Sunday, May 17, 2009

Bihar Assembly seeks special category status for Bihar

Does anyone have the text of the Bihar Assembly's unanimous resolution demanding special category status to Biahr? It was passed on April 4, 2006.

One must admit that the
report/book titled "Special Category Status: A Case for Bihar" makes a compelling case for special category status to Bihar.

There is statistical evidence to show that Bihar did not become backward, it was made backward. There has been a deliberate effort that
in terms of economic and social indicators of development, Bihar remains below all-India averages in most respects of human development.

Raekha Prasad reporting in May 2006 for The Guardian from Khagaul, her father's home town wrote, "The state of Bihar contradicts modern India's optimistic vision of itself। "Bihar" has become an expletive, a butt of derogatory jokes made by people in certain metropolitan circles who have never visited the place। Underlying the ridicule is a potent fear in the minds of many Indians that Bihar is a template of what this ascendant economic power could yet become. For India's burgeoning middle classes, Bihar is a byword for everything they most fear: feudal and caste cruelty, criminalised politics and grinding poverty." Backwardness of the state is at the root of the crisis that has been underlined.

While special category status to Bihar merits attention, does anyone know about the fate of the Bihar's Common School System Commission that had submitted its 313-page report in June 2007 calling “for a legislation underpinning the Common School System.” If this is done Bihar can show the right path especially with regard to education to the whole country. Has Bihar Government acted on its recommendation?

Bihar Deserves ‘Special Category status'

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on May 15, 2009 announced that the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) would support any party in New Delhi that grants special status to his state for economic development.

He has put forward a strong case for special category status for the state, which lags behind several states in economic development. He put forward a strong case for special category status for the state, which lags behind several states in economic development. He pointed out, however, that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had refused to give Bihar special status despite repeated requests.

Noted economist Lord Meghnad J Desai on Friday fully endorsed Bihar's claim for special category status and even favoured "political bargaining" for that. "Transformation in the position of Bihar is a great achievement. It is time to make a persuasive case for Bihar".

Deasi said: "Political bargaining can come in handy for achieving the special category status to Bihar. There should be more transparency in allocation of funds by the Centre."

Desai said something has gone wrong in Bihar and UP which send 120 MPs to Parliament. "In advanced states, the social empowerment of weaker sections took place much earlier. In Bihar and UP, the empowerment of socially weaker sections has remained suppressed for a long time," he said.

He strongly pleaded for effective people-centric governance and direct funds to the target group. "A poor man knows more than experts where to spend the money," Desai said.

Nitish said giving funds directly to the poor will cut down corruption and government expenditure. He also pointed towards the poor power condition in Bihar. "Whenever I hold meetings with important persons there is always a power outage. I told Lord Desai that this is also one reason Bihar should be given the special category status," he said. "When I took over, Bihar's own production was zero. While efforts were made to set up power plants in Bihar, private parties were unwilling to come because no coal linkage (transportation of coal directly from mines) facility has been given to the state," he said.

On April 4, 2006, the Bihar Assembly passed an unanimous resolution demanding special category status to Bihar. This decision emerged after a four-hour debate in the assembly on a resolution which was adopted unanimously. Participating in the debate, the Nitish had stressed the need for a heavy doze of Central assistance as well as investment from private and public sectors to put Bihar on a par with developed states.

Nitish listed grounds for making such a demand saying Bihar has international borders with Nepal and Bangladesh, it is struck by recurring floods, power scenario is critical and also there is a problem of extremism. "Bihar can overcome these problems once it gets financial support, investment and subsidy," he added. In a rare gesture of unity and rising above the political affiliation, the members sitting on both sides rose in unison and forcefully approved the resolution calling the Centre to include Bihar in the special category of states. Members cutting across the party line favoured the move and urged their central leaders to take up the matter with the Prime Minister.

An all-party delegation led by Nitish Kumar sought an appointment with the PM on the issue. The delegation approached the PMO for an appointment on April 13, 2006. But even after 37 months, the appointment has not been given.
Bihar Chamber of Commerce (BCC) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on 15 May, 2009 urged the Centre to give special category status to Bihar. Satyajit Singh, Bihar CII, chairman too felt that Bihar needed a composite package with special category status.

