Lalu makes emphatic comeback, to be kingmaker in Bihar

November 8, 2015

Patna, Nov 8: Notwithstanding a string of losses that began with the defeat in the 2005 assembly polls when his party was ousted from power after 15 years and a court ruling, which will keep him out of electoral fray for six years, RJD boss Lalu Prasad has made a resounding comeback on Bihar's political stage.

lalu1The man, who once lorded over Bihar, was pushed to the margins after the 2010 assembly elections when the NDA under incumbent Chief Minister Nitish Kumar won an astounding four fifth majority in the 243-member assembly, winning 206 seats and restricting RJD to a paltry 22, its worst-ever tally.

The once seemingly invincible RJD, with its massive Muslim-OBC votebank, was not even eligible for the Leader of Opposition's post.

If the 2005 polls marked the exit of the Lalu-Rabri duo from the hot seat, 2010 debacle appeared to have exacerbated the process of RJD's marginalisation in state politics.

Lalu's conviction in a fodder scam case in 2013 came as a personal blow to him as it led to his immediate disqualification from the Lok Sabha and a ban from contesting an election at least for six years.

The 2014 Lok Sabha election was a crucial test for the backward class leader which he was to lead as a non-playing captain for the first time.

The results came as another jolt to RJD and Lalu, with the party managing to win only four of the state's 40 seats.

The successive defeats, however, carried seeds for a future reunion with friend-turned-foe Nitish Kumar, whose JD(U) had also been humiliated in the 2014 election, managing to win just two seats after parting ways with 17-year-old ally BJP in June 2013 over Narendra Modi's anointment as the party's campaign spearhead for last year's LS polls.

Acutely aware of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's personal charisma and BJP's growing popularity in the state, they began cosying up to each other after the Lok Sabha debacle.

With Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav playing the role of a peacemaker, the two backward class heavyweights resolved their differences and decided to contest the 2015 Bihar polls in tandem.

Lalu, the wily practitioner of realpolitik, after initial reluctance, agreed to accepting Nitish Kumar as the grand alliance's chief ministerial candidate.

With he himself not eligible to contest elections, his wife Rabri Devi unwilling to return to the hurly burly of politics, and sons Tejaswi and Tej Pratap too young to handle the pressure that comes with the hot seat, Lalu declared Nitish Kumar will be the Chief Minister even if RJD won more seat than JD(U).

When RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat suggested a review of the reservation policy in an interview to Sangh organs Organiser and Panchjanya, Lalu, one of the most enduring mascots of post-Mandal politics, was quick to pounce on it and raise an alarm about a move by the Narendra Modi government to scrap quotas.

He repeated the charge, rally after election rally, and Modi's counteroffensive about the grand alliance favouring a dilution of quotas for dalits, tribals and OBCs to give five per cent reservation to Muslims failed to cut much ice with the electorate.

Lalu promptly declared the poll as 'Mandal Raj Part II' and a fight between the 'backwards and forwards', ensuring a rapid polarisation along caste lines, something which had kept RJD in power for 15 years in the politically volatile state.

While there was an apparent consolidation of backward class and Muslim voters in grand alliance's favour, the beef talk by the leaders of the NDA, particularly BJP, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, failed to bring about a consolidation of Hindu votes in the favour of the centre's ruling alliance.

Of the 192 seats in the 243-member state assembly trends from where are available so far, Lalu's RJD is leading the table with 55 seats and JD(U) 52. BJP was leading in 53 seats and its allies LJP (6), Rashtriya Lok Samata Party and Hindustani Awam Morcha (three each).

Like the Lok Sabha polls in which his daughter Misa Bharti lost to his former protege Ram Kripal Yadav of BJP, his two sons Tejaswi and Tej Pratap are trailing from Raghopur and Mahua in Vaishali district.

Personal losses notwithstanding, Lalu is set to become the king maker in Bihar, if not the king.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
June 30,2020

Srinagar, Jun 30: On the deadly attack at Karachi Stock Exchange on Monday morning, a Kashmiri social activist and journalist warned that the incident is a stark reminder to all those in Pakistan supporting Jihad and attacked Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan for ignoring development agenda in Balochistan.

