#district panchayat member election

[sivavakkiyar]

An elected BJP member from a tribal community told Scroll that it is not clear what the tribal communities are getting from the agreement.

“We do know if the agreement will increase the reserved seats from 20 Assembly seats to 25 or 26 for the tribals,” the BJP elected representative said. “We want the Kokborok language to be included in the Eight Schedule. In tribal areas, we have been demanding the establishment of a three-tier panchayat system, and direct funding from the Centre to the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council. The pact does not talk about any of this.”

He added: “Let’s see what changes in six months.”

[thepoliticianspage]

THIRUPATHI BODAPATLA

Bodapatla Thirupathi Kurma (born 09 July 1979), commonly known as BPT, is an Indian politician. He is state youth Co-ordinator of Telangana state kurma's association. He is also the working Vice-president of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi Siddipet district.

He is the son of Achaiah and yellavva, his father is a farmer and shepherd.He is married to Sujatha. The couple has two children – sons Sai vipul and Shiva prapul.

He was an active member of Telangana movements at the time of separation of Telangana state. After the separation of Telangana state he left the politics for some reasons and after few years in 2018. He again entered into politics by contesting as in panchayat election Under the party trs. By the activeness in brs party and support of MLA rasamayi balakishan he became vice President of brs party siddipet district.

He is the follower of kcr and active leader in brs party. He is from manakondur constituency.Under the leadership of MLA rasamayi balakishan

[sablocalhai]

Government and administration of Bihar?

Bihar, a state in eastern India, is governed by a parliamentary system similar to the national government. The state is headed by a Chief Minister, who is elected by the members of the Legislative Assembly. The Legislative Assembly is the state's law-making body, consisting of elected representatives from various constituencies.

The Government Structure:

Chief Minister: The Chief Minister is the head of the state government and is responsible for the overall administration of Bihar.

Legislative Assembly: The Legislative Assembly is the state's parliament, consisting of elected members who represent various constituencies.

State Council: The State Council is the upper house of the Bihar legislature. It is composed of nominated members and elected representatives of local bodies.

State Secretariat: The State Secretariat is the executive branch of the state government, responsible for implementing the policies and decisions of the government.

Administrative Divisions:

Bihar is divided into 38 districts, which are further grouped into nine divisions. Each district is headed by a District Magistrate, who is responsible for the overall administration of the district. The districts are further divided into sub-divisions, blocks, and panchayats (local self-government bodies).

Local Government:

Panchayats: Panchayats are the basic units of local government in Bihar. They are responsible for providing various services to the people at the grassroots level, such as education, health, and sanitation.

Urban Local Bodies: Bihar also has urban local bodies, such as municipalities and corporations, which are responsible for the administration of urban areas.

Challenges and Reforms:

Bihar has faced several challenges in terms of governance and administration, including corruption, poverty, and lack of infrastructure. However, the state government has been implementing various reforms to address these issues and improve governance. These reforms include initiatives to promote transparency, accountability, and efficiency in government.

In conclusion, Bihar's government and administration are structured along similar lines to the national government. The state is headed by a Chief Minister and has a Legislative Assembly, which is the law-making body. The state is divided into districts, which are further divided into sub-divisions, blocks, and panchayats. While Bihar has faced challenges, it has been making efforts to improve governance and administration.

[bhanustark]

Naveen or Champalal will be Congress's candidate: Party is churning in two names regarding Amarwada assembly by -election, will be announced soon

Congress may soon announce the name regarding Amarwada Assembly by -election, it is being told that the party is considering the name of two district panchayat members in which Naveen Markam of Chhindi region or Champal Kurche, President of Block Congress Committee Amarwada, Champalal Kurche CA Let me tell you that Champalal Kurche is also considered the district panchayat member and the most…

[wikiuntamed]

Five steps of Wikipedia for Friday, 5th April 2024

Welcome, bienvenue, tervetuloa, karibu 🤗 Five steps of Wikipedia from "Veyyalore Town Panchayat" to "1946 Indian provincial elections". 🪜👣

Start page 👣🏁: Veyyalore Town Panchayat "Veyyalore Town Panchayat (Veyyalore Gram Panchayat), is located in Keerapalayam district in Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu. This panchayat falls under Bhuvanagiri Assembly constituency and Chidambaram Lok Sabha constituency. This panchayat has a total of 7 panchayat constituencies. 7 Panchayat..."

Step 1️⃣ 👣: Chidambaram Lok Sabha constituency "Chidambaram is a Lok Sabha (Parliament of India) constituency in Tamil Nadu. Its Tamil Nadu Parliamentary Constituency number is 27 of 39. The seat is reserved for scheduled castes. It spread on district of Ariyalur and Cuddalore...."

