Why did Karnataka's economic prosperity fail to influence the nature of electoral promises made by political parties in the run-up to the assembly elections? asks A K Bhattacharya.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's comprehensive defeat to the Congress in Karnataka where the two parties ran a campaign of contrasts has left the ruling party much to ponder as the two rivals are facing a direct contest in three more state polls this year in the run-up to the all-important 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
'Its people are either victims of corruption or witnesses to it.'
Sources said senior leaders of the party have been told to reach out to other leaders of the alliance and talks with some parties have begun.
Union Minister of State Kailash Chaudhary was among the first to cast his vote, exercising his franchise in Balotra.
In its complaint against Shah, the Congress told the EC that the home minister claimed in a speech in Chhattisgarh's Rajnandgaon on October 16 that "...Bhupesh Baghel's government, for appeasement politics and vote bank politics, lynched Chhattisgarh's son Bhuneshwar Sahoo and got him killed..."
BJP general secretary Pramod Mahajan told mediapersons in Patna the people of these states were yearning for a change as the Congress governments had failed to fulfill their aspirations.
A day after being fielded as a candidate in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Uma Bharti on Thursday said she will work for the defeat of Congress in the state the way she made Digvijay Singh "bite the dust" in Madhya Pradesh.
Despite the upbeat statement, the party is expected to reflect on what caused the sharp fall in its numbers. It is expected to win about 240 seats against the 303 it had won in 2019.
Of the 34 SC reserved seats that went to the polls, the BJP won 22 and the Congress 11.
The perpetrators of Bhopal-Ujjain train bomb explosion were influenced by Islamic State ideology and the incident was a "trial blast" as the terrorists planned to carry out more attacks, the Madhya Pradesh government said on Wednesday.
If the Congress is contesting fewer seats than ever before, the BJP is set to contest its highest-ever number of Lok Sabha seats.
With Scindia quitting the party, the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh appeared headed for a collapse.
Former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh Sadhvi Uma Bharti on Tuesday claimed in Lucknow that she will be back in the Bharatiya Janata Party in "another 2-4 days."
'Kamal Nath and Digvijaya intentionally ignored Jyotiraditya's presence'
Trinamool Congress won three of the eight assembly seats in the bypolls in seven states with Communist Party of India -Marxist and the Nationalist Congress Party retaining their seats while Congress lost in Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh in the results announced on Friday.
Scindia, who was also named as its Rajya Sabha candidate from Madhya Pradesh by the BJP, hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his "competence and complete dedication" to serving India and asserted that the country's future is fully secure in his hands.
Though the MLAs termed it a courtesy meeting, they said they will support Raje if the party leadership chooses her for the post in the state.
The road ahead is not smooth for the 25 Congress defectors to the BJP. They are seeking re-election on the BJP ticket, which they campaigned against less than two years ago, and are finding it difficult to explain to the voters why they "betrayed" their parent party. If political analysts are to be believed, the results may surprise many of them, reports Sandeep Kumar.
After Chouhan passed the floor test, the House was adjourned till March 27.
Voters include 8.4 crore men, 8.23 crore women and 11,371 from third gender. There are as many as 35.67 lakh first time voters, besides 3.51 crore young voters in the age group of 20-29 years.
Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad Yadav on Tuesday said he was in favour of extending reservation benefits to Muslims but emphasised that it should be based on social backwardness and 'not on the basis of religion'.
The Shivraj Singh Chouhan government in Madhya Pradesh will be taking some senior citizens in the state on free pilgrimages by air under its existing scheme and the exercise will start from May 21, months before the assembly polls in the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled state.
The winning momentum is important for the BJP as the crucial state of Karnataka is next headed for assembly polls, expected in May, followed by Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram later this year.
The leaders of the Opposition INDIA bloc are meeting on Monday morning ostensibly to redraw their strategies to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP both inside the Parliament and in the electoral arena.
In switching over, Nitish has sent out a message that if he could not now become the NDA's PM, then he would need to stay on as CM at the very least, which a third term for Modi would not let him have, N Sathiya Moorthy points out.
It is speculated that Scindia, known to be very close to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, met the legislators in a bid to feel their pulses in the wake of developments in Karnataka and Goa.
The move of the Arvind Kejriwal-led party has further reduced the possibility of the INDIA bloc alliance working in the MP elections.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday released its second list for the upcoming assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, fielding three Union ministers.
Madhya Pradesh Assembly Speaker Ishwardas Rohani has accepted the resignation of former chief minister Uma Bharti from membership of the Vidhan Sabha.
Kharge was successful in bringing Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar together in Karnataka and the party now wants to try the same formula in Rajasthan, the senior leader said.
In Kerala, 95 out of 135 MLAs, accounting for 70 per cent, have declared criminal cases against themselves.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged people to vote in large numbers. "Today, there are bypolls taking place in various places across India. I urge those voting in these seats to vote in large numbers and strengthen the festival of democracy," he said in a tweet.
The Tamil Nadu chief minister, who is in Pudukottai on an official visit to review anti-COVID-19 measures and development projects in the district told reporters that vaccination shall cover all sections of the society.
Thirty per cent of candidates contesting Madhya Pradesh assembly election on the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party tickets have criminal cases against them, according to an analysis of candidates' affidavits released by watchdog Association for Democratic Reforms.
The party claimed it has the support of the independent candidates also.
A general knowledge competition based on the 'Ramayana' will be organised at national and international levels, an official statement on Sunday said quoting the minister.
The appointments holds significance as a large number of senior leaders, who had no organisational post currently, have now been given new responsibilities.
With many of his close associates leaving his side, it is virtually a lone battle for Congress stalwart Kamal Nath to help his parliamentarian son Nakul Nath win from Chhindwara for a second time amid the Bharatiya Janata Party's aggressive push to wrest the seat.
The Congress on Tuesday made significant gains in the assembly elections, dealing a body blow to the Bharatiya Janata Party.
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