The Bihar CM may be in the Opposition but his endorsement of Ram Nath Kovind, the NDA's presidential candidate, is among the many recent decisions that puts him apart from the others.
Discontentment of allies may not look serious now, but the BJP needs to develop a better mechanism to deal with the allies ahead of the next Lok Sabha polls in 2019.
Leave alone taking forward the seat-sharing talks with the existing and probable allies, the Mahagathbandhan remains an amorphous entity weeks before the first phase of polling on October 28, a situation that will make the rival NDA camp, which in any case looks sitting pretty, all the more happier.
'Everyone relies on caste to win elections in Bihar.'
'Few leaders are fortunate to win such a ringing endorsement from the electorate in an election when the prime minister and his lieutenant staked their all and almost daily upped the ante.' 'Now that he has won the election so convincingly, the Mahagatbandhan's Mahanayak needs to get to business at hand,' says Archana Masih.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has written an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in which he makes a strong objection to the latter's comment about his "DNA" at a recent election rally in the state.
The feud in the family -- brother versus brother, sister versus brother, and daughter versus mother -- is an open secret. In the absence of the patriarch, there is no one to compose their differences, reports Satyavrat Mishra.
The ruling coalition won 125 seats in the 243-member state assembly against 110 clinched by the opposition Grand Alliance to pave the way for a fourth successive term for Kumar in office.
Rajiv Ranjan, the Janata Dal-United legislator from Islampur assembly seat in Nalanda district, speaks to rediff.com's M I Khan about the circumstances that led to his suspension.
Seeking to buck the trend of recent Parliamentary election in which BJP decimated them, Janata Dal-United, RJD and Congress announced an alliance among the three for bypoll in 10 Assembly seats in Bihar, considered as semi-final before the crucial state poll next year.
The move is being seen as an attempt to forge opposition unity to defeat the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.
'Akhileshji has to protect his political turf and if it means confronting his father, snapping ties with him and forming another party, so be it.'
Known for weighing his options carefully before making any move, Kumar, upon a closer look, comes across as a risk taker who has not shied away from going against the tide.
Known for weighing his options carefully before making any move, Kumar, upon a closer look, comes across as a risk taker who has not shied away from going against the tide.
The party is counting on women voters and caste calculus, among others, to swing the crucial polls in its favour
Association of caste with the way people have tended to vote in Bihar has somewhat weakened.
BJP strategists know it may not repeat its 2014 performance in its traditionally strong bases in the north and the west. This is where the success in the north east and east is so important.
'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.'
Nitish Kumar's decision to resign as the state chief minister was as dramatic as the time he decided to tie up with old foe Lalu in 2015.
Upendra Kushwaha, president of the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party, which is part of the National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre, admits the Bihar assembly elections will be a close contest and will be fought along the lines of caste.
'Maybe the BJP believes, in the post-poll scenario, it will have the might to foist, anybody endorsed by the RSS, upon Bihar,' observes Mohammad Sajjad.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi came under scathing attack from the Grand Secular Alliance on Sunday in poll-bound Bihar with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad and Congress President Sonia Gandhi accusing him of "insulting" the state and failing to deliver on any of his promises.
'The Parivar's ideology and politics was and remains the very opposite of what Dr Ambedkar stood for.'
Amid speculation over the fate of alliance between the Janata Dal-United and Rashtriya Janata Dal ahead of the crucial Bihar polls, JD-U President Sharad Yadav on Thursday insisted that both the parties will fight the assembly polls in the state together in alliance with the Congress to challenge a resurgent Bharatiya Janata Party.
'It is our right to protest and draw the attention of this government, which is sleeping and appears blind, as it has failed to see the pain and struggle of the jobless youth.'
While the Rashtriya Janata Dal and Janata Dal-United are busy fighting each other, the BJP is trying not to repeat the mistakes it made the last time out, says Satyavrat Mishra
Counting of votes in the high-stakes close-to-call Bihar assembly elections, billed as a hot battle between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, will take place on Sunday.
'Nitish has no future in state politics.' 'Nitish harassed the Yadav community no end in his earlier tenure as chief minister. So who will the Yadav community vote for in the coming state elections?'
Bharatiya Janata Party senior leader Sushil Kumar Modi talks to Satyavrat Mishra about the prospects of the party in Bihar. Modi says only the assembly elections or general elections are the true barometers of popularity. Edited excerpts:
'The greatness of Indian democracy is that it never lets any political pundit master the pulse of the electorate. Sometimes people vote for change and sometimes they vote for the status quo.'
Under fierce attack for his DNA jibe against Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, which has been turned into a major electoral weapon against him, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday sought to make amends, calling Biharis the "most intelligent" people.
Under siege, Nitish plans to tweak Bihar's anti-booze law
'The government and corporate sector must join hands to implement action which allows all of India to develop. It would be good for the corporate sector in the long run.' 'It is not that talent is a monopoly of a few castes who have been privileged over centuries. Talent also exists in other groups. They need opportunity and exposure,'
'The educated, employed, and self-sufficient Dalit is being attracted towards the BJP. The middle-class that has rapidly emerged among Dalits in the last two decades has deviated from its path. It has become a traitor to its own class. It cannot distinguish between a friend and an enemy.'
Kickstarting the National Democratic Alliance's poll campaign in Bihar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday focussed his attack on former Bharatiya Janata Party ally and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, accusing him of "back-stabbing" the people of the state and alleging that there is some problem with his "DNA".
'The BJP has replaced huge portraits of the two BJP leaders from Gujarat with very small portraits of many leaders from Bihar. Much is being read into this changed tactic of hoardings and banners,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
Sarmesh Kumar is the first in his family, that comes from the community of rat eaters, to go to college. Archana Masih/Rediff.com met the young man and traveled to his village -- which Bill Gates visited a few years ago -- as Rediff.com looks at Bihar through the stories of its people.
In terms of electoral fortunes, in all likelihood, the status quo is not going to change in any significant manner. These six seats from Bihar are unlikely to give any clear signal to UPA, NDA or Federal Front.
While Congress-ruled states such as Kerala, Karnataka and Assam expressed fears about the sudden demise of the planning process and wondered what it would be replaced with, also worrying about the immediate implications on annual Plan outlays, Andhra Pradesh said it was considering setting up its own NITI Aayog.
'If Lalu puts the agenda of his son's career ahead of the coalition's interest, this coalition will fare very badly.' 'Lalu will ultimately want that his son becomes deputy chief minister but if he's prepared to wait for some time, nothing bad will happen for the coalition,' Professor Prabhat Ghosh, Director, Asian Development Research Institute, tells Archana Masih/Rediff.com
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