Tejashwi Yadav to head INDIA Bloc’s coordination committee for Bihar assembly elections
Patna: The opposition INDIA bloc has named Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav as the head of its coordination committee for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections.
The decision was made during a meeting of the six alliance partners – Congress, RJD, Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation (CPI(ML)), and the Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) – held in Patna on Thursday, April 17.
While the bloc stopped short of formally declaring Yadav as its chief ministerial candidate, it confirmed that he will lead the key decision-making committee for the election campaign. The committee will be responsible for drafting a common minimum programme, finalizing the manifesto, managing seat-sharing talks, and coordinating campaign strategies.
Congress’s Bihar in-charge Krishna Allavaru, speaking at a joint press conference after the meeting, said, “The coordination committee will be the supreme body for the INDIA alliance, overseeing every aspect of the election. Tejashwi Yadav will be its chairman, and members from all alliance partners will be included.”
The meeting followed Yadav’s recent discussions in Delhi with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi.
Addressing the media after the Patna meeting, Yadav said, “There is deep resentment among the people of Bihar due to unemployment, poverty, and increasing migration. Even the NITI Aayog’s report confirms Bihar as the poorest state despite 20 years of rule under the NDA.”
He further criticized both Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and the central government, stating, “The real double engine in Bihar is crime and corruption.”
In the 2020 Assembly elections, the RJD emerged as the single largest party with 75 seats, while Congress won 19 of the 70 it contested. The CPI(ML) secured 12 of 19 seats, and the VIP, despite exiting the alliance before the elections, won four seats.
The INDIA bloc is now preparing to mount a consolidated challenge to the ruling NDA in the upcoming state polls.
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Minister Parameshwara says remarks on properties linked to drug peddlers 'misunderstood'
Tumakuru (PTI): Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Saturday said his recent remarks on the demolition of properties linked to those involved in narcotics trade were "misunderstood and misinterpreted".
His clarification follows remarks made two days ago on the government's uncompromising crackdown on the drug menace, including action against properties linked to foreign nationals allegedly involved in drug trafficking.
"It is unfortunate. It is taken in the wrong sense. I didn't mean that tomorrow itself I am going to send bulldozers and demolish the houses. That was not my intention. It was wrongly taken," he told reporters here.
Responding to Congress MLC K Abdul Jabbar's question in the legislative council on the growing drug menace in Bengaluru, Davangere and coastal districts, the minister on Thursday detailed the extensive enforcement measures initiated since the Congress government assumed office.
Pointing to the involvement of some foreign nationals, the minister had said, "Many foreign students from African countries have come to Karnataka. They are into the drug business. We catch them and register cases against them, but they want the case to be registered because once the case is registered, we cannot deport them."
"We have gone to the extent of demolishing the rented building where they stay," he had said.
