NDA’s cash pitch to women swung Bihar polls, says VIP chief after party draws a blank
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Patna (PTI): Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) founder Mukesh Sahani on Friday attributed his party’s rout in the Bihar assembly polls to NDA’s aggressive cash outreach to women voters, as the INDIA bloc ally failed to take a lead in any of the 12 seats it contested.
Speaking to PTI Video shortly after trends confirmed the VIP’s wipeout, despite his projection as the alliance’s deputy chief ministerial face, Sahani insisted that the verdict was the “people’s mandate”, not a reflection of organisational slack.
“Voters did not connect with our message. They trusted Nitish ji and Modi ji, and I congratulate both of them,” he said.
“We delivered our message; every alliance leader delivered theirs. But, ultimately it was the public’s verdict,” Sahani said.
Sahani argued that the NDA’s targeted promise of direct financial assistance to women was one of the decisive factors behind the INDIA bloc’s collapse.
He pointed specifically to the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana (MMRY), announced by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on August 29, which promises Rs 2.10 lakh in instalments to women entrepreneurs to start small enterprises such as stores, dairies, tailoring units, beauty parlours or art-and-craft ventures.
The first instalment of Rs 10,000 has already been credited to the bank accounts of over 1.21 crore women enrolled under the JEEViKA self-help group network.
“Our mothers and sisters who live in poverty felt that the money would change their lives. Naturally, they voted for that promise,” Sahani said, calling the trend “a clear case of the government using state money as a campaign lever”.
He described the shift as a move from “black money distributed at midnight by strongmen” to “state money distributed in broad daylight”, contending that while dominant caste groups once bought votes covertly, “now the government itself was doing it legally”.
On the VIP’s failure to open its account, Sahani was said, “The account was not mine to open. It was for the people to open, and they didn’t. That’s all.”
The VIP had won four seats in the 2020 assembly polls.
He asserted that this moment called for acceptance, not recrimination.
“There is no problem right now. Those who won deserve the congratulations. We will review everything in the coming days and return to the people. One day, the public will open our account,” he said.
Sahani added that the VIP would continue to fight for women to receive the remaining amount under the MMRY scheme.
“We will stay in the field and hold the government to its word,” he asserted.
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Two arrested in K'taka for assaulting minors, uploading CSAM content
Bengaluru (PTI): Two men were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls, recording the acts on mobile phones and uploading the videos online as child sexual abuse material, police said on Thursday.
The accused have been identified as Kiran Kumar (29), hailing from Chitradurga district, and Aditya M K (20), hailing from Shivamogga district, they said.
A probe was initiated after information was received from the NCRP portal regarding a suspected instance of creation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) for online dissemination, police said.
Accordingly, a case was registered at Kaggalipura Police Station under relevant sections of the IT Act on May 10, they added.
Investigation revealed that two minor girl victims were exploited and videos were created and uploaded to the internet. The child victims have subsequently recorded their statements as per procedure and further necessary legal steps have been taken, Pronab Mohanty Director General of Police, Cyber Command, said in a statement.
Based on the statements of the victims, the accused persons, who allegedly assaulted the minors, recorded the acts on mobile phones and uploaded the videos online, were arrested, he said.
Following the probe, sections 65(2) (rape) and 70 (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the POCSO Act, have been added to the FIR, police said.
Officials collected relevant information and on May 12, arrested the accused persons and seized three mobile phones belonging to them, in which the videos had allegedly been recorded, he said.
The accused were later produced before the court and taken into police custody for further investigation, he added.
According to him, in CSAM cases, police usually apprehend offenders who have downloaded such content or have kept them in their possession after obtaining them from elsewhere, usually the internet.
"The present case is one of the very few instances where content creators and uploaders have been apprehended," Mohanty added.
