I am in no hurry to become chief minister: Tejashwi Yadav
Patna, Feb 22: Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav on Wednesday asserted that he was "in no hurry" to replace his boss Nitish Kumar, rubbishing speculations that his RJD wanted to elbow out the ageing JD(U) leader.
Yadav, who is in his early 30s, also deftly rebuffed queries from journalists as to whether he felt "cheated" by averments of some top JD(U) leaders that the septuagenarian Kumar would complete his five-year tenure ending in 2025 and was "capable of" leading the Mahagathbandhan till 2030.
"What wrong did they say? Indeed he (Nitish) is very much capable. And the longer he stays, the richer will be his experience. I am in no hurry," said the RJD leader, who returned as Deputy CM in August last year following the JD(U)'s exit from BJP-led NDA.
The statement of Yadav, younger son and heir apparent of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, comes as a reprieve for the JD(U) which recently saw its parliamentary board chief Upendra Kushwaha walking out alleging that a "deal" has been struck with the alliance partner.
Moreover, quite a few MLAs of the RJD, a party not known for restraint in speech, have also been issuing statements that Yadav will be taking over after Holi, which falls in the first week of March.
Yadav said he was concentrating on ensuring the defeat of the BJP in the general elections next year by ensuring that out of 40 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state, "They do not win a single seat".
He also made light of former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi expressing the wish that his son Santosh Suman, a minister in the cabinet from the quota of Hindustani Awam Morcha, could be considered for the highest seat of power.
"Is it a sin to have ambitions for one's children? Do all of you not want to see your sons rise higher than you?" remarked the young, but savvy, politician.
However, Kushwaha, who addressed a press conference at his residence to announce that he would be undertaking a state-wide tour beginning next week, maintained that the RJD and Tejashwi were throwing their weight around and undermining the CM.
"Only yesterday the CM had to keep waiting for a member of his cabinet (Tejashwi) at a function for two hours. It was not a coincidence. It was a snub that followed statements of some top JD(U) leaders who sought to underscore the indispensability of Kumar," claimed Kushwaha, who has since floated a new outfit Rashtriya Lok Janata Dal.
"When the RJD has the cheek to insult Kumar while he is still the CM, I shudder at what lies in store for the JD(U)", said the former Union minister, who has been refusing to reveal his cards amid speculations that he was slated to return to the NDA.
However, replying to a pointed query, he ruled out attending a couple of meetings Union Home Minister Amit Shah was slated to address in Bihar later this week.
"Those are BJP events. I cannot be a part when I am not a member of that party," he pointed out.
Kushwaha drew some praise from senior BJP leader and former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad who addressed a press conference to highlight the Union budget's promises for Bihar and debunk the claims of Mahagathbandhan that the state has been short-changed.
"Kushwaha has decided to resign as a member of the Legislative Council even though he was nominated to the House by the governor and the defection law would not have applied to him. What a contrast with Nitish ji, who keeps changing allies but sticks to power," said Prasad, who is also the local MP.
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Zelenskyy says Putin wants rest of Ukraine's Donetsk region as part of ceasefire
Brussels, Aug 12 (AP): Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants Ukraine to withdraw from the remaining 30 per cent of the Donetsk region that Ukraine controls as part of a ceasefire deal.
Zelenskyy said Russia's position had been conveyed to him by US officials ahead of a summit Friday between Putin and US President Donald Trump in Alaska on the war in Ukraine.
Zelenskyy reiterated that Ukraine would not withdraw from territories it controls, saying that would be unconsitutional and would serve only as a springboard for a future Russian invasion.
It remained unclear whether Ukraine would take part in the Friday summit. European Union also has been sidelined from the meeting, and they appealed to Trump on Tuesday to protect their interests.
Zelenskyy said at a news briefing in Kyiv that Putin wants the remaining 9,000 square kilometres of Donetsk under Kyiv's control, where the war's toughest battles are grinding on, as part of a ceasefire plan. He said the Russian position was conveyed to him by US officials.
Doing so would hand Russia almost the entirety of the Donbas, a region comprising Ukraine's eastern industrial heartland that Putin has long coveted.
