Nitish flags off new buses, borrows money for ticket

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was on Wednesday embarrassed when a woman conductor of a government bus he flagged off issued him a Rs. 5 ticket for a ride. Mr. Kumar had to borrow the money from one of the officials accompanying him to buy the ticket. Earlier, he flagged off 140 new buses of the Bihar State Transport Corporation.

Mr. Kumar admitted that he felt embarrassed seeing dirty Patna and warned officials to keep it clean otherwise the government itself would take some steps to clear the mess.

“Whenever some VIPs come to meet me they point out towards dirt and garbage littered in Patna. I feel embarrassed and such adverse comments also belittle all the development work done by the State government. It is very sad,” the Chief Minister said addressing a function after inaugurating a number of projects of the Urban Development Department. Patna Mayor Afzal Imam was present at the programme.

Mr. Kumar said he got fed up while reading regular news about the clash between the Mayor and Patna Municipal Corporation officials. “If the situation does not improve, the government could step in and use the Patna Municipal Corporation’s last right to clean Patna,” said Mr. Kumar, referring to the working of municipal corporations of Mumbai and other cities. Recently, in a survey, Patna was ranked among the dirtiest cities of the country, while Mysuru was declared the cleanest city.

The Chief Minister also listed the steps the State government and the Patna High Court taken to control noise pollution in the city.

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BJP wants Nitish to apologise for lauding Ishrat Jahan

The BJP on Thursday demanded that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar apologise for calling Ishrat Jahan ‘Bihar ki Beti’ (daughter of Bihar), soon after David Coleman Headley told a Mumbai special court that she was a Lashkar-e-Taiba operative.

“Now, Mr. Nitish Kumar should apologise to the country. To garner votes, he had called a terrorist ‘Bihar ki Beti.’ The Congress, [RJD chief] Lalu Prasad and Mr. Nitish Kumar eye votes. The BJP does not take the help of terrorists to garner vote,” BJP MP from Nawada and Union Minister Giriraj Singh said.

In July 2013, severing ties with the BJP, Mr. Nitish Kumar called Ishrat Jahan ‘Bihar ki Beti’ because she had spent her childhood in the State. He was criticising Narendra Modi, then Gujarat Chief Minister, for the alleged fake encounter, in which Ishrat Jahan was killed near Ahmedabad.

Later, Ali Anwar, another leader of the ruling Janata Dal (United) pledged to get her justice.

BJP national spokesperson Syed Shahnawaz Hussain said those who had called Ishrat ‘Bihar ki Beti’ should make their stand clear in the light of Headley’s deposition.

“After the encounter, many leaders called her innocent and some were calling her the daughter of Bihar. Today, it has become clear that it was not a fake encounter, and they should take back their statements,” he said.

Another BJP leader and Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said Mr. Nitish Kumar and his party should not politicise everything.

According to information accessed by The Hindu, Ishrat had spent her childhood at Jamalpur in Munger district in Bihar where she studied up to Std. II in St. Roberts School. At that time, her maternal grandfather, Abdul Majid, was working at the Jamalpur railway factory. Later, he went to Alamganj in Patna. Ishrat’s grandparents were living at Khagaul, near Patna, and her father Shamim Raza started a business in Patna but shifted his base to Mumbai.

JD(U) leader Ali Anwar said: “David Headley is not Yudhistra… Give him Padma Bhushan or any other award for whatever he has said.”

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Urine to Dettol is our only progress: Lalu

Urine and Dettol are both antiseptic and the only progress we’ve made today is that we now wash our hands with Dettol, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav told homeopathy doctors at a function here on Saturday.

“Earlier we were using urine as antiseptic on cuts or bruises on our body… now we use Dettol, with which we can also wash our hands. This has been the only progress in medical science through the ages,” he said at the Homeopathic Science Congress in Patna. Mr. Prasad was not invited to the function. He had turned up in place of his elder son, State Health Minister Tej Pratap.

