Bihar Assembly Elections 2020 highlights: Narayan Singh succumbs to his injuries, attackers arrested

With the Bihar Assembly polls just days away, the ECI has gone into full swing to ensure free and fair elections in the state. Yesterday, PM Modi and Rahul Gandhi addressed rallies in the state for their respective alliances. The first phase of polls is on October 28.

Thanks for tuning in to DH's coverage of Bihar Assembly polls

For more updates click here

RJDs predisposition towards anarchy drove Nitish Kumar away: J P Nadda

The Rashtriya Janata Dal is "predisposed towards anarchy" and the realisation had led Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to snap ties with the party and return to the NDA, BJP national president Jagat Prakash Nadda asserted on Saturday.

Read More

'Selective outrage': BJP and Congress spar over Punjab rape case

The BJP on Saturday accused the Congress of displaying "selectiveoutrage" in incidents of crime against women and questioned the silence of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra over the alleged rape of a six-year-old girl in Punjab’s Hoshiarpur district.

Read More

Bihar elections 2020: A digital presence

The Covid-19 pandemic has given rise to an unfamiliar phrase - the new normal. The rules and regulations of this 'new normal' have engulfed every sphere of society. In such a scenario, how can the elections be spared?

Read More

Narayan Singh succumbs to his injuries, attackers arrested

Janta Dal Rashtrawadi Party's candidate for Bihar elections Narayan Singh - who was shot at in Hathsar village of Sheohar district - succumbs to his injuries. Two of his attackers arrested and admitted to the hospital after they were injured.

Janata Dal Rashtrawadi Party's candidate Narayan Singh shot at in Hathsar

Janta Dal Rashtrawadi Party's candidate for Bihar elections, Narayan Singh shot at in Hathsar village of Sheohar district. He has been admitted to a hospital. One person arrested. More details awaited.

Nitish Kumar refrains from speaking anything against Chirag or LJP

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday addressed a poll rally in LJP founder Ram Vilas Paswan's native Alauli assembly seat but refrained from speaking anything either against the party or its president Chirag Paswan who has been attacking him regularly.

After dissociating his party from the ruling NDA in Bihar, Chirag has been hitting out at the chief minister almost on a daily basis in his election meetings as well as in the social media, but Kumar has chosen not to react to him.

Bihar polls: RJD patriarch Lalu Prasad Yadav likely to be released on bail on November 10, the counting day

Incarcerated RJD chief Lalu Prasad, who is serving a jail sentence after being convicted in different fodder scam-related cases, is likely to be granted bail next month when he completes half of his jail sentence in one of the cases.

Legal experts say it is mandatory for a convict to serve at least half of the jail sentence before applying for bail.

Read more here

RJD manifesto for Bihar polls;10 lakh jobs, farm loan waiver

Rashtriya Janata Dal, which heads the opposition Grand Alliance coalition in the Bihar elections, released poll manifesto Saturday reiterating its promise of 10 lakh jobs and loan waiver for the farmers. The manifesto was released by Tejashwi Yadav at a press conference in the party office here. The cover page of the manifesto displays photographs of Mahatama Gandhi, Dalits icon B R Ambedkar, freedom fighter Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, socialist veterans-Ram Manohar Lohia and Karpoori Thakur- Loknayak Jayprakash Narayan among others, but it does not have photo of the party's founder and its charismatic leader Lalu Prasad.

Read more here

Uphill task for EC to enforce Covid-19 guidelines despite requisite powers, feel former CECs

The Election Commission has the requisite powers to take strict measures like banning rallies and countermanding polls for violation of Covid-19 guidelines during campaigning, but it will be an uphill task to ensure compliance, according to former chief election commissioners.

Campaigning is on for Bihar assembly polls as well as for by-elections in other states, and the EC has already cautioned parties that penal provisions can be invoked against them by district authorities for violations

Bihar Polls: Free Covid-19 vaccine perfectly in order, says Nirmala Sitharaman

Amid the opposition's criticism of the BJP's Bihar poll promise of free Covid-19 vaccines, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman asserted on Saturday that the announcement was perfectly in order and a party can announce what it wants to do when it comes to power.

Sitharaman had released the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) manifesto for the Bihar polls on Thursday. A highlight of the promises made in the document was free Covid-19 vaccines for the state's people if the saffron party comes back to power.

Read more here

Bihar Assembly Elections 2020: What is Model Code of Conduct?

The Bihar Assembly Elections are to be held in three phases, starting October 28, and the counting of votes is to take place on November 10. Prominent political parties, independent candidates and their supporters are campaigning in full swing to promote themselves to power.

Read more here

First-time voters, here is how you cast your vote in the elections

With the Bihar Assembly Elections nearly here, many thousands of first-time voters will take their first steps into the democratic system of India, cast their franchise and play their part in putting the next government in the state. As many political parties court them for their votes, this guide is to help understand how to vote at the polling booth.

