A BJP leader in Bihar on Thursday died while taking part in a 'Vidhan Sabha march' against the state's Nitish Kumar government, evoking allegations from senior party leaders that he was "killed in a brutal lathi charge".
The counting of votes for the bypolls to 46 assembly seats in 13 states and in the Lok Sabha segments of Nanded in Maharashtra and Wayanad in Kerala, a crucial electoral exercise since the parliamentary polls in April-May, will begin at 8 am on Saturday.
Union ministers Ravneet Singh Bittu and George Kurian were elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha Tuesday along with senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi and former minister Upendra Kushwaha.
After dissidence in Karnataka, a section of Members of Parliament and Members of Legislative Assembly belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party in Bihar have revolted against their party leader and Deputy Chief Minister S K Modi for his reported statement intending to cover sharecroppers under the Kisan Credit Card Scheme.
As name-calling like 'cannibal' and 'devil' permeates the high stake Bihar assembly poll campaign, the Election Commission on Thursday expressed "deep anguish" at the "plummeting level" of speeches.
The polls were deferred due to the spread of coronavirus.
If Nitish is as shrewd a practitioner of realpolitik as he is billed to be, we'd like to see if he can do the unthinkable -- break up the BJP legislature party in Bihar.
Dissension surfaced within the Bharatiya Janata party over choice of leader of opposition in the Bihar Assembly with a section of legislators protesting selection of Nand Kishore Yadav to the post without discussion with members of Legislative Assembly.
Fissures surfaced among Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) partners ahead of the Jharkhand assembly elections as the Rashtriya Janata Dal on Saturday expressed disappointment over the announcement of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and Congress contesting 70 of 81 seats in the state.
Bima Bharti, a member of Legislative Assembly from Bihar, has opposed the bail petition of her husband Awadhesh Mandal, a gangster and history-sheeter. Bharti has informed the court that she no longer wants to live with him as she fears for her life, police officials said on Friday.
The SC on Thursday issued notices to the Bihar government, the Election Commission and the Bihar State Electricity Board on a PIL challenging BSEB's decision to waive surcharge on delayed payment of electricity bills by MLAs and ministers.
The move came even as deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, while speaking in the state assembly earlier in the day, sought to go by the version of the Tamil Nadu DGP who has rubbished reports of attacks on Hindi-speaking people in that state.
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader Hemant Soren on Sunday met Jharkhand Governor Santosh Kumar Gangwar and staked claim to form the government, soon after leaders of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) in the state unanimously elected him as the legislature party leader.
Adequate security and Covid safety measures have been put in place for the electoral exercise.
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the proposal for 'one nation, one Election' as recommended by the Kovind panel, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday.
Sale and consumption of alcohol was completely banned in Bihar by the Nitish Kumar government in April, 2016.
BJP state president Mangal Pandey said that Sunil Kumar and Renu Kushwaha have joined the party and RJD MLA Braj Kishore Singh has joined the party.
The Bihar government has advised heads of departments, district magistrates and other senior officials not to call too many meetings as it was affecting the work culture in the state. A recent circular issued by the general administration department said that meetings should not be called on verbal orders and subordinates should be respected.
Supreme Court judge Sanjay Karol on Wednesday recused himself from hearing a plea filed by the Bihar government challenging a Patna high court order granting a stay on the caste survey it was conducting.
Kumar had recently dumped the 'Mahagathbandhan', of which the Rashtriya Janata Dal was a key constituent, and returned to the NDA fold to form the government with support of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
An EC statement said the matter of issuing broad guidelines for elections and by-elections during 'COVID-19 period' was discussed at the commission meeting on Tuesday.
The notification will be issued on January 20, while January 27 will be the last date of filing nominations.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra Pawar on Thursday filed papers as an NCP candidate for Rajya Sabha elections.
A day after a local lawyer filed a case against Haryana Bharatiya Janata Party leader O P Dhankhar for his alleged remarks 'Bihari bride for Haryana boys', another case was lodged in Patna on Tuesday a police official said.
Sanjeev Kumar alias Sanjeev 'Mukhiya', an alleged kingpin behind the NEET paper leak, was not only minting money but wanted to become an MP or MLA.
Yadav, Bhushan and 150 protestors were detained and have been taken to the Maurice Nagar police station.
A win for SP could provide some consolation for Akhilesh Yadav after the defeat in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections early this year and the loss of Azamgarh and Rampur Lok Sabha seats to the BJP in June bypolls.
Hearing a bunch of petitions, a division bench of Chief Justice K Vinod Chandran and Justice Madhuresh Prasad directed the government to immediately stop the caste-based survey, and ensure that the data already collected are secured and not shared with anybody till final orders are passed.
A day after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar formed the government in Bihar in alliance with the National Democratic Alliance, hectic lobbying started for the post of assembly speaker, and other legislators to be included in the council of ministers.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav also have cases registered against them.
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.
The Congress on Monday promised that a government led by it will conduct a nationwide caste census and implement 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies at the earliest, including adequate representation for women belonging to the OBC community.
The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to overturn the Patna high court's interim order suspending the Bihar government's caste survey.
Kumar recommended Sahani's expulsion from the cabinet to the governor in the evening, after a written submission to the effect by the BJP, hours after the minister for fishery and animal husbandry was given the ultimatum to withdraw forthwith a recent notification.
L Murugan, 44, is the only newly-sworn minister who is not a member of Rajya Sabha or Lok Sabha.
Gandhiji asked me if I had sufficient warm clothes in view of the coming cold season. I said yes. But he verified my statement by asking Miraben to search my bag to make sure. Such was Gandhiji.
In an appeal filed before the top court against the May 4 order of the high court, the state government said the stay will adversely affect the entire exercise.
With polling of votes coming to an end in Bihar, exit poll prediction by various media outlets have started pouring in.
'I have to take a stand to strengthen it. I cannot sit silent.'
The Election Commission is confident of holding the five assembly polls due early next year, including in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, on time as the poll panel has gained a lot of experience from the electoral exercise in Bihar, West Bengal and four other assemblies amid the coronavirus pandemic, Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra has asserted.
