When the minister means businessThe newly reconstituted monitoring group, chaired by Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Chauhan and including Jitendra Singh, aspires to be active. Chauhan, who is now in charge of the Jharkhand polls, was late for the opening meeting due to a flight delay from Ranchi. However, he made it plain that he intends to hold two sessions per month and will keep them focused. Unlike the first meeting last week, which was attended by approximately 80 Union Secretaries, the following meetings will only include officials from departments pertinent to the topic under discussion.Not letting go of the opportunityThe first MidCareer Training Program for civil servants of BIMSTEC countries , conducted this month by India’s National Center for Good Governance, has attracted 45 mid and seniorlevel civil servant officials from the participating countries. However, officials from Bangladesh are conspicuously absent due to ongoing violence in the country. Nepal is claimed to have jumped at the opportunity to fill the additional spots that had become available. Making a switch in timeEknath Shinde made a slip of the tongue when addressing aPC on the government’s achievements, saying that the Maha Vikas Aghadi government had accomplished a lot. Fadnavis, who was sitting close, corrected him and pointed out that it was the Mahayuti government. Instead of apologizing, Shinde conveniently stated he used the MVA to compare its poor performance to that of the Mahayuti government.
Category: Politics
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Ahead of Assam bypolls, opposition forum names new president after exit of Congress chief
Guwahati: Two days after the resignation of state Congress chief Bhupen Kumar Borah as the president of the united opposition forum in Assam over differences in seat sharing for bypolls, the alliance on Thursday named its new head. The Asom Sonmilito Morcha (ASOM) also resolved to move forward even without the Congress, which had been at the forefront in forming the conglomerate of antiBJP forces ahead of the last Lok Sabha elections.
ASOM general secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi, addressing a press conference after an emergent meeting of the alliance here, said, “It has been decided that Rajya Sabha MP and Anchalik Gana Morcha chief Ajit Kumar Bhuyan will be the president of ASOM.”
Jones Ingti Kathar and Suprakash Talukdar have been named as working presidents, he added. “Even without the Congress, ASOM will remain a force and will continue its fight against the BJP and its allied forces. There are many differences among the partners of the alliance, but our united objective is to defeat the communal forces and we remain together on it,” Gogoi asserted.
He claimed that the Congress had betrayed the alliance by declaring its candidate for the Behali constituency, which it had initially decided to leave for the ASOM ally CPI(ML) Liberation.
“They not only decided to contest from Behali, but also named the candidate without so much as informing the other partners. We have decided that on behalf of ASOM, the CPI(ML)L will contest from the seat,” Gogoi said. Asked about ASOM’s stand on the other four seats where bypolls are slated, he said it will be decided after further consultation among its member parties. Another ASOM leader said the resignation of the state Congress chief from the alliance has led to imply the exit of the state’s largest opposition party from the forum.
“It is by interpretation. When the party president has resigned, it implies the party has also exited the alliance,” the leader added.
Bypolls are scheduled for five assembly constituencies of the state, with the ASOM alliance earlier announcing that the Congress will fight in four seats and ally CPI(ML) Liberation will contest the fifth one.
The AICC, however, announced former senior BJP leader Jayanta Bora as its candidate for Behali late on Wednesday.
Bora, who had recently resigned from the saffron party after being denied ticket, joined the Congress.
He switched over to the Congress several hours after being named its official candidate for Behali.
The state Congress chief had on Tuesday night resigned as the president of ASOM expressing “tremendous pressure” after the Congress high command “refused to accept the united opposition partner CPIL(ML) Liberation’s nominee.
Bypoll will take place on November 13 in Dholai (SC), Sidli (ST), Bongaigaon, Behali and Samaguri assembly constituencies as these seats fell vacant with the representatives of these constituencies winning the recent Lok Sabha elections.
The BJPAGPUPPL combine had held four of the constituencies that are going for the bypolls, while one was held by the Congress.
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3 BJP MPs demand FIR against Trinamool MP for JPC violence
New Delhi: Three BJP MPs have written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla demanding filing of an FIR against Trinamool MP Kalyan Banerjee and his immediate suspension from the House, a day after Banerjee was suspended for a day from the parliamentary panel on Waqf (Amendment). Bill.
Describing his conduct in the meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Waqf (Amendment) Bill on Tuesday as “unprecedented violence”, the BJP members, in the letter, have sought an investigation into the matter by the Lok Sabha Ethics Committee to consider resigning Banerjee’s membership from the Lower House. The letter was signed by Nishikant Dubey, Aparajita Sarangi and Abhijit Gadopadhyay.
Amid a heated exchange of words with Gangopadhyay during the meeting on Tuesday, Banerjee smashed a glass bottle and allegedly threw it towards the panel chairperson Jagdambika Pal. In their letter to the Speaker, the BJP members said they along with other members of the panel witnessed the “act of goondaism and unpardonable violence” by Banerjee during the sitting of the parliamentary committee.
Meanwhile on Wednesday, A Raja, DMK MP and a member of the JPC on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, accused Pal of violating norms by speaking to the media about the incident of an Opposition member smashing a glass bottle and allegedly throwing it towards him. .
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View Program Rejecting Raja’s allegations, Pal asserted he was ready to resign if Opposition members say he did not allow them to speak during the meeting. Pal said he has not revealed any proceedings or deliberations of the committee and only made a statement about an incident of violence during the committee meeting.
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Congress fields 15 of its 17 sitting MLAs in Jharkhand
NEW DELHI: The Congress has fielded 15 of its total 17 sitting MLAs in the first list of 20 party candidates for the Jharkhand assembly election. The two sitting MLAs whose seats have been put on hold for further discussions are Alamgir Alam and Umashanker Akela, who are embroiled in some cases.
The Congress central election committee’s decision on Monday late night to repose faith in most of the sitting MLAs also conveyed the message the party sought to avoid any risk of potential prepoll desertions by these legislators in a state known for political pole vaulters. Besides, it meant that the party, which is part of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)led ruling coalition in the state, was ready to face double incumbency of the coalition government and the sitting MLAs.
Recently, more than halfdozen sitting Congress MLAs were defeated in the Haryana polls, where the party had fielded all its 28 sitting MLAs.The first list of 20 candidates in Jharkhand included seven from seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes and the rest from the general category. The list also had five women, including former MLA Mamata Devi, who had been disqualified from the assembly a few years ago after her conviction in a criminal case but she recently got court relief to contest.
Among the sitting MLAs contesting the upcoming election are state ministers Rameshwar Oraon (LohardagaST), Banna Gupta (Jamshedpur West) and Badal Patralekh (Jamundi), All India Congress Committee functionary Ajoy Kumar and former BJP leader Jaya Prakash Patel.
As per the alliance arrangement, the Congress is contesting a total of 29 assembly seats in Jharkhand while ally JMM is contesting 41 constituencies, leaving the remaining 11 to be shared among smaller allies RJD, CPIML and perhaps CPI.
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Jharkhand assembly polls: ExBJP MLAs Louis Marandi, Kunal Sarangi join JMM ahead of Jharkhand assembly polls
Two more former BJP legislators Louis Marandi and Kunal Sarangi on Monday joined the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), weeks ahead of the assembly polls in the state. The development also comes barely two days after threeterm BJP legislator Kedar Hazra and AJSU Party’s Umakant Rajak joined the JMM.
“We joined the JMM today,” Sarangi, the BJP’s former spokesperson and exBahragora MLA, told PTI.
Marandi, a former BJP legislator, had in 2014 defeated Chief Minister Hemant Soren by a margin of 5,262 votes from Dumka. In 2019, Soren won from the seat by a margin of 13,188 votes. He, however, vacated the seat and retained the Barhait constituency.
His brother Basant Soren had defeated Marandi by over 6,842 votes in party stronghold Dumka in the bypoll.
Sarangi had in July resigned from the party’s primary membership, around a monthandahalf after stepping down from the post of Jharkhand unit spokesperson. He sent his resignation to BJP Jharkhand unit president Babulal Marandi, citing various organizational and peopleoriented issues in East Singhbhum district.
Sarangi had also expressed disappointment with the party leadership’s “indifferent approach” despite his efforts to highlight crucial issues.
