'The issue has been cleared by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief J P Nadda much before the elections'
New faces may, however, be inducted in the council of ministers from the allies Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress, he told reporters during his visit to Madhubani on Wednesday as part of his 'Samadhan Yatra'.
The RJD, which has been voicing apprehensions that the SIR might have been carried out to "help" the BJP-led NDA, also urged the EC to divulge details of the 3.66 lakh persons whose names were deleted from the final electoral roll published earlier this week.
Sources within the BJP said that party ministers in the Nitish-led government are likely to resign on Tuesday.
The Union home minister recalled that the BJP had won far greater number of seats in the last assembly polls than the JD(U) but Prime Minister Narendra Modi kept up his promise to back Kumar for another term in office.
Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar, who returns as Bihar chief minister for a record eighth time on Wednesday, is likely to retain the all-important home department, while the Rashtriya Janata Dal may get most of the departments that were previously with the Bharatiya Janata Party, a highly-placed source said.
It is a double century with a difference for the cricketer turned politician, who is the lead campaigner for the Opposition Mahagathbandhan in the state.
'When maximum voter participation occurs, they do not vote to re-elect the incumbent government. They vote to change it.' 'How can anyone credibly suggest that crores of young voters -- particularly the unemployed youth -- would vote to re-elect an existing government that has demonstrably failed them?'
The EC, in its order issued on Friday said the group led by Nitish Kumar is entitled to use the reserved symbol 'arrow'.
He assured all possible support from the Centre for the welfare of Bihar.
The RJD supremo also said that Nitish should cover his body with saffron cloths and chant Jai Shri Ram.
The rumours have primarily been about the impending resignation of JD-U national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh 'Lalan', for alleged proximity towards ally Rashtriya Janaat Dal at the expense of loyalty to his own party.
The special session is set to commence on a stormy note on account of Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha's stout refusal to resign despite the new ruling dispensation's motion of no-confidence against him.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday said he had decided against the Janata Dal-United joining the government at the Centre, after the Bharatiya Janata Party's refusal to his demand for four ministerial berths in 2019.
Kushwaha made the exasperated remark in reply to queries from journalists about Singh's relentless, and often personal, attacks on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Chandra Shekhar's uncharitable remarks about Ramcharitmanas which triggered a controversy.
Even until Monday, some senior BJP leaders, including those from Bihar, were of the view that the JD-U leader was engaging in brinkmanship to pressure his bigger partner to be more accommodative.
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.
RCP Singh alleged that Kumar "had made up his mind to betray the mandate of 2020 when people had voted the NDA back to power."
The ruling National Democratic Alliance in Bihar on Monday sparred with the opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal over items allegedly stolen from a government bungalow recently vacated by Tejashwi Yadav, to whom it was allotted while he was the state's deputy chief minister.
BJP candidate Kedar Prasad Gupta defeated Manoj Singh Kushwaha of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United by 3,645 votes in Kurhani.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday claimed that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar backstabbed the Bharatiya Janata Party to join hands with Rashtriya Janata Dal and Congress, in order to fulfil his prime ministerial ambitions.
The Janata Dal-United supremo was replying to queries from journalists in Darbhanga district which he visited as part of his state-wide mass outreach programme 'Samadhan Yatra'.
Haribhushan Thakur Bachaul, the MLA from Bisfi assembly constituency in Madhubani district, made these remarks while speaking to reporters at the Vidhan Sabha premises.
Ever since Nitish embarked on the slippery path of trying to unite the Opposition against the BJP, he has repeatedly rebutted suggestions that the exercise was aimed at bringing himself centre stage. The problem is: It is not enough if he says so. Others have to say so as well, especially Congress, observes Aditi Phadnis.
In a move aimed at consolidation of opposition forces, six constituents of the erstwhile 'Janata Parivar' will soon become one party as their leaders on Thursday authorised Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav to work out the "modalities" in that direction.
An editorial in Sena mouthpiece Saamana also wondered how long Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will hold ground under the 'burden of favour' and if he will take a new route.
Lalu claimed that the BJP wants to disturb communal harmony in society to hide the real issues that people are facing.
Modi will stay in Patna overnight after the road show and address election meetings on May 13 in three Lok Sabha constituencies: Hajipur, Vaishali and Saran.
It is absolutely wrong that the LJP is not averse to taking outside support from the BJP, he said.
'It is good for us if the JMM contests. That will divide the Opposition and give us the upper hand.'
Appearing on national television to mark the silver jubilee of the party he founded in 1997 after breaking away from the Janata Dal, Prasad, who is suffering from many ailments and convalescing at his MP daughter Misa Bharti's residence in New Delhi, recalled his struggles for OBC quota and the fight for the rights of the weaker sections.
Kumar said that Rahul Gandhi's claim that the caste survey in the state was held under the Congress' pressure was 'nonsensical'.
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.
Smaller allies of the ruling NDA in Bihar, including HAM and RLM, have expressed resentment over the seat-sharing arrangements announced for the upcoming assembly elections, raising concerns about the alliance's unity.
'In times of adversity, families unite, but the reverse is happening in the Lalu family.'
The Janata Dal-United leader maintained that having taken the initiative to bring parties opposed to the Bharatiya Janata Party, he desired nothing for himself but admitted having stressed at the meeting the need to expedite seat-sharing arrangements.
Nitish slammed the opposition and expressed confidence that they will be defeated in the next Lok Sabha elections.
On Tuesday, BJP President Amit Shah had mocked the alliance saying 'zero plus zero remains a zero'.
