As the Opposition held its first meeting on the Presidential polls and names of Farooq Abdullah and Gopalkrishna Gandhi also cropped up, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party reached out to several parties across the political spectrum to build a consensus choice with senior party leader and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh speaking to Sharad Pawar, Mallikarjun Kharge (Congress), Mamata Banerjee (Trinamool Congress), Akhilesh Yadav (Samajwadi Party) and Naveen Patnaik (Biju Janata Dal).
Bihar is no stranger to being at the centre of a tectonic shift in national politics fuelled by turbulent regional forces.
The young RJD leader is yet to earn the trust of the crowd and many senior party members believe he is no patch on his father.
According to BJP insiders, every Union minister has been given 3-4 seats to mentor and has been told to work hard on these constituencies in the next 20 months to ensure the party's victory.
The IG Prison was not categorical about the effective date of parole and said it depended upon when the jail authorities would release him.
The bench rejected Yadav's arguments that he has been in jail for 24 months, saying in comparison to the 14-year sentence awarded to him, 24 months was nothing.
The opposition parties snatched the high-profile Kairana LS seat in from BJP with a united force.
Buoyed by the exit polls projections, the party has sent its senior leaders including general secretary Randeep Surjewala and Avinash Pande, chairman of the Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee screening committee, to Patna for proper coordination with the allies and possibly also to keep its flock together after the results are declared.
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".
'Maybe the BJP believes, in the post-poll scenario, it will have the might to foist, anybody endorsed by the RSS, upon Bihar,' observes Mohammad Sajjad.
Having emerged as a senior partner of the National Democratic Alliance in Bihar for the first time in nearly two decades, the Bharatiya Janata Party finally seems to have come out of the shadow of its allies in the state but new alliance arithmetic has dragged down their overall vote share since the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Tejashwi accused the Nitish Kumar-led government of meting out "step-motherly" treatment to migrant labourers.
The CBI said the RJD leader is likely to get involved in political activities and misuse the grant of bail ahead of upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
Apart from around 100 MPs of the Congress, leaders of several opposition parties including Trinamool Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, Shiv Sena, Communist Party of India-Marxist, Communist Party of India, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Samajwadi Party attended the meeting.
'We will do a holistic review of the entire act and the policy at the state level and I need to be convinced that not a single Jharkhandi is uprooted from his or her home due to this law'
Many non-NDA parties have extended support to the nationwide 10-hour strike on Monday called by farmers protesting against the three agri laws under the aegis of Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM).
Sticking to his offer of 11 Lok Sabha seats to the Congress and one to Nationalist Congress Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad on Sunday appealed to Sonia Gandhi to agree to the seat-sharing formula asserting that he would deliver results in Bihar and Jharkhand in the general elections.
Deadlock on Monday continued on the issue of Congress alliance in Bihar for Lok Sabha polls with seat sharing with Rashtriya Janata Dal coming under strain and Janata Dal-United ruling out any adjustment with the party.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal leader had asked for an extension of three months on his bail for his medical treatment.
Jharkhand was headed for a hung assembly on Wednesday as the Congress and its ally Jharkhand Vikas Morcha gained an edge by leading in 24 seats in the 81-member House. As the counting of votes progressed, Shibu Soren-led JMM emerged as the likely kingmaker, leading in 15 seats. The Bharatiya Janata Party - Janata Dal-United combine gave the Congress tough competition by leading in 23 seats.The Congress is contesting the elections with Babulal Marandi-led JVM.
With Wednesday's Parivartan rally considered crucial to reassert the popularity of Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad, the party has booked 13 trains to transport people to the event to Patna.
The judge said that Lalu Prasad could also undergo treatment at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Science in Ranchi.
The future challenger to Narendra Modi would be somebody who can bring the Hindus and Muslims together again. The Hindus as Hindus, not broken caste groups, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
If it splits now, who takes what away and leaves what behind? asks Shekhar Gupta.
The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear the bail plea of Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad, who is undergoing a five-year jail term after being convicted in a fodder scam case, and sought response from the Central Bureau of Investigation.
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The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad in a fodder scam case, in a relief to the politician who is behind the bars for the last two months after being awarded a five-year jail term.
The case relates to alleged money laundering in granting the operational contract of two IRCTC hotels to a private firm.
It is likely that the party's allies in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, two of the five states going to the polls in April-May, might insist on allocating fewer seats than they did in 2016, reports Archis Mohan.
Lalu's counsel Ram Jethmalani said, "It has now become impossible to seek justice in Bihar and Jharkhand Court."
A day after the National Democratic Alliance finalised the seat-sharing arrangement for the Bihar assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party has emerged as the 'big-brother' and the largest party in the state to contest the number of seats.
Ending speculation, Janata Dal-United Chief Sharad Yadav has been re-nominated from Madhepura as the party released the second list of 32 candidates for Lok Sabha election in Bihar.
RJD sources said that the party would appeal against the verdict.
The quantum of punishment will be announced on January 3, 2018.
he news reports of the response that Tejaswi has been generating at his election rallies must definitely put a smile on his father's face, observes Asmita Bihari.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday accused Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad and the Congress of helping former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda allegedly amass black money, a charge rubbished as "ridiculous" by the RJD supremo.
The Uttar Pradesh by-election will be the real test for the Modi government. By-election results are not a referendum on Modi but the time has come to analyse whether the Modi government is succeeding in assuring people that the promises it made would be fulfilled, says Dharmendra Kumar Singh.
This phase will decide the fate of senior minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav of Janata Dal-United, Rashtriya Janata Dal legislature party leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui and RJD chief Lalu Prasad's 'Man Friday' Bhola Yadav among others.
Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav was on Monday released from Birsa Munda Central Jail in Ranchi, two-and-a-half months after he was convicted in a fodder scam case.
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