Railways were now less dependent on budgetary support than five years earlier due to the efforts of Lalu Prasad in making the sector financially self-reliant, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Saturday.
Lalu says the interim report of the Gujarat Directorate of Forensic Sciences that indicated no attack had taken place on him in Vadodara is an attempt to 'hide the truth'.
Misa Bharati, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Yadav's daughter, brought her son to Parliament on the first day of the winter session, much to the delight of people there and the media.
Some glaring facts have come out from the affidavits filed by the two sons of Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad as the documents indicate that the younger son is aged one year more than his elder brother.
She reached the office of the federal probe agency in central Delhi around 11 am and left around 6 pm.
"There is neither any confrontation [with Lalu] nor any understanding [for the October assembly polls]," he told reporters in New Delhi.
Tej Pratap, the RJD chief's elder son said that "the numbers could swing as voters' mood is also not quite clear at the moment".
With the bill to prevent disqualification of convicted politicians to decide the RJD chief's political fate, there's a lot at stake, especially with the upcoming elections in mind. Anita Katyal reports
Rashtriya Janata Dal President Lalu Prasad Yadav on Monday downplayed reports of a split within his party even as he said that he was inquiring into the matter.
RJD sources said that the party would appeal against the verdict.
Yadav was earlier called for questioning on March 4 but he had not appeared before the CBI sleuths, following which a fresh date was given for Saturday, they said.
On January 11, Lalu will undertake a ten-day lecture tour to Japan and hold forth on how he has turned around the loss-making Indian Railways into a profitable public sector undertaking.
Lalu, who was in Ranchi to address the 'Chetna' rally organised by his party -- the Rashtriya Janata Dal -- made the comment when he was asked by newspersons about the alleged anti-north India statements by leaders of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.
'He did something good. He did something bad. I don't think people will forget the good part altogether and as long as people remember the good part, Lalu remains a force.'
"I am ready to drink all types of poison," he said.
'Ishwar ne anandit hokar putri ratna ke roop mein uphar bheja hai.'
He was administered the oath of office by Governor Rajendra Arlekar at the Raj Bhavan in Patna.
Railway Minister Lalu Prasad promised this year's Rail budget would be a basket of comforts for the common man.
In Bihar, Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad have come a long way from being bitter rivals for over two decades to friends with benefits. Their grand alliance along with the Congress, has won them six of the 10 assembly seats in the by-elections on Monday.
The opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) was in the grip of a crisis on Saturday with the Janata Dal-United saying the alliance was collapsing amid indications that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will switch back to the National Democratic Alliance, prompting the Congress to allege that the Bharatiya Janata Party is doing its best to cause a 'mini implosion' in the coalition.
The Bihar government led by Nitish Kumar has withdrew security cover given to Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav.
'If he has not achieved 'Congress mukt Bharat' even now, the question of his creating a 'DMK mukt Tamil Nadu' does not arise,' points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
The development followed the arrest of chartered accountant Rajesh Kumar Agrawal by the ED.
'I felt anguished when I read the reports about my speech at the convocation of Mahatma Gandhi Central University. I wanted to underscore that the then Congress government had wanted to set up a central university only in Gaya but agreed to establish another one in Motihari (East Champaran) at my instance. Work began when the BJP was in power at the Centre. But it remains the fact that the university came up as a result of my initiative'
The jovial RJD chief, known for his earthy humours, apparently could not digest that his party drew a blank in its stronghold Bihar and also in the neighbouring Jharkhand.
Following the party's sweep of assembly elections in three Hindi heartland states against the odds, the BJP's brain trust is now busy game-planning as to how it can improve on its 2019 Lok Sabha election tally of 303 seats.
Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo and former Bihar chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav on Thursday said that only Shatrughan Sinha and Shahnawaz Hussain are secular leaders in the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Former Bihar chief minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav's wife Rabri Devi lost the elections from Raghopur and Sonepur assembly seats from which she contested.
The Union home minister recalled that the BJP had won far greater number of seats in the last assembly polls than the JD(U) but Prime Minister Narendra Modi kept up his promise to back Kumar for another term in office.
Barely 17 days before the Board of Control for Cricket in India's annual general meeting, the Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) led by Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad Yadav is embroiled in a controversy with its rebel group unilaterally electing a president and a general secretary on Sunday.
The tax department had attached about a dozen plots and buildings in Delhi and Bihar.
Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad on Friday reacted strongly against Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah's 'crackers in Pakistan' remark, saying it was an insult to the people of Bihar.
Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad on Monday demanded the resignation of Bihar assembly Speaker Udai Narayan Choudhry for allegedly violating Constitutional norms by seeking support for the Mahadalit rally organised by ruling Janata Dal-United.
Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad has threatened to lead a protest in support of the hiking of salaries and additional benefits of Members of Parliament.The Union Cabinet had deferred the decision on the proposed three-fold salary hike because there was no consensus.On Monday, Lalu Prasad slammed opponents of the raise as 'crorepatis' who were not aware of the ordinary Member of Parliament's plight. The proposal, pending since May 2006, seeks to hike MPs' salaries.
The State government had appealed against the Central Bureau of Investigation's court verdict after the CBI, which investigated the case, decided not to challenge the acquittal.
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