The longest-serving chief minister of any Hindi- speaking state, Nitish Kumar seems to have acquired an aura of indispensability when it comes to the highest seat of power in Bihar.
The loss of trusted allies like Shiv Sena in recent past and the realisation that in the caste-dominated politics of Bihar, BJP cannot do without Nitish Kumar, forced BJP to finally give Singh and the JD-U their honourable due.
Soren spent more than an hour with Prasad at RIMS Director's bungalow, where the RJD leader is staying. Coming out of the RIMS, Soren told reporters, 'we will fight Bihar elections together'.
Kumar banged his table at Patna's Indian Coffee House as he announced this to an audience that was discussing alleged corruption in Bihar in 1977, writes Sankarshan Thakur in his biography of Kumar -- The Brothers Bihari.
Known for weighing his options carefully before making any move, Kumar, upon a closer look, comes across as a risk taker who has not shied away from going against the tide.
'With vendetta politics as its main plank, the BJP will be looking out for every opportunity to destabilise this Mahagatbandhan government.'
Known for weighing his options carefully before making any move, Kumar, upon a closer look, comes across as a risk taker who has not shied away from going against the tide.
"You can see all of us working together. There is no discontent. The problem is, today newspapers have more pages than before, news channels run 24X7 and then there is social media where anybody can say anything without worrying about backing a claim with facts," he said.
Experts, however, have raised concern over the decision, saying the move is akin to treating symptoms instead of the underlying causes.
Modi did not have the guts to face the students of the country and so he crushed them using the police, he alleged. "I challenge the prime minister to go to any of the universities, stand over there without his police, without his infrastructure and tell the people what is he going to do with this country," the Congress leader said.
Both Narendra Modi and Amit Shah have refused to meet Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha.
Asking the people of Bihar to bring their own government to power, the post made a veiled reference to the alleged high handedness of bureaucracy under the JD(U)-BJP rule but fell shy of a frontal attack on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, his arch rival, or the near hegemonic saffron party which considers him a bete noire.
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.
A bench headed by Justice P Sathasivam allowed the plea of Jaitly who had approached the apex court after the Delhi High Court had denied her the permission to visit the ailing 82-year-old leader.
Hours before Union Home Minister Amit Shah's virtual rally in Bihar on Sunday, Rashtriya Janata Dal leaders and workers staged protests, beating utensils and blowing conch shells against what their leader Tejashwi Yadav dubbed as the ruling party's celebration of the devastation caused by COVID-19 and the lockdown.
The Delhi high court on Friday sought the Central Bureau of Investigation's stand on former Samata Party president Jaya Jaitly's plea against a trial court order. The order charged her for allegedly taking a bribe to recommend to the then National Democratic Alliance government a fake defence gadget supply deal to the army 11 years ago.
Addressing a press conference in Patna, All India Congress Committee general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala said the party would like the Central Bureau of Investigation to complete its inquiry in three months and favoured setting up of a special court to facilitate expeditious trial.
The Central Bureau of Investigation was on Friday directed by the Delhi high court to file its response on former Samata Party chief Jaya Jaitly's plea seeking a reduction in the surety amount to be deposited by her to visit abroad.
The Central bureau of Investigation on Tuesday filed a closure report in a seven-year-old case of alleged bribery in the Rs.1,150 crore Barak missile deal in which former Defence Minister George Fernandes and the then Naval Chief Admiral Sushil Kumar were accused.
'There is no law and order in Bihar.' 'Criminals do as per their will.'
By targeting the BJP's Ram temple agenda, Upendra Kushwaha has hinted that his days within the NDA are all but over.
'I am in the NDA as of now,' Kushwaha said.
The Mumbai labour unions that had gifted the property to Fernandes is now exploring legal options to evict Jaitley from the place.
They had said they wanted to protest, while maintaining social distancing, against the attack on the family of a party supporter in which case a Janata Dal-United MLA has been named as an accused.
The party, however, did not announce as whether it would merge with any other party or become part of some other alliance.
RLSP leaders feel insulted after getting no response from the BJP on their demand for a 'respectful seat sharing formula' for the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
Citing the action taken by the Centre against Live India channel, which was taken off air for a month for telecasting a fake sting operation, SP leader Jaya Jaitley demanded similar action against Tehelka, as both followed the same methodology.
Ideology and principle are always put to work to camouflage political ambition. Nitish Kumar is a past master at this. His acceptance of the NDA in the first place was aimed at the top spot of Bihar. Then Delhi became the goal, but Narendra Modi's rise as head of the campaign rang alarm bells. So Nitish suddenly remembered secularism, says Jaya Jaitly.
The opposition Congress, Samata Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal have joined hands to escalate the land scam issue by filing a corruption case against Nitish Kumar and others in view of the ruling of the court.
HAM's Bihar president Brishen Patel told reporters on Wednesday that his party can snap the alliance from the BJP after discussions on this matter.
The charge sheet was filed in a CBI court against Jaitly, Major-General (retired) S P Murugai and Samata Party leader Gopal Pacherwal under Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC and Section 9 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
Madhaw Anand, the party's principal national general secretary and chief spokesperson, resigned from the posts as well as the primary membership stating that the party ran the risk of being "finished" on account of the "inconsequential" move.
"No case is made out against the accused and the proceedings against the accused are dropped," Metropolitan\n\nMagistrate Gulshan Kumar said dismissing Jaitly's application.
The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to Tarun Tejpal, editor-in-chief of Tehelka, on a petition filed by Samata Party leader Jaya Jaitley challenging a high court stay on proceedings in a criminal defamation case filed by her against him.
Of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in the state, BJP will contest 20, while the JD-U, LJP and RLSP will contest 12, five and two seats respectively.
Kumar, who chose not to react when the 31-year-old Rashtriya Janata Dal leader made a series of personal attacks and allegations in his nearly an hour-long speech, erupted in anger when the latter sought to interject during a statement made by Janata Dal-United leader and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary.
Rehman is expected to file his nomination on April 17 or 18 for the May 8 bypoll.
According to insiders, Modi wants to sort out internal issues pertaining to their alliance with other regional parties (the Hindustani Awam Morcha, the Lok Janashakti Party and the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party) and ensure the combine presents a unified face before the electorate.
They have asked for information to be provided before November 23.
Both the BJP and the JD-U abetted the LJP split but interestingly, independently. And there hangs a tale of conflicting interests, gamesmanship, subterfuge, and retribution, reports Radhika Ramaseshan.
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