Constituencies that are going to the polls in the first phase, slated for April 19, have just 19 days for campaigning. Contrast that with those going to polls in the 7th phase, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'The Constitution of India defeated the BJP.'
The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has pinned its hopes on the old guard to ensure victory in next month's assembly elections in Chhattisgarh as it gave tickets to 11 sitting MLAs and renominated 13 leaders who lost in the 2018 polls.
All five leaders named have been critical of the saffron party's decision to appoint former chief minister B S Yediyurappa's son Vijayendra as its state president and Ashoka as the leader of opposition.
Behind its high-decibel campaign, powered by well-organised party machinery, the BJP also appears to have made a slight departure from its 'next generation' approach to stay ahead of an aggressive Congress and enhance its prospects of securing a majority of seats.
Local Congress leader Rajkumar Singh Rajju was taken into custody by the police on Wednesday after he allegedly placed the tricolour on the grave of gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad, calling him a 'martyr'.
The fact that Gehlot has stayed relevant these five years with his populist schemes is one reason why he may beat incumbency in a state that votes for change every election, observes Ramesh Menon.
Officials said most of the preparations are complete and the counting will start at 8 am on Saturday.
The Maharashtra police has so far registered 141 cases in connection with the violence during the Maratha quota agitations and arrested 168 persons, state Director General of Police Rajnish Seth said on Wednesday.
The Congress on Friday pitted former Delhi minister Kiran Walia against Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal from the prestigious New Delhi constituency in February 7 assembly polls.
Eighteen days left for India's 75th Independence Day, and the flags are already out in anticipation of that milestone.
A total of 517 candidates have withdrawn their candidature till on Monday, even as parties faced "rebel trouble" in several segments.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday announced Prime Minister Narendra Modi will fight again from Varanasi in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as it named 34 Union ministers in the first list of 195 candidates.
Even as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party was defeated in the Karnataka assembly elections, the party retained its traditional stronghold in the coastal region by securing victories in 11 of the 13 constituencies in the twin districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi.
Gandhi undertook the journey Monday night and in visuals and videos, the former party chief, donning his trademark white T-shirt, is seen sitting inside a truck, travelling with one of the drivers and speaking to truck drivers at a dhaba.
In 2014-15 civic elections, excluding urban bodies and Bhilai Municipal Corporation, the Congress had won four out of 10 municipal corporations while the BJP was reduced to four, two less than from the last time.
The special court for cases involving MPs and MLAs later ordered their release on probation for a period of six months.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party won the mayoral elections in 10 of the 17 municipal corporations in Uttar Pradesh, results for which were announced on Saturday, virtually adding a third engine to its "double-engine" government.
Should he begin the yatra from Gujarat's Porbandar, the birthplace of the Mahatma, on October 2, and skip campaigning for the five assembly polls?
In an embarrassment to the ruling party, two of its sitting ministers lost and six were trailing.
If Kejriwal is arrested, it will take very little for Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena to summon a meeting of the assembly, direct it to elect a new leader of the House, and, if it doesn't, dissolve it and impose President's Rule, predicts Aditi Phadnis.
In a setback to the Bharatiya Janata Party which dominated the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the party managed to win only from three seats while the Aam Aadmi Party made its debut by winning five seats and the Congress wrested four seats in the bypolls to 13 wards.
Most candidates hailing from political families emerged victorious in the Delhi civic polls, while the richest contender faced a drubbing.
Allotting seven seats to smaller allies, AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa on Monday released the list naming candidates for the rest of 227 seats for which she held interviews for ticket aspirants from across Tamil Nadu in the past two weeks.
'The people of Tamil Nadu in particular Chennai know about the double standards of the BJP. Nothing will work for them here.'
The foot march started as per schedule around 7 am from Hiranagar near the International Border along the Jammu-Pathankot highway which was sealed by police and other security forces.
A court in Delhi on Saturday discharged 11 people, including student activists Imam and Asif Iqbal Tanha, who participated in anti-CAA protests, in the 2019 Jamia Nagar violence case.
At least six police personnel and some people were injured in the incident, while 106 protesters were detained and released later, an officer said.
The party renominated Shashi Tharoor from the Thiruvananthapuram seat.
I watched from my balcony and found that during the next eight hours up to 5.30 pm, not one prospective voter was seen to go to the Congress table, notes Rashme Sehgal. The rush was all around the BJP table.
Right-wing group Shri Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena's president Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi was shot dead in the living room of his house in Jaipur on Tuesday by three armed men, one of whom was also killed in retaliatory firing, police said.
Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and chief ministers of Congress-ruled states of Rajasthan, Punjab and Chhattisgarh are among those named by the party as its star campaigners in Uttar Pradesh.
In a major security breach on the anniversary of the deadly 2001 Parliament terror attack, two persons on Wednesday jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the visitors' gallery, shouted slogans and released yellow smoke from canisters that triggered panic and chaos in the House.
If only you had thought ahead, you would have stocked snacks and biscuits, bread and cake, and vegetables suited for Amma or pondatti to make your favourite bajji and pakoda, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Locals and parents of other children immediately took to the streets following the incident, protesting against the "lack" of proper policing of the major road intersection in the southern part of the city.
They all seem to forget that the Music Academy is as much an independent institution as T M Krishna is an individual musician. In drawing those red lines for the Academy management, they do not even seem to recognise that they too have crossed a red line themselves, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Elections to 92 nagar parishads and four nagar panchayats in Maharashtra will be held on August 18, the State Election Commission (SEC) announced on Friday.
A group of Maratha reservation activists torched the first floor of the Majalgaon Municipal Council building and vandalised it in Maharashtra's Beed district, soon after setting on fire the residence of local NCP MLA Prakash Solanke on Monday, the police said.
Authorities in New Delhi are all geared up for the counting of votes polled in the Delhi municipal elections, with officials saying 42 centres have been set up for the Wednesday exercise which will begin at 8 am amid tight security.
Kin of jailed leaders Mahipal Maderna, Malkhan Singh Bishnoi and Babulal Nagar -- accused in cases like rape and murder -- have found place in the third list of Congress hopefuls for the Assembly elections along with two other party leaders who are facing criminal charges.
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