Image licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0? by Nader85021

Step 2️⃣ 👣: 1977 Indian general election "General elections were held in India between 16 and 20 March 1977 to elect the members of the sixth Lok Sabha. The elections took place during the Emergency period, which expired on 21 March 1977, shortly before the final results were announced.The elections resulted in a heavy defeat for the Indian..."

Image licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0? by Furfur

Step 3️⃣ 👣: 1937 Indian provincial elections "Provincial elections were held in British India in the winter of 1936-37 as mandated by the Government of India Act 1935. Elections were held in eleven provinces - Madras, Central Provinces, Bihar, Orissa, the United Provinces, the Bombay Presidency, Assam, the North-West Frontier Province, Bengal,..."

Image licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0? by RaviC

Step 4️⃣ 👣: 1930 Indian general election "General elections were held in British India in September 1930. They were boycotted by the Indian National Congress and marked by public apathy. The newly elected Central Legislative Assembly met for the first time on 14 January 1931...."

Step 5️⃣ 👣: 1946 Indian provincial elections "Provincial elections were held in British India in January 1946 to elect members of the legislative councils of the Indian provinces. The consummation of British rule in India were the 1945/1946 elections. As minor political parties were eliminated, the political scene became restricted to the..."

Image licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0? by RaviC

[poonambenmaadam]

800 Congress Workers now under the BJP Flag

With the elections so near, India has transformed into a fierce battlefield. And the armies are the various Indian Political Parties.

A big lot twist has come to happen in the chapter on Gujarat.

On the 1st of April, the world was celebrating April Fool's Day. And Poonamben Maadam, Jamnagar BJP candidate, was turning the tides for the Jamnagar elections.

About 800 Congress party members and workers broke away from the political party and joined the BJP. Poonamben Maadam, BJP Candidate, State Cabinet Minister, Mulu Bera and District BJP President, Mayur Gadhvi saw the ceremony.

The event is now being seen as a demonstration of the BJP's power over its native land of Gujarat. The state has always been improved under the rule of the Bhartiya Janta Party, so this was to be expected. But the sheer number of workers changing their affiliation was unexpected.

The leaders who switched over include

Dwarka district Congress General Secretary,

District Panchayat member Ebha Karmur,

Opposition Leader and Taluka Panchayat member Yogesh Nandania,

Taluka Panchayat members Laxman Chavda, Malsi Dahiya,

Dwarka Congress OBC Cell President Kishan Bhatia,

Dwarka district Youth Congress President Savan Karmur,

APMC director of Khambhaliya Babu Gojia, and 14 Sarpanches.

This is a major move by Poonamben Maadam, who welcomed the leaders to the BJP side at a meeting in Khambhaliya alongside two others. This is another move by the Jamnagar MP towards a definitive win in the coming elections. The Bhartiya Janta Party has these elections in the bag.

'Expect the unexpected' seems to be coming true with Poonamben Maadam.

Source: News18

[seemabhatnagar]

"Boundary Breach: The University's Intrusion into Collegiate Affairs"

University of Calicut v. K P Ameen Rashid & another

Writ Appeal 50/2024

High Court of Kerala at Ernakulam

Heard By Hon’ble Mr Justice  A Muhamed Mustaque J & Hon’ble Madam Justice Mrs Shoba Annamma Eapen J

Order pronounced on 14.02.2024 dismissing the Writ Appeal of the Calicut University. The Bench observed that the role of the University in Private Colleges is limited to the extent of ensuring that University regulations are followed or not. The University cannot assume the role of the Principal and direct the College Principal to act on their direction. There is no merit in this writ appeal. The writ appeal fails, and it is accordingly, dismissed.

 This is a case that began from a complaint by a Research Scholar, C H Amal, in the Department of Physical Education from Calicut University against a student, KP Ameen Rashid, of BA (Economics) from the SEEDAC College of Arts in Palakkad District & affiliated with Calicut University enrolled for the Academic Session 2022-2025

The complainant questioned the election of Rashid as a Senate Member while being a regular student of SEEDAC College & his working as a Project Assistant with Thachanattukara Grama Panchayat.

The University enquired with the Panchayat with regards to the engagement of Ameen. Panchayat confirmed that Ameen was engaged from 9/12/2021 till 12/4/2023 as a Project Assistant.

The Vice-Chancellor heard the complainant C H Amal and student Ameen Rashid. Based on the hearing, the Vice Chancellor on 25.07.2023 directed the Principal of SEEDAC College to remove Ameen Rashid from the rolls as he had not attended class on a single day in the first semester and cancel his admission and report the same to the University.

Abiding by the instructions of the Vice Chancellor the Principal of SEEDAC College cancelled the admission of Ameen on 14.08.2023. 

Ameen Rashid challenged his cancellation of admission through Writ Petition before the High Court of Kerala at Ernakulam and submitted that the University of Calicut granted affiliation to SEEDAC College in Economics quite late and to compensate for the academic loss, the College was directed to provide extra classes as well as online classes. He has attended all the online classes along with other students and his attendance is there on record of the College. And with regards to his working as a Project Assistant, it is on a daily wage basis on Holidays and he is doing work at night. 

The Single Judge of the High Court set aside the order of the Principal of cancellation of Admission of Ameen Rashid & observed that out of the 9 students enrolled for the regular classes, none attended the regular classes why Ameen Rashid is singled out which is legally unsustainable.

Aggrieved by the order of the Single Judge, Calicut University went in Appeal before the High Court.

Observation of the High Court in Writ Appeal

1.      The role of the University providing affiliation to the college is confined only to the supervisory nature, and the authority to determine the factum of absence from classes lies with the Principal of the College.

2.      The Principal has no case that Ameen Rashid did not attend the classes. The Principal cannot surrender his freedom to take action against a student, to the University.

3.      If conducting classes online is not permissible, the University will have to take action against the College and not against the student who attended the classes online. If the College had conducted classes online and allowed the students to attend classes online, we do not understand why the University is showing undue interest in this matter.

4.      The complaint was concerning the first semester and the University itself had allowed Ameen to write the first semester examination. The University subsequently can’t raise any complaint while allowing Ameen to write the first-semester Examination.

5.      The University in a proceeding challenging the selection of the student in an election matter, cannot collaterally decide a question on non-attendance and decide against the student. At best, the University could only have ordered the Principal to provide a report regarding the actual attendance of the student to the University.

6.      The Principal of the College in its counter filed in Writ Petition had certified that Rashid had sufficient attendance and he had attended all the online classes.

7. The University on its own jumped from the student being elected as senate member to the inquiry regarding the attendance of the student. Attendance of the student is a regular day-to-day administrative matter falling within the domain of Principal of the SEEDAC College. It is difficult to understand why the University was taking undue interest in the matter of Ameen Rashid. When none of the 9 students enrolled for BA Economics didn’t attend the regular class and all attended the online class. The University needs to be concerned about the standards of education but not in a way of chasing a wild goose.

Seema Bhatnagar

[razorblogz]

Bengal rural Polls: Violence continues on second day of nomination filing 

A Congress activist was shot dead on Friday, the first day of nomination filing, in Murshidabad district allegedly by TMC goons, a charge denied by the ruling party.

KOLKATA: Incidents of violence continued on the second day of nomination filing for West Bengal panchayat polls on Saturday, with the opposition BJP, Congress and CPI(M) alleging their candidates were prevented from submitting papers by the ruling TMC activists and goons.

A mob entered a Block Development Office in South 24 Parganas district and assaulted an employee allegedly for distributing nomination forms to opposition candidates, while a local Trinamool Congress leader was caught with a handgun in Murshidabad district.

The TMC, however, trashed the charges saying the nomination filing process was by and large incident free and the opposition was making false charges as they are sure about the imminent loss in the panchayat polls having very little support base among the rural populace.

A State Election Commission (SEC) official told PTI: "Action has been taken on the basis of receiving every report and the nomination process was going on smoothly across the state."

The official said that as many as 1,360 nomination papers were filed on the first day across the state, and the process was smooth barring "some stray incidents" in a few pockets.

A Congress activist was shot dead on Friday, the first day of nomination filing, in Murshidabad district allegedly by TMC goons, a charge denied by the ruling party.

On the second day, incidents of violence and scuffling between workers of the ruling and opposition parties came from a number of districts such as Bankura, Purba and Paschim Bardhaman, Birbhum and Murshidabad districts.

At Domkal in Murshidabad, opposition parties alleged that goons belonging to the TMC were seen moving around with firearms near the BDO office, where nomination papers will be filed, and obstructing their candidates.

Civic volunteers were seen with lathis along with the police to control disturbances in Domkal.

Besides, BJP nominees were allegedly heckled by TMC workers at Labhpur in Birbhum district.

Similar reports of violence came from Bishnupur in Bankura, Katwa in Purba Bardhaman, and Babarani in Paschim Bardhaman districts, where CPIM candidates were allegedly prevented from filing their nomination papers by the TMC.

"There had been some stray incidents in the morning. But once we got the information, we alerted the police and remedial measures were taken. The process went on smoothly later on. On Friday, the number of nominations filed by the combined opposition was slightly higher than the number of nominations filed by the TMC," the SEC official said.

Opposition BJP demanded immediate deployment of central forces to conduct the panchayat polls while the TMC asserted that the opposition is hunting for excuses fearing defeat.

BJP state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya told PTI: "We have been asking for the deployment of central forces from the very beginning, but the partisan State Election Commission is yet to hear our pleas."

"Civic volunteers wearing police uniforms are now deployed to oversee the nomination filing process and ruling party miscreants are getting a free run. This is in blatant violation of the law. The TMC does not want the opposition to field candidates anywhere," he said.

