Tag: BJP

Won’t implement CAA, NRC in Jharkhand: Hemant Soren.

Source – thehindu.com

A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi lashed out at the Opposition here over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, Hemant Soren, the chief ministerial face of the grand alliance in Jharkhand, said if voted to power his government would review both the CAA and National Register of Citizens and not implement them if they had potential to trigger violence in the State.

“Both the CAA and NRC sound similar. They will be evaluated afresh. If we feel Jharkhand could plunge into violence, both CAA and NRC will not be put into practice,” Mr. Soren told The Hindu here on Monday.

When his attention was drawn to the BJP’s concern over illegal immigration of Bangladeshis into Jharkhand through West Bengal and the porous international border, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) executive president said, “The BJP came to power in many northeastern States highlighting the issue of infiltration of Bangladeshis. Now, the northeastern States are burning. They have backstabbed people there by bringing in CAA”

“This BJP-led government does not have any work to do. It has been raising divisive issues strategically and from time to time. The issues which can flare up people’s emotions are carefully chosen. Those are intended at dividing people on caste and religion lines leading to violence,” alleged Mr. Soren.

He observed, “They will not talk on unemployment, crumbling economy, losses being incurred by major public sector units, poverty and violence against women. The focus of the present government is only on dividing society as Hindu-Muslim and tribal and non-tribals.”

Alleging that that BJP always tries to reap political dividends through non-issues, Mr. Soren said, “In 2014, they came to power giving the wrong impression on the economy and law and order. When they miserably failed to find a solution to the issues they had highlighted, they came up with the revenge attack for the Pulwama terror strike. They stirred up people on India-Pakistan sentiments just before the 2019 elections.”

“Now, the BJP is preparing for the 2024 elections with these legal instruments. They have constructed a huge statue of Sardar Valabhbhai Patel although they do not have anything to do with the ideology of this great leader. They are now talking about construction of a grand Ram Temple at Ayodhya. They know how to hoodwink people without delivering on genuine problems,” he charged.

Addressing an election rally at Dumka, where the JMM chief is contesting, Mr. Modi on Sunday had said violence over CAA was being stoked by the Congress and its allies and it was wrong as the Bill was cleared by Parliament.

The JMM, Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal have stitched up a pre-poll alliance in Jharkhand where polling will come to end on December 20 and results will be declared on December 23.

Jharkhand poll: Voting for 12 seats ends, 57.96 per cent votes cast.

Source – newindianexpress.com

RANCHI: Voting ended for 12 of the 17 assembly seats at 3 p.m. in the third phase of the polls with 57.96 per cent votes being cast on Thursday.

The voting will end at 5 p.m. for the Ranchi, Hatia, Kanke, Ramgarh and Barkatha assembly seats.

Jharkahnd Governor Draupdi Murmu cast her vote at ATI Ranchi while AJSU president Sudesh Mahtyo cast his vote along with his wife at Silli. Jayant Sinha cast his vote in Hazaribagh.

In the third phase the key candidates are three ministers — CP Singh, Ramchandra Sahis and Neera Yadav, Former Chief Minister Babulal Marandi and former Deputy Chief Minister and All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) president Sudesh Mahto.

Of the 17 seats, BJP, JMM and Congress had won 10, three and two seats respectively in the 2014 Assembly elections.

There is a direct fight on between the BJP, Congress and JMM candidates on seven seats. For the Silli seat the fight is between AJSU president Sudesh Mahto and JMM sitting legislator Seema Devi. There is a triangular fight on six seats. For some seats the fight is four-cornered or multi-cornered.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Jharkahnd Chief Minister Raghubar Das have appealed to the voters to cast their votes.

Stage Set for Third Phase of Polling in Jharkhand: Can BJP Continue its Success Story This Time?

Source – news18.com

New Delhi: The 17 constituencies that go to polls on Thursday in the third phase of the Jharkhand Assembly elections have returned the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as the single-largest party in two of the three state elections held in the state since its formation in 2000. The latest phase is also the second-largest in terms of seats contested after phase two.

Of the 17 seats — Barhi, Barkagaon, Barkatha, Bermo, Dhanwar, Gomia, Hatia, Hazaribagh, Ichagarh, Kanke, Khijri, Kodarma, Mandu, Ramgarh, Ranchi, Silli, and Simaria — the BJP has never lost in the two constituencies of Ranchi and Kanke. The saffron party has won three other seats twice during the state elections held in Jharkhand in 2005, 2009, and 2014.

The BJP had secured nine of these 17 seats in 2005 with a contested vote-share of 25% across the 15 seats from where it fielded its candidates.

These constituencies, including two reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) candidates and one Scheduled Tribes (ST) candidate, are spread over eight districts.

The fate of 309 candidates, including 32 women nominees, will be decided in the 17 constituencies with 56,18,267 electorate (eligible to exercise their franchise), the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) told a press conference here. The electorate includes 26,80,205 women and 86 third-gender voters.

As many as 62 (20%) candidates have declared serious criminal cases against themselves, according to an analysis by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

At least 10 of these candidates have declared cases related to ‘crime against women’, two have cases related to ‘murder’, and 13 others have cases related to ‘attempt to murder’. Another 77 (25%) are crorepatis, with the average assets per member at Rs 1.24 crore.

The party suffered a setback in 2009 when it was reduced to just four seats, despite retaining its vote-share. It made a comeback in 2014 riding on the Narendra Modi wave. In 2014, it returned seven MLAs and increased its vote-share (contested) to almost 40%.

The opposition to the BJP in these seats has been scattered. For instance, the Congress emerged as the most successful party in six of the 13 seats where it fielded candidates in 2009 and managed to garner 26% of the votes.

Besides, the grand old party had won three seats in 2005 and just two in 2014 when it was reduced to just 14.7% of the vote-share (in 13 contested seats).

The Congress party’s alliance partner in the current elections, Jharkhand Mukti Mocha (JMM), has also fared poorly. The party secured just a single seat each in 2005 and 2009 before increasing its tally to three in 2014.

Former chief minister Babulal Marandi’s Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik), which contested for the first time in 2009, has won three seats each during the last two assembly elections.

The BJP’s former ally, the All Jharkhand Students’ Union (AJSU) party, had also won two seats each in 2005 and 2009. In 2014, it could win only Ramgarh, a seat it has retained in the last three elections.

Among the candidates, Marandi, Urban Development Minister CP Singh and Education Minister Neera Yadav are in the fray. While Marandi is contesting from the Dhanwar seat, Singh and Yadav are contesting from Ranchi and Kodarma constituencies, respectively.

Former deputy chief minister and AJSU party president Sudesh Mahto is trying his luck to regain Silli seat after he lost the 2014 Assembly polls and the subsequent bypoll to JMM candidates Amit Mahato and his wife Seema Mahato respectively.

The BJP has not fielded candidates from Silli though the NDA allies are fighting the polls separately, for the first time since the states creation.

Meanwhile, about 40,000 polling personnel have been deputed to conduct smooth and peaceful voting in the third of the five-phase polling, Jharkhand Chief Election Officer Vinay Kumar Choubey said on Wednesday.

Stating that there are LWE (left wing extremist) pockets in this phase, Choubey said that personnel of 96 polling stations have been dropped by helicopters and 10 polling stations have been re-located on security grounds.

“Personnel of 188 polling stations were sent two days ago and have reached there and almost all the officials to other booths have reached,” Choubey said.

The polling personnel of 626 polling stations will return to their respective district headquarters on Friday and arrangements of CCTV and double-lock strong rooms have been made, the CEO said.

He added if any political parties desired to send their agents to stay there could do so.

The CEO said that there are 13,504 ballot units, 8,772 controlling units and 9,123 VVPAT in the 17 seats with double ballot units being set up in nine of the constituencies as there are 16 or more candidates in the fray.

A total of 2,014 polling stations have webcasting facilities, 329 model polling stations and 44 polling stations will be conducted by women polling personnel, he said. Of the total 7,016 polling stations set up for the third-phase, 1,008 are marked as ‘critical’ and 543 ‘sensitive’ in Naxal-affected areas.

While 1,119 polling stations are ‘critical’ and 2,672 polling stations are ‘sensitive’ in the non-Naxal affected areas, he added. The voting will commence at 7am and end at 5pm at Ranchi, Hatia, Kanke, Barkatha and Ramgarh seats, while voters in the rest of the constituencies can exercise franchise between 7am and 3pm.

The first-phase polling for 13 seats and the second-phase for 20 Assembly segments had concluded on November 30 and December 7, respectively. The fourth and the fifth phases polling for 15 and 16 seats will be held on December 16 and 20, respectively. Counting to the 81-member House is slated on December 23.

Jharkhand elections: Parties not walking talk on women candidates.

Source – newindianexpress.com

RANCHI: While parties of all hues pledged 50 per cent reservation for women in government jobs, in their respective manifestoes for the ongoing Jharkhand Assembly elections, none have come even close to walking the talk by giving enough tickets to women candidates.

