Tag: Nitish Kumar

Posters in Patna blame Nitish, Pandey for AES deaths

Source: nationalheraldindia.com

Hours ahead of the Monsoon session of the Bihar Assembly on Friday, posters appeared in Patna blaming the NDA government for the death of over 150 children in Muzaffarpur due to Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) and the complete collapse of law and order in the state.

Dozens of posters in Hindi that were pasted on walls along the main roads in the state capital, also demanded resignations of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Bihar Health Minister Mangal Pandey on moral grounds for having failed to check the spread of AES.

The posters termed Bihar as “maut ka kuan” (death well) and mocked it leaders lack of concern for the suffering of the people of the state.

“Chief Minister Nitish Kumar found time to visit Muzaffarpur only after 100 children had died, while Mangal Pandey was more interested knowing the score of the India and Pakistan World Cup cricket match at his press conference with Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan in Muzaffarpur,” it said.

The posters also expressed growing resentment among the people over the rising lawlessness in the state with daily reports of murder, kidnapping, extortion, loot, robbery and rape.

Ealier similar posters had come up in Muzaffarpur — the epicentre of AES epidemic — asking people to trace “missing” Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav.

JDU upbeat ahead of National Executive meet, Nitish Kumar may announce road map to achieve national party status

Source: indiatoday.in

The National Executive Meeting of the Janata Dal United (JDU) will be held on June 9 under the chairmanship of party chief and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Nitish Kumar is likely to announce JD(U)’s road map to expand base in other states at the meeting.

JD(U) National Secretary Ravinder Singh said that the membership of a party lasts for three years. The members were inducted on June 5, 2016, and now on June 9, a meeting will be held to induct the members for the next three years.

The state president of JD(U) in Bihar Vashishtha Narayan Singh has directed every MLA, MP, MLC, office bearers and national, state and village level officials of the party to initiate the process of induction into the party by June 8.

The meeting comes amid rumours flying high about the rift with National Democratic Alliance (NDA) of which JD(U) is an ally. However, JD(U) on Friday asserted that NDA in the state was “intact”, dismissing speculation of a rift within the alliance in the wake of the party’s decision to “stay out” of the Narendra Modi government.

Earlier, Nitish Kumar had declined to be part of the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre in protest against the “symbolic representation” of one ministerial berth offered to it but refuted suggestions of any difference with its ally.

In the recent general elections, the NDA, comprising BJP, JD(U) and LJP, won 39 out of 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, the best performance by any political formation in the last few decades. Nitish Kumar’s party bagged 16 seats.

The meeting also comes in the backdrop of series of comments from JD(U)’s opponents in Bihar.

Recently, RJD leader and former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi said she would have no problem if Nitish Kumar joins grand alliance of the Opposition. Another Lalu Yadav loyalist, RJD’s Raghuvansh Prasad Singh has waived the white flag in front of the JDU leader.

RJD’s leader Tejashwi Yadav has also gone virtually silent on Nitish Kumar’s criticism on social media. Tejashwi Yadav had earlier tweeted personal comments against Nitish Kumar.

Since the Lok Sabha poll results, the Bihar leader of opposition has not tweeted against Nitish Kumar and has restricted himself to greetings and congratulatory messages.

Meanwhile, KC Tyagi, Secretary General of JD(U), told India Today TV that JD(U) would contest the Bihar Assembly elections in 2020 with NDA. “NDA is intact in Bihar and we will fight the 2020 elections together,” KC Tyagi said.

KC Tyagi further stated that RJD is a divided house and Lalu Prasad Yadav’s RJD might come to Nitish Kumar-led party’s fold. “RJD is a divided house, don’t be surprised if the old guard of Lalu Yadav’s party come to our fold,” KC Tyagi said.

