The Election Commission has deputed a special observer for the Lok sabha polls in two parliamentary constituencies -- Saran and Maharajganj in Bihar, to ensure free and fair elections that will be held on May 7, officials on Monday said.
'We were children and could not distinguish freedom from bondage, but we could understand that a momentous and happy event was imminent.'
Sources said the opposition parties would look to avoid the prickly leadership question as of now and emphasise on building a common ground.
Another meeting convened by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence in New Delhi on Wednesday with the floor leaders of the INDIA constituents in Parliament will, however, go ahead according to its schedule to formulate the opposition strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
'They gave Nitish their votes to bring progress. But he forgot this and got involved with his own political interests. That is not done. So he was rejected.' 'Lalu is a symbol of anarchy. He is the symbol of regressive politics.' BJP General Secretary Dharmendra Pradhan discusses Lalu, Nitish, and his strategy to bring Bihar in the BJP's fold, with Vaihayasi Pande Daniel/Rediff.com
What some of our leaders were up to in the last couple of days.
This time however, the poll panel did not share the overall polling percentage at its briefing.
'The party is breaking stereotypes by not inviting senior leaders to become chief ministers.' 'No other party has had the guts to do this.'
Amitabh Kumar Das, a senior IPS officer of Bihar cadre, who is deployed by the Election Commission of India as an observer in the upcoming Gujarat assembly polls, has accused the National Democratic Alliance government in Bihar for putting pressure on him not to take action against leaders of the ruling BJP in Gujarat for violation of model code of conduct.
Responding to allegations that victory certificates were not been handed over to candidates from the opposition grand alliance by returning officers on 119 seats, the Commission said the latest figures on its website state that while 146 results have been declared and trends of 97 other seats were available.
The Aam Aadmi Party on Monday said it will organise a 'maha rally' on June 11 against the Centre's 'black ordinance' that effectively gives the lieutenant governor control over administrative services, negating a Supreme Court order in favour of the Kejriwal dispensation.
Party's performance will also work as a catalyst in Uttar Pradesh elections.
The Congress president during his year at the helm of the party has repaired the citadel for far more challenging years ahead, and played a crucial role in shaping the Opposition alliance.
Locked in a bitter tussle with the Centre over the control of administrative services, Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal will meet the chiefs of the Trinamool Congress, Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray and the Nationalist Congress Party this week seeking their support.
The decision is expected to provide a push for their development in healthcare, cultural identity, education, financial matters, skill development and women empowerment among others, the Chief Minister's Office said in a statement.
A man with an air gun was arrested on Saturday, an hour ahead of Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi's rally in Bihar's West Champaran district, police said.
Quoting from the report of Central Statistics Office, the former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi said that Bihar's growth rate has reduced to half at 8.82 per cent in 2013-14 against 15.05 per cent in 2012-13.
As part of the efforts to bring several opposition parties together on a common platform to defeat the BJP in 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Pawar met Kharge on Thursday evening.
Sunil Gatade and Venkatesh Kesari reveal that Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar's name is now doing the rounds as President Kovind's likely successor.
The court noted that no appreciable steps have been taken ever since an order was passed by it on June 13 to deploy central forces in sensitive areas for the poll process.
Two deaths due to heart attack were also reported from polling stations in Madhubani and Darbhanga districts.
The speculations fuelled as August and September are times of floods in the state and this period will be followed by festivals like Bakri Id, Dushehra, Muharram, Diwali and Chhath slated for October and November.
The Congress would also take inspiration from history as it was from Karnataka that an embattled Indira Gandhi had revived her dwindling political future by winning a Lok Sabha bypoll from Chikmagalur.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said R C P Singh, whom his Janata Dal-United has denied another term in the Rajya Sabha, does not need to resign as a Union minister ahead of the expiry of his Rajya Sabha tenure.
Kejriwal said that the ordinance must be defeated collectively in Parliament where it is likely to come up for voting as a law in the forthcoming session.
The State Election Commission on Friday informed the Calcutta high court that it has requisitioned 822 companies of central forces for the July 8 panchayat polls in West Bengal.
This election has some striking resemblances to the landmark one of 1977, with sub-caste combinations and antipathies still the bedrock of measures
'The clearest interpretation of the November 8 mandate is that the backwards, Dalits and minorities, and a huge proportion of women cutting across caste and class, displayed massive consolidation to the extent that despite chipping of votes by the Left Front, by the Third Front and by the BSP, Mahagathbandhan candidates won, and in many cases by huge margins,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
The speculations were triggered by Kumar's reference to the Rajya Sabha being "the only House" he has not been a member of.
Patna High Court on Wednesday ordered the authorities to furnish a list to the court and returning officers by Friday so that they can be arrested while filing nominations for the polls.
At the meeting, many parties urged the Congress to publicly denounce the ordinance but the Congress refused to do so, claimed AAP, adding that the grand old party's "silence raises suspicions about its real intentions".
A revealing excerpt from Mani Shankar Aiyar's fascinating new book, The Rajiv I Knew.
Though this is the second charge-sheet filed by the CBI in the case before a special court here, it is the first time that Tejashwi Yadav has been named as an accused.
With some variations, all regional political formations, whether in power presently or out of it, share some common features: Tight family control of the political apparatus, key members in elected or appointed positions, obvious wealth but not quite known sources of income, and family factionalism, sometimes open and bitter, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
The Election Commission has examined the menace of "paid news" that was rampant during the last Lok Sabha elections and decided to include the cost of such news in the expenditure of candidates to check if they exceed the ceiling on expenditure by resorting to "paid news" instead of issuing advertisements
He told PTI in an interview that parties that are still thinking of 'being the leader' of a possible united front against the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls have not understood the gravity of the situation at all.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has rejigged his team only once, in July 2021, in his second term, unlike in his first stint, when he reshuffled and expanded his council three times.
The Congress is on a comeback trail in Bihar, B K Hariprasad, the chairman of the party's screening committee for the state elections, tells Saubhadra Chatterji
With assembly elections in Bihar likely to be held later this year, the Election Commission is dispatching four special teams of 'auditors' to the state on Monday for weeding out duplicate entries from electoral rolls.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances