The Election Commission, for the first time, has banned bulk text (SMS) messaging either by candidates standing for an election or by political parties to voters in the 48 hour period before start of voting in Assembly constituencies in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.As this ban is likely to be extended to all future elections, mobile service providers will have to live with the idea of losing what used to be a revenue windfall for them during elections.
India captain Dhanraj Pillay said the camp in Himachal Pradesh helped the team get closer.
While the BJP and the Congress have always supported the bill, opposition by other parties and demands from some for quota for backward classes within the women's quota have been key sticking points.
Even as Kiran Kumar Reddy has quit the Congress and resigned as chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, protesting against the division of the state, veteran Congress leader and Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh says he, too, will quit the party if its central leadership removes him from the post of chief minister, after the elections.
The meeting with Antony comes days after an open rebellion by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot loyalists on a possible leadership change in the state
Gujarat will go to polls in two phases on December 1 and 5 with the counting of votes on December 8 along with that of Himachal Pradesh, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar announced.
As people queued up across these states to cast their vote, there were some famous faces in the lines at different polling stations.
With the general election campaign less than six months away, the BJP has more to think about than it had on the eve of 2019. It's the states that will be robbing BJP strategists of their sleep at this point, not the Lok Sabha, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
Mallikarjun Kharge, former Congress President Rahul Gandhi, General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra attended the swearing in ceremony, while former AICC President Sonia Gandhi was absent. Chief Ministers of Congress ruled states Ashok Gehlot (Rajasthan), Bhupesh Baghel (Chhattisgarh) and Sukhvinder Singh Sukku (Himachal Pradesh) and several top party leaders were also in attendance.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said the Bharatiya Janata Party is committed to bring Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the country but only after following all democratic processes and discussions on it.
Chief ministers of 3 Congress-ruled states, other national and state party leaders are also likely to accompany Rahul to the court.
Shares of metal, realty, consumer durables, auto, capital goods and banking hogged limelight on a flurry of buying by investors
Several states declared a holiday for schools, while government offices, other establishments and public sector banks remained closed for half a day.
The Congress's loss in the three states in the North-East, a region it had dominated for decades, shows there is a lot left to do to reclaim its political turf despite the Bharat Jodo Yatra which it had touted as a successful experiment in mass public outreach.
The Bharat Nyay Yatra will be mostly covered by bus along with short stretches of walking.
With its landslide victory in Punjab assembly polls, the Aam Aadmi Party has achieved a major milestone in its journey so far and emerged as an alternative in the national politics.
The Congress on Saturday made a stunning comeback in Karnataka ousting the Bharatiya Janata Party from its lone southern citadel with a comfortable majority in a morale booster win that will be key for reviving its electoral fortunes ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Ultimately, whether the UP ordinance is struck down by the courts or not, it will be the courage of young Hindu and Muslim women and men that will act as a foil to the UP police-cum-mobs who will be out to get them.
The Uttarakhand assembly poll result has presented the Bharatiya Janata Party with a dilemma of sorts as it weighs various options after outgoing chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami who was tipped to continue in the post lost the election even as the party stormed back to power.
The Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee is keen to field senior leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra from Varanasi and will soon send a proposal in this regard to the top leadership, said newly appointed party's state president Ajay Rai on Sunday.
Many state governments are ready with policies to promote entrepreneurs, backed by funding plans
Governor Acharya Devvrat administered the oath of office and secrecy to the 52-year-old Thakur, a five-time MLA from Seraj, and other ministers which included six new faces.
The Congress victory in Karnataka, its first big state since 2018, puts the party back in the game for general elections as it re-establishes primacy in the opposition space that is currently vastly fragmented despite efforts to cobble up a united front against the BJP.
In UP and Bengal, it is willing to sacrifice its interests to stop the BJP and would work towards ensuring the BJP did not win incremental seats in Odisha and Telangana.
Uttar Pradesh deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya on Friday after taking the oath of the office said that Bharatiya Janata Party is targeting to win more than 75 seats out 80 from Uttar Pradesh in 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The Election Commission on Thursday said that there were 'multiple factors' leading to the delay in the announcement of the Gujarat assembly polls, adding that the recent Morbi bridge collapse tragedy was one of them.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the Opposition Congress in Madhya Pradesh, where assembly polls are due by 2023-end, are not attaching much importance to the presence of the AAP and the AIMIM citing the largely bipolar politics of the state.
With frequent disruptions and adjournments hampering legislative business, President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday asked the political establishment to find a solution to the problem. "I am sad when I find that Parliamentary proceedings and state assembly proceedings are disrupted without transacting businesses," he said.
He said the people are looking for an alternative and the Congress' victories in Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka elections are clear proof of this.
Party sources said United Progressive Allinace chairperson Sonia Gandhi is likely to reach Delhi on Wednesday from Himachal Pradesh and is expected to meet some leaders who are part of the decision-making process in Karnataka.
It had given the BJP a tough fight in 2017 winning 77 of the 182 seats at stake.
Congress has done well in the assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat and it has won in places where party general secretary Rahul Gandhi had campaigned, Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari said on Thursday. "We have done well, therefore, obviously, I think if anyone has the reason to celebrate it is the Congress party," Tewari said.
If the corruption issue doesn't claim Mr Baghel, the Congress's chances in the assembly election later this year are good, observes Aditi Phadnis.
As the temple is inaugurated, unfortunately for Advani but unsurprisingly for the rest of us, the architect of the party's rise will not lead the ceremony and claim credit for his achievement, notes Aakar Patel.
What some of our leaders were up to on Monday and Tuesday.
Rajasthan is reeling under a huge financial burden with the state's debt having gone beyond Rs 5.59 lakh crores. Rajasthan has increased expenditure on education by 203.4 percent, by 105.4 percent on health, by 227.14 percent on housing. Its expenditure on social welfare schemes has increased by almost 2,475 per cent.
At its Jaipur meeting, the BJP will focus on this year's assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh while the Congress's Chintan Shivir in Udaipur will discuss how it can resurrect itself.
His immediate challenge is the February 8 Delhi assembly polls followed by year-end elections in Bihar. However, his big test would be the next year's assembly polls in West Bengal, a state where the BJP has emerged as a strong challenger to Mamata Banerjee-headed TMC.
Earlier, the BJP governments in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh had announced implementation of the UCC in their states.
In the past, the House has passed a number of resolutions urging the Central government to transfer Chandigarh to Punjab, Mann said.
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