Rashtriya Janata Dal President Lalu Prasad on Thursday invited former Bihar chief minister Jiten Ram Manjhi, a known detractor of Nitish Kumar, to join the process of uniting parties against the Bharatiya Janata Party for the upcoming assembly polls in Bihar.
The action is in connection with its money laundering probe in the IRCTC hotel allotment scam case involving Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad and his family.
The sources said the opposition leaders would now plan joint rallies that were put on hold due to the assembly elections.
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.
Bharatiya Janata Party and other National Democratic Alliance members were on their feet demanding an explanation from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the spat, which they said was "very serious".
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday vowed to thwart alleged attempts to rob Dalits and backward classes of reservations by the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) which he accused of 'enslavement' and performing 'mujra' for Muslim vote bank.
Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad's controversial brother-in-law Sadhu Yadav has been given a pride of place in the publicity committee of the Congress in poll-bound Bihar.
The couple and their six children, who were visiting the shrine for the first time, participated in Brahmotsavam -- the day the festival commences -- on Thursday night.
Sources said that the chapter on Lalu, titled Mitti ke Gaurav (pride of the soil), will be removed from the Hindi textbooks for class VIII from the academic session beginning in April. Instead of a chapter dedicated to Lalu, students will now read about the life and work of Mahatma Phule, a social reformer and educationist of the 19th century.
Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan on Tuesday fired a salvo at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and said that he should now enjoy the power as November 8 will bring an end to his delight.
Thakur's tenure as chief minister is best remembered for implementation of the recommendations of the Mungeri Lal Commission, whereby quotas for backward classes were introduced in the state in 1978. This panel was the forerunner of the Mandal Commission. Both Mungeri Lal and B P Mandal were from Bihar, which has a long history of socialist struggles.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was an experienced leader and it would be great if a proposal came to make him the convenor of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), his deputy Tejashwi Yadav said on Wednesday.
Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad on Thursday hit back at Nitin Gadkari for his derogatory remarks against him and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, saying the Bharatiya Janata Party president has gone 'mentally bankrupt'. "We will first try to give Gadkari tablets to cure his mental bankruptcy, then put him on capsules and if the tablets and capsules fail, we will put him on injection," Prasad told a press conference in Patna.
He is the longest serving president of a political party in the country.
Laloo said he would soon reveal names of BJP leaders involved in a freight scam.
'I have come to know that the sociology department of Harvard University is doing a research on me,' he said.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will meet Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad and Janata Dal-United leader Sharad Yadav on Tuesday morning over the Women's Reservation Bill.
Heated arguments broke out between Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav's son and securitymen outside Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's official residence after the former's car was stopped on a restricted route on Monday, police said.
Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav on Wednesday said next year's railway budget would have surprise content and promised that there would not be any hike in passenger fares and additional surcharge.
'On corruption the Yadavs of UP and Bihar will find it very tough to give an answer to the accusations of the BJP and its supporters,' says Aakar Patel.
On February 19, the Nitish Kumar government filed a petition in the high court against Lalu and Rabri's acquittal
After all, unlike the barriers between Nitish and Lalu, the forge between Mulayam and Mayawati has not been limited to just political differences, it has been a personal war, says Sharat Pradhan/Rediff.com
A confrontation over the issue of the Women's Reservation Bill appeared imminent in Parliament with Government planning to take it up next week, triggering a sharp reaction by its detractors Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lalu Prasad with the latter threatening "war".