Maharashtra heads to the polls for 29 municipal corporations, with Mumbai's BMC election taking center stage as the BJP-led Mahayuti faces off against the Thackeray front. Key issues include promises for women, pollution control, and the city's financial health.
Special Intensive Revision (SIR), the Election Commission's voters' list cleanup exercise, will commence in nine states and three Union territories from Tuesday.
Years of repression and disappearances have taught Venezuelans, the hard way, not to voice either their anger or their joy, observes Radha Roy Biswas who spent her formative years in Venezuela.
Given Modi's track record from the time he became Gujarat chief minister in October 2001, it is highly improbable that Nabin will get opportunities to display his individual capacity. Even the team of organisational leaders that he will 'appoint' in a few weeks or months, will unlikely to be his choice, predicts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Election Commission officials clarified that three lakh voters were added to Bihar's electoral roll after the final list was published, following a special intensive revision and applications received until 10 days before the nomination deadline.
The Election Commission of India has invited all national and state political parties to provide suggestions by April 30 on any unresolved issues related to the electoral process. This call for feedback comes amid allegations of electoral roll manipulation, with opposition parties demanding a discussion in Parliament on the issue. The EC has also proposed an interaction with party presidents and senior members to further strengthen electoral processes.
The year began on an unusually dull note with boxers absent from most international competition in the aftermath of a medal-less Olympic campaign.
Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voters' list commenced in nine states and three Union territories on Tuesday, amid objections from several parties with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee leading the anti-SIR offensive in West Bengal with a rally in Kolkata and alleging 'silent, invisible rigging' through the exercise.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi criticized Home Minister Amit Shah's response to questions on electoral reforms, calling it 'completely defensive' and alleging 'vote chori' (vote theft).
The Election Commission will conduct phase two of the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in 12 states and Union territories between November and February, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar announced on Monday.
The BJP and its Mahayuti allies have won 68 seats unopposed in the Maharashtra civic polls scheduled for January 15, even as the Opposition parties alleged the ruling combine used threats and money to force candidates to withdraw from the fray.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and other leaders met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla after the Winter Session of Parliament was adjourned. They thanked Birla for the session's conduct.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee led a protest march in Kolkata against Enforcement Directorate searches linked to I-PAC, signaling a show of strength ahead of the 2026 assembly polls. The march featured cultural elements and participation from party members and celebrities.
As Tamil Nadu gears up for elections, a clash of films with distinct political ideologies is set to unfold at the box office, mirroring the rivalry between political parties.
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray demands cancellation of civic elections where candidates won unopposed, alleging corruption and manipulation by ruling parties. He also criticizes the Maharashtra legislative assembly speaker and the misuse of BMC funds.
Despite his influence, Pratik Jain avoids the spotlight. Credit is routinely passed on to colleagues. He maintains no visible faction within the TMC, no personal coterie.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee demanded an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for allegedly insulting novelist Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay by calling him "Bankim da."
Rahul alleged that 25 lakh votes were stolen in Haryana through 5.21 lakh duplicate voters, 93,174 invalid voters, and 19.26 lakh bulk voters.
'...the electoral playing field is tilted significantly in its favour.'
A notorious criminal with over 100 offenses, including murder, was arrested in Indore while attempting to register to vote. Abdul Rashid, also known as Talwar Singh, was wanted in multiple cases in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
A BMC spokesperson said the average voter turnout stood at 29.96 per cent till 1.30 pm in the metropolis, which has more than 1 crore eligible electors.
The Election Commission is ramping up preparations for a special intensive revision of voter lists across India, assessing the progress made on mapping current electors with voters as per the last SIR in different states.
'This outcome is thoroughly unexpected.' 'I travelled extensively across villages, engaged in detailed discussions with residents, and consulted with party workers who had been canvassing from village to village, from one location to another, seeking grassroots feedback.' 'Not a single interlocutor suggested that there would be an NDA wave of this magnitude.'
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi claims Union Home Minister Amit Shah appeared 'under pressure' during a Parliament debate on election reforms and avoided addressing allegations of 'vote chori'.
The first phase of the Bihar assembly polls recorded a historic turnout of 65.08 per cent, the highest in the state's history, according to the Election Commission.
In a first, the Bihar assembly polls this time saw no voting day deaths and no re-polling being ordered in any constituency.
Abdullah emphasised the 24x7 model of politics pursued by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his team, and said that "no sooner has one election finished, they've already moved into the next territory... We will move into those states two months before the elections. We will be lucky if we sew up our electoral alliances before the last date of filing nominations".
'It is clear they have accepted that the next two elections belong to the BJP.'
NCP-SP MP Supriya Sule acknowledges the role of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in her four Lok Sabha election victories, refraining from blaming them despite being part of an opposition coalition.
The Election Commission defended its Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise for Bihar's voter list in the Supreme Court, calling it accurate and dismissing allegations of impropriety by political parties and NGOs.
The share of none of the above (NOTA) option went up marginally this time in the Bihar assembly polls as compared to the last elections but is still much lower than 2015, data shared by the Election Commission shows.
A major controversy has erupted in West Bengal after a TMC MLA announced plans to lay the foundation stone of a mosque modeled on the Babri Masjid, leading to political backlash and concerns over communal polarization.
Forty-two members of the United States Congress, led by Democratic Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal and Congressman Greg Casar, have written to Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanding immediate sanctions against senior Pakistani officials for what they termed an 'escalating campaign of transnational repression and worsening human rights crisis in Pakistan' under the military-backed government of Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir.
Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) authorizes actor Vijay to decide on alliances for the upcoming Assembly elections and announces him as their Chief Ministerial candidate.
A section of BLOs in West Bengal protested excessive workload during the SIR process, leading to clashes with BJP supporters outside the CEO's office. The protest highlights concerns over the enumeration exercise and accusations of political interference.
The Winter session of Parliament will be held from December 1 to 19, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju announced on Saturday, in what the opposition has described as an 'unusually delayed' and truncated session.
A Trinamool Congress delegation on Friday alleged before the Election Commission top brass that around 40 SIR-related deaths had occurred in West Bengal so far, a charge junked by the poll authority.
The State Election Commission will adopt the voters' list of the assembly elections for civic polls, the Bombay high court was told on Tuesday, while hearing a plea by an 18-year-old woman who claimed her application to enrol as a voter after she turned 18 in April 2025 was not accepted.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah directed BJP leaders to intensify grassroots outreach in West Bengal, setting performance benchmarks for the upcoming state elections. He emphasized party unity and the importance of booth-level workers.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has approached the Supreme Court, contesting the legality of the Election Commission's order for a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Tamil Nadu, alleging it is arbitrary and unconstitutional.
