<ul><li>BJP's Giriraj Singh has over 6.88 lakh votes compared to rival Kanhaiya Kumar's 2.67 lakh votes.</li><li>Rashtriya Janata Dal's Tanveer Hasan has a little over 1.96 lakh votes after the first hour of counting.</li><li>BJP has over 51% of the votes counted so far.</li></ul>A small district of Begusarai has a difficult choice to make between two firebrand politicians-- debutante Kanhaiya Kumar from the Communist Party of India (Marxist), popularly known as CPI(M) and the veteran Giriraj Singh from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). And they seem to have picked Singh's saffron over Kumar's red. As of 9:50 am, Giriraj Singh was ahead with 51% of the votes counted while Kanhaiya Kumar had half the number of votes as his rival from BJP. In the third spot is Tanveer Hasan of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), which is in alliance with the Congress in the state of Bihar. The voter turnout this time was at 61.27% that is 2% more than five years ago when the BJP candidate Bhola Singh bagged the seat with a margin of 58,000 votes. Kanhaiya Kumar shot to national fame when the cops in Delhi arrested him and his friends from the Jawaharlal Nehru University for alleged anti-national activities in 2016. Since then, he has used the media spotlight on him to challenge BJP’s politics and policies, and target Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his rhetoric. Aside from a long list of stars from the showbiz -- poet Javed Akhtar, actors Shabana Aazmi, Prakash Raj and Swara Bhaskara as well as comedian Kunal Kamra campaigned for him -- Kanhaiya Kumar has the support of a big chunk of people, nearly 450,000, in the district who belong to the same caste as him, Bhumihar. He has also been wooing votes of the Muslims, who make for 17% of the district’s population. However, it has to be said that in the particular case of Begusarai, both RJD and CPI(M) resonate among Muslim voters, people from the Yadav community, as well as those from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes of the region. Further, Kumar and Hasan are pitted against a veteran politician and a minister in the central government, Giriraj Singh, who is riding on Modi’s charm much like many other BJP candidates across the country. Any division of votes between Kumar and Hasan may provide an advantage to the BJP. On the other hand, a victory for Kumar may earn him the credibility of a serious politician and a long career. Hasan is fighting for his pride to second consecutive loss in Parliamentary elections. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/up-uttar-pradesh-lok-sabha-election-result-2019-bjp-vs-bsp-vs-sp/articleshow/69450579.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha Election Result 2019</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/west-bengal-lok-sabha-election-result-2019-tmc-vs-bjp-vs-cpim/articleshow/69450514.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">West Bengal Lok Sabha Election Result 2019</a>

BJP's Giriraj Singh has over twice the number of votes as debutante Kanhaiya Kumar, so far

