Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, whose Rashtriya Janata Dal on Sunday retained Mokama assembly seat but failed to wrest from the Bharatiya Janata Party Gopalganj constituency, losing it by a whisker, asserted that the outcome marked a success of their 'experiment'.
The Election Commission on Tuesday announced that it has come out with the "final electoral roll" in Bihar ahead of the assembly polls, taking into account all the claims and objections to the draft voters' lists, which were published as part of special intensive revision (SIR).
Amid speculation that he may do yet another volte face and return to the National Democratic Alliance, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday visited Buxar district, bordering Uttar Pradesh, to attend a function where senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Union Minister Ashwani Kumar Choubey was also present.
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).
The 'Mahagathbandhan' alliance in Bihar is expected to finalize its seat-sharing arrangement and announce candidates along with a joint manifesto soon. Talks between RJD and Congress are ongoing, with potential meetings in Delhi. The Congress is aiming for a respectable number of seats and highlighting the desire for change in Bihar.
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.
A woman in Gayaji has alleged that she was gang-raped inside an ambulance which drove her to a hospital after she fainted during a government recruitment test, police said on Saturday.
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.
Amidst speculation over the NDA seat-sharing deal in Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar distributed JD(U) tickets, while the BJP announced its first list of candidates. The INDIA bloc also faces internal challenges as parties prepare for the upcoming elections.
Like his father Karunanidhi and AIADMK rivals MGR and Jayalalithaa, Stalin would like to confine his real political work to Tamil Nadu, and not want to take after the late Congress leader K Kamaraj and take up a national role, even if to create greater political space for son Udhayanidhi, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
A resident of Bhojpur district in Bihar on Thursday called on the Chief Electoral Officer of the state to plead that he was alive.
Another populist decision of the government was the announcement of an unemployment allowance for the youth: Rs 1,000 per month for two years for graduates and those who have completed class 12 but remain unemployed.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday said his party will soon come out with a 'hydrogen bomb' of revelations about 'vote chori' and after that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not be able to show his face to the country.
Congress leader Shatrughan Sinha said the "writing on the wall is clear" that the 'Mahagathbandhan' will be 'maha vijayi' (grandly victorious) as everyone can see the attraction and euphoria for the grand opposition alliance.
The Congress party has voiced its opposition to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, calling it a 'Tughlaqi process'. The party stated that all options are open for the INDIA bloc to collectively decide on the issue.
The National Democratic Alliance was set to sweep the Bihar assembly polls, surging ahead in over 200 of 243 seats on Friday with the Bharatiya Janata Party emerging as single largest party with about 90 per cent strike rate, reaffirming the popularity and campaign clout of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was the face of the ruling alliance through the poll battle in the highly sensitive political state.
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.
Yadav, who at 32 years is arguably the most eligible bachelor in the state's political circles, is scheduled to get engaged in Delhi on Thursday.
A murder convict, out on parole for treatment, was shot dead by gunmen inside a private hospital in Patna, Bihar. Police are investigating the incident, suspecting old rivalry as the motive.
Irrespective of the number of seats the Grand Alliance led by the RJD gets, it is a "good achievement" and it will give inspiration to the young generation, Pawar added.
As it gains commercial viability, the food will likely become a powerful political currency.
Yadav said like his Rashtriya Janata Dal, the DMK headed by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin was a party that believed in social justice.
'The question for the TMC is not whether it can hold its bastions, but whether it can expand effectively into regions where the BJP already possesses a good ecosystem.'
'This outcome is thoroughly unexpected.' 'I travelled extensively across villages, engaged in detailed discussions with residents, and consulted with party workers who had been canvassing from village to village, from one location to another, seeking grassroots feedback.' 'Not a single interlocutor suggested that there would be an NDA wave of this magnitude.'
"Thenga mila hai", scoffed Yadav using the Hindi slang to repudiate the ED's claim of huge recovery in the raids conducted in connection with the land for jobs scam
'...the electoral playing field is tilted significantly in its favour.'
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday claimed that a 'systematic vote chori' method, evolved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Election Commission to 'kill Indian democracy', will be deployed in the Bihar assembly polls as well.
Yadav was given notice to appear for questioning on Tuesday after he did not do so on March 4 and March 11, they said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday claimed that the Congress had been unwilling to accept Tejashwi Yadav as the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) chief ministerial candidate and relented only after the Rashtriya Janata Dal pointed a 'katta', an unlicensed country-made gun, at its head.
Attacking the Nitish government over policy discrepancies, RJD scion claimed that the health and education sectors were in shambles under the current government.
The Congress and Rashtriya Janata Dal on Tuesday sparred on social media over Tejashwi Yadav's suggestion that the grand old party 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.
It was announced that no discussion took place regarding Tejashwi's resignation. In fact, his work was appreciated.
The entire election process will be concluded by November 16.
In the clip, Prasad and Sahni were seen enjoying fish and roti, with Prasad explaining that he eats quickly during election campaigns.
The state-run Nalanda Medical College and Hospital (NMCH) in Bihar has landed in controversy, after a specially abled patient undergoing treatment at the medical facility claimed that rats had bitten toes of his right foot while he was asleep.
A string of welfare schemes and promises tests the state's budget, which is already heavily dependent on central support and spends little as capital outlay.
Sources said a couple of resolutions are expected to be passed at the crucial meeting, with an eye on the upcoming Bihar polls.
'If the BJP continues with Nitish as CM, it will not consolidate its position further in future.'
'If Nitish Kumar were to depart from this alliance, it would signal substantial instability in central government politics.'
"Are they (JD-U) police that we have to answer them?" he shot back to another question that JD-U spokesmen have been regularly saying that Tejashwi Yadav has to come clean in the public domain.
