Bihar cabinet meeting on Monday, to pave way for formation of new govt
Patna (PTI): Decks were being cleared on Sunday for the formation of a new government in Bihar with the scheduling of the last meeting of the outgoing cabinet, which would, understandably, authorise Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to take necessary action.
According to a notification of the cabinet secretariat department, the council of ministers will meet on Monday, when, according to a senior JD(U) leader, a resolution will be passed to "authorise" Kumar to meet the governor with the proposal to dissolve the outgoing assembly.
The development came on a day Chief Electoral Officer Vinod Singh Gunjiyal met Governor Arif Mohammed Khan with a list of the members elected in the recently held assembly polls, results of which were announced on Friday.
The NDA won a brute majority, bagging more than 200 seats of the 243-strong assembly, with BJP winning the maximum of 89 seats, followed by the JD(U)'s tally of 85, while Union minister Chirag Paswan’s LJP(RV) bagged 19, and another nine were won by smaller partners HAM and RLM.
Meanwhile, JD(U) working president Sanjay Kumar Jha, who was back from Delhi after holding parleys with the top BJP leadership over the formation of a new government in the state, called on the CM here.
Talking to reporters later, he said, "In a few days, the new government will be formed. You will get to know the details in due course. We are committed to fulfilling all the promises that we had made in the NDA's manifesto."
According to a JD(U) leader who did not wish to be identified, "It is almost certain that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will fly down for the swearing-in ceremony. It will be a grand function, most likely at the historical Gandhi Maidan, which can accommodate a large number of people."
Notably, Modi had addressed over a dozen rallies during the assembly poll campaign and at his last election meeting, he had promised to "be back for the swearing in of a new NDA government".
The JD(U) leader also said, "We are looking forward to having a greater representation in the new cabinet, compared with the last one in which our party had only 12 ministers. We want more berths in the cabinet because our tally has risen sharply since 2020, when we had fewer than 50 MLAs."
He admitted that accommodating the demands of various alliance partners will be a challenging task, given the fact that LJP(RV) and RLM happen to be new entrants.
Paswan had on Saturday replied in the affirmative whether his party was looking forward to joining the government, though he ducked a query as to whether it was eyeing the deputy CM's post.
In the outgoing government, there were two Deputy CMs, Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, both from the BJP.
Another minor partner, HAM, headed by state minister Santosh Kumar Suman, held a meeting of its legislative party where Sikandra MLA Prafull Manjhi was elected the leader.
Suman, who is an MLC, said, "Our full support is to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, and we are looking forward to serving the people of Bihar once again."
While the NDA camp was busy preparing the ground for the formation of a new government, the RJD, the main party in the opposition, seemed to be torn apart by a bitter internal feud.
Rohini Acharya, daughter of RJD president Lalu Prasad, continued to make emotionally charged posts on X and tear-filled outbursts in front of the press.
She has been alleging that following the party’s debacle, she has been “sworn at”, accused of “donating my filthy kidney to my father in exchange for crores of rupees and a party ticket” and that a slipper was raised at her parents' home to hit her.
Acharya, who claims she enjoys “full support of my parents and my sisters”, squarely blamed younger brother Tejashwi Yadav, her father’s heir apparent, and the latter’s close aides for her humiliation.
"You should go and ask Sanjay Yadav, Rachel and Rameez if you want to know what has been done to me," she told reporters in Delhi, naming an RJD Rajya Sabha MP, the wife of his younger brother and another key associate.
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Women’s Reservation Bill: K'taka CM accuses PM Modi of adopting 'double standard'
Mysuru (Karnataka) (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of adopting a “double standard” on women’s reservation, alleging that the Centre had delayed implementation despite having the opportunity to act earlier.
Addressing reporters here, Siddaramaiah said the BJP and Modi had earlier opposed welfare guarantees and were now replicating them, while also questioning the timing and intent behind the women’s reservation move.
“That’s what I call double standards. Narendra Modi is not for social justice. If he was, this would have been done long ago. How many years has he been in power? It’s been 12 years. Why hasn’t it been done so far?” he asked.
The Chief Minister reiterated that the Congress had consistently supported women’s reservation and accused the Centre of "politicising" the issue.
“We spoke about women’s reservation. The Prime Minister asked me what our stand was. I said we are in favour of women’s reservation,” he said, referring to recent discussions with the PM.
He maintained that delimitation should only be carried out after a fresh Census to ensure equitable representation among states.
“In my view, delimitation should be done after a new census. That is why we opposed it. We have not opposed women’s reservation. We have always supported it,” he said.
Highlighting Congress’ past role, he said, “Who brought the 73rd and 74th amendments? Rajiv Gandhi and the Congress party. Those amendments ensured 50 per cent reservation for women in local bodies. Why would we oppose it?”
Siddaramaiah further questioned the union government’s delay in implementation. “Narendra Modi indulged in politics and got it passed in 2023. Why didn’t he implement it immediately? Then why did he wait so long? He could have implemented it immediately. If he is committed to women’s reservation, he should have implemented it,” he said.
On the linkage between delimitation and reservation, he asked, “Why did the Centre link it with delimitation? Why did it go for a constitutional amendment?” adding that such a move could disadvantage southern states that have successfully controlled population growth.
“Southern states have controlled population well, but northern states haven’t. Naturally, it benefits them and disadvantages us,” he said.
Responding to BJP’s criticism that women would “teach Congress a lesson,” Siddaramaiah said, “They are doing politics. If Modi had brought this earlier, who would have opposed women’s reservation?”
On electoral prospects elsewhere, he said he had no direct information on Tamil Nadu but was optimistic about ruling DMK's victory.
"According to the information I have, DMK and its alliance are likely to win,” while asserting that Kerala would also be won by the opposition.
In a major setback to the BJP-led Central government, a Constitution Amendment Bill to implement 33 per cent reservation for women in legislatures in 2029 and increase the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816 was defeated on Friday, with the ruling dispensation asserting that the struggle to give the rights to women will continue.
While 298 members voted in support of the bill in Lok Sabha, 230 MPs voted against it. Out of 528 members who voted, the bill required 352 votes for a two-third majority.
According to the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, Lok Sabha seats were to be increased to 816 from the current 543 to "operationalise" the women's reservation law before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.
Seats were also to be increased in state and Union territory assemblies to accommodate 33 per cent reservation for women.
