A BJP ally since the mid-90s, Kumar split with the party in 2014, only to realign three years later. In 2022, he again parted ways, vowing to dislodge the BJP from power at the Centre and bring together parties from across the country to form the INDIA bloc.
According to the Election Commission data, 30 out of the state's 40 Lok Sabha seats went to the BJP-led coalition in the latest elections, a sharp drop compared with 39 in 2019 and lower than the tallies of 2014 (31) and 2009 (32).
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday said the Centre's decision to include caste enumeration in the next census has exposed the difference between the Modi government's 'true intentions' and the 'empty sloganeering' of the Congress.
Two individuals claiming to be members of the Janata Dal (United) (JD(U)) in Bihar announced their "resignation" from the party, citing dissatisfaction with its support for the Waqf (Amendment) Bill. The JD(U) denied the resignations, claiming the individuals were not party members. However, some senior JD(U) leaders have expressed discontent over the passage of the bill, which they believe is detrimental to Muslims. The controversy over the Waqf Bill is likely to influence the upcoming assembly elections in Bihar.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal, which had suffered decimation in the last general elections, was leading in five seats, out of 23 where it had fielded candidates.
The response was tepid in other parts of the country even as several INDIA bloc parties as well as other non-BJP outfits extended their support to the bandh.
Leaders of the JD-U, which has two ministers in the Union government, insist that the resolution also spoke of "special package and other types of help" and that Bihar could still get a lot from Narendra Modi government.
Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday issued a three-line whip to all of its Lok Sabha MPs asking them to be present in the House for the passing of the Union Budget 2025-26.
'According to JP, Indira Gandhi was not much of a danger to democracy. He said, it was Sanjay Gandhi and his gang.'
Four times more liquor has been seized in the 2024 election than during the 2019 polls.
'For the first time in this country, perhaps the first time anywhere, we are going to use backwardness index.' 'It is a fundamental shift in the discourse in the country's social justice.'
Several opposition MPs have made a similar demand to the government in the wake of the dastardly attack in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed last week, leaving the nation grief-stricken and outraged.
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.
Several petitions were filed in the apex court challenging the Act, contending that it was discriminatory towards the Muslim community and violated their fundamental rights.
Gandhi was at Paliganj, on the outskirts of the state capital, to canvass for Rashtriya Janata Party president Lalu Prasad's daughter Misa Bharti, who is contesting Patliputra Lok Sabha seat.
All the 12 cabin crew members, including two pilots, on board the ill-fated London-bound Air India flight were killed in the Ahmedabad air crash on Thursday.
'The 2020 assembly election was a Tejaswi Yadav election; whereas this is a Lalu Yadav election. It is his plan.'
The census will be carried out with a reference date of October 1, 2026 in snow-bound areas like Ladakh and March 1, 2027 in the rest of the country, the notification said.
In a major organisational revamp, the Congress on Friday appointed former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel as general secretary in-charge of Punjab and Rajya Sabha MP Syed Naseer Hussain as general secretary for Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
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 government has to specify what it intends to do with caste census data. It will be closely tracked if the government would simultaneously move towards removing the present 50% bar on reservations using means which are permitted in law. If this is not done, the entire exercise will become meaningless and could boomerang on the BJP, observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
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.
'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.'
The Congress is contesting 328 seats in the ongoing elections -- the lowest since Independence.
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.
Ramesh said the current limit of 50 percent is not explicitly mandated by the Constitution, but has been decided through various Supreme Court decisions.
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.
'They want to keep the pot boiling all the time.' 'The BJP wants to set a political narrative that the Gandhis are doing wrong things.'
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar launched a scathing attack on his predecessor Rabri Devi, calling her appointment as Chief Minister "suspension-induced" during a heated debate in the state legislative council. The verbal sparring, marked by accusations and counter-accusations on law and order, saw Kumar accusing the RJD of being unable to handle Hindu-Muslim tensions and engaging in "mischief." Rabri Devi, in response, asserted her right to speak about her achievements during her tenure as Chief Minister. Kumar, however, retorted with a sharp, local phrase, dismissing Rabri Devi's claims. The exchange, which saw both sides engage in mudslinging, ended with the Chairman admonishing the opposition for their unruly behavior.
The minority front of the Uttar Pradesh BJP will distribute 'Saugat-e-Modi' kit to 32 lakh poor Muslims on the occasion of Eid this year.
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.
Moderate to high turnout was recorded in 13 assembly constituencies across seven states where bypolls were held on Wednesday amid sporadic incidents of violence in Uttarakhand, Bihar and West Bengal.
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.
The BJP's strategy seem to be to wean away allies from the Congress, in Dravidian Tamil Nadu, and maybe later in UP, Bihar and elsewhere, though in slow doses, but without wooing them into a new alliance. The idea seems to be only to weaken the INDIA bloc from within -- and leaving it at that, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The two parties had fallen out with each other in October last year when the RJD unilaterally decided to contest by-elections for two assembly seats, evoking strong protest from the Congress which vowed to go it alone in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and the assembly elections which will be held a year later.
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.
BJP president JP Nadda said on Sunday that the party does not seek to control the Waqf Board but wants to ensure that those managing it operate within the bounds of law and adhere to established rules. He said the properties and funds of the Waqf Board should be dedicated to promoting education, providing healthcare and employment opportunities for the Muslim community. Nadda also highlighted the BJP's growth and achievements, emphasizing its commitment to national unity and cultural heritage.
If everything goes according to the plan, the exercise will begin after the Lok Sabha elections, the official said.
Census exercise with caste enumeration will be carried out with the reference date of October 1, 2026, in snow-bound areas like Ladakh and of March 1, 2027, in the rest of the country, the Home Ministry announced on Wednesday.
Jan Adhikar Party leader Pappu Yadav joined the Congress on Wednesday and announced the merger of his outfit.
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