the Congress too petitioned the Election Commission for action against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for addressing an event organised by an industry body on the eve of the final phase of the Gujarat polls where he attacked the main opposition party.
Green-coloured ballot papers will be there for members of Parliament and pink for MLAs who vote in the election.
The Congress on Monday promised that a government led by it will conduct a nationwide caste census and implement 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies at the earliest, including adequate representation for women belonging to the OBC community.
Bhupender Yadav's entry to the Modi government as a Cabinet minister is seen as his just reward after serving as a party office-bearer for the longest term among all current occupants.
The fear that Mamata might snatch the mantle of Opposition leadership which the Gandhis firmly believe to be theirs by birthright seems to have persuaded Sonia and Rahul to give up their hoity-toity ways, observes Virendra Kapoor.
A revealing excerpt from Mani Shankar Aiyar's fascinating new book, The Rajiv I Knew.
Saharanpur recorded a turnout of 71.13 per cent, Bijnor 65.91, Moradabad 67.26, Sambhal 62.87, Rampur 64.26, Amroha 71.98, Budaun 59.24, Bareilly 61.67 and Shahjahanpur 59.34 per cent, a statement issued by the election office said in Lucknow on Tuesday.
The Bahujan Samaj Party declared that it did not receive any donation above Rs 20,000 during 2021-22 as it has been declaring for the past 16 years, the ADR claimed.
While Twitter had taken down one of his controversial tweets on Friday following directions of the EC, a first information report was lodged against him under Section 125 of the Representation of the People Act dealing with creating enmity among classes.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction on Monday approached the Delhi high court seeking quashing of the order of the Election Commission of India (ECI) freezing the party name and election symbol.
Cash collections accounted for a whopping 63 per cent of total funds or over Rs 2,100 crore garnered by various political parties during all state assembly polls between 2004 and 2015, a study showed on Monday.
The byelections are of critical importance to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who lost the assembly poll to Bharatiya Janata Party's Suvendu Adhikari in Nandigram.
Simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and state assemblies can help reduce difficulties in terms of expenditure and management, President Pranab Mukherjee said on Wednesday and asked the Election Commission to take the initiative in bringing political parties on one platform to discuss the issue.
The assembly elections in Delhi, where the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Aam Aadmi Party are raring for another face off, are likely to be held by the middle of February.
'Economic issues do not matter during elections; it is the emotional connect that helps swing votes.'
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.
Goa's poll panel chief has already taken cognisance of similar remarks allegedly made by the Delhi CM.
The Congress won 40 seats in the 68-member Himachal Pradesh assembly while the BJP got 25 seats.
He also lamented that EVMs are being used as a 'football' and some sections are doing a 'motivated slugfest' over their use.
With assembly elections due in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram in the next few months, the Congress is working on poll strategies in these states and has convened a meeting of state leaders on May 24.
On one hand, South Indian states have been complaining about denial of a proportionate portion of the sharable funds from the Centre, based on population. On the other hand, they stand to lose Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha seats that again are based on population, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
The judge had reserved the order after hearing arguments on Sisodia's plea seeking relief claiming that his custody was no longer required for investigation.
In a series of tweets, BJP chief J P Nadda said people of the country and Delhi today have seen the 'dirty face' of AAP. The AAP hit back, questioning the police investigation.
Though the wily TRS supremo, credited with achieving the separate state of Telangana, stopped short of saying he was about to declare dissolution of the assembly, none doubted its imminence.
'The over-reaction by the BJP to District Magistrate Pranjal Yadav's decision will prove a double-edged sword.' 'On May 16, if the BJP gets a handsome number of seats and if Modi wins from Varanasi and Vadodara, his opponents can repeat Modi's scathing remarks against the Election Commission, that it was not 'impartial'.'
The poll body also termed as "scurrilous" the AAP leader's claim that the Commission is encouraging bribery by restraining him from uttering such statements.
Shah also rejected West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's charge that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to a temple of the Matua community -- which is in sizeable number in the state -- during his trip to Bangladesh violated the poll code.
Addressing the meeting in support of BJP candidate from Rithala, Manish Chaudhary, Singh raised the pitch of nationalism as he linked opposition parties with anti-CAA protests in Shaheen Bagh and with alleged anti-India slogans, and then asked the crowd to raise the controversial slogan.
Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Thursday expressed happiness that the Congress party has taken cognisance of the issues raised by him about welfare of youth and corruption under the previous Vasundhara Raje government in Rajasthan, and asserted the party will contest the assembly polls unitedly to secure a massive victory.
What transpired between O Panneerselvam and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi? R Rajagopalan reveals.
Reversing the burden of evidence means that the principle of innocent until proven guilty does not apply. It is exactly the opposite: Guilty as charged, until you can convince the judges of the contrary, points out Shekhar Gupta.
Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath said on Tuesday that the Election Commission would "dispassionately" examine Rahul Gandhi's speech made at Indore on October 24, stating that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence was in touch with victims affected by the Muzaffarnagar riots.
Polling across 55 assembly constituencies assembly in nine districts got off to sluggish start at 7 am due to the cold and fog at several places.
In a bid to break the impasse on government-formation, Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung on Wednesday night spoke to Harsh Vardhan, Bharatiya Janata Party's chief ministerial candidate and leader the largest single party in assembly polls, for discussion on Thursday on the issue and Vardhan is likely to point out that he does not have the numbers.
A fierce competition among parties to offer freebies and guarantees, a scramble for tribal, OBC, women votes and a touch of Hindutva -- all have combined to make the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls a high-stakes battle with main rivals BJP and the Congress pulling out all the stops to gain power.
The results will be seen as a virtual referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity after his demonetisation decision.
Around 40,000 Delhi Police personnel, 190 coys (companies) of Central Armed Police Forces and 19,000 Home Guards have been deployed for smooth conduct of election in the national capital, officials said.
'It was more than ego.' 'It carried with it a sincere belief that he was the quintessence of the country, that the country's destiny was irrevocably intertwined with his destiny.' An excerpt from T J S George's The Dismantling of India: In 35 Portraits.
...educated people are better decision-makers must be rejected, the CJI said.
In Karnataka, the BJP lost the elections because of multiple poles of power, a problem the central leadership could not sort out in time. Could the same happen to the Congress in Rajasthan? asks Aditi Phadnis.
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