Former member of Parliament of the Rashtriya Janata Dal Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, who has been evading arrest for more than three months, was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation from a private hospital in Gurgaon in the outskirts of the capital in connection with the murder of a former member of legislative assembly of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) 12 years ago.
The chief minister's presence at the RJD Iftar at Lalu's home on Friday instantly sparked speculation about Nitish getting closer to the RJD after reports circulated of his ally the Bharatiya Janata Party wanting to replace the Janata Dal-United supremo as CM with one of its own.
A day after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar formed the government in Bihar in alliance with the National Democratic Alliance, hectic lobbying started for the post of assembly speaker, and other legislators to be included in the council of ministers.
Plans for a 500-car road show were abandoned after the controversy surrounding his release.
Police have registered a First Information Report against Rashtriya Janata Dal legislator of the dissolved Bihar assembly, Sunil Kumar 'pushpam', and 4 unknown persons, on the charge of allegedly causing the death of a pregnant dalit woman.
'JD-U wants to emerge as the single largest party in Bihar after the next assembly polls by contesting more seats than the BJP.'
Rashtriya Janata Dal President Lalu Prasad Yadav on Monday downplayed reports of a split within his party even as he said that he was inquiring into the matter.
The JD-U leader's outbursts met with disapproval from the RJD as well as ally BJP, leaving the party to fend for itself.
The only occasion when the BJP had 100 seats in the Upper House was in 2022.
While the outcome will be known once the meeting is over, more than one of the prospective attendees denied the party's ties with the BJP having worsened to an extent to call for a realignment.
Ahead of the day-long Opposition meeting on Friday, Samvad Bhavan, Rajkiye Atithisala and Sadaquat Ashram have got a facelift.
Basant Soren, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) supremo Shibu Soren's youngest son, on Friday took oath as minister in the Champai Soren-led government in Jharkhand, along with seven others.
Acting Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, in his first visit to the national capital after leading his ruling alliance to an unprecedented second straight term in the state.
A Congress MLA in Bihar has landed in trouble after a sting operation caught the legislator on camera purportedly offering liquor to his guests, despite total prohibition imposed in the state by the Nitish Kumar government.
In the midst of electioneering, the Janata Dal-United candidate from Jagdishpur assembly seat Sushumlata Kushwaha delivered a baby girl, drawing rich praise from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday.
Bihar's Ruling Janata Dal-United legislator Anant Singh was arrested on Wednesday in a case of kidnapping and extortion at Bihita in rural Patna.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United said it was the right time to withdraw the general consent to the CBI.
Veteran Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Awadh Bihari Chaudhary was on Friday unanimously elected as speaker of the Bihar legislative assembly.
At least 12 people, a third of them children, were killed and several others were injured when a speeding truck ploughed into a religious procession in Bihar's Vaishali district on Sunday evening, officials said.
'Without our support Nitish Kumar wouldn't have become chief minister.' 'After the government was formed we became ministers, but our agenda remained the same: Amit Shah had promised reservation for Nishads.' 'He wouldn't listen, so we went to UP and contested 52 seats in the 2022 elections. He didn't like the idea of rebellion.' 'He saw that this man, coming from Bombay, is very sharp. He's made four MLAs now, tomorrow he'll make 40. A time will come when they will make it 125.' 'They bought our MLAs and ousted us from the government.'
Nearly 13.04 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 9 am on Wednesday in 43 assembly constituencies in Jharkhand where voting is underway in the first phase, officials said.
Yadav came out with a video statement, nearly seven minutes long, fulminating against a news portal which had carried a report about his divorce case, apparently presenting him in a poor light.
The Supreme Court of India will likely hear a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 on April 15. The Act, which came into force on April 8, has been met with widespread criticism from various stakeholders, including politicians, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), and Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind. They argue that the law is discriminatory and violates the fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution. The petitions allege that the amendments give the government more control over the administration of Waqf, effectively sidelining the Muslim minority from managing their own religious endowments.
Among the major political parties, chief minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United is contesting in 35 of the 71 seats, followed by its ally Bharatiya Janata Party (29), while the opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal has fielded its candidates in 42 and its coalition partner Congress is in the fray in 20 assembly segments.
Bihar Education Minister Chandrashekhar reiterated that temples are the path to "mental slavery" while schools mean the path of light in life, extending support to party MLA Fateh Bahadur Singh whose similar statement drew the ire of a fringe outfit that announced a "reward" of Rs 10 lakh to cut off his tongue.
Moderate to high turnout was recorded in 13 assembly constituencies across seven states where bypolls were held on Wednesday amid sporadic incidents of violence in Uttarakhand, Bihar and West Bengal.
Former Bihar MP Anand Mohan, who is serving a life sentence in the killing of Indian Administrative Service officer G Krishnaiah, is to be set free along with 26 others who have been lodged in different prisons of the state for more than 14 years.
Five Honourable MPs must be brought from their jail cells to Parliament, television cameras recording every move. It shall be an unsavoury beginning to the new alliance.
Former member of Parliament Anand Mohan, who was sentenced to death for the murder of Gopalganj District Magistrate G Krishnaiah, has been on a hunger strike for the last two days. Mohan is protesting the lack of facilities in Bhagalpur Jail, where he is currently lodged. Moreover, Anand Mohan was also irked by the jail authorities' decision to separate him from his associates -- former MLA and Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Akhlaq Ahmed and Arun Kumar.
Mohan's wife and former MP Lovely Anand and three others were awarded life terms. The court had earlier found Mohan and his wife guilty of inciting a mob to lynch district magistrate Krishnaiah in 1994.
Rashtriya Janata Dal MP from Siwan Mohammed Shahabuddin gets three years' rigorous imprisonment
Several prominent opposition leaders including Nationalist Congress Party's Sharad Pawar, Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah will share the dais at a rally being organised by Indian National Lok Dal in Haryana's Fatehabad on Sunday.
Yadav was asked to surrender by the Supreme Court in connection with murder of Communist Party of India-Marxist MLA Ajit Sarkar's murder.
Sarkar, a legislator from Purnea, was shot dead by men allegedly acting on Yadav's orders on June 14, 1998.
A feud over sand lifting contracts is said to be reason for the killing of seven people on February 16 near Kochgaon.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav on Friday addressed a joint political rally, the first since the two erstwhile rivals buried the hatchet and aligned nearly four months ago.
Besides the MLAs, there were two other people in the SUV, which carried a board mentioning "MLA Jamtara Jharkhand" along with the Congress' election symbol, police said.
In January, Nitish Kumar assured the Rajputs that he has been making efforts to release Anand Mohan from jail.
The legislator visited the residence of mother Rabri Devi on Tuesday evening, spent the night at her place and, according to party sources, announced that he will henceforth not be living at the bungalow allotted to him by the state government.
The Supreme Court has asked the CBI as to where and which prison RJD MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav should be shifted to put an end to his activities violating all conceived rules under the prisons manual.