BCC delegation had on August 28, 1999, met the then Union finance minister Dr Manmohan Singh and the then vice-chairman of Planning Commission Pranab Mukherjee, seeking special category state status to Bihar. He recalled that in June, 1989, the then PM Rajiv Gandhi had announced a special package for Bihar of over Rs 5,000 crore for various projects but it was never implemented.

Bihar government and BCC has been demanding economically and industrially backward state status for Bihar
for the past several years.

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Loka Sabha Election Results of Bihar

As expected Nitish Kumar-led NDA posted an emphatic victory in the Lok Sabha elections in Bihar winning 32 of the State's 40 seats। JDU led NDA virtual swept the state washing out the duo of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav and LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan.

Kumar's JD(U) won 20 of 25 seats it contested, the BJP pocketed 12 of the 15 it fought.

Ramvilas Paswan's LJP was obliterated in the electoral battlefield losing all 12 seats it contested, including his own seat of Hajipur, which sent him seven times to the Lok Sabha. LJP had four MPs in the 14th Lok Sabha.

Lalu Prasad lost from Pataliputra where he was pipped at the post by his friend-turned-foe Ranjan Prasad Yadav of JD(U) Prasad retained Saran, winning it for the fourth time.

In terms of vote share, JD(U) has gained only modestly with its share rising from 22.4% to 24%, and the BJP has actually dropped slightly, but the RJD's vote share has plummeted by over 11% - from 30.7% last time to just 19.3% now - and Paswan's LJP has lost another 1.6% in vote share. The Congress, despite contesting on its own, has raised its share from 4.5% to 10.3%, but that huge jump didn't yield seats because of the low base on which it came.

National Performance

UNITED PROGRESSIVE ALLIANCE - 262

Congress - 206

Trinamool Congress - 19

DMK - 18

Nationalist Congress Party - 9

National Conference - 3

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha - 2

Muslim League Kerala State Committee - 2

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen - 1

Bodoland People's Front - 1

Kerala Congress (Mani) - 1

NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE - 159

Bharatiya Janata Party - 116

Janata Dal-United - 20

Shiv Sena - 11

Rashtriya Lok Dal - 5

Akali Dal - 4

Telangana Rashtra Samithi - 2

Asom Gana Parishad - 1

THIRD FRONT - 80

Bahujan Samaj Party - 21

CPI-M - 16

Biju Janata Dal - 14

AIADMK - 9

Telegu Desam Party - 6

CPI - 4

Janata Dal-Secular - 3

Forward Bloc - 2

Revolutionary Socialist Party - 2

MDMK - 1

Haryana Janhit Congress - 1

Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik) - 1

FOURTH FRONT - 27

Samajwadi Party - 23

Rashtriya Janata Dal - 4

OTHERS - 15

Independents - 9

Assam United Democratic Front - 1

Bahujan Vikas Aaghadi - 1

Swabhimani Paksha - 1

Nagaland People's Front - 1

Sikkim Democratic Front - 1

VCK - 1



Performace in the Bihar's 40 Parliamentary constituencies

Party Position - BIHAR
JDU
BJP
Cong
RJD
LJP
Ind & others
Total
20
12
2
4
0
2
40


Ara GEN
Meena Singh Janata Dal (United) Rama Kishore Singh LJP 74,880
Buxar GEN
Jagdanand Singh RJD Lalmuni Chaubey BJP 2,252
Sasaram SC
Meira Kumar Indian National Congress Munilal BJP 42,954
Karakat GEN
Mahabali Singh Janata Dal (United) Kanti Singh RJD 20,483
Saran GEN
Lalu Prasad Yadav RJD Rajiv Pratap Rudy BJP 52,571
Maharajganj GEN
Uma Shankar Singh RJD PrabhuNath Singh JD(U) 2,795
Siwan GEN
Om Prakash Yadav IND Hena Shahab RJD 63,430
Hajipur SC

Ram Sundar Das

Janata Dal (United)

