In a virtual no-man's land ever since India became independent in 1947, more than 9,500 persons living in 51 enclaves in Coochbehar district are exercising their franchise for the first time on May 5.
Polling in Madhya Pradesh was marred by complaints of faulty EVMs and voter verifiable paper audit trail machines.
The Shiromani Akali Dal also issued a two-day ultimatum to her to stop "anti-party" activities, failing which, it said, strict disciplinary action would be taken against her.
The Congress alleged Chandra and the BJP were adopting 'delaying tactics'.
Claiming that Shah is getting "frustrated" by "poor turnout" at his rallies, Banerjee also alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party is plotting conspiracies to kill her as her security director Vivek Sahay was removed by the Election Commission after she sustained injuries last week in Purba Medinipur's Nandigram.
The incumbent Congress could win only 18 seats, with Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi losing both seats he contested -- Chamkaur Sahib as well as Bhadaur.
Over 1.54 crore voters in the eastern states of West Bengal and Assam will exercise their franchise in the 1st phase of polling
Union Minister Prakash Javadekar will get a Rajya Sabha berth from Madhya Pradesh after his name was finalised by the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday.
The PM treaded sensitive ground by asking first-time voters to dedicate their first vote to those who carried out air strike in Balakot.
A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice Hima Kohli said that as a division bench headed by the Gujarat high court Chief Justice has already taken a suo motu note of the incident and has passed several orders, it will not hear the petitions as of now.
The Congress may stand a better chance in the assembly polls if it followed the 'Himachal model', suggests N Sathiya Moorthy.
The notion that the BJP gained its increased tally by wiping out the Left parties and the Congress is completely misleading. Equally misleading is the belief that the TMC held its ground in all its existing seats. A little more than a fifth of the seats Mamata Banerjee's party had won in 2016 was lost to the BJP this time.
The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a PIL seeking the constitution of a 'renaming commission' to restore "original" names of ancient, cultural and religious places "renamed" by invaders, saying India can't be a prisoner of the past.
"This is something to be proud of," said Raj Panjabi, who is currently serving as Senior Director for Global Health Security and Biodefence on the White House National Security Council.
The committee, which was formed by the National Human Rights Commission chairman on a direction by a five-judge bench of the high court, also said that these cases should be tried outside the state.
An estimated 47 per cent voters exercised their franchise on Sunday in the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation polls
'The autonomy of essential institutions is clearly under question as the Modi government seeks to influence them politically.' 'The credibility of institutions such as the EC, the CBI, the CVC, the UPSC, the RBI, media, and universities, has been compromised,' notes Zoya Hasan, the distinguished political thinker.
As many as 1,500, or 19 per cent, of all candidates contesting the Lok Sabha polls, face criminal cases, according to an analysis by election watchdog Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
'Those who win indulge in shooting, looting, throwing bombs and burning houses.'
The missive to the chief minister came as the MLAs were reportedly shepherded to Mumbai last night and kept in a five-star hotel to apparently prevent them from being poached for the June 11 biennial polls to four RS seats from the state.
Elections to the nine council seats which fell vacant on April 24 were postponed in view of the coronavirus outbreak, but last week the Election Commission set May 21 as the poll date.
Allegations of electronic voting machines malfunctioningreturned to haunt the Election Commission as four Lok Sabha seats and nine assembly constituencies went for bypolls on Monday across 10 states with moderate-to-heavy voting amid prestige at stake for the Bharatiya Janata Party as well as opposition parties ahead of the 2019 general elections.
The BJD won 112 of the 146 assembly seats in the recently concluded assembly polls.
A total of 130 candidates with serious criminal cases against them including related to murder will contest in the first phase of Bihar assembly polls on October 12.
President Xi Jinping on Monday vowed to build China's military into a "Great Wall of steel" to protect its sovereignty and developmental interests as he sought a bigger role for Beijing in global affairs, days after brokering a Saudi Arabia-Iran detente, regarded as a diplomatic coup.
"The cause of action has not arisen within the jurisdiction of this court... We find no grounds to entertain the petition," it said.
If only you had thought ahead, you would have stocked snacks and biscuits, bread and cake, and vegetables suited for Amma or pondatti to make your favourite bajji and pakoda, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Terming Congress' favouring a ban on opinion polls as "utterly puerile", Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Monday appealed to the people to "reject the anti-democratic Congress not only in an opinion poll but at the polling booth as well."
Chinese President Xi Jinping is all set for an unprecedented third five-year term as he was 'elected' to the powerful Central Committee of the ruling Communist Party on Saturday while several top leaders including Premier Li Keqiang have been left out in the major shake-up at the top.
Complaints of electronic voting machine malfunctioning poured in from several booths on Tuesday during the third and largest phase of Lok Sabha polls which saw voters turning out in large numbers to cast their vote in 116 seats, including all constituencies of Gujarat and Kerala.
Sharad Pawar reckons that the NCP has value as a united, going concern, not as a gaggle of leaders in search of followers, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
FIFA approved major reforms at a congress on Friday, part of world football's effort to end the culture of corruption that has plagued its governing body for years. The measures were adopted by 179 members, while 22 voted against and six abstained at a congress in Zurich that will also elect a replacement to FIFA's disgraced president Sepp Blatter. The reforms were developed since June by a committee led by Francois Carrard, a Swiss lawyer tasked with a similar cleanup effort at the International Olympic Committee more than a decade ago. Among the most crucial measures are changes in the role of FIFA's president and its executive committee. The president's job has been altered to function like a corporate chairman of the board, providing strategic guidance but with less management authority. FIFA's executive committee, which had become an epicenter of graft, has been re-branded as a FIFA council, and will operate similar to a corporate board of directions. FIFA's secretary general, previously number two to the president, will serve as world football's CEO.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Rajapaksa and said he looks forward to further deepen relations between the two nations.
'A robust electoral democracy provides the institutional basis for the generation and regeneration of political hope.'
"Polling was held peacefully at the 11,697 polling booths across the state with 65.1 per cent of the electorate casting their votes till the close of polls," Chief Electoral Officer Saujanya who does not use a surname said.
Modi said the country is suffering because of terrorism for the last 40 years and there is no reason for people not being told about this.
'Welfare schemes are not a necessary evil, they are a necessary good.'
Aditya Birla Group on Friday said it donated funds to political outfits through a trust for around 15 years and that these were done within permissible limits of the country's laws.
He said alleviation of poverty from interior Sindh will be among top priorities of his government.
There is a sudden realisation in party circles that prolonged court cases could damage its standing, both among the cadres and voters, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
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