Read more here

Imamganj witnessing clash of titans; a former CM and an ex- Speaker in the fray

An exciting three-cornered contest is on the cards in the reserved Imamganj assembly segment where former Speaker of Bihar assembly Uday Narayan Choudhary seeks to wrest back the seat from ex-Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi. The Lok Janshakti Party has queered the pitch for the main contenders by fielding a former legislators daughter-in-law in the fray.

There are a total of 10 candidates in the fray on the seat which will go to vote in the first phase on October 28. The defeat, in 2015, at the hands of Manjhi had come as a big humiliation for Choudhary, both of them former loyalists of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who shared an acrimonious relationship since the days they were in the JD(U)

10 lakh jobs, not tall promises, is Bihar's need of the hour: Tejashwi Yadav takes a dig at NDA

Taking a dig at the NDA's free Covid-19 vaccine and 19 lakh jobs promise in their manifesto for Bihar Assembly elections 2020, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav on Saturday said that he will not promise one crore jobs.

Read more here

Bihar Election 2020: From cricketer to political heir, the rise of Tejashwi Yadav

For the Yadav family, the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections may be the last chance at saving RJD's legacy and the weight lies heavy on Tejashwi Yadav’s shoulders.

Lalu Prasad Yadav’s younger son Tejashwi has been active in politics for seven years now but prior to that, he was a part of the Delhi Daredevils team for 2008, 2009, 2011, and 2012 IPL editions.

Read more here

Bihar Polls: Chirag Paswan says he won't leave PM Modi till his last breath

As the first phase of the Bihar Assembly elections inches closer, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Chirag Paswan has said that he plans to stand with PM Narendra Modi 'till his last breath'.

Reiterating his loyalty to PM Modi, Paswan told NDTV that he was thankful to the Prime Minister for paying homage to his father, Ram Vilas Paswan, who passed away recently.

During his rally on Friday, PM Narendra Modi said that Ram Vilas Paswan worked for the poor and Dalits and stayed with him till his last breath.

Read more here

Bihar polls: In 2015, BJP spent almost 73% more than other parties on campaigning

If campaign spends showcase a political party's intent to win elections, the BJP's 2015 election spend sits right at the top of the list. The saffron party pulled out all stops in the last Bihar assembly election spending Rs 135 crore or at least 9 times the expenditure of other political parties.

In comparison, the Congress spent Rs 18 crore while Samajwadi Party (SP), JD(U) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) spent Rs 15 crore, Rs 13 crore and Rs 4 crore, respectively, according to ADR report.

Read more here

Bihar polls: Two excise officials suspended, four shifted

The Election Commission (EC) has suspended two excise superintendents and transferred four others for not demonstrating "alertness and effectiveness" in the seizure of liquor in poll-bound Bihar, an official said.

The EC gave the directives in this regard during a review meeting held via video-conference with the observers of the 78 Assembly constituencies that are going to polls in the first round of the three-phase Bihar polls on October 28, Additional Chief Electoral Officer (ACEO) Sanjay Kumar Singh said in a release on Friday.

Promise of 19 lakh jobs akin to Rs 15 lakh in bank accounts: Rahul Gandhi in Bihar

In a dig at the BJP's election promise of 19 lakh jobs in Bihar, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Friday that it was similar to that of depositing Rs 15 lakh in the bank accounts of the people.

Read more

BJP spotlights Article 370 as poll dates near in Bihar

With just five days left for the first phase of polls in Bihar, BJP has brought in the issue of abrogation of Article 370 that granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir in the poll discourse, putting the Opposition in a quandary on how to react on this issue.

Read more

A H Vishwanath criticises BJP over Bihar manifesto, vaccine sop

Karnataka BJP MLC A H Vishwanath on Friday expressed his anguish against his own party over its poll promise of free Covid-19 vaccine to all if the party is voted to power in Bihar.

Read more

Coronavirus vaccine for votes? BJP stoops low

While ‘cash for votes’ is all too familiar in the country, the BJP has introduced a new inducement -- ‘vaccine for votes’ -- in the Bihar elections in an obvious attempt to exploit the electorate’s fear over a pandemic that has cumulatively affected over 7.5 million people in the country and taken over 117,000 lives so far.

Read more

In 2015, BJP spent almost 73% more than other parties on campaigning

BJP on average spent Rs 117 crore (72.9%) more on campaigning than all the other major parties in the last Bihar assembly elections.

In 2015, BJP spent Rs 135 crore as opposed to Congress, JD(U) and Samajwadi Party (SP), and BSP who spent Rs 15 crore on an average.

Read more

Expedite search, seizure operations: EC to Bihar authorities

The Election Commission has asked the authorities in poll-boundBiharto expedite search and seizure operations for free and fair assembly polls in the state, an official said on Friday.

The directions were issued by the poll panel during a meeting with observers of 78 assembly constituencies going to polls in the first phase on October 28, Additional Chief Electoral Officer (ACEO) Sanjay Kumar Singh during a daily press briefing here. - PTI

Bihar Assembly Election | Some people just think of family once in power: Nitish attacks RJD

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Friday accused opposition RJD and its allies of seeking votes by creating conflicts and disturbance in society, and thinking just about the families of their leaders once in power.

Read more