Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Brinda Karat on Saturday alleged she had to wait for almost an hour to cast her vote as the battery of the electronic voting machine (EVM) control unit at her polling booth 'drained out'.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said his party would oppose the Centre's move to bring a bill in Parliament to amend the 1995 law governing Waqf boards, and accused the BJP of trying to snatch the rights of Muslims.
Senior BJP leader and Patnagarh MLA KV Singh Deo and debutant from Nimapara assembly segment Pravati Parida took oath as deputy chief ministers.
10 vacancies in the Upper House after Rajya Sabha members were elected to the Lok Sabha.
In a significant development, the Supreme Court on Friday agreed to consider the separate pleas of opposition-ruled Kerala and West Bengal, alleging the denial of assent to bills passed by the respective legislative assemblies.
Opposition leaders on Monday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his comments made at an elections rally in Rajasthan, with some leaders also appealing to people to reach out to the Election Commission of India.
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.
A total of 45 MLAs voted in favour of the confidence motion in the 81-member assembly.
The RJD polled the highest vote share in Bihar, but it was not reflected in the number of seats it won.
Meanwhile, the Congress and RSP whole-heartedly backed the Kollam MP.
In the coming assembly election, negotiations over seat-sharing will be as important as actual outreach to voters.
Gopi defeated Communist Party of India leader VS Sunilkumar in an exciting fight.
The leaders will also raise the issue of alleged "use of religious symbols" by the Bharatiya Janata Party in their campaign, they said.
The exit polls on Saturday predicted the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance winning most of the seats in Congress-ruled Karnataka in the Lok Sabha elections and the Congress not putting up a good show.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said his party was discussing the seat-sharing arrangements for the Lok Sabha polls with the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, and the issue would be "resolved".
To keep their MLAs together, political parties are organising dinner meetings and arranging hotel stays for them ahead of the council elections, which are taking place just three months ahead of the assembly polls in the state.
In her maiden speech at a political rally, Sunita also asked people whether Kejriwal should resign as Chief Minister.
'Heavy rains are not the primary reason for landslides in Wayanad.' 'There are all sorts of (human) intervention going on in that area.'
'The 2020 assembly election was a Tejaswi Yadav election; whereas this is a Lalu Yadav election. It is his plan.'
Banerjee said her microphone was stopped after five minutes, while other chief ministers were allowed to speak for longer durations.
Majority of these constituencies are in Uttar Pradesh and the party that is on the third slot even as the counting is still underway on several seats is the Bahujan Samaj Party, a party neither with the National Democratic Alliance nor the opposition INDIA bloc.
Voting for by-elections to seven assembly constituencies of six states, including Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Kerala, Tripura, West Bengal, and Jharkhand, started on Tuesday at 7 am.
The Mahagathbandhan's seat-sharing announcement comes a day after the filing of nomination papers for the first phase of Lok Sabha polls was over.
Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United on Sunday exuded confidence that its national president, who was sworn in as Bihar CM for a record ninth time after forming a new government with the Bharatiya Janata Party, will win Monday's trust vote.
Gandhi said the Opposition wanted the House to function "often and well" and added that it was very important that cooperation happens on the basis of trust.
Political observers lauded the SP's choices in fielding several non-Yadav and Scheduled Caste candidates, the party's alliance with the Congress, and Rahul Gandhi's campaign around the danger to the Constitution if the BJP won a big majority.
The Opposition Congress alleged that the blast, which occurred around 1 am according to the police, happened during the manufacturing of country-made bombs by some CPI-M supporters.
Former United States president and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Thursday refused to debate with his Democratic rival and Vice President Kamala Harris until the Democrats formally decide on their nominee, whereas the latter said that she is ready for a debate.
Announcing candidates for the remaining four seats in Kerala, the Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded its state chief K Surendran in the high-profile Wayanad constituency against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
'The Congress is trying to reinvent itself -- the caste census demand, OBC emphasis, the anti-corporate thrust, especially on Adani etc -- all this is not standard Congress strategy.'
Widespread violence between supporters of the Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party over alleged electoral malpractices in strife-torn Sandeshkhali marred the final phase of Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal on Saturday, resulting in injuries to a number of people.
The MLAs of the ruling JMM-led alliance exuded confidence of winning the floor test, while the opposition BJP asserted that the coalition would be defeated.
"Hemant Soren repeatedly ignored my advice and eventually landed in jail... he has always been surrounded by wrong advisors," Hembrom, a lawmaker from Borio seat in Sahibganj district, told reporters.
According to the Election Commission data, 30 out of the state's 40 Lok Sabha seats went to the BJP-led coalition in the latest elections, a sharp drop compared with 39 in 2019 and lower than the tallies of 2014 (31) and 2009 (32).
The Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, where Rahul Gandhi won for the second time in a row, comprises three assembly constituencies each in the tribal district of Wayanad and the Muslim-dominated Malappuram, as well as one in Kozhikode district where Christians hold a significant vote base.
Counting of votes for the Lok Sabha elections has begun across states and Union Territories, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar told PTI.
'During the nine years of BJP rule, not a single temple has been reconstructed.' 'They might have constructed the Ram temple as it is an emotional issue. But they are not much interested in issues like heritage.'
However, the national party count has gone down to six from 14 in over seven decades.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday expressed confidence in the unity of the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) in combating injustice nationwide, a day after Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee's decision to go solo in the Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal.
In a strategic move, the BJP has welcomed prominent Christian figures like Anil K Antony, son of Congress stalwart AK Antony, and seasoned Kerala politician PC George, into its fold.