Yana Mir, the editor-in-chief of The Real Kashmir News, said, "Karachi Stock Exchange attack is a reminder to all those in Pakistan supporting Jihad. Remember @imrankhan that Youth is restless and they want development agenda. These young boys of BLA are also looking for a life which is settled and peaceful. Wake up Imran Khan and you Kashmiris also. Pakistan is going to finish you. Open your eyes."
Four heavily armed terrorists attacked the busy Pakistan Stock Exchange building in Karachi with grenades today, killing four security guards and a police officer before being shot dead in an exchange of fire, authorities said.

The terrorists, who arrived in a car, stormed the Karachi Stock Exchange building by firing indiscriminately and lobbed grenades at the main gate of the multi-storey building situated in the city's high-security commercial hub.

Balochistan is a well-known region rich in natural resources but the Balochis have always been deprived of basic facilities. No hospitals are available in Balochistan. If there are some then medical facilities and equipment are not available in hospitals. The education system is pathetic and similar is the case with the infrastructure: the roads, water system, agriculture and almost all fields of life.

It is pertinent to mention that enforced disappearances and abductions by the Pakistani military establishment have also been carried out regularly and for innumerable times in Balochistan. Leaders, activists, and vocal members of various student organizations have been detained by the security forces and kept in confinement. While others have been shot dead.

This crime against humanity has been going on for so long and so systematically in Balochistan that it has come to be considered as a normal state of affairs in the province. Many social and human rights activists have flagged the issue of oppression by the Pakistani establishment before the United Nations and other international agencies.

According to the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, an entity established by the Pakistani government, about 5,000 cases of enforced disappearances have been registered since 2014. Most of them are still unresolved.

Independent local and international human rights organisations put the numbers much higher. Around 20,000 have reportedly been abducted only from Balochistan, out of which more than 2,500 have turned up dead as bullet-riddled dead bodies, bearing signs of extreme torture.

Before being elected as Prime Minister, Imran Khan had admitted in multiple interviews about the involvement of Pakistan's intelligence agencies in enforced disappearances as well as extrajudicial killings and vowed to resign if he was unable to put an end to the practice, holding those involved responsible. But times have passed and only reports are available to narrate the true story.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
January 27,2020

Jan 27: Bidders for Air India Ltd. will need to absorb $3.26 billion of its debt, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration tries once again to sell the national carrier.

The entire company will be sold but effective control needs to stay with Indian nationals, according to preliminary terms published Monday. Bids are invited by March 17 with Ernst & Young LLP India as transaction adviser.

Air India, which started in 1932 as a mail carrier before winning commercial popularity, saw its fortunes fade with the emergence of cutthroat low-cost competition. The state-run airline has been unprofitable for over a decade and is saddled with more than $8 billion in debt.

Indian regulations allow a foreign airline to buy as much as 49% of a local carrier, while overseas investors other than airlines can buy an entire carrier. The government didn’t find a single bidder when it tried to sell Air India in 2018.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
February 29,2020

New Delhi, Feb 29: Amid the raging communal violence in the entire north-east Delhi earlier this week, there were people who were trying to save persons and families from the "other community" from the fury of the mobs of their own community.

Naeem Ali Pradhan, 34, from Shiv Vihar, helped at least 7-8 Hindus on the night of February 24 -- when the violence was at its peak-- escape to safer locations. Shiv Vihar is one of the worst affected areas in the violence.

According to Naeem Ali, that night mobs attacked dozens of shops on the road and later tried to enter inside the residential areas.

Suddenly, he spotted a group of youth who were looking hassled and frantically asking for directions.

"I saw them. Thye were Hindus who were trying to escape a mob looking to target them. They had lost their way inside the streets of our colony. I along with other Muslim men escorted them to the nearby Hindu locality," Naeem, who is also a member of the Aman Committee constituted by the Delhi police, told ANI.

"Several shops which were on the roads including some showrooms were attacked by a group. These Hindus were worried as a mob which was on the main road was attacking people. They asked me the address of a colony as they were unable to find their way," Naeem said.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.