"Lalu Prasad has been sentenced to 5 years imprisonment while a penalty of Rs 60 lakh has also been imposed on him. Apart from Prasad, five years imprisonment each was announced by the Court for five convicts, four years each for 32 convicts and three years each for three convicts," CBI counsel B M P Singh told PTI.
The juggernaut of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance, which triumphed in three of the four east and north-eastern states that went for assembly bypolls on Saturday, was halted yet again in West Bengal where Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress registered a six-on-six clean sweep.
Union minister Chirag Paswan has caused a flutter by stating he would choose to give up his ministerial berth instead of a compromise on his principles, in keeping with the precedent set by his late father Ram Vilas Paswan.
The RJD has fielded six women candidates, some of them are wives of bahubalis.
Gandhi was at Paliganj, on the outskirts of the state capital, to canvass for Rashtriya Janata Party president Lalu Prasad's daughter Misa Bharti, who is contesting Patliputra Lok Sabha seat.
Appearing on national television to mark the silver jubilee of the party he founded in 1997 after breaking away from the Janata Dal, Prasad, who is suffering from many ailments and convalescing at his MP daughter Misa Bharti's residence in New Delhi, recalled his struggles for OBC quota and the fight for the rights of the weaker sections.
The Enforcement Directorate has issued a fresh summons to Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav in the railway land-for-jobs scam case, asking him to appear on January 5, official sources said on Saturday.
The former Bihar chief minister, who is serving a jail term after conviction in the multi-crore fodder scam cases, said Rahul's resignation will "amount to falling into the Bharatiya Janata Party's trap."
A part of the Hajipur Lok Sabha seat, Raghopur assembly segment in Vaishali district will vote in the second phase on November 3. The 31-year-old, the younger son of Lalu Prasad, had taken the electoral plunge from Raghopur in 2015, when he had barely reached the qualifying age of 25 for fighting polls.
"Lalu Prasad is having trouble breathing for the last two days. On Friday, he was found to be having pneumonia. Considering his age, we have decided to shift him to AIIMS-Delhi on the advice of doctors for better treatment," RIMS Director Dr Kameshwar Prasad said. "He is likely to be shifted to AIIMS today. We have already spoken to the experts at AIIMS," he added.
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.
Prasad can still influence the power play in Patna if not change it, reports Satyavrat Mishra.
'Nitish Kumar may take a decision to dump the BJP alliance by November.'
Even as parleys continue in both states, the grand old party is expected to contest less than 110 seats in the November 20 polls for the 288-member Maharashtra assembly.
Yadav came out with a video statement, nearly seven minutes long, fulminating against a news portal which had carried a report about his divorce case, apparently presenting him in a poor light.
"Lalu ji had madhur sambandh (cordial relations) with my father and political mentor Ram Vilas Paswan. I thank him for lending credence to my leadership. But, my current priority is the ongoing state-wide Ashirwad Yatra", Chirag told reporters in Patna.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, BJP national president JP Nadda and several other famous faces were seen at polling booths, exercising their franchise in the final and seventh phase of the Lok Sabha polls on Saturday.
Bharti accused the media of distorting her statement, attributing it to the BJP's agenda.
'The 2020 assembly election was a Tejaswi Yadav election; whereas this is a Lalu Yadav election. It is his plan.'
Union minister Giriraj Singh on Saturday claimed that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United and its ally Rashtriya Janata Dal, founded and headed by Lalu Prasad Yadav, were heading for a merger.
'Some locals suggested that a heated argument between a group of kanwariyas and flower sellers outside the temple may have triggered the incident'
Vaihayasi Pande Daniel -- who covers the Sheena Bora murder trial for Rediff.com -- reports on a day in a Ranchi court.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has come out with its own complaint against the marriage.
The NCW said it strongly condemns the defamatory remarks and requests strict action against Moitra.
'Rahul is not even a lamp before the sun'
Prime Minister Narendra D Modi on Saturday blessed the newly wed couple Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant after their wedding that was attended by global celebrities, business tycoons and politicians.
The RJD polled the highest vote share in Bihar, but it was not reflected in the number of seats it won.
The JD-U leader was seen sitting with Tej Pratap and Tejashwi Yadav, the sons of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav.
'Nitish Kumar thinks the matter will keep Lalu in check and that he will remain in power without any challenge from the RJD.'
Modi earned his spurs as a doughty leader of the Opposition in the assembly, a post he held till 2004 when he got elected to the Lok Sabha from Bhagalpur.
The so-called soil scam has left Lalu alone in the Mahagathbandhan.
Kumar's outburst came as opposition members stood in the well of the House, demanding that the state's amended reservation laws be incorporated in the 9th schedule of the Constitution to make it immune from legal scrutiny.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal, which had suffered decimation in the last general elections, was leading in five seats, out of 23 where it had fielded candidates.
In the clip, Prasad and Sahni were seen enjoying fish and roti, with Prasad explaining that he eats quickly during election campaigns.
Lalu Prasad's elder son Tej Pratap Yadav on Friday turned up at a function hosted by Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras, triggering speculations about the maverick RJD leader, who wears his religious fervour on the sleeves, cosying up to BJP-led NDA which his father has always fought tooth and nail.
The BJP has named sitting MP Rajiv Pratap Rudy as its nominee on the politically important seat.
Pappu Yadav has been asserting that he will contest the seat he had won thrice in the 1990s, with the claim of "assurances" from Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi.
>Rohini Acharya, Lalu Yadav's daughter who donated her kidney to her father in December 2022, is on her introductory campaign trail in the constituency that has been represented by her father four times.
Fascism is knocking at India's door, Lalu Yadav charged.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who was set to participate in the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) rally in Ranchi, will not be able to attend as he 'took ill suddenly and is unable to leave New Delhi for the present', party leader Jairam Ramesh said on Friday.
