By Rahil Nora Chopra
Bihar’s longest-serving Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has taken oath as a Rajya Sabha MP, thus paving the path for a new government in the state, signalling a major and important transition in its political landscape. The formalities of appointing a new Chief Minister and forming the cabinet is expected to commence after April 13, once the period of Khadmas, considered inauspicious, comes to an end. The NDA is expected to elect a new leader on April 14, an announcement that could redefine Bihar’s power dynamics. However, BJP, which has come out as the single largest party in the last assembly election, in all probabilities will stake claim to the chief ministership. Among the frontrunners, Samrat Choudhary is seen as the leading candidate due to his strong organisational role and leadership presence, while Nityanand Rai is also being considered for his political influence and caste appeal. Other names like Dilip Jaiswal and Sanjay Jaiswal have surfaced in discussions, but the final decision will depend on BJP’s internal strategy and alliance dynamics. There is also speculation about a surprise choice, possibly a woman leader from the EBC, Dalit, or OBC communities. On the other hand, JD(U) wants Nitish Kumar’s son Nishant as Deputy CM holding key portfolios.
CONGRESS LOSES ANOTHER OLD GUARD WITH MOHSINA KIDWAI’S PASSING
Veteran Congress leader and former Union minister, Mohsina Kidwai, who had been actively associated with the Congress for about six decades, has died. With Kidwai’s passing, the grand old party has lost one of its old guard leaders with close association with the Nehru-Gandhi family. Kidwai’s political career began in 1960, when she won the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council. All of 28 at the time, she went on to dedicate her life to politics and public service. Her last notable political act was proposing and seconding Shashi Tharoor’s nomination for the Congress president’s post against Mallikarjun Kharge in October 2022. Kidwai, who came from a conservative Muslim family of Awadh, held the distinction of winning Lok Sabha elections three times—in 1978, 1980, and 1984. Her parliamentary credentials were remarkable: she won from Azamgarh in eastern Uttar Pradesh—the bypoll that marked the great comeback of Indira Gandhi and later from Meerut in the Western side of the state. She rose to serve in senior cabinet positions, first under Indira Gandhi and then under Rajiv Gandhi, gaining their trust through her tireless work at every level of the party. She continued to sit in the Rajya Sabha until well into her eighties, age proving no barrier to her commitment and active involvement in public service. She published her memoir, My Life in Indian Politics, recounting her long political journey. Veteran UP Congress leader Dr Arvind Chopra described her as a good orator and noted her focus on the upliftment of Dalits and marginalised communities. In her death, the Congress and the country lost another leader from the fading generation and an important member of the old school of Indian politics.
MODI CLAIMS MISRULE, AS MAMATA ASKS EC TO REINSTATE DELETED VOTERS
The Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal has been slammed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for its alleged misrule, with the latter appealing to voters to oust the Trinamool Congress (TMC) from power in the forthcoming Assembly polls. Addressing a gathering in Haldia, Narendra Modi claimed the ruling dispensation in the State was “pulling Bengal back” and promised six guarantees to the people once the BJP wins the polls. He promised that a BJP government in the State will replace the TMC’s reign of ‘Bhoy’ (fear) with that of ‘Bharosa’ (trust), while all public servants will be made accountable to the people. On the other hand, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the BJP of deleting names of over 90 lakh people from the voter lists to grab power in the state and asserted that her party will win the upcoming elections. Addressing a public rally at Minakhan in North 24 Parganas, the TMC supremo said the ruling party would move a court to ensure that all those who have been deleted from the electoral rolls are reinstated.
‘DHURANDHAR’ POSTERS IN UP POLL CAMPAIGN MALIGN AKHILESH, PRAISE YOGI
A ‘Dhurandhar’ poster campaign has commenced in Uttar Pradesh, with a youth organisation highlighting next year’s Assembly election as a choice between “Akhilesh Yadav’s Lyari Raj” and “Dhurandhar” Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. The hoardings portrayed SP president Akhilesh Yadav as Rehman Dakait — a Pakistani gangster in the movie — with newspaper clippings of alleged crimes committed during the SP government. On the other side of the hoardings and posters, chief minister Yogi Adityanath is shown as ‘Dhurandhar CM’, performing religious rituals, with clippings about the deaths of gangsters like Mukhtar Ansari and Atiq Ahmed. Meanwhile, Samajwadi party workers staged massive agitation after hoardings and posters inspired by Bollywood film ‘Dhurandhar’ surfaced at several locations in Lucknow, Azamgarh, Jaunpur and other parts of UP.
ON BUDDHA’S TRAIL IN BANGLADESH: BOOK CONNECTS DELHI, DHAKA VIA HISTORY
Director-General of the International Buddhist Confederation, Sri Abhijit Halder will launch ‘On the Buddha’s Trail in Bangladesh’, written by Silk Road traveller Sunita Dwivedi, at the India International Centre, Kamaladevi Auditorium, Delhi, on April 20. The book, author’s fifth, narrates a long and exciting journey along the Buddha Marg of Bangladesh and brings to life a plethora of ancient shrines and monasteries from Dinajpur in the north, through Rajshahi, Bogra and Dhaka to Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar in the south. The monasteries formed a crucial link in the great chain of Buddhist Asia, having a unique role to play in the dissemination of Buddhism through their erudite scholars. Dwivedi’s journey, spanning across the long time frame of two and a half decades, along Asia’s Buddhist circuit started from the remote town of Kushinagar in eastern Uttar Pradesh and ran westwards through Pakistan, Afghanistan, across the Oxus into Central Asia and looping along the deserts of the Tarim Basin in Xinjiang into China and Tibet from where the circuitous route ran back into India and Bangladesh. The decades long travels by Sunita Dwivedi has culminated in the publication of her five travelogues on the Buddha’s trail along the Asian Silk Road. All published by Rupa Publishers. (IPA Service)
