The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday took a major step to implement its key plank of "one nation, one election" as the Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the constitutional amendment bill to roll out the concept of simultaneous Lok Sabha and state assembly polls, sources said.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar asserted that the NDA government, led by him, put an end to frequent Hindu-Muslim clashes in the state by taking measures such as fencing graveyards and bringing to justice those involved in communal riots. He also criticized the opposition, particularly Tejashwi Yadav, accusing them of lacking understanding and experience. Kumar's claims were met with anger and walkout by the opposition members.
BJP state president Mangal Pandey said that Sunil Kumar and Renu Kushwaha have joined the party and RJD MLA Braj Kishore Singh has joined the party.
Veteran Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Awadh Bihari Chaudhary was on Friday unanimously elected as speaker of the Bihar legislative assembly.
'We share and support the ideology of the NDA and will not work against the NDA.'
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance is expected to achieve a clear majority in Rajya Sabha after bye-elections for 12 seats scheduled next month, which would help the party get the nod for key legislations such as the Waqf (Amendment) Bill.
The political uproar continues in Bihar, as Chief Minister Nitish Kumar alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party wanted to make R C P Singh the Eknath Shinde of Bihar and isolate the Janata Dal-United party.
Two individuals claiming to be members of the Janata Dal (United) (JD(U)) in Bihar announced their "resignation" from the party, citing dissatisfaction with its support for the Waqf (Amendment) Bill. The JD(U) denied the resignations, claiming the individuals were not party members. However, some senior JD(U) leaders have expressed discontent over the passage of the bill, which they believe is detrimental to Muslims. The controversy over the Waqf Bill is likely to influence the upcoming assembly elections in Bihar.
A day after a local lawyer filed a case against Haryana Bharatiya Janata Party leader O P Dhankhar for his alleged remarks 'Bihari bride for Haryana boys', another case was lodged in Patna on Tuesday a police official said.
The National People's Party (NPP) has withdrawn support from the BJP-led government in Manipur, citing the government's failure to resolve the ongoing crisis and restore normalcy in the state. The NPP, which has 7 MLAs in the Manipur Assembly, made the decision after recent incidents of violence and protests in the state. The BJP continues to hold a majority in the Assembly, with 32 legislators, and the withdrawal of support is not expected to affect the government's stability.
Altogether 80 out of 81 members of Legislative Assembly in Jharkhand Assembly voted in the presidential elections on Thursday with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party alone among alliance partners backing P A Sangma.
Since Independence, Lok Sabha Speakers have been chosen by consensus.
Anguished by the stampede that claimed 17 lives at Adalatghat on Monday, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has cancelled a feast for Janata Dal - United leaders at his official residence on Wednesday.
Suspended Janata Dal-United Member of Legislative Assembly Sarfaraz Alam was on Sunday arrested for allegedly misbehaving and abusing a Delhi-based couple on board Rajdhani Express.
If you happen to be kin of the ruling party's member of legislative assembly and members of Parliament of the ruling Janata Dal-United-Bharatiya Janata Party in Bihar, it is possible that you can avail of a large government plot at near-throwaway prices, the opposition has alleged.
Neiphiu Rio was on Tuesday sworn in for a third straight term as chief minister of Nagaland along with 11 ministers by the governor at a glittering function at the Raj Bhavan in Kohima.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and former chief minister Rabri Devi on Monday said they would not contest the upcoming assembly polls in Bihar.
Bihar's ruling Janata Dal-United has hired four trains and more than 10,000 buses to ferry party workers and supporters for its 'Adhikar Rally' on November 4 in Patna. M I Khan reports.
More than two decades after the then Janata Dal disintegrated, six of its constituents merged on Wednesday to form a new party which will be headed by Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha supremo Shibu Soren is all set to become the Jharkhand chief minister with the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Janata Dal (United) and the All Jharkhand Students Union.
Anna Hazare's anti-corruption wave seems to have hit the Janata Dal-United government in Bihar with a party MLA accusing a senior minister of being corrupt and calling for the latter's removal from the state Cabinet.
A careful calculation of the BJP's support base seems to have been at work in the cabinet expansion that took place a day after the party's national president chaired a meeting of the "core group" here.
Bima Bharti, a member of Legislative Assembly from Bihar, has opposed the bail petition of her husband Awadhesh Mandal, a gangster and history-sheeter. Bharti has informed the court that she no longer wants to live with him as she fears for her life, police officials said on Friday.
Singh, considered close to RJD president Lalu Prasad and his family, was charged with raising slogans against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on February 13, during a heated exchange in the House.
Former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, lodged in the Birsa Munda Central Jail after his conviction in the fodder scam case on Monday, will hear the arguments on the quantum of sentence and the punishment on October 3 in the jail through videoconferencing.
Bihar's ruling Janata Dal-United has issued a show cause notice to Member of Legislative Assembly from Ziradei constituency, Shyam Bahadur Singh, who danced with half a dozen bar dancers at his official residence in Patna last week to entertain participants of a Mahadalit rally.
A first information report has been lodged against Janata Dal United leader and Member of Bihar's Legislative Assembly Anant Singh in connection with the murder of contractor Sanjay Singh. Sanjay was shot dead in broad daylight, at Boring Road in central Patna, on Tuesday. Police sources said that Sanjay, who is related to Anant Singh, also had a criminal background. Anant Singh, a close aide of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, has 21 criminal cases pending.
Fissures surfaced among Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) partners ahead of the Jharkhand assembly elections as the Rashtriya Janata Dal on Saturday expressed disappointment over the announcement of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and Congress contesting 70 of 81 seats in the state.
"What I understand from media reports [is that] some of my party colleagues are at pain following my continuation in the ministry," Radha Krishna Kishore said.
'Prashant Kishor is a businessman before he is a politician, and given that the expected average turnout for JSP candidates is 5,000 to 6,000 votes and since Bihar has a significant number of seats where the margin between the winner and runner-up falls within that range he will capitalise on exactly that to showcase his presence.'
The development comes a day ahead of the announcement of the panchayat and municipal poll results.
He was arrested late on Wednesday evening from a village under Amba police station area in Aurangabad district by a joint excise and police team.
The metro, it seems, is politics-proof -- even if it comes at a high cost.
Observing that the days of the Janata Dal-United government were numbered after 'divorce' from the National Democratic Alliance, Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad on Tuesday said that his 22 members of Legislative Assembly would vote against the government in Wednesday's trust vote.
Union ministers Ravneet Singh Bittu and George Kurian were elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha Tuesday along with senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi and former minister Upendra Kushwaha.
JD-U chief whip Shravan Kumar said those defying the whip "will lose their membership" even as he maintained that it was a "routine exercise that takes place ahead of every assembly session".
Four Janata Dal-United legislators were disqualified on Saturday from the Bihar assembly under the anti-defection law for anti-party activities, including cross voting in Rajya Sabha election.
"We will definitely contest it in court. The Shinde faction left the Shiv Sena, then how can they claim that their group is the original party, and not the one led by Uddhav Thackeray. The Thackeray name is synonymous with the Shiv Sena," the Rajya Sabha member said.
The Janata Dal-United on Sunday condemned the road rage incident in which party Member of Legislative Council Manorama Devi's son shot dead a youth and assured that appropriate action would be taken against him as per the law.
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.
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