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Nitish Kumar, socialist leader of Bihar, emerges as challenger to Modi-Shah

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 At a time when the duo of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah are dictating terms, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar not only challenged but also sent a message to the BJP and the RSS about his political daring without caring about the CBI, ED and the Income-Tax department.

Nitish Kumar, a socialist leader of Bihar, was elected as the chief minister for the eighth time.

Kumar, a product of the political school of Karpoori Thakur and Jayaprakash Narayan was influenced by the socialist ideology of these two great leaders of Bihar.

He was influenced by the social justice and making of a Samata Mulak Samaj ideology of Karpoori Thakur and also participated in the Sampoorna Kranti movement in 1977 led by Jayaprakash Narayan.

Nitish Kumar was born in a Kurmi family in Bakhtiyarpur town in Patna district on March 1, 1951. His father was an Ayurvedic doctor, Kaviraj Ram Lakhan Singh and his mother was Parmeshwari Devi.

He obtained a degree in mechanical engineering from the Bihar College of Engineering (now the National Institute of Technology NIT) Patna. During this period, he was influenced by the ideology of two-time former chief minister Karpoori Thakur (the first tenure of Karpoori Thakur was from December 22, 1970 to June 2, 1971 and his second tenure was from June 24, 1977 to April 21, 1979).

Karpoori Thakur headed the Janata Party government having amalgamated with the Bhartiya Jan Sangh which later turned into the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The Janata Party was influenced by the ideology of Jayaprakash Narayan and Ram Manohar Lohia. They broadly believed in the social philosophies of Mahatma Gandhi and BR Ambedkar.

Karpoori Thakur, during his second tenure, had given 33% reservation to the Backwards in Bihar following the recommendation of the Mungeri Lal Commission. The Bhartiya Jan Sangh which was considered the party of the upper caste people, was not pleased with the decision. Leaders like Kailash Pati Mishra, the then finance minister in the Karpoori Thakur government, revolted against him in April 1979 and he lost his majority in the Bihar assembly.

At that time, Indira Gandhi was undoubtedly the strongest leader in the country. However, the Sampoorna Kranti movement of 1974 put the brakes on her political career.

The Allahabad High Court found Indira Gandhi guilty of rigging the election and imposed a ban for six years on her from contesting elections on June 12, 1975. Indira Gandhi, then imposed an Emergency on the country on June 25, 1975. During the Emergency, leaders like Jayaprakash Narayan, Karpoori Thakur, Ram Manohar Lohia and others were sent to jail. At that time, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Nitish Kumar, Ram Vilas Paswan and others joined the Janata Party and were also jailed.

Nitish Kumar was elected an MLA from Harnaut assembly constituency in Nalanda district in 1985.

In 1989, he contested the Lok Sabha election from Barh constituency in Patna district and won the seat. He was in the VP Singh government and served as union minister of state for agriculture and cooperatives.

VP Singh had implemented the Mandal commission report in the country and the BJP which had 88 MPs had withdrawn its support to Singh. At that time, the Mandal Vs Kamandal politics was going on and BJP leader LK Advani started his Rath Yatra for the demolition of the Babri Masjid.

When the 10th Lok Sabha election was held in 1991, Nitish Kumar was elected again on the ticket of Janata Dal from Barh constituency.

Lalu Prasad Yadav had emerged as the social justice leader of Bihar with his strong vote bank of the Yadav and Muslim communities. He gave strength to the backward, extremely backward, marginalised communities of Bihar and became the strongest leader in Bihar. He became chief minister in 1990 for the first time with the Janata Dal.

Socialist leaders George Fernandes and Nitish Kumar then left the Janata Dal and led the foundation of the Samata Party whose ideology was secularism.

Nitish Kumar was again elected to the Lok Sabha in 1996 with the Samata Party from Barh and George Fernandes won the seat from Nalanda.

He then went with the BJP in the 13-day government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. When asked why he went with a party whose ideology was just the opposite to his socialist ideology, he told mediapersons that political survival against Lalu Prasad was more important then socialist ideology. This is the survival strength of Nitish Kumar and this is the reason why he became the chief minister of Bihar for the eighth time.

