Bihar poll debacle sparks blame-game between RJD, Congress
Patna (PTI): A blame-game is on in Bihar's opposition camp, Mahagathbandhan, which faced a humiliating defeat in the recently held assembly polls that saw the ruling NDA retain power by winning more than 200 seats in the 243-strong House.
Cat was set among the pigeons earlier this week when leaders of the Congress, who were in Delhi to attend a review meeting called by the high command, went public with the view that a section of party leaders was in favour of the party going it alone instead of having a truck with RJD, its old but domineering ally.
Prominent among those who disclosed the "sentiment of most of the 61 candidates", of whom, incidentally, only six tasted victory, was Shakeel Ahmed Khan, the Congress legislative party leader in the outgoing assembly.
"It was a sentiment expressed by most of our candidates that we would have done better had we not allied with the RJD. It is up to the party high command to decide what should be the future strategy," Khan told news outlet after news outlet.
A former JNU students' union president who was with the Left-affiliated SFI before joining Congress, Khan suffered a shocking defeat in Kadwa assembly segment where he was hopeful of a hat-trick.
The seat has been wrested by Dulal Chandra Goswami of JD(U), who had been in political wilderness since losing the Katihar Lok Sabha seat to veteran Congress leader Tariq Anwar in last year's general elections.
Sources in the Congress said that many leaders believed that the ruling NDA's 'jungle raj' narrative, seeking to highlight the lawlessness that allegedly prevailed when the RJD was ruling Bihar, cast a shadow on alliance partners as well.
Moreover, the tie-up with the party helmed by Lalu Prasad, who owes his rise to the 1990s' Mandal churn, is also said to have put off the upper castes, who were known to be supporters of the Congress earlier and have now gravitated towards the BJP.
The RJD, which has been licking its wounds since the elections, in which it ended up with a dismal tally of 25, down from 75 five years earlier, has reacted with indignation.
"If the Congress wants to go it alone, it should do so by all means. It will get to know its worth (aukaat)," said state RJD president Mangani Lal Mandal, whose attention was drawn to the outbursts of the alliance partner.
He pointed out, "Whatever votes the Congress has polled, is courtesy the RJD. It is a spent force in the state. We have been putting up with their unreasonable demands in election after election. In 2020, they insisted on contesting 70 seats and could win only 19. Their strike rate in the recent elections has been woeful. Yet, if they feel they are better off ploughing a lonely furrow, they should do so, by all means."
Notably, seat-sharing arrangements among the alliance partners, too, were far from smooth in the elections with RJD, Congress and the Left ending up in "friendly fights" in about a dozen constituencies.
The BJP-led coalition, which heartily cashed in on the confusion in the opposition camp, seems to be relishing the fresh disarray.
"The Congress and the RJD were fighting during elections and they continue to do so even now. This was bound to happen since their alliance does not have any ideological base nor is there any common commitment to the people's cause. The rift is only going to widen," asserted BJP national spokesperson Syed Shahnawaz Hussain.
Meanwhile, amid the squabble, the alliance partners seem to have agreed to put up a semblance of unity ahead of the inaugural session of the assembly beginning on Monday.
A meeting of the Mahagathbandhan was convened on Saturday when legislators of all alliance partners unanimously named RJD's Tejashwi Yadav as their leader.
The Congress was represented, at the meeting, by MLC and state unit working president Samir Kumar Singh and two of its MLAs.
According to Congress sources, the remaining four MLAs were in Delhi while the meeting took place in Patna.
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LoP Ashoka targets CM govt over corruption, says being 'shameless' in public life not forgivable
Bengaluru (PTI): Targeting Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and the Congress government in Karnataka on corruption, BJP leader R Ashoka on Friday said, being foolish was forgivable, but being "shameless" in public life was not.
The Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly claimed that in just 30 months of its tenure, the Congress administration has broken every previous record on corruption-related controversies.
He was responding to Siddaramaiah's post on 'X' on Thursday hitting back at the BJP, stating that Upa Lokayukta Justice Veerappa's claims of "63 per cent corruption" were based on his report in November 2019, when BJP's B S Yediyurappa was the CM.
"But Ashoka, without understanding the Upa Lokayukta's statement properly, has ended up tying the BJP's own bells of sins onto our heads and has effectively shot himself in the foot," the CM had said, as he accused Ashoka of foolishness for trying to twist Veerappa's statement to target the current government.
Responding, Ashoka said, "it is one thing to be called foolish in politics, that can be forgiven."
"But in public life, especially in the Chief Minister's chair, one must never become shameless," Ashoka posted on 'X' on Friday addressing Siddaramaiah.
Noting that the CM himself had admitted on the floor of the Assembly that a Rs 87 crore scam took place in the Valmiki Development Corporation, he said that when a CM acknowledges such a massive irregularity inside the floor of the House, the natural expectation is immediate action and accountability.
"But instead of taking responsibility, you continue in office as if nothing has happened. What should the people of Karnataka call this, if not sheer shamelessness," he asked.
Pointing out that the CM's Economic Advisor and senior Congress MLA Basavaraja Rayareddy had publicly stated that under Congress rule, Karnataka has become No.1 in corruption, Ashoka said, "Yet, you still cling to the Chief Minister's chair without a moment of introspection. What should the people of Karnataka call this, if not sheer shamelessness."
Senior Congress MLA C R Patil had exposed the "money for House" racket in the Housing Department and even warned that the government would collapse if the details he has were made public, Ashoka said.
"Despite such serious allegations from within your own party (Congress), you neither initiated an inquiry nor acted against the concerned minister. What should the people of Karnataka call this, if not sheer shamelessness," Ashoka asked the CM.
Highlighting the "40 percent commission" allegation Congress made against the previous BJP government, the opposition leader said, the commission that the Siddaramaiah government appointed concluded that the accusation was baseless.
"After your own panel demolished your own claim, what moral right do you have to continue repeating that allegation. What should the people of Karnataka call this, if not sheer shamelessness," he asked.
For the last two and a half years, Karnataka has been 'drowning' in corruption, scandals, irregularities and allegations across departments. Ashoka said, "If I begin listing every case that emerged under your government, even 24 hours would not be enough."
"And the most tragic aspect of your administration is this: the unbearable pressure, corruption demands and administrative harassment under your government pushed several officers and contractors into extreme distress - including the suicide of Chandrasekharan which exposed the Valmiki Development Corporation scam - a sign of how deeply broken the system has become under your watch," he said.
Instead of fixing this hopeless environment, the government has tried to bury every complaint and silence every voice, he charged.
"Being foolish is forgivable, but being shameless in public life is definitely not."
"When your own ministers admit scams, when your own advisors certify Karnataka as No.1 in corruption, and when your own MLAs expose rackets inside your departments - clinging to power without accountability is not leadership. It is shamelessness in its purest form." PTI KSU
Earlier on Thursday Ashoka had demanded that the corruption case and allegations in the state against the Congress government be handed over to a CBI investigation, citing a reported statement by Upalokaykta Justice Veerappa alleging "63 per cent corruption", following which Siddaramaiah hit back at the BJP leader.
