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A day after reports surfaced about an alliance between the Lok Janshakti Party led by Ramvilas Paswan and the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Bihar, a senior leader of the saffron party has strongly spoke out against any such tie-up.
The state polls are due in October-November.
Taking a dig at BJP chief Amit Shah over his claim that his party will rule for the next 50 years, he said, "Forget 50 years, people will give their verdict in 50 weeks."
Many eyebrows were raised in Bihar on Monday as news broke of a meeting between Communist Party of India's rising star Kanhaiya Kumar and Ashok Choudhary, a minister and key aide of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Elections to the nine council seats which fell vacant on April 24 were postponed in view of the coronavirus outbreak, but last week the Election Commission set May 21 as the poll date.
Shedding his discomfort with the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan on Thursday announced that the two parties, along with the Congress, would contest the next Lok Sabha elections jointly in Bihar.
Many bahubalis have fielded their wives and relatives as proxies.
A galaxy of top leaders, including Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari and leaders of BJP's allies such as Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, Shiromani Akali Dal supremo Parkash Singh Badal and Lok Janshakti Party founder Ram Vilas Paswan were present with Shah.
Formal talks over a seat-sharing formula among the National Democratic Alliance constituents are yet to begin and JD-U leaders, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the BJP should take the lead to ensure that it was done quickly to avoid any serious differences near the polls.
Chirag, like many other leaders who have lost control of their parties, underestimated the adversary.
Bihar assembly speaker Uday Narain Choudhary, who is contesting Lok Sabha polls from the Jamui seat, refuted on Friday that he entered into a pact with the Maoists for their support to win the election.
JD-U leaders came down heavily on the Begusarai MP for his snide remarks.
Everyone is playing politics over a dead person now, why no one bothered to visit him when he was alive, Paswan asked.
Sons-in-laws of prominent politicians are rising against their in-laws, observes M I Khan
Releasing the manifesto titled 'Badlav Ka Sankalp' (commitment to change) in the presence of All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala and other Mahagathbandhan leaders, Tejashwi Yadav said their government, if elected, would first approve the process for appointments on about 10 lakh jobs in the government.
The death of the 74-year-old leader, who was identified with the state's Dalits for over five decades, so near the polls will mean that none of the LJP's rivals will like to attack the party and its young president strongly.
The BJP's rediscovery of its allies, including the PM touching the feet of Parakash Singh Badal, would be interpreted as the party's efforts to keep its flock together if it falls short of the majority mark on May 23.
"I agree that the Ganga has caused loss, but there is profit in it as well," Lalu said.
The formula of Lok Sabha polls this year wherein JD-U and BJP had both fought 17 seats each, leaving six for Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party, which joined the National Democratic Alliance in 2014, a year after Kumar's exit, could not serve as the basis for the assembly polls, said the poll strategist.
Biharis can confidently decide whether they want to follow Badlav Se Bhadiya Bharosa (Trust is Better than Change) or Badaliye Sarkar, Badaliye Bihar (Change the Government, Change Bihar), asserts Asmita Bihari.
The April 11 polling will decide the fate of several political bigwigs.
After the Janata Dal-United parted ways with ally the Bharatiya Janata Party, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will seek a trust vote on Wednesday at a special session of Bihar assembly to prove his majority, which he is expected to muster without any hitch with support of independents and Congress deciding to abstain.
The new Lok Sabha will have 300 MPs who have been elected for the first time to the Lower House.
Lalu Prasad and his Muslim-Yadav line has completely gone off track.
'When our forefathers were fighting for Independence from British rule, Jinnah was pushing for the creation of an Islamic state'
Claiming that a wave was blowing across the country in favour of BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, Paswan said, "Secularism aur communalism sirf chunaavi hathkande hain (secularism and communalism are poll ploys)."
According to the report, 32 (73 per cent) out of 44 candidates analysed from the Rashtriya Janata Dal have declared criminal cases against themselves and 22 (50 per cent) of them have declared serious criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.
Chirag Paswan says his party's support to BJP is issue-based.
Janata Dal-United President Sharad Yadav was on Thursday elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Bihar, but in two other seats, the party's official candidates were facing stiff challenge from Independents backed by rebels and the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The four MLAs, accompanied by Sangma and BJP's trouble-shooter and Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, visited the Raj Bhavan in the afternoon to submit letter of support to the BJP-led government.
As the ruling alliance starts feeling the tremors, discussions on new equations have also started, reports Satyavrat Mishra.
Leaders from all political parties congratulated the saffron party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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'.
While the assembly elections are being seen as largely a contest between the NDA and the Grand Alliance, the state has been witness to mushrooming of "morchas" (fronts) which may queer the pitch for the lead players in a tight contest.
Ram Vilas Paswan, 74, who was the Lok Janshakti Party patron, had undergone a heart surgery at a hospital in New Delhi a few days ago.
The BJP plans to ride the upcoming Bihar assembly polls battle on four chariots that will helm the much hyped parivartan yatra.
A day after yoga guru Baba Ramdev kicked up a storm over his 'anti-Dalit' remarks, Bharatiya Janata Party national vice president C P Thakur was under fire by demanding end of reservation in jobs and educational institutions in the country.
Out of the 26 seats where Modi addressed election rallies, the BJP won only 10.
After a meeting of LJP leaders at Paswan's residence in New Delhi, former MP and party leader Surajbhan Singh told reporters, "The alliance between LJP and BJP has been finalised."
"Nobody is above law. With the Supreme Court giving its judgment, it is not right to make a political comment," the Rajya Sabha member said. Asked if the verdict was a setback to the Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra government, Raut said, "Such things do happen in legal battles."
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