Once again JDU-BJP govt in Bihar? Nitish Kumar as CM, 2 Deputy CMs from BJP? Ball now in Modi-Shah’s court

News Network
January 26, 2024

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Even as BJP has intensified its effort to dismantle opposition block I.N.D.A. and break Bihar’s Mahagathbandhan by allying again with the Janata Dal (United) once again, Nitish Kumar is most likely to retain the Chief Minister’s post in the potential National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in the state with two Deputy CMs from the BJP as per the post-2020 Assembly polls formula.

The BJP is likely to give representation to a leader from an Extremely Backward Class (EBC), most likely appointing former Deputy CM Renu Devi who is from the Nonia community. 

In 2020, Renu Devi became Bihar’s first woman Deputy CM and served in the post till August 2022, when Nitish switched over to the Mahagathbandhan to bring an end to the NDA government. 

According to party insiders, there is no unanimity yet over the choice of the second Deputy CM. Among the leaders being considered are former Deputy CM and Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Kumar Modi, current Leader of Opposition Vijay Kumar Sinha, and current MoS for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai.

According to sources, Nitish Kumar is most likely to tender his resignation and stake a fresh claim to form the government on Sunday, according to sources, with the BJP and the JD(U) likely to hold party meetings and later convene a meeting of the alliance to choose Nitish as its leader. Sushil Kumar Modi and Sinha have said they will go with whatever decision the BJP’s central leadership takes in the interest of the party.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) along with the Congress and the three Left parties have 114 MLAs, just eight short of a simple majority in the House of 243 members. The JD(U) with 45 MLAs and the BJP with 78 legislators and the support of one Independent legislator has 124 MLAs, more than the simple majority. 

Sources said the RJD might reach out to some JD(U) MLAs to stop Nitish from forming the government with the BJP. RJD national spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Kumar Jha, however, strongly dismissed it saying, “We do not engage in such things. But we also want Nitish Kumar to clarify things.”

Meanwhile, Nitish attended the customary high tea function organised by Bihar Governor R V Arlekar at the Raj Bhavan. Deputy CM Tejashwi Prasad Yadav did not attend the function. In a message to the Opposition INDIA alliance, JD(U) state president Umesh Kushwaha told reporters, “Though we are still with the INDIA bloc, it should introspect why things are going wrong.”

Ball in Modi-Shah’s court

However, the Bihar state unit of the BJP has reportedly voiced reservations about the possibility of Nitish Kumar’s return to the NDA. Senior state leaders, including state BJP chief Samrat Choudhary and former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, flew to Delhi Thursday evening to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

“It is obvious that the JD(U) has initiated talks with the BJP’s top brass on rejoining the NDA, a move most state leaders countered at the meeting,” a BJP leader said. 

The state unit, according to the leader, told Shah that there were several factors working in BJP’s favour at the moment: the appeal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the euphoria over the Ram mandir, and central government schemes.

“Amit Shah gave them a patient hearing but did not say anything. Of course, all state BJP leaders will fall in line if the central leadership takes the call,” the leader added.

There is, however, a minority view within the state BJP leadership, which favours Kumar’s entry. They believe that the BJP can now win 28 to 30 Lok Sabha seats in the state with a total of 40 seats. But the influence of Kumar may bump up that number to 35 because of the complete consolidation of the economically backward classes (EBCs), another BJP leader present at the meeting said. “It will also deliver a death blow to the INDIA bloc as the man, who initiated its formation, will walk out and into the BJP,” he added.

Nitish Kumar, it is learnt, has been in favour of simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Bihar. But his idea, according to a source, was rejected by coalition partner Lalu Prasad Yadav. BJP sources indicated the party was not in favour of dissolving the assembly, and if Kumar was inducted, he would remain CM sans the home and personnel departments till 2024. The nitty-gritty of the were still being worked out, they maintained.

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News Network
April 28,2024

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Campuses of several US Universities have been witnessing massive protests with the students seeking a ceasefire in Israel's war with Hamas. Police have arrested over 550 protesters and some universities are witnessing violent crackdown of protests by the ruthless cops. 

Law enforcement officials at the behest of college administrators have deployed tasers and tear gas against students protesters at Atlanta's Emory University, even though the protests have been largely peaceful, say activists and media personnel present at the spot.

Emil' Keme, professor of English and Indigenous studies, at the University said that the scene reminded him of the civil war in Guatemala as a teenager.

"Police immediately began to force people to move. I felt like I was in a war zone, with all the police and their weapons, the rubber bullets. We were pushed away," Mr Keme told the Guardian describing what happened as soon as cops entered the Emory campus.

