Startling allegations of backstabbing were made against the Bharatiya Janata Party by MLAs and MPs of the Janata Dal-United on Tuesday at a meeting in Patna after which Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar pulled the plug on the alliance.
Even as Janata Dal-United backed Pranab Mukherjee's candidature for the President's post, party chief Sharad Yadav denied any rift in the National Democratic Alliance, saying that the JD-U's support was for the next President and not for the United Progressive Alliance.
While the BJP backs Nitish Kumar as chief minister, Chirag isn't hiding his readiness for the role, reports Aditi Phadnis.
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.
Ahead of Holi, controversial statements by leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and its ally Janata Dal-United in Bihar have heated up politics in the state which goes to the polls this winter.
Sharad Yadav is all set to be retained as the national president of the Janata Dal-United for the third term, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar told mediapersons in Patna on Monday.
Several leaders aren't happy with the chief minister's decision to walk out of the Grand Alliance and join hands with the BJP.
Janata Dal - United chief Sharad Yadav on Friday strongly denied that his party was gravitating towards the Congress and the United Progressive Alliance in the wake of its support to Pranab Mukherjee's Presidential candidature."That is absurd. It has no meaning," he said when asked about perceptions of his party cosying up to the Congress.
Sources close to Yadav said he had conveyed to Kumar his view that he was not keen on continuing after leading the party for 10 years and that a new person should be put in command.
Senior Janata Dal-United leader Dhananjay Singh pitched for Opposition unity ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and said party workers in Uttar Pradesh want Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to contest the elections from the state's Phulpur constituency.
As the election nears, political positions on prohibition are shifting.
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 Bihar CM has made a sagacious attempt to consolidate his extremely backward castes (EBC) support base while trying to make a dent into RJD's Muslim-Yadav combine.
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.
'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.'
This is the biggest action taken against rebel leaders close to Yadav by the JD-U in Bihar.
Janata Dal-United MP Giridhari Yadav on Friday said he does not upload questions on the Lok Sabha's website himself as he does not know how to operate a computer, as the Lower House decided to expel Trinamool Congress (TMC) member Mahua Moitra over the allegation that she shared her log-in credentials with outsiders and took a bribe for asking questions.
While the outcome will be known once the meeting is over, more than one of the prospective attendees denied the party's ties with the BJP having worsened to an extent to call for a realignment.
'JD-U wants to emerge as the single largest party in Bihar after the next assembly polls by contesting more seats than the BJP.'
A former protege of the JD-U de facto leader, Kushwaha, had revolted against Kumar in 2013, giving up his Rajya Sabha berth and floated his own outfit.
A statement from the Fortis Memorial Research Institute said Yadav was brought to the emergency ward in an unconscious and unresponsive state.
The former deputy chief minister was replying to queries about the JD-U president's outburst inside the assembly on Tuesday where he had told Yadav, "It was I who helped your father Lalu Prasad, the RJD president, become the leader of opposition when he did not have the support of even his own caste men."
The newly-elected legislators of JD-U met at the residence of Nitish Kumar and elected him as its Legislature Party leader.
He pointed out that "politicians should ensure that they are not spreading linguistic terror, further they should make limited comments only."
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.
Rai hinted that his daughter might contest the coming assembly polls.
Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien said the situation in Bihar is one of the reasons behind the Parliament session being cut short by the government.
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.
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 left the dais before the national anthem at the inauguration of an international sports event in Patna, sparking controversy. Opposition RJD president Lalu Prasad and his son Tejashwi Yadav accused the chief minister of disrespecting the national anthem. The Sepak Takraw World Cup 2025 is being held at the Pataliputra Sports Complex, with 300 players and support staff from 21 countries taking part. Kumar, 74, walked towards the participants and greeted them with a "namaste" and a wave of the hand before the national anthem was played. A video clip of the incident was shared on social media by Lalu Prasad and Tejashwi Yadav, who both alleged that the chief minister "disrespected the national anthem".
'The RJD is a family centric party and its top leadership's main concern is only to promote the family.'
Amid a buzz that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar may emerge as the opposition's prime ministerial candidate, his party Janata Dal-United said on Friday if other parties want so, then this is an option.
'CM face ko lekar NDA mein koi confusion nahi hai, Nitish Kumar hi NDA ke CM face hai'.
Hours after, however, firing from the Pakistani side was reported in Akhnoor sector in Jammu and Kashmir. Drones were also seen in the Pir Panjal area.
BJP backed to the hilt Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as its leader in the state and rebuffed a rebellious Chirag Paswan, while acknowledging his Lok Janshakti Party as an ally 'at the Centre'. At a press conference which was attended by top leaders of the JD-U headed by Kumar and the BJP, it was made clear that 'only those who accept the chief ministers leadership will be deemed to be a part of the National Democratic Alliance in Bihar'.
Election strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor has predicted that JD(U) president Nitish Kumar will contest the upcoming assembly polls in Bihar in alliance with the BJP but may switch sides later, with hopes for another term as the chief minister. Kishor, founder of the Jan Suraaj Party, also asserted that Kumar's popularity has declined and he is unlikely to win a fifth consecutive term. He challenged the BJP to declare Kumar as the chief ministerial candidate, arguing that they would struggle to win seats if they did so. Kishor also criticized Kumar's leadership, accusing him of being "physically tired and mentally retired" and of "bringing disrepute to Bihar" by touching Prime Minister Narendra Modi's feet. He said his new party will enter the fray to pull Bihar "out of the political rut" and that the state's much-touted prohibition policy is an example of the BJP's duplicity.
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.
'Nitish Kumar may take a decision to dump the BJP alliance by November.'
Apart from outlining its future plans for the development of Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar led party also referred to poll promises made by the rival Grand Alliance, including approving 10 lakh jobs, and sought to know from where would they manage Rs 5 lakh crore additional money that will be required for fulfilling their 'lofty' announcements.
The Janata Dal-United's decision to break its alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party not only changed the political equation in Bihar but also created a buzz in the political circle from Patna to Delhi that whether Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman and JD-U MP Harivansh will continue on his post or going to resign.
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