Polling for 16 Rajya Sabha seats in four states will be held on Friday amid allegations of attempts at horse-trading by rival parties which have corralled their MLAs in hotels and scenic resorts, prompting the Election Commission to appoint special observers and order videography of the entire exercise.
The Chhattisgarh Election Commission has proposed the addition of expenses incurred during Baba Ramdev's recent visit to the state in the election expenditure account of the Bharatiya Janata Party, as his speeches during this period allegedly amounted to a campaign in favour of the ruling party.
Shah said that the people of the country will decide about the principal opposition party to BJP in the 2024 polls and they have not given this label to any party.
BJP's loss of power in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattigarh means that it will have to face a resurgent Congress in the three states where it had emerged victorious in 62 of 65 Lok Sabha seats.
"Objectively, it is only the Congress that has a footprint, shall we say, in eight to 12 states. So to have healthy democracy in which one party does not steamroll the Opposition, the kind that India experienced from the late 1970s till 2014, to revive that, to restore it, which I believe would be very good for all of us, it would depend a lot on the Congress becoming more competitive," he claimed.
Pilot said "opportunist" people are ruling at the Centre after taking votes on emotions but they have failed the country on all fronts.
With the Pradesh Congress committees passing resolution seeking Rahul Gandhi at the helm of All India Congress Committee, party General Secretary, Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday said such measures have no binding effect.
Here's the verdict mapped out for you for each state.
At least 30 MLAs of the ruling United Progressive Alliance coalition in Jharkhand camping in a resort near the Chhattisgarh capital since August 30 flew back to Ranchi in a chartered aircraft on Sunday afternoon to attend the special session of the assembly scheduled for Monday, sources said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday asked why India's highest civilian honour, Bharat Ratna, has not been conferred on former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Former Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vijay Kapoor and two former chief secretaries -- Baleshwar Rai of Goa and Arun Kumar of Chhattisgarh -- on Saturday formally joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.
'Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal once told me that if onion prices rise we will face the flak for it across India.' 'What can farmers expect from a government which talks like a trader and only believes in (electoral) profit and loss?'
The present elections were held in states where the BJP has a strong presence and organisation and where it was pitted directly against the Congress. But the party's real challenge lies in states outside the northern belt where it has a negligible presence and has to contend with strong regional players, reports Anita Katyal.
The polls are being viewed as a run-up to the general elections scheduled for May 2019 and will test the popularity of the government and its policies amid rising crude oil prices
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