Patna: A recent survey has indicated that the BJP-led NDA will get 147 seats in the upcoming Bihar Assembly Elections, whereas the grand alliance will bag 64 seats.

As per a survey by Zee Media Group, 53.8 percent of the people feel that the next government will be that of the NDA and 40.2 percent of the people said that the grand alliance would come to power.

Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAM, Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti party (LJP) and Union minister Upendra Kushwaha’s

Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) have joined hands with BJP as part of the National Democratic Alliance.

The grand alliance comprises of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Janata Dal (United), Congress and Janata Dal (Secular).

As for the trend regarding areas affected by Naxalism, 54.6 percent said that NDA will win and 39.7 percent said that the grand alliance would romp home.

When asked by the politically powerful Yadav community as to which party stands where, 43.7 percent said that NDA would win but more than fifty percent (50.2 percent) said that the grand alliance would be the victors.

Coming to the female population, 58.1 percent of women said that BJP-led NDA would come to power, whereas 35.2 percent said that they want grand alliance to form the next government.

The survey was also done on the basis of caste and religion.

35.9 percent of Muslims preferred the NDA, while a majority of 57.9 percent opted for the grand alliance.

As for the Hindus of Bihar, 57.4 percent preferred the NDA and 36.6 percent preferred the grand alliance.

The survey was done between 29 and 30 September, 2015.

Polls to the 243-seat Assembly is to be held on October 12, 16, 28, November 1 and 5.

The counting of votes is scheduled for November 08.

JAMUI, BIHAR: Likening the Bihar election to hosting a wedding, and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to a “dulha” or bridegroom, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief (RJD), Lalu Prasad, has taken a dig at the BJP led National Democratic Alliance for not having a chief ministerial candidate.

“We, the grand alliance, have dulha (bridegroom) Nitish Kumar. But BJP-led NDA has no dulha,” said Mr Prasad while addressing a rally in Jamui district.

The former Bihar chief minister, in his inimitable style, said that people would reject such a marriage party which lacks the bridegroom.

Mr Kumar is the face of the grand alliance led by his party, the Janata Dal (United), RJD and the Congress.

BJP leaders have maintained that the election will be fought on the achievements of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the NDA government, and the chief ministerial candidate would be decided after the elections, if their alliance wins a majority.

On the issue of the reservation policy, Mr Prasad said, “Till Lalu is alive, reservation for Dalits and OBCs cannot end. RSS and BJP are keen to end reservation,” referring to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat’s suggestion to review the country’s reservation policy.

The BJP has clarified that Mr Bhagwat’s comments are being deliberately misread by other parties. The RSS is the ideological mentor of the BJP.

The former chief minister also sought to caution the voters, saying that BJP workers from Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh are visiting rural Bihar in large numbers to spread hatred and create communal tension for the party to advantage from it politically.

Bihar goes to polls in five phases between October 12 and November 5.

Almost all opinion polls have predicted a neck and neck fight between the BJP-led NDA and the grand alliance spearheaded by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD chief Lalu Prasad.

Trucks from India carrying essential goods and petroleum products started entering Nepal on Wednesday, which is grappling with a fuel crisis due to the blockade of a key trade checkpoint with India by protesters opposing Nepal’s new Constitution. Several cargo trucks entered the Nepali side from Sunauli border in Bhairahawa.

More than 300 trucks carrying essential supplies have been stranded on the Indian side due to the ongoing blockade imposed the Madhesi groups opposing the promulgation of the new Constitution.

Madhesis are Indian-origin inhabitants of the Terai region bordering India who are opposed to splitting Nepal into seven provinces.

At least 40 people have died in over a month of clashes between police and protesters from the Madhesi and Tharu communities and ethnic minorities.

Nepal government enforced the odd-even system for all kinds of vehicles plying in major cities from today in a bid to reduce the impact of the fuel crisis. It has also been rationing petroleum products in Kathmandu to tackle the problem. The blockade in the Nepal-India border point has made life harder for the people of Nepal for the past 4-5 days.

Some people in Nepal blame India for the shortage by imposing an embargo. India denies imposing blockade, saying truck drivers are concerned for their safety after protests in the country.

Washington (CNN)Claiming to target ISIS, Russia conducted its first airstrikes in Syria, while U.S. officials expressed serious doubts Wednesday about what the true intentions behind the move may be.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, warplanes targeted eight ISIS positions, including arms, transportation, communications and control positions.

But U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter countered that claim.

“I want to be careful about confirming information, but it does appear that they (Russian airstrikes) were in areas where there probably were not ISIL forces,” he told reporters. ISIL is an acronym for ISIS.

“The result of this kind of action will inevitably, simply be to inflame the civil war in Syria,” Carter said.

A senior U.S. administration official told CNN’s Elise Labott that a Russian airstrike near the Syrian city of Homs “has no strategic purpose” in terms of combating ISIS, which “shows they are not there to go after ISIL.”

Syrian state-run news agency SANA reported that Russian warplanes had targeted “ISIS dens” in al-Rastan, Talbiseh and Zafaraniya in Homs province; Al-Tilol al-Hmer, in Qunaitra province; Aydoun, a village on the outskirts of the town of Salamiya; Deer Foul, between Hama and Homs; and the outskirts of Salmiya.

According to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 28 people were killed in the strikes, including women and children. The Syrian National Coalition reported that 36 people were killed, all civilians.

