The NDA has managed to cross the required majority mark of 122 seats even though Tejashwi Yadav’s RJD emerged as the single-largest party in the 243 member Bihar assembly.

From Tejashwi Yadav’s big arrival in Bihar politics, to Nitish Kumar’s position in NDA suffering a blow and Chirag Paswan not performing for LJP as expected , here are some keytakeaways from the Bihar election result.

Thin margin keeps NDA in power

NDA has won 125 seats in the 243-member Bihar assembly where 122 is the majority mark. Nitish Kumar-led NDA with JDU, BJP and the smaller parties of HAM and VIP has managed to cross the halfway mark to give Nitish Kumar his fourth term in the office.

BJP has won 74 seats while JDU has managed to bag 43 seats. Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAM and VP gained four seats each. Both HAM and VP joind NDA months before the Bihar election after quitting Mahagathbandhan(MGB).

RJD emerged as the single-largest party

This is the first Bihar election that RJD contested without the presence of party supermo Lalu Prasad as he is in jail after convicted in the fodder scam case. Thrity one year old Tejashwi Yadav, who was earlier a part of the Mahagathbandhan with Nitish Kumar, has announced his big arrival with RJD’s startling yet amazing performance in the Bihar assembly election 2020.

RJD has emerged as the single largest party in Bihar and won 75 seats. JDU and BJP kept reminding voters of the atrocities during RJD’s rule under Lalu Prasad Yadav 15 years ago, yet the party has managed to win big. RJD gained the highest vote share among all parties with 23.11%.

This election was a “coming of age” moment for Tejashwi Yadav after RJD’s unprecedented drubbing in the 2019 Lok Sabha election when RJD failed to open its account.

BJP gains upper hand over JDU

Bharathiya Janata Party, has always played second fiddle to Nitish Kumar’s JDU in Bihar.

However in the 2020 Bihar assembly election, BJP has managed to trump not just the MGB, but also its own alliance partner JDU.

With 74 seats, BJP did a better job comparing to 2015 tally of 53 seats, giving the party a upper hand over JDU which has been reduced to 43 seats in 2020, from its 71 seats in 2015.

Although Nitish Kumar is likely to continue as the chief minister of Bihar, BJP will be more assertive and have a greater share in the next Bihar government.

Fall of LJP

During the campaign for Bihar assembly election, Chirag Paswan started attacking Nitish Kumar over his 15 year rule in Bihar, accusing the government of mismanagement. Chirag broke ties with the NDA and announced LJP as an independent party. But LJP decided to support BJP sans JDU.

The Lok Janshakthi Party (LJP) has won just one seat and caused a significant damage to JDU and Nitish Kumar. According to reports, LJP has been instrumental in spoiling JDU’s chances in at least 30 seats.

Congress let down Mahagathbandhan

Congress has barely managed to win 19 seats in the this election, a tally lower than its own count in 2015, when Congress had won 27 seats.

Congress has performed poorly particularly in the seats where it was in direct contest with BJP and became the weakest link for the MGB.

Tejashwi Yadav’s decision to give 70 seats to Congress was a bad move that cost his party MGB a lot.

Left party win big

The Left parties contested in 29 seats in the Bihar assembly elections tying up with MGB and won 16 seats, performing better than some anticipated.

The biggest gainer was the CPI-ML, which clinched 12 seats, followed by the CPI and CPI-M, which won two each. Barring the CPI-ML, which had three seats in the outgoing assembly, none of the Left parties had a presence in Bihar assembly before this.

Surprise performance from Owaisi

Asaduddin Owaisi’s  All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) has managed to win five seats, which was a surprising turn of events. They were slammed as ‘vote cutter’and spoiler in Bihar Assembly elections, but AIMIM won five Muslim-dominated seats, giving a befitting reply to their critics.

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However senior officials said that political leaders will not be permitted. The official said that the curbs were put in place only to maintain law and order.

In the last two days several opposition leaders have been stopped from entering the village even amid massive protests.

The family of the victim had alleged that they were not being allowed to come out of their homes. The police official dismissed the allegations saying that they are baseless.

On October 1, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi were stopped dramatically by the police, when they were leading a march into the village.

Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’ Brien, along with several other party leaders , said they were manhandled by the UP police when they tried to enter the victim’s village.

Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will make another attempt this afternoon to meet the family of the 20-year-old. “Nothing in the world can stop me from going to Hathras to meet this unhappy family to share their pain,” Mr Gandhi tweeted this morning.

