Announcing the election schedule with a strong focus on digital and virtual modes of campaigning, Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra said the ban on rallies, roadshows, nukkad sabhas, padayatras and vehicle rallies will be reviewed on January 15.
The BJP finalised its candidates for 172 assembly seats in UP and is likely to field both Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya who are currently MLCs.
The two-time MLA from Sankhalim in North Goa, Sawant, who was speaker of the state assembly, is a dedicated Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh worker.
Despite the AAP cutting into its votes, the Congress still polled 27 per cent votes and won 17 seats.
An official source said Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has desired for the resumption of printing of the prime minister's photo on the Covid vaccination certificates in these states on top priority.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said if the Congress comes to power in Karnataka, dynastic politics will be at an all-time high in the state and it will be 'afflicted with riots'.
One of the ministers said they are going back to Ranchi for a Cabinet meeting scheduled on Thursday.
The Supreme Court Wednesday agreed to consider listing a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the Constitutional validity of a provision of the Representation of People Act which had led to the introduction of electronic voting machines (EVMs) instead of ballot papers for polls in the country.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday promised to introduce a free pilgrimage scheme for the people of different communities in Uttarakhand if the Aam Aadmi Party came to power in the state.
Governors must be impartial, fair, and above narrow politics to uphold the values and spirit of the Constitution. But in a rapidly changing political culture where the unstated rule is to crush the Opposition, such values have no meaning. At stake are Constitutional values, federalism and governance, asserts Ramesh Menon.
With the Bharatiya Janata Party leaving its rivals comfortably behind in states like Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand in the initial rounds of vote counting, its leaders credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi's governance model for the expected win and said "new history" is being created in UP.
Campaigning for the first phase of the Gujarat assembly elections to be held on December 1 ended at 5 pm on Tuesday.
PM Modi's remarks at the rally at Akbarpur come amid a row in Karnataka where schools have stopped Muslim girls from attending classes while wearing hijab.
The relaxation will be subject to existing instructions of state disaster management authorities and preventive measures imposed by concerned district authorities, it added.
Parrikar said he received Gandhi's visit in the spirit of India's healthy political tradition of rising above bipartisan considerations and wishing even opponents a quick recovery from any ailment.
This phase of voting was crucial for the state's ruling Samajwadi Party and main opposition Bahujan Samaj Party.
Kovind spoke to Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray over phone and thanked him for supporting his candidature.
Calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi "Saheb" during a discussion on the government's resolution on good works in the Delhi assembly's special session, Kejriwal said the nation is not with him in his "theatrics".
Firing a fresh salvo at the Bharatiya Janata Party which had accused the Shiv Sena of paying only lip service to the cause of Hindutva, the latter's member of Parliament Sanjay Raut on Tuesday claimed that the Sena was the first party in the country to contest an election on the Hindutva plank.
'Kejriwal tries to project that his party is not Hindu virodhi.'
Addressing BJP workers at the party headquarters, Modi also referred to the next Lok Sabha polls, scheduled for 2024, saying he hopes that political pundits will note that his party's win in the four states has also made clear the verdict for the next general election as they had linked its win in 2019 to its sweep of the Uttar Pradesh elections in 2017.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday thanked the people for helping the Aam Aadmi Party "breach the BJP's fortress" in Gujarat and asserted that the party would win the state the next time.
President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday appointed Chandra as 24th CEC on Monday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said elections keep happening but Parliament's Budget session is very important and urged all MPs to make it fruitful.
'We get the opportunity for new recruitment and the chance to introspect.'
This is the first time that the House is meeting after the BJP's overwhelming victory in the recent series of assembly elections held in February-March.
Narvekar, who polled 164 votes, defeated Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena candidate Rajan Salvi who got 107 votes.
Some of our leaders were busybusy over the weekend.
Kejriwal said his government has done a number of good works like providing free electricity and water, and asked Delhiites to urge voters in poll-bound Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Goa and Uttarakhand to give a chance to the AAP.
A handsome victory for the BJP in UP would act as confirmation of its recent political choices. The UP chief minister would be cemented in the popular mind as Mr Modi's chosen heir within the Hindutva fold, and presumably as his successor in New Delhi, observes Mihir S Sharma.
Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Tuesday said the MLAs who visited Brazil to watch the recent football World Cup would pay from their pockets.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party managed to notch up a morale-boosting win on its 'Mission Northeast' on Thursday by retaining Tripura emphatically, despite anti-incumbency and newcomer Tipra Motha playing spoilers to its party, while also piggy-backing to power in Nagaland on Neiphiu Rio-led NDPP's shoulder.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra did remarkable and energetic campaigning for the party, and "from my point of view, I don't think that the Congress per se can be faulted because on the grounds of one person's campaigning", Tharoor said.
Reacting sharply to Banerjee's fulminations, the Congress struck back pointing out that Prime Minster Narendra Modi's and her stand were similar, with one seeking a 'Congress 'Mukt' (Free) India' and the other, an 'Opposition coalition sans Congress'.
The Congress and JD-S have made much of Amit Shah's remarks about milk co-operatives. 'If the Opposition harps on the statement, it could add to the narrative that Gujarat was trying to take over Karnataka.'
BJP president J P Nadda on Sunday promised Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and 33 per cent reservation for women in government jobs in Himachal Pradesh while releasing the party's manifesto for the state assembly polls.
Electoral bonds have been pitched as an alternative to cash donations made to political parties as part of efforts to bring transparency in political funding.
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.
"I am also quitting as member of Legislative Council," Thackeray said in a webcast.
'Secularism is the life of Kerala, and the BJP is trying to poison this atmosphere.'
