The Union Minister also said that BJP has no role in the current political development between RJD and JD(U)
This comes amid speculation that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar may rejoin the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)
Amid speculations about the return of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Saturday said the BJP central leadership is "monitoring the political situation in Bihar". Talking to PTI on Saturday, Singh said "Our Central leaders will take decision accordingly". "Nitish Kumar is currently the Chief Minister of Bihar. Lalu Prasad's led RJD and Congress are the alliance partners of the Mahagathbandhan government in Bihar. Our Central leadership is monitoring the situationOur Central leaders will take decisions accordingly", the Union Rural Development minister said. Senior BJP leader and former Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi on Friday said "politics is about probabilities". "In politics, doors can never be closed", he had said in response to journalists' queries about JD(U)'s return to the NDA. "Whatever the central leadership decides, we will abide by it", he had said. Echoing
Amid the turmoil in Bihar's ruling 'Mahagathbandhan', the opposition BJP has called a meeting of its MPs and MLAs on Saturday apparently to discuss the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. According to BJP state unit chief Samrat Choudhary, the meeting will deliberate on the party's strategy for the general elections, the dates for which are yet to be announced. Asked about speculations that the BJP is set for another innings with Nitish Kumar's JD(U), Choudhary told reporters, "No such thing has been discussed at our level." The BJP leaders on Friday dropped major hints about Kumar's reported discussions with the party's senior leaders. Meanwhile, talking to reporters, senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi said, "No door is closed in politics. The door can be opened if needed." In a separate development, Bihar Congress leader Shakeel Ahmed Khan has called a meeting of party MLAs and former legislators in Purnea at 2 pm on Saturday. He also denied reports that the meeting had anything to do w
The Bihar government on Friday transferred 22 IAS, 79 IPS and 45 Bihar Administrative Service (BAS) officers. The transferred officers included five district magistrates (DMs) and 17 SPs. According to a notification by the general administration department, Patna DM Chandrasekhar Singh, a 2010-batch IAS officer, has been made special secretary in the chief minister's secretariat. Singh was recently in the news for his war of letters with the state education department over closure of schools in Patna in view of cold wave conditions. He has been replaced by 2011-batch IAS officer Shirsat Kapil Ashok, who is currently the IG (prisons). Naval Kishor Choudhary (2013-batch IAS officer), currently Gopalganj DM, will take over as the new Bhagalpur DM. Bhagalpur DM Subrat Kumar Sen (a 2013-batch IAS officer) has been appointed as Muzaffarpur DM. Arvind Kumar Choudhary (1995-batch IAS officer), presently posted as principal secretary (finance), has been given additional charge of principa
The trouble was out in the open when Kumar attended the high tea ceremony held at the Raj Bhavan here on the occasion of the Republic Day but his deputy Tejashwi Yadav of the RJD skipped the function
A new book on the life and legacy of former Bihar chief minister Karpoori Thakur, commemorating the birth centenary of the political luminary, will hit the stands in May, Penguin Random House India has announced. Written by Santosh Singh and Aditya Anmol, "The Jannayak Karpoori Thakur: Voice of the Voiceless" focusses on his politics that introduced groundbreaking concepts such as "quota within quota, or equity within equity". Thakur had played a pivotal role in bifurcating reservation among OBC, EBC, EWS and women in 1978 -- a model that significantly influenced the recommendations of the Mandal Commission. "I am greatly elated and excited about Penguin bringing out our book on socialist legend and former Bihar CM Karpoori Thakur. And my happiness has just doubled with the announcement of Thakur getting the Bharat Ratna. Thakur's lasting legacy is not just pioneering the OBC quota but his inclusive and cohesive politics," author Singh said in a statement. Earlier this week, Presid
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday unfurled the national flag at his residence in Patna, on the occasion of the 75th Republic Day
As the speculations ran rife over a rift in the ruling Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance), the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) went into a huddle at state headquarters
Taking a dig at the Centre, the RJD chief said that after the Bihar government conducted the caste census, the central government woke up and focused on the benefit of Bahujans
The Andhra Pradesh government on Friday kicked off its comprehensive caste census to enumerate all communities in the state. Information and Public Relations (I & PR) Minister C Srinivasa Venugopala Krishna said the census is scheduled for 10 days from January 19. "The comprehensive caste census is scheduled for 10 days in one phase and if needed, it will be extended by four or five days," Krishna told PTI. The Minister noted that volunteers will visit each and every home to collect the caste details, which will be relayed to the village secretariat system. Andhra Pradesh becomes the second state after Bihar to take up the caste census. Krishna said officials in the village secretariat system across the state will verify the accuracy of information collected by the volunteers and correct it, if necessary, before making the final record. Each volunteer will cater to 50 households. Krishna exuded confidence that the entire census process will be completed before the issuance of th
The Bihar government has decided to conduct a real-time apportionment study in Muzaffarpur and Gaya to identify sources of air pollution in these two cities of the state, an official said on Monday. The decision was taken as Muzaffarpur, Gaya and the state capital Patna are among the 122 non-attainment cities in terms of air pollution trends. The study in Muzaffarpur and Gaya will be conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology (Delhi and Patna). The Bihar State Pollution Control Board will soon sign memoranda of understanding (MoUs) in this regard, which are being finalised," BSPCB Chairman Devendra Kumar Shukla told PTI. The study will identify the "seasonal mass concentration level of PM2.5 and PM10 in ambient air" of the extended urban areas of both cities, he said. PM 2.5 and PM 10 are minute particles present in the air, and exposure to these is harmful to health. Real-time source apportionment studies help identify factors, such as vehicles, dust, biomass burning, and ..
