The Congress on Tuesday alleged that its candidates in both Surat and Indore were threatened, intimidated and bulldozed into withdrawing their nominations, and asked why is Prime Minister Narendra Modi 'so nervous' and 'afraid' even in traditional Bharatiya Janata Party bastions.
Supporters danced to the beats of 'dhol' and waved party flags, creating a festive atmosphere.
"NCP president Sharad Pawar, Loktantrik Janata Dal president Sharad Yadav, DMK chief MK Stalin, Bihar's former deputy chief minister and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, SP president Akhilesh Yadav, BSP chief Mayawati and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal among other opposition leaders will attend the oath-taking ceremony in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh on December 17," said well-placed sources.
At an election rally in Rajasthan on Tuesday, Gandhi said, "PM means Panauti Modi", insinuating the prime minister's presence at the Ahmedabad stadium during the India-Australia Cricket World Cup final brought bad luck to the home side, which lost the decider.
The crime branch named 29 accused in the 4,590-page charge sheet, including 26 already arrested and three wanted persons, including Anmol Bishnoi, the brother of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi.
As results were declared for assembly elections in four states -- Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana -- here are how some of the prominent candidates fared.
'From 10 am on Tuesday to 3 am this morning, we must have made not less than a thousand phone calls.' 'We kept fighting till the end and we did not leave the room till we got 113 certificates.' 'Two-three losses would have changed the game and the BJP wanted to become the largest party which they did not become.'
Targeting the Congress, the PM said those who ruled Madhya Pradesh for a long time did nothing else other than corruption and crime.
While the Congress is in power in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh is ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party, Telangana by the Bharat Rashtra Samithi and Mizoram by the Mizo National Front.
Though different voices are emerging from within the ruling BJP in Madhya Pradesh over the issue, several saffron party MLAs, including senior leaders, appeared worried about a possible repeat of the 'Gujarat formula' to overcome anti-incumbency in the central state, where Assembly elections are due in end-2023.
Modi said not a single leader of the opposition grouping INDIA has uttered a word against the "disrespect" for women.
In a jolt to ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Madhya Pradesh, Congress on Tuesday snatched the Shivpuri Assembly seat from the saffron party in the bypolls held on June 2.
He was arrested by the police from his residence in Hata town of the state's Damoh district, an official said.
Out of the candidates announced so far, 65 are below the age of 50 years and 19 are women, he said.
Earlier, another Congress legislator, Arjun Singh Kakodiya, had called Lord Shiva and Bajrangbali, or Lord Hanuman, tribals.
A war of words has erupted in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh after the Congress objected to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party putting up hoardings taking credit for the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
'The nuns were subjected to abusive language and all types of mental torture.'
Arun Beereddy (37), a native of Telangana's Hyderabad, was arrested from Delhi. He handles the 'Spirit of Congress' account on X, the official said.
A patwari, a local revenue department official, was crushed to death by a tractor-trolley used for transporting sand illegally in Shahdol district of Madhya Pradesh, police said on Sunday.
The BJP keeps taking dips till it appears good on the camera, he said.
The Congress on Thursday suffered its worst-ever defeat in Gujarat but appeared headed for a close win in Himachal Pradesh, a mixed bag result for the party that not only faces a rampaging Bharatiya Janata Party but an ambitious Aam Aadmi Party vying for the leadership of the Opposition going forward on the road to the 2024 general elections.
With assembly elections due in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram in the next few months, the Congress is working on poll strategies in these states and has convened a meeting of state leaders on May 24.
A senior Madhya Pradesh Congress legislator joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday hours after hitting out at his own party in the assembly.
There is a rise in the number of women elected to the state legislatures in 2023 compared to 2018, except in Rajasthan.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday released its manifesto for the November 17 Madhya Pradesh elections promising MSP for wheat at Rs 2,700 per quintal and paddy at Rs 3,100 and houses for beneficiaries of the state's flagship scheme 'Ladli Bahna'.
The CM said that the film exposes the conspiracies of 'love jihad', religious conversion and terrorism and its "hideous" face.
The debate, which saw several heated exchanges, will continue on Thursday.
Political circles were abuzz on Saturday amid speculation that former Madhya Pradesh chief minister and veteran Congress leader Kamal Nath may join the Bhartiya Janata Party.
Reacting to the results, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that in the by-elections held on 13 seats in seven states, the people of the country have given their support to the INDIA bloc.
'The BJP is doing politics 24x365, but the Congress revs up only during elections.'
Political parties have fielded sons, wives and daughters-in-law of legislators who quit after being elected to the Lok Sabha.
Former Union minister Prakash Javadekar and another senior party leader Om Prakash Mathur was made poll in-charge for Telangana and Chhattisgarh respectively, a party statement said.
Priyanka Gandhi's son Rehan was also seen matching steps with Rahul Gandhi.
In elections for the 230-member assembly last year, the Congress won 114 seats and the BJP coming a close second with 109. The Bahujan Samaj Party has two seats, the Samajwadi Party one and the Independents four seats.
The results mark a defining turn in the fortunes of several regional satraps, especially in the BJP, around whom politics in their states have revolved for decades.
The stakes are significant for the BJP in this round as the party had in 2019 won an overwhelming majority of these seats, including all in Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, that will go to polls on May 7.
Eight Union ministers, two former chief ministers and one ex-governor are among those who are set to test their electoral fate in the first phase of elections on April 19 when 102 seats across 21 states and Union territories will go to polls.
In the video, Nath was talking to Raghuvanshi's supporters when he made the remarks about former CM Digvijaya Singh and his son.
Actor Swara Bhasker on Thursday took part in the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain with Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi.
"One cannot treat women with disrespect. Kamalnath ji is from my party. But I don't like personally that type of language that Kamalnath ji has used. I do not appreciate it. It is unfortunate", Gandhi, on a three day visit to Kerala, told reporters.
