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.
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.
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.
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.
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".
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.
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.
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.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's wife Sunetra Pawar on Thursday filed papers as an NCP candidate for Rajya Sabha elections.
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.
Voters, it is said, get the government they deserve. We will soon see what voters in Maharashtra choose. Till then, a sense of helplessness and scepticism hangs in the air, notes Ramesh Menon.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
"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.
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.
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.
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.
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 was arrested in Nepal in connection with the kidnapping of a businessman, the police said on Saturday. Lok Janshakti Party MLA Zakir Mian, as he is popularly known in Araria, was arrested at Jhapa town in Nepal on Friday in connection with the kidnapping of one Tulsiram Agrawal from Biratnagar a decade ago.
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.
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.
Anna Hazare's anti-corruption wave seems to have hit the Janata Dal-United government in Bihar with a party MLA accusing a senior minister of being corrupt and calling for the latter's removal from the state Cabinet.
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.
A local court on Thursday remanded Rupam Pathak, the school teacher who allegedly killed Bihar's member of legislative assembly Raj Kishore Keshari on Tuesday, to 14-day judicial custody. Pathak had allegedly stabbed to death Keshari at his residence in Purnia on Tuesday morning.Pathak was produced in the court on Thursday amid tight security, said police officials.On Tuesday, Pathak had been admitted at the Katihar Hospital in a critical condition after she was badly beaten.
Sale and consumption of alcohol was completely banned in Bihar by the Nitish Kumar government in April, 2016.
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.
The polls were deferred due to the spread of coronavirus.
Once a close aide to JMM supremo Shibu Soren, Champai is now seen as crucial for the saffron party's efforts to establish a foothold in the tribal belt of Jharkhand, where Scheduled Tribes make up about 26 per cent of the electorate.
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.
Manoj Tiwari is the only sitting MP whom the BJP has retained.
Among the keenly watched contests are those involving former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav (Kannauj, UP) and Union ministers Giriraj Singh (Begusarai, Bihar), Nityanand Rai (Ujiarpur, Bihar) and Raosaheb Danve (Jalna, Maharashtra).
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.
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.
Adequate security and Covid safety measures have been put in place for the electoral exercise.