This is something that Modi's critics are reluctant to accept: He is the most popular leader that India has seen since Indira Gandhi, says Vir Sanghvi.
He laid stress on workers' connection with the ground and cited his own example when he was party in-charge for various assembly elections in the past.
The Central Bureau of Investigation recently took over the probe in the case, based on a Patna police FIR related to alleged criminal conspiracy and abetment to suicide against Rajput's girlfriend and actor Rhea Chakraborty.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took a swipe at the BJP, saying one has to refer to the state-wise election schedule to know when one will have access to the vaccine. The BJP, however, said health is a state subject and its manifesto is for Bihar, not for the entire country, where it has promised that the state will buy the vaccine for its people.
Owaisi's five seats in Bihar's Muslim-majority Seemanchal region ought to ring alarm bells, observes Virendra Kapoor.
"There's no space for hate politics in our country. Today's result is a tribute to my father, and against hate and communalism. People should realise there is no gain in fighting in the name of religion. I appeal to all politicians not to divide the country for the sake of power, said Sartaj.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Shatrughan Sinha on Monday said leaders from allies, like Ramvilas Paswan and Jitan Ram Manjhi, should be considered being named as National Democratic Alliance's chief ministerial candidate for Bihar polls even though his party is yet to decide whether it wants to project anyone for the post.
This was a difficult election to win, but the Modi card, the caste divide and the division in the Opposition vote bank helped overcome many challenges.
'The BJP is in no hurry because they have already won the battle.'
Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who is seriously ill for the past two years, and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who did not canvas in the Bihar polls due to objections from ally Janata Dal-United, figure in the Bharatiya Janata Party's list of election campaigners.
Insiders say the BJP is now concerned the LJP putting up a good fight against the JD-U would mean benefitting the MGB in those seats. Moreover, Chirag and Tejaswi are known to be friends, and the former is battling for his political survival.
RSS head Mohan Bhagwat will be present through the exercise in which issues like census figures and OROP are likely to come up for discussion.
Even with the best methodology there is a limitation to what opinion poll/exit polls can achieve. When done correctly, the polls should give the broad story, points out Rajeeva Karandikar, director, Chennai Mathematical Institute.
The TMC, which is yet to fully recover from the 2019 Lok Sabha poll setback, when the BJP's tally soared from two to 18, is apprehensive that the AIMIM may act as "spoiler" in several assembly segments.
The two who buried their hatchet to come together for the Bihar polls targeted BJP.
'We are collectively ignorant about our intellectual legacies,' says writer-historian Ramchandra Guha.
The Opposition grand alliance is proving to be a non-starter, with senior RJD leaders reluctant to be ordered about by an immature and entitled Tejashswi, observes Virendra Kapoor.
Secularism as a principle and practice in India is in "danger", but "forces of hatred" cannot alter the country's secular character, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said during an interview on his new book 'The Battle of Belonging'. In the book, Tharoor makes a stinging critique of the Hindutva doctrine, asserting that it is a political doctrine, not a religious one.
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar said the decision of the merger has already been taken and there was no question of going back on it.
BJP backed to the hilt Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as its leader in the state and rebuffed a rebellious Chirag Paswan, while acknowledging his Lok Janshakti Party as an ally 'at the Centre'. At a press conference which was attended by top leaders of the JD-U headed by Kumar and the BJP, it was made clear that 'only those who accept the chief ministers leadership will be deemed to be a part of the National Democratic Alliance in Bihar'.
'All governments disappointed us. Now we don't have faith in any of them'
Having put up a dismal show in the Bihar polls, Congress on Wednesday said it was a "tough time" for party politics in the state and that it will analyse why huge crowds in rallies of its top leaders could not translate into votes.
Actor and Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament Shatrughan Sinha on Wednesday dismissed reports that he had some differences with the party over denial of ticket to one his supporters from Bankipore assembly segment in his Patna Sahib Lok Sabha constituency for the Bihar polls. He said that he was not the one to harbour any grudge against anyone and that he and the party were "made for each other."
Reiterating his support for the state's chief minister and Janata Dal-United's Nitish Kumar, Kejriwal urged people of Bihar to vote for him.
Leading Pakistani newspapers on Monday ran front-page stories on Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP's rout in the key Bihar polls, in which Pakistan figured as a major issue during campaigning that saw party president making the controversial "firecrackers would go off" remark.
This was the first major election in the country amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Obviously, the women of Bihar were not intimidated by the pandemic and came out in large numbers to vote.
Celebrations broke out as the Grand Alliance was all set for a thumping victory in the Bihar polls.
At least three members of the BJP Parliamentary Board, that approved candidates list, told me that release of my book by Nitish Kumar in 2017 was strongly resented and probably this cost me the party nomination, Roy said.
Ashutosh alleged that Singh's remarks amounted to a violation of the SC/ST Act.
'We have finished that fear.'
Both MLAs are sitting BJP MLAs.
The Bharatiya Janata Party in Bihar is in trouble ahead of the upcoming state assembly polls as two of its ally the Lok Janshakti Party and the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party on Sunday played pressure game to bargain for more seats.
A day after the Bharatiya Janata Party's big defeat in Bihar, disgruntled party MP Shatrughan Sinha on Monday said those responsible for the debacle should be taken to task and responsibility fixed for the loss.
The finance minister claimed that those returning awards were in a way electioneering against the BJP in Bihar polls.
In further rumblings within the Bharatiya Janata Party over its big loss in Bihar, party MP Hukumdev Narayan Yadav on Monday said the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat's quota comments 'agitated' backward castes who rallied around the grand alliance and asserted that many who voted for the Modi government are not RSS supporters.
References to cow, beef and Pakistan, which dominated political speeches and rallies during the keenly-fought Bihar polls, resurfaced on the media.
EC in its fresh advisory said despite the direction certain advertisements of "offending nature" have been brought to its notice.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to attend the three-day meeting of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and its affiliates in which top Bharatiya Janata Party leaders and ministers will also participate.
A senior RSS Pracharak from Gujarat on Tuesday warned the BJP that non-admission of mistakes due to continued arrogance causes more damage than admitting to shortcomings and atoning for them.
Upset over delay in formal notification of the one rank, one pension scheme, the protesting ex-servicemen today announced that they will return their medals across the country next week.
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