Bypolls are due in Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu
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.
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.
The government has not divulged the amount of the fine to be imposed on first-time offenders.
The BJP, which has traditionally been considered as the party of upper castes and Vaishyas/Baniyas, seems to be consolidating its base especially among Vaishyas and EBCs.
Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav's faltering speech at a function attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has provided fresh ammunition to his baiters.
The Bihar assembly plunged into turmoil on Saturday when the opposition sought to raise the issue of alleged involvement of revenue and land reforms minister Ram Surat Rai in illicit liquor trade, forcing adjournment of the House around noon till lunch.
Four Janata Dal-United legislators were disqualified on Saturday from the Bihar assembly under the anti-defection law for anti-party activities, including cross voting in Rajya Sabha election.
The Commission's strongly-worded instructions came close on the heels of politicians using election rallies and press conferences to target each other ahead of the crucial assembly elections.
Unprecedented chaos erupted inside the Bihar assembly on Tuesday when police was called inside to assist the marshals in evicting unruly opposition members who tried to physically prevent the Speaker from taking his Chair.
Ahead of the Madhya Pradesh elections, Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs from Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra have arrived in Bhopal as part of the ruling party's programme wherein every legislator will be allotted one assembly seat each that they are supposed to visit to take stock of the ground situation, party leaders said.
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 cabinet of the new government led by Rekha Gupta balances representation of all major communities that propelled the Bharatiya Janata Party to power in Delhi with a massive majority after over 26 years.
If everything goes according to the plan, the exercise will begin after the Lok Sabha elections, the official said.
Two cases were on Thursday filed in Bihar seeking sedition charges against AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi for his refusal to chant Bharat Mata Ki Jai.
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.
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.
He has served as a minister in all the previous National Democratic Alliance governments in Bihar. He was the minister for the road construction department in the last government.
"Between 1990 and 2005, only 95,000 people were given jobs. In our administration, over 6 lakh jobs were given and besides this many others were enrolled in other services," Nitish Kumar said.
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'.
'I have been battling cancer for the last six months. Now, I feel that the time has come to inform people about it'
The vote value of an MLA is calculated on the basis of the total population of the state, based on the 1971 census.
Bedlam erupted in the House for a few minutes and continued till all BJP members staged a walkout in protest.
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.
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.
Asaduddin Owaisi, who was once the leader of a little-known outfit confined to the old city of Hyderabad, has emerged as a powerful voice of Muslims in the country in recent years.
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.
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.
Prasad can still influence the power play in Patna if not change it, reports Satyavrat Mishra.
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.
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.
The remaining 10 will be administered the oath on Wednesday
An amendment bill is likely to be tabled in the next session of the assembly in February.
Of the 9 results declared, 7 has been won by BJP while Janata Dal-United scored victory at two places, Election Commission said.
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.
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.
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.
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 Bihar CM has requested the governor for a secret ballot.
The Chief Election Commissioner pointed out that the exercise involved nearly 7.3 crore voters and over 1.06 lakh polling stations.
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