“Our chief guest, Tej Pratap Yadav, had another engagement. So Laluji agreed to grace the occasion in his place,” said an official.

Mr. Prasad said homeopathy was the real medical stream. “In allopathy, they only do chir-phad (surgery). But it is only because of homeopathy that people have now started living up to the age of 80,” said Mr. Prasad amidst laughter.

The RJD chief did not restrict himself to medicine. He regaled the audience with his take on other issues as well. “Internet marriages are not durable. People fall in love and get married. But they separate after a while… it is better to accept the choice of your parents and marry in the traditional way,” he said.

Mr. Prasad said he was against increasing the retirement age. “Young boys will not get a chance,” he said. And he demanded “smart villages” instead of “smart cities.”

State BJP leader Nand Kishore Yadav said Mr. Prasad’s presence at the homeopathy doctors’ conference showed who was running the government and the health department. “Chief Minister Nitish Kumar should officially declare Lalu Prasad the Super CM of Bihar,” Mr. Yadav said.

However, some of the doctors who attended the congress told The Hindu on Sunday that “they were amazed by his knowledge and the tips he offered on everything from medical science to social science.”

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Bihar verdict: our assessment went wrong, says BJP

Admitting that things didn’t go as planned in Bihar, where the Nitish Kumar-led Grand Alliance won by a thumping majority, the Parliamentary Board of the Bharatiya Janata Party took stock of the State Assembly results in which the party suffered a debacle.

A day after the results were out from Bihar, the BJP Parliamentary Board met at the party headquarters with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party President Amit Shah and other top leaders in attendance to review the performance.

Protecting the leadership from any attack, the BJP ruled out holding anyone responsible for the rout in Bihar Assembly elections and rejected criticism even from within that RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s quota remarks was one of the major reasons for the defeat.

'Lost due to arithmetic'

The party admitted that it lost because the size of the “social arithmetic” cobbled by the grand alliance was bigger than the NDA and acknowledged that its assessment that the vote transferability among the JD(U), RJD and Congress will not happen proved “incorrect“.

“As far as accountability is concerned, the party collectively wins and collectively loses,” Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told the media while briefing them on the Parliament Board meeting deliberations.

He was replying to a question about what action the party proposes to take towards holding someone accountable for the humiliating defeat in Bihar.

Asked if a second loss after the Delhi rout reflected on the leadership of Mr. Shah, whose tenure is coming to an end in January, Mr. Jaitley strongly defended him.

Winning and losing is part of the game, he said, pointing to the fact that after the Lok Sabha success the BJP had won four assembly elections and a string of local body polls in several states under him. “The party collectively wins and collectively loses.”

'Bhagwat not to be blamed'

Mr. Jaitley rejected the perception that the controversial comments of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat calling for a review of reservation for OBCs cost the party dearly in the elections.

“We don’t accept that,” he told a questioner when it was pointed out that some party leaders and allies have suggested that his remarks were a major reason for the defeat.

“One comment cannot decide elections,” he said while disagreeing with suggestions that Shah’s “crackers in Pakistan” remark also damaged their prospects.

The Minister said the BJP has always clarified since its inception that they support reservation and made it clear in 1991 after the Mandal Commission report.

“We have accepted the concept of reservation on the basis of social backwardness. I understand that this is also the stand of RSS. There should be no confusion about it,” he said.

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Two-thirds majority for Nitish-Lalu Grand Alliance

As the Nitish Kumar-Lalu Prasad duo led the Grand Alliance on Sunday to a historic, thumping two-thirds majority, even reviving its junior partner, the Congress, the BJP-led NDA bit the dust — and the curtain came down on what must rate as one of the most bitterly fought Assembly elections in Bihar.

Conscious that this victory would resonate through the country, influencing politics in other parts, Chief Minister and JD (U) leader Nitish Kumar — composed but clearly moved by the extent of the mandate — said: “The Bihar 2015 poll will always be remembered as a milestone in the electoral politics of the State; it reflected the national mood.”

