Nitish Kumar takes oath as Bihar CM for 4th straight term; ‘fulfil promises now’, says Tejashwi Yadav

News Network
November 16, 2020

Patna, Nov 16: Nitish Kumar was sworn in as Bihar chief minister for a fourth straight term on Monday at a ceremony in Patna in presence of Union Home minister Amit Shah and BJP chief Jagat Prakash Nadda even as RJD decided to boycott the event. Replacing Sushil Modi, who had been Kumar’s deputy for 15 years, BJP leaders Tarkishore Prasad and Renu Devi took oath as the Deputy Chief Ministers of Bihar.

Kumar, along with a 14-member council of ministers, was administered the oath of office at Raj Bhavan by Governor Phagu Chauhan, a day after the JD(U) chief staked claim for the formation of a new government in the state.

Among those who took oath, five ministers were from the JD(U) while one each was from Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP). JD(U) ministers included old hands like Bijendra Prasad Yadav, Ashok Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Chaudhary besides new faces Mewa Lal Chaudhary and Sheela Kumari Mandal.

Other than the two Deputy CM designates, those from the BJP included Mangal Pandey, who held the Health portfolio in the previous government, and Amarendra Pratap Singh, Ramprit Paswan, Jibesh Kumar and Ram Surat Rai. HAM MLC Santosh Kumar Suman, son of Jitan Ram Manjhi, also took oath besides Mukesh Sahni, the founder of VIP.

While Tarkishore Prasad belongs to the same Bania community as Sushil Modi, the BJP hopes to send a message to women, who are believed to have voted in larger numbers for the party than the men, with the selection of Renu Devi, who is a Nonia. She earlier served as BJP national vice-president.

After taking oath, Nitish said, “Based on the public’s decision, NDA has once again formed the government in the state. We will work together and serve the people”. On Sushil Modi not returning as his deputy, Kumar told ANI, “It is the decision of the BJP to not field Sushil Modi as the Deputy Chief Minister. They should be asked about this.”

There was no official word from the BJP, though sources said Sushil Modi might be accommodated in the Rajya Sabha in the seat that has fallen vacant with Ram Vilas Paswan’s death, and made a minister at the Centre, or named the Governor of a state.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the NDA family would together for progress of Bihar. “Congratulations to Nitish Kumar on taking oath as Bihar’s CM. I also congratulate all those who took oath as Ministers in Bihar Government. NDA family will work together for progress of Bihar. I assure all possible support from Centre for the welfare of Bihar,” Modi tweeted.

Congratulating Nitish Kumar on being “nominated” as CM, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said, “I hope that instead of his desire for the chair, he will focus on the aspirations of Bihar’s people, and make the NDA’s promises of 19 lakh jobs, providing education opportunities, health and irrigation facilities his priority.”

Earlier in the day, RJD had put out a statement on its twitter handle announcing that they would boycott the ceremony as “the public gave the mandate to change which is against the NDA.” “RJD boycotts the swearing-in ceremony. The mandate for change was against NDA. The mandate has been changed into government order. As the unemployed youth, farmers, contract workers, teachers what they are going through. People are upset with the fraud committed by NDA. We are people’s representatives and we stand with people,” said RJD, the single largest party of Bihar.

Chirag Paswan, whose party LJP left the NDA just ahead of the elections owing to “ideological differences” with JD(U), said he hoped Nitish Kumar remained an “NDA chief minister”, in a dig at the JD(U) chief. “Congratulations to Nitish Kumar on becoming the chief minister again. I hope the government completes its term and you continue to remain an NDA chief minister,” Paswan tweeted. “Once again I congratulate you on becoming chief minister and the BJP on making you one,” he said.

In the House of 243, the NDA got 125 seats, with BJP getting 74, JD (U) 43 and allies VIP and HAM(S) four seats each. The JD(U)’s tally of 43 this time, down from 71, is its worst performance since the 2005 Assembly polls. Kumar had on Friday said that he did not wish to stay as chief minister but it is the wish of the BJP.

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News Network
November 22,2024

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Bengaluru, Nov 22: For the second day running, the Karnataka BJP on Friday staged a statewide protest condemning the government’s alleged move to notify land of farmers as Waqf property.

The BJP staged a protest before the offices of Deputy Commissioners at district headquarters.

The BJP leaders are vehemently demanding that the state government cancel a 1974 Gazette notification in this regard.

The agitators are also demanding scrapping of the Waqf Board and the resignation of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Minister for Waqf and Housing Zameer Ahmad Khan.

The BJP MLAs, MLCs, MPs gathered in the premises of Freedom Park and staged a protest under the leadership of Leader of Opposition R. Ashoka and slammed the state government.

MLA T.S. Srivatsa led the protest in Mysuru and hundreds of party workers and farmers staged the protest under the leadership of former MP Pratap Simha in Kodagu.

Former MP Sumalatha Ambareesh led the agitation in Mandya.

This was the first time that Sumalatha took part in the party’s programme after the Lok Sabha elections.

