Why the legacy of the Phules still scares the powerful
Watch: Why the legacy of the Phules still scares the powerful?
In this exclusive interview, renowned political theorist and Dalit rights activist Kancha Ilaiah breaks down the real history of the Phules, their fearless fight for equality, and the uncomfortable truths the system still struggles to accept.
From caste struggles and social reform to the modern politics of memory — this conversation uncovers why the Phules' story remains one of India's most revolutionary and suppressed histories.
Watch the full interview to understand why their message matters now more than ever.
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The Print
40 minutes ago
- The Print
Bihar has turned into crime capital of India, alleges Rahul
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Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
‘Tejashwi Yadav leading Bihar alliance coordination panel … not our mandate to announce anyone as CM face': Congress state in-charge
As the NDA and INDIA bloc begin gearing up for the Bihar Assembly polls, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi visiting the state at regular intervals, the Congress's Bihar in-charge Krishna Allavaru speaks to The Indian Express about the party's revival strategy, ties with ally Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), and the challenges posed by the ruling NDA and newcomer Prashant Kishor. Excerpts: * The Congress has been in the shadows in Bihar for almost 30 years now. How are you planning to re-energise the party? The Congress got so weak in the past that its repair will take time. But we have been working hard on all fronts, right from social justice to political justice. When we say political justice, we are talking about representational politics. Our Bihar team, led by Pradesh Congress Committee president Rajesh Kumar, will announce its committee soon. We will try for a much better social balance than in past teams. * There has been criticism that choosing Rajesh Kumar, a Dalit leader, as the state Congress chief is just symbolism… No. Rajesh Kumar has been associated with the party for a long time and has contributed immensely to the organisation. Along with Congress Legislature Party leader Shakil Ahmad Khan, he is our Bihar face. Rahul Gandhi has been focusing on representation from as many social segments as possible. We have also redone our district committees, giving good representation to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs), Extremely Backward Classes (EBC), minorities, and Dalits. * What is the Congress's strategy to convince voters? We have been talking about migration, unemployment, poor quality education, and greater participation of women in politics, government and non-government sectors. Rahul Gandhi has been addressing 'Samvidhan Bachao (Save the Constitution)' meetings. He also met EBC, OBC, and Dalit students in Darbhanga. The Bihar government has been so terrified by our plans to reach out to students that they tried their best to stop Rahul Gandhi from meeting the students. Haven't BJP and JD(U) leaders organised functions in schools and colleges? But they foisted a false case on our leader for holding a meeting without permission. * What do you make of the Centre announcing a caste enumeration in the next population Census? They have done so under our pressure. The demand for a nationwide caste census has been our agenda. We still think that the NDA is not serious about it. Their conscience is not clear. Had it been so, it would have devised policies as per the findings of the Bihar caste-based survey. But we will keep talking about it in a phased manner through meetings and yatras. Rahul Gandhi is in Nalanda on June 6 to further pitch for social and political justice. * How are the Congress's ties with the RJD? Is Tejashwi Yadav the leader or the chief ministerial face of Mahagathbandhan? Our INDIA bloc allies have their distinct strengths. We have to complement and supplement one another. The coordination committee is the supreme body for discussing all issues, from joint rallies to seat sharing. There have been coordination committee meetings at the district level, too. As for Tejashwi, he is the leader of the coordination committee. It is not the Congress's mandate to announce anyone as the CM face. It is the collective job of all allies to announce their leader at the right time. * Is the 'jungle raj' tag for the RJD holding the Congress back from declaring Tejashwi as the Mahagathbandhan's leader? The real 'jungle raj' is being witnessed under the current NDA regime. One can see the rising graph of crime in recent times. There has been too much interference from the bureaucracy in governance. * Is there any concern that you may end up contesting fewer seats as part of the alliance since it won just 19 of the 70 seats it contested in 2020? We cannot speculate on seat sharing. We aim for a strong Congress that will make the INDIA bloc stronger. Our campaign is not region-specific; our focus is on quality seats. Seat sharing will be completed well ahead of the polls. * What is the Congress's view on National Students' Union of India (NSUI) in-charge Kanhaiya Kumar's role? Can one see Tejashwi and Kanhaiya sharing the dais during campaign events? Kanhaiya is a very good orator. People come to listen to him. He connects well with people. We hope Tejashwi and Kanhaiya share the dais. This is more a matter of perception than reality. We have a vast line-up of leaders who will campaign in Bihar. Besides national party president Mallikarjun Kharge and LoP Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Sachin Pilot, and other senior leaders will campaign. * Will the NDA's nationalism pitch following Operation Sindoor make things tough for the Opposition in the elections? Ours is a win-win alliance. On the contrary, we see the NDA constituents wavering. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has switched sides so many times that we will not be surprised if he does it again. LJP (RV) leader Chirag Paswan looks non-committal towards the NDA with his recent statements (on wanting to contest the Assembly polls). Rashtriya Lok Morcha leader Upendra Kushwaha is also wavering. As for the nationalistic pitch around Operation Sindoor, US President Donald Trump exposed the myth of Narendra Modi's nationalism with his social media post on brokering the ceasefire between India and Pakistan. * How big a factor will Nitish Kumar be? Nitish Kumar is a nice person. But he is no longer running his party or the government. 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Time of India
3 hours ago
- Time of India
Dasharath Manjhi's son to seek Congress ticket to contest Bihar Assembly polls
'Mountain Man' Dasharath Manjhi 's son Bhagirath, who recently quit Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar 's JD(U) to join the Congress, on Friday disclosed that he wanted a party ticket in the upcoming assembly polls. Bhagirath spoke to PTI ahead of Gandhi's visit to Beldaur, the village to which his legendary father belonged. He said, "You can look at our house. We still do not have a pucca house. The first thing that I would like to request Rahul Gandhi is to provide us with a pucca house". Play Video Pause Skip Backward Skip Forward Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 0:00 Loaded : 0% 0:00 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 1x Playback Rate Chapters Chapters Descriptions descriptions off , selected Captions captions settings , opens captions settings dialog captions off , selected Audio Track Picture-in-Picture Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Este es el aliado número 1 de los hombres con disfunción. Salud Masculina Undo He also seemed unimpressed with the gesture shown by Nitish Kumar in the lifetime of his father, by getting the Dalit mason seated on his own chair. "What benefit did my father and his family get from that show? Of course, Nitish Kumar may have got some brownie points", said the embittered son. Live Events Dashrath Manjhi earned fame for his feet of flattening a hill, just with a hammer and a chisel, after his wife stumbled while bringing him food from their home. It took several years for Manjhi, who passed away in 2007, to achieve his goal which reduced by over 40 km the distance between two administrative blocks of the district of Gayaji. The poignant life story also inspired a biopic "Manjhi - The Mountain Man" in which the titular role was played by National Award-winning actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Bhagirath, who was inducted into JD(U) last year, but joined the Congress in February this year, weeks after attending Gandhi's 'Samvidhan Suraksha Sammelan' in Patna, also said he would seek a ticket in the polls which are barely a few months away. He said, with candour, "When Rahul Gandhi comes here, I am going to ask him for a party ticket from Bodh Gaya". Named after the international Buddhist pilgrim town, Bodh Gaya happens to be a reserved constituency. The seat is currently held by the RJD, the Congress' senior ally in Bihar.
