Will new Cong strategy work?

Navendu Sharma, TNN, Oct 10, 2010

PATNA: In the parliamentary elections held last year, Congress had managed to win only two Lok Sabha seats out of 40 in Bihar. Yet, it had some reason to take solace as the party had gained substantial vote share.

Against 4 and 6 percent vote share in the two Bihar assembly polls held in 2005, the party had reportedly polled 10 percent votes in the Lok Sabha polls in the state. This percentage went up to approximately 15% in the bypolls held for the 18 assembly seats last year. In the process, the party wrested two seats from the JD(U).

Coupled with the party's impressive show in UP in the parliamentary elections, this gave the impression that, led from the front by Rahul Gandhi, the party is in a resurgent mode. By regaining the ground that it had ceded to regional parties over the years, Congress hoped to consolidate its grip on Delhi.

But that was in 2009. The question uppermost in Congressmen's minds is whether the party will continue to improve upon its performance in the approaching Bihar assembly elections? The party changed horses midstream in late July this year. Not only is a new team at the helm in the state unit, even at the national level there are new in charges for the state. Party strategists are said to have effected a change in their strategy. Will this pay dividend to the party?

The party has witnessed furore over the alleged partisan and slipshod distribution of tickets. Likes of Anirudh Prasad alias Sadhu Yadav the saala of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, Ranjeet Ranjan and Lovely Anand, wives of jailed ex-MPs Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav and Anand Mohan, respectively, have not only been fielded but have wielded considerable influence in distribution of tickets. Several turncoats have been rewarded with nomination. "This has not gone down well with party workers and masses as this is negation of Rahul Gandhi's initiatives to rejuvenate the party," rued a party leader.

According to party sources, this shift in strategy began after AICC secretary Sardar Iqbal Singh, the then in charge, Bihar, was appointed governor. First Jagdish Tytler and then Mukul Wasnik were appointed in charge of the state. The then BPCC president, Anil Kumar Sharma, and working president Samir Kumar Singh started feeling ignored. Tainted leaders became important in the party. In September, when Rahul Gandhi addressed a public meeting in Saharsa, he was flanked by Ranjeet Ranjan and Lovely Anand.

On July 31 this year, Sharma and Singh were removed from their posts. Chaudhary Mehboob Ali Qaiser was appointed the state unit chief. Qaiser is a gentleman, but he is not a mass leader.

Past working president of BPCC, Samir Kumar Singh, a third-generation Congressman who has never flirted with any other party a rarity these days was neither included in the state election committee nor otherwise consulted in ticket distribution. Instead, 10 party tickets were distributed on the recommendation of Ranjeet Ranjan, who joined the party only last year. The party is now said to be trying to carve out a vote bank of Dalits, Muslims and backwards. Muslim votes may also get split. "Not actively wooing the forward castes may turn out to be a mistake for the party," said a party leader who did not wish to be quoted.

Politicians with criminal background in Bihar fray

Patna, October 10, 2010
Hindustan Times
Almost all political parties in Bihar have fielded candidates with criminal background in the ensuing Assembly elections with the ruling JD(U) and BJP topping the list with 72 such nominees. National Election Watch, an NGO, says according to the affidavit filed by candidates for the six-phased elections, BJP has fielded 41 'tainted' candidates, while JD(U) has 31 such nominees in the fray.

Ramvilas Paswan's LJP has 13 candidates, who according to their affidavits, have been chargesheeted in criminal cases.

The affidavits of 57 RJD candidates show that the party has fieled 22 who have criminal cases pending against them, the NGO said.

Some of the candidates face charges of murder, kidnapping, extortion and loot.

LJP has fielded Rama Singh, who faces over a dozen criminal charges including murder and extortion, from Mahnar in Vaishali district, besides Shankar Singh at Rupauli.

The LJP candidate from Araria Zakir Hussain also faces criminal cases.

RJD has fielded candidates with criminal antecedents, including Md Anwarul Haque (Bajpaati), Lalit Kumar Yadav (Darbhanga Rural), Md Israil (Kanti), Samrat Choudhary alias Rakesh Kumar (Parbatta), Prahalad Yadav (Surajgarha), Dr Ramanand Yadav (Fatua), Vijay Prakash (Jamui).

It has also fielded Surendra Prasad Yadav from a constituency in Gaya. He is known as 'Magadh Samrat' for his muscle power in the Maoist-affected Magadh division comprising Gaya, Aurangabad, Jehanabad, Nawada and Arwal districts.

The RJD, which has nine candidates facing criminal cases in its first list of 65, has fielded Kunti Devi, wife of alleged muscleman Rajendra Yadav, to contest from Atri (Gaya).

The BJP has given ticket to sitting Shahpur MLA Munni Devi whose husband Bhuvar Ojha and brother-in-law Vimeshwar face criminal cases. Others include Shakuni Choudhary (Tarapur), Iliyas Hussain (Dehri).

Muslims, Hindus build temple together in Bihar

New Delhi: One part of India has remain untouched by the verdict on Ayodhya. Muslims in a village in Bihar are busy building a temple for their Hindus neighbours - setting a concrete example of real coexistence.

While the nation is still holding back its breath - the post Ayodhya verdict, a remote village in Bihar is celebrating. Muslims in Bachawara village of Begusarai district are busy constructing a temple these days. The land has been donated by a Muslim landlord to construct a Shiva temple, the money is being raised by fellow Muslims & they are even volunteering physically.

The village has pre-dominant Muslim population and they are building a temple in reciprocation to one of the Mazar located there, which has been built by Ganga Chaudhary, a Hindu farmer.

Even post Ayodhya verdict, the construction of temple continued with the same zeal.

Unfazed by the bitterness over mandir-maszid dispute, these villagers have proved by their act, that for them humanity is the only religion, whether they worship in temples or offer namaz in mosque".

"We have accepted the verdict and celebrated with both Hindus and Muslims," said a villager, Salauddin Ansari.

These villagers are untouched by distrust and hatred elsewhere and earning livelihood out of making biri is all that matters to them.

"Both Hindus and Muslims stay together here," said another villager Veena Devi.

These faceless and ordinary folks are displaying what could not be practiced by so called baton bearers of both the religion.

Prabhakar Kumar , CNN-IBN
Posted on Oct 03, 2010 at 08:49 | Updated Oct 03, 2010 at 11:53

CPI(ML) releases election manifesto for Bihar assembly polls

CPI-ML (Liberation) general secretary Deepankar Bhattacharya today released party's election manifesto with an appeal to the voters to end the "reign of loot and rehetoric-- change the face of Bihar through land reforms."

The party is contesting the upcoming six-phase assembly elections on seat sharing arrangements with two other major Left parties", Communist Party of India and the CPI(M), on majority of the 243 assembly seats but there would friendly contest among them on more than 30 seats.

Releasing the manifesto, Bhattacharya said "Its a welcome sign that Left forces in Bihar are now showing an increasing inclination for united struggles- rejecting the ruinous course of alliances with the rulers, Left ranks are getting united to reclaim the fighting legacy of the Left.

He said to strengthen the politics of change and justice, Bihar requires a powerful unity of Left and democratic forces and appealed to all sincere socialists and democratic activists of diverse trends to come together and join hands with the CPI(ML) and the Left as a whole to take Bihar forward towards "land reforms and genuine welfare of the people and defeat the forces of corruption, nepotism, communalism, feudal reaction and autocracy.

PTI / Sunday, October 3, 2010 16:06 IST

URL of the article: http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_cpiml-releases-election-manifesto-for-bihar-assembly-polls_1447042-all

PM thanks E.Asian nations for help in reviving Nalanda varsity

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday thanked East Asian countries for their help in reviving the ancient Nalanda University as a global institution of "excellence", saying it will be a shining example of cooperative action in the field of education.

"We are greatly encouraged that the Summit will adopt a Statement on the establishment of the Nalanda University in the State of Bihar in India," Singh said in Cha-Am Hua Hin while addressing the 4th East Asia Summit.

The prime minister said that this has been the product of many months of hard work put in by the Nalanda Mentor Group, and will be a "shining example of cooperative action in the field of education."

"I thank our Singapore colleague (Lee Hsien Loong) for his pioneering zeal in pursuit of this idea," he said.

Earlier, addressing the 7th India-ASEAN Summit, Singh on Saturday said, "We look forward to working closely with the ASEAN and other countries of the East Asia Summit process to establish the Nalanda University as an international institution of excellence in the education with a continual focus."

Nalanda university, which existed until 1197 AD in Bihar and has been called one of the first great universities in recorded history, attracted students and scholars from Korea, Japan, China, Tibet, Indonesia, Iran and Turkey, besides being a pedestal of higher education in India.

An 11-member Nalanda Mentor Group, headed by Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, had been set up to oversee the opening of Nalanda International University at Nalanda in Bihar.

The proposed Nalanda International University will be fully residential, based on the ideal of ancient varsity once situated there.

In the first phase, seven schools with 46 foreign faculty members and over 400 Indian academics will be established.

The school will have seven faculties that include information science and technology, peace and Buddhism, international relationship, history, language & literature, development & management and ecology & environment.

A renowned international scholar will be its chancellor.

Source: Doordarshan, October 25,2009

Muslims, Sikhs observe Chhat

ANAND S.T. DAS

Patna
Oct. 24: Gudiya Khatun is observing a 36-hour fast and has made all arrangements with her family to ensure she celebrates the Chhat festival with all its strict rituals and stress on purity. This Muslim woman from Patna’s Nehru Nagar locality has been celebrating the predominantly Hindu festival of Chhat for the past four years.

Like Gudiya, hundreds of Muslim and Sikh families across Bihar are seen joining an increasing number of people who celebrate Chhat, the hugely popular Hindu worship of the Sun God and Bihar’s most important festival.

Many hundreds of Muslims and Sikhs are also seen lending helping hands to Hindus celebrating the four-day festival that began on Friday.

As the banks of rivers and ponds and the precincts of the four Sun temples in Bihar were thronged by lakhs of Chhat devotees worshipping the Sun, divisive psychological barriers perpetuated by religious stereotypes seemed to evaporate like the morning dew.

"We have faith in all Hindu deities and we celebrate Chhat very eagerly. More Sikh families are now joining us wholeheartedly," said Sonam Kaur, a Sikh from Patna Sahib.

Clay chullahs used by Chhat devotees are mostly made by Muslims. "The Hindus love our chullahs. There is no religious feeling about this. We Muslims have been making the chullahs for the past 25 years," said Mohammed Makkan, a chullah-maker in Patna.

In Gaya, several riverbanks were spruced up for Chhath devotees by Muslims.

"We have done it gladly for our Hindu sisters and brothers. It gives us great happiness," said Haji Mohammed Khursheed Alam, a Gaya social worker. The Sikhs offered drinking water and puja materials free of cost to many Chhat devotees in several Bihar towns, including Patna.

Chhat brings tremendous religious fervour and festive spirits to Bihar and Jharkhand.

Source: Asian Age, October 25, 2009

15 lakh children still out of school in Bihar

Patna: Nearly 15 lakh children are still out of schools in Bihar, prompting the state government to form education committees in all the state-run primary and middle schools for not only looking after organisational matters but also improving the attendance rate of students.
We still have around 15 lakh children away from the schools and we have to bring them to schools, official sources told PTI today.

The state government has decided to set up education committees responsible for looking after daily affairs and ensuring maximum attendance in schools, they said.

Stating that the rate of attendance had registered marked improvement because of the facilities being provided by the state government in schools and drive launched for motivating children to come to school, sources said the committees would prove to be an important tool to bridge the gap.

Initial process for holding elections for the committees has been set in motion by the State Election Authority (SEC) tasked with the job, they said adding the job was tedious as elections would be held for more than 3,000 primary schools in the state. The election process is set to begin from December 2009, they said.

Sources claimed that the committees would improve the functioning of primary and middle schools and help improve the literacy rate in Bihar.

Initially, there will be provisions that only parents of the students with 60% attendance can contest the polls for becoming the members of the committees, they said, adding fifty per cent posts would be reserved for women, sources said.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar has taken keen interest to ensure quality teaching in schools and motivate the children to get enrolled in schemes.

Kumar has also introduced several promotional schemes for school-going students and even given thrust on roping in men in uniform to bring those staying away from schools to schools.

Source: DNA, October 23, 2009