Politics

‘Full cooperation to new govt’: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar’s first remark on Rajya Sabha move

Nitish Kumar news: In his first remarks after reports of his Rajya Sabha nomination, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar assured that his resolve to work for the state will remain steady, affirming “full cooperation and guidance” to the new government that will be formed.. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar assured the people of Bihar that his relationship with them “will continue in the future as well”. (Santosh Kumar/Hindustan Times). The Janata Dal (United) chief’s remarks came just hours after reports of him filing a nomination for the Rajya Sabha surfaced. As a result, Nitish Kumar would be vacating the Bihar CM seat, HT reported earlier.. Nitish Kumar expressed the “desire” in his heart, saying that from the very beginning of his parliamentary journey, he wanted to become a member of both Houses of the Bihar Legislature as well as both Houses of Parliament.. In a post on X, the Bihar CM said, “For more than two decades, you have consistently placed your trust and support in me, and it is on the strength of that trust that we have served Bihar and all of you with complete dedication. It was the power of your trust and support that has enabled Bihar today to present a new dimension of development and dignity. For this, I have expressed my gratitude to you many times in the past as well.”. ALSO READ | Congress names six Rajya Sabha candidates, renominates Singhvi and Netam. He further assured the people of Bihar that his relationship with them will “continue in the future as well”, adding that his resolve to work with them to build a developed state will “remain steadfast”.. “The new government that will be formed will have my full cooperation and guidance,” Kumar added.. Five Rajya Sabha seats from Bihar are scheduled to go to polls on March 16. The elections have been necessitated by the end of the terms of JD(U)’s Harivansh Narayan Singh and Ram Nath Thakur, RJD’s Prem Chand Gupta and Amarendra Dhari Singh, and RLM’s Upendra Kushwaha.. With Nitish Kumar likely to step down from the CM post just months after leading the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to a landslide victory in the 2025 Bihar assembly elections, a BJP leader is likely to take over the top office.. Samrat Choudhary and Nityanand Rai are the two probable contenders in the running, HT reported earlier, citing people familiar with the matter.. This will also mark the first time that Bihar will get its first BJP chief minister, that is, if the above-mentioned scenario takes place. The state is the only one in the Hindi heartland where the BJP has not held office so far.

Politics

LPG prices go up by ₹60 as Iran-US war sends ripples across the world

Energy supply disruptions due to the war in West Asia have hit the common man as State-run oil marketing companies on Saturday raised cooking gas prices across the country by ₹60 per 14.2 kg cylinder, taking the price of domestic liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders in Delhi to ₹913 — the highest retail price since August 2023.. Photo for representation (AFP). According to industry executives, the current rate hike reflects a partial transmission of the impact caused by an energy supply crunch in West Asia after the war in the region disrupted tanker movement through the Strait of Hormuz. This triggered a surge in benchmark Brent crude prices to $94.64 a barrel in Friday’s session before settling at $93.32, a nearly 27% jump in just one week. Similarly, halting of liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies from Qatar saw Asian spot LNG prices surging more than double from about $10 per metric million British thermal unit (mmBtu) to about $25 mmBtu.. Also read: Over 52,000 Indians returned home from crisis-hit Middle East since March 1, says MEA. People aware of the matter, requesting anonymity, said that State-run companies are unlikely to raise petrol and diesel prices immediately as they have significant cushion to shield the consumer from the price shock. HT on March 6 reported that State-run refiners’ combined net profit exceeded ₹57,810 crore in the first nine months of FY26, a 192% increase from the ₹19,768 crore they earned in the same period in FY25.. The firms, however, decided to raise kitchen fuel rates for Indian households –– the first hike in 11 months. Cooking gas price in India was last raised by ₹50 a cylinder to ₹853 per cylinder on April 8, 2025.. City-wise retail prices vary because of transportation costs and local levies. The cost of a cylinder jumped to ₹939 in Kolkata from ₹879 on Saturday. Similarly, it cost ₹912.50 a cylinder in Mumbai (from ₹852.50) and ₹928.50 in Chennai (from ₹868.50).. Price of 19 kg commercial LPG cylinders, used for industrial purposes, also jumped by ₹114.50 to ₹1,883 per cylinder in Delhi.. Also read: Delhi heads into summers with hottest March week in 50 yrs, mercury up in north India. Three state-run oil marketing companies (OMCs) –– Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) –– dominate the retail LPG sector in the country. Poor households will also pay a higher price for gas, but they will continue to get the ₹300 per cylinder subsidy under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY).