In less than 24 hours of submitting his resignation, Nitish Kumar joined hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party and returned to power on the same post of Chief Minister.

The pilgrims use either the south Kashmir Pahalgam or the north Kashmir Baltal route to reach the cave shrine situated at 3,888 metres above sea-level. Helicopter services are also available for pilgrims on both routes.

Nitish Kumar, who on Wednesday resigned as Bihar Chief Minister and dumped the RJD and Congress to stitch a new alliance with BJP, will be sworn-in again as new Chief Minister on Thursday, informed sources said.

A minor girl was raped in a private school cab in west Delhi by its driver who has been arrested, police said on Wednesday.

Dissatisfied with Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh's reply on a discussion on the agrarian crisis and farmers' suicides in the country, the entire opposition on Wednesday walked out of the Rajya Sabha.

In dramatic developments in Bihar, Nitish Kumar on Wednesday resigned as Chief Minister dumping the RJD and Congress to stitch a new alliance with BJP, which quickly announced support to a new government under him and said it will join it too.

Bihar Political Crisis: In Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP scored a resounding victory in the Assembly polls earlier this year, there was talk in political circles that the Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and Congress should have joined hands to form a Bihar-like alliance.

JD-U leader Nitish Kumar on Wednesday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for supporting his decision to quit as the Bihar Chief Minister over differences with the RJD.

D-U leader K.C. Tyagi on Wednesday said the decision of forming the Grand Alliance government in Bihar was "a mistake" and ruled out any possibility of patch-up with the RJD.

BJP senior leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, who is part of the three-member committee formed by the party high command to give a report on the situation in Bihar, made the announcement here.