State deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya among 692 candidates are contesting on 61 seats spread across 12 districts in the fifth phase.
Mukesh Agnihotri, the leader of opposition in the outgoing assembly, was administered the oath as the deputy chief minister.
According to the officials, the three-storey coaching institute, surrounded by residential and commercial establishments, had permission to use the basement as a store room, but it was being used as library in violation of the rules.
Campaigning for the fifth phase ended on Friday evening, and all necessary arrangements have been completed, state Chief Election Officer Ajay Kumar Shukla said in Lucknow on Saturday.
The swearing-in ceremony of the new ministers would take place at the Raj Bhavan in Shimla on January 8 at 10 am, the sources said on Saturday.
The letter from the Uttar Pradesh veterans comes days after 23 senior Congress leaders wrote to Gandhi, saying uncertainty over the party leadership has 'demoralised Congress workers'.
Right-wing group Shri Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena's president Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi was shot dead in the living room of his house in Jaipur on Tuesday by three armed men, one of whom was also killed in retaliatory firing, police said.
As Madhya Pradesh goes to polls, all eyes will be on 29 key assembly seats, out of the total 230, where the contest will be keenly watched.
Besides the picture of Akhilesh Yadav, the poster also carries the picture of party state spokesperson Fakhrul Hasan 'Chand', who earlier in July on the birthday of the SP chief had put up a similar banner outside the SP office.
In an embarrassment to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, a senior Janata Dal-United Legislator Chhedi Paswan met Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi following which the party suspended him for six years.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) has once again knocked on the doors of the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Maharashtra assembly speaker to expeditiously adjudicate the disqualification petitions filed against Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and other Sena MLAs, who had tied up with the Bharatiya Janata Party to form a new government in June 2022, in a time-bound manner.
On Saturday, Delhi unit of the Congress unanimously adopted a resolution urging Rahul to take over as the president.
What provoked Ashok Gehlot's belligerence was Sachin Pilot's participation in the Bharat Jodo Yatra with Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi in Madhya Pradesh. Gehlot was also aware that Rajasthan assembly Speaker C P Joshi had met Rahul in Maharashtra.
Asked whether he will join the BJP, he said, "Why not? Whatever Maharaj ji tells me, I will do."
'Every Congressman in Rajasthan is in Ashok Gehlot's pocket.'
From the morning itself, Congress MLAs made a beeline to Cecil Hotel in Shimla where the party's central observers -- Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda -- were staying.
Gogamedi, the chief of Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena, was shot dead in Jaipur on Tuesday by unidentified bike-borne criminals.
The Congress, meanwhile, alleged that both the Samajwadi Party and the BJP are hand-in-glove with the criminals and were two sides of the same coin.
The fact that Gehlot has stayed relevant these five years with his populist schemes is one reason why he may beat incumbency in a state that votes for change every election, observes Ramesh Menon.
While over 80 MLAs, including some of the independents, have reached a hotel in Udaipur, Soldier Welfare Minister Rajendra Gudha, SC Commission Chairman and MLA Khiladi Bairwa and MLA Girraj Singh Malinga expressed their displeasure in Jaipur.
Fifteen ministers took the oath in Rajasthan on Sunday in a cabinet expansion that included 12 new faces, fulfilling a key demand of former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot whose rebellion last year shook the state's Congress government.
'The 100-metre stretch from the opening of this tunnel is completely flooded with debris; the oxygen supply (through the pipes) too had gotten over and the chances of any survivors inside this tunnel are very bleak. Nobody has been able to talk to the people trapped inside'
The administration started preparing for the demolition of two precariously standing hotels in subsidence-hit Joshimath in Uttarakhand on Tuesday, but faced protests from their owners and locals on the issue of compensation, while more families were evacuated from the danger zone as the number of affected houses rose to over 700.
Through gestures and decisions, the BJP high command has signalled that Raje may not be the lead actor but rather play a supporting role in a high-stakes election in its stamping ground.
BSP legislators were earlier supporting the Ashok Gehlot government from outside and were in constant touch with the chief minister.
Eknath Shinde is appearing to be holding a tight grip on the Shiv Sena, as the strength of MLAs supporting him is expected to cross 50 as more legislators are likely to reach Guwahati on Friday thus further deepening the political crisis in Maharashtra.
Jehanabad: Of Love And War authentically captures Bihar's political skullduggery and caste violence, observes Deepa Gahlot.
Union minister files a case against Rajasthan officials, alleges that audio recordings of tapped phone conversations has tarnished his reputation and disturbed his mental peace.
The Congress won 40 seats in the 68-member Himachal Pradesh assembly while the BJP got 25 seats.
With the Yogi Adityanath government taking credit for cracking down on criminals and making it an election issue, political parties are now having a rethink on aligning with those who have a criminal background but also enjoy influence in their areas.
As many as 10 ministers in the Yogi Adityanath government failed to win their seats in the 2022 assembly elections, despite the BJP registering an impressive victory.
Dissident Congress leader Sachin Pilot began a 125-km foot march from Ajmer to Jaipur on Thursday, challenging Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and the party's top brass as assembly elections in Rajasthan approach.
According to a complaint lodged by the woman's husband, Shakoor Khan broke into their home on Thursday and raped his wife when she was alone.
The BJP had attacked him and the AAP after a video went viral showing him attending the event on October 5 where hundreds took a pledge to convert to Buddhism and not consider Hindu deities as gods.
Parties like the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, Mahaan Dal, and Janvadi Party-Socialist had distanced themselves from the SP after its defeat in the 2022 state assembly elections.
Aditi Phadnis picks five key seats in the three states where assembly elections are being held today.
The Congress secured 43.90 per cent vote share as it wrested Himachal Pradesh from the Bharatiya Janata Party, winning 40 seats in the 68-member assembly in the hill state which maintained its tradition of voting the incumbent government out of power since 1985.
After two and a half months of taking oath, MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has many challenges before him. The first is to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic, which has affected more than 10,000 people in the state. But The political challenges are even more daunting, reports Sandeep Kumar.
The BJP is faced with the crucial question of who will lead the party in the four impending state polls this year: In Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday said the views of the newly-elected MLAs in Himachal Pradesh were being sought to bring out a consensus on who will be their leader.
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