! RNI Regn. No. MPENG/2004/13703, Regd. No. L-2/BPLON/41/2006-2008 "#"#$ %"& '' (()*+,'- ! " # ""#$!#% %#%#% NO #&#%%# ,-*"# . $%& ' ()(*+,(-. (,0 112*,32. ! " # $ ! % "%&'( %) *+& !""#$% &#$ '() & ( * (+ ' ()* Addressing a joint Press Taking a dig at the BJP, conference with Paswan and Tejashwi tweeted that despite ays after the Lok Janshakti Bihar Chief Minister Nitish having achieved power through * + DParty served an ultimatum Kumar, BJP president Amit the back door in Bihar and hav- on the BJP to end the logjam Shah asserted that the NDA ing 22 sitting MPs, the party over seat-sharing in Bihar, the will win more than 31 seats it agreed to give an equal num- NDA big brother made a major had in 2014 and expressed ber of seats to Nitish, who had compromise by agreeing to confidence that it will come returned with a tally of only contest five seats less than they back to power in 2019. two seats. “Now you can under- won in the 2014 Lok Sabha The deal suggests a victo- stand the dire straits the NDA polls in Bihar, allotting 17 seats ry of sorts for the LJP, which is in,” the RJD leader said. to the Janata Dal(U) and six to had adopted an aggressive Ending its 17-year-old the LJP. The BJP will contest 17 stand seeking a better bargain alliance with the NDA, the of the 40 seats in the State. from the BJP after the exit of JD(U) had contested 2014 Lok While the BJP and the Upendra Kushwaha-led RLSP Sabha polls alone. Following its JD(U) had already agreed to from the ruling alliance. poor performance, it forged the he national Capital on contest equal number of seats, Shah said all allies will “mahagathbandhan” with the TSunday witnessed its cold- but till the LJP mounted pres- soon decide on distribution of RJD and the Congress and the est December temperature in sure, there were indication that Lok Sabha constituencies alliance achieved a handsome the past 12 years with mercury temperature was four notches the BJP wanted the junior part- among them for fielding their victory in 2015 Bihar Assembly sinking to 3.7 degrees Celsius below the season’s average, a ner to agree to contest 4-5 seats candidates in 2019. polls. Nitish, who had in the even as a moderate cover of fog Met department official said. only. However, the LJP clinched Paswan, whose son Chirag meanwhile taken over as the surrounded the city, dropping The all-time lowest tempera- a good bargain as besides the had created a flutter with his JD(U) president, walked out of visibility. Rubbing salt into ture in the national Capital for six seats it will get to contest, comments seen as critical of the the alliance last year following people’s wounds, pollution level the month of December was party chief Ram Vilas Paswan BJP and the Central corruption allegations against on Sunday deteriorated to the 1.1 degrees Celsius recorded on will also be sent to the Rajya Government, on Sunday Tejashvi, his then deputy. second worst of the year. December 26, 1945. Sabah as a NDA nominee. claimed there was never a The JD(U) chief stitched a The Central Pollution The morning also wit- The present strength of problem in the alliance as he 4 ' 153 $ $6 0 /5 6 7 89 new alliance with the BJP, Control Board (CPCB) data nessed a moderate cover of fog the BJP in Bihar is 22, while the has nurtured the “NDA tree” $ 'P 0 ' which had been smarting showed the overall air quality around the city with visibility JD(U) has only two member in for five years under Modi’s under its humiliating defeat in index at “severe” level of 446. dropping to 300 metres at the Lok Sabha. The LJP had leadership. A Government 32 of the 40 seats in Bihar in Sabha, Nitish Kumar said it is Mahagathbandhan, Tejashwi the Assembly polls. The grand The highest pollution level was Palam and 400 metres at contested seven seats in the under Modi will be formed 2009 even though results across a recognition to his long service claimed that the BJP gave in to alliance, of which the RJD is the recorded on November 8, a day Safdarjung, said the MeT 2014 polls and barring one, all again, he said. the country had gone against it. to the country and also thanked arm-twisting by Nitish and largest constituent, was left after Diwali, when the AQI department official. its candidates had won. The Dalit leader also “This time we will do better the BJP for the decision. Paswan. His remark was a ref- truncated and it suffered set- touched 571. The official predicted the BJP’s decimation in seat thanked Finance Minister than that,” he said. He was a Paswan is a nine-term member erence to Paswan’s son and LJP backs like former State In the past 12 years, the maximum temperature on arrangements prompted the Arun Jaitley, who played a role BJP ally in 2009 before parting of the Lok Sabha and the deci- Parliamentary Board chief Congress president Ashok second lowest minimum tem- Monday is expected to hover RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav to in brokering peace between his ways with it in 2013. He joined sion means that the 72-year-old Chirag Paswan recently writing Choudhary joining the JD(U) perature for the month was around 22 degrees Celsius. take a jibe at the BJP for agree- party and the BJP. the NDA again in 2017. leader is unlikely to contest any to Jaitley and requesting him to along with his supporters. It recorded on December 29, However, as the day will ing to contest only 17 seats in In his comments, the Bihar Commenting on the deci- more popular election and will elucidate the benefits of received a shot in the arm 2007, at 3.9 degrees Celsius, progress, it is likely to become Bihar in the Lok Sabha polls Chief Minister, who enjoys sion to send Paswan, present- be handing over the reins of the demonetisation so that his recently with the RLSP, a according to data from the Met partly cloudy. Haze will appear next year despite having won good equations with Paswan, ly a Lok Sabha member from party to his son. party could explain the same to former NDA ally, joining the department. in the evening, said the official. 22 in the last general elections. noted that the NDA had won Hajipur in Bihar, to the Rajya On his part as leader of the its voters. alliance. The Sunday’s minimum Continued on Page 4 % $ & $ Bhopal: Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday police had forced them to slammed the new Congress abandon their plan to visit the Government for blaming him for hill shrine and return. the shortage of urea in the State. However, rejecting the Lashing out at CM Kamal charge, the police said that the Nath-led Government, Chouhan activists had came back on said that instead of accusing the their own due to security issues, previous Government, the adding that two cases were reg- Congress should concentrate on istered against the protesters running the State efficiently. based on the complaint lodged Rubbishing Congress’ claims of by Manithi members. urea shortage, Chouhan told Earlier, braving several mediapersons, “Congress is in protests on their way, the 11- power in the State now, it should member team, all belonging to stop making baseless allegations the traditionally-barred age and run the Government effi- group, reached here by 3.30 am ciently. The State has already through the Idukki- received more than 4 lakh met- Kambamedu route on the ric tonnes of urea till December Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. 15, it should be distributed ; $ # O6 P $ $ 7 Of the 11, six carried the among farmers appropriately.” 4! traditional irumudikettu which This comes amid the Congress ' ! is mandatory to climb the Government waiving off loans of “pathinettam padi” (holy steps farmers. After winning the them away. leading to sanctum sancto- recently elections, the Congress The women and the police rum). But, the women could ! # $ %%% Government as promised, ith just four days left for had to virtually run from the not move forward and had to $ & ' ' waived farm loans. Similar Wthe culmination of the scene to the safety of a nearby wait at the entry of the forest $ ' ($$ $ $ ) $ announcements were made by first phase of the annual guardroom, abandoning the path for over six hours follow- $ ' $ * +, ' $ M N$/ the Congress-led governments in Sabarimala pilgrimage, a group trekking plan. ing “namajapa” (chanting ' 0 1 2%3 4 Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, of 11 women of menstruating Defying prohibitory orders, sacred hymns) protests staged where it uprooted the BJP and age on Sunday made an unsuc- hundreds of devotees thronged by hundreds of devotees. formed the government. cessful bid to offer prayers at the forest path here blocking The BJP and other right- Meanwhile, Congress par- the Lord Ayyappa shrine as the way of the women, who wing activists too staged nama- liamentarian Ahmed Patel also they were forced to return by reached in the early hours japa protests across the State criticised the central govern- protesting devotees. from Chennai. Police tried to including before the Cliff With this victory, the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha had won the seat on a Congress ment for allegedly trying to cre- Accompanied by police remove the protesters by force House, the official residence of Congress increases its tally to supported the Congress. ticket in 2017, resigned from ate shortage of urea. He tweeted, personnel, the members of as they were not ready to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan 8 in the 82-member Jharkhand In Gujarat BJP candidate the party and also the “Central Government is trying to Chennai-based women budge despite their repeated in Thiruvananrhapuram.