Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com does a deep dive into four elections when Narendra Modi resorted to anti-Muslim fervour and points out that Hindu-Muslim politics does not necessarily mean victory for the BJP.
With the Bharatiya Janata Party falling short of a majority in the Lok Sabha and needing the National Democratic Alliance partners to form the government at the Centre, Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal-United head Nitish Kumar and Telugu Desam Party's N Chandrababu Naidu have emerged as potential kingmakers.
They had earlier been called on September 11 and 12 but Lalu did not turn up, citing an ongoing court case in Ranchi where his presence was required, while Tejashwi claimed he had political commitments to take care of.
The meeting came as the RJD chief made an attempt to form the government in Bihar.
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.
The former Bihar CM can meet guests between 8 am and 12 noon during weekdays in line with the jail manual, Birsa Munda Jail Superintendent Ashok Kumar Choudhary said.
Chosen for the country's highest civilian award Bharat Ratna a day ahead of his birth anniversary, Karpoori Thakur has been the veritable 'Jan Nayak' or people's hero of politics in Bihar, whose legacy parties cutting across ideologies seek to claim.
He had already been granted bail in the Chaibasa Treasury Scam case in October 2020, and in the Deoghar Treasury Scam case in February 2020.
Searches are being conducted on Friday at 12 locations including Delhi, Patna, Ranchi, Puri and Gurgaon.
Lalu also said that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has committed political suicide by joining hands with the BJP.
The I-T Department has served notices of attachment of assets to Lalu's daughter Misa Bharti and her husband Shailesh Kumar, his wife and former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi, son and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav and daughters Chanda and Ragini Yadav.
'He may be chief minister, but sooner or later he will face the music.'
An RJD leader said that the two brothers came together at the insistence of Misa Bharti, who made them sit together and explained that by fighting each other they will end up falling into the trap of the BJP-led NDA, which wants to "finish off the party.
CBI judge Shiv Pal Singh directed senior RJD leaders Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, Shivanand Tiwari and Lalu Yadav's son Tejashwi Yadav and Congress leader Manish Tewari to personally appear before the court on January 23.
The Yatra comes a day after the Congress was left high and dry with former ally Nitish Kumar, the Bihar chief minister, making a return to the BJP-led NDA.
"The RJD will field Lalu's two sons to formally launch their political careers," a spokesperson said.
"The RJD will field Lalu's two sons to formally launch their political careers," a spokesperson said.
' I have seen PM Modi working diligently from 5 am in the morning to 1 am. It is a result of that there is such a large cadre with him'
Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com explains the compulsions that forced Bihar strongman Lalu Yadav to play second fiddle to Nitish Kumar.
Sanjay Jha's importance lies in his connections to senior BJP and RSS leaders to maintain a smooth relationship within the NDA government in Bihar and at the Centre and to contest the 2025 Bihar assembly elections together under Nitish Kumar's leadership.
'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
All's fair in politics? The Bihar CM stroke a controversy by visiting a tantrik.
Three different invitations were sent out for the wedding and the receptions with top-run guests being sent a large red box that contained an intricate chest incorporating a mini silver temple featuring gold idols of various Hindu deities, including Lord Ganesh, Radha-Krishna, and Goddess Durga.
Meanwhile, hectic activity was seen at 10, Circular Road, the bungalow allotted to party president Lalu Prasad's wife Rabri Devi who shares the house with her husband and younger son Tejashwi Yadav, the deputy CM.
'They gave Nitish their votes to bring progress. But he forgot this and got involved with his own political interests. That is not done. So he was rejected.' 'Lalu is a symbol of anarchy. He is the symbol of regressive politics.' BJP General Secretary Dharmendra Pradhan discusses Lalu, Nitish, and his strategy to bring Bihar in the BJP's fold, with Vaihayasi Pande Daniel/Rediff.com
'The Congress is trying to reinvent itself -- the caste census demand, OBC emphasis, the anti-corporate thrust, especially on Adani etc -- all this is not standard Congress strategy.'
The RJD chief is on a three-day parole to attend his elder son Tej Pratap Yadav's marriage in Patna on Saturday.
Yadav, who returned from the national capital on Thursday after a trip that lasted three days, asserted that there was "nothing new" in the summons, even as he alleged that the central agencies were acting as per the directions of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
'In the first lockdown, my mother used to feed me everything possible.' 'After all, she is an Indian mother.' 'Sometimes laddoos, sometimes parathas.' 'I gained almost 10 kg.' 'When Maharani fell into my lap, the weight was a perfect match for the character.'
"I agree that the Ganga has caused loss, but there is profit in it as well," Lalu said.
BJP-led NDA gave five seats to the Chirag Paswan-led LJP (Ram Vilas).
The RJD chief has been asked to appear for questioning at the agency headquarters on September 11.
RJD chief Lalu Prasad and other leaders claimed the countdown for the ouster of the BJP and its allies from power in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls had begun.
Other prominent candidates among the 904 in the fray are Union minister Anurag Thakur, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad's daughter Misa Bharti.
On Judgement Day, Lalu Yadav ultimately paid the price for 15 years of misrule in Bihar.
The Jharkhand high court on Friday deferred till November 27 Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad's bail plea hearing in a fodder scam case related to Dumka treasury, after the Central Bureau of Investigation sought more time to file a written reply in the matter.
The move comes after the ministry of civil aviation wrote a letter to the BCAS informing that it had decided to revoke permission granted in 2009 allowing Lalu Yadav and his wife's vehicle to drive up to the tarmac.
Lalu said that the BJP at the Centre is trying to destabilise the grand alliance government in Bihar. M I Khan reports from Patna.
Continuing dynasty politics, Rashtriya Janata Dal Chief Lalu Prasad on Friday nominated his daughter Misa Bharti to Rajya Sabha, reports MI I Khan.
Railway minister sticks to demand that two election commissioners should step down in the wake of allegations by senior bureaucrat L V Saptarishi against them.
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