Bihar Elections: BJP trying to communalise atmosphere in Bihar: Nitish, Lalu

Bihar Elections: Bihar's Grand Alliance leaders--Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD Chief Lalu Prasad--today accused BJP of trying to "communalise" the atmosphere in the poll-bound state, alleging that the party is in panic fearing "defeat."

Kumar said the saffron party has neither any 'leader' nor any 'policy and intention' to show the people and therefore it is trying to communalise the situation.  "BJP in panic--without neta, niti & niyat in Bihar & facing defeat they're brazenly attempting to communalise & mask it with Modi's rhetorics," Kumar said in a tweet.

Bihar Elections: BJP trying to communalise atmosphere in Bihar: Nitish, Lalu

Hitting out at BJP, Prasad, a former Bihar Chief Minister, said, "These people of rumour party seeing a sure defeat has no agenda and that's why they have fallen on their tested communal agenda."

Targeting BJP President Amit Shah, he asked him "where is the developmental agenda of BJP?"

Calling Shah as "Jumla babu", the RJD supremo said people of Bihar were well aware of "your tucha kartoot (mean activities)."

The comments by the two leaders came against the backdrop of the lynching of a man in Bishada village of Uttar Pradesh recently following rumours that the family had consumed and stored beef.

Addressing a public meeting, Kumar asked people to remain 'alert' as there would be attempts to create tension among communities to rake up emotion before the five-phase Assembly polls beginning October 12.

"You (people) have to maintain peace and harmony at any cost. It is their (BJP's) design to provoke you in order to reap (political) dividends," the senior JD(U) leader said.

Terming the BJP-led NDA a divided house, Kumar said a leader of one NDA constituent is making public statement against the leader of another partner.

He said former IAS officer R K Singh had joined BJP during Lok Sabha polls and now he is saying the party has given tickets to wrong candidates. "This is the situation of BJP."

Talking about senior BJP leaders being sidelined in the party, the chief minister said, "Shatrughan Sinha, whom we popularly know as Bihari Babu, has been sidelined in the party. There was a day when a large number of crowd used to come in the name of Sinha but BJP leaders took benefit of the opportunity and addressed the public meetings. But now he has been sidelined."

Late Kailashpati Mishra was founder member of the BJP but his daughter-in-law was denied ticket by the party after his demise, Kumar said, adding that former health minister Chandra Mohan Rai had faced the same fate.

Article Source: Business Standard

Bihar Elections: Ruling alliance plans joint campaign

The anti-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance plans to use its multiple star campaigners extensively to check its major opponent in Bihar Elections.

Nitish Kumar, Lalu Pradad, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi will all be campaigning extensively for the alliance of the Janata Dal, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Congress. While the Congress leaders will be holding 10-odd rallies between themselves, the bulk of the campaigning will be done by the RJD chief and the Bihar chief minister. Lalu and Nitish are slated to visit each of the 243 constituencies' at least once.

Bihar Elections- Ruling alliance plans joint campaign

The alliance is also slated to unveil a common programme (manifesto) in the next few days. Alliance campaign managers said the effort was to ensure that all assembly seats were covered, since they have the benefit of having several leaders, while the BJP was banking heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi (likely to address about 20 rallies). During the 2014 polls, when Prasad and Kumar contested separately it was challenging for them to cover all the constituencies.

Sources said a joint rally of all three party leaders could take place in the fourth and fifth phase of the polls, possibly in Seemanchal.

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi visited Bihar last week and is scheduled to address two rallies on October 17. Rahul Gandhi will visit the state on October 7 and October 26.

The BJP-led alliance has issued a manifesto of what it would do if elected to govern. Its opposing alliance is to issue a "common programme" of commitments. Top priorities, disclosed a leader, are employment, student scholarships and women empowerment.

Article Source: Business Standard

Bihar Elections: Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari to address rallies today

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah and Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari will be addressing several rallies in poll bound Bihar election today.

Shah will first be addressing a public meeting at Baijnathpur High school ground in Rosera, after which he will be addressing a party workers meet.

Bihar Elections: Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari to address rallies today

Shah will then fly to Bhagalpur to address a rally at Bazaar Samiti complex then he will be addressing a public meeting at Pragati maidan Pirpainit.

Gadkari will also be addressing several public rallies in Nabinagar, Aurangabad and Nokha near Rohtas. Gadkari will then address public meets at Dinara, Rohtas and Jagdispur in Bhojpur.

Elections in Bihar will begin from October 12. They will be held in five phases.

