The juggernaut of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance, which triumphed in three of the four east and north-eastern states that went for assembly bypolls on Saturday, was halted yet again in West Bengal where Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress registered a six-on-six clean sweep.
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.
'Nitish Kumar may take a decision to dump the BJP alliance by November.'
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.
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
Bihar assembly Speaker Awadh Bihari Chaudhary on Sunday called on Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad Yadav, at a time when the state was witnessing a big political churn.
Former Union minister RCP Singh on Thursday rued the "witch hunt" in the Janata Dal-United which he felt had resulted in many of his loyalists being sacked after the impression grew that he has ceased to be in the good books of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
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.
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.
'It is a crisis of BJP's own doing. This is an in-house fire.'
The RJD wrote on its X handle, in Hindi, "Just see how Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is pulling towards himself a woman in an objectionable manner with Home Minister Amit Shah looking on".
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.
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.
Party said it will take action against Sharad Yadav if he attends Lalu Yadav's August 27 rally.
Lalu's son and heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav, however, sought to downplay the remarks made by his father, in an interview to a local news channel, claiming that the RJD supremo had merely tried to satisfy the curiosity of the prying media.
Amid deepening fissures in Kumar's ties with the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress, BJP leaders have indicated that they are open to tying up with him again.
In the midst of electioneering, the Janata Dal-United candidate from Jagdishpur assembly seat Sushumlata Kushwaha delivered a baby girl, drawing rich praise from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday.
The EC, in its order issued on Friday said the group led by Nitish Kumar is entitled to use the reserved symbol 'arrow'.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday accused the opposition RJD-Congress combine of failing to curb communal clashes in the state while they were in power. He alleged that they "sought votes of Muslims" but did nothing to stop the violence. Kumar, who has been in power since 2005, highlighted the Bhagalpur riots of 1989, which he said were a result of "bad law and order" during the previous government's tenure. He praised the BJP-led central government for its support to Bihar and the recent budget, which he said had many announcements for the state.
Sinha was not occupying any party position in the party and since membership drive was on, it had been decided that her membership would not be renewed, he said.
The war of words between two erstwhile National Democratic Alliance allies on Sunday escalated with the Bharatiya Janata Party slamming Nitish Kumar for seeking Rashtriya Janata Dal support for his candidates in the Rajya Sabha bypoll for two seats, and Janata Dal-United accusing the saffron party of 'tacitly backing' two Independents.
Janata Dal-United on Friday suspended Islampur MLA Rajiv Ranjan from the party for six years accusing him of "anti-party activities", days after he attacked his party's government in Bihar over "unabated corruption" after having earlier opposed a tie-up with Lalu Prasad's Rashtriya Janata Dal.
Announcing the party decision, Bihar JD-U president Vashishtha Narayan said, ""It was a necessary step because being leader if a person indulges in anti-party activities it has to be condemned unanimously."
From devising a seat-sharing formula for the National Democratic Alliance in Bihar for the 2019 Lok Sabha election to wooing young voters, the former poll strategist has ensured his position as number 2 within the party.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday failed to reach a decision on the fate of its troubled alliance with JD(U) in Bihar but indicated it favoured continuance of ties with its old ally without compromising on self-respect.
Even as the BJP is expected to win the vice-presidential poll, ppposition hopes to make it yet another display of its unity, reports Archis Mohan.
The JD-U appears unwilling to become the BJP's second-string. A senior leader said, "If the BJP demands that the 2014 polls be made the yardstick for seat-sharing in 2019, we will insist the results of the last assembly polls become the criterion for the next state election." Radhika Ramaseshan reports.
Rai hinted that his daughter might contest the coming assembly polls.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday appeared all set to make his second political volte face in less than three years, with a highly-placed source close to Kumar saying that the Janata Dal-United president is likely to tender his resignation by Sunday morning.
Tyagi criticised the role of LJP by saying, "The LJP has played a negative role, it has no existence in Bihar."
Hitting back at Rahul Gandhi, the JD-U spokesperson accused him of "not being serious" in fighting corruption.
The grand alliance of the JD-U and the RJD have decided a seat sharing program to contest together in the coming Bihar assembly polls to defeat the BJP-led NDA.
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.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday alleged that the Janata Dal-United is misusing the office of Bihar Assembly Speaker Uday Narain Choudhary, adding that the Sharad Yadav -led party wants to stay in power and also play the role of opposition.
It also cautioned that if the legislation is passed, the "two crutches" on which the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government is running at the Centre would not be able to escape responsibility.
Chaudhary alleged that the BJP "hates Bihar" after having lost power in the state, which is "back in the centre-stage of national politics" since the opposition meeting hosted in Patna by Nitish Kumar.
He said his party was neither expecting nor planning to discuss the expansion
Accusing the Modi government of interfering in states ruled by non-BJP parties by creating "artificial crisis" there, the Janata Dal-United on Monday appealed to regional parties such as the Trinamool Congress, the Biju Janata Dal and the Samajwadi Party to "join hands" to counter the "dirty designs".
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has begun consultations with senior Janata Dal-United leaders over continuing of ties with Bharatiya Janata Party after the anointment of Narendra Modi as its poll panel chief with a senior state minister claiming that the 'days of ties' between the two NDA partners seem to be numbered.
Manjhi has called planned JD-U legislature party meet an unauthorised one.
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