Page 12 - Bihar Assembly Elections

Union cabinet clears Rs 7,616 cr rail and highway projects in Bihar

The Union cabinet approved a Rs 3,169 cr railway line doubling and a Rs 4,447 cr highway project to boost connectivity, freight movement and regional industry in Bihar

Nitish lays foundation stones for projects worth ₹1,433 crore in Barh

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday laid foundation stones for developmental projects worth Rs 1,433.77 crore in Barh on the outskirts of Patna. Among the projects are the widening of SH 106 into a four-lane road at Rs 1,065.53 crore, the development of a cremation ground and construction of an electric crematorium near Umanath Temple at Rs 9.05 crore, and the widening of a 45.7-km road from Athmalgola to Mokama Bata Chowk at Rs 249.88 crore. Also, a bridge will be constructed over the Ghoba river between Hidayatpur and Manjhauli in Bakhtiyarpur at Rs 11.92 crore, the Umanath Temple complex will be beautified at Rs 67.74 crore, and a drainage system will be built in the sub-division at Rs 29.65 crore, said a statement. Kumar visited the Sidhi Ghat in Bakhtiyarpur and reviewed the ongoing development works there. He also inspected the construction work of the Didarganj-Fatuha-Bakhtiyarpur-Karjan bypass. Assembly Speaker Nand Kishore Yadav, and Water Resources and ...

Nitish Kumar disburses ₹1,200 cr pension to 1.13 cr beneficiaries

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday disbursed over Rs 1,200 crore among 1.13 crore beneficiaries of social security pension schemes in the state. A total amount of Rs 1,263.95 crore was given away to the beneficiaries of six social security schemes, through direct benefit transfer, at a function held at the chief minister's official residence. The state's longest-serving CM, who had recently hiked the monthly pension amount from Rs 400 to Rs 1,100, said on the occasion, "The increase became effective from June. Payments have already been made for the months of June and July. Now, payment is being made for August." "My government has always given priority to help the vulnerable sections of the society. It has been our endeavour to ensure that no eligible senior citizen, woman or specially abled person is left out," he added. According to an official statement, there has been a sharp rise in the number of people applying for social security pensions since the hike. The nu

Cabinet announces ₹7,616 cr highway, railway projects in poll-bound Bihar

The Mokama-Munger highway and Bhagalpur-Dumka-Rampurhat rail line doubling will boost connectivity, jobs, and industrial growth across Bihar and adjoining states

March marking culmination of 'Vote Adhikar Yatra' begins in Bihar

The Congress' 14-day, 1,300-km-long 'Voter Adhikar Yatra' will conclude in Bihar's capital Patna on Monday, with several INDIA bloc leaders scheduled to join Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, in a procession marking the culmination of the political programme that gained significance ahead of the assembly polls in the state. Among those scheduled to participate in the 'Gandhi se Ambedkar' march are Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, CPI general secretary D Raja, CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut, NCP working president Supriya Sule, and TMC leaders Yusuf Pathan and Lalitesh Tripathi. "The massive 'Gandhi se Ambedkar' procession will start at 11.15 am from the historic Gandhi Maidan, where floral tributes will be offered at the statue of Mahatma Gandhi. After that, the procession will pass throug

Akhilesh Yadav calls ECI 'Jugaad Commission' of BJP during Bihar visit

Earlier on Friday, the Voter Adhikar Yatra reached Bihar's Siwan, with both the Congress and RJD leaders being greeted by large crowds

SC to hear plea to extend Sept 1 deadline for Bihar SIR claim filing

The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear on September 1 pleas of the RJD and AIMIM seeking extension of deadline for filing of claims and objections in the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar. The deadline for filing claims and objections is also September 1. A bench of Justices Surya Kant, Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi said it will hear the applications of the political parties on Monday after advocate Prashant Bhushan and senior advocate Shoeb Alam, appearing for the Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD), said that several of them have filed applications for extension of deadlines. Advocate Nizam Pasha, appearing for the AIMIM, said time needs to be extended due to large scale filing of claims and objections. "The number of claims filed are exponentially rising. The deadline needs to be extended," Alam told the bench. Pasha submitted that 80,000 claims were filed before the August 22 order while post the order 95,000 claims have been filed. "We are ..

