Moderate to high turnout was recorded in 13 assembly constituencies across seven states where bypolls were held on Wednesday amid sporadic incidents of violence in Uttarakhand, Bihar and West Bengal.
They cited the lack of trust in the leadership of O Ibobi Singh and said that due to him, the Congress failed to form the government even when it was the single largest party in the state.
Priya, who belongs to Darbhanga but lives in London, announced the same in full-page advertisements which appeared in several Hindi and English newspapers in Bihar on Sunday.
There is a view that heavyweight portfolios like home, finance, defence and external affairs besides education and culture, two ministries with strong ideological hues, will be kept by the BJP, while its allies can get anywhere between five to eight cabinet berths.
Those joining Prime Minister Narendra Modi's council of ministers for the first time include three former chief ministers -- Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh), Manohar Lal Khattar (Haryana) and H D Kumaraswamy (Karnataka).
This is the first time that Nagaland is witnessing the victory of so many political parties in the state assembly elections. LJP (Ram Vilas) and RPI (Athawale) are newbies in the state politics.
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.
Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com does a deep dive into four elections when Narendra Modi resorted to anti-Muslim fervour and points out that Hindu-Muslim politics does not necessarily mean victory for the BJP.
Rana, who currently represents the Amravati Lok Sabha seat, joined the ruling BJP at the party's state unit chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule's residence in Nagpur along with her supporters late Wednesday night.
BJP sources said a meeting of the National Democratic Alliance is expected to take place soon to highlight its growing strength and to dispel the impression that the departure of some of its oldest allies such as the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, Shiromani Akali Dal and the Janata Dal-United have the left the saffron party without a major partner.
The LJP received 5.68 per cent of votes while contesting on nearly 140 seats in the elections to the 243-seat Bihar assembly.
Those meeting Modi included BJP's Narayan Rane, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Ajay Bhatt, Bhupender Yadav, Shobha Karandlaje, Pritam Munde and Meenakshi Lekhi, Lok Janshakti Party's Pashupati Paras and Apna Dal's Anupriya Patel, sources said.
Over 65 Union ministers are likely to take oath, going by the visual of the meeting Modi held with his likely council of ministers.
Paswan has also spoken to RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, Rajak told PTI, adding that he should join forces with another young leader Tejashwi Yadav to take on the NDA.
In his poll rallies, Modi framed Pitroda's comments in his wider onslaught against the Congress, asserting that they have exposed its hidden agenda and that the party has become so removed from the country's social and family values that it wants to legally rob people of their assets and lifelong savings they want to bequeath to their children.
Without naming Chirag Paswan, the legislators are reported to have recalled the actions of the former Lok Janshakti Party chief during the 2020 state assembly polls while warning the CM that if they were not alert, it would not be good for the party.
Exigencies of electoral politics and individual ambitions often stoke family feuds and sibling rivalries.
The RJD polled the highest vote share in Bihar, but it was not reflected in the number of seats it won.
Paswan also asserted that he has been working on his 'Bihar first, Bihari first' agenda for a long time and had informed the BJP leadership about his differences with the Kumar-led government well in advance.
Amit Shah wants to increase the party's nationwide vote share by at least 10 per cent from the 37.7 per cent it secured five years ago and ensure above 50 per cent vote share in the states where it came close to that benchmark, but couldn't cross it.
Actor-turned-politician and Lok Janshakti Party leader Chirag Paswan claimed on Tuesday that he was a fan of Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi even before he entered politics.
All eyes are now on 13 Independents and 16 MLAs from smaller parties.
Signalling both change and continuity, India's new government, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a third consecutive term, got into work gear on Tuesday with cabinet ministers and ministers of state filing into their respective offices to assume charge.
The ruling Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party are contesting the polls on a 40:20 seat-sharing basis.
For the last few weeks, Fadnavis had been participating in the party's internal meetings over the Bihar polls and has even visited the state a few times.
'The BJP will use Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha to check Nitish Kumar.' 'They will not allow him to function freely as before.'
Two political parties having two members in the Jharkhand assembly merged with the Trinamool Congress in Ranchi on Monday.
'A one-party State is not possible in a diverse country like India.'
The Bharatiya Janata Party has scored high in terms of winning percentage in the Bihar assembly polls, while its partner Janata Dal-United has performed relatively poorly.
A day after Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi hinted at the next Bihar assembly polls being held in September-October, most of the political parties including ruling Janata Dal-United and Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party claimed they were fully ready for it.
'Neither did I approach the BJP nor did they ask me to join them. It was a natural choice for both of us to make.' 'It was never for me to ask or for them to give.'
Upset about being snubbed by INDIA, Nitish Kumar is weighing his political options. BJP would like him back knowing that it would jolt the Opposition alliance, perhaps irreversibly.
The event assumes heightened political significance at a time when Chirag Paswan is embroiled in a bitter dispute with his uncle and Union Minister Pashupati Kumar Paras to claim the legacy of his father.
Despite its harmful effects, leaders and party workers consume khaini to keep them going during the election campaign.
The development highlights worsening of the ties between the two BJP allies in the state.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has raised the number of "difficult" Lok Sabha seats it is eying to win in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls to 160 from 144, with a big chunk of additions coming from Bihar where it is set to contest most of the constituencies on its own following its split with the Janata Dal-United.
The Janata Dal-United said that it disagrees with its ally BJP's stand on the abrogation of Article 370 and 35A -- which pertains to special rights given to Jammu-Kashmir -- as well as the construction of Ram temple and instant talaq.
The four-day old Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party government will face the floor test on July 4 during the special two-day session of the Legislative Assembly beginning on Mumbai Sunday.
Several Bharatiya Janata Party legislators in Gujarat, who have been denied a party ticket to contest the assembly elections, have started exploring options to fight the polls and Uma Bharti's Bharatiya Janshakti seems to have emerged as the favourite platform for them.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam sponsored Tamil Eelam Supporters Organisation conference in Delhi was a dud with major opposition parties like the Janata Dal-United, Biju Janata Dal and Bharatiya Janata Party staying away.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances