of love, unity, equality, brotherhood, spiritual light should go from here. Guru Nanak Dev first started his journey from the eastern region and Patna came as the first Guru via Buxar through the river Ganges.

From here, he gave a message of Onkar Satnam. He said that Guru Nanak Dev Ji declares that he should win over his disorder and evil. Ego is man’s worst enemy. He said that a large number of people come to Rajgir. In view of this, eco tourism is being given a big boost in Rajgir. Next year it will be completed by becoming a Gurudwara of Rajgir. He invited all Sikh devotees to come here on Prakash Parv next year.

CM said that today the land of Rajgir too became blessed with an Onkar Satnam. No one would have thought that in Rajgir, there will be millions of langars.

He said that the media should be told about Guru Nanak Dev Ji. CM said that Guru Nanak Dev Ji Maharaj had reached Rajgir via Gaya, Nawada, Hisua. At that time it was Holi. People requested him that the water of all the kings of Rajgir is hot.

Gurunanak Dev touched the water of the pool with his foot and the water became cold, hence one pool of Rajgir was named as Sheetal Kund. He said that Rajgir is the land of Makhdoom Saheb. The Malamas fair is held here for three years in Hinduism. It is believed that 33 crore Gods and Goddesses reside here at that time. Lord Mahavira and Lord Buddha came here before and after attaining enlightenment.

He said that langar has great importance in Sikhism. Anchor is a great service. Gurunanak Dev considered both men and women equal, so the woman should be respected. The Chief Minister said that a lot of work has been done for women in the state. Today women are awakening.

Jharkhand: In first cabinet decision, Hemant Soren govt to quash Pathalgadi sedition cases against tribals.

Source – timesnownews.com

Ranchi: Hours after taking oath as the Jharkhand chief minister for a second time, Hemant Soren cabinet decided to withdraw all sedition cases filed against tribals during the Pathalgadi movement. Tribals had carried out a massive protest in Jharkhand over Raghubar Das-led BJP government’s decision to amend Chhota Nagpur Tenancy Act (CNT) and Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act, 1949 in 2018.

Groups linked to the Pathalgadi movement are active across four districts of Jharkhand – Khunti, Gumla, Simdega and West Singhbhum. All these villages come under the Maoist-infested districts.Volume 0% 

Pathalgadis have erected giant plaques declaring their Gram Sabha as the only sovereign authority and have also banned “outsiders”, who they call “Diku” in their native language, from entering the area.

The plaque says that Pathalgadis believe in the Constitution but will follow only their Gram Sabha diktats.

Chhota Nagpur Tenancy (CNT) Act 1908 and Santhal Pargana Tenancy (SPT) Act, 1949, safeguard tribal tenancy rights and in June 2018, the movement erupted in Khunti, 40 km south-east of state capital Ranchi after police thrashed a gathering of Munda villagers over allegations of raiding the house of former Lok Sabha deputy speaker and BJP MP Karia Munda and abducting three security guards.

Khunti is historically linked to the Birsa movement led by tribal freedom fighter Birsa Munda.

The entire Opposition, especially the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), had protested against the amendments.

Soren’s oath-taking ceremony was attended by a galaxy of opposition leaders and members from the regional parties and the 44-year-old tribal leader was sworn in as the 11th chief minister of the state by Governor Droupadi Murmu.

Other decision taken in the Cabinet meeting chaired by Soren and attended by three of his ministers included clearing arrears of para-teachers, contractual employees, Anganwadi workers and student scholarships. Apart from these new directives, orders were also issued to fill-up vacancies in government departments.

Hemant Soren sworn in as Chief Minister of Jharkhand.

Source – newsonair.com

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, JMM leader Hemant Soren took oath as the 11th Chief Minister of the state today. Governor Draupadi Murmu administered the oath of office to Mr Soren at Morhabadi grounds in Ranchi. This is 44 year Soren’ second stint as Jharkhand Chief Minister. After taking the oath, newly sworn in Chief Minister called for people’s support to frame a new structure of the state. 

Along with Soren, Congress Legislature Party Leader Alamgir Alam state Congress president Rameshwar Oraon and only MLA of RJD Satyanand Bhokta were also sworn in as state cabinet ministers.

Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee, Congress Chief Ministers Bhupesh Baghel, Ashok Gehlot, Former Assam CM Tarun Gogoi, ex-CM of Bihar Jitan Ram Manjhi, SP leader Akhilesh Yadav, RJD leader Tejaswi Yadav, Loktantrik Janata Dal leader Sharad Yadav, CPI Chief D Raja, CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechuri, DMK Chief M K Stalin, MP M K Kanimozhi, AAP MP Sanjay Singh were among the leaders who witnessed the historic swearing-in ceremony of the Opposition-led government. In the 81 member Assembly, JMM-Congress-RJD alliance has won 47 seats in the recently concluded Assembly elections. BJP has got 25 seats.

Meanwhile in its maiden Cabinet meeting held today, Hemant Soren led coalition government took several important decisions. It announced to take back all the cases lodged against accused in Pathalgadi movement and early filling up of all posts lying vacant in the state government. It was also decided that Fastrack courts will be soon set up in all districts for early redressal of cases related to women and child sexual harassment.

AIR correspondent reports that JMM Senior Leader Stephen Marandi from Maheshpur constituency will be nominated as the Protem Speaker for the new Assembly session of the government to be held from January 6-8, in 2020. All the newly elected legislators will also take oath of office and secrecy in the new Assembly session.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated Hemant Soren on taking oath as Jharkhand Chief Minister. In a tweet, Mr Modi assured all possible support from the Centre for Jharkhand’s growth. 

In Bihar Village, Burglars Flee with Gold Worth Lakhs Plucked from 50-feet High Temple Dome.

Source – news18.com

Nawada (Bihar): Unidentified burglars climbed atop a 50 feet high spire of a decrepit temple here and decamped with pieces of gold worth lakhs of rupees, police said here on Saturday.

The pieces of gold were affixed to the temple’s dome, they added.

The incident took place at a temple situated inside an abandoned monastery at Gulani, a remote village under the jurisdiction of Pakribarawan police station of this central Bihar district, said Station House Officer (SHO) Sanjay Kumar.

He said the thieves appeared to be familiar with the topography of the village as well as the temple, said to be “hundreds of years old”, as they sneaked inside in the thick of Friday night taking advantage of the cold, foggy weather and climbed the spire with the help of a rope.

“The monastery’s ‘mahant’ had died some time back and a priest from Siwan district, who was appointed as his successor has so far not bothered to turn up and take charge,” said Kumar.

Hence, the premises were by and large unmanned, he said.

“We suspect that the villagers have a clue about those involved in the burglary and we are interrogating them and hope to crack the case soon,” he added.