TMC Rajya Sabha member and party spokesperson Shantanu Sen said the opposition had faced severe drubbing in the 2021 assembly polls and several assembly and one Lok Sabha by-election, all of which were conducted in the presence of central forces.

"People of Bengal are solidly behind the TMC and not with the BJP, Congress or the CPI(M). The opposition may demand deployment of peacekeeping force from the United Nations in panchayat polls if they want," Sen said.

State Election Commissioner Rajiva Sinha on Saturday called on West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose to explain the commission's stand on demands for extending the date of filing nominations for the state's three-tier panchayat polls and to explain steps taken to contain incidents of violence.

The 2018 rural poll process was marred by violence and alleged malpractices in several districts.

[bobyseo]

Telugu Desam Party - Manifesto for the people of AP

Telugu Desam Party is a familiar name known to every household in both the Telugu speaking states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The Telugu Desam party treats each and everyone equally and is constantly concerned with the progress and development of Telugu people. The TDP Party is well dispersed throughout the districts of Telangana and primarily focused in Andhra Pradesh.

The TDP party worked with the motive of growth and development to everyone in the state without any favouritism to any caste, community or religion. Everyone in the state can learn about the progress and development done by the TDP government under the rule of Shri. Nara Chandrababu Naidu in the state of Andhra pradesh by reading the TDP political news in the official website.

The TDP government with N. Chandrababu Naidu as its Chief Minister constantly worked to provide the people of Andhra Pradesh with great schemes and Top TDP policies that are delivered with great respect and affection towards the progress of the people in AP. You can find more Latest news about TDP and all the  initiatives and establishments in the state if you look up the official website.

The main goal of the Telugu Desam party is to create a wealthy society that is always progressing. N. Chandrababu Naidu and other TDP leaders have abundant Gratitude towards the public of Andhra Pradesh for having faith in them by encouraging, and enabling the party to gain numerous TDP achievements. 

Manifesto of TDP: 

Telugu Desam Party issued a five-point platform for the panchayat elections:

A Manifesto for the state's panchayat elections has been announced by Nara Chandrababu Naidu, national president of the TDP party and the former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh.

This manifesto for the state's panchayat elections in which N.Chandrababu Naidu, a former chief minister and current party national president, highlighted the name of Palle Pragathi-Pancha Sutras with the aim of providing good governance to the people. He claimed that the purpose of these Pancha Sutras was to improve village governance. He urged the youth to speak up and also promised to work for the villages' development and welfare of the people. This is said to be TDP Contribution for the people of AP.

The following is a five-point election Manifesto:

1) Safe freshwater with no-cost taps

2) Making sure of safety.

3) Protecting public property and preventing attacks on temples.

4) Steer clear of the metres for farm motors.

5) Providing civic services and lowering property taxes; establishing ideal villages with hygienic conditions.

Telugu Desam membership has been a long-standing rite that gives party members a sense of privilege and ties them to the organisation's goals. For the first time ever in the nation, N. Chandrababu Naidu took things a step further by introducing a slew of benefits for members, including Rs. 2 Lakh in insurance coverage (both death and accident), discounts in hospitals located all throughout the two states and in nearby states, a bus fare reduction, and others. 

To minimise manual errors, it is using technology to record data of the party members.  You should visit our official website to learn about the latest TDP news and Latest political news. On our website, you may find the most recent news and current events that will keep you informed about the Telugu Desam Party.

[krazyshoppy]

परिवहन मंत्री गोविंद सिंह राजपूत को लगा झटका, भतीजे अरविंद को पंचायत चुनाव में मिली हारा

परिवहन मंत्री गोविंद सिंह राजपूत को लगा झटका, भतीजे अरविंद को पंचायत चुनाव में मिली हारा

MP Panchayat Chunav 2022: मध्य प्रदेश में पंचायत चुनाव (MP Panchayat Chunav 2022 result) का तीसरा और अंतिम चरण खत्म हो गया. इसमें भी कई दिग्गज नेताओं के परिजन चुनाव हार गए. सिंधिया (Jyotiraditya Scindia) समर्थक और शिवराज (Shivraj Singh Chouhan) सरकार के परिवहन और राजस्व मंत्री गोविंद सिंह राजपूत (Minister Govind Singh Rajput) के भतीजे अरविंद सिंह राजपूत सागर में जिला पंचायत सदस्य का चुनाव हार गए…

[awesome-gautam-sandesh-blog]