JD(U) not only increased it vote share but also dealt a major blow to its opponents in Bihar including RLSP’s Upendra Kushwaha and HUM’s Jeetan Ram Manjhi. Both — Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP) and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HUM) — fared miserably in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The NDA ally in Bihar increased its vote share from 17% in 2014 to 21% this time. India Today-Axis MyIndia post poll survey suggested that 27% Yadavs, 13% Muslim’s voted for NDA in Bihar.

OPINION | Articles 370 & 35A, Mahadalits, Bihar Clout: Spurning Single Berth Offer, How Nitish Kumar Added Weight to His Voice

Source: news18.com

By spurning the single-berth offer in the Union council of ministers, Janata Dal (United) leader and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has clearly indicated that he was not overawed by the larger-than-life image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and that his own image and popularity has substantially contributed to the spectacular victory of the NDA in Bihar.

Nitish Kumar not only rejected the offer of symbolic representation in the ministry but gave a tit-for-tat reply to the BJP by inducting eight ministers from the JDU in his cabinet, leaving the BJP stunned and sulking. Most of the newly-inducted ministers are from the social groups that have been ignored by the BJP in the Union cabinet.

The BJP leadership, however, claimed that everything within the NDA was hunky-dory and that Nitish Kumar had offered BJP to fill party’s quota of the vacant ministerial seat but the BJP leadership decided to fill it in future.

Efforts are on from both the sides to send across a message that everything was fine within the NDA but the smooth relationship between the two allies before this episode seems to have gone for a toss. It has to be watched whether the BJP and JDU continue to remain under one umbrella till the 2020 assembly polls.

State president of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), JDU’s previous ally, Ram Chandra Purve and senior party MLA Bhai Virendra appeared exultant over the development and hinted that they were ready to welcome Nitish once again into the grand alliance. “The RJD always stood for secular forces to defeat the resurgent BJP,” they said.

It may sound stubborn on part of Nitish Kumar but he has played a long-term bet by rejecting the single-berth offer in the Union cabinet. It will come in handy for Nitish and cast its impact on the upcoming state assembly elections due next year in Bihar.

One of the major reasons for Nitish toeing a separate and independent line is its reservations on certain issues like Article 370 and 35A, which the BJP is likely to rake up aggressively in days to come.

The BJP has already announced its agenda through media advertisements during campaigning. The JDU could not have opposed them by remaining part of the Union council of ministers.

The BJP and the JDU have diametrically opposite stance on certain issues like construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya, uniform civil code, abrogation of Article 370 and annulment of Article 35A. While the BJP pursues these agenda vigorously, the JDU has maintained a distinct stance on them.

The Nitish Kumar-led party has always held that the vexed issue of Ram temple be solved either through a consensus among the affected parties or through a Supreme Court order. During the poll campaign, the JDU leadership had strongly opposed the demand for abrogating Article 370 amid the clamour for doing away with the special provision granting autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir.

Nitish has maintained that the JDU would never support any such move that deprived Jammu and Kashmir of a provision that has been in place.

Compared to 2014, the BJP has complete majority and therefore it wouldn’t be having any problem in pursuing these issues to a logical end. In such circumstances, the JDU would be in an awkward position to oppose Article 370 or Article 35A by remaining part of the Union cabinet. But it can oppose such issues, as and when required, by remaining within the NDA and outside the government.

Despite remaining in the NDA, the JDU has been cautious regarding its secular image and kept away from controversial issues. Of the 16 seats the JDU won this time, altogether eight seats are located in the region which has substantial population of the minorities.

By maintaining its secular image, it intends to get the benefit during the 2020 state assembly elections. It will come in handy if the party switches over to other combination or alliance after deserting the NDA.

Yet another but crucial reason for Nitish Kumar’s defiant stance is that the BJP is taking the sole credit for the poll victory in Bihar. The given impression that it was Narendra Modi tsunami that swept the polls in Bihar and throughout the country is being vehemently contested by the JDU leadership.

By claiming that it was the victory of ‘people of Bihar’, Nitish Kumar indicated that the Extremely Backward Caste (EBC) and Mahadalit vote bank nurtured by him over the years voted en bloc in favour of the NDA in Bihar. “The poll outcome was due to unflinching support of base votes of all the three constituents of the NDA in Bihar,” he said.

