On the quota for other backward classes in higher education, he said this was necessary to improve the lot of the downtrodden.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar utilised railway minister Mamata Banerjee's Rail Budget on Friday to fire another salvo at her predecessor Lalu Prasad saying the planned white paper on the present financial status of the railways would 'expose' his arch rival. Nitish, a former railway minister himself, said the white paper would unravel the truth behind Lalu's claims that Railways earned huge profits successively during his five-year tenure.
Tej Pratap and Aishwarya, whose father is a sitting RJD MLA and grandfather Daroga Rai was chief minister in the 1960s, had tied the knot in May at a grand ceremony.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday appeared all set to make his second political volte face in less than three years, with a highly-placed source close to Kumar saying that the Janata Dal-United president is likely to tender his resignation by Sunday morning.
The original suggestion was to call it 'Indian National Democratic Inclusive Alliance', but the word 'democratic' was replaced with 'developmental' after Kumar and Yechury raised some objections saying it sounded too similar to the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), sources said.
Bihar's ruling JD-U and Lalu Prasad's RJD on Sunday decided to contest the state assembly elections in alliance and constitute a six member committee to finalize seat-sharing.
The rumours have primarily been about the impending resignation of JD-U national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh 'Lalan', for alleged proximity towards ally Rashtriya Janaat Dal at the expense of loyalty to his own party.
Top leaders of the Opposition's Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) held talks in an informal setting in Mumbai on Thursday evening to chart out a concrete roadmap and evolve a structure for cooperation among the alliance partners to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Harping on putting up a united front, the Congress alleged that democracy is being "mercilessly murdered" and MPs who raise people's issues are suspended from the House.
Lalu also says bickering in the UPA cost him Bihar in the previous Assembly elections.
Resolving to take the debacle in the Lok Sabha elections in its stride, the Rashtriya Janata Dal legislature party on Tuesday expressed 'unflinching faith' in the leadership of its president Lalu Prasad.
On a visit to relief camps of riot victims in Muzaffarnagar, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on Sunday blamed both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Samajwadi Party for the communal violence here even as he heaped praise on Rahul Gandhi, saying Narendra Modi and Arvind Kejriwal were nothing in front of the Congress vice-president.
'The moment a new election comes, new guarantees are announced.' 'The BJP is adept at diverting people's attention.'
Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav was on Monday released from Birsa Munda Central Jail in Ranchi, two-and-a-half months after he was convicted in a fodder scam case.
Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad on Friday left for Delhi to placate Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, whose party stormed out of the nascent anti-Bharatiya Janata Party grand alliance for Bihar assembly elections on Thursday.
"This budget is most directionless budget presented by the Union railway minister Lalu Prasad...it's nothing but jugglery of words," BJP spokesperson Shahnawaj Hussain said. "Railway minister should also present an outcome and performance budget after each railway budget so that people could know which of promises made during his rail budgets were actually implemented," party general secretary Ananth Kumar said.
Addressing an election meeting, Dr Singh repeatedly eulogised Lalu.
A portion of the dias crumbled as party supporters jostled with each other, prompting Pervez Khan and others to lend support to the RJD chief and prevent him from tripping, police said.
In yet another blow to Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, another close confidante and senior party leader Ram Nihori Yadav resigned from the party on Sunday.
Modi, while addressing a rally in Barasat, said whatever happened with women in Sandeshkhali "is a matter of shame".
Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lalu Prasad on Tuesday rallied behind Congress president Sonia Gandhi's son in-law Robert Vadra and accused Indian Against Corruption activist Arvind Kejriwal of indulging in the 'character assassination' of Priyanka Gandhi and her husband.
Latching on to a Pakistan minister's "destabilisation" remark against Narendra Modi, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lalu Prasad on Thursday said that the BJP prime ministerial candidate should be sent to Pakistan.
Factionalism is nothing new to Bihar cricket and the ugly infighting that has been running well over two decades has robbed the state of some notable talents, besides attracting the ire of the BCCI.
Togadia also urged the Nitish Kumar-led government to take immediate steps to check ISI activities and make concerted efforts to tone up the administration to tackle the law and order problem.
"It is our victory as the apex court has not ordered revival of the dissolved assembly," said Lalu.
Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad on Monday questioned Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's intention to "bow" before Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray to attend Bihar Diwas celebrations in Mumbai on Sunday.
The stage is set for the August 30 rallies of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bhagalpur district and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad's joint rally in Patna.
Hitting out at Shiv Sena patriarch Bal Thackeray and his family members for targetting Bihari migrants in Maharashtra, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on Sunday claimed that the Thackerays were infiltrators as their forefathers had hailed from Bihar.
Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad is undergoing two major heart surgeries -- one to replace an aortic valve and the other to repair the aorta, at a hospital in Mumbai on Wednesday.
The arrest, the first of a sitting chief minister, came hours after the Delhi high court refused to grant protection to the AAP national convenor from any coercive action by the agency.
The car was subjected to several physical tests and various aspects concerning the nature of the damage on its body and interiors would be investigated, the police said.
Lalu is accused in five of the 39 cases related to the scam.
Congress on Tuesday taunted Narendra Modi over his "silence" on the conviction of Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad in fodder scam case, claiming that the Gujarat chief minister is "not happy" since the order "suits" Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
With an eye on the forthcoming general elections, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad on Friday presented a feel good, populist interim Railway Budget in Parliament, cutting mail and express train fares by 2 per cent and keeping freight rates unchanged.
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