NEW DELHI: In a surprise turn of events, Chirag Paswan, the president of Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) founded by his father late Ram Vilas Paswan, was on Monday unceremoniusly unseated as the leader of the party in Lok Sabha.
Chirag, who took over the mantle of the party in 2020 after the death of Ram Vilas Paswan, stood completely isolated at the top within his party.
Five of the six members of Parliament of the LJP revolted against Chirag in an overnight coup and elected Pashupati Kumar Paras, his uncle, as the new leader of the party in Lok Sabha.
Besides Pashupati Paras, the rebel group includes Chirag’s cousin Prince Raj, Chandan Singh, Veena Devi and Mehboob Ali Kaiser.
The group has already met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to inform him about the changes in the party. In the coming days, the rebels may stake claim in the Election Commission to represent the real LJP and could also move to oust Chirag from the top party post.

‘You reap what you sow’
Nitish Kumar‘s party, the Janta Dal (United), reacted with a sense of vindication to the deveopments within the LJP.
Chirag had led an aggressive anti-Nitish Kumar campaign in the 2020 assembly elections and in the process dealt a heavy political blow to the ruling Janta Dal (United) in

Bihar.
Chirag walked out of the NDA in the state and contested the assembly elections against Nitish Kumar’s party. He fielded nominees, some of them BJP rebels, against all the JD(U) candidates.
As a result, the JD(U) ended up losing several seats due to triangular contest and for the first time it became the junior partner to the BJP in Bihar NDA.
Little wonder, Nitish Kumar’s party reacted with a dig at the developments within the LJP.
“You reap what you sow,” said JD(U)national president RCP Singh as he blamed Chirag for doing negative politics.
“Chirag Paswan has committed so many blunders in the recent past. The people of Bihar and his own party workers and leaders were not happy with whatever he did during the Bihar assembly election. Now, it’s results are coming in the form of a split in the party,” Singh said.
Given the bitter political rivalry between the two parties since the 2020 assembly elections, sources close to Chirag Paswan accused the JD(U) for the split in the LJP.
The JD(U), on the other hand, blamed Chirag Paswan’s negative politics for the rift within his party.
The lone LJP MLA in the Bihar assembly has already left the party to join the JD(U).
Chirag tries to meet Paras, but fails
As the events unfolded on Monday, Chirag Paswan drove to his uncle’s residence in the national capital to meet him and Prince Raj.
Paswan, who has not been keeping well for some time, waited for over 20 minutes in his car before he was let into the house and then left after spending more than an hour inside.
He left without saying a word to waiting media persons.
It is believed that neither of the two rebel MPs met him. A household help said the two were not at home when the LJP chief arrived.
How will the BJP react?
It would be interesting to see as to how the BJP reacts to the latest developments in this game of one-upmanship between the JD(U) and the LJP in Bihar.
Chirag Paswan has all along kept a very strong pro-BJP and pro-PM Modi stand and announced ahead of assembly elections that he is working for a BJP government in Bihar.
Pashupati Paras, on the other hand, is percieved as pro-Nitish Kumar.
Paras today lauded Nitish Kumar as a good leader and “vikas purush” (development-oriented man).
With talks of Union Cabinet reshuffle, it would be interesting to see if the BJP decides to include Chirag Paswan to ensure that he is not completely marginalised within his own party.
The JD(U) has declined to comment on speculations about one or more rebel LJP MPs being inducted into the Union cabinet from the party quota or getting accommodated in the state ministry.
However, it has reiterated the party stand that all NDA allies ought to get a “respectable” share at the Centre.
‘I have saved the party’
Pashupati Paras, who is an MP from Hajipur, a seat represented by Ram Vilas Paswan for several years, caimed that 99 per cent of LJP workers were unhappy with the leadership of Chirag Paswan in Bihar.
“There are six MPs in our party. It was the desire of five MPs to save our party. So, I have not broken the party. I have saved it. Chirag Paswan is my nephew as well as the party’s national president. I have no objection against him,” Paras said when asked about the developments.
Paras said his group will continue to be part of the BJP-led NDA, and added that Paswan can remain in the organisation.
Regarding the rumours that LJP will be joining the Janta Dal (United) in Bihar, the Hajipur MP said, “Existence of LJP will continue, we are not joining JDU. We will fulfill the ambition of Late Ramvilas Paswan.”