मतगणना: चुनावी तूफान में बह गये भाजपा-सपा के धुरंधर, सीमा गुर्जर ने रचा इतिहास

मतगणना: चुनावी तूफान में बह गये भाजपा-सपा के धुरंधर, सीमा गुर्जर ने रचा इतिहास

बदायूं में 51 जिला पंचायत वार्ड हैं, 49 वार्डों की मतगणना पूरी हो गई है, 3 वार्डों की मतगणना जारी है, 16 सदस्य जीत कर भाजपा नंबर- 1 पर है, दूसरे नंबर पर 14 निर्दलीय विजयी हुए हैं, 11 सदस्य सपा के विजयी हुए हैं, 5 बसपा, 1 कॉंग्रेस और 2 महान दल का प्रत्याशी विजयी हुआ है। सीमा गुर्जर ने इतिहास रच दिया है, उनकी जिले में सबसे बड़ी जीत बताई जा रही हैं, उन्होंने प्र्तिद्न्दी को 6500 से भी ज्यादा मतों से…

[vilaspatelvlogs]

UP पंचायत चुनाव: कांग्रेस ने जारी कर दी जिला पंचायत उम्मीदवारों की दूसरी सूची, देखें पूरी लिस्ट

UP पंचायत चुनाव: कांग्रेस ने जारी कर दी जिला पंचायत उम्मीदवारों की दूसरी सूची, देखें पूरी लिस्ट

लखनऊ: यूपी में होने वाले त्रिस्तरीय पंचायत चुनाव को लेकर ताबड़तोड़ तैयारियां चल रही है. चुनाव के लिए नामा��कन प्रकिया भी शुरू हो चुकी है. शासन-प्रशासन और प्रत्याशियों ने अपनी कमर कस ली है. इसी बीच उत्तर प्रदेश कांग्रेस कमेटी के अध्यक्ष अजय कुमार लल्लू ने द्वितीय चरण के कांग्रेस समर्थित जिला पंचायत सदस्यों के उम्मीदवारों की घोषणा कर दी है. नीचे पूरी लिस्ट दी गई है… इन जिलों के उम्मीदवारों की सूची…

[neethypaksham]

After the rise, rift reigns among the Communists. The Himalayan republic plunged into a political crisis after Prime Minister K.P. Oli, faced with intra-party challenges, got Parliament dissolved

The Communist Party of Nepal was officially established in 1949 in Calcutta with the active support of the Indian communists

After the Naxalite movement in Nepal, a set of radical leftists went on to set up the Communist Party of Nepal (ML) in 1978. During the same time, another group of Communists formed the Maoist Fourth Convention

In 2018, Oli’s UML and the Maoist faction, led by Prachanda, merged to form the Nepal Communist Party. The NCP is now headed towards a split after PM Oli dissolved Parliament

Srinivasan Ramani

The abrupt decision by Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli to get Parliament dissolved by the President Bidhya Devi Bhandari (a former party colleague of Mr. Oli) before its five-year term came as a jolt of surprise. The ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) enjoys a two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives of the federal Parliament and controls two-thirds or more seats in six of the seven provincial assemblies. This act of brinkmanship by Mr. Oli came about as a reaction to the internal strife within the NCP, which was formed in 2018 after the merger of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) — of which Mr. Oli was a prominent leader — and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist-Centre), led by Pushpa Kumar Dahal alias Prachanda.

Mr. Oli was under pressure from the faction led by Mr. Dahal to resign from his posts as chairman of the NCP and Prime Minister, ostensibly for his poor performance. With a majority of the nine-member secretariat siding with Mr. Dahal, Mr. Oli decided to recommend the dissolution of Parliament as a means to stall any change in leadership within the party. As things stand, the NCP is functioning as two separate factions. The Dahal-led faction has named senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal as co-chairman and expelled Mr. Oli from his post in the party. The Dahal-Nepal faction has also led street protests calling the decision to dissolve Parliament “unconstitutional” even as the Supreme Court is hearing the case.

While Mr. Oli and Mr. Dahal are the key leaders in their respective factions, the divisions are not on the lines of the former UML and Maoist parties. Mr. Dahal is supported by Mr. Nepal and Jhalanath Khanal, both former Prime Ministers, who had been senior leaders in the UML, while Mr. Oli, for now, retains the support of Ram Bahadur Thapa, currently the Minister for Home Affairs and a former Maoist leader.

Domino effect

The domino effect of Mr. Oli’s decision seems to be interminably pushing the NCP into a split. Even the Communist Party of China got into the act — the Vice-President of its International Department, Guo Yezhou, who had last visited Kathmandu before the unification of the two communist parties into the NCP, visited the country with a delegation to assess the post-dissolution scenario and to explore the possibility of keeping the NCP united. The Indian establishment, known in the past to have extensive parleys with various political forces in Nepal, chose to remain “hands-off” this time.

The intrigue in the NCP is not surprising. The communist movement in Nepal had undergone several splits and mergers in the past. The Communist Party of Nepal was officially established in 1949 in Calcutta and with the active support of the Indian communists. The party was banned from 1952 to 1956 during what was an interim democratic period, before general elections were held in 1959. The communists won only four out of the 109 seats in Parliament. Following the dissolution of the Nepali Congress government by King Mahendra in 1960, Nepal reverted to a “Panchayat system” under absolute monarchy and remained so until 1990. In this period, the communist movement underwent several splits into factions and parties.

