Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday snubbed the Rashtriya Janata Dal, headed by his arch-rival Lalu Prasad Yadav, stating that he had forged alliances 'by mistake' with the opposition party which 'did nothing' while in power.
Five bridges, big and small, have collapsed across the state in just over a week. One incident each was reported from Araria, Siwan, East Champaran, Kishanganj and Madhubani districts.
A portion of an under-construction bridge in Bihar, which was being 'dismantled', crashed into the river Ganges river on Saturday, officials said.
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.
Giving another dimension to the identity proof controversy in the capital, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday saw the move as a "sinister design" to target the people from his state.
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.
A probe into e-mails threatening blasts at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad and different places in 12 states has unravelled a tale of unrequited love and vengeance allegedly unleashed by a woman executive of an MNC in Chennai to defame a man, leading to her arrest.
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha executive president Hemant Soren is set to return as chief minister of Jharkhand for the third time following consensus among legislators of the party-led alliance in the state, sources said on Wednesday.
'Muslims in Bihar under Nitishji's rule are safest than anywhere else.'
'Some locals suggested that a heated argument between a group of kanwariyas and flower sellers outside the temple may have triggered the incident'
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.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar stressed the need to finalise seat-sharing arrangements by January at the recent meeting of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), a key aide disclosed on Friday.
RJD president Lalu Prasad has expelled his elder son, Tej Pratap Yadav, from the party for six years for "irresponsible behavior" and snapped all family ties with him. The decision comes after a viral Facebook post claimed that Yadav, a former Bihar minister, was "in a relationship" with a young woman.
Tej Pratap Yadav, a leader of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) in Bihar, has sparked controversy by demanding a policeman perform a 'thumka' (pelvic thrust) during Holi celebrations at his residence. The incident, which was captured on video and shared widely on social media, shows Yadav seated on a makeshift stage, holding a microphone and telling the policeman, "Hey policeman Deepak.....we are going to play a song on which you shall perform a pelvic thrust. If you do not, you will suspended. Don't mind. It's Holi." The policeman did not appear offended, but he did not perform the dance move. The incident has drawn criticism from the BJP, who have accused Yadav of trying to intimidate the police and of promoting a 'jungle raj'.
Saini's elevation as Haryana chief minister fits in with a pattern that has gathered pace in the BJP after the Congress and its allies like the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh and the Rashtriya Janata Dal in Bihar began making an aggressive bid to woo the largest group of communities and politically most significant, especially in Hindi-speaking states, by pushing for a caste census.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United on Saturday maintained that 'there is no confusion' among the 'Mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance) partners in Bihar.
On his maiden visit to Bihar after assuming power, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said politics had hampered the development of the state and promised to give more than Rs 50,000 crore special package to the poll-bound state at the right time.
A Division Bench headed by Chief Justice K Vinod Chandran passed the order on a bunch of petitions which had opposed the legislations brought by the Nitish Kumar government in November 2023.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai has announced that his government will introduce a new stringent law to prevent religious conversion of tribal people, and possibly others. He also advocated for the delisting of tribals, removing them from the Scheduled Tribe category if they convert to another religion, saying it will prevent proselytisation.
Another instance of bridge collapse came to the fore in Bihar on Thursday, making it the 10th such incident to have been reported from the state in just over a fortnight, an official said.
Allies since the 1990s, the JD-U and the BJP have in the recent past squabbled on issues ranging from Agnipath, caste census, population law and ban on loudspeakers.
Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi threatened to resign from the cabinet, alleging that his Hindustani Awam Morcha was not getting a fair deal in the NDA ahead of the Bihar assembly polls. Manjhi, the lone MP of his party, said he wanted 40 seats for his party in the upcoming elections, adding that he was not pursuing any personal ambitions but seeking a better deal for the "Bhuiyan-Musahar" Dalit community.
Villagers suggested that heavy rainfall over the preceding days may have contributed to the collapse, with a surge in Gandaki river potentially weakening the bridge's structure.
The Bihar result could be a flash in the pan but it has Nitish Kumar seriously worried. More so, because the loss represents a defeat for many of the reforms he was trying to introduce.
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.
The meeting was attended by CMs of Kerala, Punjab and Telangana -- Pinarayi Vijayan, Bhagwant Manna and A Revanth Reddy, Karnataka deputy CM DK Shivakumar, and senior BRS leader KT Ramarao among others.
Bihar CM says their activities are not in the best interest of the government.
The BJP and JDU leaders claimed that Prasad insulted women in the state with his comment.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted above-normal rainfall for the upcoming monsoon season in India (June to September). The cumulative rainfall is estimated to be 105 percent of the long-period average. The IMD has also ruled out the possibility of El Nino conditions during the entire season. The monsoon is crucial for India's agriculture sector, which supports the livelihood of a significant portion of the population and contributes substantially to the country's GDP. However, while the prediction of normal rainfall brings relief, climate change is expected to cause variations in rainfall distribution.
Altogether 77 people have been arrested in connection with the communal violence that erupted in Bihar Sharif town in Nalanda district during the Ram Navami festivities, police said on Sunday.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday intensified his fight against corruption in the state by issuing orders to prosecute 11 corrupt officers and confiscate their properties, according to state government officials. The date for the symbolic gesture against corruption was 11/11/11. On the third day of his Seva Yatra in Bettiah, district headquarters of West Champaran, Kumar cleared pending files about corruption cases against the eleven officers.
Amid deepening fissures in Kumar's ties with the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress, BJP leaders have indicated that they are open to tying up with him again.
Hours before the ceremony, Saini visited the Valmiki Bhawan and offered prayers at a gurdwara and the Mansa Devi temple in Panchkula.
'The issue has been cleared by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief J P Nadda much before the elections'
'JD-U wants to emerge as the single largest party in Bihar after the next assembly polls by contesting more seats than the BJP.'
'The 2020 assembly election was a Tejaswi Yadav election; whereas this is a Lalu Yadav election. It is his plan.'
Lalu's son and heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav, however, sought to downplay the remarks made by his father, in an interview to a local news channel, claiming that the RJD supremo had merely tried to satisfy the curiosity of the prying media.
The governor accepted Kumar's resignation, and asked him to continue as caretaker CM till a new government is formed, they said.
He was administered the oath of office by Governor Rajendra Arlekar at the Raj Bhavan in Patna.
He assured all possible support from the Centre for the welfare of Bihar.
