Chandrababu Naidu's Intense Equation With Centre
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is very fond of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. Whenever Naidu comes to Delhi, he returns with a big gift for his state. According to sources, shortly before 'Operation Sindoor', when Naidu came to Delhi to invite the PM to come to Andhra, after that he also met a big leader of the government, Chandrababu said that when TDP supported Narendra Modi to form the government at the Center in 2024, it was decided that his party would get three cabinet ministers. They will get posts, but they have to work with a cabinet and a state minister. "The PM is fully aware of this, we will take care of you next time the Union Cabinet is expanded," the leader assured Naidu.
Chirag's own Khatrag
Following in the footsteps of his late father Ram Vilas Paswan, Union Minister and LJP (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan is also busy singing his Dhapli Apna raga before the BJP. Chirag knows how important this Bihar assembly election is to maintain his political relevance. He had been preparing the Alauli assembly for himself for a long time, but his uncle made a successful bet of gifting his seat to his son Yash, Chirag anyway does not want to get entangled with his uncle Pashupati Paras. So, he has made up his mind to leave the Alauli seat for his cousin Yash Paswan, because he does not want to get down from Alauli to defeat his brother, so for some time he was looking for a new seat for himself, which has been completed in the Sikandra reserved seat under Jamui. If sources are to be believed, Chirag is now preparing to contest the election from Sikandra, while this seat is currently held by NDA ally HAM and HAM's Prafulla Manjhi is the MLA from here. Chirag Paswan is demanding 42 seats from the BJP this time, while at the moment the BJP seems to be willing to leave 20 to 25 seats for the LJP (Ram Vilas), because the BJP feels that only by cultivating Chirag, 20 percent of the Dalit voters of Bihar cannot be taken together, anyway, Chirag's homogeneous Paswan or Dusadh is only 3.5 percent. In the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections, Chirag had sung his Dhapli Apna raga and fielded his candidates in 137 seats, regardless of the alliance with the BJP, when only one of his candidates could win from Matihani seat of Begusarai. At present, Chirag Bahujan is busy preparing for Bhim Sankalp Samagam.
Caste card dominates in Bihar
As the Bihar assembly elections are approaching, all the political parties of the state are now openly engaged in introducing caste politics. In particular, all the political parties are eyeing to woo Dalit and backward voters. According to a recent estimate, the number of Dalit voters in Bihar is about 20 percent, 27 percent are OBC voters and about 36 percent are EBC voters.
That is, by combining these three, the number of voters comes to around 63 percent. Talking about general caste voters, their number sits at only 15.15 percent. So, you can easily understand that the vultures of political parties are firmly fixed on this 63 percent vote bank. The BJP's real concern is about the slipping vote bank of its partner JDU, the BJP's own surveys have claimed that many of the JDU's traditional vote banks are now shifting to the RJD and the Congress, such as Dhanuk and Koeri votes. At the same time, Rahul Gandhi and the Congress have worked to make a dent in the Dalit vote bank, Rahul Gandhi has not only made a Dalit i.e. Rajesh Ram the state president of the Congress, but he definitely raises the chord of the Constitution and Ambedkar in every meeting, if we leave aside the traditional Dusadh voters of Ram Vilas Paswan, then other castes of Dalits like Ravidas, Nishad, Mochi etc are showing goodwill towards Congress, this can benefit Tejashwi. The BJP fears that the way Akhilesh's PDA worked in the UPA during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, it may not happen in Bihar this time too. So, the BJP wants to thread this caste balance into patriotism through its Tiranga Yatra.
Indian ambassadors can be changed in many countries
There is talk that India can change its ambassador in many countries. The government summoned its External Affairs Minister two days ago and questioned him on several issues. It has also been said that these countries always stood with India. In the past, neighbors like Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives also gave 'neutral statements'. Even 7-8 small African countries are speaking a different language. While India has always been a supporter of the 'Non-Alliance Movement', it has also openly helped African countries from time to time.
It is understood that the Ministry of External Affairs clarified that since these are small African countries which do not have a strong stand and they keep changing their statements. Now there are indications that in the coming few days, at least 18-19 countries may leave Indian ambassadors, they can be replaced by some pro-active faces.
... And finally:
In view of the Bihar elections, there is a competition among the leaders to woo the ethnic voters. Chirag Paswan is launching the 'Bahujan Bhim Samvad' to woo Dalit voters, his party's aim is to fulfill the rights of the poor and backward classes. Chirag also wants to show his strength to his allies through his small programs. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is organising a 'Bahujan Nishad Samvad' in almost every district of the state to connect with the Nishad community. Nitish Kumar is eyeing 48 per cent women voters in the state, who have proved to be his trump card in the elections so far.
Through 'Mahila Samvad', Nitish wants to know from his women voters how much they have benefited from the liquor ban. Leaders like Jitan Ram Manjhi and Upendra Kushwaha are also trying to unite their respective communities.
Manjhi is taking out a 'Bahujan Garib Yatra', but PK has given him a big blow by inducting his party's vice-president Ramchandra Das into his party Jan Suraj.
(www.parliamentarian.in)