In the aftermath of the Naxalite movement in Nepal, a set of radical leftists sought to bring about violent actions in the eastern district of Jhapa — Mr. Oli was one of those who were part of the “Jhapeli movement” and was later arrested for his role. The former members of the Jhapeli group went on to set up the Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist-Leninist) in 1978. During the same time, another set of radical communists, inspired by Maoist ideology, formed the Fourth Convention group in 1974, and was led by Mohan Bikram Singh.

The CPN (ML) had emerged as the largest communist party in Nepal in 1990 and after having participated prominently in the first Jan Andolan — the movement that led to the institution of constitutional monarchy — it became the leading opposition party. The CPN (ML) had by now become the CPN (UML), after merging with the CPN-Marxist. The UML formed a minority government under Manmohan Adhikari in 1994 that lasted only nine months and later underwent another split, with senior leader Bamdev Gautam breaking away in 1998. Mr. Gautam is now part of the NCP and is aligned with Mr. Dahal.

The Maoist Fourth Convention also underwent splits — with one group termed CPN-Mashal led by Mr. Dahal and another, CPN-Masal, led by Baburam Bhattarai. Besides, the CPN-Fourth Congress had been led by Nirmal Lama till 1990. These parties came together and formed the CPN-Unity Centre whose political front, the United People’s Front Nepal (UPFN), was led by Mr. Bhattarai. Unlike the UML, which accepted parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy, the UPFN still retained a line striving for “people’s democracy” — electoral democracy leading to communist rule — and came up with a list of 40 demands that included a federal restructuring of Nepal and a secular state. They also issued an ultimatum that the party will initiate insurgency if the demands were not met. This led to the Maoist insurgency with Mr. Dahal at the helm. It lasted a decade before the Maoists joined hands with the parliamentary forces — the Nepali Congress, the UML and others to form an eight-party alliance that repudiated the monarchy. The Jan-Andolan of 2007 led to the formation of a newly elected Constituent Assembly (CA) and later the transition into a constitutional republic.

State restructuring

The post-CA polity underwent a clear demarcation on the question of state restructuring with the Nepali Congress and the UML firmly opposed to a federal republic that had provinces delineated on the basis of identity. The Maoists and Terai-based (Madhesi) parties were in favour of it. But in the second CA elections, following a protracted stalemate on this issue, the UML and the Congress emerged victorious with Mr. Oli coming out as a major voice of the status quo against ethnic federalism.

Mr. Oli managed to portray Madhesis’ struggle for ethnic determination as Indian interference and won power in 2017 by positioning himself as a nationalist and having aligned with Mr. Dahal’s Maoist faction that had significantly weakened in the 2010s (and had dropped its insistence on ethnic determination of federal boundaries). Mr. Oli, however, retained both the post of party chairman (shared with Mr. Dahal) and the premiership following the merger.

Unlike the major twists and turns in the communist movement in Nepal, which were driven by ideological positions of the leftists who were mostly in opposition, this split in the NCP seems to be driven more by a clash of egos and ambitions. The NCP has emerged over time as a major dispenser of patronage by controlling NGOs that receive international aid for development work. For leaders, being in power is key to maintaining their networks of support which explains the shifts in loyalty bereft of any ideological difference in the party that is now headed to a clear split.

[globalnewses]

Book Pakistani woman for hiding facts to fight panchayat polls: District admin

Book Pakistani woman for hiding facts to fight panchayat polls: District admin

The Etah district administration has issued direction to get an FIR lodged against a 65-year-old Pakistani woman, who has been living in the country for nearly 40 years on a long-term visa, for allegedly hiding facts while contesting the 2015 panchayat elections. Bano Begum was elected as a village panchayat member and later, she was made the officiating village Pradhan after the village head’s…

[journalistrakeshrocky-blog]

ELECTION 2019/HIMACHAL

Voters walk terrains of Himachal politics

With BJP and Congress well-entrenched in state, there is hardly any scope for the emergence of a potential third front, reports Rakesh Rocky

By

Rakesh Rocky

-May 16, 2019

36

With rallies addressed by Prime Minister Narender Modi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi, BJP chief Amit Shah and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi , the hilly state of Himachal is all set for the Lok Sabha polls, voting for which will be held in the last phase on May 19. Main contest is between ruling BJP and the Opposition Congress. BJP had won all the four seats in 2014 elections. Therefore, the polls are being seen as a big challenge for Jai Ram Thakur, young chief minister of the state to retain all the seats for his party, the BJP.

After many turns, the election has reached in the last phase of the electioneering. First, the BJP denied ticket to its stalwart 85-year-old former CM, Shanta Kumar. And then former union minister Sukh Ram quit BJP to join Congress along with his grandson Ashrey Sharma and also managed Congress ticket for him. Now Ashrey is contesting against one-time MP Ram Swaroop Sharma in Mandi, home district of CM Jai Ram Thakur.

