BJD MP Baijayant Jay Panda has written that 'reforms must reduce the Rajya Sabha's power to block the popular mandate'
Kumar, who chose not to react when the 31-year-old Rashtriya Janata Dal leader made a series of personal attacks and allegations in his nearly an hour-long speech, erupted in anger when the latter sought to interject during a statement made by Janata Dal-United leader and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary.
The outspoken Lok Sabha member from Patna Sahib, in a no-holds-barred assault on the Modi government, said its ministers were a "bunch of sycophants" 90 per cent of whom were hardly known to people.
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.
Both the BJP and the Congress have banked on new and young faces, some of whom have been nominated by the parties for the first time.
Lalu and his two minister sons, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and Tej Pratap Yadav, sat in the VIP enclosure with others during the function.
A total of 130 candidates with serious criminal cases against them including related to murder will contest in the first phase of Bihar assembly polls on October 12.
Counting of votes in the high-stakes close-to-call Bihar assembly elections, billed as a hot battle between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, will take place on Sunday.
Nitish's absence triggered speculation of a logjam in the coming together of Janata Dal-United and RJD ahead of the crucial state election.
When it comes to the winning strike rate, Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal has emerged victorious on eight of every ten seats it contested while only one of the every three Bharatiya Janata Party candidates managed to win.
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".
A united opposition on Monday cornered the government in Parliament, accusing it of focusing on issues like religious conversions instead of fulfilling promises of bringing back black money and creating jobs.
For the first time, non-upper castes are in a majority in the board, as the party continues with its outreach to traditionally weaker and backward sections of society.
Kurien adjourned the House till noon.
Janata Dal - United members from Bihar on Wednesday forced the adjournment of the Lok Sabha over the issue of shortage of coal for thermal power plants in the state. As Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal rose to reply to a member's query during Question Hour, JD-U members led by Dinesh Chandra Yadav trooped to the Well, raising slogans over the "step-motherly treatment" meted out to Bihar with regard to coal linkages for power plants.
Earlier on Tuesday, she surrendered before the Gaya court. An arrest warrant was issued by the Bihar government against her over liquor prohibition.
The final phase of polling on Saturday will cover 78 constituencies spread across 19 north Bihar districts.
Prasad can still influence the power play in Patna if not change it, reports Satyavrat Mishra.
Accompanied by Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala and other leaders of the Grand Alliance, Yadav made a scathing attack on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi, asking who gave permission to the Munger police to act like 'General Dyer'.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has ruled out a rethink on the seat-sharing formula for the 'Grand Secular Alliance' for the state Assembly polls, a day after Nationalist Congress Party's ultimatum for reconsideration by August 20 and its insistence on 12 seats.
Bandh suppertors set two buses ablaze and smashed the windscreens of nearly a dozen vehicles.
The opposition hit the roof and likened rulers of the state to Hitler, Mussolini and Kim Jong Un, though the department came out with a clarification that the controversy was stemmed from 'wrong interpretation' of a paragraph in the missive that ran into many pages.
'He has attacked our enemies in their own backyard.'
A cautious Congress has decided to adopt a wait and watch policy with regard to its choice of alliance partner in Bihar in the light of Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav's conviction in the fodder scam on Monday. Anita Katyal reports.
No one in Bihar will deny Nitish Kumar's contribution to governance, notes Aditi Phadnis.
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.
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.
Opposition parties have closed ranks to target the government on a range of issues from intolerance to rising prices as the winter session begins on November 26.
In Bihar, Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad have come a long way from being bitter rivals for over two decades to friends with benefits. Their grand alliance along with the Congress, has won them six of the 10 assembly seats in the by-elections on Monday.
Omission of the name and photograph of former chief minister Nitish Kumar from the site of NTPC power plant at Barh, where a unit is being dedicated to the people on Saturday, triggered a war of words between rival parties.
Opposition-sponsored Bharat Bandh against price rise on Monday did not evoke much response in New Delhi barring some areas where BJP and Left activists blocked road and rail traffic and forcibly shut shops.
Gandhi's name was the only name discussed when 18 opposition parties met to decide on their candidate for the vice presidential poll, the sources said.
'Mere communal-secular binary of political rhetoric will hardly help the Congress to attract enough votes to get power.'
The opposition Rashtriya Janata-Dal hit out at the Bihar government on Wednesday for accusing it of hatching a 'conspiracy' in the mid-day meal tragedy that claimed the lives of 22 children, alleging that by politicising the issue the Janata Dal-United government was trying to divert the people's attention from the incident.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi came under scathing attack from the Grand Secular Alliance on Sunday in poll-bound Bihar with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad and Congress President Sonia Gandhi accusing him of "insulting" the state and failing to deliver on any of his promises.
Lalan Kumar Paswan, who lodged the FIR with the vigilance department, held that the RJD chief's alleged act was tantamount to 'corruption' since, as a member of the legislative assembly, he was a 'public servant' whom Yadav had tried to entice away from 'performing the constitutional obligation of taking part in voting in the House'.
"This 'notebandi' is a positive step which will lead to benefits. It will happen," the JD-U president said, terming corruption and black money as a "big sin and festering wound" which must be eradicated.
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