Three Bharatiya Janata Party leaders have threatened to contest as Independents from Jalna in the upcoming Maharashtra assembly polls after the seat went to Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena as part of the Mahayuti's seat-sharing arrangement.
Cracking the whip, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Gujarat on Tuesday suspended 12 party leaders, including 6-term MLA Madhu Shrivastav and two former legislators, for filing nominations as independent candidates for the upcoming assembly elections after they were denied tickets.
Once a close aide to JMM supremo Shibu Soren, Champai is now seen as crucial for the saffron party's efforts to establish a foothold in the tribal belt of Jharkhand, where Scheduled Tribes make up about 26 per cent of the electorate.
'I am simply highlighting a wrongdoing. This is why my complaint has merit, and the chief minister has ordered an inquiry.'
The BJP has emerged the second largest party by winning 29 constituencies in the maiden assembly polls post abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, improving its all-time high tally of 25 seats recorded in 2014 elections.
'The BJP lacks a credible mass leader who matches Mamata Banerjee's popularity.' 'Given the division of votes among Opposition parties, the West Bengal government's dole-giving strategy, and the consolidation of the poor, significant sections of scheduled caste groups and Muslim minorities behind the ruling party, it will be difficult to dislodge the Trinamool from power.'
The ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu has won the Erode East bypoll with a massive margin, defeating actor-politician Seeman's NTK. The victory is seen as a boost for the DMK ahead of next year's Assembly elections. DMK candidate V C Chandhirakumar trounced Naam Tamilar Katchi's (NTK) M K Seethalakshmi by a margin of 91,558 votes, leading to the NTK forfeiting its deposit. Chief Minister and DMK president Stalin attributed the win to the DMK government's good governance, while AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami termed it a "fake" victory. The bypoll was necessitated due to the death of Congress MLA EVKS Elangovan last year.
The withdrawal of support by the two MLAs to the government has dealt another blow to the coalition which is tottering on the brink of collapse after 13 MLAs of the combine resigned on Saturday.
Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Rahul Narwekar was on Monday elected unopposed as the speaker of the 15th Maharashtra legislative assembly.
Former Indian kabaddi team captain and Bharatiya Janata Party nominee Hooda is locked in a multi-cornered electoral contest from the Jat-dominated Meham assembly constituency in the Rohtak district for the Haryana assembly polls.
It is said that Kumaraswamy was in a dilemma, as Nikhil was not keen on contesting but buckled under pressure from party workers.
Mahim is a mix of predominantly upper-class Maharashtrians, a sizeable cosmopolitan population and minority voters.
Their lists show that a significant number of contenders are closely related to the current ministers, legislators or MPs, including their sons or daughters, wives and brothers or sisters.
The counting was scheduled to start at 5 pm Friday, but it could not be taken up as the Bharatiya Janata Party approached the Election Commission alleging violation of rules by three MLAs of the state's ruling alliance of Maha Vikas Aghadi.
Leader of Opposition Gulab Chand Kataria issued an order stating Kushwah voted for Tiwari despite a whip and that she was being suspended from the BJP's primary membership.
'There are 7,000 guns which are in the hands of the armed militia of the Kuki and Meitei communities.'
'Neither did I approach the BJP nor did they ask me to join them. It was a natural choice for both of us to make.' 'It was never for me to ask or for them to give.'
The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) is at risk of losing its status as a recognised political party and its railway engine poll symbol after its dismal performance in the recently concluded state assembly election, where it failed to win even one seat.
The JD-U legislator from Satakha and Independent MLA Tongpang Ozukum have announced that they will join the BJP-NDPP alliance, taking its tally to the magic figure of 31.
Kumar also hinted that the Maharashtra elections could be held after Diwali.
The Congress maintained that the state government had not ordered any such inquiry and it could be an internal matter of the CID. A top CID official has also said that no formal inquiry was ordered into the incident.
A West Bengal MLA has stirred controversy by allegedly asking Trinamool Congress workers to ensure that only those Bangladeshi immigrants who support the ruling party in the state find a place in the voters' list.
The Congress sought the imposition of President's Rule followed by fresh polls in Haryana.
Shetty, who won the Mumbai North Lok Sabha seat by margins of more than four lakh in 2014 and 2019, was denied a ticket in the 2024 general elections.
Former MLA Ranveer Yadav was convicted in a murder case that dates back to 1988. M I Khan reports from Patna.
Soren, who is scheduled to join the Bharatiya Janata Party on August 30, also resigned as an MLA of the state assembly and a minister in the Jharkhand Cabinet.
The BJP has nominated Sanjay Upadhyay from the Borivali seat for the November 20 state assembly polls.
Amid cross-voting, BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan on Tuesday won the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Himachal Pradesh, defeating ruling Congress' Abhishek Manu Singhvi, officials said.
BJP members, including the Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma, opposed the resolution, saying it was not part of the listed business.
A total of 4,140 candidates were left in the fray for 288 Maharashtra assembly seats after the deadline for withdrawal of nominations ended on Monday, a poll official said.
Earlier this week, the Congress claimed that the BJP had "abducted" some MLAs of the ruling party as well as its allies BSP and the SP to bring down the Madhya Pradesh government.
'There will be no khel on February 12 during the confidence motion vote.'
The National People's Party (NPP) has withdrawn support from the BJP-led government in Manipur, citing the government's failure to resolve the ongoing crisis and restore normalcy in the state. The NPP, which has 7 MLAs in the Manipur Assembly, made the decision after recent incidents of violence and protests in the state. The BJP continues to hold a majority in the Assembly, with 32 legislators, and the withdrawal of support is not expected to affect the government's stability.
'One of our MLA's homes has already been attacked by the mob. This legislator was beaten. This MLA belongs to the Meitei community.' 'There is a complete collapse of law and order in Manipur.'
The Assam assembly will discontinue with the two-hour break provided on Fridays to facilitate Muslim legislators to offer 'namaaz', Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said. The rule will be implemented from the next session, an assembly official said.
'If you are going to make undeserving MLAs as ministers, then why should sincere and hard-working people like us continue?'
According to the July 3 cause list uploaded on the apex court website, a bench of Justices S R Bhat and Aravind Kumar will hear the petition filed by advocate Vishal Tiwari
Voters in Muslim-dominated Nuh in Haryana have made the Congress victorious in all three assembly seats in the district, with one of the contestants registering the highest victory margin.
Five MLAs -- four from the BJP and one independent -- were also sworn in as ministers. However, former home minister and six-term MLA from Ambala Cantt, Anil Vij, has not found a place in the new cabinet.
EPS has had its way on most things, alliance-wise. A week earlier, he reiterated that he would not re-admit OPS and Sasikala Natarajan back in the party. It was a message not just to detractors in the AIADMK. It was even more so for the BJP leadership in Delhi. Even more important for the AIADMK was their demand for accepting EPS as the chief ministerial candidate of any alliance that the party would form, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
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