He was again elected in 1998 to the 12th Lok Sabha and served as union minister for railways with the additional charge of the surface transport ministry.

In 1999, he was elected again to the Lok Sabha and became the union minister of railways, surface transport and agriculture in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.

He first became the chief minister of Bihar from March 3, 2000 to March 10, 2000.

He contested the Lok Sabha election in 2000 and again served as the union minister of railways and agriculture in the Vajpayee government.

By then, Nitish Kumar had become the tallest leader of the Kurmi-Koiri and other backward class communities. That was the phase when Lalu Prasad was facing charges of fodder scam, and a number of massacres during the first tenure of his wife Rabri Devi’s government from 1996 to 2000.

Nitish Kumar got good support from the backward class apart from his traditional Kurmi-Koiri vote bank. He merged his Samata Party into the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) in 2003. During the 2005 assembly elections, the JD-U managed to win 88 seats and became the single largest party in Bihar. He formed the government in Bihar with the help of the BJP.

Nitish Kumar got the tag of Sushasan Babu of Bihar with a number of welfare schemes like giving reservations to backward classes in government jobs. He gave 50% reservation to women in the electoral process of Panchayati Raj. He worked for social justice in his first term and managed to uproot organised crime like kidnapping for ransom in the state.

He gained the support of the people of Bihar and the JD-U managed to win 118 seats in 2010 assembly election.

As per the statement of senior leader Lalan Singh on Wednesday, Nitish Kumar could have easily formed the government in Bihar but he took the BJP in the government and respected the alliance partner.

In 2013, when the BJP nominated Narendra Modi as the prime ministerial candidate of the NDA, Nitish Kumar objected to it and came out of the NDA.

During the Modi wave in 2014, the JD-U fared badly in the Lok Sabha elections. Nitish Kumar took the responsibility for it and resigned as chief minister. Jitan Ram Manjhi became the CM.

Nitish Kumar took over as chief minister again from Jitan Ram Manjhi in November 2014 and formed an alliance with Lalu Prasad Yadav’s RJD. They made the Mahagathbandhan and also included the Congress party. They won the 2015 assembly election on the formula of 100: 100 seats to the RJD and the JD-U and 43 seats to the Congress.

Lalu Prasad, in 2015 announced that Nitish Kumar will be the chief minister’s face of the Mahagathbandhan. When the election results came in, the RJD won 80 seats, the JD-U 73 and the Congress 29. They managed to stop the BJP at 53 seats in Bihar despite a strong Modi wave.

The RJD, despite having more seats than the JD-U, made Nitish Kumar the chief minister of Bihar.

Apart from Lalu Prasad, the other RJD leaders thought that the chief minister’s post should come to the RJD, and they started targeting Nitish Kumar. A war of words started between the RJD and the JD-U. Nitish Kumar, who has one of the sharpest political brains, started looking for an opportunity and he picked on the corruption charges against Tejashwi Yadav in the IRCTC scam as an ideal excuse for him to come out from the Mahagathbandhan.

Though Lalan Singh, the national president of the JD-U, clarified during a press meet on August 10, 2022 that there were four leaders including Sanjay Jha, Harivansh, RCP Singh and another leader who gave him wrong advice to break the alliance with the RJD and the Congress and join the NDA.

Nitish Kumar joined the NDA in 2017 and formed the government with the help of 53 MLAs of the BJP in Bihar.

In the 2020 assembly election, Nitish Kumar contested under the umbrella of the NDA and became the chief minister of Bihar for the 7th time. After the result of the election, JD-U leaders accused the BJP of back-stabbing their party.

When Nitish Kumar resigned from the post of Chief minister on August 9, he said: “I was not interested in holding the post of chief minister after the 2020 assembly election. They insisted on me. Today’s BJP has a different ideology then the BJP of Atal Ji and Advani Ji.”

“The way BJP was trying to sabotage our party, we have discussed aspects with our MPs, MLAs and MLCs and every one suggested that I come out from the NDA. We have listened to their voices and resigned from the post of chief minister,” Kumar said.