The U.S. official said the United States had no intention of preventing the strikes, but that Russian planes didn’t seem to be flying in areas where the United States is operating.

“They are not stupid,” the official said.

Panaji: A Goa lawmaker today called for a ban on Sanatan Sanstha, a state-based rightwing organisation whose members are being accused by police in Maharashtra and Karnataka of killing Leftist leader Govind Pansare in Kolhapur in February this year.

Speaking to IANS, Bharatiya Janata Party lawmaker from St. Andre Vishnu Wagh said that while Sri Rama Sene chief Pramod Muthalik, who he claimed was charged with lesser offences, could be banned from entering Goa, the Sanstha which has its headquarters in Ramnathi village, 35 km from Panaji, must also be banned.

“In democracy, there is no scope for violence. All those who try to use bullets to threaten the voice of opposition are terrorists, because they try to frighten the opposition.

“It is evident in the Pansare and the Kalburgi cases that the Sanatan Sanstha is doing just that. Their hand is evident in these cases,” alleged Mr Wagh, known to be close to Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar.

Kannada scholar MM Kalburgi was shot dead by unidentified men on August 30.

Founded by clinical hypnotherapist Jayant Athavale, the Sanatan Sanstha has several thousand members primarily from Goa, Maharashtra and Karnataka.

It publishes a newspaper and a range of magazines and books propagating the organisation’s ideology, which is summed up as destruction of evil-doers and reinstatement of divine rule.

Many top politicians, including some Cabinet ministers in the BJP-led coalition in Goa have backed the organisation in public fora.

The Sanstha, through statements issued in Panaji, has repeatedly rejected the allegations that its members were involved in the attack on Mr Pansare, even as a Special Investigation Team probing the murder, has arrested Sanstha member Sameer Gaikwad and is on the lookout for another member Rudra Patil, who is absconding since a 2009 blast in Goa’s Margao town.

While the Sanstha was not indicted in the conspiracy, six people — Vinay Talekar, Vinayak Patil, Dhananjay Ashtekar, Dilip Mangaokar, Prashant Juvekar and Jay Prakash, all of them members of the same organisation — were acquitted by a trial court in 2013.

But Rudra Patil and Sandeep Akolkar, who were missing during the investigation, were declared absconders, with the National Investigation Agency (NIA) even issuing a red corner notice in connection with Patil.

Mr Wagh said that if the Goa government banned Muthalik from entering the state, based on the arson of a pub in Mangaluru in 2009, then a ban on the Sanatan Sanstha was also warranted.

“All Goans came together and the government declared ban on Muthalik. But Muthalik has not shot anyone, he ransacked a pub. But the Sanatan Sanstha people have been accused of greater crimes. They should also be banned,” he said.

Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Usha Thakur said Friday that true Muslims should not visit any Durga pandal as the Quran prohibits idol worship.

“The Quran says that the worshipping of idols is prohibited. Therefore, any true Muslim should not go to any Durga pandal,” Thakur told media here. Thakur said Durga Puja and Garba are not sources of entertainment, but a reflection of the faith Hindus have on their goddess.

Judiciary cannot monitor the business of Parliament as doing so would be “overstepping” its boundary and crossing the ‘lakshman rekha’, the Supreme Court observed on Thursday while dismissing a petition seeking guidelines to ensure uninterrupted functioning of Parliament.

“We cannot monitor Parliament. The Speaker of the House knows how to manage the function of the House. We should know our ‘lakshman rekha’. We should never cross the ‘lakshman rekha’. We should not be overstepping our boundary to say Parliament be conducted in this manner and not in that manner. No, we cannot say,” the bench said.

Further, it said, “in democracy, the parliamentarians know how to function. We are not here to teach them. They know better,” the bench said while rejecting a public interest litigation (PIL) of NGO, Foundation for Restoration of National Values. The PIL said over the last six Parliament sessions, nearly 2,162 hours of business have been lost. Seeking guidelines from the apex court, it said that in the absence of a law, there is total vacuum to deal with the issue of non- functioning of Parliament as was witnessed in the recent monsoon session when large part of the proceedings were washed out due to opposition protests.

“Sustained disruptions, unruly protests” and abstentions by elected members have led to losses to the public exchequer,” the PIL contended. Making it clear that it cannot intervene on such issues, the court said, “We cannot start advising Parliament and they know what they have to do. They are experienced people and people with wisdom. They know and understand their responsibility well.”

Objecting to bringing up such a matter before it, the apex court asked the counsel arguing on the issue, “Have you kept your house (courts) clean”. “You may not know. As Chief Justice of India, I know. How many houses (courts) you have kept clean,” Chief Justice H L Dattu told the counsel, in an apparent reference to the recent incidents in Madras High Court where lawyers disrupted the court proceedings by raising slogans against the High Court Chief Justice.

When the counsel tried to pacify the CJI by saying that “the highest court of the country is clean,” the bench, also comprising Justice Amitava Roy, interrupted him and explained that any indulgence by the apex court in the matter of Parliament proceedings would amount to “over-stepping.” The bench suggested that a representation should be made to the Speaker about the lacunae in law so that it can be taken care of.
When advocate Ravi Prakash Mehrotra drew the attention of the court on concerns voiced by President Pranab Mukherjee on disruption and non-functioning of Parliament, the bench said, “the first citizen of the country has already advised them and they would take the advise seriously.”