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.
The Janata Dal-United will elect a new leader on Sunday, party chief Sharad Yadav said, a day after Nitish Kumar stepped down as the Bihar chief minister.
As Bihar awaits the results in the much-awaited polls, Rediff.com takes a look at some of those leaders who won and lost.
Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi appears to be on the way out in the wake of his defiance as the Janata Dal-United is all set to replace him with his mentor Nitish Kumar at a meeting of the legislature party on Saturday.
Launching a counteroffensive against the Bharatiya Janata Party for its 'return of jungle raj' remark, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav on Wednesday said if the killing of a youth in a road rage incident symbolised that, then even the national capital was no different.
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
The Supreme Court on Wednesday came down heavily on Bihar government for not placing facts before the Patna High Court which granted bail to controversial Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Mohd Shahabuddin in a murder case.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday sought answers from Narendra Modi on CNT/SPT Acts, starvation deaths and 'divisiveness',a day after the prime minister threw challenges to Congress on citizenship, Article 370 and triple talaq. She also attacked the prime minister on economic slowdown, Citizenship Act, National Register of Citizenship and alleged assaults on women in different parts of the country.
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.
A total of 126 votes, including four of Congress and one of CPI, were cast in favour of the confidence motion while 24, including 22 of Lalu Prasad led RJD, voted against the motion as BJP members staged a walkout before the vote.
'Unlike past governments, we never protect or save criminals.'
A man has been arrested for allegedly offering a suitable reward to a former minister to vote in favour of the newly formed government headed by Hemant Soren in Jharkhand.
'Nitish's claims of development are false. He has only helped corrupt officials.' 'I want to remind Lalu that this is not the 1990s. This is 2015.' 'I am a bahubali for those looting society.'
After the Janata Dal-United parted ways with ally the Bharatiya Janata Party, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will seek a trust vote on Wednesday at a special session of Bihar assembly to prove his majority, which he is expected to muster without any hitch with support of independents and Congress deciding to abstain.
The JD-U leader intends to parade the MLAs before President Pranab Mukherjee.
Mahila Thana station house officer Arti Kumari Jaiswal arrived at the spot and told reporters, "The girl seems to be in a state of shock and hence we are taking her along to the police station and wait for the time till she is able to record her statement coherently. An FIR will be lodged based on her testimony and investigations and further action will follow."
'The Mallahs may remain divided between the two competing coalitions in Bihar,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
With Ram temple issue once again coming into focus before 2014 Parliamentary elections through VHP yatra, a BJP sub-committee under the campaign panel headed by Narendra Modi is gathering feed back from people on Ayodhya and other burning issues to gauge "country's mood".
Allegations of electronic voting machines malfunctioningreturned to haunt the Election Commission as four Lok Sabha seats and nine assembly constituencies went for bypolls on Monday across 10 states with moderate-to-heavy voting amid prestige at stake for the Bharatiya Janata Party as well as opposition parties ahead of the 2019 general elections.
The article on the history of Bihar had described Indira Gandhi as 'autocratic' and said that during the Emergency, the state's tallest leader Jay Prakash Narayan had suffered a treatment which was 'worse' than the one meted out to Mahatma Gandhi in Champaran during the freedom struggle.
Misa Bharati is fighting to win back Patliputra, the seat her father lost in 2009, in a contest that is a do-or-die battle for Lalu Yadav and the RJD.
In a major setback for former Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the Patna High Court on Wednesday termed his re-election as JD-U legislative party leader unconstitutional.
RJD president Lalu Prasad will not attend the celebrations due to ill health.
Nath had said in Bhopal, "Lot of industries are set up in which people from other states, like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, come to work. I do not want to criticise them, but the youth of Madhya Pradesh are deprived (of jobs)."
Polling will take place on Tuesday in 20 constituencies in Jharkhand spread across seven Maoist-hit tribal districts in the second of the five-stage elections to the 81-member assembly.
Four Janata Dal-United legislators were disqualified on Saturday from the Bihar assembly under the anti-defection law for anti-party activities, including cross voting in Rajya Sabha election.
Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad took a potshot at Narendra Modi on Monday calling him a Dhritarashtra who is not only "blind" but also "deaf and dumb" and a "coward", as the chorus of criticism against the prime minister's "silence" on Dadri lynching grew louder.
The first phase of UP polls in 73 assembly constituencies on Saturday witnessed an "exemplary" 64.22 per cent voter turnout.
The wall broke up after being forcefully hit by the Ganga river waters when the pump was switched on for a trial run.
Articulate segments of Muzaffarpur have been at the the forefront of all anti-establishment mobilisation, which makes their silence over the atrocities in a shelter home in the town puzzling. Could it be that if those accused of horrific crimes belong to dominant castes and if the victims belong to the vulnerable groups, then the middle classes become mute, asks Mohammad Sajjad.
Expressing disappointment with the Janata Dal (United) contemplating over ending its 18-year-old alliance, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rameshwar Prasad Chaurasia in an apparent attack on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday said that his political outfit never betrays its partners.
Saradha scam accused Matang Sinh, who was recently arrested by the CBI, too will continue to enjoy Z-plus security.
The JD-U Legislature party on Sunday decided to take the final call on choosing a new leader on Monday in the wake of the resignation of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Tejaswi Yadav spoke with Rediff.com about how he plans to wash clean the 'jungle raj' tag that has stuck with his father and former chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday alleged that the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar was under threat from its own legislators, who are getting "restless" due to the delay in state cabinet expansion.
Abdul Jalil Mastan caught on camera asking a crowd at a note ban protest to hit with shoes the photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sparking condemnation and kicking up a ruckus in the state legislature.
Amid tight security cover, polling began on Friday morning in the second phase of the Bihar assembly elections, spanning 32 constituencies spread over six Naxal-hit districts.