This Lok Sabha elections have finally bid adieu to Shanta Kumar (85), who started his political career as a panch (panchayat member) in 1963 and was considered as one of the tallest leaders in Himachal Pradesh politics. The BJP has denied ticket to Shanta Kumar in Kangra and has fielded his close associate Kishan Kapoor, a Gaddi leader and a minister in the state BJP government.

The BJP has made two changes this time and also fielded new face in Shimla reserve constituency. However, the biggest news is farewell of Shanta Kumar who ruled this hilly state twice as chief minister and was elected five times to the Parliament, which included his four time stint as member of Lok Sabha. Supporters of Shanta Kumar claim that their leader may be sent to Rajya Sabha after Lok Sabha elections. However, it seems that the electoral career of Shanta Kumar has ended.

The party has retained three time MP Anurag Thakur, its young face, from Hamirpur and Ram Swaroop Sharma, one-time MP from Mandi and has fielded Kishan Kapoor — a Gaddi leader — from Kangra which currently is represented by Shanta Kumar. Kapoor is considered to be a loyalist of Shanta Kumar.

Shanta Kumar had earned strong criticism when as CM he gave ordered firing on agitating apple farmers in Shimla district after which BJP was reduced to eight seats in the 68-member state assembly. He is also unlucky that BJP governments in his both terms as chief minister could not complete full five-year terms. It was also Shanta Kumar who crushed employees’ agitation in Himachal Pradesh as CM and employees never forgave him for this anti-employee action. Interestingly when Narendra Modi was Himachal BJP incharge, he helped Prem Dhumal become the state chief minister in 1998 and not Shanta Kumar.

The BJP has denied tickets to two of its sitting MPs this time. Besides Shanta Kumar, Virender Kashyap, a two-time MP from Shimla has also been not given ticket. Suresh Kashyap, who is a two time MLA from Pachhad, will be BJP’s candidate from Shimla reserve constituency. If both Suresh Kumar and Kishan Kapoor win their election, the state has to hold by-elections to these vacant seats. Kishan Kapoor is MLA from Dharamshala while Suresh Kashyap is MLA from Pachhad.

On the other hand, Congress has fielded all four candidates who didn’t contested in 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Two of them, however, have already contested parliamentary elections. Ram Lal Thakur, who has been given ticket from Hamirpur against BJP’s young turk Anurag Thakur, had fought thrice but could not win even once. In Shimla, the party has given ticket to former CWC member Col (Retd) Dhani Ram Shandil, who won on HVC ticket in 1999.

Another big happening in this election is shifting of loyalities by 94-year-old tall Brahmin leader Sukh Ram, who along with his grandson Ashrey has now joined the Congress and also managed ticket for him. Interestingly his son Anil Sharma remained a minister in the state BJP government even after his son got the Congress ticket. He had later quit as minister. However, he is still a BJP MLA and didn’t join the election campaign of his son Ashrey.

Congress has fielded two new faces. In Mandi, ticket has been given to Ashrey Sharma, grandson of Sukh Ram, who was cabinet minister in the then Narsimha Rao government at the Centre. Sukh Ram is considered to be opponent of former chief minister Virbhadra Singh. However, now he is hoping that Virbhadra Singh will support his grandson.

In Mandi, the BJP has repeated Ram Swaroop Sharma, a one time MP. However, Sukh Ram has now joined the Congress and this may affect the scenario on Mandi seat. Sukh Ram is considered to be a tall Brahmin leader in the region and has strong hold among the Rajputs. His move of joining Congress has made the contest  interesting in Mandi. In 2017, Sukh Ram had joined the BJP just a month before the assembly elections  and BJP won all 10 seats in Mandi district. Sukh Ram had joined the BJP alongwith his minister son Anil Sharma, who was minister in the Congress government.

Sukh Ram had helped Prem Kumar Dhumal to form government in 1998 when he asked three of the MLAs of his Himachal Vikas Congress (HVC) party to join the BJP so that Congress could not defect them to form government. He was thrown out of the Congress when huge money was recovered from his Mandi house during a raid. After that, he became bitter for Virbhadra Singh, who was CM. Sukh Ram on few occasions alleged that Singh was allegedly behind raids at his residence.

With Ashrey getting the Congress ticket from Mandi, things will be little tough for the BJP in this election, especially if former chief minister Virbhadra Singh supports him. Virbhadra Singh has already made elections visits to his constituency. Sukh Ram himself enjoys good hold in the region. Mandi had always been a stronghold of Sukh Ram who have won 14 assembly elections from Mandi seat besides two Lok Sabha elections. He, however, lost on two other occasions.

