Page 2 - Bihar Assembly

From Lalu to Nitish: Tracing Bihar's politics through caste equation

Bihar heads to 2025 Assembly polls with caste dynamics, old rivalries, and shifting alliances shaping the battle between Nitish Kumar, Lalu Prasad Yadav and other rising political forces

JDU releases first list of 57 candidates for Bihar Assembly elections

Bihar Assembly elections 2025: JD(U) has announced its first list of 57 candidates for Bihar Assembly elections, including four seats sought by Chirag Paswan's LJP faction

Prashant Kishor says will not contest Bihar polls, will focus on party work

On the prospects of his party, Prashant Kishor stated that he was certain that the contest would either be a huge win or a total debacle for the Jan Suraaj party

Bihar elections 2025: How the 2000 Jharkhand split reshaped Bihar's economy

Bihar polls 2025: 25 years after the 2000 split, Bihar is still coping with the loss of Jharkhand's mineral base, relying on agriculture, central funds, and migration

Bihar seat-sharing talks gather pace: BJP reaches out to Chirag, allies

CPI (ML)L says no to 19 seats offered by Grand Alliance

Nitish Kumar inaugurates first phase of Patna Metro: Check route, fare

Passengers can travel on the 4.3-km corridor between ISBT, Zero Mile, and Bhoothnath stations from October 7; minimum fare for a single station ride is ₹15, and the entire stretch will cost ₹30

Bihar Assembly election schedule to be announced today, EC presser at 4 pm

The Election Commission will announce Bihar Assembly poll dates today at 4 pm; parties want post-Chhath polls for higher voter turnout as Assembly term ends on November 22

Prashant Kishor's casteist slur on TV: How law deals with such remarks

Prashant Kishor's 'chori-ch***ri' remark in a TV interview has triggered a row with Bihar minister Ashok Choudhary, bringing focus back on how Indian law defines casteist insults

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

Bihar Assembly polls: The votes that built Nitish Kumar's stronghold

Ahead of Assembly polls, Bihar CM sharpens women-focused agenda with domicile quota, banking on female voters' rising clout and support

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

Decline in registered voters in Bihar by around 6.5 million: Draft SIR

More than 65 lakh enumeration forms were 'not included' in the draft electoral rolls prepared as part of 'Special Intensive Revision' (SIR) by the Election Commission in poll-bound Bihar, bringing down the total number of around 7.9 crore registered voters to 7.24 crore. Patna accounted for the highest number of 3.95 lakh non-included enumeration forms, followed by Madhubani with 3.52 lakh, East Champaran with 3.16 lakh, and Gopalganj with 3.10 lakh, according to the EC. Before the start of the SIR, the number of registered voters in the state had been stated to be around 7.9 crore. However, the EC claimed that '22.34 lakh' people have since died, another 36.28 lakh have 'permanently shifted' out of the state or were 'not found' at their stated addresses, and another 7.01 lakh have been found enrolled at 'more than one place'. The draft electoral rolls have been made available online and in all 38 districts of the state, representatives of political parties were being provided with

Nitish Kumar doubles pay for school, health workers ahead of Bihar polls

Cooks, watchmen, instructors, ASHAs, Mamta workers see wage hikes in Bihar; ₹882 cr Janki Mandir plan to be launched August 8

Political parties deployed 150K booth agents for SIR in Bihar: ECI

The Election Commission of India has claimed all major political parties were "involved" in Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls and deployed over 1.5 lakh booth level agents to reach out to eligible voters but opposing the exercise in the Supreme Court. In an affidavit filed in a plea challenging the June 24 order directing pan-India SIR of electoral rolls starting from Bihar, the ECI claimed having plenary powers to take such measures as to protect and maintain the purity of elections, including preparation of electoral rolls. It is with this objective that the ECI has directed the conduct of pan-India SIR, beginning with Bihar, the ECI argued. The poll panel said some of the petitioners before the apex court were MPs and MLAs from Bihar's recognised political parties who were assisting in the SIR exercise by providing BLAs. "While, some of the petitioners are participating in the SIR and, at the same time, objecting here to the transparent exercise conducted by the ECI.

