RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on Sunday took a swipe at Bihar CM over the latter's remark that absence of sea led to fewer industries in the state. Sharing a cartoon on Twitter, Lalu wrote: "Do you now want the Indian Ocean brought to Bihar before you set up industries? Don't hide your failures of 15 years behind tall statements. You are tired, go rest."
The Election Commission’s decision to hold polls on time amid a raging pandemic has set off a chain of firsts for the state.
For starters, this is going to be the shortest Assembly election in 15 years. Polling will be held in just three phases, as opposed to five in 2015 and four in 2005. In 2000, Bihar and Jharkhand were one state. To maintain social distancing, the Commission has capped the maximum number of voters per booth at 1,000 — down from 1,500 in 2015. This has prompted a 60% increase in the number of polling stations — from 65,367 in 2015 to 1,06,526. More polling stations means more polling personnel. According to an EC official who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the Commission will have to depute roughly an additional 2 lakh personnel this time.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Tuesday met Lok Janshakti Party Chief Chirag Paswan at LJP office in Patna during 'Shraad’ ceremony of latter's father late Ram Vilas Paswan. Tejashwi Yadav was also present.
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BJP working president Jagat Prakash Nadda on Tuesday slammed the Rashtriya Janata Dal and said that now, no more lanterns will be there, only PM Modi's LED secret will work in Bihar. "Lalu ji is not visible on the poster of RJD anymore. Now, even his son has disappeared from the poster," Nadda said.
Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala on Tuesday slammed the current ruling government in Bihar and said that the government works on 4 formulas - Fear, hate, fear and division.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor records a message for 'Bihari Putra' Luv Sinha, the son of actor-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha, and appeals to the people to make the young leader taste success. Taking a swipe at the ruling government of the state, Tharoor says, "BJP's campaign in the state is useless. Since last some years, Bihar's developmental agenda is immersed in water." "If someone is affected by this, it's the Bihari," he adds. "I hope that you all will vote for Luv Sinha and choose the correct person," Tharoor says. Watch the special message here:
Congress' Bihar unit took a swipe at the Modi government on Monday and said that every native person of Bihar is waiting for the "jumla" package of Rs 1.25 crore promised by the prime minister. "Even today, every Biharman is waiting for the jumla package of Rs 1.25 lakh crore thrown by Modi ji in 2015. In the greed for power, Nitish babu has forgotten about the package, but Bihar hasn't," the tweet read.
Tejashwi Yadav, after his rally in Bihar's Imamganj, tweets a video and thanks the people of the state for supporting him. "This sea of people is standing for change, development, employment and jobs in Bihar. The incompetent NDA govt of 15 years have ruined Bihar. Humbled and grateful to receive rousing reception across the Bihar," he tweeted.
Rashtriya Janata Dal tweets video of Tejashwi Yadav's rally in Imamganj. "Imamganj is also fixed and Bihar is set to be stunning."
All India Mahila Congress president Sushmita Dev poses some questions related to women safety in the state to Nitish Kumar and his government. In a video tweeted by Congress' Bihar unit on its Twitter handle, Sushmita Dev says the government is completely unsuccessful in women's safety.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal has put out a video of a rally held by Tejashwi Yadav, saying the enthusiasm of the people shows that the departure of Nitish Kumar and the BJP was "certain" in Bihar.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation at 6 pm. Ahead of the address, Chirag Paswan appeals to everyone to listen to the address. Here's his tweet:
Ahead of the Bihar polls, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav's Twitter account, handled by his office, has been active. Here's his latest:
Nitish Kumar will hold four rallies in Bihar today; the first at 10.45 am in Gopalganj, two more in Siwan, and one at 2.25 pm in Jahanabad. Here's his schedule, tweeted by ths Janata Dal (United):
RJD targets Nitish over the education infrastructure in Bihar. Tejashwai tweets: "Almost 15,000 students from Bihar go to Kota for coaching. Thousands of crores of Bihari money strengthens the economy of other states. Why can't we have good education within Bihar?"
LJP chief Chirag Paswan on Monday expressed displeasure over the use of term ‘vote katua’for his party by some BJP leaders “to keep Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar happy”, and asserted his party will win more seats in the Bihar assembly polls than the JD(U). ‘Vote Katua’ is an term used in the Hindi heartland for parties and candidates in elections who cut the votes shares of others without benefiting themselves. “I am pained at the term vote katua being used against the LJP. They should apply their own wisdom and not use such words just to make somebody happy,” Paswan told news agency PTI.
Chirag Paswan said incorporating suggestions by 4 lakh Biharis, a vision document has been prepared towards "Navnirman of Bihar" and the same will be released on October 21. He urged people to read the document and sought their blessings for all the LJP candidates.
Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad at a campaign rally to support candidate Vijay Mondal from Sikti Assembly seat.
Lok Janshakti Party promises separate accomodation and toilets for women police personnel on implementation of Bihar first Bihari first.
