For the first time, non-upper castes are in a majority in the board, as the party continues with its outreach to traditionally weaker and backward sections of society.
Though the Congress, AAP and other Opposition parties may have high hopes and some positive takeaways to seize on from the results, it is the BJP which has a big headstart and is firmly in the lead.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera tweeted, "Shayad meri tapasya mein kuch kami reh gayi (Maybe my penance fell short)."
Jharkhand Governor Ramesh Bais is likely to send the order of disqualification of Chief Minister Hemant Soren as an MLA to the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday, Raj Bhavan sources said.
States are planning to pass resolutions in their legislative assemblies; however, such tactics will be used as the last resort if the Centre continues to stall allocations.
Captain Amarinder Singh, Arvind Kejriwal, Bhupesh Baghel and Ashok Gehlot recently alleged that the Centre's order transferring three IPS officers on deputation is interference in the functioning of West Bengal's administration.
Free 35 kg rice a month, free power supply to farmers, crop loans to peasants at zero per cent interest rate are among the sops promised by Congress in its manifesto for Chhattisgarh assembly elections scheduled this month.
The private college and hospital has been in the thick of controversy following irregularities and fraud, raising questions on why the Chhattisgarh government wants to acquire the debt-ridden institution by paying double the amount of its valuation.
The BJP leadership knows it can't boast of governance in the state as the Bommai government has little to show. So, the game plan is to project Modi, who will reiterate how important it is for a state to have the same party ruling in power at the Centre, observes Ramesh Menon.
Congress had won won in the assembly polls barely five months ago in the same three states -- Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan.
In a strong warning to those disrupting border peace, Home Minister Rajnath Singh has said the country will not hesitate in retaliating if someone fires first and asserted the government is ready to talk to Pakistan over PoK and not Kashmir.
It said the Congress will infuse new blood in leadership roles without creating new fault lines and cementing its ideological moorings.
Opposition parties claimed that his remarks were aimed at Modi, who was accused by them of making lofty promises to come to power but failing to realise them.
Amid internal rumblings in the Punjab and Chhattisgarh Congress, Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday said his government will complete its full five-year tenure.
The DMK leadership may now have to deal with a demand for more seats from its Congress ally in the Lok Sabha polls, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
The guidelines issued by the top court on February 11, 2010 included setting up barbed wire fencing around the well during construction, using a steel plate covers fixed with bolts over the well assembly and filling up of borewells from the bottom to the ground level among others.
After the Gujarat and Himachal elections and the municipal polls in Mumbai and Delhi, Karnataka, Rajasthan, MP and Chhattisgarh will elect new assemblies next year leading up to the Lok Sabha election in April-May 2024, points out Virendra Kapoor.
Political parties were bracing for the assembly election results on Thursday in the crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and politically volatile Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur, sending out feelers for possible post-poll tie-ups.
The discussion between the former deputy chief minister and the Gandhi siblings comes days after the dramatic developments in Punjab where the Congress replaced Amarinder Singh as chief minister and appointed Charanjit Singh Channi, a Dalit leader, to the top post of the state.
The Congress party may have its eyes firmly set on the Bharat Jodo Yatra, but it kept its fingers crossed as it waited for Thursday's counting of votes for the assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.
If the Congress comes to power in the state, it will not allow his government to work, Modi claimed.
Here's the verdict mapped out for you for each state.
Most exit polls have forecast gains for Congress in at least four states including a clear majority in Rajasthan.
Jaggi was a close confidante of the party's state president V C Shukla, who is a former Congress leader.
On Thursday, he broke a record which had been held by former Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh.
Sibal, a prominent Opposition voice and a former Congress leader, also said that instead of a common minimum programme, the Opposition parties should talk about a 'new vision for India'.
Yadav, during his first visit to Guwahati, said he has already spoken to Congress and will hold talks with the All India United Democratic Front later in the day to formalise the alliance.
Political analysts say the road to the 2024 polls for the Congress is going to get tougher as it is a party that is 'in the ICU' and cannot be revived with quick-fix solutions.
The Congress, by and large, focused on local issues in this election and its campaign also was run by state leaders initially.
'In Punjab, disappointment among the people about the AAP government has already set in.'
As the new year arrives, what is clear is that the BJP's stars continue to shine the brightest while its rivals' search for a way to dim their glow go on.
Elections will be held on June 10 to fill 57 Rajya Sabha seats from 15 states falling vacant due to the retirement of members on different dates between June and August, the Election Commission said on Thursday.
AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday brainstormed with senior Congress leaders from Uttar Pradesh on the preparations for next year's assembly polls, as the party resolved to hit the streets against the Bharatiya Janata Party government over issues such as unemployment, price rise and law and order.
The move could hurt the BJP as the JCC, according to political analysts, might have eaten into the Congress' votes in at least four of the 11 parliamentary constituencies in the state. R Krishna Das reports.
The Centre told the Supreme Court on Monday that religious freedom does not include a fundamental right to convert other people to a particular religion and that it certainly does not embrace the right to convert an individual through fraud, deception, coercion or allurement.
P Chidambaram and Rajeev Shukla of the Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party's Sumitra Valmiki and Kavita Patidar, former Congress leader Kapil Sibal, Rashtriya Janata Dal's Misa Bharti and Jayant Chaudhary of the Rashtriya Lok Dal were among the 41 winners declared elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, senior leaders K C Venugopal, P Chidambaram and Salman Khurshid were among the party's top brass taking part in the satyagraha at Rajghat.
'Both Modi and Yogi are contesting this election together.' 'Both bring their individual strengths to BJP in UP.'
Amit Shah said simultaneous polls would curb expenditure.
Thackeray said the BJP's perception of being a "world winner" had been shattered with the results of the just-held state assembly polls.
