Bihar election 2020

Former BJP ally Shiv Sena warns Nitish of risks of being lameduck CM

With the situation tenuous, the BJP’s former ally the Shiv Sena found reason to rejoice even amid the gloom in the Mahagathbandhan camp. The Congress is the ally of both the Shiv Sena and the RJD.

Published

6 years ago

November 12, 2020

With the dust taking time to settle in the Bihar elections 2020 after the NDA victory, BJP leaders assured that Nitish Kumar remains their choice for chief minister of Bihar. Strangely, Nitish has himself expressed his unwillingness to continue, citing the steep slide in Janata Dal United’s seat tally.

This becomes all the more intriguing since Nitish has returned to the position he was in 2015, he will be the junior ally but will get to be chief minister. On Wednesday, in his only tweet after the counting, he thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his continuing support and repeated practised platitudes like the people are paramount and thanked the people of Bihar for giving the NDA the majority.

With the situation tenuous, the BJP’s former ally the Shiv Sena found reason to rejoice even amid the gloom in the Mahagathbandhan camp. The Congress is the ally of both the Shiv Sena and the RJD. Therefore, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray praised the fighting spirit of Tejashwi Yadav and said he was the real winner of these polls even if the NDA breasted the tape.

Attacking Nitish Kumar, Thackeray said if Nitish Kumar continues to hold the Chief Minister’s post despite JDU’s lower score, the credit should be given to Shiv Sena.

Mocking Nitish Kumar, the Shiv Sena chief said the BJP had made a similar promise to them but did not keep it, leading to a political spectacle in the state. Last November, the BJP and the Shiv Sena had contested elections to the Maharashtra Assembly but after the results, the two split over the chief minister’s post. The Shiv Sena, the second largest party in Maharashtra Assembly, then formed the government with the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress, while the BJP is the single largest party in the House.

A similar scene has played out in Bihar; which is why the Shiv Sena has come hard at Nitish Kumar for returning as CM even though his party came third seats-wise. The BJP came second to Tejashwi Yadav’s RJD, yet Kumar has been handed a fourth consecutive term as CM, as a part of the poll promise of the ruling NDA.

The JDU’s tally of 43 this time, down from 71, is its worst performance since the 2005 Assembly polls. On Tuesday evening, senior Bihar BJP in-charge Bhupender Yadav, Bihar BJP president Dr Sanjay Jaiswal, Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi and Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai met Nitish Kumar. Meanwhile, BJP sources have told the media that the party would take a relook at portfolios in the Cabinet. The swearing-in of the new government is likely after Diwali.

The Shiv Sena forecast that Bihar would witness a political Mahabharata over the selection of CM in the upcoming days. The NDA might rule in Bihar but saying the Modi Magic worked in Bihar would be an injustice to Tejashwi Yadav. Initially, the Bihar election was seen as one-sided but it turned out to be tenser than a tight IPL match due to Tejashwi’s hard work. Any hope of Tejashwi forming a government was shot in the seat due to the poor performance of Congress, which won 19 out of 70 seats it contested.

In the dust of Bihar, the find of the year will find space on opposition benches.

Related Topics:BJP CM JDU lameduck Nitish Kumar Shiv Sena Udhav Thackeray

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Bihar election 2020

Congress Bihar leader Akhilesh Prasad says he will speak to Rahul Gandhi on poll mistakes

Major changes are needed at the organisation level for winning any state election, Singh said. He said he had sought an appointment with Rahul Gandhi to discuss the way ahead.

Published

6 years ago

November 19, 2020

Congress Bihar campaign in-charge Akhilesh Prasad Singh on Thursday broke his silence on the party’s disappointing performance in the Assembly elections. Taking responsibility for the defeat in Bihar, he said the biggest mistake was to contest from the wrong seats. He said he will tell former president Rahul Gnadhi that there is a need to tackle weaknesses in the organisation and make it sharper.

Major changes are needed at the organisation level for winning any state election, Singh said. He said he had sought an appointment with Rahul Gandhi to discuss the way ahead. He told NDTV that the Congress took a hasty decision eventually on the seats. There were weaknesses in the party, especially at the state, district and block levels, he said.

This is the latest statement of a senior leader in the midst of a meltdown within the Congress after being blamed for the Mahagathbandhan’s so-near-yet-so-far loss in Bihar. On the statement of Kapil Sibal, Akhilesh Prasad Singh said he respected Sibal but this kind of analysis was not good after the defeat.

The ruckus within the party had started after Kapil Sibal called for experienced minds, experienced hands and those who understand political realities for reviving the party from visible decline. He had also demanded some major organisational changes in party. P Chidambaram, another senior Congress leader, had said the results in Bihar and bypolls elsewhere showed the Congress had no organisational presence left on the ground. He had also pointed out that the Congress had contested much more seats than its organisational strength could do justice to.

