Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra visited Bijnor district where she met families of two persons killed in the violence. Internet services have been suspended in several areas till Monday, while prohibitory orders remained in force across the state.
Of the 612 trains affected, 602 trains were cancelled, including 223 mail and express trains and 379 passengers trains, the Railways said in a statement.
The Wire news portal, in the third part of its revelations from the international collaborative journalistic investigation called the Pegasus Project, reported that those marked as potential targets for surveillance include Ambedkarite activist Ashok Bharti; academic and chronicler of life in Naxal-dominated regions Bela Bhatia; railway union leader Shiv Gopal Mishra and Delhi-based labour rights activist Anjani Kumar.
Shouting slogans, BJP leaders and workers -- including Prem Kumar, who is the leader of opposition in Bihar assembly -- took to the streets, demanding arrest of Rocky.
"We have taken note of this anger. We should not take upper caste votes for granted believing that they will not vote for any other party as there is no option," a senior BJP leader said.
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The buck for the Gandamal tragedy should not stop with the school-in-charge Meena Kumari. She is just the face of a deeper malaise in Bihar, says Apoorvanand.
The government asked five states to tighten security and take maximum precaution during the 48-hour shutdown called by the Maoists beginning on Tuesday.
Industry leaders, including Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra, RPG Enterprises chairman Harsh Goenka and Biocon Ltd chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw on Monday came out in support of the Agnipath scheme, saying it has large potential for employment of youth in the corporate sector. Mahindra also expressed dismay over the violence against the scheme while asserting that the farm equipment to aerospace conglomerate welcomes the opportunity to recruit trained, capable and young people under the programme. The Agnipath scheme, announced on June 14, provides for the recruitment of youths between the age bracket of 17-and-half years to 21 for only four years with a provision to retain 25 per cent of them for 15 more years.
A rail track between Sonua and Lotapahar stations in West Singhbhum, under Chakradharpur Division of South Eastern Railway (SER), was damaged past Friday night in a blast that was allegedly triggered by the Maoists.
Maoists on Saturday called for a 48-hour bandh in five states from May 18 to protest against a slew of decisions taken by the Centre, including those concerning some public sector units. The bandh call has been given in Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh."Maoists will observe a bandh on May 18 and May 19 in the five states to protest against the Centre's decision to sell ten per cent government's stake in 10 profit-making PSUs,"Maoist leader Kishenji said.
With the Congress-led coalition facing flak from both friends and foes of the United Progressive Alliance and supporting Left parties which have called bandhs in states ruled by them, Gandhi suggested to Congress chief ministers to lower sales tax on petroleum items. Congress is in power in around half a dozen states, prominent among them being Maharashtra, Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh and Haryana.
Violent agitations continued to rock parts of West Bengal for second consecutive day on Saturday as people protesting against the amended Citizenship Act set several buses on fire and torched portions of a railway station complex, officials said.
Asking the people of Bihar to bring their own government to power, the post made a veiled reference to the alleged high handedness of bureaucracy under the JD(U)-BJP rule but fell shy of a frontal attack on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, his arch rival, or the near hegemonic saffron party which considers him a bete noire.
Trade union leaders claimed that the strike would be even bigger than the one last year as the number of striking workers is expected to swell to 18 crore
Former colleagues recall the veteran political leader as a visionary with strong ground connect.
A former Bihar minister's son was shot dead in Bihar's Katihar district triggering protests with locals disrupting movement of trains on the Patna-Guwahati route as the sub-divisional town of Barari observed a spontaneous bandh. Anil Kumar Singh, son of former minister late Basudev Prasad Singh, was shot dead by unidentified assailants at Barari market on Sunday night, police said on Monday.
The Palamau Express derailed on Tuesday evening after suspected Maoists blew up a stretch of railway tracks in Latehar district but no casualty or injury was reported.
A day ahead of the nationwide protests planned by the opposition against demonetisation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi defended the move and warned unscrupulous people using the Jan Dhan accounts of the poor to launder their black money of strict action.
The fulcrum of victory or defeat of parties attempting to form a government is held by smaller players and those willing to defect.
Several trains in Jharkhand were either cancelled or diverted to avoid Naxal pockets and security beefed up as the two-day shut down called by the CPI-Maoist in Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal began on Monday.
With the trains becoming soft targets of Maoists, the Railways has asked drivers to observe certain speed restrictions while moving through Naxal-affected areas to minimise damage.
Maoists blew up tracks on the Jhaja-Jasidih section of the East Central Railway in Bihar's Jamui district and killed an alleged police informer in Orissa's Sundergarh district to enforce a 72-hour bandh in five states, on Sunday.
Modi accused opponents of trying to pit one section against the other while his government is working towards taking all people along
'Raj Thackeray's political outfit will soon fold up in Maharashtra.'
Maoists blasted a portion of a railway track between Ismailpur and Rafiganj section in Bihar, leading to derailment of a pilot engine running ahead of the Bhubaneshwar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express.
The CM said the alleged sex abuse of girls at the shelter home "has left us with a sense of shame and guilt".
Ten trade unions with a combined membership of 15 crore workers in public and private sector, including banks and insurance companies, are on a nationwide strike to protest against changes in the labour laws.
Chirag Paswan says his party's support to BJP is issue-based.
Caste assertions, including from the upper castes, could have the Sangh Parivar stumble yet again in its efforts to construct a Hindu rashtra.
'There appears to be no end to the errors that our leaders are willing to commit and no risk they are unwilling to run,' notes Mihir S Sharma.
The agitation for the Other Backward Caste quota to Patels will intensify in the coming days, Hardik Patel who is leading the stir today said and blamed the police for the violence.
'If you are weak economically, you automatically lag behind in other aspects of life.'
Nitish said the Opposition tried to project the Gaya road rage case as the return of 'jungle raj' in Bihar.
A week after the midday meal tragedy in a Chhapra school, which killed 23 children, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, speaking for the first time after the horrific event, claimed there was a conspiracy behind the tragedy.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday said "positive" talks took place between 14 non-Congress and non-BJP parties for formation of a separate bloc in the Parliament which he said would be based on programme and not person.
Stop "fooling" the people, Rahul Gandhi asserted in a fresh broadside against Narendra Modi, dubbing his "toffee or balloon" model of development in Gujarat as nothing but "loot of public money".
Singh had on Saturday called on the jailed activists, one of whom was arrested recently in connection with a communal flare-up that took place last year
The two-day nationwide strike called by central trade unions to protest the Centre's alleged anti-worker policies evoked mixed response all over country on Tuesday.
The issue was raised in both Houses of Parliament with main opposition Congress too seeking clarification.
