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RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Wednesday dismissed the exit poll predictions that the NDA would return to power in Bihar, claiming that such forecasts were made at the "direction" of the BJP's top leadership. Addressing a press conference here, he also exuded confidence that the opposition INDIA bloc will form the government in the state. Exit polls are nothing. These forecasts have been made at the direction of the BJP's top leadership," the RJD leader alleged. The exit polls conducted by various organisations on Tuesday predicted a return of the NDA government in the state, a poor show for the opposition 'Mahagathbandhan' (INDIA bloc in local parlance), and a disappointing performance for former poll strategist Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj Party. The INDIA bloc is going to form the government with a thumping majority. High turnout of voters in the Bihar assembly polls indicates that people want a change in government. They voted in favour of 'Mahagathbandhan' (INDIA bloc in local .
The Congress on Friday slammed NDA leaders for not allowing Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to speak at the release of the ruling coalition's manifesto for the state assembly polls, claiming it was an insult to Bihar and Biharis. Talking to reporters here, senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot also claimed that the NDA's manifesto release programme lasted only 26 seconds, as the leaders were afraid of facing questions from journalists about their 20-year rule. CM Nitish Kumar, his deputy Samrat Choudhary, BJP president JP Nadda, Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan, Jitan Ram Manjhi, Chirag Paswan and other leaders of alliance partners released the NDA's manifesto in less than a minute. All then left the venue, except the deputy CM who remained and answered a few questions from journalists. An announcement was made from the dais that the leaders had to leave as they had poll-related engagements. "The NDA leaders came to the press conference which lasted merely 26 seconds. They were afraid
Ahead of the Bihar assembly polls, RJD leader Pratima Kushwaha, who had earlier served as the chief of its state women's wing, joined the BJP on Saturday, claiming that "grassroots leaders are not respected" in the opposition party. BJP state president Dilip Jaiswal welcomed her to the saffron party. Talking to reporters here, Jaiswal said, "The environment of nepotism and dynastic politics is so prevalent within the RJD and the Congress that their leaders are feeling disenchanted. This is the reason why several of their leaders are joining the BJP." He claimed that the NDA will form a government in Bihar with a two-thirds majority this time under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Kushwaha said, "The RJD is no longer the party it used to be under the leadership of Lalu Prasad Yadav." She alleged that "grassroots leaders are not respected" under the party, which, along with the family heading it, "stands deeply fragmented". Kushwaha ..
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Monday promised a more than three-fold rise in the amount paid to beneficiaries of social security schemes in Bihar, if the coalition headed by his party came to power in the state. The former Bihar deputy chief minister said the amount paid to senior citizens, widows and people with disabilities would be increased from Rs 400 to Rs 1,500 per month. "If we form the government after the assembly polls due next year, people over 60 years of age or with disabilities as also widows will get Rs 1,500 per month by way of the social security schemes in place," said Yadav, who is currently the leader of the opposition in the state assembly. The RJD leader, whose party is a partner in the ruling coalition in adjoining Jharkhand, where social security schemes played a role in helping JMM leader Hemant Soren's return to power, asserted, "we deliver on our promises whenever we get a chance", even as he termed as "meagre" the Rs 400 per month currently paid in ...
Janata Dal (United) spokesperson K C Tyagi, whose stand on different issues often highlighted his party's differences with ally BJP, has resigned, the regional party said on Sunday. The JD(U) said in a statement that its president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has appointed Rajiv Ranjan Prasad as its national spokesperson. It attributed Tyagi's resignation to "personal reasons". However, it is believed that frequent comments of Tyagi, who is based in Delhi and enjoys an unlikely high profile in the national media for a regional party leader due to his experience and articulation, on central government's policies were seen as unhelpful to the BJP-JD(U) ties. Be it on the Uniform Civil Code, the Waqf (Amendment) Bill or even the government's position on the Palestine issue among other issues, the socialist leader's outspoken stand did not go down well many within the party and embarrassed the BJP, sources said. With two senior JD(U) leaders, including Union minister Lalan Si
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday said the NDA government in the state has now fixed a new target of providing 12 lakh government jobs to youths by next year. Soon after hoisting the tricolour at the Gandhi Maidan here, Kumar said, "Bihar is moving ahead with high growth rate and development. It will go ahead with inclusive development in the coming years. Earlier, we had promised to provide 10 lakh government jobs to our youthsbut now our government has fixed a new target of providing 12 lakh government jobs to youths before the 2025 assembly polls. The state government is working in this direction, the chief minister said. "Under its 'Saat Nischay Part-2' scheme, the state government fixed a target of providing 10 lakh jobs and creating employment opportunities for 10 lakh people. The scheme was launched in 2020around 5.16 lakh people have already been given government jobs under this scheme and a process has been completed for providing 2 lakh more government jobs," .
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and spokesperson of the party Manoj Jha on Wednesday took oath as a member of Rajya Sabha for his second consecutive term in the House.Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar administered the oath to Jha in the Parliament House."Hon'ble Vice-President of India & Chairman, Rajya Sabha, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar administered oath to the elected Members of Rajya Sabha in Parliament House today," the vice president's office said in a post on X while sharing pictures of the oath-taking.Notably, all six Rajya Sabha candidates from Bihar were elected unopposed to the Upper House of Parliament comprising two members each from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), along with one each from Janata Dal (United) and Congress.The BJP fielded its State vice-president Bhim Singh and president of State women's wing president Dharmsheela Gupta (from the Extremely Backward Class and Other Backward Classes, respectively) while the RJD nominated Manoj
More than 10,000 people have applied for Biju Janata Dal (BJD) tickets for the upcoming Lok Sabha and the Odisha Assembly elections which will be held simultaneously, a senior party leader said. The Odisha Assembly has a strength of 147 MLAs while there are 21 Lok Sabha MP seats in the state. "More than 10,000 people, including many professionals, have applied for party tickets for the coming polls", BJD organisational secretary Pranab Prakash Das said in a post on X. "We strongly believe that BJD is moving towards a historic victory in this election with the blessings of 4.5 crore people of Odisha", Das said. The BJD leader claimed that the people of Odisha have already made up their minds to install Naveen Patnaik as the chief minister for the sixth consecutive time. "The BJD is all set to register a massive victory in the upcoming elections", Das claimed. The BJD leader claimed that all the national-level survey reports in recent years have found Naveen Patnaik as the number o
Senior JD(U) leader Narendra Narayan Yadav was on Friday elected unopposed as the deputy speaker of the Bihar assembly. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary congratulated him after he was elected for the post. The post fell vacant on Wednesday after the resignation of his party colleague Maheshwar Hazari. Yadav, a former state minister, has been representing the Alamnagar seat of Madhepura district since the 1990s. According to JD(U) sources, Hazari, who had been holding the post since 2021, is likely to be inducted into the cabinet or considered for a party ticket in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
The Enforcement Directorate has issued a fresh summons to Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav in the railway land-for-jobs scam case, asking him to appear on January 5, official sources said Saturday. He was earlier called to appear on December 22 but the 34-year-old skipped the summons. He had called the ED notice a routine affair. In the same case, his father and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav has been asked to depose on December 27 at the ED headquarters in Delhi. The alleged scam pertains to the period when Prasad was the railway minister in the UPA-1 government. "There is nothing new in the summons. All these agencies -- ED, CBI and I-T department -- have summoned me so many times in the past and I have duly appeared every time. But now it seems to have become routine," the RJD leader told reporters on December 21 in Patna. He was one questioned by the ED in this case on April 11. It is understood that the summons come following the
Posters calling for assigning Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar a big role in national politics were seen in several parts of the state capital on Tuesday when the JD(U) leader was away in Delhi to attend a crucial meeting of INDIA bloc. The JD(U) came out with a quick clarification that it had nothing to do with the posters, wary of upsetting the supreme leader who has been at pains to assert that his efforts at forging opposition unity were not guided by personal ambitions. Ally RJD, on its part, made it clear that the primary goal was to defeat BJP in Lok Sabha polls and if, in the process, the CM landed the top job, it would be "a matter of pride for Bihar". "It is not known who has put out the posters. But its message of 'nishchay' (resolve) is something none can find fault with", said JD(U) chief spokesman and MLC Neeraj Kumar. He was reacting to the posters with two images of Kumar, one taken from the side and the other from behind with a pithy Hindi slogan "agar sach mein .
Former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) patriarch H D Deve Gowda on Thursday removed the party's Karnataka unit president C M Ibrahim, who had raised a banner of revolt against forming an alliance with the BJP, by dissolving the state working committee. Gowda also appointed his son and former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy as the ad-hoc president of the party's state unit. Addressing a press conference, Gowda said, Ibrahim has been removed as per the party constitution. I have removed him, and the new president H D Kumaraswamy has been appointed. Kumaraswamy, a two-time Karnataka chief minister, is also the party's legislative unit president. Gowda's order came after Ibrahim revolted against the party's decision to align with the BJP for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. In this regard, Ibrahim had held a meeting with "like-minded" people of the JD(S) on October 16 and announced that the party led by him was the original one. He also announced the formation of a core commit