Page 2 - Bihar Elections

38 candidates fighting on 4 seats in Bihar bypolls; 34 in fray in Assam

Altogether 38 candidates were on Wednesday left in the fray for Tarari, Ramgarh, Belaganj and Imamganj assembly seats of Bihar where by-polls are scheduled next month. According to a statement from the Election Commission, a total of 50 candidates, including nine women, had filed their nomination papers till October 25, but six of those were rejected during scrutiny and an equal number of persons withdrew from the contest. Of the four constituencies, Belaganj has the highest number of 14 candidates, including RJD's Vishwanath Kumar Singh, son of Surendra Prasad Yadav whose election to the Lok Sabha from Jehanabad has necessitated the by-election. His main rival is Manorama Devi of JD(U), a former MLC while Jan Suraaj's Mohd Amjad and AIMIM's Mohd Zamin Ali Hasan are expected to queer the pitch for the two primary contenders. The lowest number of five candidates are in the fray for Ramgarh where RJD's Ajit Kumar Singh, the son of state party chief Jagadanand Singh, hopes to retain t

Prashant Kishor announces launch of political outfit 'Jan Suraaj Party'

Political strategist-turned-activist Prashant Kishor on Wednesday announced the launch of his political outfit Jan Suraaj Party, a much-anticipated move by which he hopes to take the political landscape in Bihar by storm. The party was launched at Veterinary College Ground in the state capital in presence of many renowned figures, including former Union minister Devendra Prasad Yadav, diplomat-turned-politician Pavan Varma and ex-MP Monazir Hassan. The party was floated exactly two years after Kishor had embarked on a more than 3,000-km-long 'padayatra' of the state, from Champaran where Mahatma Gandhi had launched the first Satyagraha in the country, in a bid to mobilise the people for a "new political alternative" that could cure Bihar of its chronic backwardness.

Wealth of whole nation diverted to Gujarat: Prashant Kishor targets PM Modi

Political strategist-turned-activist Prashant Kishor on Wednesday alleged that after being voted to power by people impressed with his track record in Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has "diverted wealth of the entire country to his home state". The I-PAC founder, whose first claim to fame was his handling of Modi's spectacular Lok Sabha polls campaign of 2014, made the scathing attack on the PM at a public meeting to mark the launch of his own political outfit Jan Suraaj Party. "People like you and me voted for Modi, listening to his speeches, taken in by the impression that he has done a lot for the development of Gujarat. Indeed, Gujarat is progressing. The wealth of the entire country seems to have been diverted to Gujarat where factories are being set up in every village. People from Bihar are flocking to that state in search of employment," Kishor alleged. The 47-year-old leader was underscoring the point that people got from governments what they had voted for in ...

Rs 100 donations each will help Jan Suraaj raise Rs 200 cr: Prashant Kishor

Political strategist turned activist Prashant Kishor on Tuesday exuded confidence about raising at least Rs 200 crore for Jan Suraaj, tipped to become a political party in less than two months, through a system of "decentralised donations". The IPAC founder, who hopes to take the political landscape in Bihar by storm, disclosed his strategy here in reply to queries from journalists about his plans to shore up resources for the new party which will make its debut in assembly polls due next year. "Funding is a question that seems to be weighing down on people's minds for long. Of course, unlike the established political parties, we cannot depend on generous donations from the mafia involved in the illicit liquor trade and sand mining. So we will go for a system of decentralised donations," said Kishor. He said the Jan Suraaj will seek donations of a tiny amount of Rs 100 each from 2 crore people across the state and expressed confidence that they would readily oblige. "We will ask th

Prashant Kishor's new party to have proportional social representation

As political strategist Prashant Kishor looks to shape his 'Jan Suraj' campaign into a political party, he is keen to shake off any perception linking the new organisation with any particular voting bloc by incorporating proportional number of representatives from various social groups in line with their population share. The new party, which will be formed on October 2 in Bihar, will have a 25-member central committee, with proportional representation from the general category, other backward classes (OBCs), extremely backward classes (EBCs), scheduled castes and minorities, 'Jan Suraj' representatives have said. They had earlier said that equal representation would be made from these communities before revising their statement to say that these social blocks will have their share in line with their population in the overall census. The Bihar government had recently carried out a caste survey to find out the number of different communities. The 25 members will elect a leader of th

Political pundit Prashant Kishor to float own party in Bihar: What we know

Prashant Kishor's coming involvement in the Bihar assembly elections represents a full circle, as he was the strategist of Nitish Kumar's 2015 victory against the BJP in the state

Prashant Kishore to formally launch Jan Suraaj as political party on Oct 2

The most significant aspect of his annoucement is that the he would launch his political outfit ahead of Bihar assembly polls

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar chairs JD(U) meeting, discusses Jharkhand polls

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) on Saturday said that it wanted to contest the assembly elections in neighbouring Jharkhand in alliance with the BJP. Kumar chaired a meeting of his party at his official residence and it was attended by JD(U) working president Sanjay Kumar Jha, who is in charge of Jharkhand, Bihar minister Ashok Choudhary and Rajya Sabha MP Khiru Mahto, who heads the JD(U)'s unit in the adjoining state, among others. After the meeting, Mahto told reporters, "We are looking forward to contesting the Jharkhand assembly polls in alliance with the BJP." "Among the issues discussed with the party's supreme leader was the inclusion of Kurmis in the list of Scheduled Tribes. Kurmi leaders in Jharkhand have been raising the demand for some time and today it was seconded by delegates from West Bengal. We will now move forward by raising the issue in Parliament and before President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah," he ..

