This Bhumihar leader has always been party supremo Kumar's strength, as this caste in Bihar is known to have wide political influence despite its small size.
'When the time comes, we will take a decision following a discussion with the alliance partners.'
Internal discord within the INDIA bloc has led to alliance partners contesting against each other in at least eight assembly seats in Bihar. The Congress, RJD, and Left parties are facing challenges in seat-sharing arrangements for the upcoming elections.
Union minister Giriraj Singh on Saturday claimed that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United and its ally Rashtriya Janata Dal, founded and headed by Lalu Prasad Yadav, were heading for a merger.
'The Congress has faded and fighting for survival.'
'The US reciprocal tariff has added another element of uncertainty and the central bank may prefer to wait and get further clarity.'
Besides the two Deputy CMs, those who tested positive are Ashok Choudhary and Sunil Kumar, the ministers for building construction, and prohibition, excise and registration respectively.
Lalu's son and heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav, however, sought to downplay the remarks made by his father, in an interview to a local news channel, claiming that the RJD supremo had merely tried to satisfy the curiosity of the prying media.
India has stated its neutral stance on religious matters following the Dalai Lama's announcement of his succession plan, which China has rejected. The statement comes as the Dalai Lama approaches his 90th birthday, with China urging India to exercise caution on Tibet-related issues.
The Janata Dal-United state unit in Manipur has withdrawn support to the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Biren Singh government and the party has informed its decision to governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla.
The Janata Dal (United) (JD(U)), an alliance partner of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Bihar, has put up posters outside its party office asserting that Nitish Kumar will continue as the Bihar Chief Minister till 2030. This comes after Haryana's Deputy Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini said that the BJP would win the Bihar polls under the leadership of Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary. The JD(U) has refuted these claims, saying that Nitish Kumar will remain the face of the NDA in the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections.
An NDRF team is deployed to rescue miners allegedly trapped in an abandoned coal mine in Dhanbad, Jharkhand, but operations are delayed as the exact location remains unidentified. Officials claim no signs of an incident have been found, while local residents and politicians allege a mine collapse during illegal mining activities.
Left to its machinations, the BJP would have loved to cut Nitish down to size, but it can't afford to do so as the JD-U is in alliance with the BJP at the Centre, and cannot form a government on its own in Bihar. For now, both need each other: Nitish for legitimacy, the BJP for numbers, points out Ramesh Menon.
Hyderabad police on Thursday arrested two senior executives of scam-hit Karvy Stock Broking Pvt Ltd for allegedly involving in diverting funds raised from banks by pledging clients' securities as collaterals. According to a police press release, Rajiv Ranjan Singh, chief executive officer and G. Krishna Hari chief financial officer of Karvy were arrested basing on a complaint by IndusInd bank.
'If the NDA returns with the BJP substantially ahead of the JD-U, a BJP CM bid becomes plausible; if the gap is narrow or JD-U holds pivotal seats, continuity with Nitish is the lower-risk option.'
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.
If women voters are mobilised in big numbers to the voting booths on November 6 and 11 by the Nitish Kumar-led NDA, then it will be quite difficult for the Tejashwi Yadav-led Mahagathbandhan to defeat the incumbent government, points out Sheela Bhatt.
The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee's (MPC) decision to cut the repo rate by 50 basis points (bps) to 5.5% was contrary to the expectations of many economists. Firstly, most of the economists expected the MPC to cut the repo rate by 25 bps citing the weakening of inflation, prospects of economic growth, geopolitical uncertainty and comfortable system liquidity.
Party sources are tight-lipped about the fate of Tyagi, who is a trusted aide of Kumar, the party's supreme leader, but has reportedly often left the latter embarrassed by going public on issues without waiting for a nod from the boss.
With 12 MPs, the JD-U is the second biggest Bharatiya Janata Party ally after the TDP's 16, and leaders of the saffron party are in touch with allies over ministerial berths and other issues.
A total 14 ministers, including 3 Rashtriya Janata Dal defectors, were inducted into the 12-day old Jitan Ram Manjhi cabinet in Bihar on Monday.
As many as six who hold law degrees include cabinet ministers Nitin Gadkari, J P Nadda, Piyush Goyal, Sarbananda Sonowal, Bhupender Yadav and Kiren Rijiju.
Several Biju Janata Dal workers and leaders, including two former ministers, were injured in a scuffle with police personnel in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday during a party's protest over the death of a college student, who set herself on fire in Odisha's Balasore district.
The delegation also demanded an inquiry into the scam, which was exposed by a TV channel. The leaders claimed that the documents prove the involvement of Lalu, Union Ministers Premchand Gupta, Kanti Singh and Raghunath Jha in the scam.
Jaishankar briefed the leaders of all parties about the situation in the violence-hit nation and the steps taken by the Indian government.
The Opposition members said that despite adequate availability of essential commodities, inflation was still high and government has failed to check the price line. Initiating a debate in the Lok Sabha on rise in prices of essential commodities, Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lalan (Janata Dal-United) said 85 crore (850 million) people in India were below the poverty line and despite this the government was not interested in checking inflation.
'When the Bill was passed all have been exposed. There is no difference between communal and secular.'
Stealing a march over the Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad, Nitish Kumar-led Janta Dal-United announced on Friday the resignationof its five Lok Sabha members from Bihar to protest the attacks on North Indians in Maharashtra.
The BJP-led NDA's nominee Droupadi Murmu on Friday filed her nomination papers for the July 18 presidential election, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi handing over the set of papers to Returning Officer P C Mody.
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Sanjay Malhotra said the repo rate cut in the February meeting of the monetary policy committee (MPC) was due to inflation aligning with the target and recognising the fact that monetary policy is forward-looking.
Singh has sought the intervention of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in separate letters that BJP worker Rajiv Ranjan Chaudhary has hired men to kill him.
Janata Dal-United MP Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh offered juice to Harivansh to help him break the fast.
The JD-U supreme leader, whose party, in Parliament, has been supporting the demand for a joint parliamentary committee probe, however, did not seem impressed with the Maratha strongman's preference for an investigation by a 'Supreme Court-appointed Committee'.
Initiating a discussion on the situation arising out of the ongoing sealing drive, Rajiv Ranjan Singh (Janata Dal-United) said the government had failed to finalise a master plan for the capital.
Barring dissident MLC Rameshwar Mahto, who has an axe to grind against some ministers close to the CM, legislators and office bearers of the party chose to give the session a wide berth.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United on Wednesday asserted that it was "not scared of ED and CBI" following its break-up with the Bharatiya Janata Party, which rules the Centre and is often accused by the opposition of misusing investigating agencies.
A meeting of the Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Wednesday witnessed a verbal slugfest between its chairman Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and MPs from the ruling National Democratic Alliance as the Congress leader sought to raise the issue of COVID-19 vaccination drive for discussion in the panel, sources said.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar stressed the need to finalise seat-sharing arrangements by January at the recent meeting of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), a key aide disclosed on Friday.
'I have been a spokesperson of the party for the last 41 years and now I think some other party member should take up my post,' JD-U's K C Tyagi tells Rediff.com about his resignation from the post of party spokesperson.
While there are some new faces in the cabinet, leaders such as BJP president JP Nadda and Jual Oram have returned as ministers.
