Welcoming Raghuram Rajan panel report which has put Bihar among the least developed states, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday described it as a 'victory' for the state but was non-committal on alliance with the Congress for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.
On Wednesday, the Bihar Cabinet in a meeting chaired by the chief minister passed a resolution on asking the Centre to include the provision in the 9th Schedule of the Constitution, Siddharth said.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday made his prime ministerial ambitions known, saying he is more qualified and experienced than those "roaming around" for the top job.
"The meeting was very fruitful and we all are very happy with the outcome. I could not attend the press conference after the conclave as I had to come back to Patna. My effort is to unite all opposition parties ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, and now things are taking shape," the Janata Dal-United leader said.
Bihar is no stranger to being at the centre of a tectonic shift in national politics fuelled by turbulent regional forces.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday said he might not campaign for the by-elections to a couple of assembly segments in the state where his current ally Rashtriya Janata Dal is locked in a straight contest with his former alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party.
'Nitish should be portrayed as an upholder of political dharma.'
13,660 km. 40 million Biharis participate in this year's 'world's longest' human chain.
Besides, the department has sought an explanation from officials concerned for the collapse of bridges in East Champaran on June 23 and in Madhubani on June 26.
Taking part in a debate on the motion of confidence moved by the new 'mahagathbandhan' government, Yadav accused the BJP of having tried to 'break' Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's party in a bid to 'wipe out socialist ideology'.
'If the Mahagathbandhan ignores Mukesh Sahni's demands as it did in 2020, he will be left with no option but to join hands with the BJP.'
Overjoyed that their 'son' was sworn into office for the fifth time, villagers of Kalyan Bigha, burst firecrackers and distributed sweets.
The juggernaut of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance, which triumphed in three of the four east and north-eastern states that went for assembly bypolls on Saturday, was halted yet again in West Bengal where Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress registered a six-on-six clean sweep.
Pandey, who stepped down as the state police chief less than a week ago, however, insisted that he had walked down to the state headquarters of the Janata Dal-United, headed by the chief minister, to "thank" Kumar for the trust reposed in him by the latter.
The new cabinet, predictably, has a sizeable number of Yadavs and Muslims, though members of other sections of the society also find a place.
The CM will either force Tejashwi to resign, or tender a resignation himself to put pressure on the RJD.
Calling the Bihar CM arrogant, the PM campaigning in Banka, said that his special package to Bihar was not a favour, but a right of the state.
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.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has written an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in which he makes a strong objection to the latter's comment about his "DNA" at a recent election rally in the state.
The meeting between the two leaders, which was also attended by Bihar's deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav, was described as 'positive'.
A Janata Dal-United leader was allegedly murdered in Bihar's Nalanda district in the early hours of Monday, the police said.
'In this election, the only thing that is going to matter is which caste aligns with which coalition.'
Nitish Kumar, once seen as a potential rival to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, broke ranks with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance coalition on Tuesday to stake claim as head of the rival 'Mahagathbandhan' (Grand Alliance) to be the chief minister of Bihar for the eighth time.
Pawar said Nitish took the decision anticipating the crisis the BJP was planning to bring on.
Earlier, The Nitish Kumar government had banned sale and consumption of country and spiced liquor in rural areas from April 1 this year, but had allowed sale of foreign liquor in towns and cities.
Nitish said there should not be any vendetta in politics.
The state cabinet can have up to 36 ministers, including the chief minister. The induction of ministers on Tuesday is expected to keep a few berths vacant for future expansion.
'Some locals suggested that a heated argument between a group of kanwariyas and flower sellers outside the temple may have triggered the incident'
Purnea bore the brunt of the Nor'wester with a maximum of 38 deaths.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah himself sounded more open to such a possibility in a recent interview.
RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav demanded the Bihar CM to sack his deputy and lodge a case against him and arrest him.
Police in Patna, Bihar used water cannons and mild force to disperse protesters demanding the cancellation of the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) exam held on December 13. The protesters, who were joined by Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishore, attempted to march towards the chief minister's residence, prompting police action. The protesters had gathered at Gandhi Maidan despite warnings from the administration that any demonstration would be considered unauthorized. The district police registered an FIR against 21 known persons, including Prashant Kishore, for organizing the gathering. The protest is ongoing, with students seeking the cancellation of the exam due to allegations of a question paper leak. The government has agreed to meet with a five-member delegation of BPSC aspirants.
As many as nine Kanwariyas died and several others were injured when their vehicle came in contact with a high-voltage overhead wire in Bihar's Hajipur.
"I am ready to drink all types of poison," he said.
'There is a strong possibility that the BJP's seats are going to be much higher compared to the JD-U and this would be the turning point for the BJP.'
The state government has introduced a new, more stringent law by which offenders could be jailed for up to seven years and make them poorer by Rs 1 lakh to Rs 10 lakh.
The CM was present at the Patna airport to receive body of the LJP founder with whom he spent long time in the politics. The CM and other leaders cutting across party lines paid respect to the septuagenarian leader, who died in Delhi on Thursday, at the airport premises.
'I have to take a stand to strengthen it. I cannot sit silent.'
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.
'I felt anguished when I read the reports about my speech at the convocation of Mahatma Gandhi Central University. I wanted to underscore that the then Congress government had wanted to set up a central university only in Gaya but agreed to establish another one in Motihari (East Champaran) at my instance. Work began when the BJP was in power at the Centre. But it remains the fact that the university came up as a result of my initiative'
