While the opposition alliance is putting up a united front in Ghosi constituency in Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand's Dumri, Dhanpur and Boxanagar in Tripura and Uttarakhand's Bageshwar, its constituents are contesting against each other in Dhupguri in West Bengal and Puthuppally in Kerala.
Bypolls in three assembly constituencies in as many states passed off peacefully on Monday with around over 70 per cent voter turnout, though some technical glitches in electronic voting machine were reported in Tamil Nadu and the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal alleged that the Central Reserve Police Force was "influencing" voters.
His first stint as chief minister of the tribal state had lasted for just about 14 months since July 15, 2013.
Nearly 4,800 elected MPs and MLAs will vote on Monday to elect the 15th President of India, with National Democratic Alliance candidate Droupadi Murmu having a clear edge over Opposition's Yashwant Sinha as over 60 per cent votes are expected to be cast in her favour.
The Act deals with automatic disqualification of MPs and state legislators upon being convicted and sentenced for two years or more in a criminal case.
Even as the grand old party seeks to promote opposition unity ahead of the hustings next year, Trinamool Congress supremo and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, however, would be conspicuous by her absence at the event at Sree Kanteerava Stadium.
Banerjee said her microphone was stopped after five minutes, while other chief ministers were allowed to speak for longer durations.
"Today, I want to tell you that before the 2024 polls the NRC will be conducted across the country and each and every infiltrator identified and expelled."
Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Punjab and Jharkhand accused the Centre of meting out "step-motherly" treatment to them, and urged the Union government to provide them free vaccine doses to vaccinate all adults.
Stepping up its attack on the government over Income Tax Amendment Bill, a united opposition on Thursday petitioned President Pranab Mukherjee against it, alleging the legislation was hurriedly passed in the Lok Sabha bypassing parliamentary rules and procedures.
Leaders of several opposition parties were stopped by the police at Vijay Chowk in New Delhi as they took out a protest march from Parliament House to hand over a complaint to the Enforcement Directorate on the Adani issue.
'Most leaders, from Lalu Yadav and Mamata to M K Stalin, respect and trust Sonia. She should continue unless she expressly declines.'
Counting began at 8 am under multi-tier security cover. At first, postal ballots will be counted and then EVMs opened.
After a meeting in the Parliament Library, the leaders of these parties issued a joint statement, expressing concern over the prevailing security situation in the country.
Amethi, Guna, Rohtak.... These were believed to be easy seats to win but as they say in politics, anything's possible. This election has seen a few family bastions fall and one could attribute it to the TsuNaMo that has swept the country.
Apart from around 100 MPs of the Congress, leaders of several opposition parties including Trinamool Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, Shiv Sena, Communist Party of India-Marxist, Communist Party of India, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Samajwadi Party attended the meeting.
'We will do a holistic review of the entire act and the policy at the state level and I need to be convinced that not a single Jharkhandi is uprooted from his or her home due to this law'
Asked how many seats INDIA bloc will get, Gandhi said, "Have you heard Sidhu Moose Wala's song '295'? So 295 (seats)."
"Yoga is a natural treatment process but liquor addicts cannot perform it. Yoga would be irrelevant unless a ban is imposed on sale of liquor across the country," the Bihar CM said at meeting in Palamau district.
Opposition presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha on Monday filed his nomination papers for the July 18 election, with a host of leaders including Rahul Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, Akhilesh Yadav and Farooq Abdullah accompanying him.
In a joint letter to the prime minister, the opposition leaders, including some chief ministers, have also demanded providing foodgrains to the needy, and giving Rs 6,000 per month to the unemployed.
The BJP is of the view that Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttarakhand governments could collapse and a Modi wave may resurrect its chances, notes Archis Mohan.
The Congress on Friday welcomed the statements of opposition leaders condemning Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from the Lok Sabha and said it was now time for the party to take on the job of building the opposition unity in a "systematic way".
The conference was seen by many as a show of strength by the Opposition with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, his Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav joining in to raise their voice against oppression of backward classes.
Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday returned a hung verdict with the Peoples Democratic Party as the dominant one that can tie up either with the Congress or the Bharatiya Janata Party to form the government. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand the BJP and its allies headed for capturing power.
'Applications seeking permission to file review petitions are allowed. We have carefully gone through the review petitions and the connected papers. We find no merit in the review petitions and the same are accordingly dismissed,' the bench said in its order.
His five-year rule saw the Babri Masjid demolition, the rise of the saffron forces and also the country being placed firmly on a new economic path, away from the Nehru years of public sector socialism.
Modi will inaugurate the new Parliament building on May 28 following an invitation by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
Rajya Sabha on Tuesday passed a bill to regulate the appointment and service terms of Chief Election Commissioner and election commissioners incorporating key amendments like retaining their status at par with Supreme Court judges, upgrading the search committee and inserting a new clause to protect them from court cases while discharging their official duties.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who set off a national debate when he walked the Bharat Jodo Yatra in a T-shirt in north India's cold winter, donned a pheran to ward off Kashmir's bone-freezing chill on Monday.
I begin a new chapter in my political journey. Jai Hind," he wrote on Twitter sharing his brief resignation letter to Sonia Gandhi.
Jaya said she is in Bengal to campaign for the Trinamool Congress as per instructions of her party president Akhilesh Yadav, who has extended support to Mamata Banerjee in the polls.
BJP president Amit Shah on Thursday revamped the party's national executive. Of the 178 members, only eight are women.
According to the Aam Aadmi Party, it has received permission from the authorities concerned to hold the rally of more than 20,000 people.
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.
This phase will decide the fate of senior minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav of Janata Dal-United, Rashtriya Janata Dal legislature party leader Abdul Bari Siddiqui and RJD chief Lalu Prasad's 'Man Friday' Bhola Yadav among others.
Veteran Congress leader Digvijaya Singh and Bharatiya Janata Party candidates Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sumer Singh Solanki on Friday won Rajya Sabha election from Madhya Pradesh.
The second phase of polling began Saturday morning on 20 constituencies in Jharkhand, which votes in five phases to elect 81 members of the legislative assembly.
Leaders from 26 opposition parties, in power individually or in alliance in Delhi and 10 states, are meeting in Bengaluru to discuss strategy to take on the Narendra Modi-led NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
High voter turnout was recorded in most of the seven assembly constituencies in six states where by-elections were held on Tuesday.
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