With Nitish Kumar on its side, a BJP-led government may feel increased pressure to conduct a nationwide caste-based census.
Besides Defence Minister Singh (Lucknow), Minister of Women and Child Development Irani (Amethi), those in the fray are Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishor (Mohanlalganj) and Minister of State of Consumer Affairs Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti (Fatehpur).
'Laluji is like my father and I am like his son.'
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday said his party's alliance with the Congress is 'off to a good start' with 11 'strong' Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh.
The TMC chief, however, parried questions on her reservations about the Congress's alliance with the Left in her state and the Aam Aadmi Party threatening a "walkout" if support was not forthcoming on the ordinance of control of services in Delhi.
Kumar had recently dumped the 'Mahagathbandhan', of which the Rashtriya Janata Dal was a key constituent, and returned to the NDA fold to form the government with support of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Akhilesh Yadav's stock rose dramatically on Tuesday with his Samajwadi Party cutting the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party down to size in Uttar Pradesh.
The CBI on Friday told the Supreme Court that RJD supremo Lalu Prasad was playing badminton after being enlarged on bail in a fodder scam case on medical grounds, as it sought cancellation of the relief granted to the former Bihar chief minister.
BJP-led NDA gave five seats to the Chirag Paswan-led LJP (Ram Vilas).
'Nitish Kumar's newly-formed alliance with BJP would unravel before the 2025 assembly polls in Bihar'
Tyagi, the JD-U's political advisor and spokesperson, was replying to queries about the suggestion that followed Kumar's speech at a party rally in Patna on Wednesday.
With the Bharatiya Janata Party falling short of a majority in the Lok Sabha and needing the National Democratic Alliance partners to form the government at the Centre, Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal-United head Nitish Kumar and Telugu Desam Party's N Chandrababu Naidu have emerged as potential kingmakers.
Most JD-U ministers favour a return to the BJP-led NDA ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
According to a statement issued by JD-U national general secretary Afaq Ahmed Khan on Tuesday, this is the party's first list of candidates for Madhya Pradesh, where voting will take place for the 230-member assembly on November 17.
The Nitish Kumar government in Bihar on Tuesday announced 10 per cent reservation for economically weaker sections (EWS) in the judicial services, and the state-run law colleges and universities.
The ED had launched raids on Friday at multiple locations linked to Prasad's family members including that of his son and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav in Delhi.
Thakur's tenure as chief minister is best remembered for implementation of the recommendations of the Mungeri Lal Commission, whereby quotas for backward classes were introduced in the state in 1978. This panel was the forerunner of the Mandal Commission. Both Mungeri Lal and B P Mandal were from Bihar, which has a long history of socialist struggles.
Chosen for the country's highest civilian award Bharat Ratna a day ahead of his birth anniversary, Karpoori Thakur has been the veritable 'Jan Nayak' or people's hero of politics in Bihar, whose legacy parties cutting across ideologies seek to claim.
Yadav was earlier called for questioning on March 4 but he had not appeared before the CBI sleuths, following which a fresh date was given for Saturday, they said.
RJD-JD-U leaders believe Dhirendra Krishna Shastri's visit is part of the BJP's 2024 poll strategy.
The sources said the opposition leaders would now plan joint rallies that were put on hold due to the assembly elections.
The party was reacting to Kumar's decision to resign as Bihar chief minister and leaving the Mahagathbandhan alliance in the state and also dealing a body blow to the opposition bloc INDIA.
Beti ho to Rohini Acharya jaisi," Giriraj tweeted in Hindi.
The BJP hopes to deepen its support among backward castes, especially the Extremely Backward Classes, in Bihar following the announcement of Bharat Ratna for former chief minister Karpoori Thakur, a leader who enjoys admiration from backward satraps of various hues.
In the battle for 2024, the place is hogging the limelight, primarily because of Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, who according to some opinion polls, may turn out to be the dark horse when votes are counted on June 4.
'Ishwar ne anandit hokar putri ratna ke roop mein uphar bheja hai.'
Never a leader with a big base of his own, Sharad Yadav depended on state bigwigs like Lalu and Nitish to enter Parliament but enjoyed the aura and political weight which made him a strong presence at the high table of national politics in Delhi.
Kumar said that Rahul Gandhi's claim that the caste survey in the state was held under the Congress' pressure was 'nonsensical'.
The meeting at Gandhi's 10 Janpath residence was seen as very crucial in forging an Opposition unity with efforts on to reconcile differences between the Congress and some regional parties that have been at loggerheads traditionally.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been receiving invitations for functions scheduled much after the Lok Sabha polls, which showed the 'entire world believes his return to power is inevitable'.
Sanjay Jha's importance lies in his connections to senior BJP and RSS leaders to maintain a smooth relationship within the NDA government in Bihar and at the Centre and to contest the 2025 Bihar assembly elections together under Nitish Kumar's leadership.
Other prominent candidates among the 904 in the fray are Union minister Anurag Thakur, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad's daughter Misa Bharti.
Bihar Education Minister Chandrashekhar reiterated that temples are the path to "mental slavery" while schools mean the path of light in life, extending support to party MLA Fateh Bahadur Singh whose similar statement drew the ire of a fringe outfit that announced a "reward" of Rs 10 lakh to cut off his tongue.
She reached the office of the federal probe agency in central Delhi around 11 am and left around 6 pm.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday vowed to thwart alleged attempts to rob Dalits and backward classes of reservations by the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) which he accused of 'enslavement' and performing 'mujra' for Muslim vote bank.
Top leaders of the Opposition's Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) held talks in an informal setting in Mumbai on Thursday evening to chart out a concrete roadmap and evolve a structure for cooperation among the alliance partners to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Besides the national capital, polling for the sixth round of the marathon seven-phase elections will be held Saturday in 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh, all 10 seats of Haryana, eight seats each in Bihar and West Bengal, six seats in Odisha, four seats in Jharkhand and one seat in Jammu and Kashmir.
Three different invitations were sent out for the wedding and the receptions with top-run guests being sent a large red box that contained an intricate chest incorporating a mini silver temple featuring gold idols of various Hindu deities, including Lord Ganesh, Radha-Krishna, and Goddess Durga.
'Nitish Kumar has no vision for the people of the state. He also had no justifiable reason for ditching us and going back to the BJP-led NDA'
'Laluji personally telephoned several Opposition leaders to attend the meeting.'
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