With the Bihar Assembly elections expected to take place in roughly six months, all the political parties have ramped up preparations
Participating in a debate on the Finance Bill, Singh quoted a report of the World Bank from 2024, and said India's economic growth has slowed down, and at current pace
Maverick RJD leader Tej Pratap Yadav found himself at the centre of a fresh controversy on Saturday when a policeman was commanded by the former Bihar minister to perform a 'thumka' (pelvic thrust) or face suspension. The lurid drama unfolded at the official residence of Yadav, the elder son of former chief ministers Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi, during holi celebrations. In a style reminiscent of the 'kapda faad Holi' that his father used to organise, Yadav tore off clothes of supporters who poured in to greet him, and also drove a scooter on the streets adjoining his house, screaming "Happy Holi Paltu Chacha", a taunt obviously aimed at Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who has aligned with and dumped the RJD twice. One of the videos of his revelry that has gone viral on social media show the Hasanpur MLA regally seated on a sofa, placed on a make-shift stage, holding a mike. "Ae sipahi, ae Deepak, abhi ek gana bajaenge jis par tumko thumka lagana padega. Nahin lagaoge to tumko suspend
The judgment also outlined a few guiding principles for courts to consider while scrutinising the proportionality of actions taken by the House against its member(s)
RJD Chief Lalu Yadav dismissed the impact of Delhi election results on Bihar, asserting that the BJP has no chance of forming a government in Bihar, stating, 'The people have now recognised the BJP'
Delhi's victory has given the NDA a significant boost, with political discussions already gaining pace in Bihar. The NDA has set an ambitious goal of winning 225 seats in the 243-member Bihar assembly
The Enforcement Directorate Friday conducted searches in multiple states, including in Bihar on premises liked to an RJD MLA, as part of a money laundering investigation linked to an alleged funds embezzlement at a state cooperative bank, official sources said. About 18 premises in Bihar, West Bengal (Kolkata), Uttar Pradesh and Delhi are being searched, they said. These include premises linked to RJD MLA and former Bihar minister Alok Kumar Mehta (58) who is the promoter of the Bihar-based Vaishali Shahri Vikas (VSV) Cooperative Bank apart from some other linked entities, the sources said. The money laundering investigation stems from some state police FIRs filed against the bank and its office-bearers for alleged embezzlement of funds worth about Rs 85 crore, they said. The RBI had carried out a verification of the bank and identified the alleged diversion of the bank funds, the sources said. Mehta is an MLA from the Ujiarpur seat of Bihar and is a senior politician of the Lalu
BJP and JD(U) leaders have called RJD President Lalu Prasad's remark offensive and derogatory to women, as well as an insult to Bihar's dignity
RJD chief Lalu Prasad on Tuesday asserted that West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee should be allowed to lead the INDIA bloc. His comment comes days after Banerjee expressed her intent to take charge of the anti-BJP coalition. Prasad also said if the Congress, a major ally of the INDIA bloc, had any reservation about accepting Banerjee as the leader of the opposition front, it would "not make any difference". "Mamta Banerjee should be allowed to head the INDIA bloc," the RJD chief said. Asked about the Congress' "reservation" to accept her as the opposition bloc leader, Lalu said, "The Congress' opposition will not make any differenceShe should be allowed to lead the INDIA bloc." Earlier, Lalu's son and senior RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav had said he had "no objection to any senior leader of the INDIA bloc, including Banerjee, leading the coalition", but stressed that the decision must be reached through consensus. Banerjee had, on December 6, ..
Eleven MLAs, including six from JMM, were sworn in as ministers in the Hemant Soren government in Jharkhand on Thursday. Governor Santosh Kumar Gangwar administered the oath to the ministers at Ashok Udyan of the Raj Bhavan here. The six JMM legislators, who took oath as ministers, are Sudivya Kumar, Deepak Birua, Ramdas Soren, Chamra Linda, Yogendra Prasad and Hafijul Hasan. Congress MLAs Deepika Pandey Singh, Shilpi Neha Tirkey, Irfan Ansari and Radhakrishna Kishore were sworn in as ministers, while RJD's Sanjay Prasad Yadav also found a berth. JMM leader Hemant Soren took oath as the chief minister on November 28. Six new faces have been inducted into the Hemant Soren government, while Deepika Pandey Singh, Irfan Ansari, Deepak Birua and Ramdas Soren have got ministerial positions for the second time and Hafizul Hasan for the third. The swearing-in ceremony began with Stephen Marandi taking oath as the pro-tem speaker of the assembly. Marandi, a senior JMM MLA, was appointed
Leaders of several INDIA bloc parties protested on the Parliament premises on Wednesday over the Adani indictment issue and called for a joint parliamentary probe into the matter. MPs of the Congress, AAP, RJD, Shiv Sena (UBT), DMK and the Left parties, among others, raised slogans in favour of their demand and held a banner reading "Modi-Adani are one" at Parliament's Makar Dwar. The TMC kept away from the opposition protest. Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi was not part of the protest. He left for the violence-hit Sambhal district in Uttar Pradesh along with a Congress delegation in the morning. The Lok Sabha Secretariat on Tuesday issued an advisory urging the MPs not to hold protests in front of Parliament gates, saying that such obstruction of movement could affect their safety and security. The opposition MPs held a protest at the same spot on Tuesday. The Congress and some other opposition have been demanding a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe ...
