RJD

On Wednesday, neither deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav or any other minister from the RJD were not present at an event organised in the Bihar Vidhan Parishad which was attended by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar along with other ministers of the JD-U. Similarly, in another instance, state Agriculture Minister Sudhakar Singh as well as Disaster Management Minister Mohammed Shahnawaz Alam -- both from RJD quota, remained absent during an assessment meeting on state's drought situation. The meeting was chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

The swearing-in ceremony will take place at Rajendra Mandapam inside Raj Bhawan here. The RJD announced the names of 15 MLAs for the cabinet and included Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav's elder brother Tej Pratap Yadav also. Other RJD MLAs are: Kumar Sarwajeet, Lalit Yadav, Surendra Yadav, Alok Mehta (MLC), Anita Devi, Surendra Ram, Samir Mahaseth, Shahnawaz Ahmed, Momammad Shamim, Kartik Master (MLC), Ramanand Yadav, Chandrashekher Yadav, Sudhakar Singh and Jitendra Rai.

Both RJD and JD(U) thriving on OBC politics could not ignore such a significant issue and the hints were clear when Nitish Kumar started skipping Prime Minister's meetings, the latest being the NITI Aayog. But the other factor is that in the next General elections the BJP was trying to assert itself at the cost of its alliance partner the JD(U). This led to the parting of ways as an insider said that JDU and the RJD could not stop the BJP's rise in the state. It all started in May when Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar called an all-party meeting to discuss the caste-based census.

As far as the numbers are concerned, the JD(U) has 45 MLAs and it also has the support of an independent candidate Sumit Singh. LJP MLA Raj Kumar Singh also merged with the JD(U). Jitan Ram Manjhi-led Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) has already decided to stay with Nitish Kumar. The HAM has 4 MLAs. And, the final count of MLAs with Nitish Kumar is 51. On the Mahagathbandhan front, the RJD had 80 MLAs but as MLA Anant Singh lost his legislation after the MLA-MLC court of Patna convicted him for 10 years jail term in AK 47, hand grenade and bullet proof jacket case, RJD was reduced to 79.

Even as the meeting of RJD, which was taking place at Rabri Devi's residence here, was going on, legislators from the Congress and Left parties also reached there and handed over their lists to Tejashwi Yadav. Sources have said that Tejashwi Yadav has demanded the home ministry portfolio and the post of Speaker. Now, all eyes are on Nitish Kumar's next move.

All the RJD MLAs, MLCs and MPs have been asked to attend the meeting and the party's top leadership has directed them not to carry mobile phones at the venue. Bhai Virendra, senior RJD MLA from the Maner constituency in Patna district said: "At present we are going for the meeting. It's up to Tejashwi Yadav and state president Jagadanand Singh to decide the future course of action. Following their direction, we will give statements publically."

Sudhir Kumar Sinha, Lalu Prasad's lawayer has moved an application pertaining to renewal of his client's passport in the special CBI court of Justice Mahesh Kumar in Patna. Earlier, Lalu Prasad, who is convicted in the fodder scam, filed an application for the renewal of passport in the special CBI court of Ranchi and the court had already allowed the same on June 14.

During the Monsoon Session so far, the Lok Sabha has worked approximately 16 hours and the Rajya Sabha 11 hours, however the Houses were scheduled to work for six hours daily. During the face-off, four Lok Sabha members and 23 Rajya Sabha members were suspended and in the last two days of the past week, the government was up against the Opposition on the remark against the President issue.

PM Modi on Wednesday said that Lalu Prasad Yadav's family had used Hridayanand Chaudhary, a fourth-grade railway employee ('Khalasi') at Rajendra Nagar terminus railway station in Patna, as a pawn for the transaction involving 2.5 'Katha' land in Patna worth Rs 70 lakh when the RJD Chief was the Union Railways Minister from 2004-2009. As per the information collected by the Central Bureau Of Investigation, Bhola Yadav appeared as a witness in more than 40 land registries being done in the names of Lalu Prasad Yadav's family members.

PM Modi on Wednesday said that Lalu Prasad Yadav's family had used Hridayanand Chaudhary, a fourth-grade railway employee ('Khalasi') at Rajendra Nagar terminus railway station in Patna, as a pawn for the transaction involving 2.5 'Katha' land in Patna worth Rs 70 lakh when the RJD Chief was the Union Railways Minister from 2004-2009. As per the information collected by the Central Bureau Of Investigation, Bhola Yadav appeared as a witness in more than 40 land registries being done in the names of Lalu Prasad Yadav's family members.