Babulal Marandi, former chief minister of Jharkhand and leader of Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik), tells Gyan Varma that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee should be praised for withdrawing support to the United Progressive Alliance.
Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Babulal Marandi was arrested on Monday night, hours after his 'dharna' near the office of the DFO in Giridih, Jharkhand, protesting against the official allegedly preventing locals from collecting mica.
Six JVM-P MLAs joined the BJP-led coalition in the state assembly.
An isolated Shibu Soren resigned as Jharkhand Chief Minister on Sunday evening after failing to get the support of the Congress and its ally Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik ahead of Monday's trust vote in the assembly.
Former Jharkhand chief minister and JVM-P leader Babulal Marandi has said holding elections in the state is the only alternative.
Marandi was the chief minister of Jharkhand from November 2000 to March 2003.
Hemant Soren was also formally elected as the JMM legislature party leader.
Here's a look at how the heavyweights of fared in the Jharkhand assembly polls, 2019.
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.
Most exit polls telecast by news channels soon after voting ended for the fifth and final phase of the Jharkhand elections on Friday indicated a hung assembly. Results for the elections to the 81-member state assembly will be announced on December 23.
With challenges such as raising the legal age of marriage for women, combating malnutrition among women and children, and addressing women's safety issues, the new ministers face a formidable agenda.
The ten richest among the 199 candidates in fray in the first phase of polling for Jharkhand assembly belong to Palamau division, according to an NGO involved in election watch.
Many issues dog the Mahagathbandhan of the Congress, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, the most prominent of which is seat sharing.
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha working president Hemant Soren was on Sunday sworn in as the 11th chief minister of Jharkhand at Morhabadi Ground in Ranchi. Governor Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office and secrecy to Soren, in the presence of senior political leaders and chief ministers from across states.
The Bharatiya Janata Party announced on Saturday that Navya Haridas, a two-time councillor in the Kozhikode Corporation, will be the National Democratic Alliance candidate for the Wayanad Lok Sabha by-election.
The MLAs of the ruling United Progressive Alliance coalition in Jharkhand on Tuesday arrived in Raipur by a chartered flight in a bid to thwart the Bharatiya Janata Party's possible attempt to poach them, and moved into a nearby luxurious resort.
Polling in 15 constituencies of the state on Sunday ended with 61.08 per cent electorate exercising their franchise in the penultimate phase of the assembly elections in Jharkhand as the day passed off peacefully.
Several leaders from the Congress and its alliance partners from across the country attended the event.
Amid tight security, 62.60 per cent of 56,18,267 voters exercised their franchise in 17 to decide the fate of 309 candidates.
The fate of 189 candidates, including 15 women nominees, will be decided in the first phase of the polling in Chatra, Gumla, Bishunpur, Lohardaga, Manika, Latehar, Panki, Daltonganj, Bishrampur, Chhatarpur, Hussainabad, Garhwa and Bhawanathpur.
AICC in-charge for Jharkhand, R P N Singh, said the party is happy for its best performance in the state since its creation in 2000.
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.
Where do the big guns stand as counting underway for the Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand elections?
Marandi returned to the BJP after 14 years and the party now wants him to lead the state unit. But a generation of new leaders isn't familiar with him, explains Radhika Ramaseshan.
Although the back-fence talk was that the AJSU would return to the BJP if the Jharkhand verdict was inconclusive, the AJSU's Deosharan Bhagat rejected the hearsay. 'Jharkhand was born out of a long agitation and we were one of the agitators. We won't allow people's hopes to die with short-term compromises. Our slogan is our rule, our government,' he said. Another Sena and Mahato as another Uddhav Thackeray, asks Radhika Ramaseshan.
The jovial RJD chief, known for his earthy humours, apparently could not digest that his party drew a blank in its stronghold Bihar and also in the neighbouring Jharkhand.
Although conventional political wisdom would decree that the construction of a 'magnificent' Ram temple at his 'birth-place' would bring the BJP a big yield of votes in the prospective elections, its leaders know by now that the mandir must not exist in isolation in its game plan, reports Radhika Ramaseshan.
The second phase of polling began Saturday morning on 20 constituencies in Jharkhand, which votes in five phases to elect 81 members of the legislative assembly.
By conventional yardsticks, Das was an audacious choice by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP president Amit Shah, like Devendra Fadnavis was in Maharashtra and Manohar Lal Khattar in Haryana. Will his choice pay off in the elections next month?
Counting of votes will be held today in Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand which witnessed a record turnout in the multi-cornered contests to elect their assemblies.
The Congress chief reiterated that Rs 30,000 crore was "wrongfully" given to Anil Ambani in the purchase of Rafale fighter planes.
'Yeh dil maange more' seems to be mantra for over two dozen former chief ministers of various states who are contesting upcoming Lok Sabha elections on different party tickets.
Mayawati was outmanoeuvred by the BJP in the race for the Rajya Sabha in Uttar Pradesh just days after she helped the Samajwadi Party snatch two Lok Sbaha seats from the saffron party in bypolls.
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