Apparently, Nitish also fears that the BJP buoyed by its huge majority may relegate the common agenda of the NDA and pursue its own pet agenda. In this context, the Bihar chief minister has categorically said that steps to eradicate backwardness of Bihar should be taken on a priority basis. The JDU leaders too have started raising the issue of grant of special status for Bihar ever since the poll results were declared.

The non-inclusion of EBC and Mahadalit MPs from Bihar in the Union ministry was also one of the major concerns of the Bihar chief minister. The BJP has appointed four out of five ministers from the upper castes, leaving the backwards, EBCs and Mahadalits. These sections might be annoyed by the socially lop-sided selection of ministers from Bihar.

It has also become clear from the tough posture of Nitish Kumar that he was not satisfied with the arbitrary attitude of the BJP leadership. JDU leaders contended that Nitish untiringly campaigned to bring Narendra Modi back to power but as the BJP crossed the magic number, it has started acting arbitrarily and want the allies to follow their diktats.

Despite opting to remain out of the Union cabinet, Nitish has pledged that he would continue to remain in the NDA. However, it is certain now that he would be treading cautiously in future.

Nitish has silently performed the role of a true ally during campaigning to ensure return of NDA to power but after this episode, the BJP cannot expect him to remain silent on many issues like article 370 or 35A.

The Bihar chief minister has also raised his reservation on the methodology of cabinet formation. During previous NDA regime led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani, the proportion, ministries and other finer details used to be finalised in the very beginning. But this time, the BJP unilaterally decided single-berth formula for the allies and conveyed it to the respective allies.

“With one cabinet berth it would have been difficult for the JDU to ward off differences among various claimants in the 22-member JDU parliamentary party,” said Bihar JDU president Bashishth Narayan Singh.

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Bihar’s 1.48 crore power consumers to get smart prepaid meters by 2020

Source: newindianexpress.com

PATNA: Come August 2020 and Bihar’s 1.48 crore power consumers will get smart prepaid electricity bill measuring meters installed in their houses. 

After successful completion of the target, Bihar would become the first state in the country with all its power consumers availing facility of prepaid electricity meters.

Buoyed by recent Lok Sabha victory, the Nitish Kumar government has directed officials of Bihar State Power Holding Company Limited (BSPHCL) to achieve the target of complete installation of smart prepaid electricity bill measuring metres by August 2020, ahead of the state assembly elections in 2020.

CM Nitish Kumar has assigned the task of completing the installation to chairman-cum-chief managing director(CMD) of BSPHCL Pratay Amrit, who has played an effective role in ensuring the complete electrification of villages in record time in the state. 

In the last five years, Bihar has spent a whopping Rs 55,000 crore on electrification works and ensuring availability of power.
 
The CM while lauding the performances of electricity department at a function organised to inaugurate and kick-start various schemes worth Rs 697 crores on Tuesday, said that department should also achieve the target of installing the prepaid meters on top priority.

“Once the prepaid meters are installed, consumers will face not problems like inflated bills of which is major complaint by consumers”, Kumar said.
 
He also asked the power officials to replace all the old wires within the stipulated time frame and ensure separate power connection under the agriculture incentive plan to the farmers.

Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi, also present at the function, said that the number of power consumers in the state has increased from 37 lakh in 2012 to 1.48 crores in 2019.

“Thanks to the ample availability of power in even remotest parts, state government got a huge revenue of Rs 9,072 crores. The ample power availability has reduced the sales of inverters and gensets in the state to a great extent”, Modi said.

Pratay Amrit said that installation works of smart prepaid meters will start in July from Arwal and Sheohar districts of the state. He informed the government in his welcome speech that old wires in 28874 circuit km were replaced. “The number of power sub-stations has increased also from 95 to129 with a registered demand of power around 5389 megawatts in the state”, he said.