The first meeting of leaders of the National Democratic Alliance after the election results was held at caretaker Prime Minister Narendra D Modi's residence in New Delhi on Wednesday, June 5, 2024.
The former Union minister quit the party accusing it of 'insulting' minorities and Dalits.
LJP candidates had split the United Progressive Alliance votes but Paswan's party had also lost out in the process, Lalu said.
'If people don't see you, they might be hesitant, but once they see you, they are confident that this is the person they will vote for,' says political debutant Shambhavi Choudhury, 25, alumnus of the Lady Sriram College and the Delhi School of Economics.
'Lalu doesn't mind the BJP but is not ready for a Muslim CM. He wants only Rabri Devi,' says Ram Vilas Paswan.
Concerned over rising coking coal prices and insecurity of supplies, Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Saturday asked public sector steel producers to scout for mines abroad.
In a ghastly incident that has sent shock waves across Bihar, former state minister Mukesh Sahni's 70-year-old father was found stabbed to death at his native home in Darbhanga district, a top police officer said.
Former Union minister and Lok Janshakti Party supremo Ram Vilas Paswan was arrested along with dozens of party leaders in Patna on Monday, during a 'Jail Bharo Abhiyan' to protest against failure of Nitish Kumar-led government in Bihar.
The duo face a tough challenge to their ministerial aspirations.
Several opposition parties have claimed that the mandate of 2024 Lok Sabha elections was against the ruling haratiya Janata Party, even though it was able to form the government with support of other parties.
Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan on Tuesday filed his nomination papers from the Hajipur parliamentary constituency in Bihar, and claimed that he would break his own Guinness World Record for winning a parliamentary election with the highest margin.
Lok Janashakti Party chief Ramvilas Paswan on Sunday described West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as an "unpredictable" leader, who was humiliating the Railway Minister publicly apparently to slight the United Progressive Alliance government.
Uttar Pradesh and Bihar appear to have got the maximum representation in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new council of ministers, while assembly poll-bound Maharashtra also found a significant presence.
India's first woman elephant mahout Parbati Baruah famous as Hasti Kanya, tribal environmentalist Chami Murmu, social worker Sangthankima who runs Mizoram's largest orphanage and plastic surgeon Prema Dhanraj who treats burn victims are among 34 "unsung heroes" awarded Padma Shri on Thursday.
An Uttar Pradesh government spokesperson said a formal order for all eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route in the state was likely to be issued soon.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday assured Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan of enhanced security, a day after a landmine blasted his security vehicle in the Maoist-infested West Midnapore in West Bengal.
Claiming that a wave was blowing across the country in favour of BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, Paswan said, "Secularism aur communalism sirf chunaavi hathkande hain (secularism and communalism are poll ploys)."
Coming full circle, Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party, which left the National Democratic Alliance in 2002, is all set to align with in Bihar for Lok Sabha polls, giving a jolt to Congress' plans to have a "secular" alliance with LJP and Rashtriya Janata Dal.
Manjhi said Paswan has never raised a voice for rights of the Dalits and the poorest of the poor.
Amid indications of unease between his party and RJD, LJP president Ram Vilas Paswan on Wednesday met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to urge her to take the lead in finalising the alliance in Bihar as "clarity" was required on seat-sharing among the allies.
Along with Modi, senior BJP leaders including Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman and S Jaishankar, all ministers in Modi 2.0 Cabinet, took oath as cabinet ministers at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. In all, 71 ministers were sworn-in along with Modi, taking the strength of the Union council to 72.
Here is the complete list of ministers in Modi 3.0 and their portfolios:
Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan has fielded himself and two close relatives including his son and brother, to contest the Lok Sabha polls in Bihar.
There is also speculation within the BJP that its national president J P Nadda, whose extended tenure will end by this month and who was among the leaders meeting Modi, may also be brought back in the government.
LJP candidate from Matihani constituency, Raj Kumar Singh defeated Janata Dal-United's Narendra Kumar Singh aka Bogo Singh by a slender margin of 333 votes.
"There is neither any confrontation [with Lalu] nor any understanding [for the October assembly polls]," he told reporters in New Delhi.
The decision was announced by party general secretary S N Singh.
Senior BJP leader Tarkishore Prasad told PTI-Video that "most certainly" Choudhary and Sinha will be the party's choice for the post of deputy CMs.
Lok Janshakti Party chief Ramvilas Paswan on Wednesday said that his party will not join hands with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United, and will continue its alliance with Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal.
Former union minister and Lok Janshakti Party president Ram Vilas Paswan, who lost the recent Lok Sabha elections, said in Varanasi on Wednesday that his party would contest the 2010 Bihar assembly elections in alliance with Lalu Prasad-led Rashtriya Janata Dal and also welcomed Congress party to their fold.
Among the new entrants to the Union cabinet, former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has been given the agriculture and rural development portfolios, Bharatiya Janata Party president J P Nadda the health portfolio and former Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar the power portfolio.
Shrirang Barne, an MP of Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde, on Monday expressed disappointment over the party not getting a cabinet berth in the newly-formed Narendra Modi-led government and alleged partiality.
Union Minister Ramvilas Paswan on Thursday criticised the decision taken by authorities at the Somnath temple in Gujarat to restrict entry of non-Hindus inside, sans permission, and stated that the Central government has never supported any discrimination on the basis of religion.
Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan on Saturday stuck to his earlier
National Democratic Alliance nominee Om Birla was elected as Lok Sabha speaker on Wednesday after a motion moved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was adopted through voice vote, capping intense debate on the issue with the opposition in a rare move proposing its own candidate.
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