Source – business-standard.com
‘Third force’ in Bihar?
The Janata Dal (United) on Wed-nesday sacked party vice-president and election strategist Prashant Kishor (pictured) and former diplomat Pavan Varma from the primary membership of the party. It said the two had been making anti-party statements.
According to sources, Kishor is preparing in earnest for the Bihar Assembly polls, scheduled for September-October. Several senior leaders of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) are upset with Tejashwi Yadav. Allies, including Rashtriya Loktantrik Samata Party’s Upendra Kushwaha and others, could also be amenable to join a “third force” in Bihar politics that Kishor hopes to shape.
It could comprise RJD rebels, these smaller parties and the Left parties. Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Kanhaiya Kumar is set to start his whirlwind tour of Bihar in the coming days. With RJD chief Lalu Prasad unwell and in jail, the question now is whether the Congress will sever its alliance with Tejashwi-led RJD and lead such an alliance against Nitish Kumar-led JD (U) and Bharatiya Janata Party alliance.
Better interpretation
The Rajya Sabha currently has an interesting mix of interpreters within its ranks. It has expanded its pool of interpreters after Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu instructed officials to ensure that the House’s “simultaneous interpretation service” in all the 22 scheduled languages of the country operates smoothly.
A total of 32 consultant-interpreters have been hired for seven languages including Dogri, Konkani and Sindhi. Instead of recruiting full-time interpreters, the Rajya Sabha Secretariat has experimented with hiring consultants to be engaged on a need to basis. Rajya Sabha Secretary General Desh Dipak Verma said this was a cost-effective way of meeting the simultaneous interpretation need.
Congress’ Shatru!
The bonhomie between maverick Congress leader Shatrughan Sinha and Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav continues to cause much consternation among Congressmen in Uttar Pradesh. Recently, Shatrughan Sinha and former Union minister Yashwant Sinha had shared the dais with Yadav at the SP headquarters in Lucknow.
The actor-turned-politician had quit Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and joined Congress in the run up to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. He contested from the Patna Sahib seat but lost, while his wife Poonam Sinha tasted defeat as the SP nominee from the Lucknow parliamentary seat.
Congress’ Lucknow Lok Sabha candidate Acharya Pramod Krishnam took to Twitter to hit out at Sinha over his alleged disloyalty towards the Congress. Other state Congress leaders also expressed dismay over the “conduct” of Sinha and demanded that such people should be shown the door.