Meet the maverick serial election contester who shares his name with current Bihar's best known politician.
BJP state president Mangal Pandey said that Sunil Kumar and Renu Kushwaha have joined the party and RJD MLA Braj Kishore Singh has joined the party.
Seeking to end speculations about strains in the relations between national Democratic Alliance allies in Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said Janata Dal-United and the Bharatiya Janata Party will together contest all 40 Lok Sabha seats from Bihar in the next general elections.
JD-U's Krishnamurari Sharan alias Prem Mukhiya has polled 61,848 votes, while the RJD's Atri Muni alias Shakti Singh Yadav has got 61,836 votes.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United on Friday made a fresh plea to the Narendra Modi government at the Centre for an immediate review of the Agnipath scheme, and assure protesting youngsters that their future will not be adversely affected by the new recruitment policy in the armed forces.
Senior BJP leader Ashwini Kumar Choubey has expressed his desire to see Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as the Deputy Prime Minister. However, the JD(U) and the RJD have dismissed Choubey's remarks as inconsequential, with the JD(U) pointing to Amit Shah's recent statement that Nitish Kumar is the coalition's leader for the upcoming assembly polls. The RJD has also ridiculed Choubey's statement, stating that the BJP is looking to get rid of Nitish Kumar and that Tejashwi Yadav will be the next Chief Minister of Bihar.
The chief minister, who was re-elected as the JD-U president in 2019 for three years, relinquished the post in favour of Singh, its leader in Rajya Sabha.
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.
Another populist decision of the government was the announcement of an unemployment allowance for the youth: Rs 1,000 per month for two years for graduates and those who have completed class 12 but remain unemployed.
Nishant Kumar's demand that the NDA name Nitish Kumar as its chief ministerial nominee is seen as a gambit to consolidate the CM's position in the ruling alliance.
Accusing the Janata Dal-United of betrayal, Bihar BJP on Sunday said it had walked out of National Democratic Alliance despite repeated assurances that it would be consulted whenever the prime ministerial candidate is chosen.
Addressing a press conference, Paswan said he was happy that the BJP had emerged "much bigger and stronger" in Bihar, and ruled out any possibility of a truck with the opposition Grand Alliance, comprising RJD, Congress and three Left parties, citing "ideological differences".
'They have no chance of winning if free and fair polls are conducted.'
'We will inform them how Pakistan not only helps terrorists, it also provide training to them to target India and spread terror.'
'...the electoral playing field is tilted significantly in its favour.'
Senior leaders of the party -- Prashant Kishor and Pavan Varma -- have slammed the legislation calling it 'unconstitutional' and urged Nitish Kumar to rethink his support in Parliament.
Singh targeted the Congress using a 'snakes and ladders' analogy, saying the party will fall to zero from 99 after being bitten by a snake -- referring to the grand old party winning 99 seats in the Lok Sabha polls.
The RJD has fielded six women candidates, some of them are wives of bahubalis.
JD-U national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan, who addressed a press conference in Patna, however, dismissed queries about Kumar's absence at the NITI Aayog meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with the terse remark 'you should ask the chief minister'.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched his Bihar assembly poll campaign, asserting that the NDA under Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will break all previous electoral records. He criticized the INDIA bloc and highlighted the NDA's cohesiveness and development efforts in Bihar.
The LJP will also be given a Rajya Sabha berth and Paswan is likely to be its candidate.
Varma sought 'ideological clarity' from Nitish over extending alliance with the BJP beyond Bihar despite having expressed apprehensions 'in private' about the BJP-RSS leading the nation into a 'dangerous space'.
Janata Dal-United on Thursday decided not to renew party membership of former party MLA Usha Sinha, wife of controversial Bihar School Examination Board Chairman Lalkeshwar Prasad Singh, allegedly involved in the 10+2 examination muddle.
A stampede-like situation was witnessed on Monday outside 10, Circular Road, the bungalow allotted to the RJD supremo's wife Rabri Devi, a former CM, when the couple returned from Delhi, where they had appeared before a court.
'JD-U wants to emerge as the single largest party in Bihar after the next assembly polls by contesting more seats than the BJP.'
'The name will be declared at the right time.'
Members of JD-U, RJD and Congress which have given enough hint of fighting together against BJP in the coming state assembly election next year, jointly rushed into the well of both the Houses demanding action against Dhankhar and his "close friend" Sushil Kumar Modi.
The Patna high court on Wednesday granted bail to Janata Dal-United legislator Munna Shukla and Shashi Shekhar, another leader of the JD-U, who were last week sentenced to life for the murder of former Gopalganj district magistrate G Krishnaiah in 1994
A SWOT analysis of the INDIA bloc, led by the RJD-Congress combine, as Bihar prepares for Assembly elections. Examines strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats facing the opposition alliance.
The BJP held a meet amid hints that the central leadership may bring in new faces at key positions in the state.
Portfolios were on Tuesday allocated in the new Bihar cabinet headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who, predictably, retained the all-important home department which helps him keep direct control on the state police.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and its National Democratic Alliance partners - the Janata Dal-United and Lok Janshakti Party -- on Monday formally announced their alliance for the Delhi assembly polls, asserting that it will send a "strong" political message across the country.
When I first spoke about Nitish Kumar being PM material, many of you scoffed at me. Now you can see... it has happened often that I say something and it becomes a widespread sentiment later on," JD-U leader Upendra Kushwaha said.
Nitish Kumar's unanimous election to the top post at the party's National Executive meeting brought an end to the decade-old tenure of Sharad Yadav, who had ruled himself out for a fourth term.
'We used to discuss how image-conscious Nitish Kumar was and his sophisticated conduct in public life. All this has become a thing of the past.'
Democracy in India is too important to be left to a leader with a limited appeal. If Rahul Gandhi cares for India, he should step aside for a new crop of leaders, suggests Harishchandra.
JD-U Rajya Sabha MPs Ali Anwar and M P Veerendra Kumar met senior leader Sharad Yadav amid reports that he was also displeased with Nitish Kumar's action.
It was a day of mayhem for the main opposition party as S M Qamar Alam, a national general secretary of the RJD, walked to the chamber of Vidhan Parishad Acting chairman Awadhesh Narain Singh along with four others to tender their resignation. The other MLCs who resigned are Sanjay Prasad, Radha Charan Seth, Ranvijay Kumar Singh and Dlip Rai.
Minority conference organised by the JD-U turned out to be a poor show with few from the Muslim community attending it, exposing the falling credibility of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as a secular leader, says M I Khan.