The parties, which promised to reserve 33 per cent tickets for women candidates, have failed to put even 17 per cent women on their tickets.While former chief minister Babulal Marandi’s Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM) could put 11 women in fray, the most of all the contesting parties, the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) came a close second, fielding 9 women candidates. The JVM announced nominees for all seats in the 81-member Assembly, the AJSU named candidates for 52.

However, in terms of percentage of women representation, JVM lags AJSU by 3.4%. While the percentage of AJSU’s women candidates stands at 16.9 per cent, the JVM falls marginally behind at 13.5 per cent.
At seven, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded the third most women candidates, while the Congress lags with a paltry 5 per cent. While the BJP is contesting 80 seats, the Congress is in fray in 31. The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) fares even worse, with just 6 of its 43 candidates being women.
Political experts said the primary reason why the parties shied away from giving more tickets to women is that they are not taken seriously by voters, unless they are accomplished names in politics or other fields.
“Another reason why women leaders aren’t considered for tickets is that they are not as active in the field as their male counterparts. Most step out of their homes only when they are named candidates,” said a political expert, asking not to be named.

Only women who have established themselves in the field of politics are wooed for tickets by parties, he added.The contesting parties, however, asserted that winability, not gender, is the only criterion when it comes to deciding their poll candidates.

Maoists trigger IED blast, 2 CoBRA personnel hurt
Maoists triggered an IED blast near the Vijaygiri hillock, in the Tamar police station area of Ranchi on Sunday morning. The attack left two personnel of Commando Battalions for Resolute Action, (CoBRA) injured. The security personnel were escorting a polling party when the explosive device was detonated. Police said both the injured personnel are believed to be out of danger. “The CoBRA personnel were sent to escort polling officials on their way back from a booth,” ML Meena, ADG (Operations) and spokesperson for Jharkhand Police, said.

Won’t spare anyone if provoked: Rajnath
Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said India never provoked any nation, but, if incited, it would not spare anyone. Addressing a poll meeting at Jharia in Jharkhand, he said the measures taken by the Narendra Modi-led government to curb terrorism have cemented India’s reputation as one of the strongest nations in the world. “Our intention is clear. Our policy is clear…Hum duniya ke kisi desh ko chhedenge naihin; lekin jo hum ko chhedega, hum chhodenge nahin (we will never provoke any country, but, if provoked, will not spare anyone),” the Union minister said.

BJP to form Jharkhand government with absolute majority: Rudy

Source – telegraphindia.com

Asserting that the BJP would win with an absolute majority in Jharkhand, the party’s national spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said people would cast votes in favour of “good governance and political stability”.

He insisted that the double-engine government of the BJP at the Centre and the state would ensure an all-round development of Jharkhand.

“The BJP has a long-term vision for the development of the state. If the governments at the Centre and the state are the same then development becomes easier,” Rudy told reporters here on Saturday.

Listing the achievements of the Raghubar Das government, he said the saffron party has worked for tribal welfare, infrastructure development and agricultural growth over the past five years.

“I, too, had voted in favour of Jharkhand’s statehood when the proposal was placed (in Parliament). But the irony was that after its creation, there was no political stability for several years. The state saw a person without any ideology or party becoming the chief minister,” Rudy said, referring to former Independent MLA Madhu Koda’s tenure from 2006 to 2008.

The BJP, however, has given a stable government to Jharkhand over the last five years, the BJP MP said.

“This time, too, people will vote for stability and good governance. The BJP will form a government in Jharkhand with absolute majority,” he stated.

The senior BJP leader said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had always taken a “keen interest” in the development of the state.

“The decisions taken by Modi and his government has always has had a positive effect on the states and the country as a whole — be it abrogation of Article 370 or ban on triple talaq,” he said.

Taking a dig at the Opposition alliance of the JMM, the Congress and the RJD, he said, “Parties functioning around their families can never work for the state’s growth.”

He said that Raghubar Das during the second of the five-phase assembly elections, would win with a comfortable margin from Jamshedpur (East).

“Unlike other political parties, the BJP runs on principals and policies,” he added.

A five-phase election to the 81 Assembly constituencies began in Jharkhand on November 30. Voting will conclude on December 20 and counting will be held three days later, on December 23.

Campaigning for 2nd phase of Jharkhand assembly elections ends today.

Source – newsonair.com

In Jharkhand, campaigning for the 2nd phase of Assembly elections will come to an end today. Twenty assembly constituencies spread over seven districts will go to polls in this phase on Saturday.  Voting would take place in East Singhbhum, West Singhbhum, Saraikela-Kharsawan, Ranchi, Khunti, Gumla and Simdega districts.