Ram Vilas Paswan

Lok Jan Shakti Party

37,954

Paschim Champaran GEN

Dr. Sanjay Jaiswal

Bharatiya Janata Party

Prakash Jha

Lok Jan Shakti Party

47343

Valmikinagar GEN
Baidyanath Prasad Mahto Janata Dal (United) Fakhruddin Ahmed IND 1,84,125
Purvi Champaran GEN
Radha Mohan Singh Bharatiya Janata Party Akhilesh Prasad Singh Rashtriya Janata Dal 78,863
Sheohar GEN
Rama Devi Bharatiya Janata Party Md.Anwarul Haque BSP 1,21,423
Madhepura GEN
Sharad Yadav Janata Dal (United) Prof. Ravindra Charan Yadav RJD 1,68,973
Muzaffarpur GEN
Capt. Jainarayan Pd. Nishad Janata Dal (United) Bhagwanlal Sahni LJP 47,987
Vaishali GEN
Raghuvansh Prasad Singh Rashtriya Janata Dal Vijay Kumar Shukla JD(U)

16,447

Gopalganj SC
Puranmasi Ram Janata Dal (United) Anil Kumar RJD 42,471
Begusarai GEN
DR. Monazir Hassan Janata Dal (United) Shatrughan Prasad Singh CPI 40,837
Banka GEN
Digvijay Singh IND Jaiprakash Yadav RJD 28,716
Patna Saheb GEN

Shatrughan Sinha

Bharatiya Janata Party

Vijay Kumar

Rashtriya Janata Dal

1,66,770

Pataliputra GEN
Ranjan Prasad Yadav Janata Dal (United) Lalu Prasad Yadav RJD 23,541
Ujiyarpur GEN
Ashwamegh Devi Janata Dal (United) Alok Kumar Mehta RJD 25,279
Samastipur SC
Maheshwar Hazari Janata Dal (United) Ram Chandra Paswan LJP 1,04,376
Khagaria GEN

Dinesh Chandra Yadav

Janata Dal (United)

Ravindar Kr. Rana

Rashtriya Janata Dal

1,38,755

Munger GEN
Rajiv Ranjan Singh Janata Dal (United) Ram Badan Rai RJD 1,89,361
Nalanda GEN
Kaushalendra Kumar Janata Dal (United) Satish Kumar LJP 1,52,666
Gaya SC
Hari Manjhi Bharatiya Janata Party Ramji Manjhi RJD 62,453
Jamui SC

Bhudeo Choudhary

Janata Dal (United)

Shyam Rajak

RJD

29,797

Nawada GEN
Bhola Singh Bharatiya Janata Party Veena Devi LJP 34,917
Darbhanga GEN

Kirti Azad

Bharatiya Janata Party

Md. Ali Ashraf Fatmi

Rashtriya Janata Dal

46453

Purnia GEN
Uday Singh Bharatiya Janata Party Shanti Priya IND 1,86,227
Katihar GEN
Nikhil Kumar Chaudhary Bharatiya Janata Party Shah Tariq Anwar NCP 14,015
Kishanganj GEN
Mohammad Asrararul Haque IndianNational Congress Syed Mahood Ashraf JD(U) 81,125
Madhubani GEN
Hukumdeo Narain Yadav Bharatiya Janata Party Abdul Bari Siddiqui RJD 9,931
Araria GEN
Pradeep Kumar Singh Bharatiya Janata Party Zakir Hussain Khan LJP 22,242
Jhanjharpur GEN
ManganiLal Mandal Janata Dal (United) Devendra Prasad Yadav RJD 42,778
Supaul GEN
Vishwamohan Kumar

Janata Dal (United)

Ranjeet Ranjan

Indian National Congress

1,66,075

Sitamarhi GEN
Arjun Rai JD(U) Samir Kumar Mahaseth Cong 1,17,139
Bhagalpur GEN

Syed Shahnawaz Hussain

Bharatiya Janata Party

Shakuni Choudhary

Rashtriya Janata Dal

55,811

Aurangabad GEN
Sushil Kumar Singh Janata Dal (United) Shakil Ahmed Khan RJD 72,055
Jehanabad GEN
Jagdish Sharma Janata Dal (United) Surendra Prasad Yadav RJD 21,329