State President B.Y. Vijayendra claimed, “The Congress government in Karnataka is issuing notices to farmers claiming the ownership of their lands to the Waqf Board and pushing them on the streets overnight.”

In the first week of December, three teams formed by the BJP will travel across the state and record the grievances of farmers.

“The state government is attempting to snatch away the lands belonging to temples as well,” Vijayendra alleged and added that the teams would comprise all senior leaders of the BJP.

Meanwhile, the police have taken Sri Ram Sena chief Pramod Muthalik into custody while staging a protest march to the office of Zameer Ahmad Khan in Bengaluru.

Muthalik along with Hindutva activists was planning to lay siege to Zameer’s office over the Waqf row.

The police stopped Muthalik and requested him to submit the memorandum by reaching the minister’s office in a vehicle. However, Muthalik refused to go with the police and continued his footmarch. The police took him into custody following arguments.

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News Network
November 18,2024

Advisors to US President-elect Donald Trump have instructed his allies and associates to refrain from using the inflammatory language they previously employed when discussing issues related to migrants and the deportation of asylum seekers, in a bid to avoid “looking like Nazis.”

US media reports said that Trump’s associates had been asked to stop using the word “camps” to describe potential facilities that would be used to accommodate migrants rounded up in deportation operations across the country.

The reports said the US president-elect’s allies had been ordered to stave off such charged terms as they would bring to mind “Nazis,” and be used against Trump.

“I have received some guidance to avoid terms, like ‘camps,’ that can be twisted and used against the president, yes,” one Trump ally told American monthly magazine Rolling Stone.

“Apparently, some people think it makes us look like Nazis.”

The presidential advisers also cautioned surrogates and allies to keep racist terms, which have dogged Trump’s campaign, out of their remarks.

They said with Trump’s heated rhetoric that used to compare undocumented immigrants to “animals” and his slight that they are “poisoning the blood of our country,” detractors did not need to reach too far to find parallels to Nazi Germany.

Stephen Miller, who Trump tapped to be his deputy chief of staff of policy, specifically used the word “camps” to describe holding facilities that he hoped the military could put together for immigrants.

Tom Homan, who served as the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and is chosen by Trump to be in charge of the US borders, was no stranger to such language.

“It’s not gonna be a mass sweep of neighborhoods,” he said in an interview earlier this week. “It’s not gonna be building concentration camps. I’ve read it all. It’s ridiculous.”

Becoming a little more forthright about the new government’s aggressive deportation plans, Homan likened the early days of the Trump administration to the initial invasion of Iraq in 2003.

“I got three words for them – shock and awe,” he said. “You’re going to see us take this country back.”

Trump made immigration a central element of his 2024 presidential campaign but unlike his first run, which was mainly focused on building a border wall, he has shifted his attention to interior enforcement and the removal of undocumented immigrants already in the United States.

People close to the US president and his aides are laying the groundwork for expanding detention facilities to fulfill his mass deportation campaign promise.

The businessman-turned-politician deported more than 1.5 million people during his first term.

The figure do not include the millions of people turned away at the border under a Covid-era policy enacted by Trump and used during most of Biden’s term.

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News Network
November 12,2024

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The Taliban regime has appointed Ikramuddin Kamil as the acting consul in the Afghan mission in Mumbai, Afghan media has reported.

It is the first such appointment made by the Taliban set up to any Afghan mission in India.

There was no immediate comment from the Indian side on the appointment that came.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan has announced the appointment of Kamil as the acting consul in Mumbai, the Taliban-controlled Bakhtar News Agency reported on Monday, citing unnamed sources.

"He is currently in Mumbai, where he is fulfilling his duties as a diplomat representing the Islamic Emirate," it said.

The appointment is part of Kabul's efforts to strengthen diplomatic ties with India and enhance its presence abroad, the media outlet said

Kamil holds a PhD degree in international law and previously served as the deputy director in the department of security cooperation and border affairs in the foreign ministry, it said.

He is expected to facilitate consular services and represent the interests of Afghanistan in India, the report added.

Kamil's appointment comes days after the external affairs ministry's point-person for Afghanistan held talks with the Taliban's acting defence minister, Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, in Kabul.

Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, the Taliban's deputy foreign minister for political affairs, also posted on X about Kamil's appointment.

The appointment of Kamil is seen as part of efforts to facilitate consular services to the Afghan population in Mumbai.

There has been almost negligible presence of diplomatic staff at the Afghan missions in India.

Most of the diplomats appointed by the Ashraf Ghani government have already left India.

In May, Zakia Wardak, the seniormost Afghan diplomat in India, resigned from her position after reports emerged that she was caught at the Mumbai airport for allegedly trying to smuggle 25 kg of gold worth Rs 18.6 crore from Dubai.

Wardak had taken charge as the acting ambassador of Afghanistan to New Delhi late last year, after working as the Afghan consul general in Mumbai for more than two years.

She took charge of the Afghan embassy in New Delhi last November, after the mission helmed by then ambassador Farid Mamundzay announced its closure.

Mamundzay, who was an appointee of the Ghani government, had moved to the United Kingdom.

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