A panel of Union ministers will hold a fourth round of talks with farmer leaders in Chandigarh on Sunday over their demands, including loan waiver and bringing an ordinance on giving legal guarantee to a minimum support price (MSP) for crops.
A fierce competition among parties to offer freebies and guarantees, a scramble for tribal, OBC, women votes and a touch of Hindutva -- all have combined to make the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls a high-stakes battle with main rivals BJP and the Congress pulling out all the stops to gain power.
The response was tepid in other parts of the country even as several INDIA bloc parties as well as other non-BJP outfits extended their support to the bandh.
Mann said that the results in Gujarat, where the party exerted all its efforts to make inroads, will be "surprising".
The Sikhs love a good fight, and that's what the Modi government has given them.
Delhi and Punjab are ruled by the AAP and these are the only two states that have free electricity supply, he said.
Saturday's voting will mark the end to the marathon polling process that began on April 19 month and has already covered 486 Lok Sabha seats in 28 states and Union territories.
Shah asserted that the BJP will once again form the government in Uttar Pradesh with a comfortable majority.
At many places, where the voters had entered booths before 6 pm and were standing in queues, they were allowed to cast their votes.
Last month, the Channi government replaced the state's advocate general A P S Deol after strong opposition from Sidhu.
When events like these take place, it is easy for the BJP to portray the Gandhis as latter-day versions of the Borgias or Medicis, who toy with their nobles and promote favourites, points out Vir Sanghvi.
"The decision of extending the jurisdiction of the Border Security Force (BSF) from 15 km to 50 km by the Union Government is an expression of distrust towards the state Police and people of Punjab. This is their insult too," the resolution passed unanimously by the state Legislative Assembly stated.
The party has fielded Dr Charanjit Singh from Sri Chamkaur Sahib against Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi.
Long queues were seen at outpatient department ticket counters in government hospitals, where senior doctors joined their junior colleagues in the protest.
As many as eight exit polls -- ABP News-CVoter, ETG Research, India Today- Axis My India, India TV-CNX, Zee News-DESIGNBOXED, India News, News 24 Today's Chanakya and Republic P-MARQ -- predicted 240-plus seats for the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, earmarking an average seat of the party with its allies in the state at 241 out of the total of 403 seats.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Punjab visit was cut short on Wednesday after a "major security lapse" as he was stranded on a flyover for 20 minutes due to a blockade by protesters, prompting the Union Home Ministry to seek an immediate report from the state government and strict action against those responsible.
The CISF, tasked with providing security at airports, has also ordered a court of inquiry into the incident.
AAP is working on its new strategy to build a strong organisational set-up with leaders from all sections of society, reports Nitin Kumar.
Several candidates, including Taranjit Singh Sandhu, the BJP's Amritsar candidate, are promising resumption of India-Pakistan trade via the Attari-Wagah land route.
Navjot Singh Sidhu was not part of the Channi-led 'jatha' (group) which went to pay obeisance at the gurdwara.
Besides the national capital, polling for the sixth round of the marathon seven-phase elections will be held Saturday in 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh, all 10 seats of Haryana, eight seats each in Bihar and West Bengal, six seats in Odisha, four seats in Jharkhand and one seat in Jammu and Kashmir.
At a time when rallies and large gatherings are banned by the Election Commission in view of a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases, political parties in Punjab are battling it out on social media platforms as they promote their agendas for people and also counter any negative propaganda by their opponents.
Kejriwal batted for positive politics in the country to ensure that India becomes number one country in the world
Pardeep Singh was shot in his dairy shop at around 7 am in Kotkapura in Faridkot, the police said, adding that his security man and another person sustained bullet injuries in the incident.
He also asserted that no one can take the place of Kejriwal in the AAP.
Ten ministers were inducted into the Mann-led cabinet on Saturday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday claimed that the Congress and Samajwadi Party will run a bulldozer over the Ram temple if elected to power, and asked them to take 'tuition' from Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath 'where to run bulldozers'.
Non-BJP chief ministers holding the home portfolios are Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal), Nitish Kumar (Bihar), Naveen Patnaik (Odisha) and MK Stalin (Tamil Nadu).
Atishi said that all AAP leaders and volunteers will change their profile picture on X, Facebook, WhatsApp and other social media accounts with the new one showing Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal behind the bars captioned "Modi Ka Sabse Bada Dar Kejriwal".
'Rahul Gandhi is going to turn 54 and in India political leaders peak when they are around 60.' 'This 'bhai-behen ki jodi' has done a wonderful job for the Congress.' 'Priyanka Gandhi was a very effective campaigner.'
Taking note of a plea of an Aam Aadmi Party councillor alleging wrongdoing in the polls, the court issued notices to the Chandigarh authorities, including the civic body.
'The Congress is trying to cover up their anti-incumbency by highlighting the Dalit CM factor.'
Here are some of the glimpses.
The Congress is banking on decisions like reducing electricity tariff and fuel prices, taken during current CM Charanjit Singh Channi's 111-day tenure.
The party is eyeing at expanding its footprint across the country and has tied up with the Congress to contest the Lok Sabha polls against the BJP in Delhi, Haryana and Gujarat.
Unemployment, delivery of justice in desecration cases, illegal sand mining and drug menace are likely to be key issues in the Punjab assembly elections.
The additional director general of police (security), however, said in an order on Friday that the security personnel were 'being withdrawn on a purely temporary basis in connection with an emergent law and order duty'.
Polling was by and large peaceful in the bypolls for three Lok Sabha and seven assembly seats spread across five states and Delhi on Thursday barring an incident of stabbing of a policeman in Tripura, where polling was the highest at 76.62 per cent.
Shekhawat, the BJP's poll in-charge for Punjab, said to finalise the seat sharing agreement, a joint committee will be formed comprising two leaders from each party.
The governor's approval came a day after the AAP government informed him about the issues to be taken up during the session.
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