The final phase of polling on Saturday will cover 78 constituencies spread across 19 north Bihar districts.
'There will be no change of seats for Delhi, Assam and Maharashtra.' 'Andhra, J&K, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, West Bengal and Telangana will lose seats while there will be an increase for MP, UP, Bihar, Haryana, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh.' 'It is a big mistake if you make it a north-south issue.'
With 'go solo' being the mantra for Congress after its success in Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh, the party is now set to dump Lalu Prasad's Rashtriya Janata Dal in the Bihar assembly elections scheduled later this year. An indication to this effect came when All Indian Congress Committee in-charge of the state Jagdish Tytler and Pradesh Congress Committee president Anil Sharma recently met party president Sonia Gandhi.
The last date of filing papers is November two while scrutiny of the same will be done the following day.
There are 218,442 voters over 100 years on the electoral rolls.
In the Tamil Nadu election, to be held next month, the AIMIM will contest three of Tamil Nadu's 234 seats -- Vaniyambadi, Krishnagiri and Sankarapuram.
As many as 13 (93%) are crorepatis with their average assets pegged at Rs 3.93 crores, the report said.
Presence of Fadnavis will be keenly watched in view of recent tug of war between his home state Maharashtra and Bihar over death of Sushant Singh Rajput, a Patna born Bollywood actor.
Just eight months after its good showing in the Lok Sabha polls, the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) seems to be running out of steam with internal bickering and conflicting ambitions resulting in diminishing electoral returns that have once again put the Bharatiya Janata Party in the driver's seat in national politics.
Mukesh Sahni's move to contest 55 seats in the UP assembly polls antagonised top BJP leaders.
Lavasa would soon be joining the Asian Development Bank as vice president
More than two crore voters in Bihar will decide the fate of 1,066 candidates on Wednesday across 71 assembly segments in the first phase of elections.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took a swipe at the BJP, saying one has to refer to the state-wise election schedule to know when one will have access to the vaccine. The BJP, however, said health is a state subject and its manifesto is for Bihar, not for the entire country, where it has promised that the state will buy the vaccine for its people.
'Leave alone top gear, we are in the neutral and when we are applying gears, we are applying reverse'
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday assured his government will continue the Ladki Bahin Yojana and fulfil Mahayuti's pre-poll promise of hiking the monthly stipend under the scheme to Rs 2,100 from Rs 1,500 now to eligible women.
About 54 per cent of 1.03 crore electors cast their votes on Thursday in 48 constituencies that went to polls in the third phase of the Bihar Assembly elections which passed of by and large peacefully.
'The BJP has replaced huge portraits of the two BJP leaders from Gujarat with very small portraits of many leaders from Bihar. Much is being read into this changed tactic of hoardings and banners,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
The Supreme Court on Monday sought the Election Commission's response on a PIL challenging its decision to increase the maximum number of voters from 1,200 to 1,500 at every polling station, saying no elector should be excluded.
Concealed beneath the feat, which testifies to his political acumen and survival instincts, is the fact that the 72-year-old leader could never remain at peace with his allies which also made him change partners frequently.
Outcome of this assembly election could be even more confused -- in terms of forming a government -- than the February poll, says psephologist.
'Does a political or social worker ever retire? Is Nitish Kumar himself contesting the assembly elections'
The counting of votes for the bypolls to 46 assembly seats in 13 states and in the Lok Sabha segments of Nanded in Maharashtra and Wayanad in Kerala, a crucial electoral exercise since the parliamentary polls in April-May, will begin at 8 am on Saturday.
Misa Bharti's election office in a khatal is meant to symbolise an emotional connect with her parents Lalu Yadav and Rabri Devi's caste, the Yadavs, who are considered traditional RJD voters.
'I have been battling cancer for the last six months. Now, I feel that the time has come to inform people about it'
The BJP plans to ride the upcoming Bihar assembly polls battle on four chariots that will helm the much hyped parivartan yatra.
As the race for Maharashtra chief minister enters the last lap, Hemant Waje looks at several scenarios which can play out.
'The first and most basic responsibility of any government is to protect its people from external threats and internal harm.' 'Budget 2025-2026 has to focus on meeting this responsibility,' asserts R Jagannathan.
The BSF shot him dead when he pointed the toy pistol at them in Raghopur. Former Chief Minister Rabri Devi is in the fray.
The party, which has a pre-poll alliance with Janata Dal (United), will finalise the names for rest of the constituencies within a week after talks with its partner.
With its age-old fascination for education, southern states have done better than the North. Start-ups, IT hubs, and industry majors setting up shop have changed the face of the South. Nearly 79% of global offices set up by international conglomerates in India are in the South. Almost 46% of tech unicorns are from the South. The GDP per person in the South is 4.2 times higher than the North. None of these indicators can be ignored by any central government, whatever the political compulsions, notes Ramesh Menon.
Hundreds of RSS cadres are helping the Saffron party counter Lalu-Nitish's campaign on the reservation issue in Bihar polls, observes M I Khan
'Nitish does not want to talk about development, unemployment, education, health infrastructure and poverty'
"If Gadkari decides to build the bridge between the BJP and the Shiv Sena, he can approach Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and request him," Sattar said.
The monthly Rs 2500 payment for poor women is expected to cost Rs 11,000 crore while the pension scheme of Rs 2000 for every senior citizen will cost around Rs 4100 crore. The Yamuna clean up will cost over Rs 10,000 crore while a similar amount is required to upgrade Delhi's hospitals. Ultimately, the new BJP government will have no choice but to ask the centre for financial support, notes Rashme Sehgal.
Poll strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor on Wednesday asserted that if the newly formed 'Mahagathbandhan' government in Bihar provides five to 10 lakh jobs in the next one or two years, he would withdraw his 'Jan Suraj Abhiyan' and extend support to the Nitish Kumar dispensation.
Kumar, who looks on course to becoming the longest serving chief minister of the state during his new term, was expected to take oath on or after Monday next week before which he will send his resignation to the governor since his current tenure expires at the end of November.
As voting begins in Bihar in the first phase of assembly elections on Wednesday, the fate of political leaders depends on how the electorate perceives they can solve ground-level issues from reverse migration to tackling the COVID-19 pandemic.
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