With the Bihar Assembly elections scheduled to be held next year in the month of October-November, JD(U) has reiterated its demand for awarding Bharat Ratna to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar saying he deserves the highest honour. Earlier in October 2024, the party had put up a poster outside the JD(U) office in Patna demanding Bharat Ratna award for CM Nitish Kumar and ruling alliance party leaders including Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) Jitan Ram Manjhi and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan had supported the demand. Now Sanjay Jha, the party’s working national president, recently expressed his favour for the demand, stating that Nitish Kumar is fully deserving of the honour. While the Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has taken a jibe at JD(U) leaders for the very move. But 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, however, BJP leaders believe that after awarding Nitish Kumar the Bharat Ratna, it may be easier to retire him from active politics, foster goodwill and faith among his supporters, and transfer political power into BJP hands.
CONGRESS DISSOLVES UP UNIT BEFORE REJIG; RAHUL VISITS HATHRAS, SAMBHAL
Setting the stage for a change in major organisational revamp in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress had dissolved the pradesh, district, city and block committees of the party’s UP unit. The move seems to be focussed at reorganising the state unit of the Congress and empowering the party at the grassroots level. The Congress hopes, this will help increase its presence and also play a role during alliance conversations. The party also hopes there could be more room for pushing for its leaders in individual strong seats during talks with allies in the future. Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi met the family of a Dalit woman in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras who died allegedly after being gangraped in September 2020. Gandhi spent around 35 minutes with the family at their home and spoke with them. This visit comes after the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha, along with Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi, paid a visit to the families of five people who died in the Sambhal violence on November 24. Political observers believe that the role of UP in national politics is undeniably significant. The 2024 Lok Sabha results have given the Congress a chance to revive its lost legacy and a hope to revive the party.
AAP TO GO SOLO FOR 2025 ASSEMBLY POLLS, ANNOUNCES FREEBIES FOR WOMEN
With an eye on assembly elections, AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal strengthened his efforts to mobilise grassroots volunteers, urging them to inform the public about the Delhi government’s free schemes. Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday (December 12, 2024) announced the launch of the Mukhya Mantri Mahila Samman Yojna to give a monthly assistance of ₹1,000 to women in Delhi, and promised the amount would be raised to ₹2,100 after the elections. All women in Delhi are entitled to apply if they meet certain conditions such as they are not income tax payers, government employees or pensioners. The scheme was initially announced in the 2024-25 budget with an allocation of ₹2,000 crore. The Aam Aadmi Party is contesting the Delhi elections solo, with Kejriwal again dismissing an alliance with INDIA-bloc ally, Congress. On the other hand, Congress released a list of 21 candidates. The Congress fielded former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit’s son Sandeep, who is also a former MP from East Delhi, against AAP national Convenor Arvind Kejriwal from his home turf of New Delhi in the upcoming assembly polls. According to the list, while Devendra Yadav has been picked from Badli, former Chandni Chowk MP Jai Prakash Agarwal’s son Mudit has been fielded from Chandni Chowk, Haroon Yusuf from Ballimaran and Ragini Nayak from Wazirpur.
LALU BATS FOR MAMATA TO HEAD INDIA BLOC, CONGRESS BRUSHES IT OFF
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav has advocated that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee should lead INDIA bloc, the Opposition alliance formed to challenge the ruling BJP. He stressed that Mamata should be given the opportunity to lead the alliance. Now AICC general secretary and Bihar co-incharge Shahnawaz Alam’s said his party would like to have two deputy chief ministers, including a Muslim if the coalition formed the next government in Bihar. His statement is emphasized reaching out to his party’s traditional support base, which includes Muslims, upper castes, and Dalits. Shahnawaz Alam also indicated to his party workers that the party was no longer willing to play the role of little brother in the alliance. “In politics, nobody is a big brother or a little brother. In the assembly polls, the number of seats each party would contest must be decided on the basis of several factors, including respective strike rates in the Lok Sabha elections,” Alam was quoted as saying. With less than a year to go for assembly elections in Bihar, Lalu’s endorsement of Mamata is being seen as a bid to pressure the Congress’s state leadership not to make irrelevant and unreasonable seat-sharing demands.
AJIT PAWAR PAYS UNEXPECTED VISIT TO UNCLE SHARAD ON LATTER’S BIRTHDAY
Keeping aside bitter differences with his uncle, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar paid Sharad Pawar a surprise visit, to wish him on his 84th birthday. Accompanied by his wife Sunetra and son Parth, Ajit turned up at Pawar senior’s official residence in New Delhi, unannounced, along with senior leaders of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), including Praful Patel, Chhagan Bhujbal and Sunil Tatkare. Thursday’s meeting has set tongues wagging in political circles, with speculation rife that both factions of the NCP may reunite. However, insiders in the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) say there isn’t a chance this could happen. His grand-nephew, Yugendra, who lost the recent assembly elections to his uncle Ajit in Baramati, viewed that Ajit Dada visit had nothing to do with politics. (IPA Service)