Days after their landslide victory in Bihar assembly polls, Grand Alliance leaders, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad, are celebrating Chhath festival at their residences.
Defying prohibitory orders, protests were held in Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and several other cities. Protesters, mostly students and activists, were detained on a large scale in national capital and other places.
Independent of what the Karnataka high court and the Supreme Court might decide in Jayalalithaa's conviction and sentencing in the coming days, weeks and months, political arguments based on 'popular mandate' theory are plain untenable, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Trains were set afire and blocked, and public vehicles attacked as protests over 'Agnipath' swept across several places in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Jammu on Thursday amid partisan political voices in favour and against the new recruitment scheme for the defence forces that has set off a firestorm.
JD-U leader Sharad Yadav speaks about the recent crisis in Bihar
'It is the RJD, otherwise known for misgovernance, which has offered a candidate of clean and performing credentials, rather than the NDA,' points out Mohammad Sajjad.
Oil marketing cos rightly passed on the burden to buyers.
'It's the same problem with all six of us. Behenji (Mayawati) is not to be blamed, but the coordinators have acted in a manner which has depressed us and we thought what is the use of remaining with such a party'
To snatch a state government out of Congress hands is therefore a high-stakes game with national political implications, for it denies the party the essential fuel to run effective election campaigns, notes T N Ninan.
'...It won't help the party run a peaceful and equitable India,' warns Vir Sanghvi.
Narendra Modi seems to prefer that Hindu strongman image remain tucked in reserve, to only come when called; life's been more complicated.
Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi appears to be on the way out in the wake of his defiance as the Janata Dal-United is all set to replace him with his mentor Nitish Kumar at a meeting of the legislature party on Saturday.
After the historic win of Bhartiya Janta Partyin Uttar Pradesh elections on Saturday, the talk about the face of chief minister candidate is the next question.
Mahila Thana station house officer Arti Kumari Jaiswal arrived at the spot and told reporters, "The girl seems to be in a state of shock and hence we are taking her along to the police station and wait for the time till she is able to record her statement coherently. An FIR will be lodged based on her testimony and investigations and further action will follow."
Mahendra Raj is a towering figure of 20th century Indian architecture.
A day after Janata Dal-United and Bharatiya Janata Party clashed in the Upper House of the Bihar assembly peace was restored in the House today following the Chairman giving a clean chit to former Chief Minister Nitish Kumar accused of instigating the scuffle and the leader of opposition expressing regret about the episode.
'The BJP's solo aim in Mumbai and Maharashtra is to finish off the Shiv Sena and Sharad Pawar's NCP.'
11,292 km. 20 million (Nitish Kumar says 30 million) Biharis. 45 minutes.
Rashtriya Janata Dal President Lalu Prasad on Monday hit the streets, accusing Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of luring his party MLAs and asserting that nine of the 13 legislators who reportedly broke away have denied parting ways.
'A fierce crusader against communalism, George joined hands with majoritarian forces, never to revisit or re-assess his saffron association.' 'He was a Union minister in 1998-2004, a time when people like Graham Staines were lynched in Orissa.' 'On the Gujarat pogrom of 2002, George went on to kind of justify the slashing of pregnant women, by saying in the Lok Sabha that this was nothing new for India.' 'Thus, he was in sharp contrast to what he had himself stood for in the heyday of his political career in the 1970s and 1980s, says Mohammad Sajjad.
Violent agitations continued to rock parts of West Bengal for second consecutive day on Saturday as people protesting against the amended Citizenship Act set several buses on fire and torched portions of a railway station complex, officials said.
Police have registered a First Information Report against Rashtriya Janata Dal legislator of the dissolved Bihar assembly, Sunil Kumar 'pushpam', and 4 unknown persons, on the charge of allegedly causing the death of a pregnant dalit woman.
Shouting slogans, BJP leaders and workers -- including Prem Kumar, who is the leader of opposition in Bihar assembly -- took to the streets, demanding arrest of Rocky.
All NDA leaders asserted the number of MLAs supporting them would not be less than 125, three more than the magic figure of 122 in the 243-member assembly.
Feeling angry and unhappy over being sidelined within his party, Bollywood actor-turned-politician and Lok Sabha MP from Patna Sahib, Shatrughan Sinha has decided to boycott BJP president Amit Shah's rally on Tuesday.
On the efforts for a complete alliance among the United Progressive Alliance partners in Bihar, Lalu said there was no UPA in Bihar.
Facing stiff challenge to see Janata Dal-United candidates through in the coming bypoll for two Rajya Sabha seats in Bihar, Nitish Kumar on Saturday appealed to arch rival Lalu Prasad, Congress and Communist Party of India to make common cause to "foil the game plan of BJP to destabilise the government".
Patel's victory, which came against heavy odds, has given the Congress and the rest of the Opposition the confidence that Modi and Shah weren't invincible.
The manner in which a large proportion of common people have mortgaged their rationality and questioning spirit to let hatred, prejudice, and bigotry take over their minds is a cause of worry, observes Mohammad Sajjad.
Political skirmishes erupt over Chhattisgarh's decision to permit babus to attend RSS camps.
'The Jharkhand government is increasingly intolerant of voices of dissent.' 'Recently 20 persons, including activists, writers and academics, were booked for sedition.' 'Many of them have been critical of the government's apathy towards Adivasis,' notes Siraj Dutta.
The Janata Dal-United, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Congress legislators on Wednesday created ruckus in both Houses of Bihar legislature over recovery of Rs 1.14 crore, $600 and ornaments stolen from the house of Bharatiya Janata Party MP Giriraj Singh and demanded his arrest and termination of Parliament membership alleging it as "black money".
Sounding confident of winning the trust vote on February 20, Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi said he would enter the ring as a "wrestler" without bothering about his win or loss.
The BJP, on the other hand, learnt from past mistakes to clinch power.
Police identified the suicide bomber as Adil Ahmed, who officials said joined the Jaish in 2018.
Creation of new state entails long drawn administrative process, could take as much as a decade
True, Azam Khan is being targeted rather disproportionately and also because of his Muslim identity. That must be protested and resisted. But to say that he is a big messiah, and his profit-making educational enterprise is an issue concerning all Muslims of India, is absolutely unjustified, assert Mohammad Sajjad and Md Mohammad Zeeshan Ahmad.
'The Congress agreed to it, but the RJD has some problem with Kanhaiya.'
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances