Lalu's word is final in the RJD when even when he is serving a long jail sentence after being convicted in fodder scam cases.
'We can't underestimate future threats.'
The new Council of Ministers has representation from almost all the states, except Andhra Pradesh and the north-eastern states of Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Sikkim and Tripura.
Concerned over high incidents of violence, the Home ministry has asked the Election Commission to conduct the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in 33 Naxal-hit districts in the first phase to ensure maximum security and minimum casualties.
The BJP is of the view that Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttarakhand governments could collapse and a Modi wave may resurrect its chances, notes Archis Mohan.
Unfazed by the protests against the Act, Shah challenged protesters to oppose the legislation as much as they can. He also asked students who are opposing the legislation to read it properly and understand its meaning.
UP and Bihar contributed 105 seats to the BJP's tally in 2014. It has now lost 8 Lok Sabha by-polls in the last four years, including three successive losses in UP and two seats in Rajasthan.
The election is likely to witness a three-cornered contest involving the ruling Aam Aadmi Party, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress.
Jayanta Roy Chowdhury reports on how the West Bengal elections are being fought by the BJP and Trinalool Congress amid COVID challenges, 'Bangaliana', and campaigns based on religion, region, and caste.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren on Thursday lost in the Tamar assembly by-poll by over 9,000 votes to Gopal Krishna Patar, his rival from the Jharkhand Party candidate.The by-poll was held on January 3 and the counting was taken up today.The Jhrakhand Mukti Morcha chief is likely to lose his chief ministerial seat.
Right from the great Muhammad Ali, who was an influential figure during the African-American Civil Rights Movement to Cte d'Ivoire footballer Didier Drogba, who had a major hand in bringing peace to his country, sports personalities across the world have always played huge roles in social and geopolitical movements. The scenario is no different in India, as a lot of sporting stars have taken the political plunge. Take a look at the sports personalities contesting in elections 2019.
Jharkhand appears headed for a brief spell of President's rule after Chief Minister Arjun Munda resigned on Tuesday and recommended dissolution of the assembly and the Congress showed no hurry to support formation of an alternative government.
Party's general secretary Ram Madhav, whose name was doing rounds as a contender, is not among the six candidates with sources saying he is likely to get a bigger responsibility in the organisation following a rejig expected soon.
Demanding mid-term polls, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantric) on Monday accused its pre-poll ally Congress of desiring to govern the state by prolonging the President's rule.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that there is a bankruptcy of issues among opposition parties, as they have nothing to say against his government.
Polling will be held in all 13 seats in Punjab and an equal number of seats in Uttar Pradesh, nine in West Bengal, eight seats each in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, four in Himachal Pradesh, three in Jharkhand and the lone seat Chandigarh.
'It marks the start of an era where the BJP must now campaign on its own record rather than against the misrule of another party.'
He was allegedly attacked for his 'anti-Hindu' stance.
He also alleged that the Congress toyed with national security and actively and covertly supported Naxalism in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand for political gains.
Senior BJP leader L K Advani will skip the swearing-in ceremony of Arjun Munda as Chief Minister of Jharkhand on Saturday amidst reports that he was unhappy over the formation of the government with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha.
'He is not a person to challenge the government.' 'He is a man who is known to go with the flow' Aditi Phadnis reports.
A party source said most of the leaders, however, are hoping that Gandhi will continue to lead the party as the Nehru-Gandhi family acts as a "glue" that binds the party together.
In an apparent reference to the Congress with which it failed to strike an understanding for the upcoming assembly polls in Jharkhand, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad has said national parties are out to 'crush' smaller and regional outfits.
An alliance between the Congress and the Jharkhand Vikas Manch for assembly elections in Jharkhand is likely to be finalised in the next two days.
Amit Shah said simultaneous polls would curb expenditure.
Jagat Prakash Nadda was elected unopposed as the Bharatiya Janata Party national president on Monday after he emerged as the only leader in the fray following the nomination process in which his candidature was endorsed by top party leaders.
With the Congress and its allies winning 25 seats and emerging as the single largest alliance in Jharkhand, the party has begun exploring options of forming the next government in the state realising that they have to do business with Jharkhand Mukti Morcha's Shibu Soren who now controls the levers of power in the state having won 18 seats in the assembly elections.
Jharkhand was headed for a hung assembly on Wednesday as the Congress and its ally Jharkhand Vikas Morcha gained an edge by leading in 24 seats in the 81-member House. As the counting of votes progressed, Shibu Soren-led JMM emerged as the likely kingmaker, leading in 15 seats. The Bharatiya Janata Party - Janata Dal-United combine gave the Congress tough competition by leading in 23 seats.The Congress is contesting the elections with Babulal Marandi-led JVM.
Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday returned a hung verdict with the Peoples Democratic Party as the dominant one that can tie up either with the Congress or the Bharatiya Janata Party to form the government. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand the BJP and its allies headed for capturing power.
Former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda, who is under investigation for amassing wealth running into billions of rupees, is learnt to have appointed Justice Y R Meena -- a retired chief justice of the Gujarat high court -- as his legal advisor.
Though authorities and NGOs have made arrangements for their food, most of them want to go back to their native places to escape the hardship brought by the sweeping curbs.
'The brutal violence of the UP government's first response to the anti-CAA protests suggests that the BJP will test drive the NPR/NRC in UP, where it has both a massive majority in the assembly and a chief minister whose instinct for Hindutva extremism and whose appetite for punitive policing allows a prime minister as darkly majoritarian as Modi to appear statesman-like,' notes Mukul Kesavan.
'The voter is cautioning the BJP not to take them for granted.'
The Congress on Thursday dismissed an opinion poll predicting party vide-president Rahul Gandhi as the third choice for prime ministerial prospect, terming it inaccurate.
The winds of nationalism laden with religion will now yield to those of concern over the stalled economy, unemployment, and a general malaise and unhappiness, predicts Shekhar Gupta.
Coupled with his administrative and organisational skills and experience, his loyalty to the party and RSS ideology seemed to have won the day for him.
The Uttar Pradesh by-election will be the real test for the Modi government. By-election results are not a referendum on Modi but the time has come to analyse whether the Modi government is succeeding in assuring people that the promises it made would be fulfilled, says Dharmendra Kumar Singh.
The senior Congress leader was in a coma since October last year, when he was admitted to AIIMS after he suffered a brain haemorrhage.
"I will definitely contest the elections," Soren said after meeting Congress party's in charge of Jharkhand Ajay Maken in New Delhi. The JMM chief was replying to a query on whether he would contest from Jamtara seat vacated for him by a rebel BJP MLA. Jamtara MLA Vishnu Bhaiyya resigned earlier in the day to pave the way for Soren to contest from there.
The Bharatiya Janata Party said its members would court arrest on Friday in Jharkhand against the Union cabinet's recommendation of President's rule in the state keeping the assembly in suspended animation.
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