On the last day of campaigning, Chief Minister Raghubar Das, BJP working President Jagat Prakash Nadda and senior party leader and Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath, will hold public meetings.

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha working President Hemant Soren, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha President Babulal Marandi, All Jharkhand Students’ Union Chief Sudesh Kumar Mahto and RJD leader Tejaswi Prasad Yadav are also scheduled to address election rallies.

AIR correspondent reports that commitment towards protection of rights of tribal people over water, forest and land, issues of reservation and employment are the main poll planks of almost all political parties in this phase.

In the ongoing campaigning, BJP leaders are focussed on development initiatives of Centre and State governments phrasing it as achievements of  Double Engine government. Senior BJP leader and union minister Nitin Gadkari claimed in a public meeting at Dakra that incumbent government has launched many initiatives to boost MSME sector in the state. Senior Congress leader Shatrughan Sinha said that BJP claim about development is just an eyewash. Senior leader of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha Hemant  Soren is promising to voters that if voted to power his alliance will  ensure pride and self-respect of tribal people. Jharkhand Vikas Morcha President Babulal Marandi said his party would work on enactment for job guarantee to youths. All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU) party chief Sudesh Mahto alleged that Congress and JMM have forged alliance to grab power in the state. 

Excluding Jamshedpur East, Jamshedpur West and Baharagora, sixteen constituencies are reserved for tribal candidates whereas Jugsalai seat is reserved for Scheduled Caste community. 260 candidates, including 29 women, are in the fray.

In poll-bound 20 assembly seats, 18 constituencies are naxal- affected. Elaborate security arrangements will be made at polling stations. Out of 5,784 polling booths, 1,844 are critical.

The polling process for 81-member Jharkhand Assembly will be completed in five phases between the 30th of November and the 20th of December. Counting of votes will be held on the 23rd of this month.

Jharkhand Assembly Election: Will BJP’s solo act bear fruit?

Source – moneycontrol.com

After the closure to a rather dramatic post-election government formation in Maharashtra, where the BJP was outwitted by an astute Sharad Pawar, eyes have now turned to Jharkhand, where the saffron party is going solo.

According to a report by The Hindu, even as parleys were going on, BJP’s central leadership insisted that the party was likely to benefit from multi-cornered contests and announced candidates for 79 of the total 81 seats.

BJP’s decision to go alone also meant parting ways with ally All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), which has fielded 45 candidates this time.

In 2014, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) had contested as an alliance, while the Congress and the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (JVM) had fought independently.

This time, the Congress, RJD and the JMM have formed a pre-poll alliance and can prove to be a formidable challenge to the BJP, provided the three parties iron out their seat-sharing issues.

Besides, an analysis of the 2014 state elections shows that BJP’s reliance on a multi-cornered contest favouring them is likely to cause a dent.

In 2014, there were five seats where the victory margin was less than 1,000 votes. Of these, two went to the BJP, while the Congress, JMM and AJSU got one each. Plus, the Congress and the JMM were runners up in three seats, whereas the BJP was runner up only in one.

Again, there were 13 seats where the victory margin was between 1,000 and 5,000 votes. Of these, the BJP won five, while the JMM bagged two, and the JVM, AJSU and two others won one seat each. Here too, the BJP was runner up in four constituencies, while the JMM, Congress and RJD were runners up in six seats combined.

Seats, where the victory margin was more than 30,000 was where the BJP fared well. However, BJP leaders contend that vote transfer is not a given in Jharkhand. Incumbent Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das told the newspaper, “Just because there is an alliance among leaders does not mean that the support base will follow.”

Sharing the same sentiment, psephologist Abhay Kumar, formerly with the Centre for Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), said the 2014 results “cannot be extrapolated to 2019”.

Citing that it is the saffron party that has been able to provide Jharkhand with its only full-term government over the past five years, Kumar said, “The BJP’s stability in governance will be important.”

BJP, however is playing safe vis-à-vis its relationship with the AJSU. During poll rallies, party president Amit Shah refers to AJSU as an old ally, which is still a “friend”, something which JMM chief Hemant Soren believes is proof that the BJP’s solo act will backfire.

The role played by the JVM and Independents is still imponderable, as is the efficacy of the BJP’s strategy. These factors will provide a clearer picture on December 23, when the results to the Assembly elections are scheduled to be announced.

PM Modi to address poll rallies in Jharkhand today.

Source – indiatoday.in

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address two election rallies in Jharkhand on Tuesday, a party spokesperson said.

