Cyclone Montha intensifies over Bay of Bengal; Chirag Paswan backs Nitish Kumar

Cyclone Montha has strengthened into a severe cyclonic storm over the Bay of Bengal, prompting high alerts in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. Authorities are evacuating coastal areas and bracing for landfall near Kakinada late Monday night. The storm, with winds reaching 110 kmph, has already brought heavy rain and strong gusts to the region.

In a key political move ahead of the Bihar assembly polls, Chirag Paswan has announced his full backing for Nitish Kumar as the NDA’s chief ministerial candidate. Attacking the RJD, Paswan accused it of exploiting Muslims as a vote bank without genuine representation and alleged that Tejashwi Yadav misled the community over the Waqf (Amendment) Bill. His statement underscores renewed unity within the NDA, which he asserted is “much stronger” this time.