A raucous protest was held outside the Bihar assembly on Thursday by opposition members who demanded withdrawal of pre-paid electricity meters, citing that this arrangement causes inconvenience to common people. Leaders belonging to the RJD, the Congress and three Left parties stood in front of the portico, waving placards and raising slogans until the bell rang announcing that it was time for commencement of the day's proceedings. Some of the placards had the picture of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar with colourful slogans like 'it is not a smart meter but a smart cheater'. Some other placards highlighted inflated billing and disconnection without warning, the two most common gripes against the new electricity meters. Before dispersing, the MLAs vowed to continue with their protest and claimed that smart meters have made the government in the state hugely "unpopular" and would cause its "defeat in assembly polls" due next year. The government, however, maintained that pre-paid meter
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has emerged as a surprise element in the Jharkhand assembly elections with its candidates leading in five of the six seats where the party is contesting, according to trends available on the Election Commission's website on Saturday. RJD candidates in five assembly seats were leading over sitting BJP legislators. In 2019, RJD had secured only the Chatra seat where its nominee Satyanand Bhokta won. In Deoghar, RJD's Suresh Paswan was leading by 19,581 votes over his nearest rival and BJP's sitting MLA Narayan Das after the third round of counting. RJD's Sanjay Prasad Yadav was ahead by 19,867 votes in Godda over BJP MLA Amit Kumar Mandal after the sixth round of counting. In Koderma, RJD nominee Subhash Prasad Yadav, who was out on bail, was leading by a margin of 3,471 votes over BJP's sitting legislator Neera Yadav. Subhas Prasad Yadav, considered to be one of the close aides of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, was recently granted bail by the Supreme Cour
Jharkhand Assembly polls: Seat-sharing dispute is causing unrest among Congress ranks as some leaders are unhappy with JMM being given high-profile constituencies like Ranchi and Bhawnathpur
Expressing its disappointment with the JMM and Congress over seat-sharing for the Jharkhand assembly polls, the RJD on Sunday said it would not settle for less than 12 seats, but it will not sabotage the prospects of the INDIA bloc even if it goes solo. The JMM and Congress on Saturday announced that the two parties would contest 70 of the state's 81 assembly seats. "Less than 12-13 seats are not acceptable to us as the RJD has a strong hold on 18-20 seats. If we are asked to contest three-four seats, we are not ready to make any sacrifices," Rashtriya Janata Dal spokesperson Manoj Kumar Jha said. "Our sole aim is to defeat BJP, we will not sabotage the INDIA bloc," he said. Jha, a Rajya Sabha MP, said even if the party decided to go solo in the elections, it would extend its support to INDIA bloc candidates on 60-62 seats. Last time, RJD had contested seven seats and won one seat. Its MLA Satyanand Bhokta is a minister in the Hemant Soren cabinet.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday criticised the JMM-led government in Jharkhand for "vote bank" politics and vowed if the BJP comes to power, it would chase "each" illegal immigrant out of the state. He promised Rs 10 lakh free health cover to poor people aged 75 and above in the state. Shah claimed that the ruling JMM was "patronising infiltration" for "vote bank" and the tribal population in Santhal Pargana reduced to 28 per cent from 44 per cent earlier. "Infiltrators are vote banks of RJD, Congress and JMM. I promise to drive out illegal immigrants. The time has come to show the corrupt JMM-dispensation exit door...We want to change Jharkhand," Shah said at a rally after flagging off BJP's 'Parivartan Yatra' from Police Line Ground in Sahibganj. He urged people to choose a government which would chase out the illegal immigrants and not the one who patronises them. "The Hemant Soren government is indulged in 'ghuspathiya kalyan' (infiltrators welfare) instead of public .
Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad Yadav underwent angioplasty at a hospital here, sources said on Thursday. Yadav, who was admitted in Asian Heart Institute here on September 10, underwent angioplasty on Wednesday, they said. The 76-year-old former Bihar chief minister is expected to be discharged in a day or two, the sources added. In 2014, the former Union minister, 66 at the time, had underwent a six hour long aortic valve replacement surgery at Asian Heart Institute. He had visited the hospital for follow-ups in 2018 and 2023. "He was admitted again on September 10, 2024 at Asian Heart Institute for angioplasty by Dr (Santosh) Dora and Dr Tilak (Suvarna)," sources added.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday termed his past alliances with arch rival Lalu Prasad's RJD as a "mistake" that he committed twice but was determined not to repeat again. The JD(U) chief's remark came at a function where he shared the stage with Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda, who is also the BJP's national president. "Our relationship goes back to the 1990s... all the good work in Bihar has been done under our stewardship", said the JD(U) supremo, whose outfit was earlier called the Samata Party. Referring to the RJD, without mentioning it by name, the CM said, "Those who were in power before me did nothing. It was a mistake on my part to have gone with them on two occasions. But I do not wish to repeat that mistake. I shall stay here (with the NDA)". The Bihar Chief Minister, who had returned to the NDA in January, kept asserting during Lok Sabha polls, especially at rallies where he shared the stage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, that he would now be w
The Supreme Court on Friday sought responses from the Centre and the state government on a plea of Rashtriya Janata Dal against a Patna High Court order setting aside the amended reservation laws in Bihar that had led to raising of quotas for Dalits, tribals and backward classes from 50 per cent to 65 percent. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, Justice J B Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra took note of the submissions of senior advocate P Wilson, appearing for RJD, that the plea needed to be decided. "Issue notice and tag with the pending pleas," the CJI said. On July 29, the top court, while hearing other similar 10 pleas, had refused to stay the high court order that set aside the amended reservation laws in Bihar that enabled the Nitish Kumar government to raise quotas 50 per cent to 65 per cent. The bench, however, had agreed to hear the petitions of the Bihar government against the verdict. The state government has also moved the top court against the high cour
Tejashwi said that he would join the protest that would happen in Bihar