Mr. Kumar said the poll would be remembered as one where the “party at the Centre had put all its resources into an Assembly election.”

PARTY POSITIONS 243/243

Parties	Won	Leading
BJP + ( BJP, LJP, HAM, RLSP)	58	0
JD(U)+ (JD(U), RJD, INC)	178	0
Others (SP, JAP, AIMIM, Independent)	7	0

Lalu Prasad, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief, has proved to be the kingmaker, providing both the mass support for the coalition and a sharp aggression at the stumps, countering Prime Minister Narendra Modi at every stage. Mr. Kumar lived up to his reputation of being a “Chanakya”: he retained his chief ministership, while helping old comrade Lalu Prasad return to the centre stage after many years in the political wilderness. In 1990, too, when Mr. Prasad became Chief Minister for the first time, Mr. Kumar’s role in that victory had earned him the sobriquet “Chanakya” of Bihar politics.

On Sunday evening, while the flamboyant Mr. Prasad, whose personal exit poll of 190 came closest to the results, threw open the gates of 10, Circular Road to the surging crowds, three houses down, the more reticent Mr. Kumar, after his press conferences, met party workers who milled around him, before walking onto the road outside. There he stood on a small wooden platform to accept more congratulations.

The decisive victory ensures that government formation will be smooth. Mr. Kumar said that first his party legislators would meet, and then all the coalition MLAs would meet to settle the issue of portfolios. To a question whether one of Mr. Prasad’s sons would be his Deputy Chief Minister, he said the press conference was not an appropriate forum to discuss the matter. The swearing-in ceremony is likely to be after Diwali.

At two post-victory press conferences, one at the RJD office followed by the other at the Chief Minister’s official residence, where the Congress’s Ashok Chowdhury, too, was present, Mr. Prasad underscored the fact that regardless of the numbers the two parties notched up, Mr. Kumar would be the Chief Minister.

Mr. Kumar called for an end to the bitterness, negativity and rancour that marked the election.

Mr. Kumar stressed that he intended to work with and respect the Opposition, despite its meagre tally. As for the Grand Alliance, he said, it was united by a common world view, an agreed programme of action and the desire to achieve consensus on all issues affecting the future of Bihar.

If the initial trends, thanks to the fact that the postal ballots were opened before the EVMs, favoured the BJP, leading its workers to celebrate prematurely, by 9.20 a.m. the trends reversed in favour of the grand coalition. It was then the turn of the workers of the JD(U), the RJD and the Congress to shout victory slogans, burst crackers and smear gulal on each other.

After the JD(U) and the BJP parted ways in June 2013, all eyes were on the Bihar Assembly election. It became a matter of prestige for both. Each looked for partners that would widen their social base; caste played a critical role in this election, but in the end, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi leading the NDA’s charge, it became a referendum on his 16 months in power rather than on Mr. Kumar’s decade as Chief Minister.

Mr. Modi, who flew to Bihar for a record 26 times to address public meetings, and BJP president Amit Shah crafted the party’s strategy, dominating even the billboards. This gave the grand coalition an opportunity to portray them as baharis (outsiders), even as the BJP leaders and activists sulked, finding themselves on the margins.

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Lalu Prasad makes Grand comeback as kingmaker

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On the verge of being written off as also ran after his party’s dismal performance in the 2010 Assembly polls when it was restricted to a humiliating 22 seats in the 243-member Bihar House, Mr. Prasad pulled off an emphatic victory for the RJD, which was all set to emerge as the table topper.

Ousted in 2005 after a 15-year stint in power, the 2010 poll defeat sent the man who once lorded over Bihar virtually to the doghouse.

The once seemingly invincible RJD, with its massive Muslim-OBC vote bank, was not even eligible to claim the Leader of the Opposition post as the NDA under Nitish Kumar won an astounding four-fifths majority in the Assembly, winning 206 seats and restricting the RJD to a paltry 22, the latter’s worst-ever tally.

