The Bihar government has withdrawn the Z-plus security cover for RJD leaders Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi, and Y-category security for Tej Pratap, following a review of VIP protection in the state. They will now receive security from the Bihar Special Armed Police.
The former Bihar Chief Minister was sentenced to five years in prison and slapped a fine of Rs 60 lakh by a special CBI court in Ranchi in connection with the fifth fodder scam case involving embezzlement of over Rs 139 crore by Doranda treasury.
Soon after voting, Lalu said there was an 'undercurrent' in favour of his party and that would obtain absolute majority.
Togadia also urged the Nitish Kumar-led government to take immediate steps to check ISI activities and make concerted efforts to tone up the administration to tackle the law and order problem.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar engaged in a heated exchange with Leader of the Opposition Rabri Devi in the Legislative Council, dismissing her as "inconsequential" without her husband, RJD president Lalu Prasad. The spat stemmed from RJD MLCs wearing badges promoting quota hikes passed during Tejashwi Yadav's tenure as Deputy CM, which Nitish Kumar perceived as an attempt to claim credit for the populist move. Kumar also remarked that Rabri Devi was only propped up by her husband when he was in trouble, referring to her becoming Chief Minister in 1997 while Lalu Prasad faced corruption charges. The war of words between the two rivals has intensified, with the RJD accusing Kumar of losing his mental balance and being unfit to rule.
RJD leader Lalu Prasad's son, Tej Pratap Yadav, has been booked for allegedly violating the model code of conduct during the filing of his nomination papers for the Mahua assembly seat.
Taking a potshot at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, on the issue of advertisements featuring him with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad on Saturday asked the Janata Dal - United leader to sever ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party. Referring to Kumar's statement to the media -- expressing his disapproval over the advertisements in local newspapers -- Prasad said there was nothing new about the issue.
Within an hour of taking over as Speaker, Meira Kumar issued her first directive in Lok Sabha on Wednesday, asking the House reporters to expunge certain exchanges between Janata Dal-United chief Sharad Yadav and Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad. When Prasad was speaking to congratulate Kumar, he made certain statements which were objected to by Yadav.
A Central Bureau of Investigation court in Patna on Wednesday ordered Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad to appear in the court on September 6, in connection with the multi crore fodder scam, court official said The court in its orders made it clear to Lalu Prasad to appear physically in the court, a court sources said.
Water sprayers splashed with the images of Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad and his bete noire Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar are selling like hot cakes in the state with Holi revellers wanting to add a dash of political colour to their celebrations.
Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad challenged Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday to explain who is secular in the National Democratic Alliance. Lalu's comment came following Kumar's statement that the NDA should declare its prime ministerial candidate in advance and that the candidate should be a secular.
The protesters led by the state unit Bharatiya Janata Party chief C P Thakur burnt the effigy of the prime minister at the busy Dak Bungalow roundabout.
Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad on Thursday hit back at Nitin Gadkari for his derogatory remarks against him and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, saying the Bharatiya Janata Party president has gone 'mentally bankrupt'. "We will first try to give Gadkari tablets to cure his mental bankruptcy, then put him on capsules and if the tablets and capsules fail, we will put him on injection," Prasad told a press conference in Patna.
He also accused Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of daydreaming for trying to garner the support of the regional parties for Advani as PM.
Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad on Tuesday accused the Nitish Kumar government of "avoiding" recommendations to the Centre for a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the killing of Ranvir Sena Supremo B ahmeshwar Singh Mukhiya on June 1 in Bhojpur district.
Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad on Tuesday challenged Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi to contest the state assembly elections against former chief minister Rabri Devi, who is contesting from two constituencies.
In a tweet in Hindi, Lalu said, "Met the country's senior most socialist friend Shri Mulayam Singhji and enquired about his wellbeing. We have common concerns and fight about farmers, inequality, the poor and the unemployed."
The Janata Dal (United) is considering a proposal to rename the party as 'JD(U)-Nitish' to honour its leader Nitish Kumar, a move supported by key aides but criticised by the RJD, which suggests it indicates an impending split within the party.
Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav on Wednesday claimed the support of 43 legislators in the 82-member Jharkhand Assembly and asserted that the United Progressive Alliance will provide a stable government.
Former Bihar chief minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad on Tuesday appeared before a special Central Bureau of Investigation court, which recorded his statement in connection with a fodder scam case. The court of Pravas Kumar Singh recorded the statements in the case pertaining to alleged fraudulent withdrawal of nearly Rs 37.7 crore from Chaibasa treasury between 1992 and 1995. Lalu faces charges in six fodder cases -- five in Ranchi and one in Patna.
"Just because Modi enjoys the patronage of senior BJP leader L K Advani, the opposition leader in the Lok Sabha, the latter cannot escape culpability for the mass murder," Lalu said.
In the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls, Union Railway Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav, who currently represents Chhapra, will contest from Saran. He is not actually changing his constituency because, after delimitation, the Chhapra seat has been rechristened as Saran, Yadav said on Sunday.Terming terrorism and communalism as twin sisters of evil, he said the 'communal' Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies would be trounced in the elections.
"It is our victory as the apex court has not ordered revival of the dissolved assembly," said Lalu.
Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad has said he would reward party tickets to only those who would show certificates for spending time in jails.
Top political leaders of Bihar, including Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad and Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan, on Monday strongly condemned the attack on Samajwadi Party Member of Legislative Assembly Abu Asim Azmi.Nitish Kumar condemned the incident and declared that it had again exposed the MNS' true colours "We will take the matter up with the Union government as well as the Maharashtra government."
Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav and his wife and former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi may have to vacate their official sprawling bungalow in Pata following the party's humiliating defeat in the recent assembly elections in the state.
Toughening his stand over the Women's Reservation Bill, Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad said on Saturday that he would not bow down to any pressure and continue fighting against the present form of the bill.
Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad called up Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday night and sought his immediate intervention to get the Maharashtra government's decision -- on giving licence to those who are domicile of that state for the last 15 years -- rescinded."I spoke to the prime minister over telephone late on Thursday evening and requested him to get the Maharashtra cabinet decision rescinded as it is not good for the country's unity," said Lalu.
With top BJP leaders declaring Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi fit for prime minister's post, Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad on Monday asked Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to clarify his stand on the issue.
Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav had the entire Lok Sabha in splits on Thursday as he pleaded his case against the Women's Reservation Bill passed by the Rajya Sabha. "Congress members are telling me, 'please save us as we are being made to sign on our death certificates by supporting this legislation'," he said while speaking briefly on the Bill. In a speech full of sarcasm, he even dubbed the Bill as an onion that will bring tears to the eyes of the members.
The Commission wanted "very early action" in the matter with intimation to it.
It was speculated that Rohini was "unhappy" over the expulsion of Tej Pratap Yadav from the party. However, during the assembly elections, she was seen campaigning for Tejashwi.
Congress MP Abhijit Mukherjee, son of President Pranab Mukherjee, has called on Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav in jail.
The Samajwadi Party on Thursday threatened to move court against Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari for his 'objectionable' comments against party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad. "Nitin Gadkari has used objectionable language against senior politicians like Mulayam Singh and Lalu Prasad. The kind of language used by him shows that though he represents a national party, he has a very narrow minded approach," said a SP leader.
The former Bihar chief minister is most likely to be shifted to the hospital in the national capital on Tuesday itself, they said.
Contrary to repots about former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi giving up politics, the wife of Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad has decided to contest the state assembly elections from not one but two constituencies -- Raghopur and Sonepur.Two months ago, it was widely reported that Rabri Devi may bid adieu to active politics after her husband Lalu Prasad declared himself the RJD's chief ministerial candidate for the assembly polls.
Kumar visited the Paras Hospital, where Prasad has been admitted since Monday, a day after he had a fall at his home and fractured his shoulder.
