Himachal Pradesh's ruling Congress Member of Legislative Assembly Ram Kumar, arrested in a murder case in adjacent Haryana, was on Wednesday suspended from primary membership of the party. Pradesh Congress Committee chief Sukhvinder Singh Sukkhu said Kumar had also been removed from the post of general secretary forthwith. His suspension would remain in force till he was absolved of the murder charge.
Moderate to high turnout was recorded in 13 assembly constituencies across seven states where bypolls were held on Wednesday amid sporadic incidents of violence in Uttarakhand, Bihar and West Bengal.
Saturday's voting will mark the end to the marathon polling process that began on April 19 month and has already covered 486 Lok Sabha seats in 28 states and Union territories.
The Sanjauli area was choked as the protesters took out a march. The area teemed with hundreds of demonstrators, several of whom carried Hindu religion insignia, such as saffron flags and banners bearing Lord Ram's image and the protesters demanded demolition of the illegal mosque in 15 days.
Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, BJP chief J P Nadda and new party entrant Ashok Chavan and Union ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw and L Murugan were among the 41 candidates elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha on Tuesday while Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh will witness polling on February 27.
Around 30,000 personnel have been deputed for poll duty as the state decides its fate today.
A CNN-IBN and the week Pre-poll survey for Himachal Pradesh conducted by Centre for the Study of Developing Societies shows a close race between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress in 2012 state assembly election.
A party statement said the new national executive members are Bandi Sanjay Kumar, Deepak Prakash, Satish Punia and Sanjay Jaiswal, former BJP presidents in Telangana, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Bihar, respectively.
In a jolt to the ruling Congress in Himachal Pradesh, state party chief and Mandi MP Pratibha Singh on Wednesday announced that she has decided not to contest the Lok Sabha elections as the ground situation was "not favourable" and workers were disheartened.
The message for 2024 is that the man on the street is not going to be euphoric if the G-20 crowns Modi as king-emperor for 2023, or if India sends its first man to space just ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Even a 'temple consecration' in Ayodhya, or a Uniform Civil Code, or both of them together, may not have enough electoral purchase if fuel and commodity prices are not rolled back, and money-in-the-pocket does not fatten, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Putra-moh Congress ko nasht kar raha hai (Sonia Gandhi's love for Rahul Gandhi is destroying the Congress).'
Quitting as Union minister on Tuesday, Virbhadra Singh has now set his eyes firmly on the next assembly polls in Himachal Pradesh later this year. These tidings may stir mixed emotions in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party there
The BJP is faced with the crucial question of who will lead the party in the four impending state polls this year: In Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which contested the assembly polls in Himachal Pradesh for the first time, drew a blank securing just 1.10 per cent of the total votes cast.
Well ahead of the November 12 assembly elections, the BJP projected Thakur as the next chief minister.
Senior congress leader Gulab Singh Thakur was nominated as the BJPs candidate for the upcoming polls in Himachal Pradesh.
Congress leader Virbhadra Singh recently resigned as the Union minister for micro, small and medium enterprises following allegations of corruption. He tells Kavita Chowdhury how he intends to fight both his detractors and his opponents in the upcoming Himachal Pradesh assembly polls
The PM also said the results proved that there is a strong support for "politics of good governance and development".
Months before the Haryana assembly polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party replaced its strongman Manohar Lal Khattar as chief minister with low-profile OBC leader Nayab Singh Saini, a decision that surprised many.
The rebels, who contested as independents in the assembly polls, marred the prospects of BJP candidates in eight seats while Congress candidates were hit in four assembly segments.
Uttar Pradesh and Bihar appear to have got the maximum representation in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new council of ministers, while assembly poll-bound Maharashtra also found a significant presence.
Virbhadra Singh, who steered Congress to power in the assembly polls, was on Tuesday sworn-in as Himachal Pradesh chief minister for a record sixth time, heading a ten-member ministry.
BJP may get up to a maximum of 115 of the total 182 seats and the Congress 65.
Kangana Ranaut, who is the BJP candidate from her hometown Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, feels Prime Minister Narendra Modi is an 'ansh' (part) of Lord Ram and Lord Vishnu.
Jubilation and celebrations broke out at Bharatiya Janata Party offices across the country after the party won both in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. Check out the scenes of triumph!
The poll panel said the seizures made since the polls were announced on October 9 are over seven times (Rs 239.15 crore) the seizures made in the previous assembly elections in these states in 2018.
Taking a stern view of the failure of Gujarat government officials to send a compliance report on transfer and posting of officials ahead of the assembly polls, the Election Commission has sought an explanation from the state chief secretary and the director general of police (DGP).
The term of the Gujarat assembly ends on January 8 next year, and the state is expected to go to polls this December. Besides, elections are also due in Himachal Pradesh alongside Gujarat.
The leaders jumped the boat in the presence of Chief Minister Jairam Thakur and BJP's Sudhan Singh, in-charge of BJP state elections. BJP candidate from Shimla, Sanjay Sood was also present on the occasion.
Restoration of the pre-2004 pension scheme, regularisation of contract employees after two years, enhanced daily wages, social security pension and appointment of anti-corruption grievances commissioner were the other promises made in the manifesto.
The collapse of a three-storey building in Punjab's Mohali has claimed two lives, with rescuers pulling out the body of a man and a fatally injured woman from under the rubble during a multi-agency 23-hour rescue operation that concluded Sunday evening, officials said.
There is a limit to ignoring genuine aspirations of the people and suppressing their legitimate voice in running the affairs of the state, notes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
Close to half of the total 543 Lok Sabha seats are bracing for multi-cornered fight this time, making the contest way more interesting and intense than it was in the 2019 elections.
The meeting was attended by 26 participants including Chief Ministers and Lt Governors of UTs, he said while briefing the media.
The tiny hill state of Himachal Pradesh, which acquired its present shape after merger of Punjab Hill areas on November 1, 1966, has remained a Congress bastion with the party winning all but three state assembly elections since 1967.
The dates for the crucial assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh have been finalised and will be announced by the Election Commission on Wednesday.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday hailed the party's performance in the Karnataka assembly polls as the victory of politics that unites the country.
They had filed nominations against official candidates for the upcoming assembly polls.
With four days left for campaigning to end, Kangana Ranaut, the Bharatiya Janata Party's candidate from Mandi, is hitting the campaign trail with renewed vigour.
The decision was taken to foil the attempts made by Chief Minister Mayawati to further split the party.
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