CHENNAI: The AIADMK on Monday warned of disciplinary action against those in the party if they interacted with ousted party leader V K Sasikala, even as it expelled 17 members including party spokesman V Pugazhendhi.Most of those expelled were said to have spoken to ousted former interim general secretary V K Sasikala.The AIADMK legislators’ meeting, held at the party headquarters here, which passed the unanimous resolution warning of stern action, also elected partys coordinator O Panneerselvam as deputy leader of the opposition in the assembly.AIADMK co-coordinator and former chief minister K Palaniswami was on June 10 elected as leader of the opposition.At the meeting which lasted about three hours, the AIADMK lawmakers deliberated in detail about the issue of ‘leaked phone calls’ in the social media allegedly involving Sasikala with some of the AIADMK cadres.She had purportedly said she would make a comeback to the party in the near future.“After announcing that she would stay away from politics ahead of the assembly elections, Sasikala now wants to take over the party after seeing the partys spectacular growth.This is evident from media reports of her conversation with some party members,” the resolution moved by the leaders Panneerselvam and Palaniswami said.Calling for the immediate removal of all those who spoke to Sasikala over phone, the resolution said it was already warned through a statement on May 23 that stern action would be taken against those indulging in anti-party activities.Dismissing as “drama” Sasikala’s reported telephonic conversation with its party members, AIADMK said the party can never be destroyed for the “desires of one family.”“We have successfully completed Jayalalithaa’s rule by disappointing those who thought that there will be more chaos in Tamil Nadu (following Jayalalithaa’s demise)– the AIADMK-led alliance won 75 seats, defeating conspiracies and won people’s support,” the resolution said.As the main opposition party, AIADMK has 66 MLAs, it said and condemned attempts of Sasikala to reach out to some members in the party.“She is attempting to capture the party and enacting a strange drama by speaking to some over the phone,” it said.Later, in a statement, the AIADMK announced expulsion of 17 party workers for anti-party activities.The meet elected Panneerselvam as the deputy leader of the opposition in the Assembly, while former minister S P Velumani was elected the party whip.S Ravi has been chosen as deputy whip, former minister Kadambur C Raju as treasurer, former minister K P Anbalagan as secretary and P H Manoj Pandian as deputy secretary, according to a release issued by the party leaders.Post poll, apart from sitting in opposition after a decade of rule, the AIADMK is beset with the issue of alleged leaked audio tapes purportedly involving the conversation of Sasikala who took over the party following the demise of J Jayalalithaa in 2016, and some AIADMK members.Following the merger of the two factions led by Pannerselvam and Palaniswami, the AIADMK ousted Sasikala.

HYDERABAD: A single dose of Covid-19 vaccine is sufficient for an infected person as there was a greater antibody response when compared with those who have had no prior infection, according to a study released by AIG Hospitals on Monday.
The city-based AIG Hospitals recently published a study conducted on 260 healthcare workers, who got vaccinated between January 16 and February 5, in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases (a peer-reviewed journal).
The study was designed to assess the immunological memory response in all those patients.
All patients were given the Covishield vaccine.
The study also said Memory T-cell responses elicited by a single dose of vaccine were significantly higher in the previously infected group compared with those who had no prior infection.
Commenting on the impact that this study can have on the overall vaccine administration strategy, Dr. D Nageshwar Reddy, Chairman, AIG Hospitals, and one of the co-authors of the study, said the results show that people who got infected with Covid-19 need not take two doses of vaccine as a single dose can develop robust antibody and memory cell response at par with two-doses for those who didnt get the infection.
This will significantly help at a time when theres a shortage of vaccine in the country and more people can be covered using the saved doses, Dr Reddy said.
Once the requisite number of people are vaccinated for achieving herd immunity, these patients who got infected and received only one dose can take the second dose of the vaccine, he further said.
At this point, all our strategies should be directed at the widespread distribution of available vaccines and to include the maximum number of people at least with a single dose, Dr Reddy added.

