'Rather than criticising the kind of candidates fielded by political parties from our living rooms, NOTA in a sense implores the electorate to say this by turning up in person at a polling booth to ensure their protest is registered.'
Modi has proven to be a past master in the art of political survival. This means that learning to navigate the choppy waters of coalition government will be an art he will not take long to master, argues Shyam Parekh.
The BJP had registered a one-sided victory on all the 17 SC-reserved seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. But in 2019, out of these 17 seats, it lost Nagina and Lalganj seats to the Bahujan Samaj Party.
'Whether she is in power or not, she always makes it a point to visit us. This is her best quality as a leader.'
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United on Wednesday described as "high indiscipline" and "arbitrary" the support extended by its Nagaland unit to the newly formed government in that state where the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance returned to power.
Announcing that a district-wide bandh was being organised in protest against the killing, Chaudhary said that if no headway is made in the investigation within 48 hours, there will be a state-wide stir.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Sunday batted for introduction of compulsory voting in the country and said those failing to exercise their right to franchise should be barred from voting in future.
That's a deficit the NDA will have to make up with the help of 'friendly' alliance partners, the very groupings the PM has said are 'family-run'.
Parliamentarians and legislators across the country voted on Monday to elect India's 15th president, choosing between opposition pick Yashwant Sinha and National Democratic Alliance nominee Droupadi Murmu who is favoured to win the battle to the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Wrestler and Congress candidate Vinesh Phogat on Sunday said she expects to win each battle with the blessings of people as kicks off her campaign for the upcoming assembly election.
Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav on Monday alleged that the police and administration are preventing people from casting votes in Mainpuri parliamentary and Rampur Assembly constituency in the bypolls in Uttar Pradesh.
'The Opposition parties will continue to woo Chandrababu Naidu even though he has said he will support the BJP.'
If the Congress is contesting fewer seats than ever before, the BJP is set to contest its highest-ever number of Lok Sabha seats.
FHe is the only one among 17 ministers from the outgoing council of ministers who lost the Lok Sabha polls to be reappointed minister.
Amid some Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) constituents switching sides to the National Democratic Alliance, Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Sunday said the opposition alliance is 'strong' and the Bharatiya Janata Party is attempting a 'frantic rejig' of the political landscape as it is worried over the collective strength of the coalition.
The Congress now knows that it is the only force -- however weakened it might be -- that stands between the BJP and India's evolution into a single-party Republic. Because, once it is out of the way, the BJP could sort out the other regional powers: Co-opting some, demolishing others, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
The real risk is that the core assumption -- that the votes for a candidate sponsored by an alliance will at least equal the sum total of its parts -- proves to be facile, observes T N Ninan.
For the first time in his political career, he failed to carry his party to even a working majority -- and again, for the first time in his career, he finds himself in a situation where he cannot rule by dictatorial fiat, points out Prem Panicker.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav attacked its INDIA block ally Congress on caste census, reminding them that the party did not conduct a caste census when it was in power.
National Democratic Alliance nominee Om Birla was elected as Lok Sabha speaker on Wednesday after a motion moved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was adopted through voice vote, capping intense debate on the issue with the opposition in a rare move proposing its own candidate.
The Opposition had promised to scrap the Dharavi redevelopment project if it came to power. With the Mahayuti's massive mandate in the Maharashtra assembly election, that prospect has been laid to rest.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has written to Congress stalwart and former prime minister Manmohan Singh thanking him for his 'sheer presence' in Rajya Sabha despite his poor health to vote against the Delhi services bill.
'The inauguration of the Ram temple was the pinnacle of the BJP's religious politics.' 'Politics is dynamic. What goes up has to come down.'
Gujarat Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi's octogenarian mother Hiraben cast her vote in Gandhinagar on Wednesday like a typical common person.
'Someone who cannot even take his cabinet into confidence, how will he take the NDA alliance into confidence?'
'It is necessary to have a person at the top who can make strict decisions without hesitation. Modiji has done that.'
''The outcome of the state polls may lead to some strategy-related permutations and combinations and the markets may extrapolate it to the likely outcome in the general elections.'
The former Congress president alleged that PM Modi had a "monopoly over corruption".
Any decision to include "non-locals" in electoral rolls in Jammu and Kashmir is unacceptable and would be contested by all means, including in court, Nation Conference president Farooq Abdullah said on Monday after a meeting of nine parties over the issue.
When it comes to the Congress and Wayanad, the only way the scepticism in the minds of some in Kerala may be addressed is by the Gandhi family proving that they are more than a passing caravan in town, reports Shyam G Menon.
Addressing election rallies in the district headquarters towns of Shivamogga and Raichur, Gandhi alleged that the prime minister was in the know about the sex scandal and he could have got Prajwal arrested within seconds but allowed him to flee the country.
"The meeting was very fruitful and we all are very happy with the outcome. I could not attend the press conference after the conclave as I had to come back to Patna. My effort is to unite all opposition parties ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, and now things are taking shape," the Janata Dal-United leader said.
The 67-year-old gave the example of two neighbouring states, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, to buttress his point on why seat-sharing pattern of the INDIA bloc will vary from state to state.
'BJP and RSS may have differences over minor issues but their hearts long for one common aim -- that of A Hindu Rashtra.' 'And this time to prove this point the RSS has prepared to help BJP win this election with all its might.'
The climate for 'doing business' remains forbidding, taxtortion is still rife, corruption at state and district levels has increased, oil prices remain extortive with high taxation, and the continued red tape has kept the enterprise system as stifled as before, points out Debashis Basu.
'In India, political parties want to portray their leaders as cinematic heroes critical of their opponents.' 'This is where memes come into play.'
The exit polls have predicted the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena alliance getting elected in Maharashtra but have differed in their projection of a number of seats.
Despite the upbeat statement, the party is expected to reflect on what caused the sharp fall in its numbers. It is expected to win about 240 seats against the 303 it had won in 2019.
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