BJP patriarch L K Advani is not campaigning in the first phase of the Bihar polls following Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's concern that he may drive Muslim voters away, say insiders
In a surprise move, Bihar's ruling Janata Dal-United made it clear on Tuesday that it had no objection if its alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party invites Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for campaigning for the upcoming assembly elections in the state.
According to sources, the Bihar police was reluctant to book Indian Mujahideen founder Yasin Batkal on Thursday, and wanted to hand him over to the National Investigation Agency soon after his arrest.
'He didn't implement good policies for good politics.' 'He never worked on comprehensive policy-making.' 'In Kejriwal's own constituency youths are jobless.'
There is a proposal from the BJP camp that they would resort to a proportion-based increase in the number of Lok Sabha seats for individual states, based on what they now have. On the face of it, this sounds like a fine argument that those demanding a 'freeze' now cannot oppose without reasons and justification, avers N Sathiya Moorthy.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United on Tuesday took out processions across the state, urging people to be on guard against the Bharatiya Janata Party's alleged politics of communalism.
Ananth Kumar, the BJP election in-charge of Bihar, on Tuesday announced that the party will not declare the name of its chief ministerial candidate.
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.
A Bharatiya Janata Party minister in Bihar on Thursday said that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had failed to fulfill the minimum courtesy of congratulating Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for his win.
According to a report by the Association of Democratic Reforms, 59 per cent of the MLAs (or 141 MLAs out of 241) in the Bihar assembly have criminal records pending against them. Comparatively, the percentage of tainted legislators in the last assembly was 35 per cent
Seeking to end speculations about strains in the relations between national Democratic Alliance allies in Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said Janata Dal-United and the Bharatiya Janata Party will together contest all 40 Lok Sabha seats from Bihar in the next general elections.
Former Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras, who quit after his Lok Janshakti Party faction was not given any seat by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance in Bihar for the Lok Sabha elections, on Saturday announced his party's support to the ruling alliance, ending speculation over his next course of action.
In a shot in the arm for the Bharatiya Janata Party in Bihar, Chirag Paswan on Sunday cast aside his ambivalence and announced that he will campaign for the saffron party in bypolls to two assembly segments in the state.
Though the Bharatiya Janata Party, under the leadership of Nitin Gadkari, has launched an exercise to consolidate its position while pursuing coalition politics, it is in a state of dilemma as far as Bihar is concerned.
He died at AIIMS in New Delhi at 9.45 pm, hospital sources said.
With assembly polls due in Bihar later this year, political parties have gone on an offensive to woo different caste and community groups in the state.
'Party workers sit outside polling booths and they know everything that is happening.' 'Besides, as a voter when you push the EVM button to vote there is a paper slip that comes out showing you who you voted for.'
Sanjay Jha's importance lies in his connections to senior BJP and RSS leaders to maintain a smooth relationship within the NDA government in Bihar and at the Centre and to contest the 2025 Bihar assembly elections together under Nitish Kumar's leadership.
Rajiv Kumar, the 25th chief election commissioner of India, has demitted office after a nearly three-year tenure marked by both electoral successes and allegations of bias from opposition parties. Kumar oversaw the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls, among other major elections. During his tenure, he implemented reforms across various aspects of the Election Commission's functioning, including structural, technological, capacity development, communication, international cooperation, and administration. However, he faced criticism from opposition parties and activists on several issues, including the efficacy of Electronic Voting Machines, alleged fudging of voter data, and being "lenient" on the ruling BJP. While the Commission responded to the allegations, Kumar often defended himself and the poll authority through poetry. In his farewell address, Kumar expressed concerns about the timing of petitions raising doubts over poll processes and the impact of freebie promises on the fiscal health of the state. He also criticized the practice of showing early trends on counting day by news channels, calling it "nonsense". Kumar's tenure was marked by numerous controversies, with opposition parties and activists alleging bias and irregularities. While the Election Commission defended its actions, the allegations cast a shadow over his time in office.
A poll conducted by Centre for the Study of Developing Societies shows Mamata Banerjee will win in Bengal and Nitish Kumar is likely to hold on in Bihar despite the split with BJP, if elections were to be held today
Lok Janshakti Party supremo Ram Vilas Paswan and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Rajeev Pratap Rudy on Thursday won their respective Rajya Sabha seats from Bihar.It has been reported that the BJP and its partner Janata Dal -United are optimistic about winning three seats, while the Rashtriya Janata Dal and LJP appear confident of winning both the seats they are contesting.The RJD-LJP alliance has the support of 68 MLAs, against the requirement of 76.
He becomes the second National Democratic Alliance-appointed governor to make exit in less than a week. The first was senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Madan Lal Khurana who quit as Rajasthan governor to return to active politics.
Doing an about-turn a day after announcing its move to legally challenge the dissolution of the Bihar assembly, the BJP today said it would not move the court against the governor's decision
What some of our leaders were up to this week.
Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav on Thursday asserted that 'something major' will take place, after Lok Sabha results are out, in Bihar where Chief Minister Nitish Kumar seemed to be 'not going along well' with ally Bharatiya Janata Party.
Favouring continuation of the 'old arrangement' during the Bihar assembly polls, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday left it to the Bharatiya Janata Party to decide whether Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi will campaign for the party during elections. "The BJP has to solve this. We are in favour of the old arrangement," Kumar told reporters while referring to the Janata Dal - United's opposition to the presence of Modi during the campaign in the Lok Sabha elections.
He pointed out that "politicians should ensure that they are not spreading linguistic terror, further they should make limited comments only."
Quoting from the report of Central Statistics Office, the former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi said that Bihar's growth rate has reduced to half at 8.82 per cent in 2013-14 against 15.05 per cent in 2012-13.
'There were deep discussions within the Sangh Parivar before this decision was made.' 'They were convinced, and only then did the Modi government proceed with the caste census.'
Actor-turned-politician and Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament Shatrughan Sinha on Saturday strongly favoured invitation to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for campaigning for the upcoming assembly elections in Bihar.
RJD President Lalu Prasad Yadav said on Sunday that the merger of six Janata Parivar parties to counter the BJP has already "happened".
In the clip, Prasad and Sahni were seen enjoying fish and roti, with Prasad explaining that he eats quickly during election campaigns.
The opposition alliance has taken exception to Union Law Minister H R Bhardwaj's statement on Tuesday that the earliest the polls could be held in the state was in September.
With Nitish Kumar on its side, a BJP-led government may feel increased pressure to conduct a nationwide caste-based census.
'The southern states will have no voice.' 'Political parties in future need to focus only on one region, the northern region, to win the general election.'
The monthly Rs 2500 payment for poor women is expected to cost Rs 11,000 crore while the pension scheme of Rs 2000 for every senior citizen will cost around Rs 4100 crore. The Yamuna clean up will cost over Rs 10,000 crore while a similar amount is required to upgrade Delhi's hospitals. Ultimately, the new BJP government will have no choice but to ask the centre for financial support, notes Rashme Sehgal.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday said he had decided against the Janata Dal-United joining the government at the Centre, after the Bharatiya Janata Party's refusal to his demand for four ministerial berths in 2019.
First Investigation Reports have been filed against Bihar minister Jitan Ram Manjhi and four Members of Parliament including Bharatiya Janata Party's Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Pappu Yadav of Rashtriya Janata Dal and his wife for allegedly violating the model code of conduct for elections.
Activists of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad burnt an effigy of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Patna on Friday evening to protest the transfer of 224.02 acres of land to Aligarh Muslim University by the state government for establishing the AMU Kishanganj Centre.
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