“The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was formed in 1996 and at that time respected Atal Bihari Vajpayee, LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and George Fernandes were the leaders. The JD-U was associated with the NDA for the next 17 years. The reason was Atal Ji, Advani Ji, MM Joshi Ji, and George Saheb were respecting the coalition partners. Those leaders had principles to respect the coalition partners. And what happened now, BJP is back-stabbing its coalition partners,” Lalan Singh said.

“During the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the BJP wanted to win the polls. Hence, its leaders did not do any mischief. When it came to the 2020 assembly election of Bihar, what they did, BJP leaders back-stabbed us and weakened us,” Lalan Singh said.

National News

‘Continue To Support Investigation’: Boeing After AAIB Releases Preliminary Report On Air India Ahmedabad Plane Crash

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New Delhi: Aircraft manufacturer Boeing on Saturday said it continues to support the ongoing investigation into the Air India Flight AI171 crash, hours after the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) released its preliminary report on the incident that occurred in Ahmedabad.

“Our thoughts remain with the loved ones of the passengers and crew on board Air India Flight 171, as well as everyone affected on the ground in Ahmedabad. We continue to support the investigation and our customer,” the company said in an official statement.

“We will defer to the AAIB to provide information about AI171, in adherence with the United Nations International Civil Aviation Organisation protocol known as Annex 13,’ it added.

The crash killed 260 people, including 229 passengers, 12 crew members, and 19 people on the ground.

The 15-page report outlines a harrowing sequence of events that unfolded within 90 seconds of takeoff, as both engines of the aircraft shut down unexpectedly during the initial climb, leading to a catastrophic loss of thrust and rapid descent.

Flight data recovered from the aircraft’s Enhanced Airborne Flight Recorder (EAFR) revealed that the fuel cutoff switches for both engines were inadvertently moved from RUN to CUTOFF, one after the other within a 1-second interval, at an altitude just moments after liftoff. One pilot was heard asking the other, “Why did you cut off?” to which the response was, “I did not.” This uncommanded shutdown triggered the deployment of the Ram Air Turbine (RAT), and the aircraft began losing altitude almost immediately, unable to sustain powered flight.

According to the AAIB, the pilots re-engaged the fuel switches in an attempt to relight both engines. Engine 1 showed signs of recovering thrust, but Engine 2 failed to stabilise. The aircraft, which had briefly reached a speed of 180 knots, was already descending and failed to regain altitude. The final distress call — a “MAYDAY” — was transmitted at 08:09 UTC, just seconds before the aircraft crashed into residential buildings outside the airport perimeter.

The final report is expected in the coming months.

Flight AI171 was a scheduled service from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, carrying 230 passengers and crew. The crash represents one of the deadliest aviation accidents in India in recent history.

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14 Dead, 6 Missing As 45-Year-Old Gambhira Bridge Collapses In Gujarat Despite Prior Safety Warnings In 2022

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Vadodara: The death toll in the collapse of a span of the 45-year-old Gambhira Bridge over the Mahisagar River, connecting Central Gujarat to Saurashtra, has risen to 14, while six persons are still missing. In this incident, vehicles including two trucks, two pickups and a rickshaw passing over the bridge fell into the Mahisagar River flowing on both banks.

Official sources said that 14 people have died in this accident, while more than 8 people were rescued. On Thursday morning, during the search operation of the NDRF, one more body was found, which has been sent to the Padra Community Health Center. Six people are still missing and the rescue operation is going on in the river.

Three members of the same family from Vadodara’s Mujpur village have died in this accident. Mujpur village was in a state of shock as the last rites of a father, son and daughter were done simultaneously. Father Rameshbhai, son Naiktik, and daughter Vaidika were all on their way to complete the Bagdana Badha and met death on the way.

In less than a month of the tragic Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad killing 260 people, Gujarat witnessed yet another incident where the dilapidated bridge’s span of Gambhira bridge collapsed killing 14 people.

This accident took place around 7 to 7-30 am on Wednesday. According to the locals, three trucks, two Eco, one rickshaw, one pickup and two bikes have fallen into the river due to the collapse of the bridge.

