Assembly polls in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal, Odisha and Sikkim will also be held simultaneously, the Election Commission said.
Even his critics say Thaawar Chand Gehlot is a man of delivery. 'If a task is assigned, he wins it over with political sagacity,' they say.
Tamil Nadu electricity minister was arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), official sources said, making him the first minister in the M K Stalin-led government to face such an action from a central agency.
The two parties had fallen out with each other in October last year when the RJD unilaterally decided to contest by-elections for two assembly seats, evoking strong protest from the Congress which vowed to go it alone in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and the assembly elections which will be held a year later.
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.
Subhash Yadav and Sadhu Yadav, who were powerful faces during the 15-year Lalu-Rabri rule, are now working towards ensuring that Rashtriya Janata Dal chief and his sons face defeat in the forthcoming Bihar elections.
The grand alliance of the JD-U and the RJD have decided a seat sharing program to contest together in the coming Bihar assembly polls to defeat the BJP-led NDA.
The go-ahead given to prosecute Arundhati Roy would be seen by supporters of freedom of speech as an announcement that the Right-Wing doesn't feel humbled by the results of the elections, argues Shyam G Menon.
'Sharad Yadav was deeply hurt by Nitish Kumar's decision, taken without consulting the senior party leaders at a time when opposition unity was to be strengthened against the BJP. He felt ignored and is likely to take a final stand soon.'
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.
The Mayawati-led BSP will fight 20 of the 117 assembly seats in Punjab, while the rest will be contested by the SAD.
Ahead of counting of votes, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Monday said his party was open to the idea of taking support of Mehbooba Mufti's People's Democratic Party to form government in the Union territory.
Republican Party of India chief Ramdas Athawale on Friday claimed that Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray was "very keen" on coalition with the estranged ally Bharatiya Janata Party for formation of a government in Maharashtra.
While some in the Congress were apprehensive that land grab allegations against her husband Robert Vadra could turn out to be Priyanka's Achilles heel, much of the BJP leadership opted not to bring up the issue at the current juncture.
In a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday said when the elections are over, people will only remember him as the PM who indulged in 'divisive and communal speeches filled with lies' to avoid an inevitable defeat.
The journey of the prime minister in public office began on October 7, 2001, as the chief minister of Gujarat.
A senior state BJP leader had said earlier in the day that Sawant would induct BJP MLA and Deputy Speaker of Goa Assembly Michael Lobo, and three of the ten MLAs who have switched over from the Congress.
"As part of NDA, we look forward to joining forces with you in Maharashtra to help secure victory in upcoming Lok Sabha elections & beyond. @nitishkumar," Kishor tweeted while tagging JD-U president Nitish Kumar.
'The Congress agreed to it, but the RJD has some problem with Kanhaiya.'
Dissent in BJP grows stronger as more leaders question party's poll strategy in Bihar.
Barclays, the global brokerage firm, also stated that the election verdict could lead to a weakness in the stock market.
The meetings with the chief ministers will be held on Saturday, an official said.
JD-U national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan, who addressed a press conference in Patna, however, dismissed queries about Kumar's absence at the NITI Aayog meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with the terse remark 'you should ask the chief minister'.
The polls are being viewed as a run-up to the general elections scheduled for May 2019 and will test the popularity of the government and its policies amid rising crude oil prices
The Rajya Sabha elections have again highlighted dissension and lack of cohesion in the opposition ranks from Maharashtra to Karnataka and Haryana.
The opposition strategy to corner the government on Manipur will continue in the Rajya Sabha as well, the sources said.
A protegee of Advani, she stood out due to her mass appeal, an ability most of the party's second generation leaders lacked, resulting in her being elected to the Lok Sabha four times.
If Saudi Arabia, with just two Muslim holy sites of Mecca and Medina, can create a huge tourism-based ecosystem beyond oil, Ayodhya is sure to become the world's hottest religious tourism site in less than a decade, predicts R Jagannathan.
The marathon meeting, spread over two sessions and kept under wraps, came a day after top leaders of socialist-leaning parties attended SP's silver jubilee meet here -- a move seen as an attempt by Mulayam to forge an alliance ahead of the assembly polls hardly a few months away.
'Shatrughan Sinha's name is in the Congress's probable candidates list.'
'Rahul Gandhi is the face of the INDIA alliance. If he contests against a BJP candidate and defeats her/him, it will send a strong message.'
M Karunanidhi was a masterful practitioner of modern-day politics, wielding considerable influence beyond his own state, in the corridors of power in New Delhi, for a long time and sewing up alliances with both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Yadav claimed that his boss Nitish Kumar, with whom he took oath the day before, has issued instructions to the officials concerned to accord "top priority" to job creation.
Naidu, a former BJP ally, said he will meet non-BJP political leader and convince them about the need to fight collectively against the BJP.
Did Nitish Kumar want to return to the Mahagathbandhan 6 months after aligning with the BJP?
The new government will face four big challenges -- subdued growth, the fiscal and current account deficits and sticky inflation, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan said.
Ahead of the crucial third round of discussions, the opposition INDIA bloc on Wednesday exuded confidence that it would provide a formidable alternative to bring political change in the country and asserted that it has several prime ministerial faces against BJP's only one.
Mulyama's remarks came against the backdrop of marathon meetings Congress' poll strategist Prashant Kishor had with him in Delhi and Lucknow.
Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien said the situation in Bihar is one of the reasons behind the Parliament session being cut short by the government.
Both Narendra Modi and Amit Shah have refused to meet Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha.