“Police took the student next to me, pushed an older lady nearby and then pushed me.”

Student protesters say they are expressing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, where the confirmed death toll has topped 34,305, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. They want universities to cut their investments in everything tied to Israel and weapons that fuel the war in Gaza. That means funds run by BlackRock, Google as well as Amazon's cloud service, Lockheed Martin and even Airbnb.

Video circulated widely on social media shows two women who identified themselves as professors being detained, with one of them slammed to the ground by one officer as a second officer then pushes her chest and face onto a concrete sidewalk.

Atlanta police and Georgia troopers are leading a joint operation within the campus to dismantle the tents and camps the activists have set up at the school's quadrangle. Within minutes of the authorities entering the campus, 28 people, 20 of whom were "Emory community members", had been arrested, the institute said in a statement.

The school president said that the videos of police clashing with the students "are shocking" and that he is "horrified horrified that members of our community had to experience and witness such interactions."

The university's response was likely the quickest show of police force in response to a divestment protest among the dozens nationwide that have occurred in recent weeks. It was also probably the only one where pepper balls, stun guns and rubber bullets were used.

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News Network
May 4,2024

Mangaluru, May 4: The Mangaluru International Airport was besieged with a harrowing message of terror recently, when an email, purportedly from malevolent elements, menacingly declared the planting of bombs within the airport premises. 

Addressed to the office of the airport authority, the missive, steeped in ominous overtones, bore the ominous signature of a terrorist faction, ominously named 'Terrorizers 111'.

The communication, disseminated in English, ominously detailed the clandestine emplacement of explosives in areas eluding facile detection, accompanied by a chilling warning of their imminent detonation. The threat, ominously looming over not only the infrastructure but also the airborne vessels, portended a catastrophic deluge of bloodshed and loss.

In response to this dire communiqué, airport authorities swiftly engaged the apparatus of law enforcement, dispatching urgent alerts to the vigilant guardians of public safety. Acting upon the dictates of higher echelons, a formal dossier of this menacing correspondence was meticulously compiled, cloaked in the veil of confidentiality to thwart any premature dissemination.

Mangaluru International Airport found itself in grim camaraderie with more than 30 counterparts under the aegis of the Airport Authority of India (AAI) and private domains, all recipients of this chilling electronic diatribe. A comprehensive net of precautionary measures was swiftly cast, fortifying the bastions of security in anticipation of any nefarious designs lurking within the shadows.

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News Network
April 23,2024

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Hubballi, Apr 23: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday spoke to father of slain student Neha Hiremath over phone and said "sorry" over his daughter's killing, and assured that "we will be on your side".

The Chief Minister also informed Niranjan Hiremath, who is also a Congress councillor of Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation, about the government's decision to hand over the murder case to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and setting up a special court to fast-track trial.

"Niranjan... very sorry. We will be on your side," Siddaramaiah told Hiremath over the phone call during state's Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil's visit to Hiremath's house here.

In the conversation on Patil's phone with speakers on, Siddaramaiah can be heard informing Hiremath about the CID probe and setting up a special court.

"It is a serious offence... setting up a special court will ensure punishment for the accused person."

Hiremath thanked Siddaramaiah on behalf of his family well-wishers and the community for handing over the case to CID and setting up a special court "...ensure there is an order at the earliest and provide us justice," he said, as he also thanked Patil, Home Minister G Parameshwara, local Congress MLA Prasad Abbayya and others for their support.

Replying to this, Siddaramaiah said, "We will ensure it, at the earliest."

In a shocking incident, Neha Hiremath (23), was stabbed to death on the campus of BVB College last Thursday. The accused Fayaz Khondunaik, who fled from the scene, was arrested by the police subsequently.

Neha was a first year Master of Computer Application (MCA) student and Fayaz was earlier her classmate.

Siddaramaih on Monday had announced his government has decided to hand over the investigation into the incident to the Crime Investigation Department, and to set up a special court for speedy disposal of the case.

The case of brutal murder, which sparked widespread outrage, has snowballed into a political slugfest between ruling Congress and opposition BJP.

While the ruling party has tried to project it as an incident with personal angle, the saffron party has called it a "love jihad" case and has said it's a testimony of deterioration of law and order in the state.

Earlier, Siddarmaiah's statement that the murder was due to "personal reasons" and Home Minister G Parameshwara's comments that the duo was in love, has elicited sharp reactions from Hiremath and family members and opposition parties.

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