<ul><li>A historic win will make Narendra Modi the first non-Congress Prime Minister to get re-elected.</li><li>This was the first time since 1984 a majority government has been re-elected.</li><li>Visit <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Business Insider India's home page</a> for more stories</li></ul>Narendra Modi has created history by becoming the first non-Congress Prime Minister to get re-elected in the 72 years of India's independence. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is leading in 353 seats compared to its rival the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) that is ahead in 90 seats. The BJP made history even five years back when it clocked in a full majority, the first for any government since 1984. A full majority twice in a row is an even bigger feat for Modi and the BJP. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 No single rival was fighting Modi to win on his/her own. A motley crew of former foes were waiting for the final tally before they could stitch a suitable coalition that would end Modi's reign. However, as the counting progressed on May 23, it became evident very early that the the room for any political manoeuvre was limited, and eventually, even that disappeared. The Indian National Congress, the only national party other than the BJP, nearly doubled its seat count in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of India's Parliament, but for Rahul Gandhi, Congress' President, could not escape the embarrassment of having lost a seat, Amethi, that was seen as family bastion for decades. A grand alliance of regional parties, led by Bahujan Samaj Party's Mayawati and Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav, pitched itself as an alternative to Modi's strongman vibe. However, the camaraderie failed to strike a chord with the voters of Uttar Pradesh-- India's most populous state that is home to these two parties. The music stopped for the Mahagathbandhan when hoards of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/narendra-modi-varanasi-up-lok-sabha-election-result-2019/articleshow/69455114.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">people in Varanasi</a> danced to Modi's tunes on April 25. The final result for the grand alliance were 15 Lok Sabha seats. Modi's rivals cried against the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/indias-government-wants-you-to-believe-that-demonetisation-didnt-slow-down-the-economy/articleshow/67785050.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">whimsical demonetisation</a>, the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/unemployment-in-india-is-at-its-highest-in-45-years-says-an-indian-daily-citing-an-undisclosed-jobs-survey/articleshow/67769020.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">peaking unemployment</a>, the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/congress-promises-farm-loan-waiver-after-bjp-offers-minimum-income-support-in-budget-2019/articleshow/67827116.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">mounting farm distress</a>, and the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/patriot-act-godse-debate-kamal-haasan-vs-sadhvi-pragya-bjp/articleshow/69372552.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">uneasy polarisation</a>, but none of that left as much as a scratch on Modi's chances. Even the alleged scandal in the government deal to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets did not cut ice with the country's voters. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 The adolescent Indian democracy was looking for <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/jlf-gandhi-vs-modi-bjp-vs-congress-dont-understand-indian-voters/articleshow/67685811.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">a Presidential clash</a> but the opposition could not nominate a powerful alternative to Modi. The writing was on the wall but the regional satraps and national figureheads continued playing hardball with each other, and the potential of a desperate <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/the-avengers-endgame-lesson-for-modi-rahul-gandhis-congress-and-mahagathbandhan/articleshow/69138766.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">anti-Modi coalition</a> was never fully realised. The momentum was so strong in Modi's favour that even the terror accused Sadhvi Pragya Thakur-- who was also reprimanded for calling <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/patriot-act-godse-debate-kamal-haasan-vs-sadhvi-pragya-bjp/articleshow/69372552.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse a 'patriot'</a>-- <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/sadhvi-pragya-thakur-vs-dijvijaya-singh-bhopal-lok-sabha-election-results-2019/articleshow/69456794.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">won Bhopal with a huge margin</a>. The north-south divide The Modi wave was strong and pervasive but it limited largely to the north of India. The wave <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/exit-polls-2019-no-modi-wave-in-tamil-nadu-karnataka-kerala/articleshow/69402617.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">once again lost momentum</a> south of the Vindhya range of mountains, despite its best efforts. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 The BJP definitely improved its tally in Karnataka but it could not make any further headway into the other four major states-- Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana. While the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) swept Tamil Nadu with 31 out of 39 seats, Jaganmohan Reddy's victory in Andhra Pradesh marked <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/ap-andhra-pradesh-assembly-elections-2019-jagan-reddys-win-marks-the-rise-of-the-prodigal-son/articleshow/69462170.