Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav was present for the filing of nominations by RJD candidates Dr Misa Bharti and Dr Faiyaz Ahmad for the Rajya Sabha election.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday ducked queries about exit polls predicting wins, in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh assembly polls, for his former ally Bharatiya Janata Party which he has vowed to defeat with the help of a united opposition in the next general elections.
'...to build a consensus, not conflict or struggle.'
A senior TMC leader will be present at the proposed meeting, he said.
Dr Rohini Acharya -- the Rashtriya Janata Dal candidate from the Saran Lok Sabha constituency -- filed her nomination papers for the Lok Sabha elections, April 29, 2024, accompanied by her father and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav, mother Rabri Devi and younger brother Tejashwi Yadav.
She reached the office of the federal probe agency in central Delhi around 11 am and left around 6 pm.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has distributed portfolios among the new ministers, keeping key departments such as Home, Personnel, and several others to himself. The Congress' Radhakrishna Kishore was given Finance, Commercial Tax, Planning and Development Department, and Parliamentary Affairs departments. JMM's Deepak Biruwa was allotted the departments of Revenue, Registration and Land Reforms (non-registration), and Transport. Chamra Linda, another JMM leader, was allotted the departments of Schedule Tribes, Scheduled Castes, Backward Classes (except Minority Welfare). RJD's Sanjay Prasad Yadav was given the departments of Industries, and Labour, Planning, Training and Skill Development. The Congress' Irfan Ansari got Health, Medical Education and Family Welfare, besides Food, Public Distribution and Consumer Affairs, and Disaster Management departments. The chief minister also kept to himself the departments of Cabinet Secretariat, Personnel, Administrative Reforms and Official Language, Road Construction, Building Construction, and those departments yet to be distributed to anyone. Among the other ministers, JMM's Ramdas Soren was given the School Education and Literacy, and Registration departments. Party colleague Hafizul Hasan was allotted the departments of Water Resources, and Minority Welfare Department. Panchayati Raj, Rural Works, and Rural Development departments were given to Congress MLA Deepika Pandey Singh. The CM gave Drinking Water and Sanitation, and Excise and Prohibition departments to JMM's Yogendra Prasad. JMM legislator Sudhivya Kumar became the minister for Urban Development and Housing, Higher and Technical Education, and Tourism, Art Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs departments. Shilpi Neha Tirkey of the Congress was allotted Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Cooperative Department. A total of 11 MLAs took oath as ministers in the Hemant Soren government in Jharkhand on Thursday.
The new faces in the 12-member cabinet, which includes the chief minister, are Congress's Jamtara MLA Irfan Ansari, Mahagama MLA Deepika Pandey Singh and JMM's Latehar MLA Baidynath Ram.
The BJP and JD(U) will each contest on 101 seats in the Bihar assembly elections, while the LJP will field candidates on 29 seats. Other NDA partners will contest on fewer seats.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar lost his temper in the state legislative council on Friday when an opposition RJD member flagged the issue of the "inadequate number" of girls' schools in her area. Kumar, who prides himself on having promoted women's empowerment, grew irritated and said, "Do you people even know what we have done for girls' education? Village girls hardly went to schools in Bihar until we came to power." He then launched a frontal attack on Rabri Devi, his predecessor, recalling the circumstances in which she had succeeded her husband Lalu Prasad, the RJD president, as the chief minister. The exchange of words led to chaos in the House before order was restored.
The Supreme Court has begun hearing petitions challenging the Election Commission's decision to conduct a special intensive revision exercise in Bihar ahead of elections, raising concerns about voter exclusion.
A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, however, agreed to examine the constitutional validity of Section 8A of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 empowering the Election Commission to undertake the delimitation of constituencies.
Besides the four ministerial berths, the Congress has also sought the post of Speaker of the state assembly, but Kumar is not keen on giving that, sources said.
In a letter, dated February 16, 2024, issued by the Cabinet Secretariat department, headed by the CM, officials of the Health, Road Construction, Urban Development and Housing and Rural Works departments have been asked to review the decisions taken during the previous grand alliance government in the state.
'JD-U wants to emerge as the single largest party in Bihar after the next assembly polls by contesting more seats than the BJP.'
