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India Today
9 hours ago
- Politics
- India Today
Tejashwi Yadav vs Nitish Kumar? What RJD leader said on chief ministerial hopes
Asked whether he would be the chief ministerial face of Bihar for the upcoming Assembly polls, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav on Friday said an announcement on the same would be made when the time is an interview with India Today's sister channel Aaj Tak, Yadav said the decision on the chief ministerial face from the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) would be made after a decision by all opposition will do it (announcement on chief ministerial face) when the right time comes. We have our own strategy. There should be an agreement among all opposition parties. There are no differences among us," said the Leader of Opposition in Bihar Assembly. Bihar, which has 243 Assembly seats, is likely to head to the polls in October or November this YADAV SLAMS NITISH KUMARSlamming the Nitish Kumar-led government, Yadav alleged that no factories and schools were set up in the past 20 years and no employment was generated during the period."If there is any poorest state, it is Bihar. If there is maximum migration, it is from Bihar. If there is maximum unemployment, it is in Bihar. Neither (PM Narendra) Modi nor Nitish ji did anything. As far as sugar mills are concerned, the Prime Minister has not started a sugar mill in the last 11 years. I remember he used to say around 15 years ago, we would drink tea from this sugar mill. But, he has not set up a sugar mill so far," he the decisions he took when he was the Deputy Chief Minister for 17 months in the Mahagathbandhan tenure, Yadav said he got a sugar mill set up in Riga, gave government jobs to five lakh people and gave 4.5 lakh private teachers the status of government employees, among key decisions."We carried out surprise raids at government hospitals. We sacked 700 doctors who did not report for their duties, which had never happened earlier. We increased the limit of 200 free medicines to 600. We got Bihar an MOU worth Rs 50,000 crore by organising an investors' meet," he RJD leader said Bihar was not granted the special status despite the state being ruled by the NDA for the past 20 years."In 20 years, we saw 75 to 100 scams under the Nitish government. The Prime Minister was raising questions about DNA. Well, the BJP is a washing machine. If you stay with them, you will be called sushasan babu (good administrator). If you don't stay with them, your DNA will be bad," he said."There is a double-engine government in Bihar. You did not give special status to Bihar nor provide the state with a special package. You come and give speeches, but they neither fill anyone's stomach nor provide employment," Yadav said in a swipe at PM Nitish Kumar "tired", he slammed his government over what he called the deteriorating law and order situation in Bihar."You are sitting in an unconscious state and bullets were fired outside the wall. The person who fired bullets has not been caught yet. That's the safest area of Bihar. If we aren't safe in this safest area, how can the people of Bihar be safe?" Yadav said, referring to an incident where a man was shot at in Patna's Polo Road area, a VVIP zone in the said Nitsh Kumar had no vision left and that there was no newness in his if the NDA would present a fresh chief ministerial face, replacing Nitish Kumar, Yadav said, "Where is the new face? The ministers and officials who have been in the same party for 20 years are the same. People have seen them for 20 years. There are no people capable of doing any work. All are useless."He said the Mahagathbandhan had a vision to take Bihar forward and that he felt "pained" seeing the condition of the state copycat government is copying our agenda and our vision. It is a good thing to copy from others. At least something will be good for the people. But what is the use then?" Yadav said in reference to the state government's decision to raise monthly pension from Rs 400 to Rs 1,100 ahead of Assembly ELECTION COMMISSION'S DOOR-TO-DOOR VERIFICATIONCriticising the Election Commission's door-to-door verification of electoral roll in Bihar, Yadav claimed it was a conspiracy, asserting that it was a sign that NDA will lose the election."Nitish ji and Modi ji are losing. A fresh voter list will be prepared. They (Election Commission) will go door-to-door of eight crore people and are asking for such documents which the poor do not have. The poor have got the right to vote. You are snatching their rights," he said."When the process was done last time, it took two years. How will this be completed in 25 days? What is the mechanism? Why was it needed? If it had to be done, it should have been done after the Lok Sabha elections. It is a conspiracy. These people want to win by doing such nonsense," he said while lashing out at the whether LJP leader and Union Minister Chirag Paswan's decision to contest the Bihar Assembly polls would create any impact, Yadav rebuffed, saying it won't make any difference."Whether he fights or not but what benefit does Bihar get from this? Which portfolio does Chirag ji have? Food processing portfolio. How many people in Bihar know that he is the minister that portfolio? One can wonder what he has done for Bihar so far while being a minister," he said.- EndsMust Watch IN THIS STORY#Tejashwi Yadav#Rashtriya Janata Dal
India Gazette
10 hours ago
- Politics
- India Gazette
Tejashwi Yadav questions special voter list revision in Bihar, alleges attempt to
