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Indian Express
a day ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
As Chirag Paswan seeks to become NDA fulcrum in Bihar, why BJP is watching with caution
In recent weeks, Union Minister and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) leader Chirag Paswan has publicly spoken of his wish to return to Bihar and contest the Assembly elections, seen as a pitch to take up the position of either the kingmaker, if not the king, in state politics. And the message is not lost on the BJP leadership. While the BJP leadership maintains that Paswan is free to contest from any of the seats his party is allocated as part of a seat-sharing agreement, a section in the ruling party said he was merely trying to take advantage of a sense of confusion in the state unit. Paswan, the Union Minister for Food Processing Industries in the Narendra Modi Cabinet, recently said he was ready to get back to Bihar politics as contributing to the development of the state had always been his motivation. With his party indicating he could contest from a general seat instead of a reserved constituency, all eyes will now be on Paswan's public rally in Ara in Bhojpur district on Sunday. Paswan's public statements come at a time when Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's rivals believe that his time at the top of Bihar politics is drawing to a close. The LJP (RV) leader is said to harbour the ambition of being the face that can bring together key electoral forces in the state. Though his party won five seats in the last Lok Sabha elections with 6.47% vote share, it is still not as big a party as Nitish Kumar's JD(U) that had an 18.52% vote share. A BJP leader admitted that Paswan had the potential to be a leader with acceptability beyond his party's traditional base. A senior BJP leader and former MP from Bihar said, 'He does not want to limit himself to being a leader of only the Paswans with just 4% votes. While the community is with him, he has to expand his base and is playing his cards.' However, a section of state BJP leaders feel the central leadership failed to groom faces in a politically crucial and unpredictable state such as Bihar, and this has allowed the LJP(RV) leader to cash in. 'If the BJP leadership in the state had been defined, it would not have been like this. Leaders such as Chirag Pawan are taking advantage of this. Chirag is playing his cards carefully,' said a senior BJP leader in Bihar. 'His hints that he could shift to the state and contest from a general seat show that he wants to be the next Nitish (Kumar) in Bihar politics. He (Nitish) has ruled Bihar for almost two decades without having a majority, without having a party that has more than 20% vote share. He gets projected from everywhere. The BJP these days does not make leaders, only workers,' the leader added. BJP leader Mrityunjay Sharma, the author of Broken Promises: Caste, Crime and Politics in Bihar, said Paswan's posturing was linked to his efforts to expand his party's base. 'It seems that Chirag wants to expand the reach of his party beyond a caste party of Paswans, as it is seen. He wants to include various other voting blocs, such as the youth and women. That's the reason why he says he wants to contest from an unreserved seat,' he said. However, Sharma said the LJP(RV) chief would find it tough. 'The LJP(RV) is a small party compared to Nitish Kumar's party. Historically, the JD(U) has always been a significant party with around 20% vote share even in a coalition. Paswan would have to expand his base significantly to be such a player, which is really tough in the coming five to 10 years,' he said. The LJP's best performance in the 243-member Assembly was in 2005, when it won 29 seats. The BJP also recognises that it has to tread with caution in a state as important and electorally fragmented as Bihar, balancing the interests of both its allies. In the state, two of the three key players — BJP, JD(U), and RJD — together make for a winning formula. Top BJP leaders said it had few options but to keep all the existing allies together and continue with Nitish Kumar as the face. 'The reports about his health condition are not good, but his face brings the votes and his legacy is important. As of now, it is like, 'it will run till it can'. The party has no other option but to go with him,' said a BJP leader in New Delhi. For the BJP to continue as a dominant force in national politics, Bihar is a crucial factor. The Centre's announcement of caste enumeration during the next Census — it has been a key political plank of the Opposition, especially the Congress and its leader Rahul Gandhi in the last few elections — was also seen as a move to consolidate the BJP's position ahead of the Bihar elections. Both the JD(U) and the LJP (RV) had sought caste enumeration, saying it is necessary to ensure justice to the backward classes. If it succeeds in pulling through in Bihar — it is the only state in the Hindi heartland where the BJP has been in power as part of only coalition governments — the ruling party won't have to look back as it continues its quest to remain the leading national political force.
