By Rahil Nora Chopra
The political battle for Bihar has turned into a fierce war of words, with Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accusing the BJP and the Election Commission of stealing elections and Union home minister Amit Shah hitting back at the siblings. The Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi, campaigning in Sitamarhi and East Champaran, accused the BJP of preparing to steal the Bihar election just like they did in Haryana. Naming Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and his colleagues in the central poll panel Vivek Joshi and S. S. Sandhu, Priyanka accused them of mocking the Constitution and democracy of India. Her warning was clear and blunt: “If you think you will lead a convenient life after retirement, that is not going to happen.” Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday addressed election rallies in Bettiah, Motihari and Madhubani and accused the Opposition, RJD, of having pushed Bihar into a mess about 20 years ago. At Bettiah, Amit Shah made a confident prediction: “The counting will commence at 8:00 am on November 14 and by 11:00 am, Lalu and Rahul’s party will be finished. Under the leadership of Modi ji and Nitish ji, the NDA will once again form the government in Bihar with a massive majority.”
UDDHAV, SHARAD PAWAR WANT WIDER MVA UNITY AGAINST BJP, SHINDE SENA
With the first phase of local body elections in Maharashtra scheduled for December 2, discussions have commenced at the district level across parties on possible alliances tailored to local political equations. Amid these talks, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray has disseminated clear instructions to party leaders to refrain themselves from forging any understanding with the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. He has also directed them to avoid pre- or post-poll tie-ups with the BJP or the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, and instead either contest independently or align only with partners within the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA). On the other hand, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) founder Sharad Pawar has instructed NCP leaders to ally with any party except the BJP’ to contest the local civic body elections in Maharashtra. Pawar’s instruction will automatically mean that alliances can be struck even with the NCP, which is led by his nephew and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. According to NCP sources, Sharad Pawar is keen to ensure as much Opposition unity against the BJP as possible, to such an extent that even the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) may contest elections against the BJP, as part of the MVA alliance. While Sharad Pawar is also engaged in the process of persuading the Congress high command in Delhi to arrive at an understanding with the Raj Thackeray’s MNS, or even include it within the MVA fold, if possible, despite the Maharashtra unit of the Congress openly opposing any such move.
TVK DECLARES ACTOR-POLITICIAN VIJAY AS CM FACE IN 2026 TAMIL NADU POLLS
Dashing the hopes of the AIADMK and the BJP, which were desperate for an alliance with the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) of actor Vijay, the TVK adopted a resolution that party president Vijay would be the chief minister candidate for the 2026 Assembly elections. TVK also said that Vijay had full authority regarding any possible alliance decisions. Since announcing his electoral debut, Vijay has slammed the DMK – his avowed political enemy and gone soft on the AIADMK, though he also called the BJP his ‘ideological enemy’. A total of 12 resolutions were passed at the TVK’s general council meeting.
RAJASTHAN CM BHAJAN LAL, EX-CM RAJE DAZZLE AT JOINT ROADSHOW FOR BJP
Putting up a show of unity ahead of the Anta by-polls on Nov 11, Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma and former CM Vasundhara Raje led a 2.5km roadshow through Baran’s Mangrol town in support of BJP’s Morpal Suman. Their maiden joint campaign featured key BJP figures including deputy CM Premchand Bairwa, party chief Madan Rathore, cabinet minister Jogaram Patel, and Jhalawar MP Dushyant Singh. Both Sharma and Raje were intermittently making appeals to the people for support to party candidate Suman. The chief minister sought votes for the development work and welfare initiatives taken up by his two-year regime in the constituency. This is for the first time since the installation of the incumbent BJP government in the state in December 2023 when Raje accompanied the chief minister in an election campaign in the state. The party ranks and files were all elated to see Raje joining the poll campaign. Her son Dushyant has been canvassing for several days. While the Opposition Congress has also fielded a strong candidate, Pramod Jain Bhaya, three-timer ex-MLA and a former minister. Among other contestants is former Congress rebel Naresh Meena (Independent), who is causing worries to the camps of the BJP and the Congress.
RAHUL’S LATEST ALLEGATION HINTS AT TAMPERING OF HARYANA STATE POLLS
Dropping his much-awaited “H bomb”, the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi alleged massive vote fraud in the Haryana Assembly polls last year. He alleged that 25 lakh votes were stolen in Haryana, which has a total of 2 crore voters. “This means one in eight voters in Haryana are fake, 12.5 per cent,” Rahul said. Addressing his third press conference under the “Vote Chori” (vote theft) campaign, Rahul Gandhi shared the voters list of the Rai Assembly constituency of Haryana in which the photograph of a Brazilian female model was used 22 times across 10 booths under as voters with different names. The Congress leader alleged “Operation Sarkar Chori” was launched in Haryana to deny the Congress from coming to power, despite all exit polls and opinion polls predicting that a landslide win for the party. Rahul Gandhi called upon Gen Z and the youth to restore democracy through satya (truth) and ahimsa (non-violence). On the other hand, the Election Commission of India had, however, dubbed the charges as incorrect and baseless and asserted that no deletion of votes can happen without giving an opportunity of being heard to the affected person. (IPA Service)