Patna (Bihar) [India], June 27 (ANI): Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and former Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, Tejashwi Yadav has questioned the Election Commission's decision to conduct a special revision of the voter list in Bihar months ahead of the assembly elections. Addressing the media on Thursday, Yadav questioned the timing and feasibility of the exercise and alleged that the move is an attempt to bar the poor people from voting and manipulate the voter list. 'The Election Commission has announced a special revision of the voter list in Bihar... This means that the voter list of 8 crore Biharis have been sidelined and a new list will be generated. Why is this being done 2 months before the elections? Is it possible to develop the voters' list for eight crore people within 25 days?... The documents demanded are such that the poor may not even have them,' he said. Yadav raised concerns about the documentation process and claimed that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are scared, and that's why they are taking such steps. 'The documents demanded are such that the poor may not even have them... Our delegation will approach the election commission regarding this matter. CM Nitish Kumar and PM Modi are scared... They want the names of the poor to be removed from the voter list... They want to snatch the right to vote from the poor section of society,' said the RJD leader. Highlighting the challenges of conducting such a massive exercise during the monsoon season, Yadav noted that 73 per cent of Bihar is flood-prone. 'As monsoon is about to begin and a total of 73 per cent area of Bihar is flood-prone, so the question that arises is whether people will safeguard their life and assets or will provide documents to the election commission?' he asked. These developments came ahead of the assembly elections in Bihar, expected to take place later this year. Months ahead of the elections, the battle has been intensifying between the grand alliance Mahagathbandhan, led by RJD and Congress and the ruling NDA, which includes BJP, JUD, LJP (Ram Vilas) and HAM. (ANI)
Indian Express
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Hosabale remarks on Preamble: Rahul says RSS ‘mask has come off'
A day after RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale sought a discussion on whether the words 'socialist' and 'secular' should remain in the Preamble, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi said 'RSS mask' has come off once again, and that the Constitution troubles them 'because it speaks of equality, secularism and justice'. Opposition parties, including the CP(I)M and the RJD, too, condemned Hosabale's remarks '…they want Manusmriti. They aim to strip the marginalised and the poor of their rights and enslave them again. Snatching a powerful weapon like the Constitution from them is their real agenda,' said Gandhi in a post on X. 'RSS should stop dreaming this dream – we will never let them succeed. Every patriotic Indian will defend the Constitution until their last breath.' Congress MP and communications in-charge Jairam Ramesh, meanwhile, referred to the November 25 Supreme Court order which dismissed petitions challenging the Constitutional validity of the 42nd amendment — through which the words 'secular' and 'socialist' were added to the Constitution's Preamble the Emergency period in 1976, Ramesh said these terms have achieved 'widespread acceptance, with their meanings understood by 'We, the people of India' without any semblance of doubt'. 'The Chief Justice of India himself delivered a judgment on November 25, 2024 on the issue now being raised by a leading RSS functionary. Would it be asking too much to request him to take the trouble to read it?' he said. Ramesh said that the RSS and the BJP 'have repeatedly given the call for a new Constitution'. 'This was Mr. Modi's campaign cry during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The people of India decisively rejected this cry. Yet the demands for changing the basic structure of the Constitution continue to be made by the RSS ecosystem,' he said. On Thursday, Hosabale had said, 'The words socialist and secular were added to the Preamble. No attempt was made to remove them later. So, there should be a discussion on whether they should remain. I say this in a building (Ambedkar International Centre) named after Babasaheb Ambedkar, whose Constitution did not have these words in the Preamble.' RJD chief and former Bihar CM Lalu Prasad said: 'The country's most casteist and hateful organisation RSS has called for changing the Constitution… They do not have the guts to cast an evil eye on the Constitution and reservations provided therein…' Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said: 'Invoking the emergency to discredit these principles is a deceitful move, especially when the RSS colluded with the Indira Gandhi Government during that time for its own survival… To use that period now to undermine the Constitution reflects sheer hypocrisy and political opportunism.' On November 25, a bench of former Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar said Parliament's power under Article 368 to amend the Constitution also extends to the Preamble and rejected the argument that the words could not have been added retrospectively in 1976 to the original Preamble which has a cut-off date of November 26, 1949. In a statement, Congress MP and whip in Lok Sabha, Manickam Tagore, said: 'The RSS always wanted the Constitution to be attacked, and to be removed… We all know RSS stands for Manuvad and they want to spread hate. They call themselves a cultural organisation, not a political one. We all know the attack on words like secularism and socialism is an attack on the Constitution and parliamentary democracy. We will fight for the Constitution.'
