'After the 2020 Bihar assembly polls when our party got only 43 seats and our ally the BJP got 73 seats, Nitish Kumar refused to become chief minister and assured the BJP that he will support the government led by anyone.' 'But the BJP's top leaders told Nitish Kumar that as the NDA contested the polls under his leadership, the next government will be headed by him.'
Two senior leaders from Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal have joined Nitish Kumar's ruling Janata Dal-United.
The BJP hopes to deepen its support among backward castes, especially the Extremely Backward Classes, in Bihar following the announcement of Bharat Ratna for former chief minister Karpoori Thakur, a leader who enjoys admiration from backward satraps of various hues.
In a big blow to Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, the Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected his plea for transfer of the special CBI judge hearing the fodder scam case against him in Jharkhand and asked the trial court to pronounce the verdict as soon as possible.
The BJP-led NDA leaders have attacked RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav for his statement that Bihar assembly polls is a fight between 'backward versus forward' forces.
'If somebody's parents have given a similar name, can it come in their way of their right to contest elections'
The CM is expected to call a press conference on Monday, say JD-U sources.
They are political rivals, but when it comes to celebrating Bihar Diwas in Mumbai, Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal has backed Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and has urged him to ignore Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's threat. The impending visit on April 15 has become controversial in Maharashtra.
Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad and Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, two prominent opponents of Women's Reservation Bill, had a nearly 20-minute interaction with Congress president Sonia Gandhi in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, but both sides appeared to have failed to convince each other.
Bharatiya Janata Party is leading in six seats while secular alliance comprising Rashtriya Janata Dal, Janata Dal-United and Congress is ahead in 4 seats of the total 10 assembly seats where bypoll was held on August 21.
While politicians and pundits speculate a strong possibility of their coming together, the two young leaders, however, told prying journalists their meeting was a result of "family relations" that went back to ties shared by their fathers.
Perhaps to counter Congress's yuvraj Rahul Gandhi during the Bihar Assembly elections, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lalu Prasad has launched his son Tejaswi Yadav into politics. Rated as a promising cricketer, Tejaswi plays for Delhi.
The Mahagathbandhan's seat-sharing announcement comes a day after the filing of nomination papers for the first phase of Lok Sabha polls was over.
After a dream debut seven years ago when he was sworn in as deputy chief minister after being elected MLA for the first time was followed by a slump in his political fortunes, Tejashwi Yadav has finally come back to center-stage as the kingmaker and deputy to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Sonia Gandhi on Sunday hosted her first Iftar in three years, which saw the Congress president sharing a table with leaders of RJD and its new-found ally Janata Dal-United.
He spent a month in judicial custody in connection with a forgery case, an offshoot of the multi-crore rupee flood relief scam.
Altogether, 38 other suppliers, including five women, were sentenced to prison terms ranging between two and a half years and five years and a fine of up to Rs 2.75 lakh each.
As the political drama unfolds in Bihar, Janata Dal-United chief Sharad Yadav on Monday said the decision of Nitish Kumar to quit as Chief Minister is 'final'.
The 'mock Parliament' initiated by Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and Janata Dal-United leader Sharad Yadav on the MP's salary hike issue last week has turned out to be a major irritation for Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, who is reportedly contemplating stepping down.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal leader also said, "This is not the first meeting of opposition leaders nor is it going to be the last. Leaders of different hues have agreed to meet and they will all raise issues that they feel strongly about. There is no problem with that."
No major announcements or tariff changes for freight or passenger segment likely to be announced.
He is not experienced enough to run a state and ultimately "Lalu would have been at the helm" of Bihar, Bharti said.
Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav announced that Indian Railways will offer hi-tech services on board.
Sticking to his offer of 11 Lok Sabha seats to the Congress and one to Nationalist Congress Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad on Sunday appealed to Sonia Gandhi to agree to the seat-sharing formula asserting that he would deliver results in Bihar and Jharkhand in the general elections.
Ending speculation, Janata Dal-United Chief Sharad Yadav has been re-nominated from Madhepura as the party released the second list of 32 candidates for Lok Sabha election in Bihar.
Nitish 'sent his emissary, Prashant Kishor, to me on five different occasions.' 'Kishor seemed to indicate that if I were to assure in writing my party's support to the JD-U, the latter would pull out of the BJP alliance and rejoin the Mahagathbandhan.' A revealing excerpt from Lalu Prasad Yadav's Gopalganj To Raisina: My Political Journey.
RJD chief Lalu Prasad's elder son Tej Pratap Yadav, was interrupted twice by Governor Ram Nath Kovind and asked to repeat after he misspelled a part of the oath.
Tej Pratap created a flutter a few days back with a tweet that was seen by many as signalling a rift with his younger brother Tejashwi.
The prestigious Pataliputra Lok Sabha seat will witness a contest between BJP's Ram Kripal Yadav, the long-time confidante of Lalu Yadav who recently quit RJD and joined the saffron front, and Lalu's eldest daughter Misa Bharti. M I Khan reports from Pastna.
Bihar leaders oppose Delimitation Commission proposal.
Rashtriya Janata Dal President Lalu Prasad on Saturday said that Congress was in a strong position in Uttar Pradesh assembly elections mainly due to hard work done by Rahul Gandhi.
The four choices offered to candidates were: Sharad Yadav, Shatrughan Sinha, Lalu Prasad Yadav and Vijay Rupani.
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Nitish Kumar has spotted a secular trend in Bihar and with the minority's support he could trump Lalu Prasad, says Aditi Phadnis
The Delhi police is under the Centre hence they need to explain about the issuance of license in violation of rules, the Rashtriya Janata Dal leader said.
Foot-in-the-mouth seems to be a common syndrome afflicting many politicians who find it too tough to be politically correct all the time.
Vaihayasi Pande Daniel -- who covers the Sheena Bora murder trial for Rediff.com -- reports on a day in a Ranchi court.
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