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">the rise of the prodigal son</a>. Reddy's immediate neighbour to the west, K Chandrshekhar Rao successfully <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/telangana-lok-sabha-election-result-2019-trs-vs-congress-vs-tdp-vs-bjp/articleshow/69445813.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">protected his territory</a>, Telangana, for a second time in less than a year. Rao called for a premature assembly election in Telangana in 2018 and came out of it with flying colours. The only other place Modi faced <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/the-tmc-and-bjp-are-fighting-over-the-nrc-in-west-bengal/articleshow/69194392.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">any challenge was in West Bengal</a>. Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mamata Banerjee did not pretend to play nice as BJP marched on to claim the eastern state. The clash of titans stirred the volatile electorate with a long history of violence. The BJP may have ended up second in the state but it bagged 18 precious seats that established the party as a serious player in the state for the first time ever. None of this was a surprise. BJP smelled the resentment against the local leadership in the east, and invested itself heavily. Modi himself addressed 17 rallies in Bengal, the most after Uttar Pradesh. The party cadre was funded and fuelled in Odisha and the north-eastern states and all of this paid off rich dividends, much on expected lines. Swinging states Six months earlier, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/here-are-some-reasons-why-indias-ruling-party-lost-to-its-main-rival-in-three-very-important-state-elections/articleshow/67057122.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">BJP had to face defeat in state elections</a> in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh. The party had just whisked past the halfway mark in Gujarat, Modi's home state. These results rejuvenated the Congress and, may be, made it a bit complacent too. Within six months, the same states swung back to voting for the BJP. In Modi's home state Gujarat, the BJP is leading in all 26 seats, in 9 out of 11 seats in Chhattisgarh, and in all but one seat in MP-- a stark contrast to the picture of struggle in the assembly elections in December. In Bihar too, the NDA is miles ahead of competition-- leading in 32 out of the state's 40 seats-- including in high-profile constituencies like <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/kanhaiya-kumar-vs-giriraj-singh-begusarai-lok-sabha-election-result-2019/articleshow/69453161.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Begusarai</a> and Patna Sahib. Debutante politician Kanhaiya Kumar, from the Communist Party of India (Marxist), has less than half the number of votes as rival from BJP, the veteran Giriraj Singh, who was also a minister in Modi's government. In Patna Sahib, sitting Parliamentarian Shatrughan Sinha is trailing Union Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who has over 55% of the votes. There 17 other candidates in this constituency. Congress' solace Congress is leading in Punjab and Kerala, while its biggest ally the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) is cornering maximum votes in Tamil Nadu. In Kerala's Wayanad, Rahul Gandhi is ahead with 67% of the votes where there are 20 other candidates. It was a face saver for Gandhi as he lost the family bastion Amethi to the firebrand from BJP, Smriti Irani. India’s markets celebrated the results. The Sensex hit <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/sensex-rallies-550-points-as-bjp-leads-convincingly-in-vote-counting/articleshow/69458099.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">the 40,000 mark for the first time ever</a> as investors hoped that the stability of continuing policies may the give the economy the much-needed fillip. His electoral feats and political might notwithstanding, those who care for it will blame Modi for demonetisation forever. Modi may have pitched himself as a pro-business reformer but experts have expressed fear that if he gets a second term, his policies are likely to be more socialist and akin to the proposals of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/19/opinion/india-elections-modi.html">Bernie Sanders in the US</a>, and not like the policies of Ronald Reagan. Nonetheless, the baton remains with Modi. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india-election-results-fii-watch-narendra-modis-new-cabinet-and-policy-decisions/articleshow/69479558.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Foreign investors are thrilled about Modi's win but don't know what to expect from him</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/international-leaders-are-already-congratulating-narendra-modi-for-victory-in-indias-general-election/articleshow/69461194.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Naveen Patnaik’s BJD leads in Assembly and Lok Sabha seats in early trends</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/ap-andhra-pradesh-assembly-elections-2019-jagan-reddys-win-marks-the-rise-of-the-prodigal-son/articleshow/69462170.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Jagan Reddy’s win marks the rise of the prodigal son</a>

Narendra Modi has retained India's iron throne and reduced rivals to dust

BJP winner candidate list for Lok Sabha Elections 2019

Check out winner candidate list for Bihar lok sabha election 2019

The poultry industry in different parts of the country has been hit hard amid rumours that the novel <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="coronavirus">coronavirus</keyword> can transmitted through consumption of <keyword id="62613" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Chicken">chicken</keyword>, the prices of which have fallen considerably as a result. Vijay Sardana, an agricultural economist and adviser of the <keyword id="460381" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Poultry-Federation-of-India">Poultry Federation of India</keyword>, said that <keyword id="8886312" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="poultrymen">poultrymen</keyword> were getting just Rs 20 per bird in the market whereas the cost of production was Rs 80. He said the jobs of about two crore people employed in the poultry industry across the country have been impacted. People were avoiding consumption of meat, fish, chicken, and egg etc. Due to the fall in demand, wholesale price of chicken had dropped by as much as 70 per cent. As a result, chicken was now available at Rs 100-150 per kg in retail compared with Rs 180-200 earlier on. A chicken seller in Noida, adjoining Delhi, said he was currently purchasing chickens at Rs 50-60 per bird and selling it at Rs 150 per kg. A consumer from Muzaffarpur in <keyword id="30033" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bihar">Bihar</keyword> said the price of chicken had fallen by 50 per cent and was now available at just Rs 100 per kg. Union Minister of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries Giriraj Singh has admitted the effect on poultry industry, adding that poultry industry was losing Rs 1,500-2,000 crore daily. Meanwhile, his Minister of State Sanjeev Kumar Balyan said that the wholesale prices of chicken had come down by 70 per cent. Purshottam Kaujalagi, an official of Dhumal Industries, a company that provides equipment to the poultry industry, feeding systems, manual feeders, water systems, drinker heating systems and ventilators, told IANS that their business has been severely affected in the past one month. An official of a poultry feed company said that their sales have stalled, and they have stopped the purchase of maize and soyabean and other items to prepare the chicken feed. Speaking on the rumours, Giriraj Singh claimed that according to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), coronavirus is transmitted through human contact, and there has been no evidence of the virus communicating from animals to humans or humans to animals. Vijay Sardana said the impact of the unfounded rumour has mainly been on farmers growing corn and soybean, and the soy industry. He said that the price of maize had come down by Rs 7,000 per tonne.

Fowl Coronavirus rumours cause a massive fall in chicken and poultry prices

Bihar Election date 2019 list for Lok Sabha Election

New Delhi, Nov 21 () The government on Thursday said it has distributed Kisan Credit Card (KCC) to only 8,400 fishermen so far in the country and efforts are being made to reach out to more people.
To give boost to the fishery sector, the government has drafted two key bills, which are expected to be placed in Parliament either in the ongoing or next session, it said.
The National Marine Fisheries (Regulation and Management) Bill 2019 and the other bill on controlling diseases in fish are yet to be approved by the Cabinet.
Addressing an event on the occasion of the World's Fisheries Day here, Fisheries Minister Giriraj Singh said among several measures announced, the government had extended a short term credit facility, which was available to farmers pursuing animal husbandry and fisheries in 2018-19.
"So far, 8,400-odd fish farmers have got KCC. This number is too small when compared to around 2 crore fish farmers in the country. We are going to review and take measures to step up our efforts to reach more people," he said.
In the Budget 2018-19, the government had announced extension of the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) facility to animal husbandry farmers and fishermen to help them meet their working capital requirements.
However, not many cards could be distributed to fish farmers due to lack of awareness and delay in issuing RBI guidelines for implementation of this facility, sources said.
The KCC facility meets the short term credit requirements of rearing of animals, birds, fish, shrimp, other aquatic organisms and for capturing fish.
Stating that there is huge untapped potential in the fishery sector, the minister said that efforts are being to create an atmosphere to increase the income of fish farmers.
The target is to increase the income of fish farmers by five fold in the next five years and therefore a separate ministry carved out to focus on this sector and several schemes have been rolled out to boost production, export and value addition, he said.
Singh said the government is planning to promote cage culture in marine and reservoirs, bring down post harvest loss from 25 per cent 10 per cent, and shrimp cultivation in saline water, among others.
Echoing the views, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Secretary Rajni Sekhri Sibal said the neighbouring countries, like China, are taking advantage of Indian marine resources due to lack of legislation.
The ministry has drafted the National Marine Fisheries (regulation and Management) Bill 2019 and another on controlling disease in fish, which are likely to come up for discussion in Parliament in the current or next session, she said.
The marine fisheries regulation aims to regulate and manage fisheries in the Exclusive Economic Zone of India and Indian fishing vessels in the high seas and for responsible and long-term sustainable and optimal utilization of marine fish resources, she added.
Minister of state for Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Sanjeev Kumar Balyan said doubling farmers income cannot be possible without focusing on fishery sector and the National Fish Development Board should focus on promoting fish cultivation in north India.
The Board has done enough in South India and as a result Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are much ahead in the fishery sector when compared to other states, he added.
Fish production in India, the world's second largest producer, is about 13 million tonnes at present. LUX BAL

