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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Delhi CM Rekha Gupta accuses Mamata Banerjee of stalling SIR; TMC hits back
Kolkata (PTI): Alleging that her West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee had approached the Supreme Court to stall the SIR exercise to prevent the identification of infiltrators, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Sunday claimed that the people of the state have made up their minds to dislodge the Trinamool Congress from power.
The TMC countered strongly, urging Gupta to "look into her own backyard" and accused her of making absurd allegations against the TMC government without checking facts.
Addressing participants at the 'Nari Sankalp Yatra' organised by the BJP's women's wing at Science City auditorium here, Gupta alleged that the "hands-off" and appeasement policies of the TMC government had allowed thousands of infiltrators to enter the state in recent years.
She claimed that this had put a strain on basic rights such as access to water, electricity, ration, education, livelihood and the right to vote for genuine citizens.
"She wants to perpetuate this and hence is trying to stall the SIR exercise, which aims at identifying and deporting infiltrators. Imagine a chief minister going to the apex court to argue against an exercise meant to ensure free and fair polls," Gupta said.
The BJP leader alleged that appeasement politics had reached an "alarming level" under the TMC regime.
Raising concerns over women's safety, she claimed that women in the state were not secure despite having a woman chief minister.
Referring to the rape-murder of a woman doctor at RG Kar Hospital, Gupta alleged that the state government had failed to respond adequately to such crimes.
She also referred to the alleged rape of a woman medic in Durgapur and another law student on a Kolkata college campus, claiming that criminals had been emboldened to commit brutalities against women.
She alleged that in crimes against women, overall crime incidents and child marriages, West Bengal remained among the top -- "a slur on a state which once led intellectual and social movements and set examples for the rest of the country," she said.
Criticising the state government's welfare initiatives, she said schemes such as Kanyashree were built on "false claims" and asserted that women needed security rather than assurances.
Accusing the state government of blocking central schemes, Gupta alleged that funds worth "lakhs of crores of rupees" had not reached the poor due to non-implementation of programmes such as Ayushman Bharat, PM Awas Yojana and Jal Jeevan Mission by the state.
"You are only interested in renaming projects and taking credit," she said.
Gupta also alleged that the education sector in the state had been adversely affected, saying several state-run schools had closed due to a shortage of teachers and that the government was opposed to the National Education Policy.
Drawing a comparison with BJP-ruled Delhi, Gupta said, "People have already voted out 'Bhaia' (a reference to former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal). Now it is your turn to bid farewell to 'Didi'." Calling upon women to resist what she termed "strong-arm tactics", she urged them to assert their strength, invoking the imagery of Goddess Durga.
"Bengal has the right to live with dignity, and women have the right to live with dignity," she added.
Reacting to Gupta's allegations, West Bengal Women and Child Welfare minister Shashi Panja accused her of making "absurd allegations" against the Trinamool Congress government ahead of elections.
Panja alleged that during Gupta's tenure in Delhi, several incidents had raised serious concerns, including reports of missing young women and a blast near the Red Fort.
She also criticised the air pollution situation in the national capital, claiming that people were struggling to breathe.
The TMC leader said that despite being in power for a year, Gupta was making "tall claims" instead of addressing key issues in Delhi.
Panja further alleged that the Delhi CM visited West Bengal during elections to "peddle false allegations" against the state government.
Rebutting Gupta, the TMC said in a post on X said, "Madam why did you go off-script again? For your edification, here are the cold, hard facts: In total cases of crimes (IPC + SLL), Bengal ranks a respectable 15th, far safer than BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Gujarat, which languish near the bottom."
"In overall crime rate, Bengal sits comfortably at 28th. Who's second? Your own Delhi. Double Engine Gujarat and Haryana grab 4th and 5th as top-tier crime havens," the TMC said.
"In child marriage, Assam again takes the shameful pole position. And yet you dare lecture Bengal? Stop embarrassing yourself, stop the hypocrisy, and maybe fix the rotting mess in your own backyard before pointing fingers at a state that's outperforming your disasters on every key metric," the TMC countered.
