Campaigning ended on Wednesday evening for 102 Lok Sabha seats across 21 states and Union territories which will go to polls in the first phase on April 19 with top leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance and the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) making a last-gasp effort to woo voters.
At least 30 people were killed and 11 injured when a bus they were travelling in skidded off the road and fell into a deep gorge near Sonapur in East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya.
At least five policemen were killed and a huge cache of arms and ammunition were looted by militants belonging to the outlawed Garo National Liberation Army in an ambush in Garo hills of Meghalaya on Tuesday.
Meghalaya Chief Minister J D Rymbai resigned on Saturday.
National People's Party (NPP) president Conrad K Sangma on Monday said his party will have eight ministers in the next Meghalaya government headed by him, while its allies will get four ministerial berths.
Voting for the second phase of Lok Sabha polls will be held on Friday for 88 seats in 13 states with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi seeking a second-straight term from Wayanad in Kerala.
Polling is scheduled in all 20 seats of Kerala, 14 of the 28 seats in Karnataka, 13 seats in Rajasthan, eight seats each in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, six seats in Madhya Pradesh, five seats each in Assam and Bihar, three seats each in Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, and one seat each in Manipur, Tripura and Jammu and Kashmir.
The rank and status of the president of the Meghalaya unit of Congress, Friday Lyngdoh, has been elevated to that of a chief minister, an official notification said on Sunday. "The rank and status of Lyngdoh has been upgraded from the rank of deputy chief minister to that of chief minister. He shall continue to function as a political advisor to the chief minister," it said. The elevation of Lyngdoh's status is seen as a move to pacify a simmering resentment among Congress.
The renowned education reformist said the end of the hunger strike is the beginning of the new phase of the ongoing agitation.
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The Election Commission has shot down a proposal by the Meghalaya government for early polls in the state, official sources said on Thursday.
Sarma said no NDA partner will enter into any alliance with either Congress or the Trinamool Congress after the results are declared on Thursday.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies are well on the way to power in two north-eastern states, and is almost certain to be part of the ruling dispensation in the third.
Polling began to elect 60 members to the ninth Meghalaya Assembly from among 345 candidates on Saturday with an electorate of 15.3 lakh.
Trinamool Congress sources on Wednesday claimed the Congress delayed the talks and made unreasonable demands on seat-sharing without acknowledging the ground reality.
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Four militants belonging to the outlawed Garo National Liberation Army were killed by the Meghalaya police during a special operation conducted in search of a hideout in a remote village in East Garo Hills district of Meghalaya.
Meghalaya, which witnessed a controversial confidence vote in the Assembly, was today brought under the Central rule and the state assembly put under suspended animation.
The term of the Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura legislative assemblies is ending on March 6, March 13 and March 14 respectively.
An Indian Air Force transport carrier 'C-130J Super Hercules' with 20 Odisha Fire Services personnel onboard will provide help to the authorities in the East Jaintia Hills.
There are 27 crorepati candidates from different political parties including independents in the fray in the Meghalaya assembly election scheduled to be held on March 3.
The poll panel said the seizures made since the polls were announced on October 9 are over seven times (Rs 239.15 crore) the seizures made in the previous assembly elections in these states in 2018.
With avian flu spreading fast in West Bengal, Meghalaya has sounded a high alert and an expert team is expected to reach the state on Thursday to oversee precautionary measures.
The North Eastern states of Mizoram and Meghalaya are making their colourful presence felt in markets across the country and abroad, thanks to the anthriums and roses produced by them. In Meghalaya, roses are cultivated by female gardeners who often belong to local self-help groups. The mass cultivation of roses and anthriums started in November 2002.
Voters include 8.4 crore men, 8.23 crore women and 11,371 from third gender. There are as many as 35.67 lakh first time voters, besides 3.51 crore young voters in the age group of 20-29 years.
In all there are 331 candidates from different political parties, including 73 Independents contesting election to 59 assembly constituencies. Election to constituency No 37 (Baghmara) has been postponed due to death of a candidate.
East Garo Hills deputy commissioner Pravin Bakshi said the army would move in shortly and curfew will remain in force in the affected areas. Curfew has also been clamped on areas in the Assam side by the Goalpara administration.
Defying a bandh called by militants in seven districts, 51 per cent of the over 15 lakh electorate cast their votes in the first five hours of polling to the 60-member Meghalaya assembly on Saturday. "Till 1:pm around 51 per cent of votes were cast out of the 15 lakh plus voters in the state," Chief Election Officer P Naik said.
'The fraud is the electronic voting machine is being manipulated by humans, and not counting the votes that is shown on VVPAT.'
Congress, which emerged as the single largest party with 25 seats in the 60-member assembly, has already elected Chief Minister D D Lapang as its Legislature Party leader and is expected to meet Governor S S Sidhu shortly to stake claim. The NCP, which won 14 seats, has combined with the 11-member United Democratic Party, a former ally of Congress, and the lone BJP member to form the Meghalaya Progressive Alliance to support its claim.
Sarma added that the oath-taking ceremony would take place on March 6.
The data provided by the Association for Democratic Reforms states that out of thes 60 members of Legislative Assembly, 36 (or 60 per cent) are crorepatis.
Byrnihat in Meghalaya topped the list of most polluted cities in India in 2023, closely followed by Begusarai in Bihar and Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh, according to a report released on Wednesday.
The Solicitor General had told the bench that several members of the National Disaster Response Force were working at the site and instead of the army, the government has sent navy personnel there as the mine was submerged in water.
Shortly after his predecessor J D Rymbai resigned earlier in the day, Lapang called on Governor M M Jacob and staked claim to form the ministry stating that he was elected the new Congress Legislature Party leader.
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However, the National Disaster Response Force, which has been engaged in the rescue operation since the day of the tragedy on December 13 last, will continue with their services.
The IMD has warned of heatwave to severe heatwave conditions in parts of West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh during the next five days.
Two police constables in Meghalaya were forced to drink the urine of their fellow trainees by their instructor as punishment following a minor scuffle in the camp, official sources said today.
Former Lok Sabha Speaker Purno A Sangma who is now out of the Nationalist Congress Party has formed Nationalist People's Party, a new political party in Meghalaya to contest the next round of Assembly elections in the northeastern hill State in early 2013.
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