Have the right to 'verify citizenship', EC tells SC on Bihar roll revision

The Election Commission told the Supreme Court that it is legally bound to verify citizenship in Bihar's voter roll revision, citing constitutional and legal duty to ensure only citizens are included

Tejashwi meets Bihar Assembly Speaker, seeks discussion on SIR in House

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Monday called on Bihar Assembly Speaker Nand Kishore Yadav and requested that the House take up for discussion the controversial special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state. The leader of the opposition in the assembly spoke to journalists after meeting the Speaker inside the latter's chamber, on the inaugural day of the monsoon session. "We requested that the matter be taken up for discussion in the House tomorrow. The assembly is the largest temple of democracy in Bihar... democracy is under attack in the state. An attempt is being made to rob the deprived sections of their right to vote. We will fight it out from the House to the streets (sadan se sadak tak)," Yadav said. However, senior BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, who spoke to journalists separately, said, "The fears are unfounded. Not a single genuine voter's name will be dropped. All will exercise their franchise in the upcoming assembly ...

Anti-SIR protests rock Bihar Assembly on inaugural day of monsoon session

Protests against special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar rocked the state assembly on the inaugural day of the monsoon session on Monday. Members of the CPI(ML) Liberation, a constituent of the INDIA bloc, reached the premises wearing black 'kurtas' as a mark of protest against SIR. "The Election Commission has ordered the exercise to wrongfully delete the names of a large number of voters, hoping that this would help the ruling NDA, which is likely to suffer a heavy defeat in the upcoming assembly polls. We shall be fighting it out from the House to the streets (sadan se sadak tak)," said Mehboob Alam, the legislature party leader of the CPI(ML) Liberation. As proceedings of the House began, many opposition members rose in their seats, raising slogans against SIR and also seeking a response from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who was present inside the assembly, on the recent spurt in violent crimes. AIMIM MLA Akhtarul Iman, whose party has expressed the desire

Modi launches NDA poll campaign in Bihar, warns of opposition intent

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday sounded the poll bugle in Bihar, where assembly elections are due shortly, calling for "an NDA government, once again", which would protect the state from the "evil intentions" of the RJD-Congress combine. Modi also accused the RJD of seizing land from the poor on the false promise of jobs, in an apparent reference to the 'land-for-jobs' scam, and asserted that the 'viksit' (developed) Bihar is key for eastern India's development. Addressing a rally in Motihari town, the headquarters of East Champaran district, he said, "The people of the state had broken the shackles of RJD", but the younger generation "must be made aware of the despair in which Bihar was mired two decades ago". He also made an indirect reference to the land for jobs scam, on a day when the Supreme Court turned down a plea by RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, a former railway minister and the prime accused, for a stay on trial. "Employment generation could have never taken place in Bi

Nitish Kumar's poll sop: Free electricity for consumers upto 125 units

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said the move to provide free electricity will benefit around 16.7 million families in Bihar

Prashant Kishor calls Bihar voter list revision a 'BJP-led' conspiracy

Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor waded into the political controversy surrounding the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar on Wednesday when he described the mammoth exercise as a "BJP conspiracy". Kishor made the remark in Kishanganj, the state's lone district with a Muslim majority population, and promised that his fledgling party would help those whose names get wrongfully deleted from the voters' list. Talking to reporters, he said, "The SIR is a BJP conspiracy. The Supreme Court has made it clear that Election Commission cannot determine people's citizenship. Does the Election Commission, by carrying out such an exercise now, intend to say that the electoral roll of 2014, when Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister, was fake?". He added, "The same electoral roll was fine till last year's Lok Sabha polls. We fail to see a problem in conducting the upcoming assembly polls on the basis of the same voters' list." "Obviously, the BJP is jittery in .