The Opposition had the numbers to win one Rajya Sabha seat from Bihar. As it turned out, four MLAs skipped the voting, helping the NDA to sweep the polls.
Kuswaha told reporters at the airport that "Everything will be fine. With this hope and belief, we are going to Delhi."
The NDA in Bihar, led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, strategically countered the Mahagathbandan's moves by implementing similar policies and announcements, effectively neutralising the MGB campaign promises and maintaining their political advantage.
Bihar is preparing for the counting of votes in the recent assembly elections, with political leaders reviewing preparations and expressing confidence in their respective alliances' prospects. Security measures are in place to ensure a smooth and transparent counting process.
Smaller allies of the ruling NDA in Bihar, including HAM and RLM, have expressed resentment over the seat-sharing arrangements announced for the upcoming assembly elections, raising concerns about the alliance's unity.
A seasoned politician and two-term Member of Parliament, Dr Shakeel Ahmad, who has served as a Union minister and senior Congress leader, resigned from the Congress party, marking the end of his decades-long association with an organisation that his family has been part of for three generations. In an interview with Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff he speaks why he quit the party.
The BJP and JD(U) will each contest on 101 seats in the Bihar assembly elections, while the LJP will field candidates on 29 seats. Other NDA partners will contest on fewer seats.
Cracks appeared in the ruling National Democratic Alliance in Bihar on Saturday as Union minister Chirag Paswan expressed 'regret' over having to support the Nitish Kumar government, which he alleged has 'surrendered' before criminals.
'Muslims in Bihar under Nitishji's rule are safest than anywhere else.'
The ruling National Democratic Alliance in Bihar on Monday sparred with the opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal over items allegedly stolen from a government bungalow recently vacated by Tejashwi Yadav, to whom it was allotted while he was the state's deputy chief minister.
Lok Janshakti Party MP Mehboob Ali Kaiser, the lone Muslim to have been elected to the Lok Sabha from the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance in Bihar, joined the Rashtriya Janata Dal on Sunday, in a shot in the arm for the opposition party amid the elections.
Former Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras, who quit after his Lok Janshakti Party faction was not given any seat by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance in Bihar for the Lok Sabha elections, on Saturday announced his party's support to the ruling alliance, ending speculation over his next course of action.
Sources said Paswan's party may contest on five of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar.
The RJD has fielded six women candidates, some of them are wives of bahubalis.
'There will be no khel on February 12 during the confidence motion vote.'
This is the first meeting between Gandhi and Kumar since the latter walked out of the National Democratic Alliance in Bihar and formed a 'Mahagathbandhan' government with the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Congress and outside support of the Left.
Terms of the two dozen seats had expired last year though elections were deferred because of a delay in Panchayat polls which could not be held in time on account of the COVID 19 pandemic.
Paswan has also spoken to RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, Rajak told PTI, adding that he should join forces with another young leader Tejashwi Yadav to take on the NDA.
Having emerged as a senior partner of the National Democratic Alliance in Bihar for the first time in nearly two decades, the Bharatiya Janata Party finally seems to have come out of the shadow of its allies in the state but new alliance arithmetic has dragged down their overall vote share since the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
With all rituals connected to veteran Dalit leader's death ending Tuesday, Chirag is all set to hit the political campaign now.
Paswan's statement came on a day when he was excoriated by Union Minister Prakash Javadekar, who called the LJP leader a "vote Katua" (splitter of votes) and accused him of trying to create a confusion by harping on his equations with senior leaders of the saffron party.
The Supreme Court order that Bihar Government had no authority to challenge Lalu Prasad's acquittal in a disproportionate assets case has not gone down well with the ruling National Democratic Alliance in Bihar, though the Rashtriya Janata Dal chief and his Lok Janshakti Party counterpart Ram Vilas Paswan welcomed the verdict.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar-led party will go solo in the upcoming assembly elections in Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand and Delhi, leaders who were part of JD-U's National Executive meet said.
The National Democratic Alliance in Bihar which so far had BJP, JD-U and the LJP as its constituents will now have another dalit-centric party HAM as a member.
Names of eight-term MLA from Gaya town Prem Kumar and that of Kameshwar Choupal, a Dalit MLC who had laid the foundation stone for the temple at Ayodhya in the 1990s, are also doing the rounds for the post in the political circles.
Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien said the situation in Bihar is one of the reasons behind the Parliament session being cut short by the government.
"We want to make it clear that we have no relations (with LJP), and we do not like this politics of spreading confusion," BJP leader and Union minister Prakash Javadekar said.
Addressing a press conference in Patna, All India Congress Committee general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala said the party would like the Central Bureau of Investigation to complete its inquiry in three months and favoured setting up of a special court to facilitate expeditious trial.
Paswan also asserted that he has been working on his 'Bihar first, Bihari first' agenda for a long time and had informed the BJP leadership about his differences with the Kumar-led government well in advance.
Of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in the state, BJP will contest 20, while the JD-U, LJP and RLSP will contest 12, five and two seats respectively.
In yet another sign that not everything is fine between Bihar's ruling partners, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar opposes the BJP's demand for a population control law -- even while seeking a caste-based census, a red flag for the BJP. M I Khan reports.
'Giriraj Singh has told the central leadership that he is being made a target by some BJP leaders and some JD-U in a conspiracy to defeat him in the polls.'
'Yogi Adityanath is working for one caste only and suppressing the others,' Bihar Minister and NDA ally Mukesh Sahni tells M I Khan.
Prasad can still influence the power play in Patna if not change it, reports Satyavrat Mishra.
Chirag Paswan once again claimed that a BJP-LJP government will be formed in Bihar.
A man with an air gun was arrested on Saturday, an hour ahead of Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi's rally in Bihar's West Champaran district, police said.
The National Democratic Alliance in Bihar suffered a jolt on Wednesday as a Lok Janshakti Party MP resigned from the party post of general secretary and two BJP MLAs who were denied ticket met Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
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