Candidates in Ara
Sl No Candidate Name Age Gender Party Name
1 MEENA SINGH 44 F Janata Dal (United)
2 RAMA KISHORE SINGH 46 M Lok Jan Shakti Party
3 REETA SINGH 40 F Bahujan Samaj Party
4 HARIDWAR PRASAD SINGH 64 M Indian National Congress
5 AJIT PRASAD MEHTA 43 M Jawan Kisan Morcha
6 ARUN SINGH 48 M Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (Liberation)
7 BHARAT BHUSAN PANDEY 35 M Akhil Bharatiya Jan Sangh
8 RAMADHAR SINGH 48 M Shivsena
9 SAMBHU PRASAD SHARMA 57 M All India Forward Bloc
10 SANTOSH KUMAR 32 M Rashtriya Dehat Morcha Party
11 SATYA NARAYAN YADAV 67 M Rashtra Sewa Dal
12 SAIYAD GANIUDDIN HAIDER 42 M Ambedkar National Congress
13 ASHOK KUMAR SINGH 38 M Independent
14 BHARAT SINGH SAHYOGI 45 M Independent
15 MAHESH RAM 45 M Independent
16 SOBH NATH SINGH 39 M Independent

Buxar

Sl No Candidate Name Age Gender Party Name
1 KAMLA KANT TIWARY 67 M Indian National Congress
2 JAGADA NAND SINGH 65 M Rashtriya Janata Dal
3 LAL MUNI CHOUBEY 71 M Bharatiya Janata Party
4 SHYAM LAL SINGH KUSHWAHA 54 M Bahujan Samaj Party
5 MOKARRAM HUSSAIN 57 M Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party
6 MOHAN SAH 33 M Bharatiya Jantantrik Janta Dal
7 RAJENDRA SINGH MAURYA 32 M Loktantrik Samata Dal
8 DR. VIJENDRA NATH UPADHYAY 37 M Shivsena
9 SHYAM BIHARI BIND 46 M Janvadi Party(Socialist)
10 SATYENDRA OJHA 27 M Apna Dal
11 SUDAMA PRASAD 41 M Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (Liberation)
12 SURESH WADEKAR 38 M Republican Party of India
13 KAMLESH CHOUDHARY 35 M Independent
14 JAI SINGH YADAV 34 M Independent
15 DADAN SINGH 45 M Independent
16 PRATIBHA DEVI 40 F Independent
17 PHULAN PANDIT 44 M Independent
18 RAJENDRA PASWAN 33 M Independent
19 LALLAN RUPNARAIN PATHAK 65 M Independent
20 SHIV CHARAN YADAV 55 M Independent
21 SUNIL KUMAR DUBEY 32 M Independent
22 SURENDRA KUMAR BHARTI 38 M Independent
Performance of Bihar's Key Politicians

Victors
Vanquished
Lalu Yadav Ramvilas Paswan
Ram Sunder Das Prakash Jha
Sharad Yadav Shekhar Suman
Shatrughan Sinha Ranjita Ranjan
Ranjan Yadav

Raghunath Jha

Kirti Azad Prabhunath Singh
Lallan Singh Kanti Singh
Jagdish Sharma Shakil Ahmed
Syed Shahnawaz Hussain George Fernandes
Digvijay Singh Rajiv Pratap Rudi
Jagdanand Singh Akhilesh Prasad Singh
Raghuvansh Pd. Singh Munna Shukla
Meira Kumar Jai Prakash Yadav
Monazir Hussan F A A Fatmi
Hukumdeo Narain Yadav Surendra Yadav
Radha Mohan Singh Muni Lal choubey


CRIMINALS AND THEIR RELATIVES WHO LOST

CONGRESS
Ranjita Ranjan
Wife of Pappu Yadav Supaul

INDEPENDENT
Shanti Priya
Mother of Pappu Yadav Purnea

RJD
Heena Shahabuddin
Wife of Mohammad Shahabuddin Siwan

CONGRESS
Lovely Anand
Wife of Anand Mohan Sheohar

LJP
Veena Devi
Wife of Suraj Bhan Singh Nawada

JD-U
Munna Shukla
Vaishali

LJP
Rama Singh
Arrah

JD-U
Prabhunath Singh
Maharajganj

LJP
Zakir Khan
Araria

RJD
Taslimuddin
Kishanganj

CONGRESS
Sadhu Yadav
West Champaran

BSP
Anwarul Haq
Sheohar

RJD
Jay Prakash Yadav
Banka