A united opposition is set to corner the NDA government on issues ranging from the NEET paper leak case to railway safety.
'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.'
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.
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.
Ramesh said the current limit of 50 percent is not explicitly mandated by the Constitution, but has been decided through various Supreme Court decisions.
Cracks are widening within Bihar BJP with more party legislators coming in the open and alleging lack of inner democracy with one MLA openly vouching for Chief Minister Nitish Kumar saying he would serve as a better prime minister.
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.
After Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar took umbrage at advertisements showing him with his Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi, his party Janata Dal (United) downplayed the issue saying on Sunday that the alliance and relationship between it and the Bharatiya Janata Party is quite old.
'Reports of the JD-U joining hands with the BJP again is baseless.'
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.
'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.
Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama's reported remarks that Bihar poll results prove that a majority of Hindus prefer harmony on Sunday received the support of the Janata Dal-United while the Bharatiya Janata Party played down the statement.
The major players in Bihar are the ruling alliance of the Janata Dal-United and the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Opposition alliance of mahagathabandhan led by the Rashtriya Janata Dal with the Congress and three Left parties.
Bihar Industry and Disaster Management minister Renu Kumari Kushwaha on Monday evening resigned from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's cabinet and the Janata Dal-United party. Kushwaha is set to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Khagaria seat as a Lok Janshakti Party nominee. LJP has joined hands with the Bharatiaya Janata Party in Bihar.
UP's representation in the government could diminish, given the BJP's decreased seat count in that state.
The Janata Dal-United on Sunday condemned the road rage incident in which party Member of Legislative Council Manorama Devi's son shot dead a youth and assured that appropriate action would be taken against him as per the law.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Monday for the first time targeted Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is considered close to him, by saying that ongoing Lok Sabha polls outcome will prove the impact of the Janata Dal-United's decision to end its alliance with the BJP.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday alleged that the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar was under threat from its own legislators, who are getting "restless" due to the delay in state cabinet expansion.
Besides the four ministerial berths, the Congress has also sought the post of Speaker of the state assembly, but Kumar is not keen on giving that, sources said.
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.
The RJD polled the highest vote share in Bihar, but it was not reflected in the number of seats it won.
As part of the campaign, JD-U workers were seen cutting their hair and nails and stuffing them in packets as samples for sending it to the prime minister for DNA test.
The JD-U, may be the BJP's partner for now. But it is a party at all only because of Nitish Kumar. The day Nitish Kumar exits, the JD-U will split into hundreds of pieces. Obviously, Prashant Kishor is setting himself up as the vessel that will collect all the pieces and put them together in some sort of political instrument, explains Aditi Phadnis.
'Chirag Paswan's game plan would be to push out Nitish Kumar from this alliance, but that is only possible if the BJP wins about 90 seats and the LJP wins between 25-30 seats.'
The Nitish Kumar government in Bihar came under fresh attack on Monday from state Bharatiya Janata Party president Sanjay Jaiswal whose party seems annoyed with junior ally Janata Dal-United's shrill demands for special assistance from the Centre.
In a fresh salvo apparently aimed at alliance partner Janata Dal - United, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi on Saturday said the Bharatiya Janata Party would not take it lying down if any of its allies tries to impose its views on the party.
One person was killed and another seriously injured on Tuesday when a parcel bomb exploded at the house of a Janata Dal-United leader in Bihar's Gaya district.
A day after Janata Dal-United and Bharatiya Janata Party clashed in the Upper House of the Bihar assembly peace was restored in the House today following the Chairman giving a clean chit to former Chief Minister Nitish Kumar accused of instigating the scuffle and the leader of opposition expressing regret about the episode.
Kumar will be administered the oath of office by Governor Phagu Chauhan at a simple ceremony inside the Raj Bhavan at 2 pm.
Bharatiya Janata Party senior leader Sushil Kumar Modi talks to Satyavrat Mishra about the prospects of the party in Bihar. Modi says only the assembly elections or general elections are the true barometers of popularity. Edited excerpts:
Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, BJP chief J P Nadda and new party entrant Ashok Chavan and Union ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw and L Murugan were among the 41 candidates elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha on Tuesday while Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh will witness polling on February 27.
If the Chirag Paswan-led LJP posts a good result, the young leader could become a formidable caste challenger in the years to come and a permanent fixture as a BJP ally, reports Aditi Phadnis.
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.
Sources said the Congress, which has 19 legislators in the Bihar assembly, will go by what the Rashtriya Janata Dal decides and its presence will help strengthen the coalition.
Names of eight-term MLA from Gaya town Prem Kumar and that of Kameshwar Choupal, a Dalit MLC who had laid the foundation stone for the temple at Ayodhya in the 1990s, are also doing the rounds for the post in the political circles.
Amit Shah's assertion puts to rest reports of growing differences between the BJP and JD-U and may end the war of words that leaders of the alliance have been having with one another.
'We are allies and equals. We have to run Bihar collectively'
Sources in both the BJP and the Janata Dal-United suggested such a possibility but it remained unclear if Kumar, the unquestioned leader of his party, has finalised a deal with the BJP top brass.
Kumar said that while the rise in percentage of population of the deprived castes has led to increase in the quotas for SCs, STs and OBCs from 50 to 65 per cent, his government also planned to undertake a number of welfare measures for the benefit of "94 lakh families", which according to the survey lived in abject poverty.
