Mystery still surrounded the claim by Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani that Narendra Modi had sent two emissaries to him carrying a message with a Lok Janshakti Party leader whose named surfaced maintaining today he met him but not as an emissary.
As in the past, many of the exit polls gave a clear majority to the BJP-led NDA going way off the mark in ground realities while those that predicted victory for the 'grand alliance' did not anticipate the sweep.
BJP backed to the hilt Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as its leader in the state and rebuffed a rebellious Chirag Paswan, while acknowledging his Lok Janshakti Party as an ally 'at the Centre'. At a press conference which was attended by top leaders of the JD-U headed by Kumar and the BJP, it was made clear that 'only those who accept the chief ministers leadership will be deemed to be a part of the National Democratic Alliance in Bihar'.
Delhi's ruling party is all set to tackle the Parliamentary polls in the desert state, says Shahnawaz Akhtar
Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday night released the first list of 43 candidates for the high-stakes Bihar polls, giving about 60 per cent representation to those from SC and backward castes in an apparent attempt to target the base of rival Janata Dal-United-Rashtriya Janata Dal combine.
'The main characteristic of Bihar politics is that it has always affected Delhi.'
The RLSP's attack on the JD-U came in the backdrop of media reports after a recent meeting of Kumar with Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah in Delhi.
"I will resign by tomorrow (on Tuesday) to facilitate the process of government formation," Singh said.
The former Union minister joined the UPA after holding talks with the Congress leadership.
Narendra Modi is all set to be elected leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the National Democratic Alliance parliamentary coalition on Tuesday as jockeying for positions in the new Cabinet gained momentum on Monday.
With the matter snowballing into a political controversy, both the Janaat Dal-United and the BJP tried to play down the issue.
M I Khan in Patna Nearly twelve years after he left the National Democratic Alliance and resigned from the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government after the Gujarat riots in 2002, Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan will share the dais with Gujarat Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi at his 'hunkar' rally in Bihar's Muzaffarpur town on Monday. Paswan, who joined the NDA last week to contest the Lok Sabha polls and took a U-turn on Modi, will appear in public with the BJP's top brass including Modi at the rally. Paswan's son Chirag will also be present at the function. Upendra Kushwaha is another new face that will be at the event. Kushwaha is the chief of the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) that joined hands with the BJP last week. Both Paswan and Kushwaha are known as their own caste. Paswan is said to enjoy overwhelming support of his caste -- locally known as Dusadh, the only Dalit caste in Bihar after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar categorised 21 other Dalit castes as 'Mahadalit' -- poorest of the poor. Kushwaha has been trying hard for last few years to emerge as a leader of his caste -- Koeri, an agrarian backward caste spread across the state. A senior BJP leader said that presence of Paswan and Kushwaha will send a strong political massage among respective castes in Bihar. "It will strengthen the BJP's social support base in Bihar," he said. In Bihar, the BJP is widely seen as an upper caste party. The much-hyped rally is seen as a bid to mobilise support and strengthen the support base in the state. The state in the Hindi heartland that sends 40 Lok Sabha members to Parliament is politically very important. In the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, the party had won 12 seats, while the Janata Dal-United won 20 seats, when they had contested as a combined force. It is expected that Modi will target Kumar, who has openly opposed him by repeatedly saying that the prime ministerial candidate should be of nsecular credentials.
"The era of 'lalten' is gone. In the last six years consumption of electricity has increased 3 fold in Bihar," PM Modi said. "Voters of Bihar have taken a resolve that they won't let those who have a history of making the state 'Bimaru' come near them," he added.
'Chirag Paswan's game plan would be to push out Nitish Kumar from this alliance, but that is only possible if the BJP wins about 90 seats and the LJP wins between 25-30 seats.'
Leaders of 22 opposition parties met the Election Commission and demanded verification of VVPAT slips of randomly-selected polling stations before the counting of the votes.
The polling for the sixth phase on May 12 covers 6 states and one Union Territory.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday made his prime ministerial ambitions known, saying he is more qualified and experienced than those "roaming around" for the top job.
Under fire for the Badaun gangrape and murder of 2 sisters, Uttar Pradesh government on Monday shifted Principal Secretary (Home) Anil Kumar Gupta.
Two poll surveys on Thursday projected a majority for the JD-U-RJD-Congress alliance in the Bihar assembly polls.
Syed Firdaus Ashraf lists seven states where the Grand Old Party suffered a severe setback.
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.
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh puts it succinctly: "Arun Jaitley was every non-BJP person's favourite BJP-ite."
It was a changed scenario in the new Lok Sabha with the churning brought out by the elections throwing in contrasts.
Principal opposition Congress too staged a walk out saying its members should have been the first ones to speak but were being denied a chance.
From opposing the NPR and NRC to demanding special status for Bihar to staying out of the Union Cabinet on principle to showing the BJP who was boss in Bihar, Nitish Kumar has wasted no opportunity at cocking a snook at the BJP leadership. But how long can he continue, asks Gopal Krishna.
'The BJP has the torch and with that same torch, the BJP is trying to light up its house in Bihar.' 'The BJP is trying to burn Nitish Kumar's house with that torch.'
Now, that's how desperately Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to win Bihar. M I Khan reports from Patna
A group of first time voters who run 10 km everyday to prepare for fauji recruitment rallies, tell Rediff.com's Archana Masih they need two things: quality education and jobs.
The term of the 243-member Bihar legislative assembly comes to an end on November 29.
Amid signs of a rapprochement, all Shiv Sena MPs will attend the high tea being hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on Sunday for the National Democratic Alliance even as Republican Party of India leader Ramdas Athawale said Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray was "very keen" on forming a government with the Bharatiya Janata Party in Maharashtra.
However, Nishant has made it clear several times that he has no interest in politics like the children of other prominent politicians of the state.
Given Nitish's track record as an accomplished trapeze artist who can dump the BJP overnight and embrace the RJD, he can leave the saffron party stranded should he fail to get the chief ministerial crown for the fourth time, notes Virendra Kapoor.
The bill rules out any provision for an anticipatory bail for a person accused of atrocities against SC/STs, notwithstanding any court order.
As per the two party leaders, they held wide-ranging talks on the current political situation in Bihar and the NDA's strategy for contesting the 40 seats in the state in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
Ahead of Cabinet formation, Narendra Modi, prime minister designate on Monday held discussions with his close aide Amit Shah and senior party leader Arun Jaitley even as newly-elected Bharatiya Janata Party members of Parliament met senior Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh functionaries at the Sangh office.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi once again led the BJP's campaign holding several rallies and stepping up his attack on Opposition parties, particularly the Congress.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday alleged that the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar was under threat from its own legislators, who are getting "restless" due to the delay in state cabinet expansion.
Under attack from the Opposition and ally Lok janshakti Party, the Haryana government on Wednesday recommended a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the burning alive of a Dalit family in Faridabad by upper caste perpetrators which left two toddlers dead.
Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Javed Ahmad Qadri from Shopian in Jammu and Kashmir allegedly thrashed a voter inside a polling station, claiming that the latter had entered the booth without a voter slip.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal with 19 seats, Congress on 9, Rashtriya Lok Samta Party on 5, Hindustani Awam Morcha and Vikassheel Insan Party -- in phases three to seven of the general elections.
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