Sticking to his offer of 11 Lok Sabha seats to the Congress and one to Nationalist Congress Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad on Sunday appealed to Sonia Gandhi to agree to the seat-sharing formula asserting that he would deliver results in Bihar and Jharkhand in the general elections.
The CM is expected to call a press conference on Monday, say JD-U sources.
Sushil said Nitish has insulted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the people of Bihar.
The RJD supporters were creating a ruckus outside 10, Circular Road, where Rabri Devi lives and had been locked from inside by a Central Bureau Investigation team which had raided the house on Friday in connection with its case against Lalu Prasad Yadav, her husband, in the railway recruitment scandal.
Central Bureau of Investigation Special Court Judge Shiv Pal Singh, hearing the case, was quick to reply, "Then play the tabla (musical instrument)".
Most JD-U ministers favour a return to the BJP-led NDA ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
The BJP-led NDA leaders have attacked RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav for his statement that Bihar assembly polls is a fight between 'backward versus forward' forces.
Yadav claimed that his boss Nitish Kumar, with whom he took oath the day before, has issued instructions to the officials concerned to accord "top priority" to job creation.
With the political scenario in Bihar heating up in view of approaching assembly polls and the much-publicised Janata Parivar merger in doldrums, Rashtriya Janata Dal President Lalu Prasad on Monday threw the ball in Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's court saying it was time to decide about the alliance.
Former Union Home Secretary RK Singh is expected to join the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday afternoon.
Lalu was apparently referring to his wife Rabri Devi.
The Election Commission released a copy of the electoral rolls showing his details, confirming that he was listed at a booth in the Veterinary College in Patna.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday said his party's alliance with the Congress is 'off to a good start' with 11 'strong' Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh.
Congress MP Abhijit Mukherjee, son of President Pranab Mukherjee, has called on Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav in jail.
The demand comes in the backdrop of the UPA government granting a special Rs 3,225 crore package to Bihar, ruled by key UPA constituent Rashtriya Janata Dal, in the Union Budget 2004-05 ahead of the assembly elections in the state.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar asserted that the NDA government, led by him, put an end to frequent Hindu-Muslim clashes in the state by taking measures such as fencing graveyards and bringing to justice those involved in communal riots. He also criticized the opposition, particularly Tejashwi Yadav, accusing them of lacking understanding and experience. Kumar's claims were met with anger and walkout by the opposition members.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accuses the BJP-led government of stealing votes with the help of the Election Commission during a rally in Siwan, Bihar.
Yadav said all parties have joined hands against the BJP in the Bihar assembly, and added "now this is going to be replicated across the whole country".
Lalan Kumar Paswan, who lodged the FIR with the vigilance department, held that the RJD chief's alleged act was tantamount to 'corruption' since, as a member of the legislative assembly, he was a 'public servant' whom Yadav had tried to entice away from 'performing the constitutional obligation of taking part in voting in the House'.
Addressing an election meeting, Dr Singh repeatedly eulogised Lalu.
RJD chief Lalu Prasad and other leaders claimed the countdown for the ouster of the BJP and its allies from power in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls had begun.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on Friday blamed Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for coordinating a ''murderous attack'' against protesting members of the Opposition.
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 Supreme Court's verdict puts nearly half a dozen former chief ministers in the state of Bihar in a hotspot.
The party was reacting to Kumar's decision to resign as Bihar chief minister and leaving the Mahagathbandhan alliance in the state and also dealing a body blow to the opposition bloc INDIA.
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.
Bihar CM says there's no question of going back on supporting Kovind.
'Bihar's voters' electoral memory is long, and their evaluations are relational; who came to the village, who followed up, who resolved a problem.'
Yadav was earlier called for questioning on March 4 but he had not appeared before the CBI sleuths, following which a fresh date was given for Saturday, they said.
Rai hinted that his daughter might contest the coming assembly polls.
'The assailants knocked at the gates of Yadav's house around 5.30 am and opened fire as soon as he opened the gates,' the Bihar Police tweeted.
Arvind Kejriwal warned the media that "very big forces" would try and break the INDIA alliance by showing that there was a lot of acrimony among them.
Prasad can still influence the power play in Patna if not change it, reports Satyavrat Mishra.
Lalu also said that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has committed political suicide by joining hands with the BJP.
'We used to discuss how image-conscious Nitish Kumar was and his sophisticated conduct in public life. All this has become a thing of the past.'
Lalu landed in a soup after a news channel expose about a purported conversation with murder convict Mohammad Shahabuddin.
Tej Pratap Yadav, an RJD leader and former Bihar minister, has been criticized for ordering his security guard to dance during Holi celebrations. The constable was sent to the police lines after he danced in uniform during the festivities at Yadav's residence. The incident has sparked controversy, with many criticizing Yadav's behavior. The incident also highlights the blurring of lines between personal and official duties in India, where politicians often use their positions to exert influence over subordinates.
In the caste ridden politics of Bihar, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad's two sons and daughter and Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan's son, are star campaigners for their party.
'He may be chief minister, but sooner or later he will face the music.'
The former Bihar chief minister has seven criminal cases against him, most of them related to cheating and forgery. Vicky Nanjappa reports