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RJD puts a speed breaker in INDIA bloc talks
While the BJP has sorted out its alliance riddle in Jharkhand and even announced its first list of candidates, the INDIA bloc is struggling to reach an agreement on seat sharing. On Sunday, RJD leader Manoj Jha held a press conference in Ranchi and said that his party will not agree to the offer of seats by the JMM and Congress. RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav was in Ranchi on Saturday and he met CM Hemant Soren regarding the seat sharing. Later in the day, Soren also met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and announced that the JMM and Congress would contest on 70 seats while 11 seats would be kept for RJD and Left parties. “We had a very positive meeting with Hemant Soren. But later the seat formula was announced without discussing it with us,” Jha told ET. “We again spoke to Soren in the evening, but that conversation was not positive, and we felt hurt. The number of seats being offered to us is neither acceptable to our workers nor to the voters.” Jha added that RJD will help the alliance on 60 to 62 seats.
Sources tell ET that during the conversation, Soren offered seven seats to the RJD, the number it contested in 2019 in alliance. RJD won one seat in 2019. Jha added that there are around 22 seats where the party has a strong presence and it had agreed on seven seats in 2019 only to defeat the BJP. “We are known for strongly fighting against the BJP. RJD is the natural option for people of Bihar residing in Jharkhand,” Jha added.
As per sources, another round of talks is likely to be held between the alliance partners to ease out the differences.
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24/7 work, top netas, ground intelligence: How BJP’s ground game helped it win close fights in the state elections
Before the recent Haryana election, BJP MPs from Uttar Pradesh were deployed throughout the state. One MP rode a motorbike across Karnal, drinking tea at roadside shops and listening to the local buzz. The MP noticed that chief minister Nayab Saini was more popular than his predecessor, Manohar Lal. Accordingly, the election staff was informed and CM Saini was encouraged to talk for only five minutes at public meetings and spend the rest of the time meeting people. The security staff was instructed not to push anyone near the CM, and Saini would willingly take selfies.
This is just one example of how the BJP works during assembly election. Over the past decade, BJP has retained power in 10 states including Goa, Madhya Pradesh, UP and Manipur, where the general perception was against the party.
By contrast, during the 10 years of UPA rule, from 200414, the Congress retained power in 6 states, the last being Assam in 2011.Here’s a closer look at what makes the BJP such an effective election machine:Roundthe year Worker ConnectBJP keeps its enormous network of groundlevel workers electionready by hosting events throughout the year.”We have a wide network of ideologically motivated party workers. We engage with them yearround, not only during elections,” BJP national general secretary Arun Singh to ET.Early Start, Special TeamThe party works 24/7, therefore election preparation has no set start time. Seven to eight months before an election is typical. Early input helps the party address public dissatisfaction. The Madhya Pradesh state government implemented the Ladli Behna Scheme, which the Congress had promised before the election, after this early ground intelligence, party leaders stated. A similar declaration was made in Congressruled Chhattisgarh. Before the Karnataka elections, the BJP government increased Scheduled Caste reservation to 17% from 15% and Scheduled Tribe reservation to 7% from 3%.The BJP has nurtured several election specialists over the years. They include Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan, Bhupender Yadav, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Mansukh Mandaviya, and G Kishan Reddy, as well as newcomers Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Himanta Biswa Sarma. Early deployment of these leaders allows them to assess the ground situation and develop party strategy for the state. In October 2022, the BJP named Karnataka incharges for May 2023 election. In July 2023, the party named incharges for Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Telangana, and elections were held in November. For the recent Haryana election, incharges were appointed June 17.Change the FaceOver the last 5 years, BJP has replaced chief ministers in five states before electionsGujarat, Uttarakhand, Tripura, Karnataka, and Haryanaand all but Karnataka have worked for the party. BJP leaders told ET that choosing a new face is complicated. In August 2016, Gujarat’s casteneutral CM Vijay Rupani replaced Anandiben Patel, whose fellow castemen were campaigning for reservation. When the Patels supported the BJP in 2021, the party replaced Rupani with Bhupendra Patel as CM. In 2023, the party promoted Nayab Singh Saini as state unit president in Haryana to consolidate OBC votes. Saini replaced Manohar Lal as CM in January.From Feedback to ExecutionThe BJP’s election organization relies on ground intelligence and planning. The BJP and BJD discussed an alliance during the Odisha assembly election. However, party contact centers across Odisha began recording party workers’ and citizens’ opposition to the agreement. Union home minister Amit Shah, state incharge Sunil Bansal, and others attended an urgent meeting in Delhi. The call center personnel had 24 hours to gather multilevel comments and submit a report. The report prompted the BJP to drop its BJD alliance plan.Field SeniorsThe party fielded seven MPs in the Madhya Pradesh assembly election last year, including three Union ministers and one national general secretary. The experiment worked in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh for the party.
