While the BJP backs Nitish Kumar as chief minister, Chirag isn't hiding his readiness for the role, reports Aditi Phadnis.
An ECI statement issued from New Delhi put the voter turnout at 68.76 per cent. The female turnout (74.03 per cent) was significantly higher, compared with males (64.1 per cent).
Bihar recorded its highest-ever voter turnout of 67.14 per cent in the second and final phase of the assembly elections. The election is seen as a referendum on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Kishanganj recorded the highest polling percentage at 76.26.
Tyagi, the JD-U's political advisor and spokesperson, was replying to queries about the suggestion that followed Kumar's speech at a party rally in Patna on Wednesday.
College students in Bihar, many first-time voters, express concerns about job opportunities and education quality ahead of the state elections, desiring a government focused on employment and strengthening the education system.
Raghopur assembly constituency in Bihar prepares for a high-stakes election where voters may be deciding the next chief minister. Tejashwi Yadav, the RJD's CM candidate, seeks a third term, facing a strong challenge from BJP's Satish Kumar.
Nitish Kumar wants to assure the BJP leadership that he will continue to be a part of the NDA. But he also wants to secure a larger number of seats for his party in the 2025 assembly elections in Bihar.
Cracks appeared in the ruling National Democratic Alliance in Bihar on Saturday as Union minister Chirag Paswan expressed 'regret' over having to support the Nitish Kumar government, which he alleged has 'surrendered' before criminals.
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.
Former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi on Thursday said her husband Lalu Prasad Yadav was a victim of political conspiracy as there was "no proof against him".
Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticized the Congress party following the NDA's victory in the Bihar assembly elections, accusing them of divisive politics and highlighting the rejection of casteism and communalism by the people of Bihar.
Predictably, many RJD leaders, including its spokesperson Sarika Paswan, shared the video of Kumar who had lambasted the party's president Lalu Prasad and the latter's wife Rabri Devi for their alleged dismal performance as chief ministers of Bihar.
A day after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar formed the government in Bihar in alliance with the National Democratic Alliance, hectic lobbying started for the post of assembly speaker, and other legislators to be included in the council of ministers.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal, which had suffered decimation in the last general elections, was leading in five seats, out of 23 where it had fielded candidates.
This was probably the largest such gathering in the country to protest the Waqf (Amendment) Act.
Bihar's economy is expected to grow to $1.1 trillion by 2046-47, considering the state's huge underlying potential, a report by industry body CII said on Tuesday.
The Bihar chief minister, who has of late been making news for goof-ups, made the faux pas at an election rally on the outskirts of Patna.
'We are allies and equals. We have to run Bihar collectively'
When pressed further, as to whether the doors were still open for the former ally, Prasad, who has known Kumar since their days as student leaders in the 1970s, replied "these are always open (khula hi rahta hai)".
'When the BJP wanted the election to focus on 'ghuspathiya' and promises that look like pies in the sky, we forced them to talk about jobs, giving free 125 units of power, and addressing women's indebtedness.'
The JD-U Rajya Sabha MP said Nitish Kumar has built his image such that makes him the best fit for being the convenor of the opposition grouping.
Sanjay Jha's importance lies in his connections to senior BJP and RSS leaders to maintain a smooth relationship within the NDA government in Bihar and at the Centre and to contest the 2025 Bihar assembly elections together under Nitish Kumar's leadership.
'Reports of the JD-U joining hands with the BJP again is baseless.'
With polling of votes coming to an end in Bihar, exit poll prediction by various media outlets have started pouring in.
The sweeping victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance in the Bihar Assembly elections has caused ripples across the country, but perhaps more pronounced in politically crucial Uttar Pradesh, where Assembly elections are due in 2027.
The CM said the alleged sex abuse of girls at the shelter home "has left us with a sense of shame and guilt".
The BJP has accused RJD workers of hurling abuses at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's late mother during Tejashwi Yadav's 'Bihar Adhikar Yatra'. The incident has sparked controversy in the politically charged environment of Bihar, where elections are due later this year.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday came out in support of full statehood for Delhi and said Janata Dal-United in coordination with other parties will raise the issue in the Parliament.
Two individuals have been apprehended in connection with the murder of Patna-based industrialist Gopal Khemka, including the alleged shooter. The arrests were made by a joint team of the Special Task Force and Patna Police.
Tej Pratap was expelled a day after he reportedly confessed on social media to being "in a relationship" with a woman named Anushka.
The restive crowd shouted "Modi, Modi" chants and also chanted anti-Nitish slogans at the rally, ahead of the five-phase state assembly elections beginning on October 12.
'People are fed up with rising crimes and poor law and order.' 'Modi must have got feedback and decided not to touch the 'jungle raj' issue as it will backfire.'
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United on Saturday maintained that 'there is no confusion' among the 'Mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance) partners in Bihar.
"The serial blasts deserve the strongest condemnation in the strongest possible words as the perpetrators targeted the place of religious faith of crores of people with an aim to create fear among them," the Bihar chief minister told reporters after inspecting the blast sites at the Mahabodhi temple and surrounding areas in Gaya district with senior civil and police officials
'At the right time, people of Bihar will give a befitting response to him and the one who makes him dance to his tunes, the prime minister'
Both NDA and INDIA are racing to woo marginalised groups with Assembly polls fast approaching.
Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi on Saturday visited Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar in the presence of party president Sharad Yadav to reconcile after Bharatiya Janata Party's top leadership in Delhi made it clear not to support Manjhi.
The Election Commission on Tuesday announced that it has come out with the "final electoral roll" in Bihar ahead of the assembly polls, taking into account all the claims and objections to the draft voters' lists, which were published as part of special intensive revision (SIR).
According to official records, Kishor is enrolled as a voter in West Bengal at 121, Kalighat Road, the address of the Trinamool Congress headquarters in Kolkata's Bhabanipur assembly constituency, which is Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee's seat, he said.
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