Mr. Prasad’s conviction in a fodder scam case in 2013 came as a personal blow to him as it led to his 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 the RJD and Mr. Prasad, 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 Mr. 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, the BJP, in June 2013 over Narendra Modi’s anointment as the party’s campaign spearhead for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

Acutely aware of Mr. Modi’s personal charisma and the BJP’s growing popularity in the State, they started moving closer 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.

Mr. Prasad, the wily practitioner of realpolitik, after initial reluctance, agreed to accept Mr. 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, Mr. Prasad declared Mr. Kumar will be the Chief Minister even if the RJD won more seats than the JD(U).

When RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat suggested a review of the reservation policy in an interview to Sangh organs Organizer and Panchjanya, Mr. Prasad, 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 Modi government to scrap quotas.

Mr. Prasad repeated the charge, rally after election rally, and Mr. Modi’s counteroffensive about the Grand Alliance favoring a dilution of quotas for Dalits, tribals and OBCs to give 5 per cent reservation to Muslims failed to cut much ice with the electorate.

After the Dadri lynching incident, Mr. Prasad made the controversial Hindus-too-eat –beef remark, which the Prime Minister tried to use to the hilt to ensure alienation of the RJD’s Yadav vote bank, still largely engaged in cattle rearing in the State, from him.

However, Mr. Modi failed to make any substantial dent in Mr. Prasad’s Yadav support base.

While there was an apparent consolidation of backward class and Muslim voters in Grand Alliance’s favor, the beef talk by the leaders of the NDA, particularly the BJP, including Mr. Modi, failed to bring about a consolidation of Hindu votes in the favor of the center's ruling alliance.

Mr. Prasad promptly declared the poll as “Mandal Raj Part II” and a fight between the “backwards and forwards”, ensuring a rapid polarization along caste lines, something which had kept the RJD in power for 15 years in the politically volatile State.

With the JD(U)-RJD-Congress Grand Alliance’s victory, the man who once ruled Bihar like a king, will now be the kingmaker.

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Bihar doomed if Lalu, Nitish win, says Modi

Bihar voted in the fourth phase of the Assembly polls on Sunday, registering a turnout of 57.6 per cent, one of the highest in these elections so far, even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi kept up an unflagging attack on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD leader Lalu Prasad.

In his speech at a public meeting in Madhepura, that will go to the polls in the final phase on November 5, Mr. Modi declared that Mahagathbandhan or Grand Alliance of Mr. Lalu Yadav and Mr. Nitish Kumar coming to power in Bihar would spell doom for the State and its people.

He said the State needed two engines for development and lifting it out of the backwardness. “One in Patna and the other in Delhi,” he said, making the point that the government led by the same party at the Center and in the State could help in faster development. “Jungle raj now has got a new twin brother,jantar-mantar [sorcery],” he said, referring to a leaked video of Mr. Nitish Kumar’s visit to a tantrik last year. “Don’t let them come together as it spells only doom and destruction of Bihar and its people.”

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I am not a 'bahari' in Bihar, says Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed two election rallies in Gopalganj and Muzaffarpur, Bihar.

Highlights of his speech:

1. The process of the first three phase elections in Bihar went on peacefully.

2. I am astonished that as soon as this election is coming to an end, the grand alliance is getting impatient.

3. Nitish Babu, Lalu ji, the more you spill the dirt, the more the Kamaal (lotus) will blossom.

4. People in goverance should give the account of the work they have done during elections. In 2019, during the Lok Sabha elections, when I come back I will have to give account of work I did in 5 years.

5. When the youth votes for a party, it has the right to know the account of work the party has done.

6. Congress has ruled Bihar for 35 years, Lalu ji ruled for 15 years and Nitish Babu ruled for 10 years. Altogether, they have ruled for 60 years in Bihar. Have they given you account of their work last 60 years?

9. Nitish Babu says that Modi is Bahari (outsider). When Bihar has voted for me to become the PM then how can I be an outsider?

10. Do you call Sonia ji, who stays in Delhi, Bihari or Bahari (an outsider)?

11. Congress ruled for 35 years, but they didn't do anything for development.

12. Since 25 years, people of Bihar made sure Congress does not rule again.

13. Lalu-ji was genious in fooling the people of Bihar. But, when the truth emerged, people of Bihar replaced Lalu ji with Nitish Kumar.

14. Even Nitish Kumar could not give any account on what work they did for the state.

15. The poor people need government schools for education. They need government hospitals.

16. Government is for those who do not have support of anyone. We want to build a government for poor people.

17. We will give loans to the poor people, so that they can use it for their development.

18. Around 3 lakh people utilised the loan services in Bihar.

19. It is a happy news for me, that all the services introduced by the Central government have been utilised by people of Bihar.

20. There is only one way, that is 'Vikaas'.

21. We fought against corruption, we have been in service for 16 months, but nobody can blame me for corruption.

22. India is moving further with honesty. Don't we need an honest government in Bihar?

23. Recently, a minister from Nitish Kumar's cabinet was caught taking bribe to sell Bihar. The people of Bihar will not forget this.

24. Aren't they fooling us? Lalu ji was accused of corruption, he is out on parole. did Nitish Kumar take over his residence and open a school in his house as promised?

25. The biggest problem of Bihar, the development of youth.

26. Shouldn't the youth of Bihar get job opportunities within the state?

27. I have three aims for Bihar: Education, job opportunities, health care.

28. Bihar needs electricity, isn't it? Bihar is the only state in India, where 4,000 villages still do not have electricity.

29. By 2022, we are planning to make sure electricity reaches every village in Bihar.

30. Nitish Kumar did not keep his promise about electricity.

31. 'Vikaas' is the only path for our success.

32. We have to be in 21st century, our youngsters need laptops for successful future.

33. Bihar can be pulled out the hole, only when there is an engine in Bihar and an engine in central government. Pull Bihar out of the hole.

34. Its time for the fourth-phase voting, first we will vote then we will enjoy!

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We’ve pinned Modi down, says Lalu

A day before Tej Pratap and Tejaswi, sons of RJD chief Lalu Prasad, face the electorate in the third phase of the Bihar Assembly elections on Wednesday, The Hindu interacted with the Yadav family, including its patriarch, on the prospects of the Grand Alliance or Mahagathbandhan and the ups and downs of the campaign.

As the last-minute preparations for polling in Raghopur and Mahua (from where Tejaswi and Tej Pratap are contesting) go on in the former Chief Minister’s sprawling Circular Road bungalow here on Tuesday, Mr. Lalu Prasad said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s attack on his party and family members “is a recognition of the fact that we [the Grand Alliance] have managed to pin him down.”

“The BJP and [Prime Minister] Modi are taken aback by the fact that the RJD and the Congress are working to establish Nitish Kumar as Chief Minister of Bihar again, and not only that, this election is not a fight for just one State, but between Mr. Modi and all who value socialism and secularism,” he said.

“It was because we were scattered that he was able to become Prime Minister. After these elections, you will see how the situation in Indian politics changes,” he said. “This is not Maharashtra or Haryana, this is Bihar,” he added for good measure.

Asked about his earlier differences with Mr. Nitish Kumar and what prompted him to endorse him as the chief ministerial candidate, Mr. Lalu Prasad said: Woh sab hawa ho gaya [Our differences melted into the air].”

His daughter Misa Bharti had more details of what weighed in on that decision.

“We were not sure our vote transference would take place if we announced a name, but the feedback from the ground assured us that this was not an issue,” Ms. Bharti said.

Hamare paas dulha declared hai, inke paas dulha kahaan hai? [Our bridegroom has been declared, where is theirs (NDA)],” Mr. Lalu Prasad asked. He took exception to what Mr. Modi said at a rally on Monday about a conspiracy to bring in reservation for “a certain community” and dilute the provision for the backward classes.

