According to an official release, the voting percentage is likely to go up when reports from all polling stations are obtained, as polling was scheduled until 6 pm in many constituencies.
A controversy erupted on Tuesday after the opposition parties tagged a video of DMK leader A Raja purportedly showing him making remarks that India has never been a nation, but a subcontinent with diverse practices and cultures, prompting strong response from the BJP which described the comments as a call for 'balkanisation' of the the country and demanded for his arrest.
The Bharatiya Janata Party is hopeful that the issue will come handy to its efforts to gain political traction in Dravidian state as it gears up for the Lok Sabha polls.
For the last four years since abrogation of Article 370, Kashmir-based political parties have been struggling to forge an alternate narrative to the one forcibly snatched from them. The BJP is bound to go hammer and tongs at them now that their armoury is reinforced with the Supreme Court judgment, notes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the veteran commentator on Kashmir affairs.
But why is everyone getting so het up over what, after all, is a mere film? If you don't like it, don't watch it. Why create a public spectacle over it? asks Virendra Kapoor.
On Tuesday, when trends indicated she was going to win her election, the four-time National Award winner said, 'Heartfelt gratitude to all the people of Mandi for this love and trust... This victory belongs to all of you, this is the victory of your trust in Prime Minister Modi and the BJP, this is the victory of Sanatan and in the honour of Mandi.'
"They (those who celebrated the win) don't have anything to do with them (Pakistanis)... It was done to provoke the BJP. They were children and young boys and this should serve as an eye-opener for the BJP," Abdullah said at a public meeting in Surankote in Poonch district.
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi's meeting with British Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in London triggered a row back home with the Bharatiya Janata Party asking him whether he endorsed the UK opposition leader's "anti-India" views.
The eight-phase DDC polls, which began on November 28, is also the first election after Jammu and Kashmir's special status under Article 370 was revoked last year and it was reorganised into a Union Territory.
"I can tell you that I understand you, my family must have drank water from the river Jhelum. Kashmiriyat, the culture and thought process must be in me too. When I come here, I feel like I am coming home," he said, while referring to his family ties to Kashmir and added that he had come with a message of love and respect.
'All the benefits of democracy will flow to Kashmir now. This has not happened in the last 70 years.'
'The BJP always said Rahul Gandhi is an 'air-conditioned leader', but after this yatra he has proved them wrong.'
Such a course would require a Constitutional Amendment, requiring a two-thirds majority in both Houses of Parliament. Even assuming that the INDIA combine comes to power at the Centre next year, a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha could way off the mark for them, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Home Minister P Chidambaram made a special request to the Bharatiya Janata Party central leadership and its legislature party in Jammu and Kashmir to attend the prime minister's meeting convened to discuss the situation in the state.
'He should not come to Kerala and fight against the CPI which is an integral part of the INDIA alliance'
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.
The new legislation on J&K puts a cloud over the state's constitution, through which the state became `an integral part' of India, says David Devadas.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said he wants the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance to win 400 seats in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls to ensure the Congress does not bring back Article 370 in Kashmir and put a 'Babri lock' on the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
Left high and dry, the BJP has had no option but to go for the overkill with 800 rallies, including 20 by the prime minister. In the process, it may be overplaying its card, observes Amulya Ganguli.
Right to apprenticeship, legal guarantee for MSP, passing a constitutional amendment to raise the 50 per cent cap on reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs, a nation-wide caste census and scrapping of Agnipath scheme are among the promises made by the Congress in its Lok Sabha polls manifesto released on Friday.
Singh said India has the strength to take stern action against cross-border terrorism and Pakistan has started realising it.
Real challenge for Mehbooba Mufti will be how to make India listen to voice of Kashmir.
Anurag Thakur, chief of the youth wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party, has vowed to go ahead with the Rashtriya Ekta Yatra and hoist the tricolour at Lal Chowk in Srinagar on Republic Day, despite strong objections from Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.Omar had told newsmen on Wednesday that the BJP should not go ahead with the planned yatra and try to unfurl the tricolour in Srinagar, as it may disrupt the fragile peace in the state after months of protests.
Opposing a dialogue with Pakistan till it stops 'exporting' terror into Jammu and Kashmir, a Bharatiya Janata Party delegation led by Jammu and Kashmir president Ravinder Raina at an all-party meet in New Delhi on Thursday said those seeking engagement with the neighbouring country should meet the victims of violence to understand their pain.
At its Jaipur meeting, the BJP will focus on this year's assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh while the Congress's Chintan Shivir in Udaipur will discuss how it can resurrect itself.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday denied claims that a Lashkar-e-Tayiba (LeT) terrorist nabbed in Reasi in Jammu and Kashmir was its member, even as the Congress and others attacked the saffron party and demanded a high-level probe.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader and municipal councillor of Pulwama's Tral Rakesh Pandita was killed in the firing by three terrorists in Tral Payeen in Pulwama.
He said the then prime minister Manmohan Singh had given a speech in which he had said Muslims have the first right to the country's resources.
Keshav Prasad Maurya's election from Sirathu in Kaushambi will be among the keenly watched contests in UP. If he and the BJP win, will he be luckier this time?
Soon after Hardik Patel quit the Congress on Wednesday, the opposition party alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party has 'lured' the Patidar leader by promising to get cases against him withdrawn and has 'scripted' his resignation letter.
Protests against the killing of a Hindu school teacher in Kulgam continued to rock several parts of Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts of Jammu and Kashmir on the second consecutive day on Wednesday.
The Jammu and Kashmir BJP today alleged that any alliance between the Congress and National Conference can be dangerous for the state.
Singh was under investigation by the federal agency as part of the case lodged under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against an educational trust run by his wife and former legislator Kanta Andotra, they said.
The high-level committee on 'one nation, one election' approached 62 parties out which 47 responded -- 32 in support of holding elections simultaneously, 15 against it.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said he has never owned a house and noted that this experience had helped him 'change' his Bharat Jodo Yatra and connect with the people.
'The government can do many things to improve the situation in Kashmir.'
Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta in a ceremony at the party office on Thursday welcomed with garland the BJYM members, attracting the ire of the Aam Aadmi Party.
The discussion will prove Gandhi has more knowledge about religion and spirituality than these persons, Kamal Nath said.
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