Be ready for Nitish's 'Dhokha number 2': Upendra Kushwaha warns BJP
Patna, Jun 2: Former BJP ally and Rashtriya Lok Samata Party chief Upendra Kushwaha Sunday cautioned the saffron party that Nitish Kumar will "betray" it and it should be ready for "Dhokha number 2" from the JD(U) president
"I want to tell BJP people that Nitish Kumar has been known for disrespecting the people's mandate. Betraying people's mandate and alliance partners are his old habits...BJP people should be ready to witness 'Dhokha number 2'," Kushwaha told reporters here.
"Aisa koi saga nahi jisko Nitish ne thaga nahi (There is nobody who has not been cheated by Nitish)," he said. This idiom will be translated into action here soon and hence the BJP should remain "cautious", he said.
Kushwaha was talking to reporters here after a meeting of his party to discuss the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls.
Kumar had snapped ties with the BJP in June 2013 after Narendra Modi, the then Gujarat chief minister, was made the saffron party's campaign committee chairman for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
Kumar later joined hands with the RJD and Congress to form Grand Alliance in Bihar which won the last state elections. However, in July 2017 Kumar brought down the Grand Alliance government as he pulled out of the grouping. But within hours, he joined hands with the BJP and became chief minister again.
Kushwaha said Kumar remarks that the JD(U) would not join the Modi cabinet reminded him of 'sour grapes'.
Asked as to why he thought his party and the Mahagathbandhan were routed in the Lok Sabha polls, the RLSP chief claimed that the BJP's top leadership "misled the people of the country as part of their conspiracy to deflect attention from actual issues" and people voted on non-issues.
"We have learnt a lesson and will be cautious and aware of their (BJP's) conspiracy in elections."
Replying to another query, he said that the RJD-Congress-RLSP-HAM Grand Alliance in Bihar is united and will remain so in future.
Asked if he though Tejashwi Yadav was responsible for Grand Alliance's defeat in Bihar, Kushwaha said one person cannot be held responsible.
The former Union minister termed the Bihar CM's decision to fill 32,000 posts of teachers in the state's secondary and higher secondary schools as an "eye-wash". The decision would not bring quality education in state-run schools, he said.
Kumar should alter the selection procedure and appoint quality teachers through examination held either by Bihar Public Service Commission or any other specialised body, he said.
Kushwaha, however, extended his support to Kumar for getting special category status accorded to Bihar.
If the state government forms a delegation of political parties or chalks out any programme, the RLSP would extend it support for the cause, he added.
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Ensure paid holiday for postal staff on polling day in Kerala: John Brittas writes to Scindia
New Delhi (PTI): CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas on Sunday wrote to Union Minister of Communications Jyotiraditya Scindia, seeking his urgent intervention to ensure that postal employees in Kerala are granted a statutory paid holiday on April 9 for the Assembly elections in the southern state.
In his letter, Brittas expressed serious concern over the Kerala Postal Circle’s instructions to treat all postal employees as “absentee voters in essential services (AVES)”, directing them to opt for a postal ballot within an “extremely limited” timeframe.
The Department of Posts operates under the Ministry of Communications. Along with the Department of Telecommunications, it is one of the two main sections within the ministry headed by Scindia.
In his letter, Brittas pointed out that the circular dated March 19 required the collection of Form 12D by March 20 (Eid al-Fitr), and submission of the compiled details at the respective collectorates by March 22 (Sunday), both holidays in Kerala, making meaningful compliance difficult and raising apprehensions about the “arbitrary” nature of the directions.
The CPI(M) leader also pointed out that the Election Commission, in a communication dated March 16, reiterated the requirement under Section 135B of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, that every person employed in any establishment and entitled to vote shall be granted a paid holiday on the polling day, without any deduction or abatement of wages.
He said even where certain services are treated as essential, the long-standing administrative practice has been to maintain only minimal required operations on polling day, without denying employees the opportunity to vote in person.
Brittas argued that in some other states going to polls this month, including Assam, most postal employees have been granted a holiday on polling day, in accordance with the statutory provisions.
During the 2021 Kerala polls, postal establishments had observed a holiday on polling day, subject only to limited essential arrangements, he claimed.
The present deviation, Brittas said, raises concerns about inconsistency in the application of law and the avoidable curtailment of the democratic rights of employees.
Stating that the right to vote lies at the core of India's democratic framework, Brittas urged Scindia to examine the matter urgently.
“Given the proximity of the polling date, I earnestly seek your kind indulgence to have the matter examined on priority, and to issue urgent directions to the postal authorities in Kerala to ensure that the statutory entitlement of postal employees in Kerala to a paid holiday on the day of polling is duly ensured,” Brittas said in the letter.
The 140 seats in the Kerala Assembly will go to polls on April 9, and the results will be out on May 4.
