More than 3,000 gifts for Lord Ram from Sita's birthplace in Janakpur in Nepal have arrived in Ayodhya.
Kumar, who looks on course to becoming the longest serving chief minister of the state during his new term, was expected to take oath on or after Monday next week before which he will send his resignation to the governor since his current tenure expires at the end of November.
'In a tragic road accident, involving an Army truck on December 23 at Zema in North Sikkim, 16 bravehearts of the Indian Army have lost their lives,' the Army said in the statement.
Modi and Shah have finalised names for the Rashtrapati's post, which the BJP boss has discussed with the RSS chief.
BJP backed to the hilt Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as its leader in the state and rebuffed a rebellious Chirag Paswan, while acknowledging his Lok Janshakti Party as an ally 'at the Centre'. At a press conference which was attended by top leaders of the JD-U headed by Kumar and the BJP, it was made clear that 'only those who accept the chief ministers leadership will be deemed to be a part of the National Democratic Alliance in Bihar'.
At the meeting which lasted for more than half an hour, the leaders of the two parties are understood to have discussed the key issue of seat-sharing among alliance partners in the NDA, which also includes Ram Vilas Paswan's LJP.
The CM was present at the Patna airport to receive body of the LJP founder with whom he spent long time in the politics. The CM and other leaders cutting across party lines paid respect to the septuagenarian leader, who died in Delhi on Thursday, at the airport premises.
Veteran doctor and educationist from Karnataka Belle Monappa Hegde and archaeology legend B B Lal were also given the Padma Vibhushan awards.
Some of our leaders were busybusy over the weekend.
With some variations, all regional political formations, whether in power presently or out of it, share some common features: Tight family control of the political apparatus, key members in elected or appointed positions, obvious wealth but not quite known sources of income, and family factionalism, sometimes open and bitter, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
'So we had Akshay Kumar dressed up like Robert Vadra on his offday, and trying to not look fan-struck...'
We are looking at a 600-bed hospital from the existing 230 beds, which will help us create new specialities.
'Jaitley was one of the earliest politicians to sense the changing political scenario in Delhi. He had closely watched the rise of the BJP and declining fortunes of the Congress party during the L K Advani era. But it was between 2009 and 2014 as the Leader of the Opposition that he began to read the tea leaves. 'And thus it was that he introduced Modi-Amit Shah duo to Lutyens Delhi,' says senior journalist R Rajagopalan who had known Jaitley since 1975.
This was a difficult election to win, but the Modi card, the caste divide and the division in the Opposition vote bank helped overcome many challenges.
'I am in the NDA as of now,' Kushwaha said.
A statement issued by his party said'NDA will achieve spectacular success in Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha polls in Bihar if these are fought projecting Kushwaha as the leader of the coalition.'
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took a swipe at the BJP, saying one has to refer to the state-wise election schedule to know when one will have access to the vaccine. The BJP, however, said health is a state subject and its manifesto is for Bihar, not for the entire country, where it has promised that the state will buy the vaccine for its people.
The theme of the reshuffle is to fulfill Modi's earlier promise of 'maximum governance, minimum government.' Some key ministries are likely to be merged.
Parliamentarians and legislators across the country voted on Monday to elect India's 15th president, choosing between opposition pick Yashwant Sinha and National Democratic Alliance nominee Droupadi Murmu who is favoured to win the battle to the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The series of meetings are being seen as an attempt by the Bharatiya Janata Party to reach out to allies who have either been criticising or expressing their dissent with the party and also to strengthen the National Democratic Alliance ahead of the Lok Sabha polls next year.
The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed the Constitution amendment bill to restore the power of states to make their own OBC lists after a thaw in the logjam as Opposition parties backed the legislation but demanded the removal of the 50 per cent cap on reservation, with many of them also calling for a caste-based census.
Kumar insisted that allies should have been given proportional representation in the cabinet.
Feeling angry and unhappy over being sidelined within his party, Bollywood actor-turned-politician and Lok Sabha MP from Patna Sahib, Shatrughan Sinha has decided to boycott BJP president Amit Shah's rally on Tuesday.
Strengthening the portfolios of the home minister and the finance minister is a message that should not be missed, points out A K Bhattacharya.
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The Congress on Tuesday demanded the resignation of Narendra Modi, in the wake of a sting operation, which claims that it has "exposed" a plan by senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders to save the Gujarat chief minister's key aide Amit Shah in the Tulsi Prajapati fake encounter case.
The appointment of new expenditure secretary comes a month-and-a-half ahead of the Budget for 2020-21 to be presented on February 1.
To involve workers in various social campaigns initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah has formed nine separate committees of senior leaders.
Not only the BJP but key bureaucrats are also known to have hinted to the top leadership of the need to expand the Cabinet.
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.
Chief Project Manager H C Tiwari and three others were suspended.
A senior Congress leader said the Opposition's presidential pick Meira Kumar might also pay a visit to Lucknow to seek votes from the electoral college as the party "will not leave any stone unturned" for the election.
'If Nitish Kumar is given more seats, then no one can stop the NDA from losing, even the BJP will be wiped out.'
Aiming to end the 25-year rule of Lalu-Nitish combine in Bihar, the National Democratic Alliance will formally launch on Thursday its campaign for the crucial assembly polls scheduled later this year with BJP president Amit Shah set to flag off 160 'parivartan raths' from Patna.
Adityanath will be the 21st UP chief minister and the fourth from the BJP.
'When the story of Elections 2019 is told by an independent writer, the BJP's role in lowering electoral standards will be etched in indelible ink,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Opposition ranks united on Thursday to disrupt proceedings of Parliament over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dig at his predecessor Manmohan Singh in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, stating that the latter knew the art of taking bath wearing a raincoat as there were many scams during his government but he had remained untainted.
Arun Shourie, who made a name as an editor par excellence before he chose to join politics, put it in perspective: 'The Rafale judgment enables the media to its job.'
The Bharat Ratna conferred on Madan Mohan Malaviya has exposed the frictions within his family, reports Manavi Kapur
The blaze started on the second floor of the Arpit Palace Hotel in the heart of the national capital around 3.30 am, trapping many guests who were in deep sleep.
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