“He is ignorant. Everyone knows that nobody can give reservation in this country on the basis of religion. Earlier he had used gau maas [beef] to polarise voters. He is spreading a virus, but I have the DDT spray,” he said. He also objected to what the Prime Minister said about Misa Bharti at the rally. Beti, beti hoti hai[a girl child is everyone’s daughter]. My daughter has an MBBS degree, polled three lakh votes in her election. On the one hand, he [Mr. Modi] says beti padhao, beti badhao, and then says things like this,” he said.

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No party can change quota policy, says Modi

At his poll meeting at Naubatpur in Patna, the last on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi broke his silence on the issue of reservation, saying no party today could afford to make any change in the reservation policy enshrined in the Constitution.

He said that on this issue, he was with Nitish Kumar, Lalu Prasad and other leaders. “There will be no change in the reservation policy that Babasaheb Ambedkar espoused in the Constitution… In fact, no party today can afford to make any change,” he said. “Rights given by Babasaheb Ambedkar for the socially backward classes will never be taken away by my government … ” Mr. Modi said.

In the States where the BJP was in power quotas had not been tampered with, he said.

“I’ve been Chief Minister of Gujarat for 15 years… We’ve government in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Haryana and in other States as well but nowhere reservation has been touched.”

Striking a personal note, he said: “Sometimes I wonder had Babasaheb Ambedkar not been there, what would have happened to Narendra Modi, who was selling tea in trains in his childhood.”

On the same page

In a bid to clear the confusion over the BJP’s stand on the reservation issue, Mr. Modi said that he might have differences with Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad or others on other matters, but on the issue of quota he held the same view.

“We cannot even think of doing anything with the reservation policy. There has not been any demand for a change in the policy from anywhere…in fact, there are only demands from others to include them in the reservation benefits,” said the Prime Minister.

“But, since they [rival grand alliance leaders] have no other issues, they are spreading misinformation and canards against us,” Mr. Modi charged.

Earlier, in an interview, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had said that there should be a “review” of the reservation policy. That statement put the BJP-led NDA on the back foot in the Bihar election campaign.

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Narendra Modi addresses rally in Sasaram, Bihar

Right before the State elections take off, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is doing a last round of campaigning in Bihar.

Prime Minister, during his rally on Thursday, took a dig at rival Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad over his controversial “beef eating” comment, while invoking youth power to change government in Bihar.

He also reiterated how Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had cheated the people of the State after promising 24-hour electricity to the State during the 2010 assembly poll but “not fulfilling them yet”.

The Prime Minsiter finally broke his silence over the Dadri incident asking people of India to maintain communal harmony.

As per today's schedule PM will be addressing public rallies in Aurangabad and Sasaram.

Highlights of today's speech at Sasaram:

1. I believe this election will punish the old governments who spoiled Bihar.

2. They want to run Bihar with the remote control.

3. People of Bihar should ask Lalu ji why he is not fighting the elections this time.

4. There is one leader who insulted a Dalit child.

5. The public has to decided to take Sasaram towards development its visible in the crowd.

6. They came together just for the chair. This is for selfishness for the chair of the government.

7. In 2019, when I come, I promise I will tell you how much work I did during my rule.

Here are the highlights of yesterday's speech

1	The elections in Bihar are based on the idea of development for the first time.
2	Do you want Jungle Raj or Vikas Raj?
3	I have full faith the youth of Bihar.
4	CM promised you 24 hours of electricity? Did he fulfill his promise?
5	They looted Bihar for 60 years.
6	Now "Shaitaan" should not win Bihar.
7	Bihar needs to be saved from the present government.
8	In 2022, when India will celebrate 75 years of Independence, I want 24 hour electricity in every village.
9	Around 1.65 lakh crore package has been sanctioned for the development for Bihar.
10	I have a dream that by 2022 all the villages in India should have electricity.

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