Jharkhand Mukti Morcha supremo Shibu Soren is all set to become the Jharkhand chief minister with the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Janata Dal (United) and the All Jharkhand Students Union.
The Congress on Tuesday remained undecided whether to go it alone in poll-bound Jharkhand or tie up with regional parties.
'I want to ask the Congress only one question: What is more important than election management in politics?'
The Union Cabinet had Thursday recommended imposition of President's Rule, where Chief Minister Arjun Munda has resigned after his government was reduced to a minority.
Jharkhand Governor Sibte Razi had on Wednesday asked the chief minister to prove his majority in the assembly on or before September 15 after the latter sought an opportunity for a floor test.
Polling will take place on Tuesday in 20 constituencies in Jharkhand spread across seven Maoist-hit tribal districts in the second of the five-stage elections to the 81-member assembly.
The seven seats -- Bageshwar in Uttarakhand, Ghosi in Uttar Pradesh, Puthuppally in Kerala, Dhupguri in West Bengal, Dumri in Jharkhand, and Boxanagar and Dhanpur in Tripura -- went to poll on September 5.
"What I understand from media reports [is that] some of my party colleagues are at pain following my continuation in the ministry," Radha Krishna Kishore said.
An isolated Shibu Soren resigned as Jharkhand Chief Minister on Sunday evening after failing to get the support of the Congress and its ally Jharkhand Vikas Morcha-Prajatantrik ahead of Monday's trust vote in the assembly.
Newly elected Bharatiya Janata Party legislature party leader Raghuvar Das on Friday staked claim to form the new government in Jharkhand, three days after the BJP-All Jharkhand Students Union party alliance won a majority in the assembly election.
Extensive arrangements have been made due to the COVID-19 pandemic including personal protective equipment kits for election staff, more polling booths, thermal screening, sanitisers, masks and gloves for voters and markings to ensure social distancing, officials said.
The Maoist-infested state needs a visionary leader and Hemant Soren is definitely not one, opines Aditi Phadnis
Six JVM-P MLAs joined the BJP-led coalition in the state assembly.
The Election Commission of India has set up more than 200 polling stations within housing societies in the urban areas of Uttar Pradesh to increase the voter turnout in the politically crucial state.
The Yatra comes a day after the Congress was left high and dry with former ally Nitish Kumar, the Bihar chief minister, making a return to the BJP-led NDA.
Jharkhand is all set for a spell of President's rule with no party or combination of parties in a position to form a government in the wake of fall of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition last week.
Asked how many seats INDIA bloc will get, Gandhi said, "Have you heard Sidhu Moose Wala's song '295'? So 295 (seats)."
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader Hemant Soren, the son of Jharkhand architect Shibu Soren, took the reins of the state as chief minister on Sunday, a week after a three-party coalition, led by him, swept the assembly polls, bagging 47 seats in the 81-member assembly. This will be Soren's second stint as the chief minister of the tribal state. His first had lasted for just about 14 months since July 15 2013.
Though the extended tenure of incumbent president JP Nadda ends on June 30, a recent amendment in the BJP's constitution has empowered its apex body, the Parliamentary Board, to take a call related to a president, including his term, in "emergency" situations.
The Election Commission on Saturday announced five-phase election dates for Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir
The central election committee of the party met on Monday to finalize the list of candidates, but the exercise is being done in a vacuum since the party is still unclear of whether it is going ahead with any allies or not. The party is still negotiating with Babulal Marandi for seat sharing, with Ahmed Patel Sonia's political secretary, admitting that discussions are still on with him but so far there is not much headway.
Since 2018, the BJP has failed to win a majority in any of the state polls. It lost power in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh in 2018 followed by Maharashtra and Jharkhand. The party managed to form government in Karnataka by winning over opposition MLAs and in Haryana by allying with a regional party.
A cut motion was passed on the floor of the assembly soon after seven ministers resigned.
A maximum of 92,000 personnel of CAPFs are likely to be deployed in politically volatile West Bengal, where elections will be held in seven phases, followed by 63,500 personnel in militancy-hit Jammu and Kashmir, where polling will be held in five phases.
rivals Congress, JMM and TMC and Samajwadi Party.
A Lok Sabha member, Soren secured 42 votes in his favour against 34 after a day long debate on the trust vote moved by officiating parliamentary affairs minister Stephen Marandi. In all 76 members participated in the voting.
Exigencies of electoral politics and individual ambitions often stoke family feuds and sibling rivalries.
The Supreme Court on Monday sought the Centre's response on a PIL that questioned the non-election of deputy speaker in Lok Sabha and several state assemblies, and observed that the issue is "very important".
Citing the upcoming assembly elections in Jharkhand, the Indian Olympic Association on Friday postponed the 34th National Games for the fifth time in two years.
In the last five years, 480 candidates with declared cases related to hate speech have contested elections to state assemblies, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, the ADR said.
Political observers lauded the SP's choices in fielding several non-Yadav and Scheduled Caste candidates, the party's alliance with the Congress, and Rahul Gandhi's campaign around the danger to the Constitution if the BJP won a big majority.
With 18 assembly seats in his kitty, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha chief Shibu Soren on Thursday said the results indicated his popularity and expressed his desire to form the government in Jharkhand, which has given a fractured verdict. "The JMM is the single largest party and I should be given the chance to form the government," said Soren, who has emerged as the king-maker after the results of the state assembly polls were declared on Wednesday.
Over 60 per cent voter turnout was recorded on Monday in 49 constituencies in six states and two Union territories in the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections, with Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir recording its highest-ever voting percentage.
Close to half of the total 543 Lok Sabha seats are bracing for multi-cornered fight this time, making the contest way more interesting and intense than it was in the 2019 elections.
The BJP, which rules the Centre, is in power in Uttarakhand, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Goa, Assam, Tripura, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and is all set to get Madhya Pradesh back and snatch Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh from the Congress after today's vote count.
The Aam Aadmi Party, Delhi's ruling party, is already in election mode.
The first phase, polling for which will take place on February 3, will cover the entire 90 seats in Haryana, 64 of the 243 seats in Bihar and 24 of the 81 seats in Jharkhand.
Their leader and assembly speaker has convened the House on Monday.
High voter turnout was recorded in most of the seven assembly constituencies in six states where by-elections were held on Tuesday.
