Author: Rahul M

Dramatic scenes unfolded in Bihar ahead of the Assembly elections when Arjit Shashwat Choubey, son of former Union Minister Ashwini Choubey, withdrew his plan to contest as an Independent candidate from Bhagalpur just moments before filing his nomination. The reason—a single phone call from his father. Choubey, who had arrived at the Bhagalpur district collectorate surrounded by supporters and sporting garlands, seemed fully prepared to enter the electoral fray against his party’s official candidate. However, as he was about to submit his nomination papers, his phone rang. The short conversation that followed changed everything. ‘Can’t Rebel Against My Party’ Speaking…

The upcoming by-election for the Anta Assembly seat in Rajasthan’s Baran district has emerged as a crucial test for both the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress, with independent candidate Naresh Meena turning the contest into a triangular one. The outcome, according to observers, could reflect the public mood in the Hadoti region — long known for its swing voting patterns.The Congress has fielded its veteran face, Pramod Jain Bhaya, a two-time MLA with a strong local base. The BJP has named Morpal Suman, the sitting Pradhan of Baran Panchayat Samiti from the Mali community, while Naresh Meena is contesting…

Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party (RLJP) president Pashupati Kumar Paras on Saturday declared that his party will contest the November Bihar Assembly elections alone, making it clear that he was forced to take the decision after his attempts to join the Opposition Mahagathbandhan could not succeed.“I made significant efforts to forge an alliance with the Mahagathbandhan this time, but it didn’t materialise,” he said, announcing a list of the RLJP’s 33 candidates. Paras, who had represented Alauli (Khagaria) seat seven times between 1977 and 2010, had hoped to get at least three seats from the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan, which was however not…

PatnaOctober 19, 2025 07:40 AM IST First published on: Oct 19, 2025 at 07:40 AM IST From Nitish Kumar’s performance as Railways Minister that convinced former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to project him as the NDA’s chief ministerial candidate to his ideas on women’s empowerment and his views on socialism, secularism and communalism, a book documents the Bihar CM’s speeches in Parliament and the less talked about facets of his time as a parliamentarian. Published in five volumes, Nitish Kumar’s Statesmanship in Parliament has been edited by political scientist and Bihar OBC Commission’s former member Jag Narayan Singh Yadav and was recently released in Patna. “Though…

The probe into the fraudulent deletion of 6,018 names from the voter list for the Aland Assembly constituency in Karnataka ahead of the 2023 state polls – which has been raised as one of the instances of “vote chori” by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi – is allegedly leading to associates of the losing BJP candidate from the seat.A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Karnataka Police CID Friday raided properties allegedly linked to Subhash Guttedar, who lost from Aland in 2023, at Kalaburagi and Aland. Sources said that while searches were on at Kalaburagi, officials received information about an alleged…

UNION Home Minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah has touched a raw nerve in ally JD(U) by suggesting in a recent interview to India Today TV that the choice of who would be chief minister, should the NDA win in Bihar, remains open.Shah said that while the NDA was contesting under the leadership of JD(U) supremo and incumbent CM Nitish Kumar, a call on the new CM would be taken after the polls. On Saturday, the third biggest ally in the NDA, the Chirag Paswan-led LJP (Ram Vilas) said Shah’s stand was only natural. A Union minister, Paswan said…

Consultation before decisions and unity among state leaders are two key factors for the Congress to strengthen its position in Kerala ahead of the upcoming local body polls and the Assembly elections next year, said senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala.He also said the people of Kerala want the Congress-led opposition to step up its attack on the “unpopular LDF government” led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The senior Congress leader admitted that the party not having a chief ministerial candidate could “be a natural question” of the voters when the other side has a face like Vijayan. “Congress has a…

CASABLANCA, Morocco (AP) — Refusing to let the coming wave of fanfare around December’s Africa Cup of Nations overshadow their demands, protesters in Morocco urged a boycott of soccer matches at the country’s new stadiums. On Saturday, they reiterated previous demands and called for the release of demonstrators arrested during earlier Gen Z 212 protests.After an eight-day pause, hundreds of young demonstrators took to the streets on Saturday as part of an effort to show they remained committed to protesting corruption and subpar healthcare and education.In several cities — including Casablanca and Tangier — hundreds of young protesters once again…

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The U.S. State Department said Saturday that it has “credible reports” that Hamas could violate the ceasefire with an attack on Palestinian civilians in Gaza. If the attack takes place, it “would constitute a direct and grave violation” of the agreement forged by President Donald Trump to end the two-year war between Israel and Hamas, the statement said.No further details were disclosed about the potential attack.”Should Hamas proceed with this attack, measures will be taken to protect the people of Gaza and preserve the integrity of the ceasefire,” the State Department said.Trump previously warned…

Venezuela’s government said this past week that it had launched a sweeping military mobilization and begun training civilians for combat, portraying the moves as defensive steps against what it called an escalating threat from the United States. The measures come as Washington has intensified military operations in the Caribbean, killing dozens of people in a campaign that U.S. officials say is aimed at drug trafficking networks. But U.S. officials, in private, have said the ultimate goal is to push out President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela. Maduro and top military officials said this past week that they had activated new defense…