Kisan credit cards given to 8,400 fishermen so far: Govt

Lok Sabha Election 2019 Candidate List for Bihar

<ul><li>Singer Babul Supriyo, the BJP MP from Asansol in West Bengal swears into Modi’s cabinet. Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti from Fatehpur in Uttar Pradesh was also sworn in as a Minister of State.</li><li>Former Power and Railways Minister Dr Arvind Sawant from Mumbai South who defeated Milind Deora of Congress too has taken oath. </li><li>Among those who have taken oath include Thawar Chand Gehlot, S Jaishankar (former Foreign Secretary), Ramesh Pokhriyal, Arjun Munda, Dr Harsh Vardhan (former Science Ministry), Prakash Javadekar (former HRD minister), and Piyush Goel (former coal minister).</li><li>Narendra Modi has taken charge as the Prime Minister of the country for the second time in a swearing in ceremony that just concluded.</li></ul> Update at 09:05 pm Debut MP Debasree Chaudhuri of Raiganj in West Bengal takes oath as Minister of State in Modi’s cabinet. Sanjeev Balyan, Dhotre Sanjay Shamrao, Anurag Singh Thakur from Hamirpur, Suresh Angadi, Nityanand Rai, Rattan Lal Kataria, V Muraleedharan, Renuka Singh Saruta, Som Prakash, Rameshwar Teli, Pratap Sarangi, Kailash Chaudhari, Debasree Chaudhuri were also sworn in as Ministers of State. Update at 08:30 pm Ramdas Athawale from Maharashtra’s Sangli district was sworn in as Minister of State, along with Parshottam Rupala. Update at 08:25 pm Secunderabad BJP MP Kishan Reddy takes oath. Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal, Gen V K Singh, Krishan Pal Gurjar from Faridabad, and Raosaheb Danve too were sworn in. Update at 08:10 pm Prahlad Patel, Raj Kumar Singh from Arrah constituency, Hardeep Singh Puri, Mansukh Mandavia, Faggan Singh Kulaste also take oath. Update at 08:02 pm Shripad Yesso Naik from North Goa is inducted into Modi’s cabinet. Dr Jitendra Singh, the current MP of Haridwar is also sworn in. Update at 08:00 pm Rao Inderjit Singh BJP’s MP from Gurugram, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Santosh Kumar Gangwar from Bareily in Uttar Pradesh were sworn in. Update at 07:55 pm Giriraj Singh from Bihar’s Begusarai who defeated Kanhaiya Kumar, the former student leader and a candidate of Communist Party of India (CPI) was also sworn in. Update at 07:50 pm Former Power and Railways Minister Dr Arvind Sawant, Shiv Sena MP from Mumbai South who defeated Milind Deora of Congress too has taken oath. Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey, former Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi (former Minority Affairs Minister), Pralhad Joshi, too have taken oath. Update at 07:40 pm Piyush Goel and Prakash Javadekar take the oath. Update at 07:35 pm Smriti Irani who won at Amethi against Congress Party leader Rahul Gandhi as its MP, also took oath to cheering public. She was the textiles minister in the earlier cabinet. Update at 07:25 pm Narendra Singh Tomar (formerly Rural Development Minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad (former Telecom and Law Minister); Harsimrat Kaur Badal (former food processing minister) too have taken oath. Update at 07:19 pm Ram Vilas Paswan also takes the oath of office and secrecy. Update at 07:16 pm Incumbent Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also takes the oath. Update at 07:12 pm Shri Rajnath Singh follows Modi to take oath. He was home affairs minister in the last cabinet. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah has also taken oath. He did not hold a portfolio in the last cabinet Update at 07:07 pm Narendra Modi takes charge as India’s PM for the second time Update at 07:00 pm <keyword id="6354814" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="prime-minister-narendra-modi">Prime Minister Narendra Modi</keyword> has also arrived at the event. As many as 50 ministers of the cabinet will take oath after the PM today. The ceremony will start at 7 PM. Bollywood actor Shahid Kapoor and Kangana Ranaut have already arrived at the event at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid along with his first lady too arrived at the event. Update at 06:30 pm Dignitaries and top industrialists like Ratan Tata, Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani; along with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah have already arrived at the venue, to view Narendra Modi take the oath as the Prime Minister for the second time. It’s a big day for India and Narendra Modi who will once again take oath as India’s Prime Minister for a second consecutive term. The master communicator, who has stormed back to power with yet another thumping majority, will once again use the moment and the stage as effectively as it can be. The oath taking ceremony will be held at 7 pm on Thursday (May 30), ensuring that all the attention of prime time television viewers are solely on him. He gave <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/full-text-of-modi-speech-lok-sabha-election-2019/articleshow/69467611.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">over an hour long victory speech</a>, again on prime time, after the election results were declared on May 23. Run up to the event Modi has kickstarted his oath-taking day, early this morning by saluting his heroes. He paid a tribute at the National War Memorial in the morning. The PM from Guajrat won a second consecutive term with a thumping majority, also paid tribute to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s prominent former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee. This charismatic former Prime Minister was instrumental in creating the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in 1998. Modi who hails from Gandhinagar which was also home to father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi, also visited Rajghat today to pay homage. The newly elected PM’s oath taking ceremony promises to be interesting as <a data-type="tilCustomLink">8,000 guests</a> from within and outside the country are expected to pour in for the event. It is being touted as the biggest ever event that takes place at Rashtrapathi Bhavan. The event also promises to be star-studded as many Bollywood celebrities including Vivek Oberoi who played the role of Modi, in a now-released movie ‘Modi’, are expected to attend the event. Invites have also gone in for <a data-type="tilCustomLink">BIMSTEC leaders</a>—which includes Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan. However, it is now known that leaders from Kyrgyzstan and Mauritius will be attending the event. The swearing in ceremony is striving to make Modi’s guests from his constituency in Varanasi feel special. A special gallery called ‘Kashi Sankul’ is being set-up to accommodate 250 special guests from Uttar Pradesh. The event however is not without its controversies. The winning party BJP invited the families of those killed in the West Bengal political violence which erupted just before the last phase of polling. This move angered Mamata Banerjee the chief minister of the state and the head of Trinamool Congress, who declined an invitation to the attend the ceremony. BJP’s ally in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena slammed Banerjee for this move, in an editorial published in its mouthpiece Saamna. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/modis-swearing-in-ceremony-is-set-to-be-the-biggest-event-ever-with-8000-guests/articleshow/69571352.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Modi's swearing in ceremony is set to be the biggest event ever, with 8,000 guests</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/full-text-of-modi-speech-lok-sabha-election-2019/articleshow/69467611.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Full text of Modi’s first speech after historic election victory</a>

