The Janata Dal-United's decision to break its alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party not only changed the political equation in Bihar but also created a buzz in the political circle from Patna to Delhi that whether Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman and JD-U MP Harivansh will continue on his post or going to resign.
Saturday's voting will mark the end to the marathon polling process that began on April 19 month and has already covered 486 Lok Sabha seats in 28 states and Union territories.
In a setback to Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad, his close confidant and national general secretary Shyam Razak today resigned from the Bihar Assembly.
The BJP is far more prepared than the Congress as their pool of prospective candidates is much bigger, reports Prakash Bhandari.
The development is a major boost for West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, who has been trying to expand her party's footprint beyond her native state.
The ruling coalition won 125 seats in the 243-member state assembly against 110 clinched by the opposition Grand Alliance to pave the way for a fourth successive term for Kumar in office.
On the road rage incident in Gaya, Kumar said, "... when I saw in the media the (journalist's) family's demand for a CBI probe, I personally asked the DGP (director general of police) to send a police team to acquaint the family with probe (being conducted by the state police).
The RLSP and the HAM, the two other NDA allies, went unrepresented.
Following the Janata Dal-United, Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress protesting against Haryana Bharatiya Janata Party leader O P Dhankhar's controversial remarks Bihari bride for Haryana boys, Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Majhi has said that Dhankhar should tender an apology to the women of the state.
Wives, daughters, daughter-in-law, son and brother, all linked to politicians, are in the fray for the upcoming Delhi Assembly polls with the Congress fielding the maximum number of political dynasts.
A BJP leader in Bihar on Thursday died while taking part in a 'Vidhan Sabha march' against the state's Nitish Kumar government, evoking allegations from senior party leaders that he was "killed in a brutal lathi charge".
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.
Altogether 160 MLAs voted in favour of the confidence motion while no vote was cast against the same.
'Rather than criticising the kind of candidates fielded by political parties from our living rooms, NOTA in a sense implores the electorate to say this by turning up in person at a polling booth to ensure their protest is registered.'
For now, Modi's government appears singularly focussed on demonstrating that it is not in any way inhibited by the BJP's loss of a majority, and will continue along its patented path of bulldozing all opposition and doing just as it likes, asserts Prem Panicker.
All the drama from inside Bihar's legislative assembly.
The monk-turned politician will take the reins of the most populous state for a second time in a row after completing his full five-year term.
Dissent in BJP grows stronger as more leaders question party's poll strategy in Bihar.
In a surprising move, the Rashtriya Janata Dal announced it would support the new Janata Dal-United government in Bihar headed by Jitan Ram Manjhi.
'Whatever tricks the BJP may play, it will not be able to stop JD-U from becoming a national party by 2023'
Amid tight security cover, polling began on Friday morning in the second phase of the Bihar assembly elections, spanning 32 constituencies spread over six Naxal-hit districts.
Chirag, like many other leaders who have lost control of their parties, underestimated the adversary.
Members of JD-U, RJD and Congress which have given enough hint of fighting together against BJP in the coming state assembly election next year, jointly rushed into the well of both the Houses demanding action against Dhankhar and his "close friend" Sushil Kumar Modi.
In terms of electoral fortunes, in all likelihood, the status quo is not going to change in any significant manner. These six seats from Bihar are unlikely to give any clear signal to UPA, NDA or Federal Front.
The former Deputy chief minister made the sensational assertion on his twitter handle, sharing a mobile number which, he claimed, Prasad was having access to despite serving sentences in fodder scam cases.
The former Congress president alleged that PM Modi had a "monopoly over corruption".
BJP leaders hit back at the DMK and asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi if he agreed with the insulting remarks of its Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) partner against the north Indians.
Rampur Sadar and Khatauli in Uttar Pradesh, Padampur in Odisha, Sardarshahar in Rajasthan, Kurhani in Bihar and Bhanupratappur in Chhattisgarh are the assembly seats where the bypolls are being held.
Lok Janshakti Party leader Chirag Paswan on Wednesday blamed Janata Dal-United for engineering the split in his party and rejected the decisions taken by the faction headed by his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras, saying the party's constitution does not authorise them any such power.
Upset over not getting a Lok Sabha ticket, former Bihar Congress chief Mehboob Ali Kaiser could join Lok Janshakti Party, led by Ram Vilas Paswan, in a couple of days.
Five of the six Lok Janshakti Party MPs in Lok Sabha have joined hands against their leader Chirag Paswan and elected Pashupati Kumar Paras, the youngest brother of Paswan's late father and party founder Ram Vilas Paswan, in his place, causing a big churn in Bihar politics.
Ravi, shifted from Nagaland, said he saw his new role more as an opportunity than a challenge.
JD-U national president RCP Singh reacted with a sense of vindication to the developments in the party founded by late Ram Vilas Paswan, whose son has been left cornered in a revolt led by the former's younger brother Pashupati Kumar Paras and supported by four other MPs, including nephew Prince Raj.
13,660 km. 40 million Biharis participate in this year's 'world's longest' human chain.
Days after their landslide victory in Bihar assembly polls, Grand Alliance leaders, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad, are celebrating Chhath festival at their residences.
Abdul Jalil Mastan caught on camera asking a crowd at a note ban protest to hit with shoes the photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sparking condemnation and kicking up a ruckus in the state legislature.
A 14-member council of ministers was sworn in Patna by Governor Phagu Chauhan on Monday and the BJP bagged seven berths.
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 contrast between the two meetings couldn't have been more stark, yet, both were organically linked, the latter a show of support for the former.
Pratinav Anil is able to foresee some agency and assertion on the part of India's Muslims. His hope emanates from the citizenship rights movement of Muslims in 2019-2020, notes Mohammad Sajjad.
