Are Lalu Yadav and Narendra Modi playing a fixed match in Bihar?
Both have a common enemy in Nitish Kumar, and then there’s the CBI
For some time now, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in Bihar has been focusing on Nitish Kumar, making him the centrepiece of its attacks. Issues pertaining to the Modi government and fighting communalism find obligatory references, but the RJD has not named Narendra Modi or Amit Shah much.
In a passionate speech at the RJD’s foundation day in Patna last week, Tejashwi Yadav lashed out at Nitish. He said Nitish was trying to spread the idea that the RJD needs him to defeat the BJP. Tejashwi refuted the idea, asserting that the RJD has no need of Nitish. He instead suggested that Nitish should take retirement.
The RJD wants Bihar politics to be a bi-polar contest between itself and the BJP. It wants to make Nitish irrelevant.
Happily for the RJD, the BJP has the same agenda. It has been clear for a while that the BJP is not interested in keeping the JD(U) in good humour. It is not interested in giving the JD(U) any more than nine or 10 seats as part of the NDA alliance in Bihar. The state has 40 seats.
Enemy’s enemy is friend
Since Nitish switched sides and allied with the BJP, Bihar has reportedly seen a rise in incidents of communal tension. Recently, union minister Giriraj Singh went and met families of the Bajrang Dal workers arrested for their alleged role in communal clashes.
A weak Nitish can do nothing about this, except issuing obligatory condemnation. The result is that Bihar’s nearly 17 per cent Muslims can no longer depend on Nitish for their safety from Hindutva aggression.
Between the BJP’s communalism and the RJD’s secularism, who needs Nitish? The more the BJP plays the polarisation number in Bihar, the more Muslims will vote for the RJD. The JD(U) will be neither here nor there.
The impact was clear in the Jokihat assembly bypoll in May. The Muslim-dominated JD(U) stronghold was won by the RJD.
It appears that the BJP would be very happy if Nitish walked out of the NDA and did not find acceptance with the RJD or the Congress. That is the ideal situation for the BJP as it would split the anti-Modi votes, just like 2014. In that Lok Sabha election, the BJP and its allies had together won 31 of the state’s 40 seats.
The RJD would like us to think that Nitish is irrelevant, but that is not the case. “Our worst phase was 2014. Even then, we had secured 17 per cent votes,” Nitish told his party’s national executive in Delhi Sunday.
Is the RJD making an error of judgement in thinking that Bihar politics is becoming a bi-polar contest between itself and the BJP?
Or is there something else going on here?
Lalu Yadav needs Nitish if he wants to do well in the Lok Sabha elections. On his own he might increase his party’s tally from four to eight seats, but if there were to be a mahagatbandhan, the tally could be as high as 15. Moreover, the mahagatbandhan could be critical in stopping the BJP from coming close to the majority mark in the Lok Sabha.
Lalu would be happy with that, but he has a greater need: protecting himself and his family from the relentless harassment of the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Enforcement Directorate and other central agencies.
For the last month or so, the agencies have apparently been going slow on the Lalu family. The last bit of news was on 12 June when the ED attached some property linked to the Lalu family.
The corruption charge against Tejashwi over which Nitish broke the alliance is being investigated by the CBI. The case is not making news these days. Then there’s an alleged IRCTC scam in which Lalu and Rabri Devi’s names have come up. Then there are the raids, notices and interrogations of Misa Bharti and her husband that went on for months. Lalu, Rabri, daughter Misa, son Tejashwi – they all face multiple charges in many different cases.
As these cases slow down, the Lalu family’s noises against Nitish seem to have risen proportionately. A few more Lok Sabha seats don’t do anything for the RJD. Managing the relentless investigations is a greater objective for the family driven party. Fixed as the match may be, it will still be interesting.
Courtesy: theprint.in
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Mohali building collapse: Rescue operation underway
Chandigarh (PTI): A rescue operation at the site where a four-storey building collapsed in Sohana village of Punjab's Mohali district continued on Sunday, officials said.
The multi-storey building collapsed on Saturday evening, with at least five people trapped in its rubble. A 20-year-old woman died in the incident on Saturday evening.
The woman hailing from Himachal Pradesh, died after she was pulled out of the debris of the building. She was rescued from the rubble in critical condition and was rushed to a hospital, but she succumbed to her injuries.
The rescue effort continued overnight.
A man hailing from Ambala Cantt told reporters at the site that his 29-year-old son, who used to visit a gym in the building, was missing.
Police have booked two building owners in the incident.
Several excavators were pressed into service as part of the rescue operation.
National Disaster Response Team (NDRF), Army, state rescue teams have been working since Saturday evening to address the crisis. Medical teams, along with an ambulance, have also been deployed at the site since Saturday evening.
As the operation continued at the site, required equipment and machinery have been made available to the rescuers, in addition to those brought by the NDRF and Army.
"IndianArmy reacted swiftly for the rescue. In a remarkable display of coordinated efforts, #IndianArmy Columns along with #NDRF and State rescue teams have been relentlessly working to address the crisis.
"Engineer Task Force with debris clearance machine & JCBs are operational at site. Top debris removed & efforts being done to reach the basement," Western Command, Indian Army, said in a post on X.
After the incident on Saturday, all major hospitals in Mohali such as Civil Hospital (attached within Medical College), Fortis, Max and Sohana, were put on alert to cater to the wounded.
Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav, who was at the spot on Saturday, had said a multi-agency rescue effort was underway.
