RJD-Congress led Mahagathbandan (grand alliance) in Bihar announced the seat sharing in coalition on March 29. As per the announcement made by senior RJD leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui, RJD will now contest on 26 seats, whereas Congress on nine and the Left parties on remaining five seats. Bihar has a sum total of 40 Lok Sabha constituencies. Among the Left parties, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) to contest on three seats of Bhojpur (Ara), Nalanda and Karakat, while Communist of Party of India (CPI) to contest Begusarai seat, for which it already has announced name of the candidate as Awadhesh Rai and Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) would contest the Khagaria seat. The Congress will contest the remaining nine seats of: Kishanganj, Katihar, Samastipur, Patna Sahib, Sasaram, West Champaran, Muzaffarpur, Bhagalpur, Maharajganj. Meanwhile, heavyweight Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav who wants to contest the Purnia seat at any cost and had recently merged his party Jan Adhikar Party (JAP) into Congress party, appears sulking. Under grand alliance the Congress party has been denied the Purnia seat with RJD already announcing name of Bima Bharti as party candidate from Purnia. However, Pappu Yadav whose wife Ranjit Ranjan is Congress Rajya Sabha MP from Chhattisgarh, is likely to be fielded from Supaul seat which she had represented in Lok Sabha once.
AAP MEMBERS DEMAND KEJRIWAL’S RELEASE, STORM DELHI ASSEMBLY WELL
The AAP has launched a social media campaign on 26 March with the party leaders changing their display pictures to one depicting Kejriwal behind bars, with the caption which reads:“Modi ka sabse bada dar, Kejriwal”. As the Assembly proceedings began on Wednesday, AAP leaders stormed into the well of the House raising slogans against the BJP-led Centre and demanding Kejriwal’s immediate release from the ED custody. Leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party, including cabinet ministers Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj, took their social media campaign to the Delhi Assembly as they came dressed in yellow T-shirts with slogans, such as “Mai bhi Kejriwal” (I too am Kejriwal) and “Modi ka sabse bada dar, Kejriwal” (Modi’s greatest fear, Kejriwal), printed on them.
SP NOMINATIONS: CONFUSION GALORE AS SEATS SEE MULTIPLE CANDIDATES
Confusion prevailed in Rampur and Moradabad Lok Sabha constituencies over the authorised Samajwadi Party candidates, as two of them, each from both the seats, filed their nominations on Wednesday proclaiming themselves to be the original party candidate. In Rampur, SP leadership furnished a surprise when it sent party state president Naresh Uttar Patel to accompany Mohibulla Nadvi to Rampur, who is the imam of a mosque in Delhi, to also file his nomination. Meanwhile Asim Raja, who is Azam Khan’s confidant and had contested the 2022 Lok Sabha by-election as an SP candidate, filed his nomination papers claiming himself to be the party candidate, but party leaders claimed that Raja has filed as an Independent. Similarly, in Moradabad, SP leader Ruchi Veera filed the nomination papers as an SP candidate on Wednesday, while sitting MP ST Hasan had filed them on Tuesday. Hasan’s ticket was however reportedly cancelled after the SP leadership’s intervention. Meanwhile, there is a state of disapproval in a section of SP over its decision to replace Hasan with Veera in Moradabad seat.
KEJRIWAL’S ARREST SHAKES TMC OFF ITS STUPOR, TO JOIN INDIA BLOC RALLY
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seems to have worked in getting the disgruntled opposition parties of the INDIA bloc that had been in disarray over seat sharing issues, back in the fold. Even the TMC has now decided to participate in the joint opposition rally on March 31, at the Ramlila ground in Delhi. While West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee will not be attending the joint rally to protest against ruling BJP’s vendetta politics of central agencies targeting opposition leaders across states, she will be kicking off her party’s Lok Sabha campaign in the state on the same day, TMC leaders will represent the party at the joint rally.
CONGRESS ANNOUNCES BIG SOPS FOR SC/ST, WOMEN IN ODISHA
In a bid to woo scheduled tribe and scheduled caste communities ahead of elections, the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) has announced that the party will launch a special drive to fill up vacancies reserved for SC/ST in government posts. In addition, the Congress guarantees loan waivers of up to Rs 5 lakh for the women self-help groups, a monthly allowance of Rs 2,000, and Rs 3,000 for ST and SC women, Congress leaders said. If any tribal village becomes ‘Nasha Mukt’, every year Rs 10 lakh will be spent on its development, they said. Besides, all women of the village will be given Rs1 lakh per year as an incentive, Congress claimed.
VBA BREAKS UP MVA TIE-UP TALKS, TO SUPPORT TWO CONGRESS CANDIDATES
Another setback is being faced by the MVA, particularly the Congress, which has been pushing for a tie-up with Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA). Prakash Ambedkar has announced ending talks with the coalition. Instead, the grandson of Dr. BR Ambedkar has announced an alternative ‘coalition’ of the VBA and community outfits and leaders like the OBC Mahasangh and Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil. The VBA chief announced a first list of eight candidates for seats in the Vidarbha division that go to polls in the first phase of the Lok Sabha election. Prakash Ambedkar, a former three-term MP from Akola, will be his party’s candidate from that seat in this election. The VBA, however, has announced support to two Congress candidates – Vikas Thakare in Nagpur and to Shrimant Shri Shahu Shahaji Chhatrapati Maharaj, the 12th descendent of legendary Maratha warrior Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, who is the Congress-MVA candidate. (IPA Service)
