NDA’s cash pitch to women swung Bihar polls, says VIP chief after party draws a blank
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Patna (PTI): Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) founder Mukesh Sahani on Friday attributed his party’s rout in the Bihar assembly polls to NDA’s aggressive cash outreach to women voters, as the INDIA bloc ally failed to take a lead in any of the 12 seats it contested.
Speaking to PTI Video shortly after trends confirmed the VIP’s wipeout, despite his projection as the alliance’s deputy chief ministerial face, Sahani insisted that the verdict was the “people’s mandate”, not a reflection of organisational slack.
“Voters did not connect with our message. They trusted Nitish ji and Modi ji, and I congratulate both of them,” he said.
“We delivered our message; every alliance leader delivered theirs. But, ultimately it was the public’s verdict,” Sahani said.
Sahani argued that the NDA’s targeted promise of direct financial assistance to women was one of the decisive factors behind the INDIA bloc’s collapse.
He pointed specifically to the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana (MMRY), announced by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on August 29, which promises Rs 2.10 lakh in instalments to women entrepreneurs to start small enterprises such as stores, dairies, tailoring units, beauty parlours or art-and-craft ventures.
The first instalment of Rs 10,000 has already been credited to the bank accounts of over 1.21 crore women enrolled under the JEEViKA self-help group network.
“Our mothers and sisters who live in poverty felt that the money would change their lives. Naturally, they voted for that promise,” Sahani said, calling the trend “a clear case of the government using state money as a campaign lever”.
He described the shift as a move from “black money distributed at midnight by strongmen” to “state money distributed in broad daylight”, contending that while dominant caste groups once bought votes covertly, “now the government itself was doing it legally”.
On the VIP’s failure to open its account, Sahani was said, “The account was not mine to open. It was for the people to open, and they didn’t. That’s all.”
The VIP had won four seats in the 2020 assembly polls.
He asserted that this moment called for acceptance, not recrimination.
“There is no problem right now. Those who won deserve the congratulations. We will review everything in the coming days and return to the people. One day, the public will open our account,” he said.
Sahani added that the VIP would continue to fight for women to receive the remaining amount under the MMRY scheme.
“We will stay in the field and hold the government to its word,” he asserted.
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Odisha: Normalcy returns to violence-hit Malkangiri; internet services fully restored
Malkangiri (PTI): Normalcy returned to Odisha’s Malkangiri district on Monday, nearly a week after around 200 villages were damaged in violent clashes in a village, with the district administration fully restoring internet services, a senior official said.
Additional District Magistrate Bedabar Pradhan said internet services, suspended across the district on December 8 to curb the spread of rumours and misinformation following the clashes, were restored after the situation improved.
The suspension had been extended in phases till 12 noon on Monday.
The administration also withdrew prohibitory orders imposed under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita within a 10-km radius of MV-26 village, where arson incidents were reported on December 7 and December 8.
Though the violence was confined to two villages, tension had gripped the entire district, as the incident took the form of a clash between local tribals and Bengali settlers following the recovery of a headless body of a woman on December 4, officials said.
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The violence broke out after residents of Rakhelguda village allegedly set ablaze several houses belonging to Bengali residents, forcing hundreds to flee. The headless body of Lake Podiami (51), a woman from the Koya tribe, was recovered from the banks of the Poteru river on December 4, while her head was found six days later at a location about 15 km away.
Officials said the district administration held several rounds of discussions with representatives of the tribal and Bengali communities, following which both sides agreed to maintain peace.
Relief and rehabilitation work has since been launched at MV-26 village, with preliminary assessment pegging property damage at around Rs 3.8 crore.
A two-member ministerial team headed by Deputy Chief Minister K V Singh Deo visited the affected village, interacted with officials and locals, and submitted a report to the chief minister.
So far, 18 people have been arrested in connection with the violence, the officials said, adding that despite the withdrawal of prohibitory orders and restoration of internet services, security forces, including BSF and CRPF personnel, continue to be deployed to prevent any untoward incident.
On Sunday, Nabarangpur MP Balabhadra Majhi visited MV-26 and neighbouring Rakhelguda villages, and held discussions with members of both communities as part of efforts to rebuild confidence and restore peace.
More than two lakh Bengali-speaking Bangladeshis were rehabilitated by the Centre in Malkangiri and Nabarangpur districts in 1968, and they currently reside in 124 villages of Malkangiri.
