Bihar: Tejaswi is the real winner
Bihar, the state that had stood up against communalism and stopped Advani’s rath yatra when it was spreading hatred throughout the country, is now virtually in the hands of the BJP. Lalu Prasad Yadav who had saved Bihar from communal hatred is in jail. Modi has achieved what Advani failed at by using socialist leaders. BJP has won Bihar in the name of NDA. Nitish’s party has personally lost the elections. Compared to Nitish, RJD led by Tejaswi Yadav who is very young has won maximum seats. While RJD that contested in 144 constituencies won 75 seats, the JDU that contested in 115 seats has won only 43 seats and BJP has won 74 seats. The strength of the JDU that won 71 seats in the 2015 elections has been reduced to 43 seats. The BJP that had then won 53 seats has increased its tally to 74. Though BJP has captured Bihar that was in the hands of regional parties through Nitish, Bihar has accepted Tejaswi Yadav as its future leader. BJP has already announced Nitish Kumar as the NDA Chief Minister. Tragically, though he has become Bihar’s Chief Minister with the support of the BJP, the people of Bihar have partially rejected him. In the absence of Lalu Prasad Yadav, the way Tejaswi strengthened the party and captured 75 seats is a huge development in Bihar. The Bihar election results have shown that the era of senior and seasoned politicians such as Nitish and Lalu Prasad Yadav has ended and a new era of young politicians has begun.
Conscientious citizens had great expectations from the Bihar Assembly elections as the elections were held after the sustained dark period post the Coronavirus and lockdown. Bihar that has the maximum number of migrant labourers suffered enormously due to the lockdown. The government that failed to handle the Coronavirus and imposed a nation-wide lockdown transferred the lives of the poor from the frying pan to the fire. Also, the several anti-people policies of the Central government impacted the lives of the common man of Bihar. In such a grim scenario, it is normal for an election to throw up an anti-establishment result. But BJP has emerged as the second largest party in the state. Not just this, it has also partially eaten away at a regional party rooted in the state such as the JDU. With the memories of the pain of lockdown still etched in public memory, BJP improving its performance tremendously in Bihar is a defeat of the ‘politics of development.’ In a way, this election has primarily given a ‘small clean chit’ to Modi from the losses the country suffered due to the lockdown. Even though there was rampant misuse of power, misuse of media, brazen display of money power, and a full display of Modi’s lies, none of them seemed to have mattered in the election. However, by contributing to the growth of BJP, Nitish Kumar and Dalit youth leader Chirag Paswan have cheated the victims of the lockdown in the Assembly elections.
Election analysis reports are referring to the significant role played by Asaduddin Owaisi and Chirag Paswan. Of these two leaders who have proclaimed themselves as leaders of two communities that are experiencing maximum distress, Chirag Paswan, son of Ramvilas Paswan, has admitted openly that he contested against the JDU to strengthen the BJP. But perhaps Paswan has no answers as to how strengthening the BJP would help him politically or how the Dalit community would benefit. During the campaign, Chirag spoke in support of Modi. In public rallies, Chirag, who did not even mistakenly utter the name of Ambedkar, was citing the name of Modi as though he would be his savior. He regarded Nitish’s defeat as his victory and succeeded in achieving that but he won only one seat. The politics of Chirag Paswan who hails from a community that is defeated is directionless. Forget benefitting Dalits, he is not benefitting from his politics.
Owaisi’s is a different case. Owaisi has clarified after the election results that though he was interested in being a part of Mahaghatbandhan, everyone considered him as an untouchable. By bagging five seats in the elections, Owaisi’s party has registered surprising results. There is no doubt that Asaduddin, who has won the best parliamentarian award, is a seasoned politician. But other secular parties hesitated to identify themselves with his party that targets Muslims as its base. Having taken this as a challenge, Owaisi not only chose to field candidates in several constituencies but also won five seats and proved his stature. Parties such as Congress that are politically pushing the minorities into a corner have no moral authority to hold Owaisi responsible for their failures. Congress leaders who believe that Muslims will not win if they are given tickets are solely responsible for Owaisi winning five seats. Though the Muslim, Dalit, and secular votes are divided differently, the one promising factor that has emerged is the emergence of RJD as a major political force. At the same time, the Left has captured 16 seats having joined hands with other parties. If they come out of their superiority bubble, the Left parties have the potential to play a significant role in the country’s politics by joining hands with other political parties to defeat communal and anti-Constitutional forces. The election results have thus conveyed a clear message to the leaders of the left parties who should amplify their intellect to absorb this message.