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After Bihar assembly election and Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and UP bypolls, the pundits along with some Rashtriya Janata Dal-led Mahagathbandhan had blamed the Congress for not pulling its weight in the alliance.

Bihar election 2020

In Nitish Kumar cabinet, new Deputy CM Tarkishore Prasad gets Finance and IT, other Deputy Renu Devi gets Panchayati Raj

New Deputy Chief Minister Tarkishore Prasad has got finance, environment, urban development and information technology while the second Deputy CM Renu Devi got Panchayati Raj, Backward Caste Upliftment and Industry portfolios.

Published

6 years ago

November 17, 2020

At the age of 69, Nitish Kumar has become the longest-serving Chief Minister of Bihar after winning the election to the 243-member Bihar Assembly. Kumar has kept home, general administration, vigilance and three more departments for himself. New Deputy Chief Minister Tarkishore Prasad has got finance, environment, urban development and information technology while the second Deputy CM Renu Devi got Panchayati Raj, Backward Caste Upliftment and Industry portfolios.

Mukesh Sahni, the only leader of the Vikassheel Insaan Party, has been given the Animal Husbandry and Fishery portfolio and BJP senior leader Mangal Pandey has retained the Health ministry. Pandey has also been the Bihar BJP president from 2013 to 2017. Bijendra Yadav has got Planning, Food, and Consumer Affairs in the new Nitish Kumar cabinet.

Former Assembly Speaker and JDU leader Vijay Kumar Chaudhary got the charge of rural engineering, rural development, water resources, parliamentary affairs, and information and public relations. Mewalal Choudhary will be the new education minister while Sheela Kumari has been allocated the transport ministry.

Jibesh Kumar, who defeated Maskoor Ahmad Usmani by a massive margin from Jale constituency, has been given charge of tourism, mines and labour. Santosh Kumar Suman, the son of former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, has been given the minor irrigation and Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe welfare portfolios, Surat Rai will be the new revenue and law minister of the state.

BJP’s Amrendra Pratap Singh will handle agriculture, cooperatives, and sugarcane departments, and Rampreet Paswan will be the new public health engineering minister.

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Nitish Kumar on Monday took oath as Bihar Chief Minister for the fourth consecutive term after edging out the Mahagathbandan in the election to the 243-member Bihar Assembly. The National Democratic Alliance of the BJP, Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal-United, Jitan Ram Manjhi’s Hindustani Awam Morcha Secular and Mukesh Sahni’s Vikashsheel Insaan Party secured 125 seats. With 74 winning seats, the BJP got an upper hand in the state for teh first time ever while the JDU tally shrunk to 43 from 71 seats earlier, marking its worst performance since the 2005 Assembly polls. NDA allies VIP and HAM(S) secured four seats each. The RJD emerged as the single-largest party with 75 seats while the Congress won just 19 of the 70 seats it contested on and 16 seats were won by the Left parties who contested 29 seats.

Bihar election 2020

Nitish Kumar back in Bihar saddle with 2 new deputy CMs

Published

6 years ago

November 16, 2020

Nitish Kumar took oath as the Chief Minister of Bihar for the fourth straight term on Monday in the presence of BJP senior leaders including Home Minister Amit Shah, party chief JP Nadda and former chief minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis. The leaders of the Rashtriya Janata Dal-led Mahagathbandhan boycotted the ceremony, claiming the mandate in the elections was against the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and that it had been changed by fraud.

BJP’s Tarkishore Prasad and Renu Devi took oath as Kumar’s new deputies, instead of old, trusted Sushil Modi. Hours after Nitish Kumar’s oath, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated him and said the NDA family will work together in Bihar.

On the midnight of November 10, the NDA achieved the majority by winning 125 seats in Bihar’s 243-member House, three above the halfway mark. By winning 74 seats in the 2020 Bihar Assembly election, the BJP gained the upper hand in the alliance from the JDU, which won just 43 seats and became the junior ally. The RJD emerged as the single largest party of Bihar with 76 seats. Observers credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s personal popularity for the NDA’s victory.

Political pundits and the people of Bihar expected Sushil Modi as his deputy but the speculation is that the BJP is promoting Sushil Modi to a role at the central level. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, after the oath-taking ceremony, told the media that the BJP needs to be asked why Sushil Modi was not chosen as the deputy CM of Bihar again.

Sushil Modi said the NDA has once again formed the government in the state based on the people’s decision. It is the decision of the BJP to not field Sushil Modi as the Deputy Chief Minister. He said the party needs to be asked why he wasn’t allowed to contest elections.