Campaigning has reached a fervent pitch in Bihar with senior political leaders wooing the voters, one last time before the state goes to the polls.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's bypoll win in four of the six seats it contested has invigorated the party ahead of assembly polls in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.
Opposition charged the government with making Parliamentary Standing Committees irrelevant.
Voting will be held on Thursday in bypolls to seven assembly seats in six states -- a contest symbolic of the fierce turf war between the Bharatiya Janata Party and regional parties.
After the Congress and the Janata Dal-United discontent now appeared to be brewing within the Bharatiya Janata Party against state President B S Yeddyurappa over the appointment of party office bearers.
The stage is set for the August 30 rallies of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bhagalpur district and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad's joint rally in Patna.
The former national president of JD-U was addressing a public gathering on Tuesday in Bihar's capital, Patna
Nitish said several other parties had echoed the same.
Rahul Gandhi had earlier indicated that he might be present at the Patna rally.
They entered the Bihar poll battle to protect and carry forward their fathers' political legacy, but many of them could not win their own seat though some tasted victory.
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.
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 Election Commission is making sure that the winds of potential change cause no disruption in the counting process.
Actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha, who joined the Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha election, lost to Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad from Patna Sahib constituency in Bihar by 2.84 votes.
The development comes a day after senior CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury called on Yadav at his residence amid talks of non-Congress and non-BJP parties coming together for the next general elections.
Bihar CM Jitan Ram Manjhi is set to meet PM Narendra Modi while attending the NITI Aayog meetings.
Although it saw a veritable who's who of the Oppostion leadership, the Samajwadi Party stayed away from the Iftar dinner hosted by Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Monday.
If suitable action is not taken in corruption cases, it becomes normalised in society, the prime minister said. When a generation sees that a corrupt person in the family is let off without or very little punishment, their courage to indulge in corrupt activities grows manifolds, he said.
'It must be kept in mind that the LJP has never been a fan of Nitish Kumar's style of politics. He has harmed the Dalits by creating a sub-group of Mahadalits for his own political gains'
Lalu's word is final in the RJD when even when he is serving a long jail sentence after being convicted in fodder scam cases.
Usually, the chair in the Upper House reads out obituary references before members rise as a mark of respect to the memory of the departed.
Who will walk away into the sunset at the end? The reigning superstar who has given three mega blockbusters in 2005, 2010 and 2015? Or the fresh faced son of a former star trying to make a mark for himself, asks Asmita Bihari.
Madhaw Anand, the party's principal national general secretary and chief spokesperson, resigned from the posts as well as the primary membership stating that the party ran the risk of being "finished" on account of the "inconsequential" move.
"People giving me unasked for advice of discipline and restraint don't realise that if I disregard discipline there would be a bloodbath," he tweeted in an obvious attack on Jaitley.
While almost all the members belonging to the ruling National Democratic Alliance took oath by swearing in the name of god, Human Resources Development Minister Prakash Javadekar, who was re-elected to the Upper House from Maharashtra, took oath affirming his allegiance to the Constitution of India.
The reputation of Bihar's schools has taken a knock. Satyavrat Mishra explains how a student-teacher nexus has gamed the system to produce toppers by the dozen.
Nitish Kumar said he erred in choosing Manjhi as his successor.
In a bizarre promise to youths of Haryana ahead of the assembly polls this year, Bharatiya Janata Party leader O P Dhankar has said he will bring brides from Bihar for them if they are unable to find a match in the state infamous for its skewed sex ratio.
Gandhi came along with Mukherjee and while the former president left after sometime, the Congress chief offered to drop him back but Mukherjee politely refused.
Chief ministers and other senior leaders made last-minute appeals to voters for their support in Mokama and Gopalganj of Bihar, Adampur of Haryana, Manugoda of Telangana, Gola Gorakhnath of Uttar Pradesh and Dhamnagar of Odisha.
Chirag Paswan once again claimed that a BJP-LJP government will be formed in Bihar.
"Nobody is above law. With the Supreme Court giving its judgment, it is not right to make a political comment," the Rajya Sabha member said. Asked if the verdict was a setback to the Shiv Sena-led Maharashtra government, Raut said, "Such things do happen in legal battles."
The days of the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar were numbered, Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday said, claiming that more than 50 Janata Dal-United MLAs were in touch with the party and worked for its candidates in the Lok Sabha polls, triggering an angry reaction from the ruling party.
'Yes, I am a rebel, I am the son of Laluji and his blood is in me,' Tej Pratap is reported to have told supporters.
'Wait for 2019, there will be no space for the BJP in UP.'
N K Singh, a Janata Dal-United member of Parliament, quit the party on Friday amidst indications that he would join the Bharatiya Janata Party.
A bench of Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah passed the order while hearing a bail petition filed by Manorama Devi. While giving bail, the court also asked her to cooperate in the trial of the case.
The BJP-led NDA leaders have attacked RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav for his statement that Bihar assembly polls is a fight between 'backward versus forward' forces.
He is likely to have the support of grand alliance partners Rashtriya Janata Dal, Congress, Nationalist Congress Party and Jitan Ram Manjhi's Hindustani Awami Morcha.
Amid changed political equations after the Janata Dal-United walked out of the national Democratic Alliance, the Congress on Wednesday refrained from making any direct attack on the Nitish Kumar-led government in Bihar over the mid-day meal deaths of 22 school children and criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party for "playing politics" over the issue.
