oppn parties No Stopping Nitish Kumar

News Snippets

  • Supreme Court questions the continuing relevance of two-child norms. The Court observed that falling fertility rates have weakened the population-control rationale behind laws disqualifying people with more than two children from contesting local body elections. It referred the issue to a larger Bench for consideration
  • Supreme Court declines to shift Tirupati laddu case outside Andhra Pradesh. The Court rejected a plea seeking transfer of the trial, despite arguments that political statements by Andhra Pradesh's Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister could affect the fairness of proceedings
  • Supreme Court transfers Azam Khan's fresh ED bail plea to Allahabad High Court. The apex court declined to consider the Samajwadi Party leader's bail request in a fresh Enforcement Directorate case and directed that it be listed before a division Bench of the High Court on November 16
  • Two killed in Delhi building collapse; contractor booked. Two bodies were recovered after a building collapsed in Chawri Bazaar. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said the contractor had been booked and the concerned junior and assistant engineers suspended
  • Uttar Pradesh voter rolls show a 2.4-crore discrepancy. A difference of approximately 2.4 crore names has been reported between the state's panchayat and rural Assembly voter lists. The Election Commission has ordered the two sets of rolls to be matched
  • Gujarat announces 3% dearness allowance hike. The state government announced a three-percentage-point increase in dearness allowance for government employees and pensioners ahead of Diwali
  • Sensex and Nifty post their strongest single-day gains in months. The Sensex surged 2,008.61 points, or 2.60%, to close at 79,310.01, while the Nifty 50 climbed 576 points, or 2.40%, to 24,536.60. Financial and automobile stocks led the rally, supported by falling crude prices and renewed foreign investor buying
  • Maaya Rajeshwaran reaches WTA-level quarter-final. The 17-year-old Indian defeated Poland's Weronika Falkowska 6-4, 6-3, becoming the first Indian woman since Sania Mirza in 2012 to reach a quarter-final at a WTA Tour-level singles event
  • Tanvi Patri reaches Youth Olympics badminton final. The 15-year-old defeated Japan's Yuzuno Watanabe in the semi-final, assuring India of a medal and becoming the first Indian badminton player to reach the girls' singles final at the Youth Olympics
  • India beat Pakistan 3-2 in SAFF Championship. India defeated Pakistan in a closely contested match, having led 3-0 before conceding two late goals. The victory was reported as a significant result for India's second-string side
  • India beat Japan 4-1 to win a record sixth Asian Champions Trophy. India recovered from an early deficit to defeat Japan in the final at Mohali, extending its record as the tournament's most successful men's team
  • The Supreme Court issued notice to the Centre and the Election Commission on a petition challenging Section 16 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, which grants the CEC and Election Commissioners protection from legal proceedings for acts performed in their official duties. The petition argues that such blanket immunity could leave citizens without an effective remedy for alleged wrongdoing by the Commission
  • The Supreme Court told voters whose names were deleted from Delhi's draft electoral rolls not to be apprehensive about seeking re-enrolment through Form 6, after the Election Commission assured it that such applicants would not be prosecuted merely because their names had appeared in earlier rolls
  • Congress leader Rahul Gandhi opened the party's campaign for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections with an Insaaf rally in Sangrur, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's home district, accusing the AAP government of failing to control drugs, gangster violence and corruption. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge outlined six commitments, including a drug-free Punjab, protection of farmers, employment for young people and action against corruption
  • Rahul Gandhi accused the AAP government of running Punjab through a remote control from Delhi and questioned Bhagwant Mann's ability to tackle drug abuse, making personal allegations about the Chief Minister's conduct during their time together in Parliament
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No Stopping Nitish Kumar

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2024-02-13 15:13:25

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack

Despite RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav saying in the aftermath of the nth palti by Nitish Kumar that Bihar 'mein abhi khela baki hai', it was clear that after JD(U) moved to the NDA and Jitan Ram Majhi also decided to lend a helping hand, there was little the rising star of Bihar politics could do to stop them. This was proved when Nitish Kumar won the floor test in the state assembly by 129-0 as the entire opposition walked out. In the process, the RJD also lost three MLAs who voted for the NDA alliance government.

The debate preceding the vote was marked by several stinging comments from both sides. When Nitish Kumar said that mann nahin lag raha tha (in the RJD alliance), Tejashwi was quick to respond whether the RJD was there for entertainment purpose. Tejashwi also pointedly asked that could Prime Minister Modi, handing out Modi ki guarantees, now guarantee that Nitish Kumar will not change colours once again. The BJP charged the RJD of continuously insulting Nitish Kumar.

But one thing is clear though - with the realignment in Bihar politics, Tejashwi Yadav and RJD are on the back foot. Despite his bravado, RJD had 79 MLAs compared to 78 of the BJP. That means that voters are divided. After the realignment, and considering the caste factor, the yadav votes might remain with RJD but the upper caste will reamin with the BJP and JD(U) and other small party votes will now move to the NDA. Then the biggest factor is the consolidation of Hindu votes after the Ram Mandir consecration. That might play a big part in the 2024 elections in Bihar. It will be interesting to watch whether communities still vote along caste lines or are swayed by the Ram Mandir. It is because Bihar's politics is overwhelmingly caste-based that the BJP has left nothing to chance and brought Nitish Kumar back in the fold. It will also be interesting to watch if people still have faith in him or will dump him for being a snollygoster.