'I hope the honourable PM and Mr Shah take steps to ensure that the NDA doesn't split.'
In his letter to Kumar, the veteran leader has made a series of suggestions including an amendment in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Gurantee Act, bringing Lord Buddha's begging bowl from Kabul and hoisting tricolor at Vaishali, the land of world's first Republic.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of the Janata Dal-United and his bete noire Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav are not contesting the Lok Sabha polls which has put their 'prestige constituencies' of Nalanda and Patliputra at stake.
The prestigious Pataliputra Lok Sabha seat will witness a contest between BJP's Ram Kripal Yadav, the long-time confidante of Lalu Yadav who recently quit RJD and joined the saffron front, and Lalu's eldest daughter Misa Bharti. M I Khan reports from Pastna.
Dalits constitute nearly 16 per cent of the vote and 38 seats are reserved for them in the assembly, reports Satyavrat Mishra
If there is unity in the Opposition, it is only about regional parties other than the DMK not wanting Rahul Gandhi or any other Congress leader for prime minister, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
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.
Bihar will have a new chief minister chosen by Nitish Kumar who on Monday refused to take back his resignation despite repeated pleas by Janata Dal-United legislators to continue in office.
Tejashwi took the four MLAs to the assembly in a car he himself drove, in a gesture that was rich in optics as well as symbolism.
Rahul Gandhi had earlier indicated that he might be present at the Patna rally.
Mayawati was outmanoeuvred by the BJP in the race for the Rajya Sabha in Uttar Pradesh just days after she helped the Samajwadi Party snatch two Lok Sbaha seats from the saffron party in bypolls.
Speaker Manohar Joshi asked V K Malhotra, chairman of the the House Committee, set up on Tuesday to probe the matter, to hold the meeting at 1300 IST instead of at 1600 IST, on Wednesday.
The crowd at the mosque was larger than usual, unsurprisingly because it happened to be the last "Jumma" (Friday) of the holy month of Ramzan.
Lalu Prasad on Monday met Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi for the second time this month amid indications that the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress were working out the nitty-gritty of forging a "secular alliance" in Bihar.
The JD-U leader's outbursts against his former ally came in response to queries from journalists about Shah's speech earlier in the day at Sitab Diara.
Bharatiya Janata Party's Varun Gandhi, Aam Aadmi Party candidate in Amethi Kumar Vishwas and Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan were among the prominent candidates who filed nominations on the fourth day for the penultimate phase of Lok Sabha election covering 64 seats in seven states.
The grand alliance ministry, headed by Kumar, collapsed in July last year after the chief minister resigned over graft charge against his then deputy, Tejashwi Yadav.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday called for a "main front" of all non-BJP parties to take on the ruling alliance in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and asserted that the decision on its leadership can be taken later.
The BJP, which has clinched 31 more seats than the 43 pocketed by Kumar's Janata Dal-United, is likely to have two deputy chief ministers on the lines of Uttar Pradesh. The names of four-time MLAs Tarkishore Prasad and Renu Devi, who were chosen the leader and the deputy leader of the BJP legislature party on Sunday, are doing the rounds for the post.
The party is likely to look back at 2019 with more than a touch of satisfaction as the year saw nullification of Article 370, criminalisation of triple talaq, enactment of CAA and a Supreme Court order paving the way for Ram temple construction in Ayodhya, issues which have agitated Hindutva cadres for decades.
Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com explains the compulsions that forced Bihar strongman Lalu Yadav to play second fiddle to Nitish Kumar.
The Congress appears to be in two minds on the issue of alliance in Bihar despite top leaders of the party having met both Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad and Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan in past weeks.
The BJP is of the view that Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttarakhand governments could collapse and a Modi wave may resurrect its chances, notes Archis Mohan.
The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed the Constitution amendment bill to restore the power of states to make their own OBC lists after a thaw in the logjam as Opposition parties backed the legislation but demanded the removal of the 50 per cent cap on reservation, with many of them also calling for a caste-based census.
The Bhartiya Janata Party along with the Lok Janshakti Party are all set to fight a pitched political battle against the ruling Janata Dal-United and also the Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal combine in Bihar. But there's one thing in common between the five major parties of the state -- all of them have fielded bahubalis, criminal-turned-politicians and their wives in the upcoming Lok Sabha election.
Calling former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda-led party "communal" following its alliance with the BJP, he urged Janata Dal-Secular, to remove the word 'Secular' from its name.
However, as the region with the state's highest concentration of Muslims readies for polls on November 7 in the last phase of the elections, it is the Rashtriya Janata Dal-Congress-Left alliance that draws considerable support from the community amid sporadic voices in Owaisi's support as they weigh their choices.
The marital dispute between Prasad's elder son Tej Pratap Yadav and Aishwarya Rai, a daughter of Chandrika Roy, has its shadow in the poll battle on this seat which votes on November 3.
The Bharatiya Janata Party is facing revolt from within in Bihar on a day when the Election Commission announced the schedule for the Lok Sabha polls to be held in April, May.
Paswan has also spoken to RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, Rajak told PTI, adding that he should join forces with another young leader Tejashwi Yadav to take on the NDA.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday favoured a thorough inquiry into allegations of phone tapping with the help of Pegasus spyware which has led to a logjam in Parliament.
There is also a buzz about Shah joining the government. About 60 ministers may take oath.
With Maharashtra and Haryana assembly elections, results for 51 assembly and two Lok Sabha bypolls spread across 18 states were declared on Thursday. Here are state-wise results of the bypolls.
Raijor Dal president Akhil Gogoi said on Thursday that his party has not accepted the Trinamool Congress's proposal of a merger as it does not want to compromise on its Assamese identity.
BJD MP Baijayant Jay Panda has written that 'reforms must reduce the Rajya Sabha's power to block the popular mandate'
Some Congress leaders consider Kishor as an "overrated" person and argue that in 2017 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, he led to the decline of the party.
Congress governments at the Centre and in Bihar were responsible for the anti-Sikh riots in 1984 and Bhagalpur riots in 1989 while BJP government in Gujarat was accountable for the 2002 riots in that state, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said in Patna on Tuesday.
About 2.34 crore voters, spread across 78 assembly segments of the 243-strong assembly, will decide the fates of 1,204 candidates, including the Speaker and 12 members of the state cabinet.
It is an ode to his politics that believed in building bridges across social or political divides that he was one of the most liked state leaders among the upper castes even as he drew his support mostly from Dalits, a group which at times shared antagonistic relations with the more prosperous communities due to a number of social and political reasons.
As part of the efforts to bring several opposition parties together on a common platform to defeat the BJP in 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Pawar met Kharge on Thursday evening.
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