Political parties and leaders wait with bated breath for the Haryana and Jammu-Kashmir assembly poll results on Tuesday.
While the results of the bypolls will not directly impact the composition of the 403-member state Assembly, the contest is being seen as a prestige fight between the BJP and opposition parties.
The BJP's hyper-local campaign targeting the AAP's loyal base among the poor, along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's depiction of Delhi's ruling party as "AAP-da" (disaster), proved decisive in the Delhi assembly elections. This victory marks the end of a 26-year drought for the BJP in the national capital. The BJP's campaign highlighted perceived failures in governance and corruption allegations against the AAP, while emphasizing its own welfare schemes. The party's focus on local issues resonated with voters, particularly the middle class and poor who were disenchanted with the AAP's performance. This win is a major setback for the AAP and the INDIA bloc, which has been on a losing streak after its strong performance in the Lok Sabha elections.
Nearly 13.04 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 9 am on Wednesday in 43 assembly constituencies in Jharkhand where voting is underway in the first phase, officials said.
The final round of voting for the Jharkhand Assembly elections is taking place on Wednesday, with the JMM-Congress-RJD coalition seeking to retain power while the BJP-led NDA aims to take control. The election will decide the fate of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, his wife, and several other candidates. Key issues during the campaign included alleged infiltration from Bangladesh, corruption, and Hindutva.
In India elections are never fought in a straight line. It's fought on many issues, at many levels, with multiple emotions and with a bit of good luck, too. Sheela Bhatt reports from Rajasthan.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday said the Preamble to the Constitution is very well there in NCERT textbooks of Class VI as he refuted charges made in this regard by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
A delegation of diplomats from 16 countries, including the United States, Norway and Singapore, on Wednesday observed the ongoing assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir.
Apna Dal-K leader Pallavi Patel made it clear that the party was no longer an ally of the SP which is a member of the INDIA bloc.
Highlights of the judgment pronounced by a five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court that on Monday unanimously upheld the Centre's decision to abrogate provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution bestowing special status on the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is expected to visit Wayanad in Kerala on June 12, party sources said on Monday.
The state anthem was played on the last day of the budget session and BJP MLA Jibesh Kumar Mishra was seen remaining seated through it.
The BJP has emerged the second largest party by winning 29 constituencies in the maiden assembly polls post abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, improving its all-time high tally of 25 seats recorded in 2014 elections.
Congress leader Ghulam Ahmad Mir on Thursday promised that LPG cylinders will be provided in Jharkhand at a subsidised rate of Rs 450 even for 'infiltrators', sparking a political row in the midst of assembly elections in the eastern state.
What may work for the BJP is the growing resentment against V K Pandian, a bureaucrat-turned-politician who Jay Panda alleges has hijacked the Odisha government.
When it comes to the Congress and Wayanad, the only way the scepticism in the minds of some in Kerala may be addressed is by the Gandhi family proving that they are more than a passing caravan in town, reports Shyam G Menon.
There is a proposal from the BJP camp that they would resort to a proportion-based increase in the number of Lok Sabha seats for individual states, based on what they now have. On the face of it, this sounds like a fine argument that those demanding a 'freeze' now cannot oppose without reasons and justification, avers N Sathiya Moorthy.
Aditi Phadnis picks five key seats in the three states where assembly elections are being held today.
Ahead of assembly polls, Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasahev Thackeray president Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday declared he will support any chief ministerial candidate announced by allies Congress or Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar to 'save' Maharashtra, repeating a demand for the second time since August.
'Logic, Research, Science Are Modi Government's Limitations.'
Lalu's son and heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav, however, sought to downplay the remarks made by his father, in an interview to a local news channel, claiming that the RJD supremo had merely tried to satisfy the curiosity of the prying media.
The BJP may win more seats in the February 5 assembly election, but not enough to trump AAP, notes Ramesh Menon.
Sources said the party has also tasked its senior leaders to be observers at the meeting of the Congress Legislature Party in Haryana to elect its new leader.
Ahead of the Maharashtra assembly elections, Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party on Tuesday faced a major setback as over 600 party workers and officials from the Pune city unit resigned.
AAP organisational general secretary Sandeep Pathak cited the performance of the party in recent local bodies polls in MP and said it will form the next government.
An interesting contest is on in Malkajgiri, the biggest Lok Sabha constituency in the country.
The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) could have performed better in the recently-held Lok Sabha polls and perhaps, too much time was spent in reaching seat-sharing agreements, Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya has said.
Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar MLA Rohit Pawar's mother Sunanda has emphasised the need for party factions led by veteran politician Sharad Pawar and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar to come together as voices for unity emerged from both rival camps.
However, in 950 booths, voting will end at 4 pm, though people standing in the queue at that time will be able to exercise their franchise.
Will Andhra Pradesh follow the Odisha model, voting differently in Lok Sabha and assembly elections? Or will Odisha follow Andhra Pradesh, voting in new faces in both?
The Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, where Rahul Gandhi won for the second time in a row, comprises three assembly constituencies each in the tribal district of Wayanad and the Muslim-dominated Malappuram, as well as one in Kozhikode district where Christians hold a significant vote base.
'The Abdullah family is the problem and facilitator of the instability that we are seeing in Kashmir.'
The prolonged delay over electing J P Nadda's successor possibly stems from the RSS leadership wanting a person who is at least equidistant from the Sangh as well as the Modi/BJP edifice, observes BJP-RSS watcher Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The change in Anantnag's demographic after delimitation has added layers of political complexities to the constituency with Pahari-Gujjar, Jammu versus Kashmir dimensions.
The marathon polling process to elect the 18th Lok Sabha ended on Saturday with the seventh phase of elections witnessing an approximate voter turnout of 62.36 per cent, amid clashes between Trinamool Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party supporters in Sandeshkhali and some other parts of West Bengal.
For Adityanath, it's not just a chance to reaffirm his dominance in Uttar Pradesh, it's an opportunity to solidify his narrative as a vote-winner.
Announcing candidates for the remaining four seats in Kerala, the Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded its state chief K Surendran in the high-profile Wayanad constituency against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
Among the keenly watched contests are those involving former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav (Kannauj, UP) and Union ministers Giriraj Singh (Begusarai, Bihar), Nityanand Rai (Ujiarpur, Bihar) and Raosaheb Danve (Jalna, Maharashtra).
Voters, it is said, get the government they deserve. We will soon see what voters in Maharashtra choose. Till then, a sense of helplessness and scepticism hangs in the air, notes Ramesh Menon.
The Supreme Court of India has sought a response from the Election Commission of India (ECI) regarding pleas seeking verification of burnt memory and symbol loading units in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). The court directed the ECI to refrain from erasing or reloading data during the verification process and to explain the procedure adopted for verification. The bench also expressed concerns over the high cost of verification and directed the ECI to reduce the fee. The court's directive comes following its previous judgement where it allowed aggrieved candidates to seek verification of EVMs.