The results of by-elections in Karnataka, held along with Bihar elections, are not even worth analyzing. If Munirathna’s money power won the elections in RR Nagar, in Sira, BJP won because of the opportunism of the JD(S). In R.R.Nagar, Congress made the mistake of fielding Kusuma, wife of the Late D.K.Ravi, a popular IAS officer who had killed himself. The media then had written about the wife’s role in Ravi’s death, quoting his parents. Kusuma could not therefore convert into votes the popularity of Ravi. It appears that the people voted in favour of justice for Ravi and against Kusuma. That the by-election results have further strengthened Chief Minister Yediyurappa’s position is the only conclusion that can be drawn from the by-election results.
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Texas halts H-1B visas at state universities, agencies; to affect Indians
Houston (US) (PTI): Texas Governor Greg Abbott has ordered state agencies and public universities to immediately halt new H-1B visa petitions, tightening hiring rules at taxpayer-funded institutions, a step likely to impact Indian professionals.
The freeze will remain in effect through May 2027.
The directive issued on Tuesday said that the state agencies and public universities must stop filing new petitions unless they receive written approval from the Texas Workforce Commission.
The governor's order, in a red state that is home to thousands of H-1B visa holders, comes as the Trump administration has initiated steps to reshape the visa programme.
“In light of recent reports of abuse in the federal H-1B visa programme, and amid the federal government’s ongoing review of that programme to ensure American jobs are going to American workers, I am directing all state agencies to immediately freeze new H-1B visa petitions as outlined in this letter,” Abbot said.
Institutions must also report on H-1B usage, including numbers, job roles, countries of origin, and visa expiry dates, the letter said.
US President Donald Trump on September 19 last year signed a proclamation ‘Restriction on entry of certain non-immigrant workers’ that restricted the entry into the US of those workers whose H-1B petitions are not accompanied or supplemented by a payment of USD 1,00,000.
The H1-B visa fee of USD 1,00,000 would be applicable only to new applicants, i.e. all new H-1B visa petitions submitted after September 21, including those for the FY2026 lottery.
Indians make up an estimated 71 per cent of all approved H-1B applications in recent years, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), with China in the second spot. The major fields include technology, engineering, medicine, and research.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is the second-highest beneficiary with 5,505 approved H-1B visas in 2025, after Amazon (10,044 workers on H-1B visas), according to the USCIS. Other top beneficiaries include Microsoft (5,189), Meta (5,123), Apple (4,202), Google (4,181), Deloitte (2,353), Infosys (2,004), Wipro (1,523) and Tech Mahindra Americas (951).
Texas public universities employ hundreds of foreign faculty and researchers, many from India, across engineering, healthcare, and technology fields.
Date from Open Doors -- a comprehensive information resource on international students and scholars studying or teaching at higher education institutions in the US -- for 2022-2023 showed 2,70,000 students from India embarked on graduate and undergraduate degrees in US universities, accounting for 25 per cent of the international student population in the US and 1.5 per cent of the total student population.
Indian students infuse roughly USD 10 billion annually into universities and related businesses across the country through tuition and other expenses – while also creating around 93,000 jobs, according to the Open Doors data.
Analysts warn the freeze could slow recruitment of highly skilled professionals, affecting academic research and innovation.
Supporters say the directive protects local jobs, while critics caution it could weaken Texas’ competitiveness in higher education and research.
The order comes amid broader debate in the US over skilled immigration and state-level interventions in federal programmes.
H-1B visas allow US companies to hire technically-skilled professionals that are not easily available in America. Initially granted for three years, these can be extended for another three years.
In September 2025, Trump had also signed an executive order ‘The Gold Card’, aimed at setting up a new visa pathway for those committed to supporting the United States; with individuals who can pay USD 1 million to the US Treasury, or USD 2 million if a corporation is sponsoring them, to get access to expedited visa treatment and a path to a Green Card.
