It was soon after that call that Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav spoke to each other.
Amid political standoff in Bihar, Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar on Wednesday met President Pranab Mukherjee to convey the support of 130 MLAs and urged him to advise the state governor to take an immediate decision claiming that any delay will pollute the atmosphere in the state and encourage "horse-trading".
Allies since the 1990s, the JD-U and the BJP have in the recent past squabbled on issues ranging from Agnipath, caste census, population law and ban on loudspeakers.
Leader of Opposition in Bihar Legislative Assembly Tejashwi Yadav on Monday said the caste-based census will help in preparing welfare schemes for people from different sections of society.
Nitish Kumar, who along with Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad, steered the Grand Secular Alliance to a landslide mandate of over two-thirds majority in Bihar assembly poll, will be sworn in as Chief Minister on Novermber 20 for a third term along with his new cabinet.
The Mahagathbandhan's seat-sharing announcement comes a day after the filing of nomination papers for the first phase of Lok Sabha polls was over.
Despite the BJP emerging as the largest party in the ruling alliance with 74 seats, 31 more than the JDU, the top leadership of the saffron party, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has emphatically endorsed Kumar as the next chief minister.
In a surprising move, the Rashtriya Janata Dal announced it would support the new Janata Dal-United government in Bihar headed by Jitan Ram Manjhi.
Else, warns rebel party MLA, the RJD will split.
The JD-U has 115 MLAs in the 243-member assembly, most of who are reportedly with Nitish
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday insisted that nothing much should be read into his recent meeting with an MP of the Lok Janshakti Party, which is headed by his bete noire Chirag Paswan, since members of Parliament and the state legislature call on him regularly over matters relating to their constituencies.
Sources said Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is 'satisfied' with the deputy CM's explanation.
The BJP's Bihar unit responded to the tweet saying, "The first picture is your future and the second is of India. Understood?"
Notably, Yadav, the younger son of Rashtriya Janata Dal's founding president Lalu Prasad, had steered the 'Mahagathbandhan', which then did not have the chief minister on its side, to an impressive electoral performance in 2020 assembly polls in which the National Democratic Alliance could barely scrape through.
The BJP held a meet amid hints that the central leadership may bring in new faces at key positions in the state.
After the Janata Dal-United parted ways with ally the Bharatiya Janata Party, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will seek a trust vote on Wednesday at a special session of Bihar assembly to prove his majority, which he is expected to muster without any hitch with support of independents and Congress deciding to abstain.
JG-U leader Nitish Kumar on Friday promised good governance once he takes over as CM.
Acharya, in a letter to Rio, asked him to prove his majority on the floor of the House on or before March 16, the source said.
Upset over not getting a Lok Sabha ticket, former Bihar Congress chief Mehboob Ali Kaiser could join Lok Janshakti Party, led by Ram Vilas Paswan, in a couple of days.
In a bid to embarrass Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, Nitish Kumar has invited 'bujurg' Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani to attend his oath-taking ceremony.
A total of 126 votes, including four of Congress and one of CPI, were cast in favour of the confidence motion while 24, including 22 of Lalu Prasad led RJD, voted against the motion as BJP members staged a walkout before the vote.
This phase will decide the fate of senior minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav of Janata Dal-United, Rashtriya Janata Dal legislature party leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui and RJD chief Lalu Prasad's 'Man Friday' Bhola Yadav among others.
Cracks are widening within Bihar BJP with more party legislators coming in the open and alleging lack of inner democracy with one MLA openly vouching for Chief Minister Nitish Kumar saying he would serve as a better prime minister.
In switching over, Nitish has sent out a message that if he could not now become the NDA's PM, then he would need to stay on as CM at the very least, which a third term for Modi would not let him have, N Sathiya Moorthy points out.
"I had sought an appointment with the PM to meet him along with an all-party delegation from Bihar, including RJD's Tejashwi Yadav, to discuss the issue of a caste-based census. I thank him for giving us time next Monday at 11 am," Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar told reporters in Patna.
Soon after the suspension of 33 opposition Lok Sabha MPs, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said all democratic norms have been thrown into the dustbin by this "autocratic" government and it has shown zero accountability towards Parliament.
In yet another sign that not everything is fine between Bihar's ruling partners, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar opposes the BJP's demand for a population control law -- even while seeking a caste-based census, a red flag for the BJP. M I Khan reports.
Rashtriya Janata Dal President Lalu Prasad on Monday hit the streets, accusing Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of luring his party MLAs and asserting that nine of the 13 legislators who reportedly broke away have denied parting ways.
Dalits constitute nearly 16 per cent of the vote and 38 seats are reserved for them in the assembly, reports Satyavrat Mishra
'This is the first time since Independence that we are facing such a despairing situation.'
A day after Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad fielded his daughter Misa Bharti as party nominee to contest from the Patliputra seat in Patna, a senior party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Ramkirpal Yadav has revolted against him. He is now set to join the Bharatiya Janata Party to contest against Misa.
Kumar is reported to have made the Rajya Sabha remark during an informal chat with some journalists who had asked him about his recent tour of areas falling under the now abolished Barh Lok Sabha constituency which he had represented many times.
The party leaders said that not only would they quit the cabinet, but also withdraw support from the Grand Alliance.
The party's state unit president Jagadanand Singh announced the names of Mohd Qari Sohaib, Munni Rajak and Ashok Kumar Pandey.
The opposition on Tuesday termed as an 'election jumla' the women's reservation bill brought by the government with many leaders raising questions over the proposed legislation, contending it doesn't account for reservation for OBC communities and that it will be effective at the earliest by the 2029 Lok Sabha polls.
In a jolt to Lalu Prasad ahead of Lok Sabha polls, the Rashtriya Janata Dal split on Monday as 13 of the 22 party MLAs in Bihar announced they have quit the party but six of them later claimed they are not part of the breakaway faction.
Congress has indicated it won't settle for less than 50 seats in any non-BJP alliance, unlikely if a JD(United)-RJD deal does take place.
Trouble erupted in Godapur village under the Town police station area, where an idol was found vandalised, following which the members of two communities indulged in heavy stone-pelting, District Magistrate Kaushal Kumar said.
Lalu and his two minister sons, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and Tej Pratap Yadav, sat in the VIP enclosure with others during the function.
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