Bypolls will be held on Wednesday in 31 assembly seats spread across 10 states and Kerala's Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, from where Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is making her electoral debut. Though these bye-elections are not going to have any bearing on the governments, they are seen as a big test for the Congress and the INDIA bloc which failed to put up a united show in the recent Haryana assembly polls. Most of these seats fell vacant after the sitting MLAs contested the Lok Sabha elections and won while in some constituencies, the bypolls are being held due to death of the representatives. The Wayanad seat was vacated by Rahul Gandhi, who also won from the Rae Bareli parliamentary constituency which he kept. Voting will be held in seven seats in Rajasthan, six in West Bengal, five in Assam, four seats in Bihar, three in Karnataka, two seats in Madhya Pradesh, and one seat each in Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Kerala and Meghalaya. Votes will be counted on November 23.
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.
'I gave enough evidence and proof to punish corrupt officials.' 'But my own government has not filed any FIR against such officials.'
The police sub-inspector accused of raping a minor girl in Rajasthan's Dausa district has been arrested and a case registered against him under relevant sections, including Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the SC/ST Act, officials said on Saturday.
'These frequent visits show the BJP fears that the Congress will retain power.'
Amid opposition charges that the Bharatiya Janata Party was out to destroy the Constitution, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that his government revered it and even Babasaheb Ambedkar would not be able to abolish it now.
The Delhi-Dausa-Lalsot stretch is set to reduce the travel time between the national capital and Jaipur considerably.
it's just a matter of time, the former army chief said in response to a question.
Many low-lying areas in West Bengal's sub-Himalayan region were reeling from a flood-like situation while major rivers in Bihar were flowing above the danger level at several places as unabated heavy rain lashed the country's eastern parts on Sunday.
Dr Archana Sharma committed suicide on Tuesday due to alleged harassment after police filed an FIR against her under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code.
The Enforcement Directorate on Friday conducted fresh searches in poll-bound Rajasthan as part of its money laundering investigation into the alleged Jal Jivan Mission scam.
If Meena resigns, it is likely to put pressure on other ministers whose areas also saw poor performance in the general elections.
Abrar is the MLA from the Sawai Madhopur seat and the party has declared him its candidate from this seat for the upcoming assembly elections despite protests against him.
The monsoon spelt mayhem in several parts of the country on Monday, particularly Mumbai where local train services and flight operations were hit and everyday life disrupted as well as Assam that was grappling with floods yet again.
However, Constable Mahesh Kumar Gurjar was let go by police personnel from the local police station after they took him for a medical examination, they said.
Seventeen of the 25 ministers in the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government in Rajasthan, including Govind Ram Meghwal, who also led the party's campaign committee, lost in the assembly elections.
The visit comes amid the campaign for the November 25 assembly polls in Rajasthan, where the Congress hopes to return to power.
A Swedish girl waited for 10 years to meet her love, a youth hailing from Uttar Pradesh's Etah, and finally got married on January 29.
Amid speculation over Congress leader Sachin Pilot's next move, sources close to him on Tuesday said he was firm on his demands, including action against alleged corruption during the previous Vasundhara Raje government, and was waiting for a definitive response from the party high command.
"The Congress is "going to (fight) the election with unity" and it will win the polls," Sharma said after the meeting at Pilot's Civil Lines residence that lasted for nearly half an hour.
In eight districts of Alwar, Bharatpur, Bundi, Dausa, Dholpur, Karauli, Sawai Madhopur and Tonk, the Congress in the 2018 assembly elections had won 29 out of 42 seats while the Bharatiya Janata Party got only six.
Jalore, Sirohi, Pali and Barmer districts are the most affected and facing flood-like situations, the official said.
The MLA's son was arrested on the directions of a special court hearing cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
Union Minister of State Kailash Chaudhary was among the first to cast his vote, exercising his franchise in Balotra.
Two ministers who raised the banner of revolt with former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot during the political crisis also find their names in the list.
'The temple's construction is the result of collective wisdom of some of the best brains in the country. Water and sacred soil from almost all pilgrimage sites in India, including Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kailash Mansarovar, Prayags (there are seven Prayags) and all 'puris' (seven holy towns in India, besides Ayodhya) have been used in the making of the temple'
He said that the Congress government has fulfilled 98 per cent of the promises made in its manifesto and the next manifesto will be prepared on the basis of the 'Vision 2030' document.
Calling the Congress's Bharat Jodo Yatra a "unique and historic" movement, Rajasthan Health Minister Parsadi Lal Meena said Rahul Gandhi's march is much bigger than Lord Rama's padyatra from Ayodhya to Sri Lanka.
The state's former deputy chief minister has also demanded disbanding of the Rajasthan Public Service Commission and its reconstitution, and a compensation for those affected by government job exam paper leak cases.
Rahul Gandhi is marching with a positive thought, it is a positive yatra. There is no violence, no hatred. If you are not showing this yatra, you are not fulfilling your dut
Congress in-charge for Rajasthan Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa on Wednesday started one-to-one meetings with state ministers and MLAs amid attempts by the party's central leadership to broker peace between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and dissident leader Sachin Pilot ahead of assembly polls due later this year.
In the last six assembly elections, the state voted the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress to power alternately.
Supporters of the two leaders are competing in Hadoti to highlight their dominance, which is visible from the hoardings in the region. This has also led to blame games between leaders of the two factions.
The agency has also summoned Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's son Vaibhav Gehlot for questioning in a case related to alleged contravention of the foreign exchange law, official sources said on Thursday.
He showed a video of Solanki and Poonia purportedly entering a hotel and exiting a hotel room one after the other.
Land attachment and auction is being undertaken by banks that are controlled by the RBI, Gehlot said, urging the Centre to waive farmers' loans.
The swarms are travelling farther and damaging trees as there are no standing crops for them to feed on, an official said.
Pilot's statement came amid reports of his discontentment with the Congress leadership.
Intense monsoon rains brought normal life to a standstill in several parts of eastern and central Rajasthan, flooding out roads, rail tracks, low-lying residential areas and hospitals and claiming seven lives since Sunday night.
