The political activity in Bihar is intensifying due to Lok Janshakti Party boss Chirag Paswan’s decision to contest the Bihar election this year, despite already being an MP and a union minister. However, this move does not seem to have gone down well with Janata Dal United. An anxious Nitish recently interacted with Chirag during the Prime Minister’s Bihar visit and asked him: “Why do you want to contest the Bihar Assembly election? You are young and presently a Union Minister after winning three consecutive Lok Sabha elections. What is the need for you to contest an Assembly election when you are enjoying your stint as a Union Minister?” Chirag reportedly told Nitish that ‘Bihar is calling him’. His party has, therefore, decided that he should contest the Assembly elections. On the other hand, Union Minister Chirag Paswan’s party MP and brother-in-law, Arun Bharti, has hit out at the caste survey, which was conducted by the Nitish Kumar-led Mahagathbandhan government in Bihar in 2023, calling it a fraud and conspiracy against the marginalised sections of the society, including the Dalits and Adivasis. However, Paswan’s planned Bahujan Bhim Sankalp rally on 29 June — a show of his party’s strength in Nitish Kumar’s home district — has also triggered alarm bells within the JD(U). According to NDA sources, the JD(U) is expected to get more seats than the BJP. As Chirag Paswan’s party had 100 percent strike rate in Lok Sabha polls, winning all five seats, it may ask for nearly 30 to 35 seats. The final seat-sharing formula is likely to be announced by August, while the candidate selection will follow soon to allow contestants to rally support ahead of the polls. The BJP’s intention to give Nitish Kumar a marginal edge in terms of seats allocated might be a tactic to pacify the JDU leader ahead of this election, given Chirag Paswan’s presence. Publicly, the BJP has backed Nitish Kumar to remain as Chief Minister, but sources say some within it lean in favour of Chirag Paswan, setting up a possible face-off.
INDIA BLOC PARTIES BAG SMALL WINS, TO GO SEPARATE WAYS IN STATE POLLS
After the victories in the Punjab and Gujarat by-elections, the Aam Aadmi Party held a celebratory event in Delhi, where National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal appreciated the party and firmly said that the win signaled the clear and loud message from the people that —“Only AAP offers real hope for the nation.” Moreover, Kejriwal maintained that he had no intention of going to the Upper House. While the Congress, in particular, is celebrating its capture of Nilambur in Kerala from the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF), on the other hand, TMC retained the seat in West Bengal’s Kaliganj, where Alifa Ahmed defeated BJP’s Ashish Ghosh by over 50,000 votes. Looking ahead, assembly elections are due early next year in Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala. The INDIA bloc is unlikely to contest as a united front in most of these states. Only in Tamil Nadu is an alliance likely to hold firm, with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) maintaining a clear lead over the BJP. In West Bengal, TMC still has the upper hand. For the Congress, the stakes are the highest. A win in Kerala after a decade would boost morale and give the party control over three southern states, besides Karnataka and Telangana. However, such gains would remain confined to the Congress and not prominently expand the INDIA bloc’s national footprint.
CM SIDDARAMAIAH TRIES TO QUELL DISGRUNTLED PARTY LEGISLATORS
It is Congress versus Congress in Karnataka as Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is facing the disapproval and wrath of disgruntled legislators, who have alleged a complete collapse of the administration, paucity of development funds and rampant corruption. Recently, Aland MLA B.R. Patil, a close associate of Siddaramaiah, had condemned and put on front that beneficiaries of housing schemes have had to pay bribes to avail houses allotted, a charge that was supported by Kagwad MLA Raju Kage. Meanwhile, Siddaramaiah, who is back from Delhi after his meeting with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and other senior party leaders, held discussions with B.R. Patil, Raju Kage and Zameer Ahmed Khan and advised them against going public with their criticism. According to sources, AICC general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala is likely pay a visit to the state in July to bridge the rift between the party MLAs and the ministers. The political storm has drawn strong criticism from the opposition BJP, with senior leaders alleging increased corruption and predicting defections from Congress ranks.
THAROOR CONTINUES TO RANKLE CONGRESS’S NERVES, PRAISES MODI AGAIN
The ongoing rift between the Congress party and Shashi Tharoor undoubtedly has intensified after the recent article of Tharoor praising PM Modi’s energy, dynamism and willingness to engage and stated that it ‘deserved greater backing on global stage’. This did not go well with his party colleagues and Congress distanced itself from the remarks in the article. In his first response to the controversy, Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge stated that for the party, “it is country first”, contrasting it with the view that “for some” individuals, “Modi first and then the country comes.” On whether any action would be taken against Tharoor, the Congress president said: “What people want to write, they will write. …Why waste time on this? Our target is to maintain the unity and integrity of the country.” While the Thiruvananthapuram MP strongly hit back with a cryptic post, “don’t ask permission to fly” as “wings are yours” and “sky belongs to no one”. Tension has aggravated between both sides in the past two months with the MP praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi over Operation Sindoor, when the Opposition was raising questions to the government. Tharoor’s participation in the multi-party delegations without taking the party into confidence also rubbed the Congress the wrong way.
TEJASHWI ASKS FOR 20 MONTHS FROM BIHARIS AFTER 20 YEARS TO NITISH
As the high-stakes fight for Bihar inches closer, Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav made an appeal to the youth of Bihar to give him a time of 20 months to change the face of the state, citing Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s example, whom they had given some 20 years. Addressing the ‘Chhatra Yuva Sansad’ organised by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) at Patna’s Bapu Sabhagar, Yadav announced his plans if elected, his government would create jobs and establish a Youth Commission, make forms for competitive examinations free of cost, provide home tutors to academically weaker students, and ensure free transportation to examination centres. Tejashwi also assured the audience that, if voted to power, his concern would remain on governance rather than blaming the past. (IPA Service)
Indian Authorities Are Still Deporting Bengali Speaking Muslims To Bangladesh 