An ECI statement issued from New Delhi put the voter turnout at 68.76 per cent. The female turnout (74.03 per cent) was significantly higher, compared with males (64.1 per cent).
Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar arrived in Bihar to review preparations for the upcoming assembly elections. The visit includes meetings with political parties, police, administrative officials, and state leaders to ensure smooth conduct of the polls. The visit follows the publication of the final electoral roll after a Special Intensive Revision, which has sparked controversy among political parties.
Wednesday's joint protest march in Patna marked a significant moment, with Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and Tejashwi Yadav, the Leader of Opposition in the Bihar assembly, leading a unified demonstration -- perhaps a first in the state's recent political history.
Nitish thought that his stakes as chief minister were far greater than his stakes in protecting one of his party MLAs. He could not allow his rule-of-law train to be derailed by a small rock on the track. On the contrary, if he removed it to keep the train moving at a steady speed he would gain strong public admiration and sympathy that would help him take the masses along in carrying out other tasks. A fascinating excerpt from Arun Sinha's Nitish Kumar And The Rise Of Bihar.
The Congress party has criticized the BJP's appointment of Nitin Nabin as its new president, questioning the election process and mocking the role of the Election Commissioner.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, contesting from Raghopur, declares assets worth Rs 8.1 crore, while his wife owns assets worth Rs 1.88 crore.
Filing of nomination papers ended on Monday for the second and final phase of Bihar assembly polls, with the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) appearing fractured, as constituents would end up fighting each other in a number of seats.
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor is reportedly upset and likely to skip a strategy meeting for the upcoming Kerala polls due to perceived slights and attempts to sideline him within the party.
'If this is true, the Election Commission should come forward with data and officially confirm it.'
Nitin Nabin has been formally declared as the BJP national president, succeeding J P Nadda. The leadership transition was witnessed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior ministers.
The Supreme Court has directed the Election Commission to display the names of those on the 'logical discrepancies' list at various public offices in West Bengal, addressing concerns about irregularities in the voter rolls.
The Supreme Court has directed the Election Commission to provide details regarding the 3.66 lakh voters excluded from Bihar's final electoral roll after a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. The court's direction came after concerns were raised by petitioners about the lack of notice or reasons given to the excluded voters.
Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar reveals millions of voters missing or deceased, prompting Election Commission action.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday sprang surprises with its first list of 71 candidates for the Bihar assembly polls, denying a ticket to Speaker Nand Kishore Yadav, a seven-term MLA, while fielding Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary in a direct election after over a decade.
RJD leader Lalu Prasad's son, Tej Pratap Yadav, has been booked for allegedly violating the model code of conduct during the filing of his nomination papers for the Mahua assembly seat.
The Supreme Court has directed the Bihar State Legal Service Authority to assist voters excluded from the final electoral rolls in filing appeals with the Election Commission.
Cracks appear within Bihar's ruling NDA alliance as partners bicker over seat sharing ahead of the upcoming assembly elections. Jitan Ram Manjhi's HAM demands a respectable number of seats, while Chirag Paswan's LJP seeks more than initially agreed upon.
'When maximum voter participation occurs, they do not vote to re-elect the incumbent government. They vote to change it.' 'How can anyone credibly suggest that crores of young voters -- particularly the unemployed youth -- would vote to re-elect an existing government that has demonstrably failed them?'
Given Modi's track record from the time he became Gujarat chief minister in October 2001, it is highly improbable that Nabin will get opportunities to display his individual capacity. Even the team of organisational leaders that he will 'appoint' in a few weeks or months, will unlikely to be his choice, predicts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The RJD, which has been voicing apprehensions that the SIR might have been carried out to "help" the BJP-led NDA, also urged the EC to divulge details of the 3.66 lakh persons whose names were deleted from the final electoral roll published earlier this week.
The BJP has filed a complaint with the Election Commission against Rahul Gandhi for his alleged derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi during recent rallies in Bihar.
Following a Supreme Court directive, details of names deleted from Bihar's draft electoral rolls have been published online. The Election Commission defends the special intensive revision process.
All along, we were told SIR was an essential exercise carried out as part of the Election Commission's regular duties. But now that the ideological mentor of the ruling party has declared that SIR is a means of detecting infiltrators, one understands the unseemly haste with which it is being carried out, notes Jyoti Punwani.
The Election Commission is ramping up preparations for a special intensive revision of voter lists across India, assessing the progress made on mapping current electors with voters as per the last SIR in different states.
The Election Commission announced that it has received documents from 98.2% of electors in Bihar as part of the intensive revision of the voters' list. The deadline for claims and objections has been extended, allowing electors to rectify mistakes and submit necessary documents.
Internal discord within the INDIA bloc has led to alliance partners contesting against each other in at least eight assembly seats in Bihar. The Congress, RJD, and Left parties are facing challenges in seat-sharing arrangements for the upcoming elections.
Hardworking people who toil from dawn to dusk and beyond speak about their everyday lives and what they want from the sarkar as Bihar prepares to vote.
The development came in the backdrop of the Supreme Court's direction that details of the deleted names be made public by August 19 and a compliance report be filed by August 22.
'This will be a close election. At least now, it appears that the NDA has an edge.'
A look at the legal provisions governing the removal of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners (ECs) in India, amid threats from opposition parties.
A seasoned politician and two-term Member of Parliament, Dr Shakeel Ahmad, who has served as a Union minister and senior Congress leader, resigned from the Congress party, marking the end of his decades-long association with an organisation that his family has been part of for three generations. In an interview with Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff he speaks why he quit the party.
Congress leader Varsha Gaikwad announced the party's intention to contest the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections independently, signaling a potential strain within the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance.
'This calls for a very serious investigation, investigation and introspection both.' 'Wherever we went wrong needs proper introspection; but the results also need investigation.'
Turning her guns on the Election Commission, Banerjee alleged that the BJP had "stolen" the mandate in Maharashtra with the poll panel's help and was now attempting to replicate it in Bengal through the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise by deleting genuine voters' names.
Unlike his National Democratic Alliance allies who rushed to the spotlight soon after the NDA won a historic mandate in the 2025 Bihar assembly election, Nitish Kumar stayed away from the public eye on Friday, November 14.
'The Election Commission is conducting the National Register of Citizens in Bihar through the backdoor.'
Expressing surprise over political parties not coming forward in filing objections related to 65 lakh excluded voters, the top court directed the chief electoral officer of Bihar to implead them in the court proceedings.
The Congress's performance in the Lok Sabha elections showed that it may be down but not out, and Modi is determined to ensure that in the next round in 2029, it is consigned to irrelevance, points out Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Election Commission officials report finding a large number of illegal migrants from Nepal, Bangladesh, and Myanmar during a review of Bihar's voters' list. Measures are being taken to exclude them from the final electoral roll.
The PM's overseas visits in 2025 picked up sharply after May, particularly following Operation Sindoor.
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