In a ghastly incident that has sent shock waves across Bihar, former state minister Mukesh Sahni's 70-year-old father was found stabbed to death at his native home in Darbhanga district, a top police officer said.
Singh, considered close to RJD president Lalu Prasad and his family, was charged with raising slogans against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on February 13, during a heated exchange in the House.
'I want to ask the entire nation and the opposition. Can a Chief Minister, Prime Minister, or any leader run the country from jail?'
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's political opponents are trying to tarnish his reputation by highlighting the circumstances that led to the sacking of his Excise Minister Jamshed Ashraf in February.
A first information report (FIR) has been lodged by an MLA of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United against a party colleague, alleging that he was offered a bribe of Rs 10 crore and a ministerial berth for switching over to the Rashtriya Janata Dal-led 'Mahagathbandhan' ahead of the trust vote.
The vote value of an MLA is calculated on the basis of the total population of the state, based on the 1971 census.
If everything goes according to the plan, the exercise will begin after the Lok Sabha elections, the official said.
The remaining 10 will be administered the oath on Wednesday
Prasad can still influence the power play in Patna if not change it, reports Satyavrat Mishra.
Of the 9 results declared, 7 has been won by BJP while Janata Dal-United scored victory at two places, Election Commission said.
Bedlam erupted in the House for a few minutes and continued till all BJP members staged a walkout in protest.
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.
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has urged Muslims to wear a black armband on their right hand during Juma prayers on the last Friday of Ramzan as a mark of protest against the Waqf (Amendment) Bill. The AIMPLB has been vocal in its opposition to the Bill, calling it "controversial, discriminatory and damaging." The organization has planned nationwide protests against the Bill, with large sit-ins scheduled in several cities.
It can possibly happen only in Bihar. The names of rich including chartered accountant, government employees, shopkeeper of Public Distribution System and even dead have been allotted job cards and they have drawn money as wages under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in the state.
Uddhav Thackeray criticized BJP MP Nishikant Dubey for his controversial remarks amid the Marathi-Hindi language row, accusing him of trying to divide people and disturb harmony.
The Bihar CM has requested the governor for a secret ballot.
An amendment bill is likely to be tabled in the next session of the assembly in February.
The CM was present at the Patna airport to receive body of the LJP founder with whom he spent long time in the politics. The CM and other leaders cutting across party lines paid respect to the septuagenarian leader, who died in Delhi on Thursday, at the airport premises.
In a major embarrassment to the Rashtriya Janata Dal, its no-confidence motion in the Bihar assembly against the Nitish Kumar government was on Thursday rejected by Speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhary due to the lack of required strength of supporting members. Soon after the Question Hour, RJD Member of Legislative Assembly Durga Prasad Singh and six other party members submitted a no-confidence motion against the government to the Speaker.
Kumar's outburst came as opposition members stood in the well of the House, demanding that the state's amended reservation laws be incorporated in the 9th schedule of the Constitution to make it immune from legal scrutiny.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday apologised in both Houses of the legislature, as well as outside, for remarks made a day before on the importance of women's education to control population growth.
Members of JD-U, RJD and Congress which have given enough hint of fighting together against BJP in the coming state assembly election next year, jointly rushed into the well of both the Houses demanding action against Dhankhar and his "close friend" Sushil Kumar Modi.
Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad Yadav on Tuesday said he was in favour of extending reservation benefits to Muslims but emphasised that it should be based on social backwardness and 'not on the basis of religion'.
A 65-year-old woman was killed and three others were injured in a stampede during a feast organised by ruling Janata Dal United Member of Legislative Assembly Poonam Devi in Bihar's Khagaria district on Monday, said the police. The legislator has hosted the feast at her home in Chukti village of the district.
Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha, who was a minister himself in the previous National Democratic Alliance government, was visibly shaken at the disdain shown towards the Chair by Samrat Chaudhary who holds the Panchayati Raj portfolio.
The Chief Election Commissioner pointed out that the exercise involved nearly 7.3 crore voters and over 1.06 lakh polling stations.
As many as six Bihar legislators have been booked for violation of the provisions of model code of conduct, which had come into effect following announcement of the assembly polls schedule by the Election Commission on Monday last, official sources said on Friday.
'I have been battling cancer for the last six months. Now, I feel that the time has come to inform people about it'
Caste census politics took centre stage on Thursday with the Congress terming the government's decision as a 'diversionary tactic' and a move for headlines management and the Bharatiya Janata Party saying it has exposed the difference between the Centre's 'true intentions' and the 'empty sloganeering' of the opposition party.
A BJP MLA said the provision of the Bihar Legislature Member Salary Act, 1960, which barred the disbursement of salaries and allowances to the MLas till they took oath, was unconstitutional.
In terms of electoral fortunes, in all likelihood, the status quo is not going to change in any significant manner. These six seats from Bihar are unlikely to give any clear signal to UPA, NDA or Federal Front.
To govern effectively, to legislate successfully, Modi must reach out to the Opposition. As long as he does not and he is showing no signs that he accepts the reality, the drift his fans are anguishing over will remain, cautions Aakar Patel.
Four years after he left Bihar to move to Rashtrapati Bhavan, President Ram Nath Kovind returned to Patna to address the inaugural event at the centenary celebration of the Bihar legislative assembly building.
"It has been decided that there shall be no change in the leadership and Sushil Kumar Modi, Deputy Chief Minister will continue as leader of the legislature party," party spokesperson Ravi Shanker Prasad told PTI shortly after Modi won the 'head count' of legislators. BJP leadership had decided to go for a 'secret ballot' to assess the view of legislators as a way out to address the demand by some of them that Modi should be removed from the two posts.
Leader of Opposition in Bihar Legislative Assembly Tejashwi Yadav on Monday said the caste-based census will help in preparing welfare schemes for people from different sections of society.
LJP candidate from Matihani constituency, Raj Kumar Singh defeated Janata Dal-United's Narendra Kumar Singh aka Bogo Singh by a slender margin of 333 votes.
Dr Sinha, who was abducted on April 17, was freed on Wednesday from the house of the MLA.
Bihar Member of Legislative Assembly Zakir Anwar alias Zakir Mian is among the criminals of Indian origin wanted by the Nepal police.
Ruling Janata Dal - United Member of Legislative Assembly Abhay Singh on Friday allegedly committed suicide after shooting his wife and six-month-old daughter dead at his father and Bihar minister Narendra Singh's official residence in Patna. Food and Supplies Minister Narendra Singh fell unconscious after the incident and has been admitted to the Intensive Critical Care Unit of Patna Medical College and Hospital with cardiac complications, sources said.
