A week after the midday meal tragedy in a Chhapra school, which killed 23 children, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, speaking for the first time after the horrific event, claimed there was a conspiracy behind the tragedy.
The Bihar government had challenged Patna HC's order granting bail to Yadav.
'Dynastic politics has become a tool of convenience for political parties. The BJP does not hesitate to accept it when it comes to its own alliance or party candidates. The same goes for the others.'
Jha will contest against National democratic Alliance's nominee Harivansh of the Janata Dal-United.
Leaders of several Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) parties met on Saturday to take stock of the opposition's preparations leading up to the June 4 counting of votes polled in the Lok Sabha elections, and claimed they will get more than 295 seats, enough for them to form the next government.
This will be the first time the BJP has got more seats than Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led JD-U in Bihar, underscoring the change in their equations after they joined hands a few months back.
The Janata Dal-United supremo was replying to queries from journalists in Darbhanga district which he visited as part of his state-wide mass outreach programme 'Samadhan Yatra'.
Senior Janata Dal-United leader Shivanand Tiwari on Tuesday attacked Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar saying he feigned ignorance about the major upheaval in Rashtriya Janata Dal despite being the "sutradhaar" (mover) of the event.
Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal was derecognised as a national party by the Election Commission on Friday, a decision that comes ahead of the assembly polls in Bihar.
As soon as the Question Hour began, the issue was raised by Ramgopal Yadav (SP) and supported by RJD members. Even CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury favoured the revocation of the suspension. Members from the treasury benches, however, insisted that the suspended members should tender apology.
As many as 12 MLAs of the Congress have threatened to boycott the upcoming state assembly session from February 23 and head to Jaipur if the ministers are not replaced with new faces.
'It seems that Modi ji has some hand in the EVMs'
The fight would become more interesting as both candidates hail from Bihar, where the assembly elections are to be held soon, making it effectively a JD-U versus RJD contest.
Controversial former Member of Parliament Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, who was acquitted in the murder of Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Ajit Sarkar last year, joined the Rashtriya Janata Dal on Monday.
The commission has also decided to direct the chief secretary to inquire as to how public property was allowed to be defaced in violation of the Bihar Prevention of Defacement of Property Act.
Chosen for the country's highest civilian award Bharat Ratna a day ahead of his birth anniversary, Karpoori Thakur has been the veritable 'Jan Nayak' or people's hero of politics in Bihar, whose legacy parties cutting across ideologies seek to claim.
Reacting to the incident of a police sub-inspector being mowed down by a tractor carrying illegally mined sand in Jamui, Bihar Minister Chandra Shekhar said that the incident is nothing new and asked whether such incidents did not happen in other states.
The Bharatiya Janata Party suffered stunning losses in three Hindi heartland states, partial poll results showed Tuesday, forcing the party to rely on allies to form the government after a bitter and divisive election that was projected as a referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity.
Reacting to the grand old Congress party's decline to the 'pran-pratishtha' ceremony invitations of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya, Digvijaya said that the ruling party had turned the event into a BJP and VHP event.
The Congress, which had fought nine, lost all but managed to retain Kishanganj.
Earlier in the day, Pappu Yadav secured a bail from the Patna high court in connection with the killing of Communist Party of India-Marxist legislator Ajit Sarkar in 1998.
The marathon polling process to elect the 18th Lok Sabha ended on Saturday with the seventh phase of elections witnessing an approximate voter turnout of 62.36 per cent, amid clashes between Trinamool Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party supporters in Sandeshkhali and some other parts of West Bengal.
The opposition's Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) will hold a 'maha rally' at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan on March 31 to safeguard the country's interests and democracy, Aam Aadmi Party leader Gopal Rai said on Sunday.
Upset over denial of ticket from the Patliputra Lok Sabha seat, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Ram Kripal Yadav, a close aide of Lalu Prasad, quit from all party posts but said he was in the party "as of now".
The Rashtriya Janata Dal has decided to issue show-cause notices to the four Members who failed to turn up at the legislature party meeting at the residence of former chief minister Rabri Devi in Patna on Tuesday.
'We want to strengthen hands of Modiji and sure that LJP (Ram Vilas) will contest polls as an ally of NDA.'
Two FIRs were lodged against Rashtriya Janata Dal Member of Parliament Prabhunath Singh and his supporters on Thursday for poll-related offences in Saran district, officials said.
The alliance leaders are getting together for the third round of the brainstorming session in Mumbai, after Patna and Bengaluru, to chalk out their common campaign strategy to take on the NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Several BJP leaders recalled Kejriwal's claim of probity and past allegations of corruption against politicians, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Sharad Pawar among others, while seeking their arrest, as they claimed that he has been exposed now.
Seventy-seven MLAs were present in the assembly during the voting.
RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav demanded the Bihar CM to sack his deputy and lodge a case against him and arrest him.
'Despite being Bihar chief minister twice and an MLA for over three decades, he and my mother used to stay in a jhopri in our village.'
The sources said the opposition leaders would now plan joint rallies that were put on hold due to the assembly elections.
Development economist Jean Dreze said the Indian democracy is currently navigating a crisis that is not only limited to the 'recent wave of authoritarianism' but also suppression of opposition voices by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
In a major embarrassment to the Rashtriya Janata Dal, its no-confidence motion in the Bihar assembly against the Nitish Kumar government was on Thursday rejected by Speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhary due to the lack of required strength of supporting members. Soon after the Question Hour, RJD Member of Legislative Assembly Durga Prasad Singh and six other party members submitted a no-confidence motion against the government to the Speaker.
The Bharatiya Janata Party also slammed Kejriwal's continuation as the chief minister of Delhi despite being under arrest, saying it is the most unfortunate moment in the country's political journey and the worst kind of politics.
