Polling for three parliamentary seats and 29 assembly constituencies were held on October 30, an exercise being seen as a barometer of the political mood in the country ahead of assembly elections in politically critical Uttar Pradesh as well as other states.
Minority conference organised by the JD-U turned out to be a poor show with few from the Muslim community attending it, exposing the falling credibility of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as a secular leader, says M I Khan.
Prime Minister Modi will address three rallies -- at Dehri-on Sone (Rohtas district), Gaya and Bhagalpur -- to seek support for National Democratic Alliance nominees on different assembly constituencies going to vote in the first phase on October 28. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is also slated to launch his campaign in Bihar elections on Friday.
Amid signs of chill in Lok Janshakti Party leader Chirag Paswan's ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav on Sunday reached out to him for aligning with the Opposition, saying he can carry forward his father Ram Vilas Paswan's legacy only by joining the 'existential fight' against Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ideologue M S Golwalkar's thoughts.
RJD chief Lalu Prasad's elder son Tej Pratap Yadav, was interrupted twice by Governor Ram Nath Kovind and asked to repeat after he misspelled a part of the oath.
Rampant crime challenges the chief minister's promise to maintain law and order. But some say there are other forces at play.
Subhash Yadav and Sadhu Yadav, who were powerful faces during the 15-year Lalu-Rabri rule, are now working towards ensuring that Rashtriya Janata Dal chief and his sons face defeat in the forthcoming Bihar elections.
Drama unfolded at the 10, Circular Road residence of former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi, where Roy spoke to the media for the first time in the presence of her parents who rushed to the spot upon receiving her distress call.
The CM will either force Tejashwi to resign, or tender a resignation himself to put pressure on the RJD.
Tejashwi has refrained from reacting in public but is understood to have been upset over the frequent outbursts of his elder brother.
The court in its judgment said the RJD chief was guilty of fraudulently withdrawing Rs 3.13 crore from the Dumka Treasury between December 1995 and January 1996, when he was the chief minister of undivided Bihar.
Many eyebrows were raised in Bihar on Monday as news broke of a meeting between Communist Party of India's rising star Kanhaiya Kumar and Ashok Choudhary, a minister and key aide of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
'We have finished that fear.'
"Sonia ji has approved the application of the two senior leaders seeking to join the Congress," state Congress Chief Spokesperson Premchandra Mishra said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Kumar on being sworn in as the chief minister.
There is a conspiracy to get Lalu murdered, but we will give a befitting reply to the centre, said Tej Pratap.
'The uneducated think of their rights as a gift. This is deeply troubling.' 'If they were educated they could claim what is rightfully theirs.'
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.
The National Democratic Alliance in Bihar suffered a jolt on Wednesday as a Lok Janshakti Party MP resigned from the party post of general secretary and two BJP MLAs who were denied ticket met Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
BJP backed to the hilt Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as its leader in the state and rebuffed a rebellious Chirag Paswan, while acknowledging his Lok Janshakti Party as an ally 'at the Centre'. At a press conference which was attended by top leaders of the JD-U headed by Kumar and the BJP, it was made clear that 'only those who accept the chief ministers leadership will be deemed to be a part of the National Democratic Alliance in Bihar'.
UPA has reasons to cheer. The Delhi High Court has allowed RJD MP Pappu Yadav, who is lodged in Tihar jail, to participate in the trust vote on July 22.
The BJP on Thursday lent its support to the chief minister even as both houses of Bihar legislature recognised JD-U as their principal opposition party.
Lalu Prasad Yadav weighing in on the cheating scandal, said, "If you can't clear exams, why don't you just fail and retake them till you pass?"
The 'secularists'are more adept at the politics of intense and alarmingly exaggerated fear-mongering, as this kind of politics provides easy votes of Muslims without making them answerable for the concrete issues of poverty, unemployment, lawlessness, and of basic needs like roads, electricity, etc, which is exactly how Nitish Kumar was defeated in the elections, says Mohammad Sajjad.
'People may think that because my father was in the film world and politics, things are easy for me.' 'It is not easy at all.'
All the officials, suspended with immediate effect, have been charged with "failure to take adequate legal action" with regard to "assault.
Anwar's move came a day after media reports quoted Pawar having told a Marathi news channel that he did not think people had doubts over the prime minister's intentions in the Rafale fighter plane deal.
With his appointment as Deputy chief minister in Bihar government drawing criticism, RJD chief Lalu Prasad's son Tejaswi on Saturday took on his detractors, asking them "not to judge a book by its cover" and vowed to increase the value of 'Brand Bihar' so that Nitish Kumar "is proud" of him.
With Maharashtra and Haryana assembly elections, results for 51 assembly and two Lok Sabha bypolls spread across 18 states were declared on Thursday. Here are state-wise results of the bypolls.
'Nitish is now a helpless junior ally of Hindutva.' 'He just cannot think of reining in the hoodlums raging, marauding and killing in the mohallas,' argues Mohammad Sajjad.
Kanyakumari is the tip of India and will convey the symbol that from the tip of India, the Congress is on its way up.
Chaudhary sent his resignation immediately after assuming charge at 1 pm, informed sources said.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today slammed the Congress saying it has put the issue of special category status for Bihar on the "back burner" under the influence of its "natural ally".
Samajwadi Party and the Nationalist Congress Party on Monday announced entering into alliance for the coming Bihar assembly elections and claimed they were in talks with some other anti-BJP and anti-Congress regional parties.
Vaihayasi Pande Daniel -- who covers the Sheena Bora murder trial for Rediff.com -- reports on a day in a Ranchi court.
The days of the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar were numbered, Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday said, claiming that more than 50 Janata Dal-United MLAs were in touch with the party and worked for its candidates in the Lok Sabha polls, triggering an angry reaction from the ruling party.
Grand alliance leaders accuse their rivals of having engineered electoral tactics to confuse its voters.
Opposition attacked the government, saying prohibition law was being used to target Dalits.
Such is the force of his oratory that many Muslims, even those who don't vote for him, have come to believe that Asaduddin Owaisi is the first and only politician who speaks up for Muslims since Independence, observes Jyoti Punwani
As Bihar awaits the results in the much-awaited polls, Rediff.com takes a look at some of those leaders who won and lost.
