A crowd of Tejashwi supporters that had gathered outside the 10 Circular Road residence of former chief minister Rabri Devi expecting a victory is thinning now.
Recalling his association with Jaitley, the CM said that "I had very close association with Arun Jailey ji since 1998 when I got the opportunity to work in Atal Bihari Vajpayee government... I am deeply hurt with passing away of Arun Jaitley ji."
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was an experienced leader and it would be great if a proposal came to make him the convenor of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), his deputy Tejashwi Yadav said on Wednesday.
The now active member of the Janata Dal-United has been approached by Trinamool Congress, Shiv Sena in Maharashtra and Janata Dal-Secular in Karnataka to help them in the upcoming elections, reports Satyavrat Mishra.
All the officials, suspended with immediate effect, have been charged with "failure to take adequate legal action" with regard to "assault.
"You can see all of us working together. There is no discontent. The problem is, today newspapers have more pages than before, news channels run 24X7 and then there is social media where anybody can say anything without worrying about backing a claim with facts," he said.
Sources said the opposition parties would look to avoid the prickly leadership question as of now and emphasise on building a common ground.
Mukesh Sahni's move to contest 55 seats in the UP assembly polls antagonised top BJP leaders.
'He will continue to fight against the BJP, Modi and RSS.'
Among the major political parties, chief minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United is contesting in 35 of the 71 seats, followed by its ally Bharatiya Janata Party (29), while the opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal has fielded its candidates in 42 and its coalition partner Congress is in the fray in 20 assembly segments.
The CM will either force Tejashwi to resign, or tender a resignation himself to put pressure on the RJD.
'I am in the NDA as of now,' Kushwaha said.
Indicating a rift within the party after its split with the ruling Janata Dal-United in Bihar, a Bharatiya Janata Party member of Legislative Assembly on Wednesday said that state Chief Minister Nitish Kumar would be a "better" prime minister than Narendra Modi and blamed his party for the break up of the coalition.
Chirag Paswan cryptically added that he was not ruling out the possibility of siding with the RJD.
Accompanied by Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala and other leaders of the Grand Alliance, Yadav made a scathing attack on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi, asking who gave permission to the Munger police to act like 'General Dyer'.
After a dream debut seven years ago when he was sworn in as deputy chief minister after being elected MLA for the first time was followed by a slump in his political fortunes, Tejashwi Yadav has finally come back to center-stage as the kingmaker and deputy to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, 11 parties on Tuesday got together with a vow to defeat Congress-led United Progressive Alliances and prevent the Bharatiya Janata Party from coming to power by presenting themselves as an alternative to them.
The reshuffle could take place before the start of the winter session of Parliament.
'The BJP suddenly seems vulnerable. This is not entirely surprising. In the past too, governments and leaders who won a thumping Lok Sabha majority lost popularity in a matter of months... The by-polls results shows that a degree of disenchantment with the Modi government is setting in,' says Praful Bidwai.
"All your queries would be answered at an appropriate time," he told journalists.
There are no permanent friends or foes in politics. It's true that the RJD supported us on the trust vote, but it doesn't mean we needed them, says Bihar new chief minister, Jitan Ram Manjhi.
The crisis will strengthen Nitish Kumar's position as Lalu's troubles erodes his bargaining power within the ruling coalition in Bihar.
Kumar said that while the rise in percentage of population of the deprived castes has led to increase in the quotas for SCs, STs and OBCs from 50 to 65 per cent, his government also planned to undertake a number of welfare measures for the benefit of "94 lakh families", which according to the survey lived in abject poverty.
If there is unity in the Opposition, it is only about regional parties other than the DMK not wanting Rahul Gandhi or any other Congress leader for prime minister, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'At the moment, we are supporting the Nitish Kumar-led government.' 'When the time comes for this government to fall, it will.'
Two poll surveys on Thursday projected a majority for the JD-U-RJD-Congress alliance in the Bihar assembly polls.
About 2.34 crore voters, spread across 78 assembly segments of the 243-strong assembly, will decide the fates of 1,204 candidates, including the Speaker and 12 members of the state cabinet.
The crowd at the mosque was larger than usual, unsurprisingly because it happened to be the last "Jumma" (Friday) of the holy month of Ramzan.
Winning an election may be a breeze for the BJP but the aftermath of victory isn't always painless.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday said that the defeat of Janata Dal-United in Maharajganj bypoll has no bearing on the National Democratic Alliance.
'Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Bengal can be the game changers of 2024.'
Known for weighing his options carefully before making any move, Kumar, upon a closer look, comes across as a risk taker who has not shied away from going against the tide.
Despite the BJP emerging as the largest party in the ruling alliance with 74 seats, 31 more than the JDU, the top leadership of the saffron party, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has emphatically endorsed Kumar as the next chief minister.
The ruling coalition won 125 seats in the 243-member state assembly against 110 clinched by the opposition Grand Alliance to pave the way for a fourth successive term for Kumar in office.
The Janata Dal (United) has clarified that its alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party would remain intact despite recent bickerings, saying it was a "necessity" for the two parties to remain together.
The performance of Janata Dal-United has down compared its performance in the 2015 elections and the ruling party could not win even half of the number of seats it contested in this election.
The Congress, which had fought nine, lost all but managed to retain Kishanganj.
His scheduled visit to Sashastra Seema Bal's Patna Frontier on Sunday morning was cancelled due to 'unavoidable reasons', a statement said.
Kushwaha said Kumar remarks that the JD-U would not join the Modi cabinet reminded him of 'sour grapes'.
Cracks in the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar is frittering away the ground gained in social justice and contributing to increasing polarisation in the state, says Mohammad Sajjad.