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Before the 19-year-old succumbed to her injuries at Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi on September 29, she was undergoing treatment at Aligarh Muslim University Medical College. The victim had suffered multiple fractures, paralysis and severe spinal injury when she was assaulted by four upper caste men from her village on September 14. The police said that there was a cut in her tongue because she had bitten it when the men were trying to strangle her.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT), formed by Chief Minister Yogi Adiytyanath, visited the village and met the victim’s family. The state government also announced Rs 25-lakh as ex-gratia, a house and a government job for one of the family members.

Meanwhile Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were detained for defying a ban on large gatherings as they headed to Hathras to meet the family of the gang rape victim. Rahul Gandhi alleged that he was pushed to the ground and lathi charged when he and Priyanka Gandhi were marching on the highway after their convoy was stopped by Uttar Pradesh policene

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But it is clear that the leadership does not have any kind of plan or project for that. Kapil Sibal’s harsh criticism that the party’s constitution should be changed if nominations continue instead of organisational elections can be considered as falling on deaf ears of the leadership.

It was after quite a long time that Congress President Sonia Gandhi announced the reconstitution of the Working Committee and the AICC. The move comes after 23 leaders, including Kapil Sibal, submitted a letter demanding permanent leadership of the party. But when the reorganisation was carried out, many of the front-runners in the letter were ignored. Ghulam Nabi Azad lost his membership of the Working Committee.

It is in this context that Kapil Sibal has once again come out with a critique of the leadership. Kapil Sibal pointed out that their only demand was to implement what is stated in the party governing structure. He said that it would be better to change the constitution if the party leadership was not interested in reorganisation of the party through the elections mentioned in the constitution.

Some party leaders claim the Congress to be the largest democratic party in the country. This claim may be due to the fact that they do not see the BJP as a democratic party but retains the character of a cadre party. At present, Narendra Modi and Amit Shah decide things in the BJP. Even the BJP president is forced to tow their line. But leaders of the Congress, which they claim to be the largest democratic party in the country, need to think about how different the situation is in Congress.

Unfortunately, the Congress does not even have the kind of democracy that exists within the BJP. A leader like Narendra Modi was able to rise to the top of the party and the country only because the BJP did not have a family rule like in the Congress. The Congress has not changed the belief that it is deluged after watching Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka holding the mantle of the party for years. The dependent leaders around them are those who do not want this situation to change.

The attitude of the Nehru family towards the Congress itself is now very strange. Sonia Gandhi does not want to continue as president due to age limitations. Instead, Rahul Gandhi was brought to the post. But when Rahul opted to step down from presidency following the 2019 election defeat, Sonia Gandhi was forced to return to the post instead. Sonia Gandhi is still the caretaker president. Priyanka has no interest in becoming a leader.

These three, who do not want to take the lead, are not interested in finding a president outside the Nehru family. What they are saying is that the scripture of the party is to find a new president, working committee and AICC by organising elections even if the dependents object. The practice of nomination continues unabated.

If the Nehru family was once the strength of the Congress leadership, today the situation is quite different. It is such that a revival of the party is possible only if it is properly reorganised with the Nehru family kept away. Even if Sonia Gandhi, the caretaker president, were to step down, Rahul, who is still making decisions behind the scenes and remains unstable as a leader, could not be expected to revive the party.

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One in five people disliked the video which was viewed by over 20 lakh people as the Prime Minister failed to mention about the conduct of the JEE and NEET exams.  Naturally, most of the people who registered their dislikes were disgruntled candidates and parents who watched this video. The people are protesting against the government on many such issues. They also make use any opportunity to record it. The dislike received for the video of the Prime Minister, who was at the forefront of popularity, is a demonstration of this zeal of protest.

At a time when the country is in deep crisis, the central government has an indifferent attitude. The people want to question the methods of the Central Government which are taking irrational positions in implementing and easing the lockdown. Naturally, protest against the government should turn into support for the opposition. Is that happening on the ground? If the dislikes of the Prime Minister turn into the likes of a prominent leader of the Opposition, it can be assumed that this is happening. But how much popular support do opposition leaders like Rahul Gandhi have on social media, which is considered a reflection of society?

In recent days, Rahul Gandhi has posted four consecutive videos protesting against the deteriorating economic situation in the country. In these videos, Rahul Gandhi points out that the government is to blame for the sharp decline in the country’s GDP in the April-June quarter.

Rahul Gandhi’s third video was critical of the GST, the ‘Gabbar Singh tax’, for stunting the country’s economy. The reality is that the ruling party has no objection to objecting to what Rahul has said. But how much of these facts pointed out by Rahul Gandhi reach the people?

The  Rahul’s video posted three days ago was viewed by 1.58 lakh people. 45,000 people liked the video. The video has not been seen by as many people as ‘dislike’ for Modi’s video. Even one-tenth of those who watch Modi’s video do not watch Rahul’s video. If social media is a crossroads of society, then there is a difference between the popular support for Modi and Rahul.

The Opposition in the country is a group of weak leaders who cannot convert the opposition against the government into support for themselves. Rahul Gandhi is not able to highlight any unpopular issue and gain the support of the people. During the lockdown, he posted several videos. But that also does bring to end his responsibility the Leader of the Opposition. The shortcomings of the government should turn into the gains of the Opposition. But Opposition leaders have not shown the ability to bring about that transformation. It has to be said that it is a blessing for the Modi government that the Opposition has not been able to seize the opportunity to trash the government over the sad plight of those who are enduring unending sufferings due to the lockdown.

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Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad clarified that Mr. Gandhi never said those remarks. He added that in the meeting he stated that some colleagues outside the CWC were making such claim and he would resign if they could prove it.Congress leader who had expressed displeasure on the same withdrew his statement following clarification from Rahul.

Meanwhile, Senior leader Ahmed Patel urged former party chief Rahul Gandhi to take over as Congress President. He was unanimously backed by other members of the CWC.

The CWC met virtually on Monday to discuss the leadership issue after its interim chief Sonia Gandhi offered to step down and asked the party to find a permanent head.

Unlike other virtual CWC meetings, the Congress has taken extra precaution and changed from Zoom to WebEx application as this application has more restrictive features to record the proceedings.

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She expressed her wish to discontinue in the post at a crucial CWC meet which is conducting online on Monday. Sonia Gandhi made the offer to quit saying she had given a detailed reply on the issue to AICC general secretary K C Venugopal.

However, Manmohan Singh and A K Antony urged her to continue till a new party president is elected.

Sonia took over as interim chief on August 10, 2019, after Rahul stepped down taking responsibility for the party’s Lok Sabha debacle.

The meeting happens a day after the content of a letter written by 21 prominent Congress leader, seeking sweeping changes in the party leadership, was published in the media.

Interim party president Sonia Gandhi joins the Congress Working Committee's virtual meeting; the meeting is now underway https://t.co/Ea7oguNhqW

— ANI (@ANI) August 24, 2020

Rahul Gandhi was highly critical of the timing of the letter. He questioned why the letter over party leadership sent at a time when Sonia Gandhi was admitted to hospital. Rahul Gandhi also alleged that the dissenters are colluding with the BJP.

First public reaction to the comments by Rahul, Senior lawyer and MP Kapil Sibal tweeted: “Last 30 years have never made a statement in favour of BJP on any issue.”

https://twitter.com/KapilSibal/status/1297794831096459265?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1297794831096459265%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newindianexpress.com%2Fnation%2F2020%2Faug%2F24%2Fcwc-meet-sonia-gandhi-offers-to-quit-as-interim-congress-chief-manmohan-urges-her-to-continue-2187545.html

The party is divided on the leadership matter with a section demanding collective leadership and another reposing faith in the Gandhi family.

The dissent letter was written by a group of senior party leaders, several party men including Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot and Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Bhagel, as well as several state Congress chiefs, rallied behind the Gandhis.

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A group of men opened fire at the journalist while he was travelling with his daughters on a motorcycle. Joshi had suffered a bullet injury on his head and was put on ventilator.Nine people have been arrested in connection with the case. Two policemen have been suspended.

In the CCTV footage of the incident, Joshi’s bike can be seen surrounded by a group of men who starts beating him mercilessly. The attackers then dragged Joshi towards a car and the accused started to beat him before they fled the spot. As per the reports, the incident took place days after Joshi filed a complaint regarding harassment of his niece by some men last week.

In reaction to the incident, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted in Hindi that the government promised ‘Ram Raj’ but ‘Gunda Raj’ was delivered instead.

Terming the incident as shocking, senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi in his Twitter handle added that there was a lack of fear of law and order.

“Shocking jungle raaj in #Ghaziabad area with journalist #Joshi, already known as complainant in #FIR, being shot on scooter while with his daughters, struggling in coma with bullet in skull! Thank God daughters not hit. Shocking, scary, disgusting lack of fear of law & order! #UP,” Singhvi wrote on Twitter.

While, BSP chief Mayawati, in a tweet in Hindi, said that all the serious crimes taking place in UP is pointing towards one thing the law of Jungle is governing the state. She added that the government should pay attention to this matter.