The results will be declared on November 8.

Article Source : Business Standard

Bihar Elections: FIRs against Amit Shah, Lalu Prasad for hate speeches in Bihar

FIRs were lodged against Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah and Rashtriya Janata Dal supremoLalu Prasad Yadav following hate speeches against each other during their Bihar election.

 The action was taken after getting permission from the Election Commission.

Bihar Elections: FIRs against Amit Shah, Lalu Prasad for hate speeches in Bihar

An FIR was filed against Shah in Singhaul out post in Begusarai district, while two FIRs were lodged against Lalu Prasad in connection with use of abusive language.

Shah had earlier, while addressing a rally in Begusarai, referred to Lalu's conviction in a fodder scam case, alleging that Bihar, which had a glorious past, has today attained a bad name due to 'chara-chor' Lalu.

Lalu hit back at Shah a day later, asking how a "narbhakshi" (man-eater) of Gujarat riots was now roaming around in Bihar.

Article Source: Business Standard

Bihar Elections: Notification for 4th phase to be issued today

Notification for the fourth phase of the Bihar election will be issued on Wednesday and the last day for filing of nomination papers is the till October 14th. Voting for the fourth phase will be held on the November 1st in 55 constituencies in 7 districts of the state.

Bihar Elections Notification for 4th phase to be issued today

Scrutiny will take place the next day, and candidates can withdraw their nomination paper till the October 17th. Meanwhile, 351 candidates have so far filled nomination for the third phase of elections to be held on October 28th. Thursday is the last day of filling of nomination paper for this phase.

Polls to the 243-member Assembly will be held in five phases from October 12th to September 5th. Counting will be held on 8th November.

Article Source: Business Standard

Bihar Elections: Manjhi claims he is 'most popular' NDA campaigner

Calling himself the "most popular campaigner" among the BJP's allies in Bihar elections, mahadalit leader Jitan Ram Manjhi today asserted his party's strike rate will be better than all other NDA constituents.

He said the BJP-led alliance should have given him more seats as people "everywhere want to see me".

Former Bihar Chief Minister and HAM (S) chief Jitan Ram Manjhi Picture by PTI File photo

With the polls being seen a close contest between the NDA and the grand alliance of JD(U)-RJD-Congress, Manjhi said his party would have won over 35 seats if it was given 40 to contest and only time will tell if the BJP-led coalition would regret the decision of allotting his Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) only 21 seats.

Manjhi claimed such is his popularity among the poor that LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan, another prominent dalit leader of Bihar, whose clout among the crucial Scheduled Castes voters he had questioned some time back, had to "request" him to address an election meeting by telephone in Alauli, where his brother and state LJP chief Pashupati Paras is in the fray. In an interview to PTI during his hectic campaign, which he noted was more for allies than his own party, the former chief minister and HAM(S) leader claimed the grand alliance had fragmented like a "piece of broken glass" and the NDA will get two-thirds majority in the election in which "we are facing no challenge".

"My strike rate will be better than any other party, including BJP. The reason is that there is a strong sentiment in my support among the poor for the work I had started and which was stopped by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Now they want to avenge it. They (BJP) should have sacrificed more seats, but I accepted this offer (21 seats) because I had already promised them unconditional support.

"Now I am also campaigning for them because of my appeal. Their own leaders tell me that 'if you go to all 243 seats and merely show your face we will benefit'. So I ask them why did not you think so while giving me seats and today you are pestering me. After all, I have to campaign for my own party and other allies too," Manjhi said. Asked if he saw himself as the most popular NDA leader except for top BJP guns like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said, "Of course....People want to see my face everywhere." Out of the 40-45 rallies he has already addressed, only 10-12 was for his party's nominees, he noted.

"Big leaders are coming, so are actors. As far as I am concerned there is a lot of demand for me among the poor, which even they (BJP and allies) acknowledge," he said.

Asked if the NDA will regret giving him only 21 seats as many are predicting a close race between the two rival combinations, he said, "Only time will tell. As of now, we are working to win as many seats as possible.

Article Source: Business Standard

Bihar Elections: 'Clean' candidates achieve only 4%-8% success.

If the past two elections are any indication, candidates for the forthcoming Bihar Election 2015 are likely to have a string of “heinous” cases against them in court: murder, extortion, kidnapping, robbery and dacoity and crimes against women, including rape.

Bihar Elections: 'Clean' candidates achieve only 4%-8% success.

All political parties–there are no exceptions–pick candidates with serious criminal charges. Why they do that is revealed by an India Spend analysis of self-declared affidavits: Only 8% of candidates without criminal cases against them won in 2005. In 2010, only 4% did. While the success rate of tainted candidates in both 2005 and 2010 was 23% and 12% respectively.

While 274 (14%) of 2,029 candidates with “heinous” charges were given tickets in 2005, the figure rose to 600 (20%) of 3,058 candidates in 2010. In 2005, these 274 candidates had in total 499 murder charges, 81 extortion cases and 102 kidnapping charges. In 2010, the 600 candidates with heinous cases had charges that included 919 murder charges, 207 extortion cases and 151 kidnapping charges.

Fielding candidates with criminal cases is not a new practice among Indian political parties, but during the 2010 elections, 66 constituencies in Bihar had more than four candidates with “heinous” cases against them contesting the Bihar elections 2015. There were 20 constituencies where six and more candidates contested the elections with “heinous” cases pending against them.

Janata Dal (United) leads the pack, but all parties guilty

In 2010, 34% of JD (U) candidates, 33% of LJP, 26% of BJP and 18% of Congress candidates told the Election Commission of India that they had cases involving crimes of a “heinous” nature pending against them.

Source: Self-sworn affidavits submitted by contesting candidates to ECI, Bihar Chief Electoral Officer 1, 2. View raw data here. Note: Heinous cases are those involving offences related to murder, extortion, kidnapping, robbery and dacoity, and crimes against women & children, including rape. If convicted for these offences, the punishment ranges from 7 years to life imprisonment or the death sentence.

While the issue of criminalisation in politics comes up during every election, what makes the issue more serious in the context of Bihar is the nature of crimes that the candidates have been facing.

In 2005, the BJP gave tickets to 26 candidates who declared 35 charges of murder, 16 of extortion, 7 of kidnapping, and five counts of robbery and dacoity.

Source: Self-sworn affidavits submitted by contesting candidates to ECI, Bihar Chief Electoral Officer 1, 2. View raw data here.

It became worse in 2010.

As many as 43 candidates of the JD(U), the party headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, had 79 charges of murder, 20 of extortion, 11 of kidnapping, while 42 Congress candidates had 61 murder-related offences. The BJP gave tickets to 25 candidates who declared 47 murder charges, 12 extortion, 13 kidnapping and 2 cases of rape.

Source: Self-sworn affidavits submitted by contesting candidates to ECI, Bihar Chief Electoral Officer 1, 2. View raw data here.

Parties clearly choose candidates with the most serious charges

Of 2,029 candidates who contested the 2005 Bihar elections, 1,539 candidates were “clean”; they declared they did not have any criminal cases against them.

Of the remaining 490, in addition to 274 candidates facing “heinous” cases, 113 were facing “very serious” cases, 36 candidates were facing cases where, if convicted, the maximum punishment would range between two to five years and 67 candidates were facing cases with a maximum punishment of less than two years.

These figures point to the fact that the degree of taint also matters for political parties.

Of the candidates facing criminal cases, 56% (274 of 490) faced “heinous” cases and 23% (113 of 490) faced “very serious” charges.

Parties chose candidates facing grievous charges (for which the maximum punishment if convicted is more 5 years and can be up to life imprisonment or death sentence) than the ones that had lesser punishments, if convicted.

Similarly, during the 2010 Bihar elections, of the 1,207 candidates with pending criminal cases, 50% (600 of 1,207) had heinous cases and another 28% (340 of 1,207) had “very serious” cases pending against them.

So, parties prefer to give tickets to candidates who have “heinous” and “very serious” charges pending against them.

Only 8% of clean candidates won in 2005; 4% in 2010

It’s clear why parties chose candidates with criminal records.

Of the 1,539 “clean” candidates who contested the 2005 assembly elections in Bihar, only 126 (8%) were elected; 22% of candidates with “heinous” cases won–61 of 274.

Of 113 candidates facing “very serious” charges (including rioting, cheating and forgery), 23 (20%) made it to the assembly. This means candidates with “heinous” and “very serious” charges had around three times better chances of winning elections in Bihar than “clean” candidates.

The success rate of “clean” candidates worsened during the 2010 elections–no more than 4% (82 of 1,851) won.

The success rate for candidates facing “heinous charges” was 11% and for candidates with “very serious” cases 12%, again three times better chances of victory than candidates with no criminal records.

Source: Self-sworn affidavits submitted by contesting candidates to ECI, Bihar Chief Electoral Officer 1, 2. View raw data here.

Article Source: Business Standard