Move those who forced Biharis to flee from every other house and choose the government that talks about livelihood in Bihar itself.
Rajendra Prasad Singh is an LJP candidate from Dinara assembly seat. Click here to know others
The four chief ministerial candidates in the fray — Nitish Kumar, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, Upendra Kushwaha and Pappu Yadav — are all making tall promises to get votes. While Nitish Kumar has been promising irrigation facility in every field, Tejashwi has been talking of a loan waiver to farmers and 10 lakh permanent jobs. Jan Adhikar Party chief Rajesh Ranjan a.k.a Pappu Yadav has been claiming that he would make Bihar one of the top states in Asia, while Rashtriya Lok Samata Party chief Upendra Kushwaha has been talking about overhauling the education system. Read Patna Confidential here
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Sunday launched Congress theme song "Bole Bihar Badle Sarkar" ahead of the polls. In the song, the grand old party has highlighted the poor conditions of education, huge unemployment, rising corruption, uncontrolled crime and failure to deal with surging coronavirus cases in the state during 15 years rule of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. The song emphasised on change of government in the state to bring all round development.
An Air India aircraft at the Thiruvananthapuram airport in Kerala. (PTI Photo/File)This was supposed to be the election where Prashant Kishor made his way from the back room to the frontlines. Appointed straight at the top as JD(U) vice-president by Nitish Kumar after the 2015 polls, the election strategist had seemed set for another leap. One-and-a-half years later, Kishor is out of favour — and out of sight. After falling out with Nitish, he had started an apolitical forum called “Baat Bihar Ki”, promising to develop leadership from the grass-roots.
However, Patna is abuzz with reports that Kishor is on the move again, meeting leaders of smaller parties like the RLSP, after trying his luck with the Mahagathbandhan. The JD(U) sees Kishor’s hand in LJP chief Chirag Paswan’s decision to leave the NDA.
The RJD took a swipe at Bihar CM over the latter’s remark that the absence of sea in the state led to fewer industries in the state. Calling Nitish as "Surrender Kumar," RJD tweeted, "Surrender Kumar is asking Biharis to first bring sea to Bihar, then ask us for employment! Your time is up Nitishji! To vote for you means to set fire to the future of children!" It also launched an attack on BJP's campaign song, 'Bihar mein kaa ba'. "The song 'Baar Mein Ka Ba' was not composed by any political party, but conscious Biharis made it in different forms!"
Upping the ante as the poll date nears, the BJP said the state had developed a dangerous dictionary under the reign of Lalu Prasad Yadav in 1990s.
Speaking to reporters on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's relations with LJP leader Chirag Paswan, RJD chief Tejashwi Yadav today said: "What Nitish Kumar Ji did with Chirag Paswan is not good. Chirag Paswan needs his father at this time more than ever before but Ram Vilas Paswan ji is not among us and we are sad about it. Nitish Kumar did injustice to Chirag Paswan." (ANI)
In a fresh attack on Kumar, LJP leader Chirag Paswan today said that a single vote for the JD(U) can spoil the future of the entire state. 'Going by his {Kumar's} progress in the last five years, we can actually predict the upcoming years. We have to take important measures to bring Bihar out of this state of helplessness,' he tweeted. Paswan added: 'If any legislator or the chief minister himself comes to ask you for votes, ask them what have they done for you in the last five years.' He said: 'Keeping silent on your performance in the last five years is also fraud. It is on purpose that the citizens are not being briefed on the developments.'
Paswan tweeted: 'With your blessings, LJP will win more seats than JD[U]. Keeping in tune with the idea of 'Bihar First, Bihari First', we will create a new Bihar.'
After Lalu Prasad's jibe, JDU leader Ashok Choudhaary took a swipe at the RJD supremo saying he doesn't understand the meaning of 'vikaas.' "Come to Bihar after you get the bail. We have made roads that can get you to Ranchi in 6 hours."
Ravi Shankar Prasad at a campaign in support of candidate Rinki Rani Pandey.
RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav on Sunday took a swipe at Bihar CM over the latter's remark that absence of sea led to fewer industries in the state. Sharing a cartoon on Twitter, Lalu wrote: "Do you now want the Indian Ocean brought to Bihar before you set up industries? Don't hide your failures of 15 years behind tall statements. You are tired, go rest."
Congress launches election campaign song 'Bole Bihar Badle Sarkar'. Here's a glimpse of the song.
Upping the ante on the BJP-JD(U) combine, the Congress on Sunday released its campaign song ‘Bole Bihar Badle Sarkar’ (Bihar seeks government change) for the upcoming Bihar assembly elections. The three-minute song, launched at the party’s Bihar headquarters by Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, targets the Nitish Kumar government over issues like education, unemployment, rising corruption, crime, Covid-19 situation, violence against women and agrarian distress.
