The Bihar Assembly elections are to take place in October-November of 2025. Union Minister Giriraj Singh is asking for the Bharat Ratna for Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and former Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik. In October 2024, the JD(U) had put up a poster outside its office in Patna for the Bharat Ratna to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Jitan Ram Manji of the Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) Jitan Ram Manjhi and LokJanshakti Party (Ram Vilas) Chief Chirag Paswan had supported the demand. But Union Home Minister Amit Shah had dispelled speculations that the BJP might push for a Maharashtra-like strategy in Bihar. State BJP leadership said the NDA would contest the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections under Nitish Kumar’s leadership. On December 25 senior JD(U) leaders said the same. However, Nitish Kumar’s silence on the issue has fuelled speculation that he might make another political turnaround. The big question now is: if Nitish Kumar does receive the Bharat Ratna, will he retire from politics and hand over his party and government to the BJP? While this possibility seems unlikely, BJP leaders believe that Nitish Kumar might retire from active politics after getting the Bharat Ratna. This will keep his supporters in good spirits and real political power will shift to the BJP.
JD(U) HAS AN ARIF MOHAMMED KHAN-SHAPED DILEMMA
The transfer of Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan to the Patna Raj Bhawan hasn’t gone unnoticed. The JD(U) has welcomed the decision citing Khan’s credentials as a liberal and a progressive minority face. The RJD also welcomed Khan’s appointment but raised doubts and apprehensions over his past record of allegedly defying the federal structure, referring to his gubernatorial innings in Kerala. However, Khan has been at loggerheads on several issues with the Kerala government under Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, while the BJP-NDA leadership believes his appointment as the Bihar governor will only help the NDA in the state. Meanwhile the real challenge for the Nitish Kumar government is that if it does not reach out to the Muslim community, it will lose the 18 percent Muslim vote to the RJD and the Congress-led Mahagathbandhan.
NOW KEJRIWAL STIRS THE INDIA BLOC HORNET’S NEST
In a big jolt to opposition unity, ahead of the Delhi elections, the Aam Aadmi Party has said it wants other INDIA bloc parties to remove the Congress from the INDIA Bloc alliance, if the Congress does not take action against senior Congress leader Ajay Maken for calling Arvind Kejriwal “anti-national” and clear doubts whether AAP was in collusion with the BJP for the Delhi elections. AAP also alleged that Congress’ candidates, including Sandeep Dikshit, who is fighting Arvind Kejriwal, and Farhad Suri, who is contesting against Manish Sisodia, are being funded by the BJP. The AAP’s move comes close on the heels of the Trinamool Congress upping the ante against the Congress over leadership issue after its losses in Haryana and Maharashtra elections. TMC Chief Mamata Banerjee is getting the support of Sharad Pawar and Lalu Prasad to lead the INDIA bloc. The Samajwadi Party too is flexing its muscles and has decided to extend support to Arvind Kejriwal in the upcoming assembly polls in Delhi.
CONGRESS’ BIG MAHATMA-THEMED CAMPAIGN TO CORNER NDA GOVERNMENT
The Congress Working Committee (CWC) announced a 13-month long campaign centered around the father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi, the architect of the Indian Constitution Bhimrao Ambedkar and the Constitution itself in a bid to corner the BJP-led NDA government. The party said it has also planned a nationwide public outreach campaign called ‘Samvidhan Bachao Rashtriya Padayatra’ between January 26, 2025 and January 26, 2026.The Congress made the announcement as it is engaged in a political row, accusing the BJP of disrespecting BR Ambedkar, citing Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s speech in Parliament and also trying to undermine the Constitution. The BJP, however, refuted the allegations. The party also called for a major organisational overhaul based on accountability and capability starting immediately and running through the next year. These decisions were taken at the ‘Nav Satyagraha Baithak’ of CWC to mark 100 years of Mahatma Gandhiji assuming the presidency of the party at the Belgaum session. The resolution said that the next AICC session would be held in April 2025 at Porbandar, Gujarat.
KAMAL NATH MIGHT GET A DELHI APPOINTMENT
The Congress is looking forward to a round of fresh appointments at the AICC. The buzz is that Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath could be handed a major responsibility in New Delhi by the Congress high-command. Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has been holding telephonic discussions with Nath frequently over the past month. Nine-time MP from Chhindwara, Nath is now MLA from the assembly seat. His son, former MP Nakul Nath, lost Chhindwara in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. After the 2023 assembly election debacle in MP, Kamal Nath was removed from the post of state PCC chief and was replaced by former Youth Congress president, Jitu Patwari, one of Rahul’s trusted aides. (IPA Service)
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