Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday declined to speak on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from the Lok Sabha, saying he avoided doing so in matters involving court order.
People of Bihar wait with bated breath for Friday's counting of votes polled in the recent assembly elections, which will decide whether Janata Dal-United supremo Nitish Kumar, the state's longest-serving chief minister, will get a record fifth term or whether a change in government will be witnessed.
'Within the BJP, Samrat Chowdhury confronts a party full of senior leaders with their own factional networks, caste calculations and career ambitions; many of whom may regard his elevation as a product of central convenience rather than organic merit.'
The Nitish Kumar government has the support of 132 MLAs.
The Rajya Sabha elections saw several candidates elected unopposed, including Sharad Pawar and Ramdas Athawale, while Bihar, Odisha, and Haryana prepare for contested elections.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said that Bollywood actor Aamir Khan is welcome in the state to create awareness and popularise generic drugs among people.
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.
Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar's call to the National Democratic Alliance to project a 'secular' leader as the prime ministerial candidate in the 2014 parliamentary polls today drew flak from a BJP minister who dubbed him 'pseudo secular'.
'For two months, Jitan Ram Manjhi kept a low profile. Once he was put in a place of power even though he had not acquired it himself, he thought he deserved it. He thought he must promote his own political career. Secondly, all those who were opposed to Nitish Kumar, either within the party or outside, started supporting him,' says Professor Prabhat Ghosh, director of the Asian Development Research Institute in Patna.
The Janata Dal (United) (JD(U)), an alliance partner of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Bihar, has put up posters outside its party office asserting that Nitish Kumar will continue as the Bihar Chief Minister till 2030. This comes after Haryana's Deputy Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini said that the BJP would win the Bihar polls under the leadership of Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary. The JD(U) has refuted these claims, saying that Nitish Kumar will remain the face of the NDA in the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections.
Lobbying has intensified among NDA partners in Bihar for the post of Speaker in the assembly, with BJP MLA Prem Kumar considered a frontrunner. A special assembly session will be convened soon to elect the Speaker.
Kumar said in Patna that the gup-shup durbar will be a free forum where everybody will have freedom to express their ideas.
Attacking the Nitish government over policy discrepancies, RJD scion claimed that the health and education sectors were in shambles under the current government.
Ansari alleged that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar tried to demean naqab and the Muslim community by removing the veil of a woman.
He assured all possible support from the Centre for the welfare of Bihar.
Making his first visit to Pakistan, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday said he was captivated by the warmth of brotherhood and goodwill as he shared his experiences in realising his quest for ensuring an all-round development in his state.
Kumar has been invited to participate in the Growth Week 2009 programme at the prestigious London School of Economics in London from September 22, 2009, official sources said. It is, however, not known whether Kumar will accept the invitation.
'After the 2020 Bihar assembly polls when our party got only 43 seats and our ally the BJP got 73 seats, Nitish Kumar refused to become chief minister and assured the BJP that he will support the government led by anyone.' 'But the BJP's top leaders told Nitish Kumar that as the NDA contested the polls under his leadership, the next government will be headed by him.'
'If the RJD loses it would be out of power for nearly 25 years. Meanwhile, the JD-U will have survival issues if it gets less number of seats.'
The swearing-in ceremony of the new government in Bihar is likely to take place in Patna on November 20. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other top NDA leaders are expected to attend. The outgoing government has authorized the Chief Minister to recommend dissolution of the assembly.
"I will not contest the coming assembly polls in October-November. There is no need for it as I am a member of legislative council," he said at Janata Dal-United headquarters in Patna.
'This will be a close election. At least now, it appears that the NDA has an edge.'
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Narendra Modi hit out at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, saying he was being "arrogant" by refusing to order a probe to ascertain if negligence had led to blasts in his party's rally in Patna.
The Bihar government, led by Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, has renamed the Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park as 'Patna Zoo' and the Sanjay Gandhi Institute of Dairy Technology as 'Bihar State Institute of Dairy Technology'. The cabinet also approved significant allocations for electricity subsidies, college establishments, and infrastructure projects.
Kumar, who chose not to react when the 31-year-old Rashtriya Janata Dal leader made a series of personal attacks and allegations in his nearly an hour-long speech, erupted in anger when the latter sought to interject during a statement made by Janata Dal-United leader and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary.
'Voters from the forward castes voted for JD-U because they feared Laloo Yadav's return, but since that fear is no longer there they may not see the need to vote for Nitish Kumar anymore.'
Hundreds of students have been forced to skip school in Patna and neighbouring areas after security forces deployed for Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's much-publicised Adhikar yatra -- occupied the premises of nearly twenty schools since Friday. Students of these government-run schools have been asked to come back on Monday as security forces had taken over their class rooms till Sunday evening, an official of the education ministry said.
They are political rivals, but when it comes to celebrating Bihar Diwas in Mumbai, Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal has backed Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and has urged him to ignore Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's threat. The impending visit on April 15 has become controversial in Maharashtra.
Thousands of teaching job aspirants in Bihar have been booked and several arrested following protests over delays in the BPSC TRE-4 examination notification, leading to clashes with police and political accusations.
"Word of the day! Definition of *snollygoster* US dialect: a shrewd, unprincipled politician. First Known Use: 1845. Most recent use: 26/7/17," Tharoor had tweeted in 2017.
Nitish Kumar was sworn in as Bihar's Chief Minister for a record 10th time, extending his tenure and joining the list of longest-serving CMs in India.
In a major setback for former Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the Patna High Court on Wednesday termed his re-election as JD-U legislative party leader unconstitutional.
Huge crowds have gathered in Delhi's popular Ramlila Ground for the Adhikar Rally that is to be addressed by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and a host of other leaders.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) expelled 16 leaders, including a sitting MLA and two former ministers, for anti-party activities ahead of the assembly elections. The expelled leaders were charged with violating the party's ideology and working against official NDA candidates.
'The possibility of Nitish Babu continuing at least for some time is very much there, but don't rule out the artistic possibility of a leadership change executed very elegantly.'
'Nitish Kumar has only done what any smart politician will do in his place,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
'He was No 2 to Laloo Prasad in the last government and he will be No 2 in the new one as well, not to Sushil Modi, but to the other Modi in Delhi.' 'In the process, Nitish Kumar will have to forget any role which he may have secretly entertained about playing a larger role on the national stage,' says Amulya Ganguli.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was accorded a red carpet welcome in Pakistan's Karachi as he arrived the country's financial capital on Friday on a week-long visit, hoping to augment contacts and cooperation between the two neighbours.
The RJD wrote on its X handle, in Hindi, "Just see how Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is pulling towards himself a woman in an objectionable manner with Home Minister Amit Shah looking on".
A day after his landslide victory in the Bihar assembly polls, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was on Thursday elected as the leader of the National Democratic Alliance legislature party in the 15th Bihar assembly.
