Family feuds, in what are essentially family-run outfits, have cast a shadow over the reunification efforts of Janata Party.
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar said the decision of the merger has already been taken and there was no question of going back on it.
Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad on Friday formally broached the idea of a grand alliance including former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party in poll-bound Bihar, a move that may rock attempts at a merger between 'Janata Parivar' parties.
RJD President Lalu Prasad Yadav said on Sunday that the merger of six Janata Parivar parties to counter the BJP has already "happened".
RJD chief Lalu Prasad announced in Patna on Sunday that the merger of the six parties of the erstwhile Janata Parivar was certain and necessary to stop and defeat the communally inclined BJP.
On Tuesday, BJP President Amit Shah had mocked the alliance saying 'zero plus zero remains a zero'.
With uncertainty prevailing over 'Janata Parivar' constituents contesting the Bihar assembly polls as one party, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday asked Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav to convene a meeting of the merger committee to "clear the air".
Pitching for larger opposition unity, six constituents of the erstwhile Janata Parivar on Monday shared dais at a mahadharna slamming the Bharatiya Janata Party's 'divisive' politics and accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of telling lies and not fulfilling poll promises on black money.
It is impossible to say when would these leaders stab each other for political gains," it said.
Kumar was speaking to media persons at Patna airport on his arrival from New Delhi.
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.
'The merger is undemocratic. Leaders have flouted the party (JD-U) constitution,' says Devendra Prasad Yadav, a JD-U member of Parliament.
Hopefully, the BJP will realise that it's the right time for parivartan (change) in its polarising poll strategies after achieving the impossible-looking goal of winning West Bengal, argues Sheela Bhatt.
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.
'When Narendra Modi was here, he spoke only about development and what the BJP wanted to do in Kerala. That kind of sober rhetoric or argument is acceptable to the people here.'
'The BJP and its allies can decide the fate of many candidates.'
The Congress party has accused the BJP government of disrespecting opposition leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge by seating them in the third row during the Republic Day parade. BJP leaders have responded by questioning Rahul Gandhi's attendance at other important events.
'I am not angry with my son. He will always have my blessings. Tej Pratap will now stay with the family.'
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor praised the cordial meeting between Donald Trump and Zohran Mamdani, while the BJP hopes Rahul Gandhi learns from it.
Nitin Nabin's selection is a bold political decision by the Two Gujaratis. When Rahul Gandhi has resurrected the issue of social justice, the BJP and the Two Gujaratis are sticking to their plan and agenda, explains Sheela Bhatt.
'The move to appoint a person with a profile, markedly lower than the leader Nitin Nabin will replace, has the potential to put the brakes on the careers of several others in the party and government in the positions they currently hold,' points out Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
As the Bihar assembly results swept in, Patna's Veerchand Patel Marg, the city's political artery, split into two starkly different worlds, with celebrations at the BJP and JD(U) offices and disappointment at the RJD headquarters.
The BJP criticized opposition parties for misspelling 'loktantra' (democracy) on a protest banner during a demonstration against electoral roll revisions in Bihar.
'It is something like traditional Indian families.' 'The family might be run by younger people, but if the patriarch says that you should consider someone for some task, it is very difficult for the others to ignore it.'
Let there be no doubt that Modi in these 24 years so far has reshaped politics and governance considerably, if not completely, asserts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author, Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times.
Haryana Bharatiya Janata Party leader Anil Vij is facing flak from party supporters for tweaking his profile name on X -- he shifted the 'Modi Ka Parivar' tagline to the bio to make space for his changed status as an ex-minister now in the state cabinet.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other UDF MPs protest the arrest of Catholic nuns in Chhattisgarh, alleging religious persecution by the BJP government and demanding their immediate release.
Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad Yadav had thrown barbs at the prime minister over his having no family.
A BJP leader from Palakkad, Kerala, has filed a complaint against popular rapper Vedan, accusing him of defaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi and promoting caste-based division through his music. The complaint, filed with the Union Home Ministry and NIA, alleges that one of Vedan's songs contains defamatory remarks about the Prime Minister and inflammatory language aimed at dividing the Hindu community along caste lines. The complaint also highlights Vedan's past legal issues, including his arrest on April 28 in connection with a drug case. Vedan has denied the allegations, claiming that the criticism is part of a broader attempt to portray him as an extremist.
Congress leader Salman Khurshid, who is a part of India's diplomatic mission abroad, on Monday said it is 'distressing' that people back home are calculating political allegiances and asked if it is 'so difficult to be patriotic'.
'The nuns were subjected to abusive language and all types of mental torture.'
The Web portal of the Organiser, the RSS mouthpiece, published an article (withdrawn later) that the Christian community holds many acres of land, far more than Waqf property.'
BJP and RSS leaders are once again pushing to remove the words 'secular' and 'socialist' from the Constitution's Preamble, showing a deeper effort to change India's identity from a diverse, multi-religious republic to a Hindu-first nation, even though they don't have the numbers in Parliament to officially change the Constitution, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Haribhushan Thakur Bachaul, the MLA from Bisfi assembly constituency in Madhubani district, made these remarks while speaking to reporters at the Vidhan Sabha premises.
The Bharat Mata controversy in Kerala shows how political and symbolic fights between the state and the Centre have taken attention away from education, throwing the state's oldest university into confusion and disorder, observes Shyam G Menon.
'There were deep discussions within the Sangh Parivar before this decision was made.' 'They were convinced, and only then did the Modi government proceed with the caste census.'
The prolonged delay over electing J P Nadda's successor possibly stems from the RSS leadership wanting a person who is at least equidistant from the Sangh as well as the Modi/BJP edifice, observes BJP-RSS watcher Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Sharad Yadav, President of the Janata Dal (United), is one of the architects of the proposed merger of six political parties who trace their roots to the erstwhile Janata Dal. Yadav tells Archis Mohan how the grand alliance with Left parties and even the Congress is the need of the hour.
The government has to specify what it intends to do with caste census data. It will be closely tracked if the government would simultaneously move towards removing the present 50% bar on reservations using means which are permitted in law. If this is not done, the entire exercise will become meaningless and could boomerang on the BJP, observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Congress spokesperson Rajeev Gowda tells A Ganesh Nadar why his party may join the Nitish Kumar-led Janata parivar alliance.
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