Former Bihar CM, HAM founder Jitan Ram Manjhi appointed as MSME minister

Manjhi was chief minister of Bihar from May 2014 to February 2015

Lok Sabha 2024: Why Chandrababu Naidu and Nitish Kumar are kingmakers now

Since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has not secured an outright majority, the pivotal factor for achieving a majority rests with Chandrababu Naidu and Nitish Kumar

Tejashwi vs Nitish showdown: Exit polls suggest NDA will continue in Bihar

Lok Sabha elections exit polls: While the INDIA bloc is expected to perform better than the Lok Sabha 2019 in Bihar, exit poll surveys indicate that Nitish Kumar-led NDA will sail smoothly in Bihar

Lok Sabha elections Phase 7: 49.68% voter turnout recorded till 3 pm

Lok Sabha polls 2024 Phase 7 voter turnout: At more than 60 per cent, Jharkhand recorded the highest voter turnout at 3 pm, Bihar had the lowest at 42.95 per cent

Lok Sabha polls 2024 Phase 7: Over 40% voter turnout recorded till 1 pm

Lok Sabha polls 2024 Phase 7 voter turnout: Himachal Pradesh had the highest voter turnout at 48.63

Lok Sabha polls: Over 35% polling in eight LS seats in Bihar till 1 pm

Polling commenced on Saturday morning for eight Lok Sabha constituencies in Bihar, along with the by-election to the Agiaon assembly seat, to determine the fate of 134 candidates. Voting began at 7 am in Patna Sahib, Pataliputra, Arrah, Karakat, Jehanabad, Buxar, Nalanda, and Jehanabad Lok Sabha seats and will continue till 6 pm. Over 1.6 crore people in these eight seats are eligible to cast their votes to decide the electoral fate of the candidates, a senior official said. Voting is underway at 16,634 polling stations, with 3,885 situated in urban areas. Several high-profile candidates are in the fray such as Union Minister RK Singh, who is seeking his third term from Arrah, where his principal challenger is Sudama Prasad, a sitting MLA of CPI(ML) Liberation. The Arrah Lok Sabha seat includes six assembly segments, including Agiaon, a reserved seat, where a by-poll is also being conducted simultaneously due to the disqualification of CPI(ML) MLA Manoj Manzil following his convic

Phase 6 turnout reaches 63.36%; ECI releases data for all completed phases

Lok Sabha elections 2024: West Bengal recorded the highest voter turnout in Phase 6 at nearly 83%, Uttar Pradesh had the lowest at 54%

Lok Sabha polls 2024 Phase 6: Over 49% voter turnout recorded till 3 pm

Lok Sabha elections 2024: Sixth phase will see voting in 58 of 543 Lok Sabha constituencies, including all seven seats in Delhi

BJP is sure of clinching all 40 seats in Bihar: Deputy CM Vijay Sinha

Sinha talks about his government's initiatives in checking illegal mining in the state

LS polls phase 5: Over 34% polling in five seats in Bihar till 1 pm

Voting for five Lok Sabha seats in Bihar began amid tight security arrangements on Monday, a senior election official said. Polling commenced at 7 am in Muzaffarpur, Madhubani, Sitamarhi, Saran and Hajipur constituencies and will continue till 6 pm, the official at the CEO office said. Over 95 lakh voters in the five seats will decide the electoral fate of 80 candidates at 9,436 polling stations. Of the total voters, 45.11 lakh are women, while 21 lakh are under 29 years of age and 1.26 lakh are in the age group of 18-19 years. Notable contestants include NDA ally Chirag Paswan in Hajipur, Lalu Prasad's daughter Rohini Acharya, who is pitted against two-term sitting BJP MP and former Union minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy in Saran, and Muzaffarpur's sitting MP Ajay Nishad, who crossed over to the Congress after being denied a BJP ticket for a third term. Sudhir Kumar Ojha, an advocate who remains in the news for his petitions against top political figures, Bollywood stars and even forei

Phase 5 of Lok Sabha elections 2024: What was the voter turnout at 11 am?

In the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections 2024, 49 out of 543 constituencies went to polls in six states and two Union Territories. Votes will be counted on June 4

Lok Sabha elections Phase 5: 49 seats go to polls on May 20; Check details

Another high-voltage battle on the cards as UP, Bihar set to go to polls on Monday