Ending days of speculation, senior Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar on Sunday said that Bihar's Jitan Ram Manjhi would continue as chief minister. "All speculations about Manjhi's removal were wrong," the former CM told the media soon after his return from New Delhi on Sunday.
Days after Nitish Kumar attacked the RSS and urged all non-BJP parties to unite, RJD Chief Lalu Yadav backed the Bihar CM to become next PM.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar sparked controversy after pulling the hijab off a newly recruited AYUSH doctor's face during an appointment ceremony. The incident has drawn criticism from opposition parties.
Police swung into action soon after learning about the posters put up at 'Chalukya Circle', just a stone's throw from the venue of the meeting which is being attended by Nitish Kumar.
Hindustani Awam Morcha chief Jitan Ram Manjhi on Friday alleged that "poisonous substances" were being mixed into the food served to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, by those "coveting his chair".
'The BJP is keeping its options open and that the final decision is still tightly held.' 'That is consistent with the party's tendency to preserve suspense, avoid premature factional conflict, and use leadership selection as a way of resetting internal hierarchies.'
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has allocated portfolios of newly created departments among ministers, keeping Civil Aviation with himself, an official notification said.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced free power up to 125 units for all domestic consumers in the state, effective from August 1. The move, benefiting 1.67 crore households, comes ahead of the upcoming assembly polls and amid promises from opposition leaders.
Attacking the Nitish government over policy discrepancies, RJD scion claimed that the health and education sectors were in shambles under the current government.
Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor criticized the new Bihar cabinet, alleging it is full of corrupt and criminal leaders. He also announced the launch of 'Bihar Navnirman Sankalp Yatra' on January 15.
Ideology and principle are always put to work to camouflage political ambition. Nitish Kumar is a past master at this. His acceptance of the NDA in the first place was aimed at the top spot of Bihar. Then Delhi became the goal, but Narendra Modi's rise as head of the campaign rang alarm bells. So Nitish suddenly remembered secularism, says Jaya Jaitly.
Bihar Health Minister Mangal Pandey addresses the controversy surrounding Chief Minister Nitish Kumar removing a female doctor's veil, stating he is unaware of reports that she refused to join duty following the incident. A Congress leader has filed a complaint against Kumar and another minister.
The opposition party's remarks come after Bihar ministers claimed that the latest report of NITI Aayog's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) India Index 2023-24 vindicated the state's long-standing demand for greater central financial assistance.
This was confirmed by Patna Senior Superintendent of Police Rajiv Mishra, who held a press conference nearly 12 hours after the incident took place at 6.40 am on the Desh Ratna Marg.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched his Bihar assembly poll campaign, asserting that the NDA under Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will break all previous electoral records. He criticized the INDIA bloc and highlighted the NDA's cohesiveness and development efforts in Bihar.
Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi has initiated a move to develop his village Mahakar in Gaya district on lines of Kalyanbigha, the hometown of former CM Nitish Kumar and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad's Phulwaria.
Describes the results as a "vote for change and good governance."
The BJP's MoSha leadership are past masters in encouraging defections from their allies if it helped their party capture the chief minister's chair. In Bihar, they are not sure if JD-U MPs and MLAs would be willing to cross over to the BJP if the Nitish leadership came on top -- and the NDA crossed the halfway mark together, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Voters from the forward castes voted for JD-U because they feared Laloo Yadav's return, but since that fear is no longer there they may not see the need to vote for Nitish Kumar anymore.'
Wait for a while before he does another somersault... But one thing is reasonably certain -- the twice betrayed BJP may not embrace him again, predicts Virendra Kapoor.
A close aide of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday confirmed that a 'proposal' to make the Janata Dal-United president convener of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) came up at the meeting of coalition leaders through virtual mode.
The Bihar CM will have make good on his poll promises of a clean administration, providing piped water, toilets, pucca roads and unemployment allowance
The three-day-old Jitan Ram Manjhi government in Bihar won the trust vote in the state assembly amid walkout by opposition the Bharatiya Janata Party.
'The issue has been cleared by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief J P Nadda much before the elections'
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday accused the opposition RJD-Congress combine of failing to curb communal clashes in the state while they were in power. He alleged that they "sought votes of Muslims" but did nothing to stop the violence. Kumar, who has been in power since 2005, highlighted the Bhagalpur riots of 1989, which he said were a result of "bad law and order" during the previous government's tenure. He praised the BJP-led central government for its support to Bihar and the recent budget, which he said had many announcements for the state.
The rumours have primarily been about the impending resignation of JD-U national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh 'Lalan', for alleged proximity towards ally Rashtriya Janaat Dal at the expense of loyalty to his own party.
A day after Nitish Kumar defended Bihar Director General of police 's letter to Mumbai police commissioner protesting the manner of arrest of a teenager from the state, Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray today said the chief minister should have instead congratulated Mumbai police for its action.
Tejashwi who is meeting senior Conngress leader Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday is expected to be announced as the CM face of the Mahabgathbandhan on Thursday.
The poll results give the ruling Janata Dal-United-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance 170 seats in the 243-member house. The Laloo Prasad Yadav-Ram Vilas Paswan alliance is set to be reduced to 34 seats, according to the predictions.
The speculations were triggered by Kumar's reference to the Rajya Sabha being "the only House" he has not been a member of.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has questioned Bihar CM Nitish Kumar's mental health and ability to govern, citing recent 'erratic' behaviour. The allegations have sparked a sharp response from Kumar's party.
'We are allies and equals. We have to run Bihar collectively'
The no-frills ceremony comes a day after Kumar snapped ties with the BJP-led NDA and joined hands with the RJD to form a 'mahagathbandhan' government.
The Bihar CM may be in the Opposition but his endorsement of Ram Nath Kovind, the NDA's presidential candidate, is among the many recent decisions that puts him apart from the others.
A visibly happy Nitish Kumar went to the Raj Bhavan to submit his resignation on Wednesday even as counting of votes in all 243 assembly constituencies was underway. The Bihar cabinet on Tuesday decided to recommend the dissolution of the state assembly to Governor Debanand Konwar
Sounding confident of winning the trust vote on February 20, Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi said he would enter the ring as a "wrestler" without bothering about his win or loss.
NDA partners engage in intense lobbying to finalize cabinet berths ahead of the swearing-in ceremony of the new Bihar government led by Nitish Kumar. The new cabinet is expected to include fresh faces from BJP and JD(U), along with representation from smaller alliance partners.
Kumar, who chose not to react when the 31-year-old Rashtriya Janata Dal leader made a series of personal attacks and allegations in his nearly an hour-long speech, erupted in anger when the latter sought to interject during a statement made by Janata Dal-United leader and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary.
The Nitish Kumar government has the support of 132 MLAs.
'Our party has formed governments independently in all neighbouring states except West Bengal; now it's Bihar's turn.'
