Understanding Verdict 2024
The message of the people of India conveyed through the mandate of 2024 is resoundingly clear. The voters cut the size of the ruling party because they wanted the authoritarian approach to be jettisoned and the idea of ‘politics as collective’ brought back to the political arena – both outside as well as inside Parliament. The message is that the Constitution is never at ease with authoritarian streaks. For the Opposition, the message is equally important. Only carrying a copy of the Indian Constitution in one’s hand is not enough. You must live by it 24X7 and each day must be a struggle for peoples’ needs and aspirations.
Manoj Kumar Jha
Professor Manoj Kumar Jha entered electoral politics on joining the Rashtriya Janata Dal in 2012 as its national spokesperson. He has been a key voice as well as strategist in the party, building issue-based coalitions with political parties and among the socially marginalised. He has been a member of the Rajya Sabha from Bihar in 2018 and has quickly gone on to make a mark in parliamentary debates. Emerging as one of the most popular and fearless faces of the opposition, Professor Jha has consistently defended the constitutional guarantees to the poor and marginalised sections of India. Professor Jha was born into a family of teachers and politicians in 1967. Deeply influenced by socialist ideals he was an active participant in student politics in the late 1980s during his days in Patna College. After obtaining an MA and PhD at the Delhi School of Social Work, he began his working career as a lecturer of Social Work at Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi and later become a Professor at the Delhi School of Social Work.