The Raj Bhavan had also written to Chief Secretary Amir Subhani in December over certain orders issued by the Education Department
The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday filed its first charge sheet in the railways land-for-jobs linked money laundering case, naming former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi and her MP daughter Misa Bharti. An alleged "close associate" of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav's family Amit Katyal, some other individuals and companies have been named in the prosecution complaint (charge sheet), they said. The charge sheet has been filed before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Delhi and the court has listed the matter to be heard on January 16, the sources said. Katyal was arrested in this case by the ED in November last year while Lalu Prasad Yadav and his son and Bihar deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav were summoned by the agency but they have not yet deposed. The alleged scam pertains to the period when Prasad was the railway minister in the UPA-1 government. It is alleged that from 2004 to 2009, several people were appointed to Group "D" positions in various zones of th
Bihar Education Minister Chandra Shekhar sparked off controversy by saying that if the people fall sick or get injured they will seek medical attention rather than visit a temple
The Bihar government has withheld salaries of several district mineral development officers who have allegedly failed to meet the target of revenue collections in their respective areas in the current financial year so far, officials said on Sunday. The Mines and Geology Department of the state government has sought explanations from such officers in Jehanabad, Gaya, Munger, Jamui and Aurangabad for "failing to meet the target of revenue collections till December 2023 in their respective districts", they said. The department has managed to achieve around 42 per cent of its revenue target of Rs 3,590.66 crore for 2023-24 from the mining sector as it could collect just Rs 1,500 crore till December 2023, a senior official of the department said. "Yes, the department has withheld the salaries of several district mineral development officers who failed to meet the target of revenue collections in their respective areas till December end of the current financial year. "With the revenue .
Bihar's political landscape has witnessed a shift, with the BJP now in opposition while the JDU is part of the Mahagathbandhan government
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar owns assets worth Rs 1.64 crore, according to his latest public disclosure. According to details of the assets of the chief minister and his cabinet colleagues posted on the Cabinet Secretariat Department's website on Sunday evening, Kumar has Rs 22,552 in cash, and deposits of Rs 49,202 in different bank accounts. He also has a Ford Ecosport car worth Rs 11.32 lakh, two gold rings and a silver ring worth Rs 1.28 lakh, and other movable assets such as 13 cows and 10 calfs worth Rs 1.45 lakh, a treadmill, an exercise cycle and a microwave oven. The only immovable property that he has is an apartment in Dwarka in New Delhi, which cost him Rs 13.78 lakh in 2004, and is now worth Rs 1.48 crore. Last year, Kumar had declared total assets of Rs 75.53 lakh. A comparison of the two disclosures showed that the jump in the value of assets was primarily due to the rise in the worth of his Delhi apartment. Kumar's government has made it mandatory for all cabi
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday ducked queries about rumours of major organisational change in his Janta Dal (U) ahead of a crucial two-day party conclave which will begin in Delhi later in the day. The JD (U) supremo in a brief interaction with journalists before boarding his flight to Delhi asserted that the party meet in Delhi was 'normal'. "These meetings take place every year. It's normalthere is nothing specific at all. These are routine meetings", said the CM when journalists sought his views on rumours of major organisational change in JD(U) during the two-day party conclave. His remark came in the backdrop of rumours that Kumar's key aide Rajiv Ranjan Singh 'Lalan' has told the former that he wanted to step down as JD(U) national president. The CM evaded a direct reply when asked whether Lalan was likely to make a formal offer of his resignation at the JD(U)'s crucial meetings scheduled in Delhi on December 29. The CM also evaded questions about rumours of h
Bihar Staff Selection Commission (BSSC) announced the final result for CGL exam 2022. The BSSC has likewise made public the post-wise cutoff scores for the third CGL Test 2022 at bssc.bihar.gov.in