The Rajasthan Dharma Swatantraya Bill, 2008, reintroduced by Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje last week, prohibits conversion by use of force, allurement or fradulent means. It was passed by voice vote, even as Congress, Communist Party of India-Marxist and Lok Janshakti Party Legislative Assembly members demanded that it be referred to a select committee.
Here are how the numbers are stack up in the lower house if the no-confidence motion takes place.
Notwithstanding reports from within the party that severing of ties with the Congress and joining hands with the Rashtriya Janata Dal resulted in Lok Janshakti Party drawing a blank in the Lok Sabha polls, party president Ramvilas Paswan on Monday said he would align again with Lalu Prasad to contest the 2010 assembly elections in Bihar.
Uproarious scenes were witnessed in Lok Sabha on Wednesday after members raised the issue of violence in Maharashtra.
"The JD-U and BJP are engaging in shadow boxing. There appears to be an agreement between BJP and JD-U that they would play Hindu and Muslim cards, respectively, to confuse voters," Paswan said while commenting on the recent tiff between the two ruling coalition partners of Bihar.
Accusing Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader Raj Thackeray of hurting the religious sentiments of people from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, Union Minister and Lok Janshakti Party leader Ram Vilas Paswan on Saturday demanded his immediate arrest for causing divisions in the society.
The 19-year-old partnership ended after the ruling party refused to accede to the ally's demand for 17 of 81 seats.
Lok Janshakti Party chief Ramvilas Paswan on Wednesday said that his party will not join hands with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United, and will continue its alliance with Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal.
Last week, a panel of judges headed by the Chief Justice of India ordered that Karnan be transferred to the Calcutta high court. The junior judge reacted that he would fight the order and asked the Chief Justice of India to "not interfere" with his jurisdiction, and also stayed his own transfer order.
Birla, 57, has been MLA from Rajasthan thrice and MP twice.
The crowds were stunned into silence for a few seconds, after which they erupted in applause for the 69-year-old leader who has ruled the state for nearly 15 years.
The Bihar assembly on Friday witnessed uproarious scenes over the alleged stripping of a 22-year-old girl in public, with Opposition members storming into the well of the House and forcing Speaker U N Choudhary to adjourn the proceedings at least four times. The issue was raised by Members of the Legislative Assembly belonging to the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Lok Janshakti Party, Congress and Left parties as soon as the House assembled.
Addressing a press conference barely a few hours before the campaign for the final phase of the elections came to a close, Paswan reiterated that the LJP will do well despite having gone solo in the elections and asserted, "We will help the BJP form the next government."
Presence of Fadnavis will be keenly watched in view of recent tug of war between his home state Maharashtra and Bihar over death of Sushant Singh Rajput, a Patna born Bollywood actor.
Former union minister and Lok Janshakti Party president Ram Vilas Paswan, who lost the recent Lok Sabha elections, said in Varanasi on Wednesday that his party would contest the 2010 Bihar assembly elections in alliance with Lalu Prasad-led Rashtriya Janata Dal and also welcomed Congress party to their fold.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday sacked its recalcitrant Bihar member of legislative council Tunnaji Pandey whose utterances against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar were putting a strain on the tenuous relations between the two alliance partners.
The second round of the voting was held in the 17 districts amid tight security and strict coronavirus guidelines in place. The voting percentage at 10.30 pm was 54.64, according to the Election Commissions Voter Turnout Apps provisionally data.
Unlike previous years, 2007 could be termed as a politically dull year in Bihar, which in the past had always been the centrestage of politics.
While Paswan and Singh were stopped at the Delhi-UP border, the LJP chief's younger brother and Lok Sabha member Ramchandra Paswan was taken into custody by the Uttar Pradesh Police. The leaders were going towards Greater Noida to disburse Rs two lakh as relief to the families of the victims of police firing last week.
The fulcrum of victory or defeat of parties attempting to form a government is held by smaller players and those willing to defect.
A first information report was lodged on Friday against Lok Janshakti Party Member of Parliament Surajbhan Singh for his alleged involvement in murder of Ramnaresh Sharma, a senior advocate in Bihar's Begusarai town.
The nation belongs to Muslims as much as it does to others, Modi said, accusing the Opposition of spreading confusion among them about the law.
Bihar leaders oppose Delimitation Commission proposal.
Sonia held discussions with Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lalu Prasad and Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan in an effort to break the logjam over the issue that has created a face-off between the Congress and the Left parties. The leaders of the UPA constituents conveyed to Sonia that they back the nuclear deal, but do not favour early polls, particularly because of high inflation.
Insiders say the BJP is now concerned the LJP putting up a good fight against the JD-U would mean benefitting the MGB in those seats. Moreover, Chirag and Tejaswi are known to be friends, and the former is battling for his political survival.
The party has said resources should now be focussed on curbing the COVID-19 crisis and tackling floods in the state and not holding the polls.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and its National Democratic Alliance partners - the Janata Dal-United and Lok Janshakti Party -- on Monday formally announced their alliance for the Delhi assembly polls, asserting that it will send a "strong" political message across the country.
More than 10 speakers made their case during the no-confidence vote, the first faced by the Narendra Modi government. Here's a selection of the best speeches.
Paswan was a minister under six different prime ministers, hardly out of government since he was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1977, observes Virendra Kapoor.
The decision on whether to remove the LJD from the UPA will be taken by chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
The invite to Paswan from the BJP assumes significance as this made it clear that the LJP remains a member of the NDA despite walking out of the alliance in Bihar during the state assembly polls.
The Bharatiya Janata Party in Himachal Pradesh on Monday claimed there was a 'wave' in the party's favour and that the ruling Congress party will not even reach double digit figure in the assembly elections.
Apparently angry over the delay in finalisation of seats among United Progressive Alliance allies in Bihar, Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan on Saturday stepped up pressure on the Rashtriya Janata Dal, threatening to go it alone if an alliance does not happen soon. "I have directed my party workers to be ready to contest on all 40 seats in Bihar as the alliance talks do not appear to have fructified till now," said Paswan.
The former Deputy chief minister made the sensational assertion on his twitter handle, sharing a mobile number which, he claimed, Prasad was having access to despite serving sentences in fodder scam cases.
There were seven candidates in the fray for the six seats.
Das lost his seat to Independent candidate Saryu Roy by over 15000 votes. He said the BJP's failure to cling on to the alliance with AJSU is the reason for its loss.
Surajbhan Singh was named in the report as a conspirator on whose instigation the Chunnu Singh gang allegedly shot dead RJD leaders Akhilesh Rai and Ram Udesh Rai on April 13, 2006, under Mushari police station.
An incident involving the president of the Bharatiya Janata Party Amit Shah being trapped in a lift at the state guest house in Patna for around 40 minutes will now be investigated by a high-level committee.
Assembly elections to five crucial states will take place in a few months and the results will be decisive for the BJP, which is eyeing a third successive term at the Centre, in the forthcoming the Lok Sabha polls in 2024.
Bihar Legislative Assembly member Nagina Devi's name has been removed from the voters' list of her constituency after she failed to provide documents proving that she is an Indian citizen.