The campaign song says the people of Bihar now demands a change and wants its government to be formed by the Congress. Read full story here
Continuing his attack on Kumar, Paswan said: "I don't want PM Modi to get into any trouble because of me. He can fulfill his relationship with his allies. He can even say a word or two against me if he wants for the satisfaction of the chief minister." He added: "Nitish Kumar should thank BJP workers that despite the anger against the chief minister, they are fulfilling their duties and keep asking the CM to support me."
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav's rallies at Maukama and Suryagharh today
Taking a swipe at the present Bihar government, the Congress posted on Twitter: "The government should focus on changing the ringtone of the coronavirus. The rest of the changes will be made by Bihar citizens."
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Sunday cited Democratic candidate in the US elections Joe Biden's remarks about choosing hope over fear and unity over division, to urge people going to vote in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and elsewhere in India to take a similar vow. The election of Jacinda Ardern as the Prime Minister of New Zealand gives us hope that decency and progressive values can win elections in a democracy, the former Union Minister said.
Leader of Opposition in Bihar Tejashwi Yadav today fired a fresh salvo at Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, saying the CM’s chair was the first and last truth for him. Taking to Twitter, Tejashwi said Kumar was not bothered about the youth, women, disadvantaged, farmers, labourers and students. Tejashwi’s attack comes a day after the RJD-led Grand Alliance released its joint manifesto for the upcoming Bihar assembly elections, promising to offer jobs to 10 lakh youngsters and repealing the new farm laws recently enacted by the central government if they are voted to power.
BJP leaders Sanjay Jaiswal, Nityanand Rai, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Mangal Pandey and Devendra Fadnavis will lead the saffron party's campaign in Bihar today
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday asserted that Nitish Kumar will be the next chief minister of Bihar after the coming assembly elections in the state. Shah also said that the NDA will get a two-third majority in the polls.
"There is no if or but. Nitish Kumar will be the next chief minister of Bihar. We have made a public announcement and we are committed to it," he told CNN News18 when asked whether the BJP will stake claim for the chief ministership in Bihar if the saffron party gets more seats than the ally JD(U) headed by Nitish Kumar.
Shah said people of Bihar will get a "double engine" government -- one at Bihar headed by Nitish Kumar and another at the Centre headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A day after the Congress pitched for restoration of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, the BJP Saturday dared it to say so in its manifesto for the Bihar assembly polls and accused it of speaking the language of "separatists".
Senior BJP leader and Union minister Prakash Javadekar accused the Congress of practising the politics of "dividing society" for collecting votes ahead of the Bihar polls, which begin from October 28, and asserted that people have supported the government's move on Jammu and Kashmir. "People have seen how much progress has happened in Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. Still, the Congress is singing the tune of whatever few separatists are there.
The Congress has become a narrow party and that is why it is taking stand against the sentiments of people in the country," he told reporters. Whatever be the issue, the Congress praises Pakistan and China, he alleged while taking a swipe at Rahul Gandhi.
While BJP has distanced itself from LJP, Chirag Pawan has continued to show support to the saffron party. On Saturday, Paswan congratulated Shreyasi Singh, who has been named as candidate from Bihar’s Jamui constituency. Taking to Twitter, he said, “A lot of best wishes to sister from BJP Shreyasi Singh from Jamui assembly. Appeal to all LJP workers to help Shreyasi. Only young BJP candidates and LJP candidates will form new Bihar.”
This election is a choice between new horizon and Hindu-Muslim agenda, between growth and hate-divide, says Randeep Surjewala.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav's rallies tomorrow.
BJP leader Syed Shahnawaz said Congress is speaking the language of separatists.
Ultra-Leftist forces want to spread wings in Bihar through RJD: Bhupender Yadav
Rahul Gandhi to address two campaign rallies on 23rd October - one in Hisua and another in Kahalgaon. (ANI)
BJP leaders Bhupender Yadav, Manoj Tiwari and Sanjay Jaiswal today launched the 'e-Kamal' website and election song 'Modi ji ki leher', featuring party leader and actor Dinesh Lal Yadav 'Nirahua'.
RJD has shared a video of Nitish Kumar facing criticism from his own workers.
Highlighting the NDA's 'failure' to provide electricity to all households, the RJD today tweeted: "The NDA is a fused bulb. It is time to change the bulb. It is time to spread the light across households. It is time to reject a helpless government and vote for Tejashwi Yadav."
The Mahagathbandhan or Grand Alliance today released its manifesto for the assembly elections. With a focus on farm laws and jobs, the ally parties promised to provide 10 lakh government jobs with all application forms free of cost, waive off loans of the farmers, increasing the number of MNREGA working days from 100 to 200 and establishment of Karpuri Shramveer support centre.
RJD leader Sanjay Yadav tweets, "Throw out the crybaby CM who bemoans everyday for his failure as CM and plays blame game. #VoteForTejashwi who has a vision and zeal to transform Bihar. He has concrete plan for providing employment,healthcare world class infrastructure & committed to serve people."