'Our party has formed governments independently in all neighbouring states except West Bengal; now it's Bihar's turn.'
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.
Now it's all jibes about his chameleon-like politics and fading grip on the administration. But there was a time Nitish had the BJP trembling in the state, points out Aditi Phadnis.
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.
The BJP's MoSha leadership are past masters in encouraging defections from their allies if it helped their party capture the chief minister's chair. In Bihar, they are not sure if JD-U MPs and MLAs would be willing to cross over to the BJP if the Nitish leadership came on top -- and the NDA crossed the halfway mark together, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'JD-U is not ready to take the political risk of playing second fiddle to the BJP in state politics.'
Electoral fortunes of 1,302 candidates, including over half a dozen ministers in the Nitish Kumar government, will be sealed on Tuesday with 3.70 crore voters eligible to exercise their franchise across 122 assembly segments in the second and final phase of the Bihar polls.
Left to its machinations, the BJP would have loved to cut Nitish down to size, but it can't afford to do so as the JD-U is in alliance with the BJP at the Centre, and cannot form a government on its own in Bihar. For now, both need each other: Nitish for legitimacy, the BJP for numbers, points out Ramesh Menon.
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.
Voting is underway for the second and final phase of the Bihar assembly elections across 122 constituencies. Key candidates and political dynamics are in focus as the state decides its next government.
'Nitish Kumar has only done what any smart politician will do in his place,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Union Minister Chirag Paswan predicts Nitish Kumar will be Bihar CM again after elections, criticizes opposition for targeting the Army and questioning Operation Sindoor.
'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.
Nitish Kumar has again proven that he is a master of the art of changing governments.
Amidst speculation over the NDA seat-sharing deal in Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar distributed JD(U) tickets, while the BJP announced its first list of candidates. The INDIA bloc also faces internal challenges as parties prepare for the upcoming elections.
'I fail to understand why when Rahul Gandhi himself gave me hope that I would contest the polls, how come other Congress leaders did not consider my name?'
Allies since the 1990s, the JD-U and the BJP have in the recent past squabbled on issues ranging from Agnipath, caste census, population law and ban on loudspeakers.
Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor alleges Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary escaped a murder trial by falsely claiming to be a minor. He demands Choudhary's dismissal and threatens to expose further financial irregularities.
'Muslims in Bihar under Nitishji's rule are safest than anywhere else.'
Tejashwi Yadav, the INDIA bloc's CM candidate, promised to scrap the Waqf (Amendment) Act if voted to power in Bihar, criticizing the current CM and the BJP.
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.
The longest-serving chief minister of any Hindi- speaking state, Nitish Kumar seems to have acquired an aura of indispensability when it comes to the highest seat of power in Bihar.
Distancing himself from the BJP's victory in Gujarat, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has sought to suggest that he does not see Narendra Modi as a prime ministerial candidate.
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.
'Nitish Kumar may take a decision to dump the BJP alliance by November.'
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday called for a daylong 'Bihar Bandh' on March 1 to protest against denial of special category status to the state by the Congress led UPA government.
A careful calculation of the BJP's support base seems to have been at work in the cabinet expansion that took place a day after the party's national president chaired a meeting of the "core group" here.
Nitish Kumar will parade 130 MLAs before President Pranab Mukherjee if not invited to form government.
'Nitish Kumar previously held tight control over key ministries, but this concession (giving the home portfolio to the BJP) reflects either his weakened political position or a pragmatic acknowledgment of the BJP's growing dominance.'
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday questioned the Centre's decision of sending two drafts of Lokpal Bill for consideration and demanded that the government be clear before seeking states' views on the proposed legislation.
It's not every day that Union Home Minister Amit A Shah forsakes lunch sent from his home and eats lunch in the Parliament canteen.
It is also good news for power starved Bihar, where millions are still living in lantern age.
Suspended Janata Dal-United MP Upendra Kushwaha on Friday resigned from the party, slamming Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's alleged "autocratic" functioning in Bihar.
The rift between the Bharatiya Janata Party and ally Janata Dal-United widened on Sunday with Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi pulling out of functions to be addressed by Nitish Kumar to protest the return of flood relief money to Gujarat, after which the chief minister cancelled his programme.
Kumar recommended Sahani's expulsion from the cabinet to the governor in the evening, after a written submission to the effect by the BJP, hours after the minister for fishery and animal husbandry was given the ultimatum to withdraw forthwith a recent notification.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday said in the state assembly that its friend-turned-foe Bharatiya Janata Party had betrayed him and The JD-U by projecting Narendra Modi as the prime ministerial candidate of NDA.
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.
Ideology and principle are always put to work to camouflage political ambition. Nitish Kumar is a past master at this. His acceptance of the NDA in the first place was aimed at the top spot of Bihar. Then Delhi became the goal, but Narendra Modi's rise as head of the campaign rang alarm bells. So Nitish suddenly remembered secularism, says Jaya Jaitly.
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