Gizmodo
5 days ago
- General
- Gizmodo
Texas Woman Dies From Brain-Eating Amoeba After Using Tainted RV Water
Cases of Naegleria fowleri infection are incredibly rare, but nearly always fatal. A woman's practice of nasal irrigation led to her death via brain-eating amoeba. In a recent case report, health officials described how she contracted a fatal infection of Naegleria fowleri through tainted tap water sourced from a recreational vehicle. Federal and local health officials in Texas detailed the unusual death last week in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The 71-year-old woman developed neurological symptoms days after using a nasal irrigation device and died only a week later. These infections, while rare, can be prevented through practical safety measures, such as only using sterilized water for nasal irrigation, officials say. N. fowleri is a shapeshifting amoeba that lives in soil and warm freshwater. It typically feeds on bacteria and isn't dangerous to humans when it's simply ingested. But when the amoeba enters our body through the nose, it can end up in the brain. Once there, the amoeba will literally feast on brain cells and trigger massive inflammation, causing a severe brain infection known as primary amebic meningoencephalitis, or PAM. According to the MMWR report, the previously healthy woman sought medical care with fever, headache, and altered mental status. Four days earlier, she had irrigated her nose with tap water from an RV's water system at a campground in Texas. Doctors quickly suspected PAM, but even with treatment, she developed seizures and died eight days after her symptoms began. The bizarre nature of her death then prompted an investigation by the Texas Department of State Health Services and the CDC. Officials tested both the water from the woman's RV and the nearby municipal water system that the RV may have been connected to during the trip. Neither source tested positive for the amoeba, and officials were only able to sample the water 23 days after the woman's exposure, so the environmental conditions may have simply changed by then. But they did find evidence that the RV's water system wasn't properly disinfected to prevent contamination, likely explaining how the amoeba found its way into the woman's tap water. 'This case reinforces the potential for serious health risks associated with improper use of nasal irrigation devices, as well as the importance of maintaining RV water quality and ensuring that municipal water systems adhere to regulatory standards,' the officials wrote. PAM is very rare, with only around 150 cases reported since the amoeba was discovered in the 1960s, but it's nearly always fatal once symptoms start. Most infections are typically caught when people get water up their nose while swimming in warm lakes. But the amoeba can also survive in drinking or recreational water systems, especially if they're not properly sterilized. And there have been several cases of people getting infected through using contaminated tap water for nasal irrigation (irrigation is usually performed to clear the sinuses in people with allergies or respiratory infections). The report authors say that PAM can be easily prevented through recommended nasal irrigation practices, which include only relying on distilled, sterilized, or boiled and cooled tap water for irrigation. This latest case also highlights the unique danger posed by improperly cleaned RV water systems. So Texas and federal health officials have now created an infographic for RV users to follow so they can lower their risk of PAM and other waterborne illnesses.
CBS News
5 days ago
- Climate
- CBS News
RV fire in West Oakland near I-880 prompts large response
Firefighters in Oakland battled a large fire burning a recreational vehicle Monday afternoon just south of Interstate Highway 880, the Fire Department said. The fire was burning in the area of 3rd Street and Adeline Street in West Oakland, an industrial area dotted with homeless tents and RVs. The Fire Department said in a social media post that multiple engines and trucks were responding and that the fire was impinging on a commercial building. This is a breaking news update. More information to be added as available.
Time of India
6 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Chirag backs Nitish as CM; posters urge him to contest from Sheikhpura
Patna: Amid the political debate over LJP(RV) chief and Union minister Chirag Paswan's possibility of contesting the state assembly election this year, posters have been put up in Patna on Monday, inviting him to try his luck from Sheikhpura. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now While RJD said the race for the CM post in the NDA was to heat up in the coming days before the assembly polls, BJP state president Dilip Jaiswal on Monday said the NDA alliance partners are free to field any of their leaders from the seats to be allocated to the party concerned. However, Chirag made it clear while talking to reporters in Raipur on Monday, " will remain the chief ministerial face of Bihar in the elections and after the results." Chirag reiterated that he would not be in Delhi politics for a very long time. "After becoming an MP for the third time, I am realising that it is not possible to realise my dream of 'Bihar First, Bihari First' by staying in Delhi. I told my party leaders that I want to go back to Bihar soon. Now, when I say if the party wants me to contest assembly polls, it means that the party is deciding what its effect will be," he said while elaborating his plan to expand his party beyond Bihar and strengthen it in Chhattisgarh as well. "I will keep coming to Chhattisgarh to strengthen the organisation here… Gradually the party is in expansion mode," he said and added, "We have two MLAs in Nagaland, we have MLAs in Jharkhand. In the coming days, we will work in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Chhattisgarh." On Sunday, LJP(RV) MP and his brother-in-law Arun Bharti gave strong indications that Chirag may contest from an unreserved seat in the assembly polls due this year. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The Monday posters had the caption like "Bihar hope is Chirag. Only you can stop migration. You will also provide jobs. You will also fix the health system. Now, you will change the future of Bihar". Political analysts link Chirag's wish to enter Bihar politics to a scenario if JD(U) supremo and CM Nitish Kumar steps back in the future due to age. Chirag may fit the bill as a dalit face to counter RJD's young leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav. If any such scenario emerges after the election, the choice should not be limited to BJP and Tejashwi. The third factor in power play may be Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj. PK has welcomed Chirag to state politics and may back him in the CM race if electoral arithmetic needs his calculations, depending on how many seats his party wins. In order to strengthen his party base, LJP(RV) has decided to organise 'Nav Sankalp Mahasabha' at Ara on June 10 to be attended by people from 33 assembly constituencies of seven districts in Shahabad and Magadh regions.
New Indian Express
6 days ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Chirag may quit ministry to test Bihar Assembly poll waters from general seat
PATNA: Ahead of the Bihar assembly elections, there is growing speculation that Chirag Pawan, the Union Minister for Food Processing Industries and leader of the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), may resign from the Narendra Modi cabinet soon to contest the state polls due later this year. Bihar in-charge of LJP (RV) and Jamui MP Arun Bharti said on Sunday that a formal proposal would be sent to party president Chirag Paswan, requesting him to contest the assembly elections from a general seat instead of a reserved seat. He is likely to announce his return to state politics at a public rally in Ara, Bhojpur district, on June 8. 'Since Chirag is not the leader of a particular community, the party want him to contest a general seat instead of a reserved seat to send out the message that he is ready for a bigger role in the state politics,' Bharti added. With social justice emerging as a major poll plank this time, Chirag's entry into state politics is said to benefit the ruling NDA. LJP(RV) has set to organise 'Nav Sankalp Mahasabha' at Ara in Bhojpur on June 8, in which Chirag may announce his return to state politics. A senior leader of LJP (RV), speaking on condition of anonymity, said Chirag has decided to focus on state politics and bid farewell to national politics.
