THE recent groping of a young girl accompanying her classmate to visit a scenic spot, in broad daylight in Jamui, filming the most shameful act on mobile and uploading it, has made the blood of every sensitive Bihari boil and ask the govt whether the state is being driven towards Maha-Jungle Raj.

Nitish Kumar had time and again reminded the people of 'Jungle Raj' prevailing during Lalu regime, and he used to boast that during his regime women and girls could go anywhere freely even at night without any fear and sense of insecurity.

BY the time these lines were written, the death toll of children in Balaghat due to malnutrition, malaria, and vomiting-diarrhoea had reached 33. We hope that this figure does not rise further. Yet, in the eyes of Manuvadi governments, are tribals anything more than mere statistics? Had that been the case, the situation would not have been so dire. However, this state of affairs did not arise overnight; the deaths of these innocent children are the direct result of the BJP state government’s anti-poor and anti-tribal policies.

The Left Front campaign for the forthcoming Tripura Tribal Area Autonomous District (TTAAD) Village Committee elections is gathering momentum, with meetings, marches, courtyard meetings and door-to-door campaigns drawing an enthusiastic response from people. In several villages, voters are openly speaking about their hardships and expressing growing dissatisfaction with the BJP-led state government and the Tipra Motha-run Tripura Tribal Area Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) administration.

THE unfolding developments surrounding the Nandigram and Rejinagar by-elections in West Bengal represent far more than routine political rivalries. The sudden withdrawal of candidates, the freezing of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) name and symbol, the resurrection of decades-old police cases to arrest opposition figures, and an escalating internal crisis within the Election Commission of India (ECI) collectively point to a severe systemic threat.

THE results of elections to 309 urban local bodies in Rajasthan indicate a closely contested political scenario, with no single party securing a clear majority in a large number of bodies. According to available figures, BJP secured 35.3 per cent, Congress 34.36 per cent and independent candidates got 27.47 per cent of the polled votes. Among other parties, RLP secured 0.95 per cent, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) 0.47 per cent, CPI(M) 0.32 per cent, BSP 0.29 per cent and BAP 0.17 per cent of the votes.