The BJP criticized opposition parties for misspelling 'loktantra' (democracy) on a protest banner during a demonstration against electoral roll revisions in Bihar.
The Voter Adhikar Yatra, led by Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav before the Bihar Assembly polls, failed to deliver electoral gains for the Mahagathbandhan, with the NDA winning across its route.
'The issue has been cleared by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief J P Nadda much before the elections'
All along, we were told SIR was an essential exercise carried out as part of the Election Commission's regular duties. But now that the ideological mentor of the ruling party has declared that SIR is a means of detecting infiltrators, one understands the unseemly haste with which it is being carried out, notes Jyoti Punwani.
A careful calculation of the BJP's support base seems to have been at work in the cabinet expansion that took place a day after the party's national president chaired a meeting of the "core group" here.
'Both Rahul and Modi are the same in the way they run their parties. Modi too wants faceless people and so does Rahul Gandhi.'
As the Bihar assembly results swept in, Patna's Veerchand Patel Marg, the city's political artery, split into two starkly different worlds, with celebrations at the BJP and JD(U) offices and disappointment at the RJD headquarters.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the TMC government in West Bengal of patronizing infiltration, leading to demographic changes and riots. He reassured refugees and promised action against illegal migration if the BJP comes to power.
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray criticized the BJP over the arrest of climate activist Sonam Wangchuk and accused the party of corruption and divisive politics during his Dussehra rally.
Trouble in the Bihar unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party deepend on Friday night with senior party leader and state cabinet minister Ashwani Kumar Choubey resigned from the core committee of the party.
Gearing up for the crucial Bihar assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday revamped the state unit of the party by putting senior leader Sushil Kumar Modi at the helm of affairs.
Election strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor has predicted that JD(U) president Nitish Kumar will contest the upcoming assembly polls in Bihar in alliance with the BJP but may switch sides later, with hopes for another term as the chief minister. Kishor, founder of the Jan Suraaj Party, also asserted that Kumar's popularity has declined and he is unlikely to win a fifth consecutive term. He challenged the BJP to declare Kumar as the chief ministerial candidate, arguing that they would struggle to win seats if they did so. Kishor also criticized Kumar's leadership, accusing him of being "physically tired and mentally retired" and of "bringing disrepute to Bihar" by touching Prime Minister Narendra Modi's feet. He said his new party will enter the fray to pull Bihar "out of the political rut" and that the state's much-touted prohibition policy is an example of the BJP's duplicity.
This election is a thank you note to Nitish Babu from a grateful Bihari people, notes Sheela Bhatt.
'Bhagat Singh cannot be compared with Hamas; no one can be, as the two are not the same. Bhagat Singh can never be compared to anyone. No one is comparable. This is wrong. I have clearly said that if a person kills another person, it is not a good thing. We do not support violence.'
The race for the Maharashtra Chief Minister post has intensified following the Mahayuti coalition's landslide victory in the state assembly polls. The Shiv Sena has backed Eknath Shinde for the top job, citing the Bihar model, while the BJP has thrown its weight behind Devendra Fadnavis, emphasizing his leadership qualities and understanding of the state. The BJP's preference for Fadnavis stems from its dominance in the alliance with 132 seats, compared to Shiv Sena's 57 seats. Amidst these developments, both parties have held meetings to discuss the matter, while Fadnavis and other BJP leaders have denied any dispute over the CM's post.
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.
The Election Commission released a copy of the electoral rolls showing his details, confirming that he was listed at a booth in the Veterinary College in Patna.
Addressing a massive Martyrs' Day rally in Kolkata, Banerjee gave a clarion call to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2026 assembly elections and eventually oust it from power at the Centre, declaring, "If this linguistic profiling doesn't stop, our resistance movement will reach New Delhi."
Call it political opportunism or sagacity, his moves, in effect, have not allowed the Bharatiya Janata Party to appoint its own chief minister to date, despite enjoying a near hegemonic status nationally and the best performance in recently held assembly polls where the saffron party bagged 89 seats, followed by the Janata Dal-United with 85.
Jan Suraaj Party spokesperson Pavan K Varma said the party would undertake a "serious review" of its performance in the Bihar Assembly elections after early trends showed Prashant Kishor's outfit making little impact despite a grassroots campaign.
"The accused claims he had dreams of killing the minister and he disclosed the same in the video. Further investigation is underway," the SP said.
According to the apex court website, a bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and Dipankar Datta will hear the PIL filed through lawyer Barun Kumar Sinha on July 25.
Rajiv Pratap Rudy secured another term as Secretary (Administration) of the Constitution Club of India, defeating Sanjeev Balyan in a closely watched election that saw participation from prominent political figures.
With this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also sent a strong message to ally, Janata Dal-United President and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, that their partnership remains intact and that they will be formidable partners at the hustings.
The development came in the backdrop of the Supreme Court's direction that details of the deleted names be made public by August 19 and a compliance report be filed by August 22.
'The move to appoint a person with a profile, markedly lower than the leader Nitin Nabin will replace, has the potential to put the brakes on the careers of several others in the party and government in the positions they currently hold,' points out Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Turning her guns on the Election Commission, Banerjee alleged that the BJP had "stolen" the mandate in Maharashtra with the poll panel's help and was now attempting to replicate it in Bengal through the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise by deleting genuine voters' names.
The Bihar unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party removed its spokesperson Ram Kishore Singh from his post on Tuesday, a day after he questioned Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's popularity and his development model.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday claimed that a 'systematic vote chori' method, evolved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Election Commission to 'kill Indian democracy', will be deployed in the Bihar assembly polls as well.
RJD president Lalu Prasad attended a Makar Sankranti feast at his son Tej Pratap Yadav's house, despite past conflicts. The event sparks political speculation amidst family tensions.
'...in comparison to his presence in the previous election campaign where he looked robust and vibrant.' 'His television and social media interviews looked dull and predictable.' 'There could be a different kind of fatigue of being out of power for a long time at work here.'
Abdullah emphasised the 24x7 model of politics pursued by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his team, and said that "no sooner has one election finished, they've already moved into the next territory... We will move into those states two months before the elections. We will be lucky if we sew up our electoral alliances before the last date of filing nominations".
Karnataka BJP President B Y Vijayendra suggests political developments are underway in the ruling Congress party and expects them to culminate after the Bihar assembly polls, hinting at a possible change in Chief Minister.
'When maximum voter participation occurs, they do not vote to re-elect the incumbent government. They vote to change it.' 'How can anyone credibly suggest that crores of young voters -- particularly the unemployed youth -- would vote to re-elect an existing government that has demonstrably failed them?'
At the customary meeting ahead of the session beginning Monday, the opposition raised various issues, including voter roll revision in Bihar, the Pahalgam terror attack and Trump's 'ceasefire' claims.
'If the RJD loses it would be out of power for nearly 25 years. Meanwhile, the JD-U will have survival issues if it gets less number of seats.'
The Congress on Friday posted its second worst performance in Bihar's electoral history, managing to win only six of the over 50 seats it contested and losing deposits in most seats as its 'vote chori' pitch failed to make any impact on the ground.
Multiple exit polls predict a victory for the NDA alliance in the Bihar Assembly elections, with forecasts of a disappointing debut for Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj party.
'Stalin's intention is plain and simple.' 'The DMK wants to convert what is an 'incumbency-centred' election for the party-led alliance into one more 'Modi/BJP election' after Stalin's successive success in 2019 and 2021, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Every party want to contest more seats, nothing wrong in it. We have to compromise to take all together as the NDA.'