His first rally is scheduled at Birsa College in Khunti district at 11 am, while the second one is at 1 pm at Steel Maidan in Jamshedpur, BJP spokesperson Shiv Pujan Pathak said on Monday.

Chief Minister Raghubar Das is contesting the polls from the Jamshedpur (East) seat, where his former cabinet colleague Saryu Roy is contesting as an Independent candidate.

Roy had resigned as a minister last month after his name did not figure in the BJP’s candidate list.

Roy, who won the 2014 assembly elections from Jamshedpur (West), filed nomination from Jamshedpur (East) to challenge Das. Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) withdrew its candidate from the seat in support of Roy.

The Congress has fielded Gourav Vallabh from Jamshedpur (East).

State Rural Development Minister Neelkanth Singh Munda is contesting from the Khunti (ST) seat.

The two seats are among the twenty assembly constituencies going to polls in the second-phase on December 7.

The five-phase elections to the 81-member House will end on December 20. Counting will take place on December 23.

Jharkhand assembly election: Congress takes a backseat in Ranchi, fields Ranchi, member against BJP.

Source – dailystockdish.com

The Congress has decided not to field its own candidate against the BJP from the much contentious seat of Ranchi in the upcoming assembly election in Jharkhand, scheduled to take place in five phases.

Instead, Congress‘s ally Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) has been given the prestigious seat of Ranchi. JMM leader Mahua Maji will be contesting against BJP leader CP Singh.

Notably, BJP has won from Ranchi‘s seat for six consecutive times in state assembly elections.

According to reports, Congress has also faced opposition from its party workers over its decision of leaving the Ranchi seat.

In the 2014 Jharkhand assembly election, JMM had nominated Mahua Majhi only as its candidate from Ranchi constituency. She was defeated by BJP leader CP them Singh by a margin of 59,000 votes. In the 2014 assembly election, Congress candidate Surendra Singh had got only 7,935 votes from Ranchi seat, and he also lost his deposit.

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), the Congress and Lalu Prasad Yadav‘s Rashtriya Janata Dal had recently announced a pre-poll alliance for the state with former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren as the alliance‘s CM face.

Congress has released four lists of a total of 27 candidates as of now for the upcoming assembly election in Jharkhand. The Congress will contest 31 seats out of 81 seats in the Jharkhand assembly.

The RJD will contest on seven seats, while the largest chunk of the alliance share has gone to the JMM, which will contest elections on 43 seats.

BJP needs to introspect in Jharkhand, says party spokesman Praveen Prabhakar before resigning.

Source – indiatoday.in

In a jolt to the BJP in Jharkhand where polls are underway, its principal spokesman and a leading light of the statehood demand, Praveen Prabhakar, on Sunday resigned from the party. He will now contest the Assembly elections from Nala on a National Peoples’ Party (NPP) ticket.

Associated with the BJP for the past five years, Prabhakar had been among the founding members of the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU), which fought the 2014 Assembly election in alliance with the BJP but is contesting separately this time. He was said to be unhappy with the ticket distribution in the state by the party.

Prabhakar told IANS that he had learnt a lot from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief and Home Minister Amit Shah but in Jharkhand, the BJP needed to do some introspection.

He joined the National Peoples’ Party (NPP), headed by Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, at its national convention at the Constitution Club in Ranchi on Sunday, and was named its candidate from Nala, which will go to polls in the last of the five phases on December 20.

Shillong MP and former Union Minister Agatha Sangma, Meghalaya Home Minister James Sangma and NPP’s Jharkand chief Raj Kumar Poddar were also present at the programme.

The NPP was recently recognised as a national political party by the Election Commission, making it one of the eight to enjoy this status.

Speaking on the occasion, Conrad Sangma recalled his father and former Lok Sabha Speaker PA Sangma had set up the party in 2013 and his dream was that it not remained confined to the northeast but spread to other states across India as a national party to help the deprived.

Hailing Prabhakar’s joining his party, Sangma said that he would help the NPP increase its footprint in Jharkhand and other states and thus “all would together help achieve the late Sangma’s dream”.

Prabhakar said that he does not have any personal grievance with the BJP but it needs to do some soul-searching in his state. Extolling the leadership of Modi and Amit Shah, he said that under them, “the nation was progressing on all fronts, but in Jharkhand, the aspirations of the people were being constantly snuffed. I dedicated all I had for the creation of Jharkhand (as a separate state) and will continue to fight all my life for its development. I have full faith that I will get the assistance and guidance of NPP leaders in this endeavour…”.