The Bihar cabinet has decided to restrict the 35 per cent quota for women in government jobs to only permanent residents of the state, ahead of upcoming elections.
The seat had fallen vacant following the death of Chirag Paswan's father and Lok Janshakti Party founder Ram Vilas Paswan. The BJP has nominated former Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi for the seat.
Smaller allies of the ruling NDA in Bihar, including HAM and RLM, have expressed resentment over the seat-sharing arrangements announced for the upcoming assembly elections, raising concerns about the alliance's unity.
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.
Intense lobbying continues among NDA partners in Bihar to finalize cabinet berths and the Assembly Speaker post ahead of the swearing-in ceremony. Consensus is being sought between BJP and JD(U) for the Speaker's position, while new faces are expected in the cabinet. The swearing-in ceremony is scheduled for November 20.
'Age matters and the way Tejashwi has been doing an aggressive campaign, only a young leader like him can do it.'
Chirag Paswan cryptically added that he was not ruling out the possibility of siding with the RJD.
Lok Janshakti Party leader Chirag Paswan on Wednesday blamed Janata Dal-United for engineering the split in his party and rejected the decisions taken by the faction headed by his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras, saying the party's constitution does not authorise them any such power.
Nowhere are the stories of the coming election better told than on the roads of Bihar.
Former president Ram Nath Kovind on Monday moved to his new residence at Janpath road, the bungalow once occupied by former Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan.
Having struck a seat-sharing deal, leaders of the Janata Dal-United and the Bharatiya Janata Party sat across the table in Patna on Monday to thrash out, among other things, constituencies they planned to swap or give up in favour of smaller allies in Bihar.
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.
The NDA released its manifesto for the Bihar assembly polls, promising jobs, infrastructure development, and social welfare programs.
Former Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras, who quit after his Lok Janshakti Party faction was not given any seat by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance in Bihar for the Lok Sabha elections, on Saturday announced his party's support to the ruling alliance, ending speculation over his next course of action.
'The BJP is keeping its options open and that the final decision is still tightly held.' 'That is consistent with the party's tendency to preserve suspense, avoid premature factional conflict, and use leadership selection as a way of resetting internal hierarchies.'
'The sapling that I planted has turned into a fully grown tree and is now giving flowers and fruits for us.'
Amid indications of unease between his party and RJD, LJP president Ram Vilas Paswan on Wednesday met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to urge her to take the lead in finalising the alliance in Bihar as "clarity" was required on seat-sharing among the allies.
Chirag Paswan said he believes two classes of people -- rich and poor -- exist in the society and persons of different castes and religions fall in both categories.
Internal discord within the INDIA bloc has led to alliance partners contesting against each other in at least eight assembly seats in Bihar. The Congress, RJD, and Left parties are facing challenges in seat-sharing arrangements for the upcoming elections.
Lok Janshakti Party MP Mehboob Ali Kaiser, the lone Muslim to have been elected to the Lok Sabha from the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance in Bihar, joined the Rashtriya Janata Dal on Sunday, in a shot in the arm for the opposition party amid the elections.
Ram Vilas Paswan, 74, who was the Lok Janshakti Party patron, had undergone a heart surgery at a hospital in New Delhi a few days ago.
'The name will be declared at the right time.'
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.
'Modi and Shah made it clear that the next government will be led by Nitishji.'
Paswan also said that he was sending a copy of the LJP's manifesto to the 69-year-old chief minister so that he could work on some of the promises made in it.
The Union minister complained of breathlessness.
''Now the roads in Bihar are as good as any other Indian state. The power sector has improved.' 'Connectivity, law and order, gender justice...' 'Bihar now stands for all these things that were totally absent when it was under jungle raj.'
The death of the 74-year-old leader, who was identified with the state's Dalits for over five decades, so near the polls will mean that none of the LJP's rivals will like to attack the party and its young president strongly.
'A tally less than 150, even if it is 120 or 130, shall be a defeat for me'
While politicians and pundits speculate a strong possibility of their coming together, the two young leaders, however, told prying journalists their meeting was a result of "family relations" that went back to ties shared by their fathers.
NDA partners engage in intense lobbying to finalize cabinet berths ahead of the swearing-in ceremony of the new Bihar government led by Nitish Kumar. The new cabinet is expected to include fresh faces from BJP and JD(U), along with representation from smaller alliance partners.
'Nitish Kumar is our CM today and he will be CM going forward also. Nitish Kumar will continue as CM till he wishes.'
The CM was present at the Patna airport to receive body of the LJP founder with whom he spent long time in the politics. The CM and other leaders cutting across party lines paid respect to the septuagenarian leader, who died in Delhi on Thursday, at the airport premises.
"Nitish Kumar and his officers will be behind bars if we come to power," Paswan said. Addressing a rally in Dumraon, Buxar in the run-up to polling in Bihar, Paswan raised several questions before the present state government.
"It is high time India traded dynasty for meritocracy. This would require fundamental reforms, from imposing legally mandated term limits to requiring meaningful internal party elections, together with a concerted effort to educate and empower the electorate to choose leaders based on merit," Tharoor said.
'He has become a new hope for Indian cricket.'
Paswan, 70, was admitted to the hospital on Thursday after he complained of breathlessness.
Confusion prevailing in the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) showed little signs of let up on Saturday, with just two days to go before the filing of nomination papers for the second and final phase of assembly elections comes to a close.
'This election was won because of Nitish Kumar's face and his policies.'
With two phases of voting already completed, political parties are busy with filing nominations, addressing roadshows and undertaking hectic campaigns for the constituencies that will vote this month.
