Surveys suggest that the AAP would win 40 seats in the 182-member assembly if elections are held tomorrow.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Gujarat was unable to end its 18-year jinx in Visavadar as it lost the bypolls to Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party despite a strong campaign.
The bodies were charred beyond recognition. The DNA samples of the bodies and the victim's relatives have been collected for identification of the deceased, they said.
The administration is geared up for more showers as the India meteorological department has warned of heavy to very heavy rains with isolated extremely heavy rains in several districts of the state till Thursday morning.
Gujarat assembly Speaker Nimaben Acharya, who won from Bhuj seat of Kutch district in 2012 and 2017, has also been denied ticket this time by the party.
Cyclone Asna, formed over the coast of Kutch in Gujarat earlier during the day, has moved into the Arabian sea towards Oman without leaving any major impact on the region, officials said on Friday evening.
Some areas were under 10 to 12 feet of water, said health minister and government spokesperson Rushikesh Patel.
Ahmedabad civic authorities launched a massive demolition drive on Tuesday, razing over 2,000 illegally constructed houses and properties in the Chandola Lake area. The operation, which involved around 50 teams equipped with earthmovers and 2,000 police personnel, was carried out days after illegal Bangladeshi immigrants were detained from these settlements. The Gujarat High Court declined to stay the action, observing that the dwellings were situated on the periphery of the water body and therefore subject to demolition under the Land Revenue Code. Authorities also demolished the illegal farmhouse of Lalu Pathan, alleged mastermind behind the encroachments, who is suspected to have helped illegal immigrants obtain rental accommodation and Aadhaar cards.
The share of Ahmedabad in the total value of trades on both the BSE and NSE is set to touch double digits for the third year in a row.
The situation in rain-battered Gujarat improved slightly on Thursday as the rainfall activity subsided, but Vadodara and some other parts of the state are still reeling under a flood-like situation due to overflowing rivers while the authorities continue the rescue and relief operations.
Glimpses from the International Kite Festival in Ahmedabad, the Jeevan Kite and River Festival in Guwahati and preparations for Makar Sankranti in Nagpur.
Lakshman Prasad Acharya has been made the governor of Assam with the additional charge of Manipur while Gulab Chand Kataria has replaced Banwarilal Purohit as the governor of Punjab under major gubernatorial appointments, the Rashtrapati Bhavan has announced.
Governor Acharya Devvrat administered the oath to 10 cabinet ministers and 14 ministers of state, including five ministers of state with independent charge.
The chief minister said after consultation, the government will take its decision with respect to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, the official custodian of world-renowned Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple in Tirupati.
Among the major parties, out of the 25 BJP candidates, four, or 15 percent, have criminal cases against them, with two facing serious charges, as per the data of ADR.
Former ministers have either maintained silence or supported the `no-repeat' formula adopted by the top Bharatiya Janata Party leadership.
'Maharashtra, Telangana and Karnataka were competing for the Foxconn-Vedanta semiconductor manufacturing plant'
Patel made it clear ministers as well as officials of various departments must be available, except in unavoidable circumstances, in their offices on these two days so that people coming to Gandhinagar from far flung areas as well as MLAs and MPs can easily meet them and make representation about local issues and their grievances.
He arrived at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Airport in the city in the evening and headed straight to the Ashram, the former home of Mahatma Gandhi which also served as one of the main centres of India's freedom struggle.
A day after 12 students and two teachers were killed in a boat accident in Harni lake on the outskirts of Vadodara city in Gujarat, three persons, including a manager of a contractor, have been arrested, said a police official on Friday.
A video purportedly showing gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, lodged in Ahmedabad's Sabarmati Central Prison since August 2023, speaking to Pakistan's gangster Shahzad Bhatti on a video call surfaced on Tuesday, prompting the Gujarat government to order a probe.lawr
To shore up its finances, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Gujarat has planned to collect over Rs 200 crore from its workers and supporters ahead of the assembly elections slated by the year-end, said an office-bearer on Monday.
Here's how our netas faring in the elections.
'They contest to ensure they win the election.'
Aam Aadmi Party's Gopal Italia on Monday won from Gujarat's Visavadar assembly constituency and his party also retained Punjab's Ludhiana West seat while the Congress-led United Democratic Front wrested Nilambur from the ruling Left Democratic Front in Kerala, according to results of assembly bypolls in four states.
The BJP has done extremely well in the Patidar-dominated constituencies of the state, winning almost every seat that has significant Patel population.
The Gujarat government has announced that people will not be fined for violation of traffic rules during the Diwali festival this year.
The recent bridge collapse in Morbi in which 135 people were killed may have an impact on BJP's electoral fortunes.
The meeting, which began around 10:30 pm on Thursday, lasted for more than four hours and was held at the party's headquarters in New Delhi.
Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Monday held a review meeting as well as took stock of the ongoing rescue operation after the suspension bridge over Machchu river collapsed on Sunday.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday attributed the party's "historic" victory in Gujarat assembly polls to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's credibility and people's trust in his leadership.
The HC also criticised the principal secretary of the urban development and urban housing department for preparing and submitting such a report, nearly 6 months after 14 persons lost their lives in the tragedy.
He said that due to unfortunate circumstances such a significant and impactful event of the freedom struggle could not find its place in history books.
'The same thing takes place in the Congress and we have to call it democracy'
Moderate turnout was recorded in the first four hours of polling across five assembly constituencies across Punjab, West Bengal, Gujarat and Kerala where bypolls are underway on Thursday.
In a bid to nullify anti-incumbency sentiment, the ruling party dropped 45 MLAs including former chief minister Vijay Rupani.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday night chaired a meeting on the Morbi bridge collapse in Gujarat and asked authorities to extend all possible help to those affected by the tragedy, officials said.
The BJP could surpass its previous best showing of 127 seats in 2002 when Modi was the chief minister.