Sachin Pilot slams indecent language against PM, says Congress not involved

Meanwhile, the man accused of hurling abuses at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his late mother during a political rally in Bihar was arrested

TN CM Stalin accuses BJP of making elections a 'mockery', stealing votes

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday accused the BJP of making elections a "mockery", asserting that people will remove it from power as it has "stolen votes". Addressing a rally in Muzaffarpur district of Bihar, the DMK leader alleged that the deletion of the names of 65 lakh voters from the electoral rolls of Bihar during the special intensive revision was "more dangerous than terrorism". "Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and RJD's Tejashwi Yadav have joined hands to protect democracy. The BJP-led NDA will be defeated in the upcoming assembly polls in Bihar," he asserted. Accusing the BJP of making the Election Commission its "puppet", he said, "Rahul Gandhi has exposed the EC, but the poll panel did not respond to his charges. It asked him to file an affidavit... Rahul Gandhi won't be scared." Earlier in the day, Stalin and DMK MP Kanimozhi arrived in Bihar to join the Congress's 'Voter Adhikar Yatra' in Muzaffarpur district. Soon after joining the yatra, Stalin, in a

Mahagathbandhan to decide Bihar CM face, RJD has legitimate claim: SP MP

Samajwadi Party MP from Azamgarh, Dharmendra Yadav, has said the opposition's grand alliance in Bihar will decide its chief ministerial face for the upcoming assembly polls and acknowledged the RJD, being the principal party of the grouping, has a legitimate claim. His remarks came as the BJP accused Rahul Gandhi of being "arrogant" after he parried a media query on why the Congress has not yet made it clear that RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav would be the opposition grand alliance's chief minister face in the upcoming Bihar assembly polls. Tejashwi Yadav was seated by Gandhi's side when he was asked about the Congress' reluctance to declare the RJD leader as the Mahagathbandhan's chief ministerial candidate. He had recently made an open pitch for making Gandhi the prime minister after the next Lok Sabha polls. Speaking to reporters late on Sunday night, Dharmendra Yadav said, "The Mahagathbandhan will decide on the chief ministerial face in Bihar. "Everyone knows which party is dominan

Bihar SIR case: SC allows excluded voters to submit claims with Aadhaar

'Surprised' at limited role of parties in helping voters whose names were deleted

PM Modi to visit Gayaji to launch projects, address rally on Aug 22

Ahead of the Bihar assembly elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Gayaji district on August 22 to launch several projects and address a public rally, Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary said on Wednesday. Choudhary recently visited Gayaji to oversee the preparation for the PM's function. In a post on X on Wednesday, Choudhary, who also holds the portfolio of the Finance Department, wrote, "Bringing the gift of development, Modi ji is coming to Bihar again. The PM is arriving on August 22 in Gayaji." The deputy chief minister said the PM would inaugurate and lay the foundation stone for Bihar's first six-lane bridge over the Ganga river and development projects worth approximately Rs 1,200 crore. "I urge you all to come to Gayaji to listen to the country's most popular leader Modi ji," Choudhary said on the social media platform. Modi had previously visited Motihari, Siwan, Madhubani and Patna since April. The Bihar assembly elections are due later this year.

Rahul Gandhi warns CEC, 2 ECs of action when INDIA bloc forms govt

Asserting that "vote chori" is an attack on 'Bharat Mata', Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday warned the chief election commissioner and the two election commissioners of stern action when the INDIA bloc forms government. Intensifying his attack on the Election Commission, Gandhi also said the whole country would ask the poll body for an affidavit and if given time, his party would bring out the "vote chori" in every assembly and Lok Sabha constituency. The fresh attack on the EC by the Congress leader came a day after CEC Gyanesh Kumar served a seven-day ultimatum on him to submit a signed affidavit to back his vote theft claims, else his allegations will be considered baseless. Gandhi said that just like Prime Minister Narendra Modi talks about special package, the poll body also brought in a "new special package" for Bihar, which is named SIR (Special Intensive Revision), a "new form of vote theft". His remarks came on the second day of the 'Voter Adhikar Yatra' which began

EC makes public names of 6.5 mn people deleted from Bihar voter list

The Election Commission (EC) on Monday came out with the names of 65 lakh people who were removed from the draft electoral rolls published as part of the special intensive revision (SIR) exercise, officials said. The development came in the backdrop of the Supreme Court's direction that details of the deleted names be made public by August 19 and a compliance report be filed by August 22. The EC is publishing the names of 'ASD' (Absentee, Shifted, and Dead) voters across polling booths, and is likely to do so online as has been directed by the apex court, they said. According to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Bihar, ASD lists have been displayed at polling booths in Rohtas, Begusarai, Arwal and other places.

SIR new weapon of 'vote chori', will protect 'one person, one vote': Rahul

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday said the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls is a "new weapon" of "vote chori" and vowed to protect the 'one person, one vote' principle. He made the remarks in a post on his WhatsApp channel while talking about his meeting with a group of people who had cast their vote in the previous Lok Sabha election but their name had been deleted in the SIR exercise in Bihar. Gandhi met the group at the launch of his Vote Adhikar Yatra in Sasaram on Sunday. In his post in Hindi along with a picture of the meeting, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said, "SIR is a new weapon of vote theft. Coincidentally, these people standing with me in this picture are 'living' proof of this theft." "All of them had cast their vote in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections - but by the time Bihar assembly elections came, their identity, their existence was erased from the democracy of India," he said. "Do you know who they are? Raj Mohan Singh (70): Farmer and

Datanomics: Rise of unconditional cash transfers ahead of Bihar polls

UCT now constitutes 0.87 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP), outpacing both MGNREGA and food subsidies shares in the economy

Rahul Gandhi detained during Opposition march to EC protesting Bihar SIR

During the Opposition's protest march to the Election Commission over Bihar's voter rolls stopped by police, Rahul Gandhi and several leaders were detained

Not about one party or another party: Priyanka slams Election Commission

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday slammed the Election Commission over its officials asking Rahul Gandhi to share details of his claims on poll rigging under oath, and said if they feel their responsibility is only to the BJP then they need to rethink. Priyanka Gandhi's attack on the poll body came after the Chief Electoral Officers of at least three states on Thursday asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to share the names of electors he claimed were either included or excluded wrongfully from the voter lists along with a signed declaration for the poll authorities to initiate "necessary proceedings" in the matter. Election Commission sources said Rahul Gandhi should either sign a declaration under the Conduct of Election Rules and submit the list of people who he claims were either wrongfully included or removed from the voters' list or he should "stop misleading" the people of India and "stop making baseless allegations" against the poll authority. Asked about the ...

Legacy of U-turns: Timeline of Nitish Kumar's alliance shifts over a decade

From Lalu Prasad's RJD to BJP to RJD to BJP again and back, Nitish Kumar's shifting alliances have redrawn Bihar's political map more than once. Here's how and why he flipped

SC asks EC for details of 6.5 mn deleted voters in Bihar draft rolls

The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Election Commission to furnish by August 9 the details of around 65 lakh electors left out from the draft electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar. A bench of Justices Surya Kant, Ujjal Bhuyan and N Kotiswar Singh asked the counsel for the poll panel to furnish the details of deleted voters, the data which has been already shared with the political parties, and give a copy to the NGO, Association For Democratic Reforms. The NGO, which has challenged the June 24 order of the Election Commission directing for Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, filed a fresh application seeking direction to the poll panel to publish the names of around 65 lakh deleted voters with the mention whether they are dead, permanently migrated or not considered for any other reason. The bench told advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the NGO, that the reason for deletion would come in subsequent time as it is now only a draft list. However, ...