“Senior leaders contesting the election sends a message to workers and citizens that the party is serious. It also shows the party’s united leadership,” Singh told ET.
Rebel ManagementThe BJP manages its rebels much better than other parties. In the recently held Haryana assembly election, there were around 33 rebels from the BJP and 36 from Congress. While both parties tried to manage their rebels, the BJP’s management was better. To persuade senior party leader Ram Vilas Sharma, CM Saini personally visited him. Similarly, party election coincharge Biplav Dev met and persuaded several rebels to withdraw their nominations.
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Third Eye: Lady Justice and the debate, monitoring progress on PM projects & a lefthanded compliment
Lady Justice and the DebateThe new statue of ‘Lady Justice’ without the traditional blindfold and holding a copy of the Constitution unveiled by the Supreme Court this week generated much debate online and offline. However, a precedent had already been sent in the Uttarakhand Uniform Civil Code report, featuring a similar version of Lady Justice, without a blindfold and holding law books instead of scales.Monitoring Progress on PM ProjectsCentre’s Monitoring Group has been recast for NDA 3.0, this time under the chairmanship of agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The last such group, set up in 20192020, was headed by Mansukh Mandaviya and Jitendra Singh. The newlyset up group held its first meeting on Friday and on the agenda was progress on all announcements made by the PM, including budget announcements, projects for which foundation stone was laid by the PM besides expectations of all ministries/ departments.A Left handed ComplimentCountry’s second topmost legal eagle Tushar Mehta does not hold back from conveying his sentiments in a lighter vein. His wit was on display on Thursday when senior advocate Indira Jaising, who often appears in cases against the Centre, assured Mehta that she was in agreement with him pertaining to a case. Taken by surprise, Mehta, on a lighter note, said that he has come to the realization that supporting and opposing Jaising is one and the same. To this, Jaising smilingly retorted: “This is a huge compliment for me, Mr Mehta.”
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Omar Abdullah sworn in as CM of J&K UT, Jammu region MLA is Deputy CM
Srinagar: National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah was sworn in as chief minister of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday.
Lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha administered the oath of office to Abdullah and five ministers at SheriKashmir International Convention Center on the banks of Dal Lake, where several legislators were imprisoned after August 5, 2019, when Article 370 and 35 (A) was abrogated and the erstwhile state was downgraded into the two UTs of J&K and Ladakh.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, defense minister Rajnath Singh, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and others extended their wishes to Abdullah on his second term as CM of J&K. NC’s Surinder Kumar Choudhary, who won the assembly elections from Nowshera constituency of Jammu division defeating BJP’s J&K chief Ravinder Raina, has been appointed deputy chief minister of the UT. Choudhary had lost assembly elections from here in 2014 when he was associated with People’s Democratic Party, which he left in 2021 and joined BJP in 2022. A year later, he quit BJP and joined NC in July 2023.
Two other legislators from Jammu, Javed Ahmad Rana, who won from Mendhar in Pir Panchal region, and Satish Sharma, an independent candidate, who won from Chamb and extended support to NC, were also sworn in as Cabinet ministers.
In Kashmir Valley, NC’s Sakeena Masood Ittoo, who won from DH Pora constituency in Kulgam district, and NC’s Javed Dar, who won from Rafiabad, were sworn in as ministers.The ministry is likely to be expanded in the coming weeks. However, giving the deputy CM post to Jammu along with two ministers is a move by Abdullah to address the concerns expressed and conspiracies brewing over the divided electoral mandate in the 90member assembly of the UT. “This is a big moment for the people of Jammu division, especially for Pir Panjal region, from where the DyCM was appointed for the first time in the last seven decades. This government has to fill the gap of the last 10 years, which is difficult but we will leave no stone unturned,” Choudhary told reporters here.
JKPCC chief Tariq Hameed Karra said Congress will not join the council of ministers for the moment because it is “unhappy” that statehood has not been restored. “The question of ministerial posts is irrelevant at this point. Our priority remains the restoration of statehood,” said Congress’ Ghulam Ahmad Mir, the party’s leader in the assembly.