Campaigning has concluded for the second and final phase of the Bihar assembly elections, marking the end of a month-long intense political battle. Key candidates and prominent leaders from various parties held rallies and roadshows to woo voters.
Shatrughan Sinha, MP and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader, on Saturday met Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who he described as "guardian of the state", generating speculation in political circles which he downplayed.
Bihar Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary on Thursday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party has not given up its resolve to form its own government in the state by accepting Janata Dal-United president Nitish Kumar as the chief minister.
Kumar is reported to have made the Rajya Sabha remark during an informal chat with some journalists who had asked him about his recent tour of areas falling under the now abolished Barh Lok Sabha constituency which he had represented many times.
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari held his first 'janata darbar' at the BJP's state office in Salt Lake, listening to public grievances and demands. The initiative aims to establish a direct connection with citizens and project a governance model similar to BJP-ruled states.
The Rajya Sabha elections saw several candidates elected unopposed, including Sharad Pawar and Ramdas Athawale, while Bihar, Odisha, and Haryana prepare for contested elections.
''Now the roads in Bihar are as good as any other Indian state. The power sector has improved.' 'Connectivity, law and order, gender justice...' 'Bihar now stands for all these things that were totally absent when it was under jungle raj.'
Amid speculation over Nitish Kumar-led Janata Dal-United's next move in the wake of vote counting trends, senior party leader K C Tyagi on Tuesday said they are in the National Democratic Alliance and 'we will be in the NDA'.
The Bihar government will provide a monthly allowance of Rs 1,000 to unemployed graduate youths for two years under the 'Mukhyamantri Nishchay Swayam Sahayta Bhatta Yojana'. This scheme has been expanded from intermediate-passed youth to include graduates.
Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi appears to be on the way out in the wake of his defiance as the Janata Dal-United is all set to replace him with his mentor Nitish Kumar at a meeting of the legislature party on Saturday.
Kumar also asserted that his efforts should reap benefits for the younger generation, "for people like (his deputy) Tejashwi Yadav".
Nine months after he stepped down, JD-U leader Nitish Kumar was on Sunday sworn-in as the Bihar chief minister
This is the fifth time that Nitish will be the chief minister of Bihar and this will be his third consecutive term.
Sources within the INDIA bloc said appointing Nitish Kumar as convenor would lend credibility to the INDIA bloc's demand for conducting a nationwide caste census.
He reaffirmed that parties opposed to the BJP can win with a "huge majority" in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls if they agree to join hands.
The two leaders heaped praise upon each other for effectively implementing prohibition in their states, reports M I Khan from Patna.
Cracks appeared in the ruling National Democratic Alliance in Bihar on Saturday as Union minister Chirag Paswan expressed 'regret' over having to support the Nitish Kumar government, which he alleged has 'surrendered' before criminals.
'JD-U wants to emerge as the single largest party in Bihar after the next assembly polls by contesting more seats than the BJP.'
Paying back Narendra Modi in kind for his remarks of Himalayan arrogance, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today hit back at him saying, "Arrogance is dripping from every inch of his body."
Expressing displeasure over the attack on his cabinet colleague Nitin Nabin by miscreants in neighbouring Jharkhand amid the protests, Kumar on Monday asserted that 'the responsibility of maintaining peace and communal harmony rests with the state government'.
A new Bihar government headed by Jitan Ram Manjhi as the 32nd Chief Minister was sworn in on Tuesday evening.
Former Rajya Sabha MP Sabir Ali, who was expelled from the JD-U 11 years ago for praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was on Saturday named the party's candidate from Amour assembly seat in Bihar.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) expelled 16 leaders, including a sitting MLA and two former ministers, for anti-party activities ahead of the assembly elections. The expelled leaders were charged with violating the party's ideology and working against official NDA candidates.
If it was Andhra Pradesh last Budget, it's poll-bound Bihar that has now turned to Centre with a list of demands. How the NDA government is delivering on promises.
The opposition's presidential poll candidate Yashwant Sinha on Friday revealed that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar refused to take his calls when he tried to seek the latter's support for his candidature.
Janata Dal-United MLA Gopal Mandal, who is understood to have a slim chance of getting a party ticket for the upcoming assembly polls, on Tuesday sat on a dharna near Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's residence.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday appeared all set to make his second political volte face in less than three years, with a highly-placed source close to Kumar saying that the Janata Dal-United president is likely to tender his resignation by Sunday morning.
Nitish Kumar, who along with Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad, steered the Grand Secular Alliance to a landslide mandate of over two-thirds majority in Bihar assembly poll, will be sworn in as Chief Minister on Novermber 20 for a third term along with his new cabinet.
A total of 126 votes, including four of Congress and one of CPI, were cast in favour of the confidence motion while 24, including 22 of Lalu Prasad led RJD, voted against the motion as BJP members staged a walkout before the vote.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said the Prime Minister should convene an all-party meet to discuss the merits and demerits of SEZs.
More than 45 lakh people in 30 out of the total 38 districts of the state have been affected by the calamity in two phases since last month, according to the Disaster Management Department.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accuses the NDA of plotting to steal the Bihar assembly elections, alleging collusion with the Election Commission and voter roll manipulation.
At the core of Nitish Kumar's decision was a cold political calculation. He assessed that the RJD's support base was unlikely to vote for JD-U candidates in the Lok Sabha polls. He was unsure of winning even half a dozen if he stayed with the RJD and the Congress.
The decision taken about Kharge at the INDIA bloc meeting earlier this month had shocked the JD-U, which believed that its president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar would be named as the convenor without being saddled with any chairperson, its leaders had then said.
"Governance, governance, governance," was what Nitish Kumar said were his three priorities when he took the helm of Bihar in 2005.
The beneficiaries will get increased pensions of Rs 1,100 from July.
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.
This is the first meeting between Gandhi and Kumar since the latter walked out of the National Democratic Alliance in Bihar and formed a 'Mahagathbandhan' government with the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Congress and outside support of the Left.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday condemned the torching of 34 houses, mostly belonging to SC/ST communities, in Nawada district and asked the Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) to visit the site and oversee the probe.
Intense lobbying continues among NDA partners in Bihar to finalize cabinet berths and the Assembly Speaker post ahead of the swearing-in ceremony. Consensus is being sought between BJP and JD(U) for the Speaker's position, while new faces are expected in the cabinet. The swearing-in ceremony is scheduled for November 20.
