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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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
