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.
''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.'
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav promised that if the INDIA bloc comes to power in Bihar, it will ensure every family has a member with a government job, enacting legislation within 20 days of forming the government.
The Allahabad high court on Saturday pulled up the Uttar Pradesh Police for the 'illegally detention' of an interfaith couple without any direction/order for taking them into custody, and ordered their release.
'...than free Sonam Wangchuk.'
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.
'Rahul Gandhi's problem is that he doesn't think big.' 'He looks more like an activist, while politics is like a game of chess. You attack and then defend and have a game-plan.'
Opposition parties allege the Modi government is attempting to turn India into a 'dictatorship' with the introduction of three Bills that seek to provide for removal of the prime minister, chief ministers and ministers arrested on serious charges, and vowed to oppose it 'tooth and nail'.
'... Rahul Gandhi's name came to my mind at that time.'
The story of Bihar's educational reform is a lesson for all reforms done halfway.
The first phase of Bihar assembly elections saw a moderate pace of polling across 121 constituencies, with 53.77% voter turnout reported till 3 pm. Sporadic incidents of violence were also reported. Key leaders are in the fray for both the ruling NDA and the opposition INDIA bloc.
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).
In a stunning victory, Indian-American lawmaker Zohran Kwame Mamdani defeated former governor Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary race for New York City mayor
Zohram Kwame Mamdani would be the city's first Muslim and Indian American mayor if elected New York mayor this November.
Germany's left-leaning, Social Democrats Party (SPD) won in the German federal election with over 25 per cent votes, but uncertainty remains over the next leader as results showed that the party won narrowly.
'Pakistan will also try to turn Bangladesh into a base for terrorist attacks on India.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticized the RJD's past education policies in Bihar, attributing migration to the state's poor education system under their rule. He praised the current NDA government's efforts to improve education and development, launching several initiatives focused on youth skilling and education in the state.
Vijay, despite the loud message from his delayed arrival at the road-show/stampede venue, and more so his continued inaccessibility for fans-turned-cadres after graduating from a super-star to a political party leader with electoral ambitions, refuses to change. Or, so it seems, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'The moment they fall foul of the party in power, they become unsafe. Then nobody can guarantee their safety.'
Mrs Gandhi's power ebbed and peaked with the times. Mr Modi's has almost been constant, barring the few months of hard dip after the 240 seats of 2024, points out Shekhar Gupta.
Both NDA and INDIA are racing to woo marginalised groups with Assembly polls fast approaching.
In a post on X, Sherman said that he 'emphasised to the Pakistani delegation the importance of combatting terrorism, and in particular, the group Jaish-e-Mohammed, who murdered my constituent Daniel Pearl in 2002'.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi claimed that former finance minister Arun Jaitley had threatened him to not speak against the farm laws, a charge refuted by the BJP.
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has criticised the Emergency declared by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1975, saying the people of the country responded clearly to the excesses of that period by voting her party out of power by a large margin.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi is likely to take up the matter in which the EC has justified its ongoing SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar, saying it adds to the purity of the election by "weeding out ineligible persons" from the electoral rolls.
'When the time comes, we will take a decision following a discussion with the alliance partners.'
'It is something like traditional Indian families.' 'The family might be run by younger people, but if the patriarch says that you should consider someone for some task, it is very difficult for the others to ignore it.'
'Talking about boycotting polls is simply a move to galvanise party leaders, workers, and supporters for the big political fight.'
'In my 26 years at Raj Bhavan, working with more than ten governors, I can tell you C P Radhakrishnan Sir stands out.'
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union and its junior coalition partner, the Free Democratic Party, suffered a debacle in the elections in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleges that the Election Commission is colluding with the BJP to manipulate elections, citing data analysis from a Karnataka constituency. He claims evidence of 'vote chori' and demands transparency from the EC.
Moderate turnout was recorded in the first four hours of polling across five assembly constituencies across Punjab, West Bengal, Gujarat and Kerala where bypolls are underway on Thursday.
The Election Commission has clarified that the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar is progressing as per its order, addressing concerns raised on social media and by opposition parties.
'If we truly wish to understand and apply Marx's insights today, we must reject the rigid dogmas that later 'Marxists' imposed in his name.'
People's Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti and several other regional party leaders on Monday claimed that they have been placed under house arrest on the fifth anniversary of the reading down of Article 370 of the Constitution that provided special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
Underscoring the 'presumption of genuineness' of Aadhaar and voter ID, the Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay the publication of draft electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar and said it would once and for all decide pleas against Election Commission's special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
...the DMK chief minister's campaign -- which includes criticism of the BJP's 'pro-Hindutva, anti-Tamil, anti-federal' policies and building on his own government's social welfare programmes targeting especially women and youth -- appeals to Tamil Nadu's voters in next year's assembly election, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
The 24th CPI(M) Party Congress commenced in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, with interim coordinator Prakash Karat emphasizing the need for Left unity to combat "Hindutva neo-fascism." He criticized the BJP-RSS government, accusing it of representing a "Hindutva-corporate nexus" and displaying "neo-fascist characteristics." Other Left leaders, including CPI general secretary D Raja and CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, echoed calls for unity and condemned the current political climate in India.
During Operation Kagar, 350 Naxalites have been killed so far, including some of the movement's top leaders.
'They should be given a strong message that they are not the ones who decide the rule of the land, and they are not the ones who decide what justice is.'