Zelenskyy was offering new details on the call he held with Trump and special envoy Steve Witkoff, after the latter's bilateral meeting with Putin. Witkoff told Zelenskyy that Russia was ready to end the war and that there should be territorial concessions from both sides. Some European partners were also part of the call.
“And that, probably, Putin wants us to leave Donbas. That is, it didn't sound like America wants us to leave,” he said, recounting the call. Further meetings at the level of National Security Advisors further clarified what Russia actually wanted, Zelenskyy said.
Meanwhile, Russian forces on the ground have been closing in on a key territorial grab around the city of Pokrovsk, potentially to use as leverage in any peace negotiations.
Seeking Trump's ear before the summit
Trump has said he wants to see whether Putin is serious about ending the war, now in its fourth year. The US president has disappointed allies in Europe by saying Ukraine will have to give up some Russian-held territory. He also said Russia must accept land swaps, although it was unclear what Putin might be expected to surrender.
The Europeans and Ukraine are wary that Putin, who has waged the biggest land war in Europe since 1945 and used Russia's energy might to try to intimidate the EU, might secure favourable concessions and set the outlines of a peace deal without them.
European countries' overarching fear is that Putin will set his sights on one of them next if he wins in Ukraine.
Their leaders said Tuesday they “welcome the efforts of President Trump towards ending Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.” But, they underlined, “the path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine” and “international borders must not be changed by force.”
The Europeans on Wednesday will make a fresh attempt to rally Trump to Ukraine's cause at virtual meetings convened by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Trump did not confirm whether he would take part but did say “I'm going to get everybody's ideas” before meeting with Putin.
Russia holds shaky control over four of the country's regions, two in the country's east and two in the south.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the chief of Zelenskyy's office, said anything short of Russia's strategic defeat would mean that any ceasefire deal would be on Moscow's terms, erode international law and send a dangerous signal to the world.
'A profoundly alarming moment for Europe'
Trump's seemingly public rehabilitation of Putin — a pariah in most of Europe — has unnerved Ukraine's backers.
The summit in Alaska is a “profoundly alarming moment for Europe,” said Nigel Gould-Davies, senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.
According to Gould-Davies, Putin might persuade Trump to try to end the war by “accepting Russian sovereignty” over parts of Ukraine, even beyond areas that it currently occupies. Trump also could ease or lift sanctions which are causing “chronic pain” to the Russian economy.
That would provoke a “really serious split in the transatlantic alliance," he said.
The war isn't about Russia's territorial expansion but about Putin's goal of subordinating Ukraine, which would create the opportunity to threaten other parts of Europe, Gould-Davies said.
It was unclear whether the Europeans also were unsettled by Trump mistakenly saying twice he would be traveling to Russia on Friday to meet Putin. The summit is taking place in the U.S. state of Alaska, which was colonized by Russia in the 18th century until Czar Alexander II sold it to the U.S. in 1867.
Tuesday's European joint statement was meant to be a demonstration of unity. But Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who is Putin's closest ally in Europe and has tried to block EU support for Ukraine, was the only one of the bloc's 27 leaders who refused to endorse it.
Russia closes in on Pokrovsk
Russia appeared close to taking an important city in the Donetsk region, Pokrovsk.
Military analysts using open-source information to monitor the battles said the next 24-48 hours could be critical. Losing Pokrovsk would hand Russia an important victory ahead of the summit. It also would complicate Ukrainian supply lines to the Donetsk region, where the Kremlin has focused the bulk of military efforts.
“A lot will depend on availability, quantity and quality of Ukrainian reserves,” Pasi Paroinen, an analyst with the Finland-based Black Bird Group, wrote on social media late Monday.
Ukraine's military said its forces are fending off Russian infantry units trying to infiltrate their defensive positions in the Donetsk region. The region's Ukrainian military command on social media Monday acknowledged that the situation remains “difficult, unpleasant and dynamic.”
Elsewhere in Ukraine, a Russian missile attack on a military training facility left one soldier dead and 11 others wounded, the Ukrainian Ground Forces posted on social media. Soldiers rushing to shelters were hit with cluster munitions, according to the Ukrainian Ground Forces.
