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.
'Both Pavan Varma and Prashant Kishor questioned the party president in a public forum.' 'That is why we had to show them the door.'
The JD-U said that the conduct of the two leaders in recent past has made it clear that they don't want to abide by the party's discipline. Both leaders have been critical of the party president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over the CAA/NRC issue.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar seems intent on mending fences with estranged former colleagues as part of the spadework for posing a credible challenge to the Bharatiya Janata Party's national hegemony.
"They should go wherever they want," Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal-United chief Nitish Kumar said on Thursday when asked of Prashant Kishor and Pavan Verma's repeated questions about the party's stand's on the newly enacted Citizenship Act.
Senior leaders of the party -- Prashant Kishor and Pavan Varma -- have slammed the legislation calling it 'unconstitutional' and urged Nitish Kumar to rethink his support in Parliament.
The party was floated exactly two years after Kishor had embarked on a more than 3,000-km-long 'padayatra' of the state.
'They were as late as June 2023 and they did not follow it up with concrete measures immediately in terms of a secretariat or common minimum programme, working group or seat sharing etc.' 'They continued to have periodic meetings after a gap of weeks where they had tasty dinner and coffee, but beside that they did nothing else.'
After the trio who called on Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday -- retired diplomat and ex-Janata Dal-United MP Pavan Varma; retired cricketer and former BJP MP Kirti Azad; former Congressman Ashok Tanwar -- it was Dr Swamy's turn to call on Didi at her nephew Abishek Banerjee's Delhi home on Wednesday, instantly triggering speculation of his joining the TMC.
Election strategist-turned-activist Prashant Kishor on Thursday claimed to have told Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar that the state's much-touted liquor prohibition drive has been a "complete failure", and in need of a "review".
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Wednesday frowned upon the recalcitrance shown by his Agriculture Minister Sudhakar Singh, who belongs to the Rashtriya Janata Dal, but sought to put the ball in the court of his deputy Tejashwi Yadav, the party's de facto leader.
As trends indicate an easy return to power for the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi, former Janata Dal-United vice-president, Prashant Kishor, thanked the people for "standing up to protect" the country's soul.
Janata Dal-United president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan on Saturday alleged that political strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor was 'working for' the Bharatiya Janata Party, as part of its 'conspiracies' to find a firm foothold in Bihar.
A member of the 1983 cricket World Cup-winning squad, Azad was suspended from the Bharatiya Janata Party for openly targeting the then Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley over alleged irregularities and corruption in the Delhi and District Cricket Association in December 2015. He joined the Congress in 2018.
Kishor held out the possibility of Jan Suraaj metamorphosing into a political party at a latter stage.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived in Thimphu on a two-day visit to participate in the 16th SAARC Summit that begins on Wednesday. He was received at the Paro International airport, 60 km from the capital, by Bhutanese Prime Minister Jigme Y Thinley and Indian's Ambassador to Bhutan Pavan Varma.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arrived in Thimphu on a two-day visit to participate in the 16th SAARC Summit that begins on Wednesday.
Three non resident Indians were awarded gold medals for their outstanding contribution to the community.
'The decline of the Congress party and its inability to play the lead role in Opposition politics has created a space for the TMC to expand.'
He made the remarks on the floor of the state assembly while thanking the House members for unanimously approving a constitutional amendment for extending quotas to SCs and STs by another 10 years.
The JD-U leader has been critical of his party's decision to support the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Parliament, and it has now become a law following its passage in both Houses.
Varma sought 'ideological clarity' from Nitish over extending alliance with the BJP beyond Bihar despite having expressed apprehensions 'in private' about the BJP-RSS leading the nation into a 'dangerous space'.
He said his 'Rashtra Manch', a political action group, would start a movement against the policies of the Centre.
'We are not rebelling against our party.' 'We are not fence-crossers.'
The CM knocked doors of 10 households in Pachim Darwaza.
The MEPs said they stand by India in its fight against terrorism.
'The JD-U has become an ideology-less accessory to the BJP,' says Ambassador Pavan Varma, who has been expelled from the JD-U.
'You cannot support CAA and simultaneously say there will be no NRC in Bihar.' 'If Akali Dal has a clear-cut point of view on this issue, I want the same from the JD-U.'
Rejecting the allegation of adopting "big brotherly" approach towards Nepal, India on said it respects its sovereignty and wants to see the crisis resolved through consensus.
At an online book release event, former vice president Hamid Ansari lays to rest the controversies surrounding his tenure.
The JD-U appears unwilling to become the BJP's second-string. A senior leader said, "If the BJP demands that the 2014 polls be made the yardstick for seat-sharing in 2019, we will insist the results of the last assembly polls become the criterion for the next state election." Radhika Ramaseshan reports.
Modi, 68, was administered the oath of office and secrecy by President Ram Nath Kovind at a glittering ceremony at the forecourt of majestic Rashtraparti Bhavan.
The Chair expunged Swamy's reference to the Constitution of another country that triggered vociferous protests from Congress members.
The CM will either force Tejashwi to resign, or tender a resignation himself to put pressure on the RJD.
'No civilised nation can thrive if it is possessed with the spirit of Hindutva.'
Ambitious diplomats continue to be attracted to politics but do they make good politicians, asks Jyoti Malhotra
'Compared to other social groups, managing the Muslim constituency has always been easier for the secularists.' 'Just some symbolic measures and window-dressing would keep the Muslim flock together.' 'Having been betrayed by all the supposedly 'secular' political parties, Muslims should turn into citizens without any ascriptive identity marks,'says Mohammad Sajjad.
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