In Kangra Congress has fielded a OBC MLA Pawan Kajal. The OBCs are in large number in the Kangra parliamentary constituency. Kajal will be facing Kishan Kapoor of the BJP, who is a minister in the Jai Ram Thakur government. Kapoor is a Gaddi leader, who are in good number in the constituency. Kangra is considered to house Gaddi’s majority voters. Not only in Kangra, this community also resides in tribal area of  Bharmaour in Chamba. This constituency may witness keen battle this time as Shanta Kumar is out of race now.

In Hamirpur, BJP has repeated its sitting MP Anurag Thakur, who is considered as most strong BJP candidate among all the four seats in the state. He has already won this seat three times. Anurag is considered as one of the most promising young leaders in the BJP.

Congress has fielded former minister Ram Lal Thakur against Anurag.  It will be quite interesting to see contest on this seat. Former BJP chief and three time MP, Suresh Chandel, was also trying to join the Congress and get ticket. However, he could not succeed. The internal politics of the Congress blocked his way as most of the top Congress leaders were against his entry in the party.

Ram Lal had lost elections three times on this seat. However, Congress has again expressed faith in him. Few in the party feel that he may get sympathy of the voters for being rejected thrice. However, BJP candidate Anurag Thakur is a popular face in the area and it will be interesting to see how Ram Lal counters him. With former state BJP chief and three time MP Suresh Chandel also joining the Congress, Ram Lal claims that he is in better position this time.

In Shimla, Congress has expressed faith in MLA and former Congress Working Committee (CWC) member Col (Retd) Dhani Ram Shandil. He had won on this seat in 1999 on HVC ticket. This reserve constituency is also likely to witness a interesting battle this time. BJP denied ticket to sitting MP Virender Kashyap due to cases against him.

This election will be a first big test for Jai Ram Thakur who became chief minister in 2017. BJP had won all four Lok Sabha seats in the state in 2014 during Modi wave. Now it will be a big challenge for Jai Ram to retain all the seats. He has been a thorn in the eye of many, even in the party, for allegedly doling out big state projects to his constituency or home district Mandi.

However, he has denied the charges. Jai Ram told Tehelka that these are just rumours aired by Congress leaders. ‘’Modi government has sanctioned many projects for state and there have been equal distribution of funds for all 12 districts. Previous Congress government failed to brought projects and even misused the money which was allocated for the developmental projects of the state,” added the chief minister.

Mukesh Agnihotri, leader of the Opposition in state assembly, alleged that Jai Ram government has failed in the last one year and people will give a setback to BJP in the coming Lok Sabha elections. ‘’The BJP government have not even fulfilled its single promise during 2017 assembly elections,” added the Congress leader. Polling in Himachal Pradesh will be held on May 19, the seventh phase. Top BJP leaders — PM Narendra Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah, Congress president Rahul Gandhi, star campaigner Shatrughan Sinha are likely to campaign for their respective parties in the hilly state.

Two bypolls inevitable

Two assembly bypolls will be inevitable in the state after Lok Sabha results. The reason is that both Congress and the BJP have fielded sitting MLAs on Kangra and Shimla seats. In Kangra, BJP candidate Kishan Kapoor is a MLA from Dharamshala and minister in the BJP government. The Congress candidate Pawan Kajal is also a MLA from Kangra reserve constituency. On the other hand, BJP has fielded Suresh Kashyap while Congress candidate is Col (Retd) Dhani Ram Shandil. Both are MLAs.

Jolt to the BJP

Former state BJP chief and three-time MP Suresh Chandel joined Congress recently, giving a big jolt to the BJP. Though local Congress leaders are strongly opposing his joining, Chandel supporters claim that he will be able to make a dent in BJP votes.  However, a senior BJP leader in Bilaspur said that Chandel is out of mainstream politics for long time and has no impact on voters now.

Dad in BJP, son Cong candidate

Perhaps this is happening for the first time in the state politics that father is a BJP MLA and son is Congress candidate. In Mandi, Anil Sharma till recently was a minister in the BJP government. However, he was forced to resign after his son Ashrey joined the Congress and has got party ticket. Mandi is the district of CM Jai Ram Thakur. Now Anil Sharma is still a MLA in the BJP and son Ashrey is contesting on Congress ticket in Mandi. It is said that Anil is silently supporting his son.

letters@tehelka.com

[indiaepost]

Voting will be held on November 9 for 1244 Panchayat Samiti members and 158 Zilla Parishad members in 57 blocks of 9 districts

Voting will be held on November 9 for 1244 Panchayat Samiti members and 158 Zilla Parishad members in 57 blocks of 9 districts

IEP Chandigarh, November 8 Haryana State Election Commissioner, Sh. Dhanpat Singh said that all preparations have been completed for Panchayat Samiti members and Zilla Parishad members for the second phase in the state. Polling will be held on November 9 for 1244 Panchayat Samiti members and 158 Zilla Parishad members in 57 blocks of 9 districts Ambala, Charkhi Dadri, Gurugram, Karnal,…