Call it political opportunism or sagacity, his moves, in effect, have not allowed the Bharatiya Janata Party to appoint its own chief minister to date, despite enjoying a near hegemonic status nationally and the best performance in recently held assembly polls where the saffron party bagged 89 seats, followed by the Janata Dal-United with 85.
'We have 38 Dalits who are MLAs and ministers. But that does not mean the Dalits of Bihar are prospering.'
Its ally JD-U recorded one of the most notable gains in this election, with its vote share jumping to 19.26 percent from 15.39 percent in 2020. The party also contested 101 seats this time, as against the 115 seats in the last elections, the EC said.
The ruling National Democratic Alliance on Friday secured a thumping majority in the Bihar Assembly, winning 202 seats in the 243-member House, as results for all the constituencies were declared by the Election Commission.
The body will be kept at his residence in New Delhi and on Monday, at the LJP office in Patna for paying last respects. He will be cremated in the Bihar capital on Monday evening.
Lok Janshakti Party-Ram Vilas leader Chirag Paswan has decided to return to the National Democratic Alliance, Bharatiya Janata Party chief J P Nadda announced on Monday, hours after Paswan met Union Home Minister Amit Shah, a day before the crucial meeting of the ruling coalition.
Kuswaha told reporters at the airport that "Everything will be fine. With this hope and belief, we are going to Delhi."
'We want to strengthen hands of Modiji and sure that LJP (Ram Vilas) will contest polls as an ally of NDA.'
'The sapling that I planted has turned into a fully grown tree and is now giving flowers and fruits for us.'
Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan has fielded himself and two close relatives including his son and brother, to contest the Lok Sabha polls in Bihar.
Janata Dal-United supremo Nitish Kumar is set to be sworn-in as Bihar chief minister for a record 10th time on Thursday, days after the National Democratic Alliance secured a landslide victory in the assembly elections.
''Now the roads in Bihar are as good as any other Indian state. The power sector has improved.' 'Connectivity, law and order, gender justice...' 'Bihar now stands for all these things that were totally absent when it was under jungle raj.'
Former Lok Janshakti Party president Chirag Paswan on Sunday asserted that every party wants him to be on its side, indicating he could tilt towards the one that offered a better bargain.
Till now, he was being guarded by a small team of the central paramilitary force SSB.
Internal discord within the INDIA bloc has led to alliance partners contesting against each other in at least eight assembly seats in Bihar. The Congress, RJD, and Left parties are facing challenges in seat-sharing arrangements for the upcoming elections.
Senior BJP leaders, including Amit Shah and J P Nadda, met with party leaders and allies to discuss the upcoming Bihar polls. Seat-sharing arrangements with NDA partners are expected to be announced soon.
'Modi and Shah made it clear that the next government will be led by Nitishji.'
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi jokingly mentioned ongoing discussions with RJD president Lalu Prasad regarding marriage, following a suggestion from Prasad's son to Union Minister Chirag Paswan.
Following the death of Lok Janshakti Party leader and Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan, Ramdas Athawale of Republican Party of India is the lone member from the Bharatiya Janata Party allies in the National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre.
Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj Party reiterated its promise to scrap the liquor ban in Bihar if elected, planning to use the revenue to secure loans from international financial institutions.
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.
In his condolence message, President Kovind said in the death of Paswan, the nation has lost a visionary leader. He was among the most active and longest-serving members of Parliament. He was the voice of the oppressed, and championed the cause of the marginalised, Kovind said.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) expelled 16 leaders, including a sitting MLA and two former ministers, for anti-party activities ahead of the assembly elections. The expelled leaders were charged with violating the party's ideology and working against official NDA candidates.
Sources later said differences between the two parties have been resolved.
'The seats which we would be contesting have been identified. Respective candidates have also been finalised. Four non-performing sitting MLAs will be replaced with fresh faces.'
Having struck a seat-sharing deal, leaders of the Janata Dal-United and the Bharatiya Janata Party sat across the table in Patna on Monday to thrash out, among other things, constituencies they planned to swap or give up in favour of smaller allies in Bihar.
The BJP's outreach to Paswan, son of late stalwart Dalit leader Ram Vilas Paswan, underscores its push to bring him back into the NDA's fold after he walked out of the alliance in Bihar in the 2020 state assembly polls to campaign against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who was then the BJP's biggest ally.
"There are six MPs in our party. It was the desire of five MPs to save our party. So, I have not broken the party. I have saved it. Chirag Paswan is my nephew as well as the party's national president. I have no objection against him," Paras told the media. Paras has been elected as the new leader of the Parliamentary party, who is currently representing the Hajipur Lok Sabha seat in Bihar.
Chirag, like many other leaders who have lost control of their parties, underestimated the adversary.
Paswan, one of India's most prominent Dalit leaders and eight-time Lok Sabha MP died on Thursday at the age of 74.
Sources said Paswan's party may contest on five of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar.
Smaller allies of the ruling NDA in Bihar, including HAM and RLM, have expressed resentment over the seat-sharing arrangements announced for the upcoming assembly elections, raising concerns about the alliance's unity.
Paswan was admitted to a cardiac speciality hospital in Patna on Saturday morning after he omplained of uneasiness, congestion and pain in the chest.
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.
The National Democratic Alliance has authorized Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president J P Nadda to select the ruling bloc's vice presidential candidate.
Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad Yadav on Wednesday dropped hints that the Mahagathbandhan helmed by his party might bring on board former Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras, whom the National Democratic Alliance has sidelined in favour of estranged nephew Chirag Paswan.
After the Mahagathbandan rejected his overtures, the need for political survival forced Pashupati Kumar Paras to stick with the NDA. The BJP may reward him with a governor's post after the election.
'The possibility of Nitish Babu continuing at least for some time is very much there, but don't rule out the artistic possibility of a leadership change executed very elegantly.'
The decision was announced by party general secretary S N Singh.
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.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances