A high-level committee on Thursday recommended simultaneous elections for Lok Sabha and state assemblies as the first step followed by synchronised local body polls within 100 days.
The value of the vote of a member of Parliament has gone down to 700 from 708 in the presidential poll scheduled for July 18 due to the absence of a legislative assembly in Jammu and Kashmir.
Jharkhand Governor C P Radhakrishnan on Thursday nominated Jharkhand Mukti Morcha legislative party leader Champai Soren as the chief minister and invited him to take the oath, capping a day of fast-paced developments.
Amid a raging controversy over allotment of a 'namaaz' (Islamic prayer) room in the Jharkhand Assembly, speaker Rabindra Nath Mahto on Thursday formed an all-party, 7-member panel, on the last day of the Monsoon session to look into the issue and come out with a report within 45 days.
The Champai Soren-led coalition government in Jharkhand will seek trust vote on February 5, minister Alamgir Alam said on Friday after a Cabinet meeting.
An FIR has been lodged against 10 named and 200 unidentified individuals in connection with a clash and stone-pelting incident during a religious procession in Jharkhand's Hazaribag. The clash, involving two communities, broke out over the playing of an objectionable song. Police fired two rounds into the air to control the situation. The incident led to uproarious scenes in the Jharkhand Assembly with BJP MLAs demanding action against the perpetrators.
The Commission, under Justice (retd) Ritu Raj Awasthi, would recommend an amendment to the Constitution to add the "new chapter or part" on simultaneous elections, the sources said.
The incident took place at Kurumahat in Hansdiha police station area, around 300 km from the state capital Ranchi, on Friday night when a tourist couple from Spain was spending the night at a makeshift tent.
Gangster Aman Sahu was killed in an encounter when members of his gang tried to free him from police custody in Jharkhand's Palamu district.
The ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-led alliance won all five seats, performing particularly well in Singhbhum, Rajmahal, and Dumka.
Bypolls are due in Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu
Uddhav Thackeray criticized BJP MP Nishikant Dubey for his controversial remarks amid the Marathi-Hindi language row, accusing him of trying to divide people and disturb harmony.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren expanded his cabinet on Thursday, inducting 11 new ministers, including six first-timers and two women. The swearing-in ceremony was held at the Raj Bhavan in Ranchi. The new ministers include six from the JMM and four from the Congress. One minister is from the RJD. The expansion comes after the JMM-led alliance won the recent assembly elections with a comfortable majority. The cabinet expansion is expected to give the government a fresh impetus to push its agenda and accelerate development in the state.
By naming a sworn swayamsevak for vice president, the Modi-Shah duo have sent out a clear and positive message to Nagpur, where the RSS headquarters is located, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
What was the "locus standi" of Sonia Gandhi when she along with the then prime minister Manhoman Singh inaugurated legislative buildings in Manipur and Tamil Nadu, the Bharatiya Janata Party asked on Wednesday while countering the Congress's criticism over the inauguration of the new Parliament building by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Central Industrial Security Force, tasked with the security of the ED officials, are using high-resolution body cameras to keep track of activities around Soren's residence, he said.
Jharkhand Governor Syed Sibtey Razi on Monday night appointed Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee president and legislator Pradeep Kumar Balmachu as the officiating speaker of the state Assembly.
RJD candidate from Maneka constituency in the poll-bound Jharkhand Ramchandra Singh and his aide were on Friday kidnapped by suspected naxalites in Latehar's Dhanukua village.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has distributed portfolios among the new ministers, keeping key departments such as Home, Personnel, and several others to himself. The Congress' Radhakrishna Kishore was given Finance, Commercial Tax, Planning and Development Department, and Parliamentary Affairs departments. JMM's Deepak Biruwa was allotted the departments of Revenue, Registration and Land Reforms (non-registration), and Transport. Chamra Linda, another JMM leader, was allotted the departments of Schedule Tribes, Scheduled Castes, Backward Classes (except Minority Welfare). RJD's Sanjay Prasad Yadav was given the departments of Industries, and Labour, Planning, Training and Skill Development. The Congress' Irfan Ansari got Health, Medical Education and Family Welfare, besides Food, Public Distribution and Consumer Affairs, and Disaster Management departments. The chief minister also kept to himself the departments of Cabinet Secretariat, Personnel, Administrative Reforms and Official Language, Road Construction, Building Construction, and those departments yet to be distributed to anyone. Among the other ministers, JMM's Ramdas Soren was given the School Education and Literacy, and Registration departments. Party colleague Hafizul Hasan was allotted the departments of Water Resources, and Minority Welfare Department. Panchayati Raj, Rural Works, and Rural Development departments were given to Congress MLA Deepika Pandey Singh. The CM gave Drinking Water and Sanitation, and Excise and Prohibition departments to JMM's Yogendra Prasad. JMM legislator Sudhivya Kumar became the minister for Urban Development and Housing, Higher and Technical Education, and Tourism, Art Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs departments. Shilpi Neha Tirkey of the Congress was allotted Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Cooperative Department. A total of 11 MLAs took oath as ministers in the Hemant Soren government in Jharkhand on Thursday.
In a bid to pressurise the United Progressive Alliance government to hold early assembly elections in Jharkhand which is under President's Rule, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday announced that all its 22 Members of Legislative Assembly will submit their resignation to the governor on Wednesday.
'He fears that the youth tide has gone against him and he will be swept away in the next assembly election in the state.'
In Maharashtra's 288-member assembly, the share of legislators with college degrees increased over the past decade.
Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda resigned from his post on Saturday. He handed over his resignation letter to Governor Syed Sibte Razi.Koda took the decision after consultations with senior leaders including United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi and his mentor Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav. Jharkhand Mukti Morcha had on August 17 withdrawn support to the Jharkhand government, reducing the Koda government to a minority.
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 MLAs of the ruling United Progressive Alliance coalition in Jharkhand on Tuesday arrived in Raipur by a chartered flight in a bid to thwart the Bharatiya Janata Party's possible attempt to poach them, and moved into a nearby luxurious resort.
"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.
Jharkhand Governor Syed Ahmed on Wednesday recommended to the Centre revocation of President's rule, a day after Jharkhand Mukti Morcha staked claim to form a new government in the state.
Altogether 80 out of 81 members of Legislative Assembly in Jharkhand Assembly voted in the presidential elections on Thursday with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party alone among alliance partners backing P A Sangma.
The BJP has sought the disqualification of Soren as an MLA accusing him of allocating a mining lease to himself while he held the state Mining portfolio in 2021.
The vote value of an MLA is calculated on the basis of the total population of the state, based on the 1971 census.
Fourth-term Bharatiya Janata Party MP Nishikant Dubey, one of the more vocal party members in the Lok Sabha, launched a broadside against the Supreme Court on Saturday, saying Parliament and state assemblies should be closed down if the apex court has to make the laws.
At least 30 MLAs of the ruling United Progressive Alliance coalition in Jharkhand camping in a resort near the Chhattisgarh capital since August 30 flew back to Ranchi in a chartered aircraft on Sunday afternoon to attend the special session of the assembly scheduled for Monday, sources said.
Allies of embattled Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren have demanded that he quit immediately to clear the political uncertainty, following his failure to enter the state assembly."We all adhere to the Constitution. And Guruji (Soren) should have resigned immediately after his defeat in the Tamar bypoll. He should resign forthwith," Deputy Chief Minister Stephen Marandi said.
The final round of voting for the Jharkhand Assembly elections is taking place on Wednesday, with the JMM-Congress-RJD coalition seeking to retain power while the BJP-led NDA aims to take control. The election will decide the fate of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, his wife, and several other candidates. Key issues during the campaign included alleged infiltration from Bangladesh, corruption, and Hindutva.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday conducted raids on the premises of two independent members of Legislative Assembly and the relatives of several other legislators in connection with allegations of horse-trading that had led to countermanding of the March 30 Rajya Sabha elections in Jharkhand.
Optimistic over forming a new government in Jharkand, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha is all set to stake a claim for government formation, with Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav vowing to install him as chief minister at all costs.Requiring a majority of 41 for the 81-member House, the JMM has 17 MLAs and guaranteed support of Congress, RJD and NCP.Four independents have pledged support to Soren and the JMM is lobbying to get the backing of at least 3 independents.
Shah, while releasing the saffron party's manifesto 'Sankalp Patra' for the upcoming assembly elections in Jharkhand, announced that a Displacement Commission would be formed to ensure rehabilitation of people displaced by industries and mines in the state.
Counting began at 8 am under multi-tier security cover. At first, postal ballots will be counted and then EVMs opened.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has cancelled his election rallies in Maharashtra and is returning to Delhi due to the volatile situation in Manipur. The home minister is likely to hold a meeting to review the situation in the northeastern state, where irate mobs have set fire to the residences of several BJP and Congress legislators. The incidents follow a series of killings and abductions by militants in the state.
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