Questioning the secular credentials of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Rashitriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad on Thursday said Janata Dal-United is in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is being dictated by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
'At the right time, people of Bihar will give a befitting response to him and the one who makes him dance to his tunes, the prime minister'
'Nitish does not want to talk about development, unemployment, education, health infrastructure and poverty'
'They (INDIA bloc leaders) were not doing anything. Nothing happened after the first meeting of INDIA bloc that took place in Patna last year. Now, I have come back to the same place, where I was earlier (with NDA)'
'There are differences over certain issues between the JD-U and BJP but we are in alliance and continuing.'
The decision taken about Kharge at the INDIA bloc meeting earlier this month had shocked the JD-U, which believed that its president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar would be named as the convenor without being saddled with any chairperson, its leaders had then said.
The Supreme Court has dismissed a petition challenging the appointment of Nitish Kumar as chief minister of Bihar after his party forged a new alliance in August, saying post-poll alignments subject to certain conditions is permissible under the anti-defection law.
Party's chief spokesperson K C Tyagi said Kumar has agreed to take over the mantle from Lalan Singh.
The Congress will get three ministerial berths in the new Nitish Kumar government in Bihar, a senior party leader said.
The BJP has accused RJD workers of hurling abuses at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's late mother during Tejashwi Yadav's 'Bihar Adhikar Yatra'. The incident has sparked controversy in the politically charged environment of Bihar, where elections are due later this year.
Manjhi's political journey took a dramatic turn when, in 2014, he was unexpectedly anointed Chief Minister by Nitish Kumar, who had resigned after a disastrous Lok Sabha election.
Did Nitish Kumar want to return to the Mahagathbandhan 6 months after aligning with the BJP?
"Best wishes to Nitish Kumar ji on being nominated as the chief minister. I hope he makes his priority positive issues such as aspirations of the people of Bihar, the NDA's promise of 19 lakh jobs-employment, education, health, livelihood, irrigation and justice rather than his ambition for the chair," Tejashwi wrote in a social media post.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the NDA's victory in the Bihar assembly elections as a win for good governance, development, and social justice. He congratulated alliance partners and thanked the people of Bihar for their support.
The first meeting of leaders of the National Democratic Alliance after the election results was held at caretaker Prime Minister Narendra D Modi's residence in New Delhi on Wednesday, June 5, 2024.
'There will be no khel on February 12 during the confidence motion vote.'
An ECI statement issued from New Delhi put the voter turnout at 68.76 per cent. The female turnout (74.03 per cent) was significantly higher, compared with males (64.1 per cent).
The entire election process will be concluded by November 16.
'Every vote given to Nitish Kumar ji will not only weaken and ruin Bihar, but will also strengthen the RJD and the Grand Alliance. He has done preparations to leave the BJP and go with the RJD after the elections,' he said in a tweet.
'I felt anguished when I read the reports about my speech at the convocation of Mahatma Gandhi Central University. I wanted to underscore that the then Congress government had wanted to set up a central university only in Gaya but agreed to establish another one in Motihari (East Champaran) at my instance. Work began when the BJP was in power at the Centre. But it remains the fact that the university came up as a result of my initiative'
The Nitish Kumar government appeared to be heading for a showdown with Bihar Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar as the Raj Bhavan reversed an order of the state administration to freeze bank accounts of two officials of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Bihar University in Muzaffarpur.
'Rahul Gandhi's problem is that he doesn't think big.' 'He looks more like an activist, while politics is like a game of chess. You attack and then defend and have a game-plan.'
With the Bharatiya Janata Party falling short of a majority in the Lok Sabha and needing the National Democratic Alliance partners to form the government at the Centre, Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal-United head Nitish Kumar and Telugu Desam Party's N Chandrababu Naidu have emerged as potential kingmakers.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav on Wednesday met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in New Delhi in the presence of Rahul Gandhi.
Will Amit Shah's meetings with Nitish Kumar improve BJP-JD-U relations?
Kumar had also made it clear that he was in the process of uniting the non-BJP leaders.
The JD-U and the Opposition RJD are united on a caste census in Bihar, which the BJP is opposed to.
'Bihar's voters' electoral memory is long, and their evaluations are relational; who came to the village, who followed up, who resolved a problem.'
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.
As he snapped ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party, Bihar's caretaker chief minister Nitish Kumar has once again been pitched as a prime ministerial candidate for the 2024 elections by some, but a majority of the Opposition still view the Janata Dal-United leader with suspicion citing his numerous 'U-turns'.
Shah pulled no punches in lambasting the RJD supremo for alleged nepotism, accusing him of making his wife the chief minister, getting his daughter elected to Parliament and "now both his sons want to become the CM".
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday hinted that the much-awaited all-party meeting on a state-specific census of castes could be held later this week.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday rejected claims by Bharatiya Janata Party MP and his former deputy chief minister Sushil Modi that the Janata Dal-United had split with the National Democratic Alliance as the chief minister was not made the Vice President.
With this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also sent a strong message to ally, Janata Dal-United President and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, that their partnership remains intact and that they will be formidable partners at the hustings.
A reference to Morbi bridge collapse of Gujarat was on Friday made inside the Bihar assembly by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who alleged that states not ruled by Bharatiya Janata Party got an unfair portrayal in the media.
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.
Democracy in India is too important to be left to a leader with a limited appeal. If Rahul Gandhi cares for India, he should step aside for a new crop of leaders, suggests Harishchandra.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who was on Wednesday sworn in for the eighth time, asserted that the National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi needs to 'worry' about its prospects in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad Yadav on Wednesday dropped hints that the Mahagathbandhan helmed by his party might bring on board former Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras, whom the National Democratic Alliance has sidelined in favour of estranged nephew Chirag Paswan.
'Nitish may take such a decision because he was the first person who was with the INDIA front.' 'He went back only because he did not get proper encouragement from the Congress.' 'Nitish will take a decision provided there is a strong alternative.' 'If he feels ours is a weak coalition, he will not come.' 'Then, this government will continue for five years.'
