Bollywood actress Swara Bhasker has taken the political plunge! Well, not completely, but that hasn't stopped the actress from campaigning for her choice of candidates this election.
Gaurav Gogoi will head the screening committee for Rajasthan with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot included among the ex-officio members of the panel.
Gujarat has registered a voter turnout of 64.33 per cent for the recently-concluded elections to 182 assembly seats, a drop of more than 4 per cent as compared to the turnout registered in the 2017 polls.
Of these 14, all but three won the election on Thursday.
At least 1,100 postcards with a small message and tagline 'Badbu Gujarat Ki (stink of Gujarat)' were sent on Tuesday to state tourism's brand ambassador and Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan by Dalits as part of a campaign to highlight "atrocities" against them in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Rahul Gandhi mostly stayed away from the elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, choosing to focus on the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
On July 25, these four youths were discharged from Rajkot hospital as doctors said their condition had improved. But they were rushed to the civil hospital in Ahmedabad next day.
'Jignesh Mevani has many strengths: Youth, articulation, fearlessness, proficiency with social media, political and ideological flexibility.' 'Also focus, as in targeting the BJP as the one and only enemy for now and using that justification to align with the rest,' says Shekhar Gupta.
The BJP's massive victory will make it hard for the party to derive a criterion for selecting ministers, as the claimants will be many and the berths, few.
State Congress president Jagdish Thakor urged Muslim leaders, including Pirzada, to frame a time-bound programme targeting 60 assembly seats with sizable Muslim population.
A total 2.51 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise for the second phase of elections, including 1.29 crore men and 1.22 crore women.
Brijesh Merja is the third Congress MLA to have resigned since Wednesday and the eight since March.
The committee has also recommended highlighting 'Hindu victories' in various battles in the textbooks.
Nearly 800 people commenced the 380-km-long journey from Vejalpur area of city on Friday morning.
On joining the party, Kumar said, "I am joining Congress because it's not just a party, it's an idea. It's a country's oldest and most democratic party, and I am emphasising on 'democratic'...Not just me many think that country can't survive without the Congress..."
While the BJP faces rebellion in some pockets and an undercurrent of anger palpable among the dominant OBC Chaudhary community due to the arrest of dairy cooperative leader and former home minister Vipul Chahduary, local caste dynamics and selection of candidates are likely to play a major role in the final outcome, political analysts said.
While the Congress is elated to see the new caste dynamics coming to its rescue, the BJP still believes that no one is leaving its ship.
In percentage terms, 1.8 per cent voters in Gujarat pressed the NOTA button on electronic voting machines in Gujarat, as against 0.9 per cent in the hill state (over 33,000 voters).
Solanki, on his part, confirmed the Congress had the backing of the PAAS, adding they had come to agreement on numerous issues with the Patidar leaders, which would be announced soon.
A region-wise analysis of the Gujarat assembly results shows that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept Saurashtra region, winning 40 of 48 seats, regaining its hold over a region where the Congress held sway in 2017 polls.
Shivaji Pawar made a startling revelation: Though the subject matter of his investigation was the January 1 violence, he had not examined any of the witnesses to that violence.
The Congress has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of trying to break the opposition party to win the Rajya Sabha polls.
In winning a seventh term, the BJP also matched the Left Front's feat in West Bengal.
The JNU student leader said, "There is an atmosphere of fear in the country and anybody who speaks against the government is threatened."
While the BJP says it is confident Dalits will vote for it in the state assembly polls due this year-end, the Congress says it is paying attention to seats with 10 per cent or more Dalit population.
Fearing poaching, the party had shifted its legislators to various resorts in Gujarat in the one last week, dividing them in zone-wise groups. While some MLAs gathered in Rajkot in Saurashtra, few others were in Abu Road in Rajasthan.
With the reduced strength at 65, the Congress may find it difficult to win 2 RS seats.
'But in 2024, the people of India will throw him out of power as the contradictions in him will be apparent.'
The rhetoric that we are fed daily needs to be measured against performance and the facts. That is not happening, points out Aakar Patel.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is contesting 88 seats out of the total 89, tops this list among major political parties in the fray with 36 per cent of its candidates having criminal cases. Thirty per cent of its candidates are facing serious cases such as murder, rape, assault, kidnapping, among others, the ADR said in its report. The number of candidates having criminal cases fielded by the AAP is 32.
Legislative assembly elections in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state are due next year.
Police registered a first information report against the owner and manager of Neelcity Resort in Rajkot under Indian Penal Code Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) for opening the resort for Congress MLAs, in alleged violation of lockdown notification which does not allow hotels and restaurants to open till Monday.
Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala also said, "Saheb knows his qualities very well". He also shared a copy of the news report.
Though the election officials were yet to make formal announcement, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani informed the media about the victory.
Radhika Vemula, Rohith's mother, who was accompanied by the 'dadis' and former JNU student Umar Khalid unfurled the national flag. They sang the national anthem along with thousands of people, including women and children who had gathered at Shaheen Bagh to celebrate the occasion.
It was a high-stakes three-cornered fight between the BJP, Congress and Aam Aadmi Party.
The journey for 24-year-old Akash Anand would be much tougher, because dynastic succession goes against the grain of Dalit politics that B R Ambedkar founded.
The shifting of MLAs to Congress-ruled Rajasthan will allow the party to focus on drawing up its strategy for the crucial Rajya Sabha elections for which it has fielded two candidates, the source said.
After the resignations of three MLAs, the Congress, whose strength has been reduced to 65 in the 182-member House, had earlier shifted its legislators to three resorts in Rajkot, Ambaji in Banaskantha district and Anand in Gujarat to thwart any 'poaching' bid. However, a police complaint was on Sunday filed for alleged violation of lockdown norms against a resort in Rajkot district where the Congress had lodged some of its MLAs.
Kabir Kala Manch activists had allegedly made provocative speeches leading to violence at Koregaon Bhima in the district, according to an FIR registered at Vishrambaug police station after the event.
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