'If the BJP had its way, it would sideline him in favour of someone else. But that's not feasible. There is no vote catcher in Bihar for the BJP.'
'No one can ignore PK's prediction about Nitish Kumar's party.'
'Many are saying that some significant announcement regarding Jammu and Kashmir or even separate statehoods might come; that possibility cannot be ruled out given today's date.'
'Nitish Kumar is our CM today and he will be CM going forward also. Nitish Kumar will continue as CM till he wishes.'
The deceased has been identified as Yugual Yadav (65), he said. Police have arrested four persons, including a relative of a 'tantric' in connection with the incident, the officer said on Friday, adding that the tantric is absconding.
As the election nears, political positions on prohibition are shifting.
Former president Ram Nath Kovind on Monday moved to his new residence at Janpath road, the bungalow once occupied by former Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan.
Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad Yadav on Wednesday dropped hints that the Mahagathbandhan helmed by his party might bring on board former Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras, whom the National Democratic Alliance has sidelined in favour of estranged nephew Chirag Paswan.
Paswan demanded the imposition of President's Rule in the state followed by fresh elections.
Describing Chirag as wise and mature politician, Paswan said the party needed a young face, one who can travel and work for its expansion.
Paras, who was sworn in as a Cabinet Minister on Wednesday in the Narendra Modi-led government and made the Minister of Food Processing Industries, asked Chirag Paswan to do "self-introspection" about his mistakes.
'People are fed up with rising crimes and poor law and order.' 'Modi must have got feedback and decided not to touch the 'jungle raj' issue as it will backfire.'
'He has become a new hope for Indian cricket.'
The body will be kept at his residence in New Delhi and on Monday, at the LJP office in Patna for paying last respects. He will be cremated in the Bihar capital on Monday evening.
'Prashant Kishor is a businessman before he is a politician, and given that the expected average turnout for JSP candidates is 5,000 to 6,000 votes and since Bihar has a significant number of seats where the margin between the winner and runner-up falls within that range he will capitalise on exactly that to showcase his presence.'
'If my daughter was admitted in time and her treatment started soon, she could have been saved.'
The Indian government briefed an all-party meeting on Thursday on the success of "Operation Sindoor", the retaliatory airstrikes against Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack. Top government functionaries and opposition leaders met for a second time in a fortnight amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan. The meeting was chaired by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and attended by several prominent leaders from various political parties. The government highlighted the strikes on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, including the Jaish-e-Mohammad stronghold of Bahawalpur and Lashkar-e-Taiba's base Muridke.
Both factions moved swiftly to take control of the party a day after Paras, the youngest brother of Paswan's father and party founder Ram Vilas Paswan, was recognised by the Lok Sabha secretariat as the leader of the Lok Janshakti Party in the House.
Paswan's statement came on a day when he was excoriated by Union Minister Prakash Javadekar, who called the LJP leader a "vote Katua" (splitter of votes) and accused him of trying to create a confusion by harping on his equations with senior leaders of the saffron party.
It is an ode to his politics that believed in building bridges across social or political divides that he was one of the most liked state leaders among the upper castes even as he drew his support mostly from Dalits, a group which at times shared antagonistic relations with the more prosperous communities due to a number of social and political reasons.
Paswan, one of the most prominent Dalit leaders of the country who had been a part of several governments headed by rival parties, died on Thursday at the age of 74.
While the BJP went back to the drawing board to recraft its political and governance outreach and regained momentum by notching up surprisingly big wins in a string of assembly polls, the burst of fresh optimism in the main opposition Congress and other INDIA bloc parties fizzled out.
If the Chirag Paswan-led LJP posts a good result, the young leader could become a formidable caste challenger in the years to come and a permanent fixture as a BJP ally, reports Aditi Phadnis.
The invite to Paswan from the BJP assumes significance as this made it clear that the LJP remains a member of the NDA despite walking out of the alliance in Bihar during the state assembly polls.
The Union minister complained of breathlessness.
Everyone is playing politics over a dead person now, why no one bothered to visit him when he was alive, Paswan asked.
Chirag, like many other leaders who have lost control of their parties, underestimated the adversary.
Paswan, 70, was admitted to the hospital on Thursday after he complained of breathlessness.
A sea of people could be seen, besides dignitaries led by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, at the cremation site on the banks of the Ganges in the city that has been a witness to the Lok Janshakti Party founders long journey -- from a young MLA of the socialist party in the late 1960s to having served under six prime ministers.
In his condolence message, President Kovind said in the death of Paswan, the nation has lost a visionary leader. He was among the most active and longest-serving members of Parliament. He was the voice of the oppressed, and championed the cause of the marginalised, Kovind said.
Ram Vilas Paswan, 74, who was the Lok Janshakti Party patron, had undergone a heart surgery at a hospital in New Delhi a few days ago.
Nishant Kumar's demand that the NDA name Nitish Kumar as its chief ministerial nominee is seen as a gambit to consolidate the CM's position in the ruling alliance.
Paswan, one of India's most prominent Dalit leaders and eight-time Lok Sabha MP died on Thursday at the age of 74.
"There are six MPs in our party. It was the desire of five MPs to save our party. So, I have not broken the party. I have saved it. Chirag Paswan is my nephew as well as the party's national president. I have no objection against him," Paras told the media. Paras has been elected as the new leader of the Parliamentary party, who is currently representing the Hajipur Lok Sabha seat in Bihar.
A large number of people praised the "father-son bonding" and others pointed out how men have to put up with unkempt hair and untidy beard due to closed salons.
As per police, both met at the Western Court, Janpath, Delhi, where Raj allegedly sexually assaulted the victim after drugging her and made a video of the act and threatened her.
JD-U national president RCP Singh reacted with a sense of vindication to the developments in the party founded by late Ram Vilas Paswan, whose son has been left cornered in a revolt led by the former's younger brother Pashupati Kumar Paras and supported by four other MPs, including nephew Prince Raj.
Addressing a press conference barely a few hours before the campaign for the final phase of the elections came to a close, Paswan reiterated that the LJP will do well despite having gone solo in the elections and asserted, "We will help the BJP form the next government."
The BJP's surprise announcement of a caste census in the next census has sparked political debate, particularly in Bihar where the issue of backward empowerment holds significant electoral weight. The move is seen as a strategic maneuver by the ruling party to counter opposition efforts to mobilize support among disadvantaged sections of society. The decision is also viewed as a recognition of the growing influence of OBC politics in India.
The CM was present at the Patna airport to receive body of the LJP founder with whom he spent long time in the politics. The CM and other leaders cutting across party lines paid respect to the septuagenarian leader, who died in Delhi on Thursday, at the airport premises.