Time of India
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Congress leaders back Tejashwi as CM face
Patna: Congress working committee (CWC) member and the party's former state president, Akhilesh Prasad Singh, said on Friday that if the Grand Alliance gets a majority in the upcoming assembly polls, RJD leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav would be the chief minister. "If not Tejashwi, then who else will become the CM?" Singh said while responding to media queries while coming out of the official residence of the RJD president Lalu Prasad in the state capital here. Leader of opposition Tejashwi lives at the same residence with his parents Lalu and former CM Rabri Devi. Singh met Lalu and Tejashwi. Akhilesh and Lalu had a long conversation on the poll-related issues. While coming out of Lalu's residence, Singh told reporters that Tejashwi would be the chief minister, if the Grand Alliance is voted to power. Another Congress leader and former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar too said that there was no confusion or dispute over Tejashwi being the opposition's face for the CM's post in Bihar. Kanhaiya, who hails from Begusarai, also said that the CM would be from the RJD if the Grand Alliance gets a majority in the upcoming assembly polls. Talking to reporters, Kanhaiya said, the waves of change are stronger than in the last assembly polls in Bihar and the BJP is not raking up 'Operation Sindoor' as a poll plank because it knows that the people of the state will respond negatively to it as they believe it to be a matter of the country's honour and no party should politicise it. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Trending in in 2025: Local network access control [Click Here] Esseps Learn More Undo He also said, "It is true that the RJD is the bigger party, has more MLAs, it provides leadership to the 'Mahagathbandhan', they have the post of leader of the opposition. Naturally, it is their responsibility. There is no confusion over Tejashwi being the opposition's CM face." Addressing a function here, Tejashwi said he never got a chance of serving people for an uninterrupted period of five years. He urged the people to provide him a term of full five years to lead the state and serve its people in a better way.
Time of India
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Min slams Tejashwi, defends Nitish govt's 20-year record
Patna: Senior JD(U) functionary and rural works department minister Ashok Choudhary on Friday took aim at Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, questioning his criticism of the Nitish Kumar-led govt. "Instead of asking what happened in the last 20 years of the Nitish govt, Tejashwi should first tell what did not happen during this period," Choudhary said while addressing reporters at the JD(U) state headquarters after a public grievance hearing. Choudhary, who has been selected for an assistant professorship at the age of 56, also said that those whose political ideology stemmed from the "Charwaha Vidyalaya" are now pretending to distribute pens. Referring to the educational landscape under previous RJD administrations, he asked, "How many engineering and medical colleges were opened in Bihar during the rule of his parents, Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi?" Choudhary added, "Have you ever heard in the last 70 years of independence that any government opened a 'Charwaha Vidyalaya'? RJD's thinking was to make our children shepherds. But CM Nitish Kumar 's vision is to make them engineers and doctors." Highlighting the transformation since 2005, he said Nitish prioritised educational infrastructure, opening new schools, polytechnics and medical and engineering colleges. "And Tejashwi is asking us what the Nitish govt has done in the last 20 years," he said. The minister's comments came a day after Tejashwi distributed pens to youth at a 'Chhatra Yuva Samvad' event, where he pledged that if his alliance forms the govt following this year's assembly elections, he would achieve in 20 months what the Nitish govt could not do in two decades. In response, Choudhary said, "The people of Bihar have recognised such double standards very well and will never again trust the RJD."
