An average 59.24 per cent voter turnout was recorded as of 5 pm on Thursday across 89 assembly seats in the first phase of Gujarat elections, officials said.
Long caught between two polarities, Gujarat's electoral field has expanded to include a third party with the Aam Aadmi Party challenging the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party as well as the opposition Congress that has lost ground but still has significant presence.
The results will be seen as a virtual referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity after his demonetisation decision.
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.
While over 80 MLAs, including some of the independents, have reached a hotel in Udaipur, Soldier Welfare Minister Rajendra Gudha, SC Commission Chairman and MLA Khiladi Bairwa and MLA Girraj Singh Malinga expressed their displeasure in Jaipur.
Addressing soldiers in Lepcha after celebrating Diwali with security personnel stationed near the border, Modi said the circumstances of the world are such that the expectations from India are constantly rising.
Claiming Banerjee has been made aware that Justice Kausik Chanda, who is hearing her plea, was 'an active member of the Bharatiya Janata Party' and since the adjudication of the election petition will have political ramifications, it was prayed that the matter be assigned to another judge by the Acting Chief Justice, who is the master of roster.
There is nothing to suggest that the DMK stands to gain from the AIADMK split nor is there anything indicative of an extraordinary advantage for the BJP, independently or in the company of the AIADMK, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
The focus now shifts to smaller parties and Independents who will play an important role in government formation.
Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on Saturday claimed that a few retired judges and some activists who are 'part of the anti-India gang' are trying to make the Indian judiciary play the role of the opposition party.
The Opposition MP pointed to a set of changes taking place in India that had caught the Congress and UPA government off guard, such as a shift from rural to urban.
A total of 142 candidates are in the fray for the 40-member Mizoram Assembly election as the last day of withdrawal of nomination papers passed on Monday, Joint Chief Electoral Officer H Lalengmawia said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that Mamamta is busy fighting with the poll panel instead of taking on political parties.
Polling was held for over hundred civic bodies in Punjab on Sunday amid stray incidents of skirmishes at some places.
'When corporates have a stake in the government through contributions to political parties, democracy, which is supposed to work for the common man, doesn't.'
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday sacked Rajendra Gudha as minister of state, hours after he cornered the state government in the assembly.
Congress candidate Gabriel Denwang Wangsu won the Kanubari Assembly seat in Arunachal Pradesh in a close contest defeating his lone rival Rongnai Maham of BJP by 885 votes in the October 15 by-poll.
The CM said that his party will not 'abuse anyone'. He appealed to people to vote for AAP only if they think his govt has done good work. Single-phase elections in Delhi will take place on February 8.
Voters can be relied on to punish a party which makes reckless promises without actually implementing them, asserts Virendra Kapoor.
'Jairam Ramesh is almost single handedly bringing about a paradigm shift within the government.'
Aditi Phadnis picks five key seats in the three states where assembly elections are being held today.
The UPA chairperson added that the Centre may "achieve its aims" through majority, but in the process, it would be disempowering each and every citizen of our country.
As the Opposition held its first meeting on the Presidential polls and names of Farooq Abdullah and Gopalkrishna Gandhi also cropped up, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party reached out to several parties across the political spectrum to build a consensus choice with senior party leader and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh speaking to Sharad Pawar, Mallikarjun Kharge (Congress), Mamata Banerjee (Trinamool Congress), Akhilesh Yadav (Samajwadi Party) and Naveen Patnaik (Biju Janata Dal).
With their high-decibel campaigns so far, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Samajwadi Party may appear to be locked in a direct fight in Uttar Pradesh.
Hours before his arraignment, former US president Donald Trump sent an email to his supporters, which he claimed was the last one before his arrest, saying that the United States is becoming a "Marxist Third World" country and went on social media questioning the fairness of the judiciary.
'India's defining characteristic has been its ability to manage and sustain democratic governance through an accommodation of ethnic, linguistic, and religious diversity.'
Political observers are keen to see if the BJP will now be guided by its more firmly entrenched ideological dominance in picking a face solidly identified with its core planks, or if it will choose a person tilted more to its electoral calculations. Or, whether its pick will be an ode to its core supporters or a outreach to relatively new groups of votaries.
Kejriwal alleged that for the last few months, the interference of the lieutenant governor in the elected government's working has increased day by day.
He, however, did not give any date for the proposed challenge which he announced in his opening remarks at the meeting.
I suggest we build a Vigyan Mandir (Temple of Science) with the ambience of a place of worship, so that it becomes a destination for pilgrims. We should embed on its walls bronze plaques describing each scientist mentioned here along with about a dozen of our ancient mathematicians, recommends Professor Kalyan Singhal, historian of science and technology.
'The BJP will not be able to create dictatorship of the kind it is perhaps dreaming of.' 'We have Bengal as the biggest example.'
All elections in India should happen in a free, fair and synchronised manner to ensure minimum "campaign mode" disruption to governance, the government think tank said in its report released recently.
'The EC is a sacred institution.' 'In the last few years, more than once, we have found the EC bending over backwards to accommodate the government.'
EC officials said the counting of votes for the Lok Sabha elections will begin at 8 am on Thursday and results are expected only by late evening.
'The EC should take permission from the PMO at the earliest and register FIRs against the two,' Kejriwal wrote in the letter.
After coming under fire for his sexually-coloured remarks against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, former member of Parliament Joyce George on Tuesday withdrew his comments and expressed regret publicly, even as the national party demanded his arrest while the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist distanced itself from the slur.
The ruling Congress was on Tuesday ahead of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the taluk panchayat and zilla panchayat elections in Karnataka as the two parties were locked in a keen contest.
'The BJP will be wiped out from all over India.'
Arunachal Pradesh assembly was late Thursday night dissolved by Governor Lt Gen (Retd) Nirbhay Sharma on the recommendation of the state cabinet, which demanded holding of state elections along with Lok Sabha polls next month.
EC received the RBI proposal in the first week of this month, soon after the model code of conduct came into force on March 5.
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