In Bihar, women outvoted men and, perhaps, became one of the decisive factors behind the NDA's landslide victory in the assembly polls in the state on Friday.
In the recent Bihar elections, a majority of state ministers from the ruling NDA secured victories in their respective constituencies, with only one minister losing their seat.
Electoral fortunes of 1,302 candidates, including over half a dozen ministers in the Nitish Kumar government, will be sealed on Tuesday with 3.70 crore voters eligible to exercise their franchise across 122 assembly segments in the second and final phase of the Bihar polls.
Voting is underway for the second and final phase of the Bihar assembly elections across 122 constituencies. Key candidates and political dynamics are in focus as the state decides its next government.
Bihar recorded its highest-ever voter turnout of 67.14 per cent in the second and final phase of the assembly elections. The election is seen as a referendum on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Kishanganj recorded the highest polling percentage at 76.26.
An ECI statement issued from New Delhi put the voter turnout at 68.76 per cent. The female turnout (74.03 per cent) was significantly higher, compared with males (64.1 per cent).
At least 25 people were killed in lightning strikes and hailstorms in several districts of Bihar, India, on Thursday. The India Meteorological Department has issued an 'orange alert' for a number of districts, forecasting heavy rainfall on Friday and Saturday. The state capital, Patna, recorded an average of 42.6 mm rainfall till 5.30 pm.
The bridge, constructed by the rural works department at a cost of Rs 10 crore, was not opened to the public as approach roads were yet to be constructed.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has launched a 'Voter Adhikar Yatra' in Bihar to advocate for fair elections and protect voting rights, alleging irregularities in electoral rolls and accusing the BJP of attempting to disenfranchise voters.
The Voter Adhikar Yatra, led by Rahul Gandhi and Tejashwi Yadav before the Bihar Assembly polls, failed to deliver electoral gains for the Mahagathbandhan, with the NDA winning across its route.
'When maximum voter participation occurs, they do not vote to re-elect the incumbent government. They vote to change it.' 'How can anyone credibly suggest that crores of young voters -- particularly the unemployed youth -- would vote to re-elect an existing government that has demonstrably failed them?'
'The Election Commission is conducting the National Register of Citizens in Bihar through the backdoor.'
Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan criticized Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and RJD's Tejashwi Yadav for alleged abuses directed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mother during a political rally in Bihar. The BJP accused the opposition leaders of crossing 'limits of insult' with their remarks.
The Supreme Court of India has transferred a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) concerning the safety and longevity of bridges in Bihar to the Patna High Court. The court expressed concern over the state government's handling of bridge collapses, noting that officials were suspended after incidents but reinstated after the public outcry subsided. The court also criticized the state's voluminous response to the PIL, which lacked explanations for the collapses. The Patna High Court will now monitor the state's efforts to ensure structural and safety audits of bridges in Bihar.
'Traders and exporters will have to explore alternative markets.'
'Rahul Gandhi is not coming to seek votes, but to reach out to people for awareness of their democratic rights.'
A five-year-old boy in Bihar reached his school with a handgun on Wednesday and opened fire on another child, leaving the class 3 student injured, the police said.
The death toll in Bihar floods rose to 9 on Monday with more than 11 lakh people in nearly 600 villages affected.
At least eight persons were killed and 18 others feared drowned in two separate boat mishaps in Bihar's Purnia and adjoining Supaul districts on Wednesday, officials said.
Kashmir police chief Vijay Kumar has directed personnel to apprehend those responsible for the attack as soon as possible.
More than 1.53 lakh people have been affected by the floods in Bihar's six districts.
The accused was unable to take back the piece of land back because of his 'inability to pay', it said.
Besides, the department has sought an explanation from officials concerned for the collapse of bridges in East Champaran on June 23 and in Madhubani on June 26.
Locals, who were forced to evacuate their homes because fears of a flood, carried out a protest complaining of the lack of food, drinking water and plastic sheets at relief camps. MI Khan reports.
Locals, who were forced to evacuate their homes because fears of a flood, carried out a protest complaining of the lack of food, drinking water and plastic sheets at relief camps. MI Khan reports.
The Bihar police have seized four kg of low-grade uranium in the Supaul district near Nepal border and arrested six persons in this connection, sources said on Tuesday.
"We had never experienced floods. My parents used to say the 1946 floods were the worst. That was before I was born," said Ram Yadav, an elder shopkeeper in Supaul's market. "But, people older than me are saying this was the route of Kosi-ji some 200 years ago, before man made structures and dams altered its course. Isn't it natural that she would one day take her normal course? We are nothing in front of nature," he said.
Floods have forced people to eat rats to survive as there is nothing left to eat. M I Khan reports from Patna.
With the recovery of three more bodies, the death toll in the boat mishap in the swollen Kosi river in Supaul district has climbed to 28, a senior official said on Thursday.
In a bid to mobilise support after serial blasts struck its rally in Patna on Sunday, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday began a 'shahid asthi-kalash yatra' of the six blast victims from six different villages that would be taken to different parts of the state before being immersed in Ganga river in Patna.
The local boys used to harass girls at a government residential school.
The area has been cordoned off and a hunt launched to nab the attackers.
The convoy of Communist Party of India leader Kanhaiya Kumar, who is on a tour of Bihar -- campaigning against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, National Population Register and National Register of Citizens -- was attacked in Supaul district on Wednesday evening. The former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union president escaped unhurt in the attack by a group of youths who were shouting pro-CAA/NRC slogans.
The Rediff Labs team analyses the growth of the districts across the state by calculating the percentage change from 2001 to 2013 in three major fields
Swirling floodwaters have paralysed normal life and marooned over 1.20 crore people.
With over 20 lakh people bearing the brunt of floods in 14 districts of Bihar, three Indian Air Force helicopters continued to drop relief materials in the worst hit Supaul, Araria and Madhepura for the fifth successive day on Monday as the turbulent waters of the Kosi submerged fresh areas in the three districts.
Contrary to that the BJP would give tickets to more Muslim candidates to contest the upcoming Bihar assembly polls, the saffron party has fielded only two Muslim candidates.
State disaster management department officials said seven people lost their lives due to floods in Muzaffarpur district, while around 65,000 people of 140 villages in Muzaffarpur, Supaul, Patna, Nalanda and Saharsa districts were affected by the deluge.
The district administration has banned the sale of motor fuels without a permit from the district supply officer in order to stock reserves of petrol and diesel for vehicles to be used for flood-fighting and relief operations.
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