The deceased have been identified as Vaidika Rameshbhai Padhiyar, Naitik Rameshbhai Padhiyar, Hasmukhbhai Mahijibhai Parmar,Rameshbhai Dalpatbhai Padhiyar, age 32, Vakhatsinh Manusinh Jadav, Pravinbhai Raojibhai Jadav, age 26, village-Undel and three other unidentified persons.

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel tweeted, “The tragedy caused by the collapse of one of the 23 spans of the Gambhira Bridge connecting Anand and Vadodara is tragic. I pray for the peace of the souls of the deceased who lost their lives in the accident. Instructions have been given to arrange for the immediate treatment of the injured by talking to the Vadodara Collector and making arrangements on priority”

“The fire brigade team of the local municipality and Vadodara Municipal Corporation are working with boats and swimmers at the accident site for rescue and relief operations, as well as the NDRF team has also reached the scene and joined the rescue operation. Orders have been given to the Road Construction Department to immediately investigate this accident”

Ignored Warnings Since 2022

In August 2022, Harshadsinh Parmar, a member of the Vadodara District Panchayat, warned authorities in writing. He addressed a letter to the Executive Engineer of the Roads and Buildings (R&B) Division, urging an immediate site inspection of the Gambhira Bridge and called for its closure.

“The bridge was in a very dilapidated condition, and I clearly feared an accident due to heavy vehicle traffic,” Parmar told reporters. “I demanded it be shut and a new bridge constructed. But they only did superficial repairs.”

Not only that — Parmar even cited the Morbi Bridge collapse in his correspondence to stress the consequences of neglect. His warnings were echoed by the Additional Secretary of the Vadodara Collector’s Office, who issued an order to inspect the bridge and publish a test report. However, no action followed beyond minor patchwork.

A Bridge Known to Be Unsafe

Despite being officially declared unsafe in 2022, the Gambhira Bridge continued to serve full vehicular traffic, including trucks and buses. Sources reveal that while a new bridge project worth ₹212 crore had been approved, no groundwork ever began.

“The administration chose to ignore every red flag,” said Rekha Solanki, a local activist. “This isn’t an accident. It’s administrative murder.”

The bridge’s collapse comes just two days after the state government held a meeting on infrastructure affected by heavy rains. The timing has only intensified public outrage.

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Gujarat Rains: Tanker Hangs By A Thread On Broken Gambhira Bridge

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Vadodara: At least nine people lost their lives after the Gambhira bridge connecting Vadodara and Anand districts of Gujarat collapsed on Wednesday, July 9. Several vehicles plunged into the Mahisagar River. However, a tanker had a close shave as it stopped just at the edge of the broken bridge.

A video of the tanker hanging in the middle of the broken bridge surfaced online. In the video, it could be seen that a slab of the Gambhira bridge fell into the river. The front part of the vehicle was on the broken portion of the bridge.

Meanwhile, heavy rainfall is reported in several parts of Gujarat, received heavy rainfall in the past few days, throwing normal life out of gear.

The bridge connects central Gujarat to the Saurashtra region. The bridge was located near Padra town in the district. According to the details available, around nine persons have died and another nine persons have been rescued, out of whom five have been referred to the SSG Hospital in Vadodara. None of the rescued persons is in critical condition. The rescue operation is still going on,” Superintendent of Police (Vadodara rural) Rohan Anand said as reported by news agency.

As per the police official, a 10 to 15 metres long slab of the bridge collapsed at around 7.30 am. Five vehicles — two trucks, two vans and an autorickshaw — fell into the river after the bridge collapsed, Vadodara Collector Anil Dhameliya said. Three people on a two-wheeler, which fell into the river, managed to swim to safety, Dhameliya added.

Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel expressed grief over the tragedy and said an order has been given to the state’s roads and buildings department to conduct a probe into the collapse and submit a report.

Gujarat minister Rushikesh Patel said the bridge was constructed in 1985, and its maintenance was carried out periodically as and when required. “The exact reason behind the incident will be probed,” he said.

The nearly 900-metre-long Gambhira bridge has 23 piers and was inaugurated in 1985.

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