Political watchers say the caste survey report was made public to play the OBC-EBC card and stall the BJP's campaign to win most of Bihar's 40 Lok Sabha seats.
There is a strong possibility of opposition parties coming together to fight the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said on Monday, stressing that he has had good talks with them and many will join hands gradually.
Besides the MLAs, there were two other people in the SUV, which carried a board mentioning "MLA Jamtara Jharkhand" along with the Congress' election symbol, police said.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday declined to speak on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from the Lok Sabha, saying he avoided doing so in matters involving court order.
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, whose Rashtriya Janata Dal on Sunday retained Mokama assembly seat but failed to wrest from the Bharatiya Janata Party Gopalganj constituency, losing it by a whisker, asserted that the outcome marked a success of their 'experiment'.
The ED said AB Exports Pvt Ltd is a "shell" or fake company owned by Prasad's son and Bihar deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav and Chanda Yadav (another daughter of the RJD chief) and its registered address is the bungalow located in the New Friends Colony area.
In a memorandum submitted to Manipur Governor Anusuiya Uikey, the 21 opposition MPs who signed the document demanded urgent rehabilitation and resettlement of the affected people to bring peace and harmony to the state.
Party sources are tight-lipped about the fate of Tyagi, who is a trusted aide of Kumar, the party's supreme leader, but has reportedly often left the latter embarrassed by going public on issues without waiting for a nod from the boss.
'This is going to generate a new debate on reservation because the quota for Economically Weaker Sections is 10%, and that is for nearly 16% of the population.' 'For 16% you are giving 10%. This is set to raise eyebrows among the OBCs after the caste survey.'
Yadav came out with a video statement, nearly seven minutes long, fulminating against a news portal which had carried a report about his divorce case, apparently presenting him in a poor light.
There was no immediate response from the Aam Aadmi Party over the matter.
Deriving from Narendra Modi's continuing charisma, the proposed scheme, if and when implemented, can cut both ways. That is to say, if Modi can win, he can lose. Or, someone else in his place, later on, could lose as much as he could win in his time, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
While Hemant Soren enlisted the support of small parties and independent MLAs, the Rashtriya Janata Dal chief kept the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader waiting till the apex court gave its verdict in the fodder scam case. Anita Katyal reports
Five days before the Big Opposition rally in Patna, one of the Mahagathbandhan's allies will walk out of the ruling alliance.
One of the ministers said they are going back to Ranchi for a Cabinet meeting scheduled on Thursday.
According to insiders, their lack of enthusiasm is showing on the ground. There is nothing to suggest that their enthusiasm will return in the final four phases of polling, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
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.
The ED had launched raids on Friday at multiple locations linked to Prasad's family members including that of his son and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav in Delhi.
On August 18, the apex court convicted Singh in the case, overturning the orders of the trial court and the Patna high court that had acquitted him.
According to the data released in Patna by Development Commissioner Vivek Singh, the state's total population stood at a little over 13.07 crore, out of which the EBCs (36 per cent) were the largest social segment followed by the OBCs at 27.13 per cent.
A senior TMC leader will be present at the proposed meeting, he said.
'Bihar's caste survey has bolstered the Opposition parties, but one shouldn't forget that the BJP is also trying to present itself as a party that cares for the OBCs more than other parties,' points out Sanjay Kumar.
While the opposition alliance is putting up a united front in Ghosi constituency in Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand's Dumri, Dhanpur and Boxanagar in Tripura and Uttarakhand's Bageshwar, its constituents are contesting against each other in Dhupguri in West Bengal and Puthuppally in Kerala.
Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar, who returns as Bihar chief minister for a record eighth time on Wednesday, is likely to retain the all-important home department, while the Rashtriya Janata Dal may get most of the departments that were previously with the Bharatiya Janata Party, a highly-placed source said.
Adjournment motions submitted by Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress.
73-year-old Prasad is in custody following his conviction and sentence by a Central Bureau of Investigation court in February in a fodder scam case involving embezzlement of over Rs 139 crore from Doranda treasury.
Ahmed Patel, who was undergoing treatment at a Gurugram hospital after testing positive for COVID-19, breathed his last after multi-organ failure in the wee hours of Wednesday, his son Faisal confirmed.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United on Tuesday took out processions across the state, urging people to be on guard against the Bharatiya Janata Party's alleged politics of communalism.
Though this is the second charge-sheet filed by the CBI in the case before a special court here, it is the first time that Tejashwi Yadav has been named as an accused.
As he snapped ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party, Bihar's caretaker chief minister Nitish Kumar has once again been pitched as a prime ministerial candidate for the 2024 elections by some, but a majority of the Opposition still view the Janata Dal-United leader with suspicion citing his numerous 'U-turns'.
The INDIA bloc is also likely to announce a secretariat for smooth coordination between the constituents and it is likely to be set up in the national capital. Besides, the members will also discuss the issue of having a coordinator or a chairperson to head the alliance.
Even as the grand old party seeks to promote opposition unity ahead of the hustings next year, Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, however, would be conspicuous by her absence at the event at Sree Kanteerava Stadium.
'BJP's ultimate ambition is to control Bihar independently.'
Hemant Soren was also formally elected as the JMM legislature party leader.
The Leader of Opposition in Bihar assembly was asked about his decision to support Yashwant Sinha, a former Union minister, and not Murmu who is tipped to become the first tribal woman to occupy the top post.
Alva, 80, would file her nomination papers on Tuesday, July 19 which is the last date for filing nominations for the August 6 election.
The JD-U and the Opposition RJD are united on a caste census in Bihar, which the BJP is opposed to.
The political uproar continues in Bihar, as Chief Minister Nitish Kumar alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party wanted to make R C P Singh the Eknath Shinde of Bihar and isolate the Janata Dal-United party.
"This is not a manifesto, it is our pledge to bring a change which is set to become true. Every sector has been taken into consideration while preparing this manifesto so that we can make Bihar a happy, better and prosperous state," Tejashwi Yadav said while releasing vision document.