The journalist’s nephew Kamal-ud-Din in protest against the happenings refused to accept his uncle’s body until justice is delivered.

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But had he given a thought to why leaders, both young and old, have been continuously leaving the Congress over the years, that too people who had been with it during the worst of times? 

Rahul’s statement came even as Jyothiradithya Scindia in Madhya Pradesh joined the Bharatiya Janata Party and Sachin Pilot in Rajasthan has been at loggerheads with the Congress leadership.

Jyothiradithya Scindia was one who was trotting around with upper caste credentials as a feather in his cap and that is more in line with the saffron party’s stand. It was no surprise that he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party. But the case of Sachin Pilot is different. 

He is the son of Rajesh Pilot who never rejected the secular credentials of the Congress. Even Sachin’s family life reflects this secular mentality. The daughter of National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah Sarah is his wife. He would have to seek the permission of his wife’s family before joining the BJP, which had removed the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and brought measures and controls that were against the democratic principles of this country. It was against such a leader that the Congress had initiated action alleging that there is evidence that Sachin was keen on joining hands with the BJP.

A majority of leaders had quit the Congress during the time of Indira Gandhi. But that outflow was on the grounds of idealism. Many of the leaders had quit the party questioning the totalitarian leadership of Indira Gandhi. At the same time, it is strange that leaders, one after the other, are leaving the Congress to join a BJP that has a totalitarian leadership symbolised in Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. It is indeed very surprising that these leaders, because of their hunger for power, are attracted like a magnet to the totalitarian tendencies of these two leaders.

How would a Congress with no popular support survive even if the quitting of young Turks wouldn’t affect the party? What has leaders like Rahul Gandhi done to revive people’s support for the party?

Rahul Gandhi, who was issuing statements, posting photographs and giving interviews when crores of labourers were suffering during the lockdown, failed to utilise the opportunity to inject new blood into the veins of the party to revive it. A party can gain popular support only if it is able to get down to the grassroots level and make people feel that it is with them during their worst of times. 

Under a leadership that has no clue on how to revive the efficiency of the party by tapping into popular disaffection with the ruling dispensation, it is not surprising that it is going from bad to worse and leaders are thinning out. If this outflow of leaders continues, the Congress would soon be reduced to an endangered species.

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Over 35 lakh people across 28 of the state’s 33 districts are now affected due to flooding, an official bulletin said July 17.

“The whole country is with Assam. People of Assam are battling this problem with their courageous nature and will overcome this disaster,” Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.

He also appealed to Congress workers to extend all possible help to those affected by the deluge.

The total number of people losing their lives in this year’sflood and landslides in the state has gone up to 102. While 76 people died inflood-related incidents, 26 were killed in landslides.

At the same time, Indian football team captain Sunil Chhetri also called for the immediate attention and assistance to the flood-hit areas of Assam.

Seeking to draw the country’s attention to the disaster that has hit the state amid Covid-19 pandemic, Chhetri wrote on twitter handle, “Along with the prayers, Assam needs as much attention and help as possible to recover from the flood it is under.”The ace footballer is one of the first from the sporting fraternity to raise the concerns around the floods in Assam. 

Along with the prayers, Assam needs as much attention and help as possible to recover from the floods it is under.
There’s been considerable loss of life – both man and animal , and I can only sincerely hope that the numbers don’t rise. #AssamFloods

— Sunil Chhetri (@chetrisunil11) July 17, 2020

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Congress leader and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi on Thursday delivered over 175 televisions for tribal students to study online. This is the second phase of televisions provided by the Congress leader.

District Congress Committee President IC Balakrishnan reached the MP office in Kalpetta to review the formalities related to the distribution of television. Balakrishnan said that during the lockdown when the online classes was started on June 1, many tribal students from Wayanad dropped out of the project ‘first bell’ due to lack of learning facilities. During that situation, Rahul Gandhi provided a lot of support and wrote a letter to CM on online classes initiative. He has also distributed over 100 televisions each in the constituency in the Kozhikode and Malappuram districts.

Kerala Government is running virtual classes for school students through the KITE Victers Channel and other online mechanisms after the schools are closed due to COVID-19 pandemic.

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Sources said that the official (telegram) channel of Rahul Gandhi will be verified soon. His Telegram channel has around 3,500 members so far.Rahul Gandhi is using the platform to provide direct messages to the public. He often uses his Twitter and Facebook accounts to attack the government and its policies.

A ‘Telegram’ channel is an application for sending messages, where only the administrator can send and view messages. This channel is a medium to spread the public message to a large number of people.

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