I/II. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Bihar-result-no-verdict-on-Amit-Shah-Naidu/articleshow/49638135.cms
Bihar result no verdict on Amit Shah: Naidu TNN | Nov 3, 2015, 06.30 AM IST NEW DELHI: After senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh, party veteran M Venkaiah Naidu also asserted that BJP Amit Shah will get a second term as he is doing a "wonderful job and providing effective leadership". "It will be decided as and when the occasion comes. There will not be any problem," Naidu said, when asked about his stand on Singh's comments that Shah will get a fresh term irrespective of the results of Bihar assembly polls. "Amit Shah is doing a good job, wonderful job. He is one of the most capable organisers of the party. He is providing effective leadership," he told a press conference. Singh and Naidu, both Unions ministers, have held the post of party president in the past. Shah's current term ends in a few months. In a media interview, the home minister had said Shah will get a fresh term irrespective of the Bihar election result, slated for November 8. Shah had taken over from Singh in July 2014 following the spectacular victory of Narendra Modi-led BJP in which he had played a key role as a strategist and was credited with the party's stunning sweep of Uttar Pradesh, winning 71 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats. Rajnath Singh had resigned in the middle of his term as he had joined the Union council of ministers. Under Shah, BJP has won a number of state assembly elections, including Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Haryana, but suffered a big defeat in Delhi. II. http://www.business-standard.com/article/elections/why-predicting-bihar-election-verdict-is-so-difficult-115110300623_1.html Why predicting Bihar election verdict is so difficult There is no fence sitter this time who is going to be swayed this way or that way through last minute campaigning, writes Mayank Mishra Mayank Mishra | New Delhi November 3, 2015 Last Updated at 14:17 IST For flying journalists, taxi drivers become the first, and in many cases, very important guide to what is happening around. My own experience is Bihari drivers are very talkative and extremely opinionated. During the course of my journey through parts of Bihar, I interacted with three of them. The first of them, a resident of Hajipur, almost convinced me that Nitish Kumar-led Mahagathbandhan is going to sweep the polls. He claimed to have attended many rallies and visited many villages and towns recently to gauge the public opinion. The second one, a Maithil Brahmin from Supaul district and a die-hard Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporter, wanted the National Democratic Alliance to win but was not sure which way the tide was turning. He blamed wrong selection of candidates by the NDA and said that the BJP’s poor showing, if it happens, could be because of RSS chief’s remark on reservation. The third driver, an OBC from Purnea district, was confident that the BJP will emerge as the single largest party. According to him, if the BJP falls short of majority it should blame itself for raking up issues like beef ban and Pakistan in the middle of campaign. Three drivers from three regions not only differed on the outcome of the elections. They had different takes on most of the issues being discussed and debated during the course of campaign this time. The story is not just of three drivers. The range of people we spoke to believed in and articulated sets of narratives that were at variance with each other. For BJP supporters- men and women, the perceived threat of the return of Jungle Raj, a euphemism for Lalu Prasad days, is real. For them, Nitish Kumar’s assurance to the contrary is not convincing enough. However, the slogan of Jungle Raj evokes a completely different response from Yadavs and other supporters of Mahagathbandhan. “Jungle raj is like an abuse to us. Are we junglee just because we talk about empowerment of Dalits and OBCs?” a Yadav told me in Vaishali district. His friend told me a mythological story according to which Yadavs had to be banished to jungle because their forefather Yadu stood by the principle and did not succumb to temptation. For them, Jungle Raj means egalitarian society. The difference is not just caste specific. It is region specific too. And sometimes members of the same caste cluster look at issues differently. So the probability of arriving at any conclusion based on interaction with people, even if randomly selected, is quite high. Even at the risk of going wrong, I will still talk about some of the broad trends that I observed. My interaction with a range of people in as many as 10 districts of the state has convinced me that there is no fence sitter this time who is going to be swayed this way or that way through last minute campaigning. People have, by and large, made up their mind and they are voting according to their conviction. Higher voter turnout in the first four phases is perhaps an indication of that. Another visible trend is that Nitish Kumar has retained most of his popularity despite 10 years of incumbency. Even those who said they won’t vote for him did acknowledge that the Nitish Kumar regime has been very good for Bihar. What is more, supporters of Lalu Prasad have begun to take pride in the leadership of Nitish Kumar. Whether the goodwill translates into votes is very difficult to guess though. And my third observation is that only three leaders—Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad—have occupied mind space in Bihar. They are the ones who are part of most conversation and others are seldom discussed. The outcome therefore will be a reflection of who has occupied the maximum space. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
