M I Khan in Patna Nearly twelve years after he left the National Democratic Alliance and resigned from the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government after the Gujarat riots in 2002, Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan will share the dais with Gujarat Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi at his 'hunkar' rally in Bihar's Muzaffarpur town on Monday. Paswan, who joined the NDA last week to contest the Lok Sabha polls and took a U-turn on Modi, will appear in public with the BJP's top brass including Modi at the rally. Paswan's son Chirag will also be present at the function. Upendra Kushwaha is another new face that will be at the event. Kushwaha is the chief of the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) that joined hands with the BJP last week. Both Paswan and Kushwaha are known as their own caste. Paswan is said to enjoy overwhelming support of his caste -- locally known as Dusadh, the only Dalit caste in Bihar after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar categorised 21 other Dalit castes as 'Mahadalit' -- poorest of the poor. Kushwaha has been trying hard for last few years to emerge as a leader of his caste -- Koeri, an agrarian backward caste spread across the state. A senior BJP leader said that presence of Paswan and Kushwaha will send a strong political massage among respective castes in Bihar. "It will strengthen the BJP's social support base in Bihar," he said. In Bihar, the BJP is widely seen as an upper caste party. The much-hyped rally is seen as a bid to mobilise support and strengthen the support base in the state. The state in the Hindi heartland that sends 40 Lok Sabha members to Parliament is politically very important. In the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, the party had won 12 seats, while the Janata Dal-United won 20 seats, when they had contested as a combined force. It is expected that Modi will target Kumar, who has openly opposed him by repeatedly saying that the prime ministerial candidate should be of nsecular credentials.
Rumblings of discontent in the Bharatiya Janata Party followed the party's disastrous performance in Bihar assembly elections on Sunday.
Two deaths due to heart attack were also reported from polling stations in Madhubani and Darbhanga districts.
Curtains came down on Tuesday evening on campaigning for 57 seats going to poll in the fifth and last phase of bitterly-fought Bihar assembly elections on November five, with acrimonious exchanges provoking showcause notices from the Election Commission to top leaders of rival alliances.
About 20 helicopters have been pressed into action by parties, with the BJP and its allies using the most.
Voters will decide the fate of 456 candidates in 32 constituencies spread over six Naxal-hit districts.
CM Yogi Adityanath said the BJP was getting widespread support from the people.
The Rashtrapati Bhavan has come out with a communiqu announcing distribution of portfolios of the ministers sworn-in on Monday in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's council of ministers:
Nitin A Gokhale, Co-founder, BharatShakti.in and long-time Rediff.com contributor, remembers a most unusual politician.
One of the two terror accused arrested in connection with the serial blasts in Patna, in which six people were killed and nearly 100 others injured, is battling for his life at a government hospital in Patna and another was sent to remand by the police, officials said on Tuesday.
Some food historians believe idli was derived from some steamed rice preparations from Indonesia.
Full list of the rejigged Union Council of Ministers
Known for railing up controversies, Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi was back in the game again on Wednesday evoking sharp criticism after he charged the Centre with ignoring the interest of the state and said seven union ministers from the state would not be allowed entry if they failed to bring desired assistance for the region.
As the mid-day meal school tragedy in Bihar fuelled food safety concerns, more cases of children falling ill after consuming free food or contaminated water have come to light from Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Delhi and Maharasthra.
During the meeting that lasted one-and-a-half-hours, the prime minister asked his Cabinet colleagues to take up the "challenge" of reaching the message about the government's functioning to people through better connect with them.
Cheteshwar Pujara missed out on a second successive double hundred but his 182 went a long way in Saurashtra piling up a mammoth 570 in their first innings against Gujarat on the second day of the Ranji Trophy.
Several top jurists on Monday pushed for scrapping the existing collegium system where judges appoint judges but government's plans to bring a bill to make the process of appointments more transparent may take some more time.
Names of CMs of Punjab and Karnataka along with a former CM found mention in the list.
In another dig at Kumar for joining hands with the Rashtriya Janata Dal of Lalu Prasad, Modi reeled out Bihar police crime figure to claim "Jungle raj has begun to knock Bihar."
The BJP-ed National Democratic Alliance on Wednesday launched an all-out attack on the Bihar CM.
As the dust finally settles on the outcome of the Lok Sabha elections 2019 and Bharatiya Janata Party along with its NDA allies emerges as the clear winner, here is a list of who won in each of the 7 phases of elections.
Members of the ruling Samajwadi Party and Bharatiya Janata Party came to blows in the Uttar Pradesh assembly on Friday after the House was adjourned over accusations on the recent Muzaffarangar riots which claimed 47 lives.
The widow of Rajdeo Ranjan, the journalist who was gunned down, has said the killers had a connection with someone in jail.
For Mahendra Karma's wife, the November 11 election is a battle to redeem the legacy of the 'Bastar Tiger' who founded the Salwa Judum and was considered a symbol of the tribals' fight back against Maoists before he was killed along with top Chhattisgarh Congress leaders in May.
Mekhail delivered the most deliberate heart-tugging line of the day: "If a son asks his mother for money is wrong, then tell me." At the back Indrani gave one of her most beaming smiles that was meant to convey the exact opposite. This was no mother happy that her son had said he turned to her when he needed money because she was his mother.
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Not many in Gujarat are happy with the decision of sending 'The Good Road' as India's official entry to the 2014 Oscars.
Siddesh Lad's strokeful 117 and the bowlers' superb showing put Mumbai in the driver's seat against Odisha at the end of the third day in a Ranji Trophy Group C match with the hosts struggling at 93 for four in pursuit of 413 for victory.
Biju Janata Dal members had staged a walk-out while NDA ally Shiv Sena did not participate in the voting.
Narendra Modi's ministry expansion makes disdain clear for others who are supposedly allies, quite unlike the Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance.
Badami asked Das if Indrani was in the room. Das, whipping out his hand and pointing it at Indrani, announced: "Yes, she is right there." Indrani, who was looking down, through most of the hearing, momentarily raised her eyes, just a fraction and glanced at him. That was the first time either of them looked at each other. Till then, and later, Das refused to look at her, as if he was not able to, either out of anger or revulsion. It seemed mutual. Indrani too pretended throughout like he did not exist.
The Bharatiya Janata Party is facing revolt from within in Bihar on a day when the Election Commission announced the schedule for the Lok Sabha polls to be held in April, May.
Lagadapati Rajagopal, now being referred to as the 'pepper spray member of Parliament', is holding talks with Andhra Pradesh's caretaker Chief Minister Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy about floating a new political party.
India Test regulars like Cheteswar Pujara and Ishant Sharma have also thrown their hat into the ring with base prices of Rs 50 and Rs 75 lakh respectively.
Raj Mukherji, a rising young Indian-American political figure who won an election to the New Jersey state legislature, wants to see more people from the community getting involved in the United States government.
In a major breakthrough, security agencies on Monday arrested a total of 18 National Democratic Front of Bodoland- Songbijit terrorists, including the commanding officer of its 13th battalion Bikunas Narzary alias Birlangbai, from different places across Assam and a huge cache of arms and ammunition was recovered.
The party is counting on women voters and caste calculus, among others, to swing the crucial polls in its favour
'Who is the right Mekhail? Mekhail I or Mekhail II?'
The numbers were revealed some concerns arose, says Chirag Paswan
From the Yadav-dominated Madhepura to the Brahmin-dominated Darbhanga and Bhumihar-dominated Begusarai -- three of the seven parliamentary constituencies in Bihar -- that go to vote on April 30 are crucial for Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as it will be a test of his 'development model'.
'Nitish is now a helpless junior ally of Hindutva.' 'He just cannot think of reining in the hoodlums raging, marauding and killing in the mohallas,' argues Mohammad Sajjad.
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