Here's a recap of events that occurred in India in the past 24 hours.
Guidelines have been issued by the Commission for safe conduct of the electoral exercise in the midst of the raging COVID-19 pandemic. These guidelines include lowering the maximum number of voters for a polling booth from 1,600 to 1,000, staggering the polling hours and extending postal ballot facility to those above 80.
Polling in Madhya Pradesh was marred by complaints of faulty EVMs and voter verifiable paper audit trail machines.
The man's Indian citizenship was denied on the ground of discrepancy in the name of his grandfather.
His call logs, WhatsApp messages and SMSes are also being examined, police said.
Sporadic incidents of violence were reported from various places that went to polls on Saturday during the first phase of the West Bengal assembly election, even as the overall poll situation was largely peaceful with 79.79 per cent turnout recorded till the end of voting, an official said.
An army of government staff all over India conduct the world's greatest democratic exercise. Archana Masih/Rediff.com glimpses how they do it in the pivotal Saran constituency in North Bihar.
'The BJP would like to capitalise on Yogi's tough image on criminals, law and order situation, and hands-on CM.' 'Modi will be an additional advantage, but it is primarily a contest between Yogi and Akhilesh.'
"There was a knock on the door around 2 am on Thursday. We opened the door and found policemen outside. They took away my husband," Nimee told PTI in a feeble voice, as her one-and-half-month-old son cried in her arms just as he was when his father was being arrested.
Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress overcame the might of the BJP and is all set to be CM for a third term.
The BJP leadership knows it can't boast of governance in the state as the Bommai government has little to show. So, the game plan is to project Modi, who will reiterate how important it is for a state to have the same party ruling in power at the Centre, observes Ramesh Menon.
For the most battle-hardened, specialised and successful counter-insurgency army in the world, this is an unfamiliar, first-time experience of dealing with the north east's deepest complexities, observes Shekhar Gupta.
A quick look at the 66-year-old leader's political journey in the mid-1970s shows how injuries and physical assaults have shaped her political career over the years.
The Chief Election Commissioner pointed out that the exercise involved nearly 7.3 crore voters and over 1.06 lakh polling stations.
Vaccinating 100-200 people in each session per day, monitoring them for 30 minutes after administering the shots for any adverse event and allowing only one beneficiary at a time are among the guidelines issued by the Centre for the COVID-19 inoculation drive.
Each person in the immunisation list would be linked with their Aadhaar cards to avoid duplication and to track beneficiaries.
"This is an unparalleled and unprecedented win," he said.
With this phase, election will be over in 424 seats and polling in the remaining 118 seats will be held on May 12 and 19.
The final figure of polling could increase and it will be available on Tuesday, officials said.
The schedule for Gujarat will be announced separately.
From trusted bureaucrat, to Wharton, MNC executive to businessman, and now politician, the man in charge of two weighty ministries is a unique all-rounder with specialist knowledge.
The final phase saw voting in all 13 seats of Punjab and an equal number of seats in Uttar Pradesh, nine in West Bengal, eight seats each in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, four in Himachal Pradesh, three in Jharkhand and the lone seat Chandigarh.
Banerjee, also the TMC supremo, said in a sarcastic way that personnel of security forces such as the CRPF, BSF, CISF and the Army are present at convoys of every BJP leader visiting West Bengal.
The EC said that the data should be deleted by health authorities once the vaccination exercise concludes.
Delhi University had claimed that unless the roll number of a student is not provided, it would be difficult to search the records.
'Individual beneficiary desirous of availing the benefits under the scheme (PMUY) is hereby required to furnish proof of possession of Aadhaar number or undergo Aadhaar authentication,' said a gazette notification issued by the ministry of petroleum and natural gas.
The by-elections are being held to fill the vacancies caused by the disqualification of 17 rebel Congress and Janata Dal-Secular MLAs, whose rebellion led to the collapse of the H D Kumaraswamy-led coalition government in July and paved the way for the BJP to come to power.
'The distrust of traditional political parties in Punjab is an advantage for AAP.'
The shift toward a staunchly secular identity will help Congress to rebuild its trust and confidence with the minority communities, especially Muslim voters. Arguably, this is where the Congress' future also lies in national politics, observes M K Bhadrakumar.
'Today, we being the majority pass a law and if the Opposition parties do not like it, they throw files at the Chair, and beat up women marshals.'
This time however, the poll panel did not share the overall polling percentage at its briefing.
Crores of first-time voters will vote against the Congress -- and tens of crores of existing voters shall do the same. The challenges the Congress shall face after the general election of 2014 may be the most severe that the party has ever tackled, says T V R Shenoy.
'They have to be seen as being responsive to the employment woes and economic stagnation afflicting many young people.'
At places in the border districts of Barmer and Jaisalmer, people walked miles through the desert to cast their votes.
Those who have 'sold their souls to outsiders from Gujarat' are insulting the Nandigram movement by playing the communal card, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Tuesday, and rejected the claim that she was an outsider in Nandigram.
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'For the UDF, it will depend on how far Rahul Gandhi will succeed with the goodwill he has.' 'That will make a difference.'
More than 750 constituencies spread across four states and one union territory will go to the polls on Tuesday
'The way opposition parties such as the Nationalist Congress Party, Shiv Sena, the Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Jharkhand Mukti Morch have supported her, if she wins, she will be the biggest opposition face for 2024'
'In Kejriwal's re-election, we are finally seeing someone who has successfully bridged his Hindu identity with ground-level development triumphing over the BJP,' notes Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
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