The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday announced Prime Minister Narendra Modi will fight again from Varanasi in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as it named 34 Union ministers in the first list of 195 candidates.
In India elections are never fought in a straight line. It's fought on many issues, at many levels, with multiple emotions and with a bit of good luck, too. Sheela Bhatt reports from Rajasthan.
"It is a historic day. We are making history today," Law Minister said.
"For the Lok Sabha elections, we are making meticulous planning on all fronts including electronic voting machines (EVMs) and the voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT)," he said.
The incident, which came months after the lynching of dairy farmer Pehlu Khan by suspected cow vigilantes in Alwar, has triggered an outrage.
Chhote Lal, who was the sixth accused to be arrested, has a criminal history.
While acknowledging that they needed strong allies for a chance in the assembly polls, AIADMK cadres seemingly prefer actor-politician Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam to the BJP, owing to the latter's 'communal agenda' and consequent hardline Hindutva image, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
Kirodi Lal Meena has resigned as a minister in the Rajasthan government following the Bharatiya Janata Party's underwhelming performance in the Lok Sabha polls in the state.
BJP heavyweights Smriti Irani, Arjun Munda, Ajay Mishra Teni and Kailash Chaudhary were among the 13 Union ministers who tasted defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, as stunning losses in three Hindi heartland states forced the BJP to rely on allies to form the government.
The BJP is far more prepared than the Congress as their pool of prospective candidates is much bigger, reports Prakash Bhandari.
Eight Union ministers, two former chief ministers and one ex-governor are among those who are set to test their electoral fate in the first phase of elections on April 19 when 102 seats across 21 states and Union territories will go to polls.
The BJP, which has allied with a few smaller parties, has sought to upend the state's conventional politics, which has so far been indifferent to Hindutva politics, by taking the ruling DMK head-on for its alleged insult of Sanatan Dharma besides involvement in corruption.
In 2018, the BJP's rare successes in north-east India aside, everything that could go wrong, did go wrong for the party.
Never before has the BJP faced such a crisis over the nomination of the Chief Minister as it is facing now, discovers Prakash Bhandari, veteran observer of Rajasthan politics.
Rajsamand MP Diya Kumari and Jaipur Rural MP Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore are among the seven BJP parliamentarians who will contest the Rajasthan Assembly polls, according to the first list of 41 candidates issued by the party on Monday.
The wanted to suppress the news, save the accused for the sake of the vote bank, Modi said.
Watch Opposition vs Government duel in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha LIVE.
The BJP leadership believes these parties are flexing their muscles in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls for better seat-sharing deals.
The Congress may stand a better chance in the assembly polls if it followed the 'Himachal model', suggests N Sathiya Moorthy.
Had an inquiry been done, the then home minister (Rajnath Singh) would have to resign. Many officers would have been jailed and there would have been a huge controversy, Malik said.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's son Vaibhav will contest from Jodhpur and Manvendra from Barmer.
With Thursday's win, the Congress's strength in the Lok Sabha has gone up to 48.
Three out of the four royal scions who are contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Rajasthan will face a tough challenge. P B Chandra profiles the regal candidates.
"In May 2014, the BJP won 282 Lok Sabha seats. In four years, BJP government is down to 271, losing its simple majority in Lok Sabha minus its allies - considering the fact that PM Modi has suspended Kirti Azad and virtually disowned their most truthful, fiercely independent Patna Sahib MP," Surjewala tweeted.
The BJP seems wanting to return to a 'Tamil Hindutva' agenda for elections in Tamil Nadu, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
Within four years of winning a single party majority in the Lok Sabha with 282 seats -- the first time it has happened in 30 years -- the BJP has lost it.
He also targeted the Congress government in Rajasthan, saying that had it set up a special court in the Kanhaiya Lal murder case, which happened in Udaipur last year, the accused would have been hanged by now.
Watch Opposition vs Government duel in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha LIVE.
Supporters of the two leaders are competing in Hadoti to highlight their dominance, which is visible from the hoardings in the region. This has also led to blame games between leaders of the two factions.
The highest winning margin was registered by BJP candidate Subhash Chandra Baheria in Bhilwara who defeated Congress candidate Ram Pal Sharma with a margin of 6,12,000 votes.
On Friday, he clarified that he was referring to Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh where no such incident had taken place. "We do not justify anarchy and hooliganism," he said, adding that the incident in Alwar did take place and an FIR has been registered against six persons.
The BJP has fielded 18 MPs, including four Union ministers, for the latest round of assembly polls so far -- seven each in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan and four in Chhattisgarh.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, along with several party leaders, embarked on the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' from Kanyakumari on Thursday, marking the beginning of a challenging journey through which the party is seeking to reach out to people and rejuvenate its organisation.
YSR Congress MP Goddeti Madhavi has declared assets of just about Rs 1 lakh whereas the BJP's Pragya Singh Thakur, at 4th poorest, is worth Rs 4.44 lakh.
The Congress leader, responsible for the party's victory in the recent bypolls, has slogged it out, meeting people, establishing contact and listening, all the time, to people.
There will be total of 51 seats going to polls spread across 7 states in the fifth phase.
Sources said the new heads of the party in Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh will be announced soon.
Among the candidates who were leading were Congress's Sachin Pilot in Ajmer, Jitendra Singh in Alwar, Seeshram Ola in Jhunjhunu, Namo Narayan Meena in Tonk-Sawaimadhopur, C P Joshi in Bhilwara and Girija Vyas in Chittorgarh
After the denial of ticket to Jaswant Singh, a member of the Rajput community and a former Union minister, BJP cadres and members of the community across Rajasthan are incensed, says Shahnawaz Akhtar
'The sacrifice made by Queen Padmini is a matter of pride for the state,' Raje said.
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