Head of the UN office for disaster risk reduction Mami Mizutori tells Pradeep Thakur Covax is making progress towards having 2 billion doses available by the end of 2021, which should be enough to protect high-risk and vulnerable people. Excerpts from the interview:The World Bank estimates 150 million people will be pushed into extreme poverty in 2021 due to Covid-19. How can India minimise the impact?Firstly, I would like to express my sincere condolences to the people and government of India on the tragic loss of life that is taking place across the country. All major disasters which affect low- and middle-income countries result in economic losses on a scale which has a damaging effect on their ability to eradicate poverty and meet other basic needs, including health services and access to education. In the case of Covid-19, we have seen how it has pushed millions into extreme poverty globally, and has contributed to rising levels of hunger in many parts of the world where the informal economy that poor people depend on has been decimated. For all member states, the eradication of poverty cannot be achieved without reducing disaster risk and improved prevention as nothing undermines development like disasters.The US and some other countries reserved enough shots for their citizens. Should India have done the same?Much of the world looks to India for vaccine supply but the pharmaceutical supply chain is very complex and specialised to a degree that serving a population the size of India’s was always going to be a gargantuan task. The numbers already vaccinated in India are enormous but manufacturing enough doses to reach over one billion people will take time.How much success has the UN’s Covax programme achieved?The Covax facility portfolio, administered by Gavi, currently consists of agreements related to eight vaccines, including those developed with the Serum Institute of India. Coordinated by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and the WHO, Covax is making steady progress towards having 2 billion doses available by the end of 2021, which should be enough to protect high risk and vulnerable people, as well as frontline healthcare workers.The second wave of Covid-19 has caused more deaths in India. Where did it go wrong?Covid-19 demonstrates the systemic nature of disaster risk, how a biological hazard can ravage all areas of life starting from public health to all socio-economic aspects of our societies. Unfortunately, many countries, including India, are learning the hard way that prevention requires more patience than previously thought and, in the case of biological hazards, a longer game plan. WHO has warned that when there are mass gatherings, more contagious variants and the vaccination coverage is still low, this can create a perfect storm for the virus to spread in any country. India has done an admirable job in harnessing technology and communication to ensure effective early warning leads to early action in the case of cyclones. The challenge for the government now is to communicate effectively on the continued need for face masks, social distancing and avoiding mass gatherings while at the same time rolling out an effective vaccination programme.Your idea of a ‘global response for future pandemics’ and vaccine distribution?If the global level of preparedness for this pandemic had matched the warnings, much of the impact could have been reduced. An adequate level of pandemic preparedness would have cost billions instead of the trillions that it is now costing. The loss of life and the economic disruption could have been significantly reduced if we had been adequately prepared from the moment biological hazards were included in the Sendai Framework in 2015. Given the transboundary nature of biological hazards it is obvious that a global response plan is required for future pandemics. A patchwork response is not working for Covid-19, and it will not work against any newly emerging diseases and viruses in the future. It is not acceptable that developing countries should have to wait so long for Covid vaccines. This inequality and lack of solidarity to access affordable vaccines only fuels the spread of the virus, allows the emergence of new variants and prolongs the pandemic. None of us is safe until we are all safe.With Covid disruptions, can countries like India meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals target?It is clear that the death toll and economic loss from Covid-19 means that Sendai Framework targets on reducing mortality, numbers of disaster affected people and economic losses has suffered a great setback. However, we are still making significant progress on other targets. Asia and the Pacific are not on track to achieve any of the SDGs.