The stage is set for the crucial first phase of the assembly elections in Bihar on Thursday, as 3.75 crore voters will decide the electoral fate of 1,314 candidates, including top leaders such as Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance's (INDIA's) chief ministerial face Tejashwi Yadav and Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
'Arithmetic could decide the Haryana election given the presence of multi-cornered contests.'
The ruling National Democratic Alliance on Friday secured a thumping majority in the Bihar Assembly, winning 202 seats in the 243-member House, as results for all the constituencies were declared by the Election Commission.
In a culture where children take up the profession of their father, her becoming a politician was seen as natural and acceptable.
After a marathon polling process to elect the 18th Lok Sabha that lasted for a month and a half, the results were declared on Tuesday.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi jokingly mentioned ongoing discussions with RJD president Lalu Prasad regarding marriage, following a suggestion from Prasad's son to Union Minister Chirag Paswan.
At present, the BJP has 41 MLAs in the 90-member House while the JJP has 10. The ruling combine also enjoys the support of six of seven independents.
The deceased leader's nephew, Kapoor Singh Rathee, said that his uncle's elder son Bhupinder and younger son Jatinder have received 18 threat calls from an unknown number.
Having struck a seat-sharing deal, leaders of the Janata Dal-United and the Bharatiya Janata Party sat across the table in Patna on Monday to thrash out, among other things, constituencies they planned to swap or give up in favour of smaller allies in Bihar.
'Nitish Kumar previously held tight control over key ministries, but this concession (giving the home portfolio to the BJP) reflects either his weakened political position or a pragmatic acknowledgment of the BJP's growing dominance.'
The Congress claimed that dynastic politics exists across party lines and also hailed the Nehru-Gandhi family's leadership.
Confusion prevailing in the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) showed little signs of let up on Saturday, with just two days to go before the filing of nomination papers for the second and final phase of assembly elections comes to a close.
Former Rajya Sabha MP Sabir Ali, who was expelled from the JD-U 11 years ago for praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was on Saturday named the party's candidate from Amour assembly seat in Bihar.
Eight out of 10 ministers under the Nayab Singh Saini government faced defeat in the Haryana assembly polls.
The National Democratic Alliance was set to sweep the Bihar assembly polls, surging ahead in over 200 of 243 seats on Friday with the Bharatiya Janata Party emerging as single largest party with about 90 per cent strike rate, reaffirming the popularity and campaign clout of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was the face of the ruling alliance through the poll battle in the highly sensitive political state.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday said his party will soon come out with a 'hydrogen bomb' of revelations about 'vote chori' and after that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not be able to show his face to the country.
The Election Commission has asked RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav to hand over a voter ID card for investigation after he claimed to possess it despite it not being officially issued. The controversy arose after Yadav alleged discrepancies in the electoral rolls and claimed his voter ID number was changed.
''Now the roads in Bihar are as good as any other Indian state. The power sector has improved.' 'Connectivity, law and order, gender justice...' 'Bihar now stands for all these things that were totally absent when it was under jungle raj.'
The district police said they were apprehended from Goa in a joint operation by the Haryana Police and the Delhi Police.
The incident occurred when both leaders attempted to board the van carrying Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, but were stopped by security guards.
Sources said a couple of resolutions are expected to be passed at the crucial meeting, with an eye on the upcoming Bihar polls.
The BJP received 39.94 percent votes, while the Congress managed 39.09 percent in the assembly polls.
Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini has reached out to the SCs and the poor with the accelerated implementation of various schemes, especially the B R Ambedkar housing scheme.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of halting military conflict with Pakistan within five hours of being asked by then US President Donald Trump. He made the allegations during a rally in Muzaffarpur, Bihar, also criticizing the media and the deletion of names from electoral rolls.
The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) gave a huge blow to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance by winning 43 seats out of total 80 Lok Sabha seats of Uttar Pradesh, as per the Election Commission.
Chautala was jailed in 2013 in connection with the teacher recruitment scam case. He was on emergency parole since March 26, 2020, due to the Covid pandemic and was scheduled to surrender on February 21, 2021.
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.
Left to its machinations, the BJP would have loved to cut Nitish down to size, but it can't afford to do so as the JD-U is in alliance with the BJP at the Centre, and cannot form a government on its own in Bihar. For now, both need each other: Nitish for legitimacy, the BJP for numbers, points out Ramesh Menon.
Among the national parties, the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Communist Party of India-Marxist opposed the proposal, while the Bharatiya Janata Party and the National People's Party supported it.
The Congress has proposed AAP should contest five seats while the Samajwadi Party and Left parties could contest one seat each.
The Samajwadi Party and Congress have announced that they will contest together under the INDIA bloc.
'Rahul Gandhi's problem is that he doesn't think big.' 'He looks more like an activist, while politics is like a game of chess. You attack and then defend and have a game-plan.'
The 2024 Lok Sabha contest between the BJP and Congress is crucial in the context of the assembly polls in Haryana, which are due by October.
Parliament introduces a new 'Health Menu' featuring millet-based dishes, salads, and lean protein options to promote healthier eating habits among lawmakers, officials, and visitors.
Haryana MLA Kiran Choudhry has resigned from the Vidhan Sabha and is likely to be fielded in the Rajya Sabha bypolls by the Bharatiya Janata Party, nearly two months after she joined the party after quitting the Congress.
If everything goes according to plan, a resuscitated SAD could emerge as a central player in Punjab in three years, notes Aditi Phadnis.
'...the electoral playing field is tilted significantly in its favour.'
Nitish Kumar wants to assure the BJP leadership that he will continue to be a part of the NDA. But he also wants to secure a larger number of seats for his party in the 2025 assembly elections in Bihar.
Indian National Lok Dal president and five-time Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala died in Gurugram on Friday at the age of 89.
Congress leaders, on their part, are confident that the mobilisation of voters away from the BJP will gain more momentum in the state elections, scheduled for October 1, in the absence of national issues and the 'Modi factor'.
