Several leaders aren't happy with the chief minister's decision to walk out of the Grand Alliance and join hands with the BJP.
With some variations, all regional political formations, whether in power presently or out of it, share some common features: Tight family control of the political apparatus, key members in elected or appointed positions, obvious wealth but not quite known sources of income, and family factionalism, sometimes open and bitter, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
They entered the Bihar poll battle to protect and carry forward their fathers' political legacy, but many of them could not win their own seat though some tasted victory.
An electoral survey conducted by CNN IBN/IBN7-Axis in Bihar has given a clear edge to the Rashtriya Janata Dal-Janata Dal-United-led 'Mahagathbandhan', riding home the assembly elections with 137 seats (+/-8 seats) and a 46 per cent vote share.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday declared that he will not realign with the Bharatiya Janata Party till he is alive, accusing the former ally of using investigating agencies for targeting political opponents like Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad.
Yadav, the elder son of former chief ministers Prasad and Rabri Devi, on Thursday marched to the General Post Office in Patna with his supporters who carried bundles of postcards addressed to the President seeking release of the jailed party supremo.
Leave alone taking forward the seat-sharing talks with the existing and probable allies, the Mahagathbandhan remains an amorphous entity weeks before the first phase of polling on October 28, a situation that will make the rival NDA camp, which in any case looks sitting pretty, all the more happier.
Congress has indicated it won't settle for less than 50 seats in any non-BJP alliance, unlikely if a JD(United)-RJD deal does take place.
Rabri Devi's lawyer told a Delhi court last week that the former chief minister did not have a passport, and that she has never had one, reports M I Khan.
Top leaders of 26 opposition parties were arriving in Bengaluru on Monday for a two-day brainstorming session with a call for unity and are expected to chalk out their joint programme aimed at defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
'Nitish Kumar wouldn't have won Bihar without Lalu. He needed a voter base and Lalu has a much bigger voter base than Nitish.'
The Bihar assembly elections in October will be the biggest electoral test for Prime Minister Narendra Modi so far, scholars from a top American think-tank have said, noting that the ramifications of its results will be felt far away from the state's borders.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday met Rahul Gandhi at his residence in New Delhi as the talks on alliance to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party in Bihar polls gained momentum.
The Bihar CM and Rahul, through their emissaries, have been in touch to shape an alliance with the Akhilesh Yadav-led SP faction as its head.
The event assumes heightened political significance at a time when Chirag Paswan is embroiled in a bitter dispute with his uncle and Union Minister Pashupati Kumar Paras to claim the legacy of his father.
RJD leaders attacked PM Modi and CM Nitish Kumar, alleging that it was a malicious exercise.
Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad on Friday formally broached the idea of a grand alliance including former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party in poll-bound Bihar, a move that may rock attempts at a merger between 'Janata Parivar' parties.
'Our approach is forward-looking. The central leadership wants young leaders to lead the charge now. This will also send a clear signal that lapses will not be tolerated. We are targeting beyond 2025.' Satyavrat Mishra reports.
'Singh was forced to submit his resignation to Nitish Kumar few days ago and convinced to announce his offer to resign at the party meeting.'
"This turmoil is created by the media," Prasad told reporters.
"As part of NDA, we look forward to joining forces with you in Maharashtra to help secure victory in upcoming Lok Sabha elections & beyond. @nitishkumar," Kishor tweeted while tagging JD-U president Nitish Kumar.
NDA gives notice for adjournment motion over Buta letter
Hinting at the possibility of joining hands with former CM Jitan Ram Manjhi in Bihar polls, BJP prez Amit Shah on Tuesday said his party's doors are open for new allies.
Facing criticism over his appointment as Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, RJD chief Lalu Prasad's son Tejaswi Yadav on Monday promised to take the state forward on the path of development and asserted that he would have a zero tolerance approach towards corruption.
He said Nitish betrayed people's mandate by breaking Grand Alliance.
Terms of the two dozen seats had expired last year though elections were deferred because of a delay in Panchayat polls which could not be held in time on account of the COVID 19 pandemic.
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.
Amid a brewing political storm in Bihar, the opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal on Monday said it was ready to "embrace" Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his Janata Dal-United if he broke ranks with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The BJP and JD-U will form the new government after the latter party's chief resigned saying in the circumstances it became difficult to run the grand alliance government.
Hundreds of people are still seen attending the rallies without wearing face masks and pushing and shoving each other for space.
Three Bihar ministers have threatened to take action if VHP leader Pravin Togadia delivers a 'hate speech' in Patna.
In a big blow to Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, the Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected his plea for transfer of the special CBI judge hearing the fodder scam case against him in Jharkhand and asked the trial court to pronounce the verdict as soon as possible.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday hinted that a meeting of opposition leaders may take place in Patna after the crucial Karnataka assembly polls were over as many would be busy electioneering there.
'Rahul is not even a lamp before the sun'
Talking to reporters in Patna, the former Union minister asserted that he would happily function as 'an ordinary party worker, worth five rupees', if the JD-U leadership was assumed by 'anybody from among the Luv Kush Samaj (Kurmis and Koeris) or the EBCs whose aspirations have been the party's driving force'.
'Nitish Kumar has no vision for the people of the state. He also had no justifiable reason for ditching us and going back to the BJP-led NDA'
The court in its judgment said the RJD chief was guilty of fraudulently withdrawing Rs 3.13 crore from the Dumka Treasury between December 1995 and January 1996, when he was the chief minister of undivided Bihar.
Fresh elections are the only solution to the Bihar impasse, CPI National Secretary D Raja said.
Leaders of 24 non-BJP parties have been invited for the meet on June 17 and 18, the first edition of which saw the participation of 15 parties.
JD-U on Friday dismissed the Samajwadi Party-driven formation of a 'Third Front' for the Bihar polls and said that there was "only one front" in the state.