Narendra Modi Oath Taking Ceremony Live Updates:  Amit Shah enters Narendra Modi’s cabinet; Smriti Irani welcomed with loud cheers

<ul class="generic-article__summary--ul content--ul"><li class="generic-article__summary--li content--li">With at least two major regional elections in 2020, all eyes are on how the BJP will arrest the fallout from the citizenship act and local poll defeats.</li><li class="generic-article__summary--li content--li">Analysts say the BJP will concentrate on centralising power and a hardened focus on Hindu nationalism.</li></ul> December was a difficult month for <a href="https://www.scmp.com/topics/india" class="link-text">India</a> Prime Minister <a href="https://www.scmp.com/topics/narendra-modi" class="link-text">Narendra Modi</a> and Amit Shah, his top lieutenant in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).The BJP is facing the biggest challenge of its five-and-a-half-year rule as it scrambles to defuse crises on multiple fronts. How Modi and Shah, the home minister, respond to these problems could determine whether the party maintains its comfortable political edge over rivals, observers say. The current problems – <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3043741/thousands-take-part-rival-protests-over-indias-citizenship-law" class="link-text">mass protests</a> over a controversial <a href="https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3042045/modis-surgical-strike-muslims-puts-india-war-itself" class="link-text">citizenship law</a> and back-to-back state election defeats – are seen in some quarters as an early sign that the public is pushing back against their aggressive advocacy of the Hindu nationalist agenda over broader national interests.<img src="https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/d8/images/methode/2019/12/30/3aac2950-2980-11ea-9939-941d1970c7f1_1320x770_101157.jpg" class="wrapper__img preview-img-item img--landscape" /> Activists wear masks of Home Minister Amit Shah, Indian Prime Minister <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword> and West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh during a protest against the citizenship bill. Photo: AFP The two men are lifelong members of RSS, the hardline Hindu nationalist group that serves as the ideological fountainhead of the BJP. Political researcher Neelanjan Sircar said the state election defeats also happened “due to the BJP’s desire to centralise power in Modi and Shah. It does not want strong regional leaders and units”. At the moment, the biggest headache for the BJP going into 2020 is the mass protest action around the country over the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act, which was passed on December 12. The law paves the way for immigrants from non-Muslim minorities from Afghanistan, Pakistan and <keyword id="6354759" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bangladesh">Bangladesh</keyword> to obtain Indian citizenship. Demonstrators, many of whom are students, say the legislation brings out into the open what they claim is the BJP’s plan to systematically drive out the country’s 200 million Muslims as it seeks to create a Hindu Rashtra, or a Hindu nation. The belief is that the CAA, along with the government’s plan to initiate a National Register of Citizens, will create a scenario wherein Muslims who do not have documents to prove their citizenship will be declared illegal immigrants. Hindus and other minorities will not face such a predicament. Modi and Shah have found themselves in an embarrassing bind over this issue because while Shah had explicitly outlined this plan in multiple speeches – saying it targeted “infiltrators” and not Muslims – Modi came out after the protest to directly contradict this position. The prime minister declared his government had no plans to implement the National Register of Citizens. ELECTION SETBACKS If this was not enough of a quandary, the BJP is also reeling from two setbacks in state elections. Earlier in December, the BJP’s oldest ally, the regional party Shiv Sena – with which it has partnered for 25 years – cut ties with the Modi administration and formed a coalition government with the opposition Congress to govern the state of Maharashtra following state polls there. On Christmas Eve, the BJP lost power in Jharkhand, a small but crucial state which holds 40 per cent of India’s mineral wealth. Despite ruling the state for five years, the BJP could only manage 25 seats in the 81-member assembly, while the Congress and its ally got 46 seats. This was its fifth major loss in regional polls in the last year. <img src="https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/d8/images/methode/2019/12/30/676f8176-2980-11ea-9939-941d1970c7f1_1320x770_101157.jpg" class="wrapper__img preview-img-item img--landscape" /> Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses a rally to launch the BJP campaign for the upcoming Delhi assembly elections. Photo: EPA-EFE With at least two major regional elections in 2020, in the capital New Delhi, and in the eastern state of Bihar, all eyes are on how Modi and Shah arrest the fallout from the citizenship act saga and the poll defeats. Also weighing on their popularity is the slowing economy, which grew at its lowest rate since 2013 in the July-September quarter. Sircar, an assistant professor at the Ashoka University in the state of Haryana, cautioned against using state poll results as a crystal ball into Modi and Shah’s longer term fate as the ruling party had been struggling