Former Lok Janshakti Party president Chirag Paswan on Sunday asserted that every party wants him to be on its side, indicating he could tilt towards the one that offered a better bargain.
Nine months after he stepped down, JD-U leader Nitish Kumar was on Sunday sworn-in as the Bihar chief minister
A meeting of the Janata Dal-United Legislature Party has been called on February seven amid reports that Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi was under pressure to quit and make way for his predecessor Nitish Kumar.
The BJP, which has clinched 31 more seats than the 43 pocketed by Kumar's Janata Dal-United, is likely to have two deputy chief ministers on the lines of Uttar Pradesh. The names of four-time MLAs Tarkishore Prasad and Renu Devi, who were chosen the leader and the deputy leader of the BJP legislature party on Sunday, are doing the rounds for the post.
Former Bihar chief minister and BJP ally Jitan Ram Manjhi alleged on Wednesday that five MPs, including a Union minister, have been elected to Lok Sabha from seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes on the basis of "forged" certificates and sought an inquiry.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Shatrughan Sinha on Monday said leaders from allies, like Ramvilas Paswan and Jitan Ram Manjhi, should be considered being named as National Democratic Alliance's chief ministerial candidate for Bihar polls even though his party is yet to decide whether it wants to project anyone for the post.
We do not interfere in religious practices of any sort, the Bihar CM said.
Names of eight-term MLA from Gaya town Prem Kumar and that of Kameshwar Choupal, a Dalit MLC who had laid the foundation stone for the temple at Ayodhya in the 1990s, are also doing the rounds for the post in the political circles.
Political strategist-turned-activist Prashant Kishor on Thursday took a fresh jibe at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, his former mentor, reiterating that the latter may ditch the 'Mahagathbandhan' and return to the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance.
Sources said the opposition parties would look to avoid the prickly leadership question as of now and emphasise on building a common ground.
Kumar, who looks on course to becoming the longest serving chief minister of the state during his new term, was expected to take oath on or after Monday next week before which he will send his resignation to the governor since his current tenure expires at the end of November.
He said that due to unfortunate circumstances such a significant and impactful event of the freedom struggle could not find its place in history books.
Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi's son-in-law, who was recently removed as his personal assistant after it was found his appointment violated rules, was on Monday spotted in an official programme of the CM where he said he still rendered service to him in personal capacity.
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.
Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi on Friday said he has sought appointment with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to demand special category status for Bihar.
Portfolios were on Tuesday allocated in the new Bihar cabinet headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who, predictably, retained the all-important home department which helps him keep direct control on the state police.
Leaders of 38 parties have confirmed their participation in a meeting of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to be held in the national capital on Tuesday, Bharatiya Janata Party president J P Nadda said.
Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav on Monday confirmed that Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar would be the Janata Parivar's chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming Bihar assembly polls.
Bihar CM says their activities are not in the best interest of the government.
Stirring yet another controversy, Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi has termed people belonging to the upper caste as "foreigners and descendants of Aryan race", a remark for which the Bharatiya Janata Party has slammed him for "stoking caste tension" in the state.
Top leaders of Opposition parties will brainstorm at a meeting in Patna on Friday to chalk out a roadmap for the formation of an anti-Bharatiya Janata Party front for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, with sources saying that they would look to avoid the prickly leadership question and emphasise on common ground.
Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar, who returns as Bihar chief minister for a record eighth time on Wednesday, is likely to retain the all-important home department, while the Rashtriya Janata Dal may get most of the departments that were previously with the Bharatiya Janata Party, a highly-placed source said.
Manjhi said he had held rallies across the state where the "consensus" was to get "rid" of the Lalu-Nitish combine.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday said he might not campaign for the by-elections to a couple of assembly segments in the state where his current ally Rashtriya Janata Dal is locked in a straight contest with his former alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party.
Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi talks about the Bihar polls with M I Khan/Rediff.com
The new cabinet, predictably, has a sizeable number of Yadavs and Muslims, though members of other sections of the society also find a place.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav also have cases registered against them.
'Manjhi will be Kumar's biggest competitor inthe days to come'
'We are allies and equals. We have to run Bihar collectively'
Nitish Kumar, who along with Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad, steered the Grand Secular Alliance to a landslide mandate of over two-thirds majority in Bihar assembly poll, will be sworn in as Chief Minister on Novermber 20 for a third term along with his new cabinet.
Nitish Kumar alleged that Modi was behind the move to allow Manjhi more time to prove his majority.
Vote bank politics cannot be above protecting the sanctity of girls and women, he said virtually launching the campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha election at Chaibasa, about 150 km from in Chaibasa.
Dalits constitute nearly 16 per cent of the vote and 38 seats are reserved for them in the assembly, reports Satyavrat Mishra
The performance of Janata Dal-United has down compared its performance in the 2015 elections and the ruling party could not win even half of the number of seats it contested in this election.
The government has not divulged the amount of the fine to be imposed on first-time offenders.
Anti-incumbency against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's 15-year-old rule in Bihar is stronger that what Lalu Prasad Yadav-led RJD regime faced in 2005, LJP president Chirag Paswan said on Monday, asserting that he walked out of the ruling alliance in the state so as not to have any 'guilt' of playing a role in continuation of the current dispensation.
Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad's 'samdhi' Chandrika Roy has been nominated by the Janata Dal- United from his traditional Parsa assembly seat, but name of the former Director General of Police Gupteshwar Pandey is missing from the list of 115 candidates released by the party on Wednesday.
The authorities in Bihar have registered an FIR against Khan Sir and five teachers for allegedly inciting violence over the controversy surrounding the results of tests conducted by the RRB-NTPC after the recent violent protests in Patna.
The JD-U has 115 MLAs in the 243-member assembly, most of who are reportedly with Nitish
'Yogi Adityanath is working for one caste only and suppressing the others,' Bihar Minister and NDA ally Mukesh Sahni tells M I Khan.
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