A seasoned politician and two-term Member of Parliament, Dr Shakeel Ahmad, who has served as a Union minister and senior Congress leader, resigned from the Congress party, marking the end of his decades-long association with an organisation that his family has been part of for three generations. In an interview with Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff he speaks why he quit the party.
Floor leaders of the Opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance met on Monday ahead of the start of Parliament's winter session and decided to raise the issue of alleged corruption in the Adani Group and demand a Joint Parliamentary Committee on the matter.11111111111111111111111111
A united opposition is set to corner the NDA government on issues ranging from the NEET paper leak case to railway safety.
'Muslims in Bihar under Nitishji's rule are safest than anywhere else.'
The delegations led by Baijayant Panda, Ravi Shankar Prasad (both Bharatiya Janata Party), Sanjay Kumar Jha (Janata Dal-United), Shrikant Shinde (Shiv Sena), Shashi Tharoor (Congress), Kanimozhi (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) and Supriya Sule (Nationalist Congress Party-Sharad Pawar) will visit a total of 32 countries and the EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.
Congress leader Ghulam Ahmad Mir on Thursday promised that LPG cylinders will be provided in Jharkhand at a subsidised rate of Rs 450 even for 'infiltrators', sparking a political row in the midst of assembly elections in the eastern state.
A portion of an under-construction bridge in Bihar, which was being 'dismantled', crashed into the river Ganges river on Saturday, officials said.
The parties are seeking pre- and post-arrest guidelines to be followed by the central probe agencies such as the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate.
Prison officials said he was admitted to the ICU of the hospital two-three days ago.
Sankarshan Thakur, editor of The Telegraph whose prowess with words added that extra edge to his analyses and ground reports, died at a Gurgaon hospital on Monday after prolonged illness. He was 63.
NSA condoles with Major Menezes and her daughter... Rajeshwari and Tejashwi Yadav receive an unusual garland...
'Logic, Research, Science Are Modi Government's Limitations.'
This is the first meeting between Gandhi and Kumar since the latter walked out of the National Democratic Alliance in Bihar and formed a 'Mahagathbandhan' government with the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Congress and outside support of the Left.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP of rigging the Maharashtra assembly elections and expressed concerns about similar tactics being used in the upcoming Bihar polls. He alleged that the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bihar is an attempt to manipulate the election process.
Modi earned his spurs as a doughty leader of the Opposition in the assembly, a post he held till 2004 when he got elected to the Lok Sabha from Bhagalpur.
Kumar, who heads the Janata Dal-United, moved the motion soon after the House passed a proposal for the removal of Rashtriya Janata Dal's Awadh Bihari Chaudhary as Speaker of the assembly.
Can Nitishbabu create an anti-BJP phalanx like Jayaprakash Narayan did in 1977 or will his efforts come undone by Opposition leaders' political ambitions and, of course, the BJP's agency-aided campaign of intimidation?
'...the electoral playing field is tilted significantly in its favour.'
It also asked why the data shared pertained to a period from April 2019 even though the scheme for anonymous political funding was introduced in 2017.
Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Limited was the top donor to the Bharatiya Janata Party at Rs 584 crore and the Bharat Rashtra Samiti at Rs 195 crore.
Left parties were on Tuesday joined by the Biju Janata Dal, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Samajwadi Party and the Telugu Desam Party in the Parliament in their protest against the government's 'inaction' in checking rising prices of foodgrain and other essential items.
Prashant Kishor declares the 2025 Bihar assembly election will be a contest between his Jan Suraaj Party and the BJP-led NDA.
"There is bound to be revision," the top court said, "otherwise, how will the poll panel delete the names of those who are dead, migrated or shifted to other constituencies?"
The BJP hopes to deepen its support among backward castes, especially the Extremely Backward Classes, in Bihar following the announcement of Bharat Ratna for former chief minister Karpoori Thakur, a leader who enjoys admiration from backward satraps of various hues.
"I don't want to come in the way of the Congress' desperate bid to have alliance with Rashtriya Janata Dal. We are maintaining a wait and watch policy," Paswan said.