to win state elections even before it cruised to a general election victory in May. The Congress, which held power for decades and which continues to be led by the country’s influential Nehru-Gandhi clan, swept regional polls in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan months before the general election. But what the results do reveal is that local elections are no longer swayed by Modi’s popularity alone, said Sircar, whose research interests include studying election data. After 2014, when Modi first came to power, his party won state elections in most major states and governed over 70 per cent of India’s land mass until March 2018. This has now come down to half, partly due to the BJP’s efforts to centralise power in the two leaders, said Sircar. Meanwhile, continuing confusion in the opposition ranks is harming efforts to build an anti-BJP front. The Congress, for instance, still has a temporary party chief in <keyword id="689" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sonia-Gandhi">Sonia Gandhi</keyword> after her son and former party chief Rahul Gandhi quit, taking blame for its election defeat. The fragmentation of opposition unity is likely to rear its head during the upcoming Delhi elections, in which the Congress might not want to ally with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to defeat the BJP. <img src="https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/d8/images/methode/2019/12/30/47d73854-2a52-11ea-9939-941d1970c7f1_1320x770_101157.jpg" class="wrapper__img preview-img-item img--landscape" /> Congress president Sonia Gandhi and ex-party president Rahul Gandhi (L) attend a sit-in protest. Photo: AFP HONEYMOON PERIOD Another crucial reason why the current situation might not affect the BJP’s long-term standing is timing. There is an important reason it introduced the legislation in the first six months of its five-year term. “The BJP has been very effective in setting its own narratives and winning elections. Hence, while it does seem like the BJP is floundering, it is too early in its term for it be considered a threat to their popularity,” said Sudha Pai, a retired professor in political science from New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University. Pai points to the 2019 elections, when Modi managed to divert attention away from issues such as development, infrastructure, a slump in the economy and the highest unemployment rate in 45 years, to rake up nationalism against Pakistan and come back to power with an enhanced margin. The BJP has probably learned this from experience. In 2016, India’s campuses were rocked with student protests against the government but this did not feature in the discourse during the general elections. The face of the protests, youth activist Kanhaiya Kumar, lost by over 400,000 votes to a controversial BJP leader, Giriraj Singh. <img src="https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/d8/images/methode/2019/12/30/646f1f5e-2980-11ea-9939-941d1970c7f1_1320x770_101157.jpg" class="wrapper__img preview-img-item img--landscape" /> A man wearing a mask of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves the BJP flag during a rally in New Delhi. Photo: AP COURSE CORRECTION? Since Modi’s re-election in May, his government’s two major moves – the decision to revoke <a href="https://www.scmp.com/topics/kashmir" class="link-text">Jammu &amp; Kashmir’s special status</a> and bifurcate the state, and the citizenship law amendment – have seen a similar approach being employed. Both were passed in Parliament without much debate, despite acrimonious opposition.Even in the face of the protests, Modi and Shah have remained defiantly supportive of the police action, which has so far resulted in 23 deaths. Most of these occurred in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, where the BJP’s controversial chief minister <keyword id="43254" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Yogi-Adityanath">Yogi Adityanath</keyword> hailed the police crackdown. But both Pai and Sircar believe the protests and Jharkhand defeat will come as a rude shock to the BJP. “No matter what the final outcome is, there is a sense that the mood in the country is changing, that nationalism might not be enough to win elections any more and that the BJP is not invincible,” said Pai. Such widespread protests have not occurred in the last few decades. “Somewhere, this is affecting Modi’s popularity, bit by bit,” Pai said. <img src="https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/d8/images/methode/2019/12/30/50fb3d72-2980-11ea-9939-941d1970c7f1_1320x770_101157.jpg" class="wrapper__img preview-img-item img--landscape" /> Indian Prime Minister and BJP leader Narendra Modi. Photo: DPA Opinions are mixed on whether these issues will result in a course correction in the next four years of the BJP’s term. Sircar does not see a shift by the BJP any time soon. “I don’t see the BJP’s model changing. Centralising power in their own hands is a very important project for both Modi and Shah. Taking decisions without consultation is also integral to it; to consult means to slow down the process,” said Sircar. Pai, however, is slightly more optimistic, but also believes the next four years will see a hardened focus on Hindu nationalism. “It depends on what happens with the protests and how long they sustain. But I think the BJP will realise that nationalism and warmongering have diminishing returns. It will have to deliver.”

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