'The Election Commission has to deal with money power, intimidation tactics and caste politics.'
Association of caste with the way people have tended to vote in Bihar has somewhat weakened.
'Over the years, India has taken great strides in many fields, especially in the context of science and technology. Yet even as external disarmament is necessary, inner disarmament is no less important'
Delhi's minimum temperature on Wednesday morning plunged to 4.4 degrees Celsius -- the season's lowest -- making the national capital colder than Dharamsala, Nainital and Dehradun.
He recalled that the state was home to Vaishali, said to be the oldest republic in the world.
'It is precisely because of the apprehensions about Lalu's revival that the upper castes have started re-thinking their electoral preferences. Out of confusion, they are simply deciding to vote for winnable candidates from their respective castes of any of the three parties -- the BJP, JD-U or RJD. This is what has considerably neutralised the NaMo wave in Bihar and resulted in Nitin Gadkari's remark that "Caste is in the DNA of Biharis". This is why Giriraj Singh, the BJP candidate from Nawada, made provocative statements,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
The Bhartiya Janata Party along with the Lok Janshakti Party are all set to fight a pitched political battle against the ruling Janata Dal-United and also the Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal combine in Bihar. But there's one thing in common between the five major parties of the state -- all of them have fielded bahubalis, criminal-turned-politicians and their wives in the upcoming Lok Sabha election.
The BJP is focusing on 160 seats 'we have never won, seats where we have reasonable support, and those we lost narrowly.'
An estimated 57 per cent of the electorate cast their votes in the first phase of the Bihar assembly election in 49 constituencies on a violence-free note on Monday.
Former Nepalese foreign minister Ramesh Nath Pandey observed that the current situation is not encouraging for India-Nepal ties, saying the "present leaders" created irritants in the relationship in the past.
Several global models are predicting El Nio to appear around the second half of the year, which are the crucial rain-bearing months.
With both the Rashtriya Janata Dal and Janata Dal-United decimated by BJP in the Lok Sabha elections, RJD chief Lalu Prasad indicated at fighting the coming Assembly elections in Bihar with the JD-U.
After its late withdrawal from northwest India, the southwest monsoon remains active over some parts of the country.
The TMC also announced it would hold talks with other regional parties in their bid to take on the BJP in the crucial 2024 elections but at the same time denied that it was planning a third front, separate from the Congress-led front.
If there is unity in the Opposition, it is only about regional parties other than the DMK not wanting Rahul Gandhi or any other Congress leader for prime minister, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Around 29 trains have been delayed by two to five hours due to foggy weather, a railway official said.
Making a strong Hindutva pitch at the hustings in West Bengal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday attacked Trinamool Congress leaders for calling those wearing saffron, sporting tilak and choti as "rakshas", and declared that he does not believe in "seasonal faith".
The new chief minister, if from the Congress, will have little or no time for political administration, to ensure that he does not lose the voter's goodwill even before the Lok Sabha polls. He can count only on one thing. That the BJP may not want to upset him too early lest an early failure should become an added problem for the party in all the polls to follow, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
Is it a divine, sacrosanct university, a holy cow, prohibiting human intervention?
The bypolls are termed as a 'rehearsal' for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls by CM Yogi Adityanath.
It was not a one-way ride up though for the man who now could potentially become the BJP's national president over time.
Prabhat Kumar from Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir explains how his wife Ranjana supported him and kept his family together in difficult times.
From the Yadav-dominated Madhepura to the Brahmin-dominated Darbhanga and Bhumihar-dominated Begusarai -- three of the seven parliamentary constituencies in Bihar -- that go to vote on April 30 are crucial for Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as it will be a test of his 'development model'.
Imam in his fresh bail plea stated that since the apex court has put sedition (Sec 124-A) in abeyance, his case has improved for grant of bail.
Just two days after recording 811.6 mm of rainfall in a day, Cherrapunji in Meghalaya received a bountiful 972 mm of precipitation in 24 hours ending 8.30 am on Friday, the highest in June since 1995 and the third highest in 122 years, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
With the fresh fatalities, the total number of people losing their lives in this year's flood and landslides across the state has gone up to 42.
Yadav struck deals with the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress whenever needed to form or save the governments led by him in Uttar Pradesh.
In a general notice, the railways said, 'Such misguided activities are the highest level of indiscipline rendering such aspirants unsuitable for railway/government job. Videos of such activities will be examined...and candidates/aspirants found indulged in unlawful activities will be liable for police action as well as lifetime debarment from obtaining railway job.'
e Union minister of state for home is somewhat brash and rowdy, and has enormous confidence.' Some of this derives from the fact that he has independent sources of income (he reported assets amounting to Rs 18 crore in his 2019 Lok Sabha nomination papers)
'According to the survey, ideological issues like Article 370 and Ayodhya received only 14 and 12 per cent voter-backing, respectively.' 'It could well imply that hardline Hindutva issues have only that much voter-purchase, compared to Modi's overall popularity of 52 per cent -- putting the man way above the mission,' points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
'We had the option of either crossing over to the opposition or fighting on our own with a focus on seats being contested by the JD-U as its reluctance was the main reason the LJP was offered only so few seats'
The submission by the actress in a 12-page affidavit in which she said the "constant sensationalisation" was causing extreme trauma and infringement of privacy of her rights came a day ahead of the next hearing of her plea for transfer of the Bihar police FIR against her from Patna to Mumbai.
An interplay of Modi government's outreach in Bihar and the sequence of events in Chirag Paswan's life could make Bihar a game of musical chairs when the results are out.
'Today, environment has become an issue of political debate. It has become a media issue. I think that is a good development.'
He announced his 24-hour fast in a letter to President Ram Nath Kovind and Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, speaking at length about his anguish over the ruckus in the House during the passage of two farm bills on Sunday.
Here are 10 global and domestic factors.
Critics say that there's no 'Modi wave' in four Muslim-dominated parliamentary constituencies in Bihar's Seemanchal belt, but Bharatiya Janata Party leaders are hopeful to retain three out of the four seats here. In 2009 general elections, the BJP won in Purnea, Katihar and Araria but lost in Kishanganj.
Some senior Congress leaders including Kapil Sibal have called for introspection after the party's dismal performance in the recently held Bihar assembly polls, after which the ruling National Democratic Alliance returned to power in the state despite the main member of the grand opposition alliance, Rashtriya Janata Dal, putting up a strong show and emerging as the single largest party.
The Centre informed the court that it has accepted the Bihar government's recommendation for a CBI probe in the matter.
Biharis can confidently decide whether they want to follow Badlav Se Bhadiya Bharosa (Trust is Better than Change) or Badaliye Sarkar, Badaliye Bihar (Change the Government, Change Bihar), asserts Asmita Bihari.
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