It was under his stewardship of the Union Rural Development Ministry that NREGA, the flagship rural livelihood scheme, was implemented.
Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar will take oath as chief minister of Bihar on February 22, ending weeks of political uncertainty in the state.
The opposition on Tuesday termed as an 'election jumla' the women's reservation bill brought by the government with many leaders raising questions over the proposed legislation, contending it doesn't account for reservation for OBC communities and that it will be effective at the earliest by the 2029 Lok Sabha polls.
The Bharatiya Janata Party in Bihar is in trouble ahead of the upcoming state assembly polls as two of its ally the Lok Janshakti Party and the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party on Sunday played pressure game to bargain for more seats.
Indicating a rift within the party after its split with the ruling Janata Dal-United in Bihar, a Bharatiya Janata Party member of Legislative Assembly on Wednesday said that state Chief Minister Nitish Kumar would be a "better" prime minister than Narendra Modi and blamed his party for the break up of the coalition.
In a rare protest, an angry Bharatiya Janata Party leader used donkeys to register his protest after being denied a ticket for the upcoming Bihar assembly elections.
Firing yet another salvo at the Bharatiya Janata Party, Shiv Sena on Monday slammed its ally over the issue of supporting Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi saying backing him would be a "sin" as it would be an endorsement of "black era in politics".
Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday night released the first list of 43 candidates for the high-stakes Bihar polls, giving about 60 per cent representation to those from SC and backward castes in an apparent attempt to target the base of rival Janata Dal-United-Rashtriya Janata Dal combine.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday said he agreed to attend the foundation-laying ceremony of the Aligarh Muslim University campus because it was he who had suggested Kishanganj as the venue.
Even as the Centre stayed the Jharkhand government's move to promote tourism at the Parasnath hills after protests by Jains, tribals jumped into the fray staking a claim to the land and asking for it to be freed.
The results for the bypolls in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, Telangana, Maharashtra, Punjab and Tripura were announced on Tuesday.
Notably, Yadav, the younger son of Rashtriya Janata Dal's founding president Lalu Prasad, had steered the 'Mahagathbandhan', which then did not have the chief minister on its side, to an impressive electoral performance in 2020 assembly polls in which the National Democratic Alliance could barely scrape through.
Kushwaha retorted saying that he could not leave the party without his share in the "paternal property".
By keeping the Sanatana Dharma row alive and adding the Ayodhya temple consecration scheduled for January 22 and adding the free darshan promise from four polled states to the entire country, the BJP may have a self-fulfilling concoction, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
Fourteen people, including a member of Legislative Assembly and two former MPs, were on Monday sentenced to 10 years in jail by a fast track court in a case related to an attack on Sitamarhi collectorate and subsequent police firing in which five persons were killed in 1998. Another convict was sentenced to five years in prison.
Jharkhand Governor Ramesh Bais is likely to send the order of disqualification of Chief Minister Hemant Soren as an MLA to the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday, Raj Bhavan sources said.
The BJP and JD-U will form the new government after the latter party's chief resigned saying in the circumstances it became difficult to run the grand alliance government.
'A one-party State is not possible in a diverse country like India.'
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday said the Janata Dal-United would welcome rebel Rashtriya Janata Dal members of Legislative Assembly into its fold and rejected allegations that the assembly Speaker worked at his behest by hurriedly giving recognition to the breakaway faction.
Aiming to end the 25-year rule of Lalu-Nitish combine in Bihar, the National Democratic Alliance will formally launch on Thursday its campaign for the crucial assembly polls scheduled later this year with BJP president Amit Shah set to flag off 160 'parivartan raths' from Patna.
Under siege, Nitish plans to tweak Bihar's anti-booze law
The RJD leader, who is the Mahagathbandhan's chief ministerial face, said that if voted to power, providing jobs to unemployed youth would be his topmost priority.
The State Election Commission on Friday informed the Calcutta high court that it has requisitioned 822 companies of central forces for the July 8 panchayat polls in West Bengal.
Sources said Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is 'satisfied' with the deputy CM's explanation.
He was arrested late on Wednesday evening from a village under Amba police station area in Aurangabad district by a joint excise and police team.
e Union minister of state for home is somewhat brash and rowdy, and has enormous confidence.' Some of this derives from the fact that he has independent sources of income (he reported assets amounting to Rs 18 crore in his 2019 Lok Sabha nomination papers)
The JD-U also accused the ruling BJP of having "authoritarian" tendencies and destabilising non-BJP governments in several states, including Delhi and Jharkhand besides Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra earlier.
In case the EC doesn't hold elections within six months, the duration in which Banerjee has to become an MLA, the Trinamool Congress is ready with Plan B.
The BJP on Thursday lent its support to the chief minister even as both houses of Bihar legislature recognised JD-U as their principal opposition party.
Buoyed by the exit polls projections, the party has sent its senior leaders including general secretary Randeep Surjewala and Avinash Pande, chairman of the Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee screening committee, to Patna for proper coordination with the allies and possibly also to keep its flock together after the results are declared.
What is Change really like in Bihar? Once seen as India's basket-case, what is its turnaround story like?
While the Rashtriya Janata Dal and Janata Dal-United are busy fighting each other, the BJP is trying not to repeat the mistakes it made the last time out, says Satyavrat Mishra
Continuing dynasty politics, Rashtriya Janata Dal Chief Lalu Prasad on Friday nominated his daughter Misa Bharti to Rajya Sabha, reports MI I Khan.
Altogether 160 MLAs voted in favour of the confidence motion while no vote was cast against the same.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has ruled out a rethink on the seat-sharing formula for the 'Grand Secular Alliance' for the state Assembly polls, a day after Nationalist Congress Party's ultimatum for reconsideration by August 20 and its insistence on 12 seats.
Facing apparent defeat, Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi resigned on Friday.
With most political parties failing to articulate the concerns of Muslims, who account for 15 per cent of the population and can swing the electoral outcome in 21 constituencies, the AIMIM hopes to make a mark in the ongoing assembly elections, says Shafeeq Rahman.
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar said the decision of the merger has already been taken and there was no question of going back on it.
Suspended Janata Dal-United Member of Legislative Assembly Sarfaraz Alam was on Sunday arrested for allegedly misbehaving and abusing a Delhi-based couple on board Rajdhani Express.
As the political drama unfolds in Bihar, Janata Dal-United chief Sharad Yadav on Monday said the decision of Nitish Kumar to quit as Chief Minister is 'final'.
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