The BJP-led NDA retained power in the state, winning 202 of the total 243 seats, while the INDIA bloc bagged only 35, including six of the Congress.
The Supreme Court declined to entertain a petition by Jan Suraaj Party seeking annulment of the 2025 Bihar Assembly elections, citing violation of the Model Code of Conduct. The court directed the party to approach the Patna High Court.
Jan Suraaj Spokesperson and one of the key architects of the Party, Pavan Verma, levelled serious allegations that funds from the World Bank meant for some other project were diverted for the Bihar Assembly elections by the central government and distributed to women voters in the state.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a sharp critique of the RJD, emphasizing the hardships faced by women in Bihar under its governance. He highlighted the current government's initiatives for women's empowerment and urged them to prevent the RJD's return to power.
The Bihar chief minister had a point to prove in the latest assembly elections, which were held amid speculations of a fatigue factor, if not downright anti-incumbency, made worse by rumours of his indifferent health.
The NDA in Bihar, led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, strategically countered the Mahagathbandan's moves by implementing similar policies and announcements, effectively neutralising the MGB campaign promises and maintaining their political advantage.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch Bihar's 'Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana' on Friday and transfer Rs 10,000 each to the bank accounts of 75 lakh women across the state, totalling Rs 7,500 crore.
Voters in Bihar's Jehanabad and Ghosi express their hopes for change, particularly regarding job creation and development, in the upcoming government following the state elections.
Former poll strategist Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj expressed disappointment over its poll debacle in the Bihar assembly elections, attributing the NDA's victory to cash transfers to women.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar disbursed Rs 2,500 crore to 25 lakh beneficiaries of the 'Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana', raising to one crore the number of women to have received Rs 10,000 each under the self-employment scheme.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav promised that if the INDIA bloc comes to power in Bihar, it will ensure every family has a member with a government job, enacting legislation within 20 days of forming the government.
An ECI statement issued from New Delhi put the voter turnout at 68.76 per cent. The female turnout (74.03 per cent) was significantly higher, compared with males (64.1 per cent).
Bihar recorded its highest-ever voter turnout of 67.14 per cent in the second and final phase of the assembly elections. The election is seen as a referendum on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Kishanganj recorded the highest polling percentage at 76.26.
The National Democratic Alliance was set to sweep the Bihar assembly polls, surging ahead in over 200 of 243 seats on Friday with the Bharatiya Janata Party emerging as single largest party with about 90 per cent strike rate, reaffirming the popularity and campaign clout of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was the face of the ruling alliance through the poll battle in the highly sensitive political state.
'...the electoral playing field is tilted significantly in its favour.'
Left to its machinations, the BJP would have loved to cut Nitish down to size, but it can't afford to do so as the JD-U is in alliance with the BJP at the Centre, and cannot form a government on its own in Bihar. For now, both need each other: Nitish for legitimacy, the BJP for numbers, points out Ramesh Menon.
A string of welfare schemes and promises tests the state's budget, which is already heavily dependent on central support and spends little as capital outlay.
Another populist decision of the government was the announcement of an unemployment allowance for the youth: Rs 1,000 per month for two years for graduates and those who have completed class 12 but remain unemployed.
'Rahul Gandhi's problem is that he doesn't think big.' 'He looks more like an activist, while politics is like a game of chess. You attack and then defend and have a game-plan.'
Under the scheme, the government will provide subsidy for two years in respect of new employees engaged on or after October 1, 2020, and up to June 30, 2021, Labour Minister Santosh Gangawar said in a briefing on the Cabinet decision.
The Yogi Adityanath government will create two lakh jobs in the next two years, of which 20 percent will be reserved for women.
Of the 3,893,149 registered applicants on the MP Rojgar portal, only 21 individuals have been successfully placed in government and semi-government positions since April 2020.
The Government of India has decided to launch a massive rural public works scheme, 'Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan', to "empower and provide livelihood opportunities to the returnee migrant workers and rural citizens". Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch this scheme on June 20 through video conference in the presence of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi.
A total of 22.05 crore applications were received during the period.
Employees joining companies after August and availing of the government benefits under the Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojana (PMRPY) will also have to link their PF accounts with Aadhaar numbers.
As beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojna have to be EPF subscribers, these numbers indicate that the increase in EPFO payroll estimates is largely due to an increase in the beneficiaries registered under PMRPY.
It had earlier proposed cutting it down to Rs 250 crore due to slow progress in enrollment of new employees.
The announcement by Banerjee, who is also the chief of the ruling TMC, comes just months ahead of the assembly polls, due in April-May.
'The people of Uttar Pradesh have already made up their mind to puncture the Samajwadi Party's cycle, kick away the Bahujan Samaj Party's elephant, and remove shadows of the already-vanished hand of the Congress.'
Private firms will have to maintain a minimum net addition to their workforce each month from October this year to June 2021 to get the Employees' Provident Fund subsidy for the new recruits.
The inquiry revealed that Rs 76 lakh meant each for SJSRY and NSDP was misappropriated between June and September 2004.
The situation could become more acute as millions of migrants who had returned to their villages during the lockdown come back to the towns for higher wages and better livelihoods.
The EPFO is now developing a software that will help show retirement savings in cash and ETFs components separately. At present the account only shows the savings as gross cash component.
The government has found about 900,000 beneficiaries of its flagship job formalisation scheme, the PMRPY, were ineligible in the first place as they were part of the formal economy even before the inception of the scheme. The EPFO has also recovered Rs 222 crore so far from the employers concerned.
The employers, many of whom had virtually abandoned the migrant labourers, are sending them train and even flight tickets to fetch them back as factories whir back to life, construction activities pick up and the sowing season sets in.
The implementation of four labour codes in one go from April 1 next year will usher in a new wave of reforms in industrial relations and also help in attracting more investments but employment generation will remain a key challenge in 2021. This year has also been a challenging year for the work force as well as for employers due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The government imposed a nationwide lockdown from March 25, which had an adverse impact on economic activities and resulted in exodus of migrant workers from large cities to their homes in the hinterland. Many migrant labourers lost their jobs and it took months for them to return back to their work places from their native places.
JD-U sources conceded that the BJP's "Bihari martyrdom" line will give the coalition an edge or "at least help us combat anti-incumbency if the Opposition makes an issue of Nitish's governance".
Formally kicking off his party's campaign for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Friday paid obeisance at the dargah of renowned sufi saint Haji Waris Ali Shah and held a road show in Barabanki.
Six months after the lockdown was imposed, two dozen migrant workers were interviewed across five villages of Prayagraj. As the economy opens up, most of them are either hunting for a job or desperately waiting for a phone call from their previous employers. But the bruises of the lockdown are still fresh in their minds. Somesh Jha reports.
'A gig economy is more suited for superior economic outcomes.' 'You try to create an environment where people can earn more.' 'This is what should happen in India. Indeed it is already happening,' says T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.
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