It is likely to be a stormy affair with divergent views on market borrowing. Centre will likely press states to borrow to make up for the shortfall, but states want either the Centre or the GST Council to do so.
A 14-member council of ministers was sworn in Patna by Governor Phagu Chauhan on Monday and the BJP bagged seven berths.
In the midst of electioneering, the Janata Dal-United candidate from Jagdishpur assembly seat Sushumlata Kushwaha delivered a baby girl, drawing rich praise from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday.
BJP backed to the hilt Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as its leader in the state and rebuffed a rebellious Chirag Paswan, while acknowledging his Lok Janshakti Party as an ally 'at the Centre'. At a press conference which was attended by top leaders of the JD-U headed by Kumar and the BJP, it was made clear that 'only those who accept the chief ministers leadership will be deemed to be a part of the National Democratic Alliance in Bihar'.
Chaudhary alleged that the BJP "hates Bihar" after having lost power in the state, which is "back in the centre-stage of national politics" since the opposition meeting hosted in Patna by Nitish Kumar.
The statements made by the opposition parties after the preemptive air strike on terror camps have made only people of Pakistan happy, he claimed.
The BJP clarified that it would not be a part of the Manjhi government if he was able to prove his majority.
Police sources claimed that during investigations it was noted that allegations were "mischievous" and "lacked substance".
Modi accused opponents of trying to pit one section against the other while his government is working towards taking all people along
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday rubbished reports that he was trying to engineer defection in Rashtriya Janata Dal to bolster numbers of his government which at present is surviving on support of Independents and Congress Legislators.
Disgruntled Janata Dal-United leader Upendra Kushwaha on Monday resigned from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's party, less than two years after returning to the party, and announced formation of the 'Rashtriya Loktantrik Janata Dal'.
'In this election, the only thing that is going to matter is which caste aligns with which coalition.'
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.
Biennial elections are being held for 58 Rajya Sabha seats across several states and by-poll for one in Kerala.
Nitish also reiterated that he was "not a claimant" for the top post.
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.
Former Bihar MP Anand Mohan, who is serving a life sentence in the killing of Indian Administrative Service officer G Krishnaiah, is to be set free along with 26 others who have been lodged in different prisons of the state for more than 14 years.
Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal-United president Nitish Kumar on Tuesday asserted that "all is well" in the National Democratic Alliance even as his party vice president Prashant Kishor opened a front against Bharatiya Janata Party leader and his deputy in the government Sushil Kumar Modi.
If we get a chance to form the next government at the Centre, all backward states will get special category status, Kumar said.
The meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Delhi was one of courtesy
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.
As part of the campaign, JD-U workers were seen cutting their hair and nails and stuffing them in packets as samples for sending it to the prime minister for DNA test.
Will Amit Shah's meetings with Nitish Kumar improve BJP-JD-U relations?
Bihar's choppy political waters were on Tuesday astir over the prospects of a meeting between Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and K Chandrasekhar Rao, his Telangana counterpart, both of whom share a passion for building a united front against the Bharatiya Janata Party's hegemony.
'Our approach is forward-looking. The central leadership wants young leaders to lead the charge now. This will also send a clear signal that lapses will not be tolerated. We are targeting beyond 2025.' Satyavrat Mishra reports.
Jitan Ram Manjhi went ahead with proposing dissolution of the assembly
13,660 km. 40 million Biharis participate in this year's 'world's longest' human chain.
The no-frills ceremony comes a day after Kumar snapped ties with the BJP-led NDA and joined hands with the RJD to form a 'mahagathbandhan' government.
Addressing a press conference, Paswan said he was happy that the BJP had emerged "much bigger and stronger" in Bihar, and ruled out any possibility of a truck with the opposition Grand Alliance, comprising RJD, Congress and three Left parties, citing "ideological differences".
The RLSP and the HAM, the two other NDA allies, went unrepresented.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Wednesday frowned upon the recalcitrance shown by his Agriculture Minister Sudhakar Singh, who belongs to the Rashtriya Janata Dal, but sought to put the ball in the court of his deputy Tejashwi Yadav, the party's de facto leader.
Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi who has come under attack of the Bharatiya Janata Party over reports of his son getting involved in alleged sexual escapade with a lady policewoman, on Saturday defended his son saying anybody could have a "girl friend".
Mauled in the Lok Sabha elections and facing dissidence within, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar resigned on Saturday but interestingly did not seek dissolution of the assembly injecting a dramatic turn in the state politics.
Following the Janata Dal-United, Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress protesting against Haryana Bharatiya Janata Party leader O P Dhankhar's controversial remarks Bihari bride for Haryana boys, Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Majhi has said that Dhankhar should tender an apology to the women of the state.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has written an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in which he makes a strong objection to the latter's comment about his "DNA" at a recent election rally in the state.
'The main characteristic of Bihar politics is that it has always affected Delhi.'
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.
The JD-U appears unwilling to become the BJP's second-string. A senior leader said, "If the BJP demands that the 2014 polls be made the yardstick for seat-sharing in 2019, we will insist the results of the last assembly polls become the criterion for the next state election." Radhika Ramaseshan reports.
'Nitish Kumar's government has proved during these floods that it is a helpless government.'
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