Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Modi's coalition retains power in key state election

INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi's coalition retained power in Bihar state, results showed on Wednesday(11), in what was a referendum on Modi's handling of Covid-19 and which may boost his chances in three more state elections next year.

Modi's coalition won a fourth straight term in Bihar, the third-most populous state and one of the poorest in India, the country which has recorded more than 8.5 million Covid-19 cases, the world's second-highest tally after the United States.


The alliance led by Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 125 seats in the 243-member Bihar assembly, Election Commission data showed after counting started on Tuesday(10).

The counting process took much longer than usual because more electronic voting machines were deployed to avoid crowding in polling centres as per health rules.

"This result not only reflects the faith of the poor, labourers, farmers and youth in the successful fight of the Modi government against corona but is also a lesson for those who mislead the country," the BJP's second-most powerful leader, interior minister Amit Shah, said on Twitter.

Modi, who had announced a slew of projects for Bihar days before its three-phase voting started last month, said the win showed the state's only "aspiration" was economic development.

About 1.5 million lowly paid workers from Bihar were forced to head back home from cities such a New Delhi and Mumbai, many on foot carrying luggage and children on their shoulders, after the factories or other places they worked in shuttered following Modi's sudden announcement of a national lockdown in late March.

Their images and videos had made national and international headlines. Many are now starting to regain work as the economy has been almost fully reopened.

Bihar's unemployment rate has averaged 22.6 percent since April, compared with 13 per cent for the country as a whole, data from private think-tank Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy shows.

The state sends the fourth highest number of lawmakers to the lower and upper houses of parliament, and whoever rules it generally goes on to do well in electing those leaders too.

After Bihar, the BJP is expected to do well in state elections in Assam and West Bengal next year, though it has yet to form a strong base in the southern state of Tamil Nadu that also votes in 2021.

More For You

BBC settles age and sex discrimination case
BBC headquarters in Central London.
Getty Images

BBC settles age and sex discrimination case

THE BBC on Friday (14) said it had settled a case with four female journalists who claimed they lost their jobs because of their sex and age.

Martine Croxall, Annita McVeigh, Karin Giannone and Kasia Madera, who have all presented on the BBC's television channels, claimed they lost their jobs following a "rigged" recruitment exercise.

Keep ReadingShow less
Indian student in US self-deports after visa revocation

In this screenshot from a video posted by @Sec_Noem via X on March 14, 2025, Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian citizen who participated in pro-Palestinian protests at United State’s Columbia University, leaves the country after her visa was revoked by the Department of State. (@Sec_Noem via PTI Photo)

Indian student in US self-deports after visa revocation

AN INDIAN student at Columbia University, whose visa was revoked for allegedly supporting Hamas, has self-deported, says the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian citizen, came to the US on an F-1 student visa as a doctoral student in Urban Planning at Columbia University, and her visa was revoked on March 5.

Keep ReadingShow less
'Companies with diverse leadership are better positioned for growth'

From LtoR- Lord Karan Bilimoria, Sir Trevor Phillips, Seema Malhotra MP, David Tyler and Nathan Coe

'Companies with diverse leadership are better positioned for growth'

COMPANIES with diverse leadership are better positioned for sustainable growth, improved decision-making, and will connect better with multicultural markets, equalities minister Seema Malhotra has said.

She added that the government will soon launch a public consultation on their approach to mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting.

Keep ReadingShow less
Subrahmanyam Jaishankar with  Wang Yi (right)

Subrahmanyam Jaishankar with Wang Yi (right)

S Jaishankar: ‘Delhi’s global interests shape its regional ties'

INDIA today sees itself as a global power or, at least, a country with global interests, which is why Subrahmanyam Jaishankar has spoken of its equation with Russia, China and notably the Middle East.

India’s external affairs minister was in conversation last Wednesday (5) in London with Bronwen Maddox, director of the Royal Institute of International Affairs at Chatham House.

Keep ReadingShow less
'Hundreds of million pounds can be saved by abolishing NHS'

Keir Starmer speaks with medical staff during a visit to the Elective Orthopaedic Centre at Epsom Hospital in Epsom, England. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

'Hundreds of million pounds can be saved by abolishing NHS'


HUNDREDS of millions of pounds could be saved and patient waiting lists reduced as prime minister Keir Starmer announced plans to abolish NHS England, the body overseeing the state-funded health system.

In a speech delivered in Hull, Starmer explained his decision to streamline the National Health Service's management structure: "I can't, in all honesty, explain to the British people why they should spend their money on two layers of bureaucracy."

Keep ReadingShow less