Tejashwi Yadav, the INDIA bloc's chief ministerial candidate, alleges that Amit Shah's recent statement indicates BJP's plan to remove Nitish Kumar from power after the Bihar assembly elections.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United made public the names of candidates for all 101 seats it will be contesting in the assembly polls, with more than half of them from the backward and extremely backward classes.
More than two decades after the then Janata Dal disintegrated, six of its constituents merged on Wednesday to form a new party which will be headed by Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Former Bihar CM Rabri Devi has been allotted a new residence by the Nitish Kumar government, requiring her to vacate the bungalow she has occupied for years. The decision has sparked reactions from RJD leaders and family members.
People of Bihar wait with bated breath for Friday's counting of votes polled in the recent assembly elections, which will decide whether Janata Dal-United supremo Nitish Kumar, the state's longest-serving chief minister, will get a record fifth term or whether a change in government will be witnessed.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday asserted that Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, a former state Bharatiya Janata Party president, would be made 'big man' by Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the assembly polls.
Y Khemchand Singh has been elected as the leader of the BJP legislature party in Manipur, setting the stage for a new government in the state. The election took place at a BJP legislature party meeting, with endorsement from NDA constituents expected.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar assured Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he will remain in the NDA, while regretting short-lived alliances with the RJD-Congress combine. He lauded Modi for the Union government's measures for the state and highlighted recent state government initiatives.
'Every party want to contest more seats, nothing wrong in it. We have to compromise to take all together as the NDA.'
The home portfolio of Bihar, which Chief Minister Nitish Kumar kept with himself all through his nearly 20-year-long tenure, has been given to his deputy, BJP leader Samrat Chowdhury, this time, according to an official notification issued on Friday.
'This outcome is thoroughly unexpected.' 'I travelled extensively across villages, engaged in detailed discussions with residents, and consulted with party workers who had been canvassing from village to village, from one location to another, seeking grassroots feedback.' 'Not a single interlocutor suggested that there would be an NDA wave of this magnitude.'
'JD-U is not ready to take the political risk of playing second fiddle to the BJP in state politics.'
An analysis of Nitish Kumar's tenure as Chief Minister of Bihar, highlighting his contributions to development and social justice alongside controversies and political shifts.
The Lok Sabha has revoked the suspension of eight opposition MPs after assurances of maintaining order and decorum in the House. The decision follows a period of disruption and debate over parliamentary conduct.
'President's Rule has already been extended twice and one cannot keep the assembly in suspension for much longer.'
Chirag Paswan has warned the BJP-led NDA that it will settle for nothing less than 40-plus seats in the 2025 Bihar polls, even threatening to contest all 243 constituencies independently if sidelined.
Former poll strategist Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj expressed disappointment over its poll debacle in the Bihar assembly elections, attributing the NDA's victory to cash transfers to women.
Less than 10 days are left for filing of nomination papers for the first phase of the Bihar polls.
Having struck a seat-sharing deal, leaders of the Janata Dal-United and the Bharatiya Janata Party sat across the table in Patna on Monday to thrash out, among other things, constituencies they planned to swap or give up in favour of smaller allies in Bihar.
In Bihar, women outvoted men and, perhaps, became one of the decisive factors behind the NDA's landslide victory in the assembly polls in the state on Friday.
Winnability to be paramount in selection of candidates, followed by clean public image and proven loyalty to the BJP.
Even as the Bharatiya Janata Party made a spectacular show in the Bihar assembly elections with almost all of its 101 candidates registering massive wins, 12 of the nominees missed the bus.
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.
BJP's IT department head Amit Malviya said there is a certain propriety and protocol one associates with these all-party meetings.
Given Modi's track record from the time he became Gujarat chief minister in October 2001, it is highly improbable that Nabin will get opportunities to display his individual capacity. Even the team of organisational leaders that he will 'appoint' in a few weeks or months, will unlikely to be his choice, predicts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Intense lobbying continues among NDA partners in Bihar to finalize cabinet berths and the Assembly Speaker post ahead of the swearing-in ceremony. Consensus is being sought between BJP and JD(U) for the Speaker's position, while new faces are expected in the cabinet. The swearing-in ceremony is scheduled for November 20.
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar's resignation has triggered the search for his successor. The BJP-led NDA is expected to consider probable candidates soon.
'Age matters and the way Tejashwi has been doing an aggressive campaign, only a young leader like him can do it.'
The National Democratic Alliance was set to sweep the Bihar assembly polls, surging ahead in over 200 of 243 seats on Friday with the Bharatiya Janata Party emerging as single largest party with about 90 per cent strike rate, reaffirming the popularity and campaign clout of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was the face of the ruling alliance through the poll battle in the highly sensitive political state.
Ashok Gehlot convinced the RJD leadership that the Congress had no issue about declaring Tejashwi as the Mahagathbandan's chief minister face.
Among the national parties, the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Communist Party of India-Marxist opposed the proposal, while the Bharatiya Janata Party and the National People's Party supported it.
'Women from all castes and religions voted for Nitish Kumar as it was his last election.'
Women workers of the NDA in Bihar enforced a bandh to protest alleged abuse directed at PM Modi's mother during a Congress event. Protests were held across the state, with BJP leaders participating in sit-ins.
Amidst speculation over the NDA seat-sharing deal in Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar distributed JD(U) tickets, while the BJP announced its first list of candidates. The INDIA bloc also faces internal challenges as parties prepare for the upcoming elections.
RJD chief Lalu Prasad announced in Patna on Sunday that the merger of the six parties of the erstwhile Janata Parivar was certain and necessary to stop and defeat the communally inclined BJP.
This divergence is likely to intensify political dynamics both within the party and across the state, particularly as the opposition Mahagathbandhan -- comprising the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Congress, and Left parties -- has been aggressively protesting the SIR and demanding its immediate scrapping.
Kumar was speaking to media persons at Patna airport on his arrival from New Delhi.
Bihar's upcoming elections are marked by the significant presence of candidates from political families, raising questions about ideological commitments and democratic principles.
On Tuesday, BJP President Amit Shah had mocked the alliance saying 'zero plus zero remains a zero'.
The swearing-in ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP national president J P Nadda and several other top leaders of the NDA.
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