Rashtriya Janata Dal President Lalu Prasad, touring the Pataliputra constituency has hit out strongly at his former close aide Ramkripal Yadav for joining the Bharatiya Janata Party. Prasad held a public rally at Bikram, 40 km southwest of capital Patna, late on Wednesday evening to garner support for the RJD candidate and her eldest daughter Misa Bharti.
The BJP's defeat in Bihar dents its hopes of improving its RS tally but the grand alliance victory could also present the first signs of tension when five JD-U members retire next year.
The party, however, did not announce as whether it would merge with any other party or become part of some other alliance.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal on Thursday alleged a political conspiracy by the Bharatiya Janata Party and Janata Dal-United behind the sentencing of Lalu Prasad but ruled out the possibility of a change in party leadership, saying its chief will be out on bail soon.
'...it gets a survey report that they are going to lose elections.' 'The fear of losing elections will make them immediately conduct a caste census.'
Yadav also called for firming up of an Opposition alliance to take on the BJP in the 2024 general elections, suggesting that the Congress must focus on over 200 seats on which it is in direct fight with the saffron party, while taking a 'backseat' in states where regional parties are a formidable force.
The announcement comes amid rumours that Tej Pratap would be causing a split in the party.
The I-T Department has served notices of attachment of assets to Lalu's daughter Misa Bharti and her husband Shailesh Kumar, his wife and former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi, son and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav and daughters Chanda and Ragini Yadav.
Sources said he left mid-way for an unknown destination.
The case relates to alleged money laundering in granting the operational contract of two IRCTC hotels to a private firm.
Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com recaps emotions on a day that Bihar waited with bated breath.
Bihar CM says there's no question of going back on supporting Kovind.
Despite the show of unity, JD-U spokesmen Neeraj Kumar, however, said the coalition dharma is bigger than showing obstinacy.
Noting that it was his government that had recommended a CBI probe into the actor's death, Kumar said the incident saddened both the state and the country.
'I am greedy to have my eggs in different baskets.'
When almost the entire political class was engrossed in the Bihar polls, the Congress shahzada was holidaying in a hill station. As the Bihar contest and other by-elections have shown, a large number of states have become Congress-mukt, fulfilling the Hindutva brigade's dream, notes Amulya Ganguli.
The 31-year-old is seeking re-election from Raghopur in Vaishali district which he had wrested back for his party from the Bharatiya Janata Party's Satish Kumar in 2015. The BJP leader had defeated Yadav's mother Rabri Devi, a former chief minister, in 2010.
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.
As Bihar awaits the results in the much-awaited polls, Rediff.com takes a look at some of those leaders who won and lost.
BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is predicted to win both seats -- Varanasi and Vadodara. Kejriwal is places at number 2 in Varanasi, says the ABP News-Nielsen exit poll. Senior BJP leader L K Advani is likely to win the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha for the sixth time.
The jailed Lalu Prasad may have put his wife, Rabri Devi, in charge of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, but there's a subtle jostling for ascendancy within the family, notes Satyavrat Mishra.
'For the BJP, development is nothing more than a jumla,' says Tejaswi Yadav.
Chirag Paswan is young. He is articulate. He has no political baggage. All he needs is the blessing of Chanakya, observes Asmita Bihari.
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.
According to state government data, the first 10 months of last year -- January to October 2020 -- witnessed 2,649 murders in Bihar, an average of nearly nine murders a day.
In case the EC doesn't hold elections within six months, the duration in which Banerjee has to become an MLA, the Trinamool Congress is ready with Plan B.
'Let me stick my neck out and say that Tamil Nadu will keep alive its reputation for landslide election verdicts, with the DMK front winning at least 30 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats going to the polls in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
'It is the RJD, otherwise known for misgovernance, which has offered a candidate of clean and performing credentials, rather than the NDA,' points out Mohammad Sajjad.
The four-day long Chhath festival ended on Thursday with millions, braving the chill and taking a dip in the river to offer prayers to the rising sun.
Rabri Devi, ex-chief minister of Bihar, wife of Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad and their party's candidate from Saran, tells Kavita Chowdhury there's a wave for the Rashtriya Janata Dal in Bihar and talk of a Modi wave is media hype.
Family and politics are often synonymous in India - no matter what party you talk of - and Bihar is no exception.
Rashtriya Janata Dal President Lalu Prasad on Monday hit the streets, accusing Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of luring his party MLAs and asserting that nine of the 13 legislators who reportedly broke away have denied parting ways.
Aiming to end the 25-year rule of Lalu-Nitish combine in Bihar, the National Democratic Alliance will formally launch on Thursday its campaign for the crucial assembly polls scheduled later this year with BJP president Amit Shah set to flag off 160 'parivartan raths' from Patna.
Sources say the CM doesn't want new problems in already strained ties with the RJD.
'Since the RJD came to power, criminals have stopped fearing the law.'
Talking to reporters for the first time after the NDA's victory, Kumar, who is set for yet another term in office, said the date for his swearing-in ceremony will be discussed at an 'informal' meeting of all the four NDA constituents on Friday.
While the assembly elections are being seen as largely a contest between the NDA and the Grand Alliance, the state has been witness to mushrooming of "morchas" (fronts) which may queer the pitch for the lead players in a tight contest.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal with 19 seats, Congress on 9, Rashtriya Lok Samta Party on 5, Hindustani Awam Morcha and Vikassheel Insan Party -- in phases three to seven of the general elections.
Not quitting, says Tejashwi Yadav. Accuses Prime Minister Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah of 'conspiracy'.
An electorate of 1,45,93,980 voters would exercise their franchise in the third phase.
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