After the Bharatiya Janata Party, another National Democratic Alliance constituent Janata Dal - United on Friday targeted alliance partner Shiv Sena in its current face-off with Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, saying the Sena's stand is 'completely wrong'. "Shah Rukh Khan has said the right thing. What the Shiv Sena or Raj Thackeray are doing is completely wrong. The entire country is against it," senior JD-U leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said.
The Bihar chief minister, who has of late been making news for goof-ups, made the faux pas at an election rally on the outskirts of Patna.
Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United on Monday expelled its party leader and Lok Sabha candidate from Sheohar seat Shabir Ali for praising BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.
Bihar's ruling Janata Dal-United on Tuesday asked an embattled Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, an accused in the land-for-hotels scandal, to "come out with facts in public against the accusations" but stopped short of demanding his resignation.
Insiders say the BJP is now concerned the LJP putting up a good fight against the JD-U would mean benefitting the MGB in those seats. Moreover, Chirag and Tejaswi are known to be friends, and the former is battling for his political survival.
Sunil Gatade and Venkatesh Kesari reveal that Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar's name is now doing the rounds as President Kovind's likely successor.
BJP candidate Kedar Prasad Gupta defeated Manoj Singh Kushwaha of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United by 3,645 votes in Kurhani.
Sources said Paswan's party may contest on five of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar.
He was administered the oath of office by Governor Rajendra Arlekar at the Raj Bhavan in Patna.
Several leaders aren't happy with the chief minister's decision to walk out of the Grand Alliance and join hands with the BJP.
Thousands of Janata Dal-United activists are expected to attend the March 17 rally of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Delhi's Ram Lila Maidan, demanding special-category status for Bihar.
Singh was JD-U president when the party was part of the INDIA bloc and used to accompany Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to the coalition's meetings.
Indu Bhusan, the son of slain Ranvir Sena chief Brahmeshwar Singh, nicknamed Mukhiya, accused two legislators of Bihar's ruling Janata Dal-United as main conspirators behind the killing of his father on June 1.
'Wrong feedback was given against Parasji to the top BJP leadership in New Delhi by a senior BJP leader, who is also a Union minister from Bihar.' 'He deliberately provided wrong information about the RLJP to the BJP leadership to help Chirag Paswan.'
Lok Janshakti Party leader Chirag Paswan on Wednesday blamed Janata Dal-United for engineering the split in his party and rejected the decisions taken by the faction headed by his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras, saying the party's constitution does not authorise them any such power.
The Bihar CM has been expelled for anti-party activities.
The Janata Dal-United on Sunday claimed there was no doubt left that Lalu Prasad would support Narendra Modi as prime ministerial candidate as the Rashtriya Janata Dal leader was "panicky" due to Congress' inclination towards arch-rival Nitish Kumar.
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.
Former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi on Saturday announced to launch a new political front -- Hindustani Awam Morcha.
UP's representation in the government could diminish, given the BJP's decreased seat count in that state.
With the National Democratic Alliance retaining power in Bihar albeit with a narrow three-seat majority, workers from both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Janata Dal-United celebrated by bursting crackers and distributing sweets.
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.
'Reports of the JD-U joining hands with the BJP again is baseless.'
The RJD polled the highest vote share in Bihar, but it was not reflected in the number of seats it won.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ananth Kumar on Friday said that his party will contest the 2014 Lok Sabha elections along with its alliance partner the Janata Dal-United in Bihar.
Almost a fortnight after former bureaucrat K P Ramaiah took voluntary retirement from the Indian Administrative Service, he is ready to take on Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, a former Indian Foreign Service officer, in the Lok Sabha polls from the Sasaram seat in Bihar.
Lok Janskati Party president Ramvilas Paswan on Friday said he fails to understand why Congress is "dithering" to join the Rashtriya Janata Dal-LJP alliance which is intact in spite of sentencing of Lalu Prasad.
Bharatiya Janata Party attacked its former alliance partner Janata Dal-United for taking support of Congress in winning the trust vote in Bihar Assembly, saying that the "glue of corruption" has brought them together.
Suspended Janata Dal-United MP Upendra Kushwaha on Friday resigned from the party, slamming Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's alleged "autocratic" functioning in Bihar.
However, the SC allowed him to retain his official bungalow.
Bihar's ruling Janata Dal-United has issued a show cause notice to Member of Legislative Assembly from Ziradei constituency, Shyam Bahadur Singh, who danced with half a dozen bar dancers at his official residence in Patna last week to entertain participants of a Mahadalit rally.
Captain Jainarayan Prasad Nishad, a member of the Lok Sabha from Bihar, has written to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar against a sitting judge of the Supreme Court of India. In the letter to the Speaker, Captain Nishad has expressed his 'determination' to initiate impeachment proceeding against the judge.
Rashtriya Janata Dal President Lalu Prasad on Thursday invited former Bihar chief minister Jiten Ram Manjhi, a known detractor of Nitish Kumar, to join the process of uniting parties against the Bharatiya Janata Party for the upcoming assembly polls in Bihar.
Congress support to Janata Dal-United in Bihar Assembly on Wednesday lends a new dimension to the much-delayed meeting of the JPC on 2G scam to be held next week to discuss adoption of the controversial draft report that gave a clean chit to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday admitted that sharp differences prevailed in the Janata Dal - United over the Women's Reservation Bill, but ruled out reports of a crisis brewing within the party."I admit there have been honest differences of opinion in the party over the support to the women's reservation bill in the Lok Sabha, but it should not be taken as a crisis or split facing the party," said Kumar.
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.