The marathon polling process to elect the 18th Lok Sabha ended on Saturday with the seventh phase of elections witnessing an approximate voter turnout of 62.36 per cent, amid clashes between Trinamool Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party supporters in Sandeshkhali and some other parts of West Bengal.
Rebel Trinamool Congress member of Parliament Kabir Suman, whose sympathetic stance towards Maoists and outbursts against alleged in-house corruption had embarrassed his party, backtracked on his threatened resignation, saying he would not quit from the party and the Lok Sabha.
Polling will be held in all 13 seats in Punjab and an equal number of seats in Uttar Pradesh, nine in West Bengal, eight seats each in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, four in Himachal Pradesh, three in Jharkhand and the lone seat Chandigarh.
Parts of Rahul Gandhi's speech during the Operation Sindoor discussion in the Lok Sabha were expunged from the record after he criticised the government for trying to protect Prime Minister Narendra Modi's image.
Two-time Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha MP Mahua Moitra is learnt to have quietly tied the knot with Biju Janata Dal leader Pinaki Misra on May 3.
Self-proclaimed heir of Rani Rashmoni, lottery baron join businessmen in the list of MP-aspirants with assets worth over Rs 100 cr, reports Abhineet Kumar.
According to BJP insiders, every Union minister has been given 3-4 seats to mentor and has been told to work hard on these constituencies in the next 20 months to ensure the party's victory.
Four-time Odisha MP Pinaki Misra's wedding to firebrand TMC MP Mahua Moitra in a quiet, intimate ceremony that chose privacy and tradition over fanfare, was a reflection of his personal style.
'One Sandeshkhali won't turn around women's perception of Mamata Banerjee in this state'
Other prominent candidates among the 904 in the fray are Union minister Anurag Thakur, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad's daughter Misa Bharti.
Counting of votes for the Lok Sabha elections has begun across states and Union Territories, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar told PTI.
A member of the Lok Sabha representing Jadavpur in West Bengal, Mimi Chakraborty is also an actor, politician and singer who is touted as the 'lady with the golden heart.
The Trinamool Congress's candidate selection for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls is expected to prioritise the nominee's winnability, public image and sitting MPs' performance, while also reflecting the internal debate on whether experienced leaders should make way for the younger generation.
Saturday's voting will mark the end to the marathon polling process that began on April 19 month and has already covered 486 Lok Sabha seats in 28 states and Union territories.
Referring to infiltrators as "termites", who are eating into the resources of this country, the BJP boss said his party will throw them out from Bengal after coming to power at the Centre for a second term
Polling is scheduled in all 13 seats of Punjab and four of Himachal Pradesh, 13 constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, nine in West Bengal, eight in Bihar, six in Odisha and three seats in Jharkhand besides Chandigarh.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) is unlikely to attend a meeting of the INDIA bloc on June 1, sources said, as it coincides with the last phase of voting in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls.
Cricketer Yusuf Pathan will contest from the Baharampur Lok Sabha seat, whereas Kirti Aazd will fight from the Bardhaman-Durgapur constituency.
Widespread violence between supporters of the Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party over alleged electoral malpractices in strife-torn Sandeshkhali marred the final phase of Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal on Saturday, resulting in injuries to a number of people.
Announcing the first list of candidates, Left Front chairman Biman Bose said that of the 16 names announced, 14 are new, of whom three are women.
"We will complain. He can meditate, but televisions cannot show it," she said, alleging that this will amount to "violation of the MCC."
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party might conduct the Lok Sabha polls in December itself, claiming that all choppers have been booked by the saffron party for campaigning.
As the final five phases of polls draw closer, rift among Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) partners, Congress-Left combine and the Trinamool Congress, which are fighting separately has intensified, triggering a fierce contest across half of the remaining 36 constituencies in West Bengal driven by local issues such as Sandeshkhali and the SSC scam.
As Election 2024 hurtles towards result day in a medley of mangalsutra, mujra, mutton, machli and other barbs, these may sound like character names from Hindi comics of yore. Instead, these are the mocking, sometimes vicious monikers given by political rivals to each other.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said Narendra Modi should be referred to as a Bharatiya Janata Party leader and not as the prime minister in the saffron party's campaign as he is a 'caretaker PM'.
Clad in a traditional red bridal lehenga, the actor looked graceful, while the groom looked dapper in a light pink sherwani.
The final phase saw voting in all 13 seats of Punjab and an equal number of seats in Uttar Pradesh, nine in West Bengal, eight seats each in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, four in Himachal Pradesh, three in Jharkhand and the lone seat Chandigarh.
BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said efforts will be made to pacify the dissidents.
First-time parliamentarians Nusrat Jahan and Mimi Chakraborty are seen dancing to a Durga Puja song, and the video has already garnered over 1.5 million views on Facebook alone.
Actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha, who joined the Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha election, lost to Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad from Patna Sahib constituency in Bihar by 2.84 votes.
'Didi' became the real 'Dada' as she got past the post, on a wheelchair and a foot in cast, a souvenir from the Nandigram battle against former protege-turned-rival Suvendu Adhikari.
On Wednesday, Bengal's own daughter she firmly pitched herself as, was sworn in as the chief minister of the turbulent state for the third successive term amid raging fires of political violence and a rampaging pandemic.
TMC MP Professor Sugata Bose spoke eloquently on the topic of nationalism vs the freedom to dissent, whilst presenting a balanced view on the need to protect constitutional freedoms.
In a first such action in India's electoral history, the Election Commission had Wednesday ordered campaigning in the nine West Bengal constituencies to end at 10 pm on Thursday, instead of 6 pm on Friday, in the wake of violence between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Trinamool Congress in Kolkata during Amit Shah's roadshow.
Chatting with passengers in a local train, fishing, playing football with children or even painting their own grafitti are some of the new campaign ways thought up by candidates contesting the Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal.
A quick look at the 66-year-old leader's political journey in the mid-1970s shows how injuries and physical assaults have shaped her political career over the years.
The list, which is a mix of seasoned political players and greenhorns, has 17 women candidates, five more than the last elections, constituting roughly 41 per cent of the candidates.
Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com gives the lowdown on the 59 seats spread across seven states and one Union territory going to polls in the last and final phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections on May 19, 2019.
'They are our go-to men, our trouble-shooters.' 'They draw their strength from remaining low-key and accessible only to our workers.'
The Gujarat Assembly on Friday passed a resolution requesting the Centre to take strict action against BBC for tarnishing the image and popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with its documentary on the 2002 riots in the state.
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