The country now has six national parties - Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party, Communist Party of India-Marxist, NPP and AAP.
During a review, the EC found that the performance of some officers was "unsatisfactory" and they were found "complacent, if not complicit" in various matters, including the illegal supply of liquor as a possible poll inducement, sources said.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party managed to notch up a morale-boosting win on its 'Mission Northeast' on Thursday by retaining Tripura emphatically, despite anti-incumbency and newcomer Tipra Motha playing spoilers to its party, while also piggy-backing to power in Nagaland on Neiphiu Rio-led NDPP's shoulder.
The Congress's loss in the three states in the North-East, a region it had dominated for decades, shows there is a lot left to do to reclaim its political turf despite the Bharat Jodo Yatra which it had touted as a successful experiment in mass public outreach.
The ruling Congress in Meghalaya, which is enjoying a wafer-thin majority in the 60-member assembly, has reportedly petitioned the party high command on attempts allegedly being made to create rift within the party.
The vote value of an MLA is calculated on the basis of the total population of the state, based on the 1971 census.
The IMD has warned of heatwave to severe heatwave conditions in parts of West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh during the next five days.
This is a complete betrayal of the mandate of the people of the Sagardighi Assembly constituency, Ramesh said on Twitter.
With the Election Commission's announcement of the schedule for elections to the legislative assemblies of Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland, the heat has once again taken a good track. While the stage for the political battle is being set, authorities seem more concerned of the security aspects
Meghalaya's opposition National People's Party on Monday renewed its demand for resignation of Congress Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma's for alleged 'nexus' with Garo tribe militant outfit A'chik National Volunteer Council-Breakaway and institution of a Central Bureau of Investigation or the National Investigation Agency probe into the allegation.
While the BJP and the Congress have always supported the bill, opposition by other parties and demands from some for quota for backward classes within the women's quota have been key sticking points.
'Are we so ready to believe that in this country whose virtues we constantly shout from the rooftops, there is no single person -- other than Modi -- in a minimum of 272 elected MPs with the talent and ability to lead this country?' asks Prem Panicker.
As Karnataka gears up for D-Day, with most exit poll projections predicting a hung assembly while putting the Congress in the lead, the outcome will boil down to how the battle for some key constituencies play out.
In the Interim Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that a high power committee would be set up to consider the challenges arising from 'fast population grown and demographic changes.' 'But who wants data? It pays to feed people's fears, insecurities and apprehensions. If such fears don't exist, they must be created,' her husband Parakala Prabhakar says in this fascinating excerpt from his book, The Crooked Timber of New India: Essays on a Republic in Crisis.
"Scamsters like Vijay Mallya, Lalit Modi and Nirav Modi magically disappeared from India and reappeared in foreign lands out of the reach of Indian law. Modiji's magic can even make democracy disappear from India very soon,'' he told an election rally at Jowai in poll-bound Meghalaya.
The Bharat Nyay Yatra will be mostly covered by bus along with short stretches of walking.
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.
Allegations of electronic voting machines malfunctioningreturned to haunt the Election Commission as four Lok Sabha seats and nine assembly constituencies went for bypolls on Monday across 10 states with moderate-to-heavy voting amid prestige at stake for the Bharatiya Janata Party as well as opposition parties ahead of the 2019 general elections.
Modi hit out at the Congress for its president Mallikarjun Kharge's attempt to play down his party's poor show in the polls by describing it as "small state elections".
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has cancelled all his programmes for the upcoming assembly elections in Karnataka in the wake of clashes reported in parts of Manipur, sources said.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi greets 93-year-old Lilabai Chitale during the party's Bharat Jodo Yatra at Patur in Akola. Lilabaiji went to jail in 1942 when she participated in the Quit India Movement of 1942.
'Conrad Sangma is an interesting mix of charisma, ability and has emerged as a capable leader.' 'Neiphiu Rio is very unassuming, quiet, subtle and stands out among all Naga leaders today.'
While Manipur's Bharatiya Janata Party leadership has flown to Delhi to lay rival claims to the post of chief minister of the north-eastern state, National People's Party leader Conrad K Sangma, who had earlier flown to Imphal to seek a place for his party in the new government, seems miffed by hints that the BJP will go ahead and form a single-party government.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday asserted that the Bharatiya Janata Party will win more than 300 Lok Sabha seats across the country in next year's general elections and return to power for the third consecutive term with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the helm.
A belated comeback to Rahul Gandhi's 'suit boot' jibe over Modi's infamous monogrammed suit.
If Kerala wants to sustain its room for independent thinking and talk back to Delhi when needed, it should put its finances in order. Or - if one takes the North East example - Kerala's political posturing may end up commensurate with its financial dependence on others, suggests Shyam G Menon.
Two women candidates; Lok Sabha Speakers; Chief Justices; A Chief Election Commissioner; drafters of the Constitution; the RBI's first Indian governor; a farm leader who unsuccessfully contested four times; an iconic Bharata Natyam dancer...
Leaders from 26 opposition parties, in power individually or in alliance in Delhi and 10 states, are meeting in Bengaluru to discuss strategy to take on the Narendra Modi-led NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Post-Karnataka, it would be a mistake to underestimate the BJP. It should be amply clear by now that the Right-Wing is more an elaborate theatre than a single scene, actor or play, warns Shyam G Menon.
The term of the Gujarat assembly ends on January 8 next year, and the state is expected to go to polls this December. Besides, elections are also due in Himachal Pradesh alongside Gujarat.
He said politicians should work for non-political causes as well as they have a lot of impact on society. In this context, Modi noted the Gujarat government's work for "beti bachao" (save daughters) when he was the chief minister and said it helped a lot in improving the gender ratio.
They are actively engaging with the party leadership for the past some time but the party is yet to take a call, the sources said, adding the MPs include one from the north of the country and one from south.
Pawar made the announcement at the 25th anniversary of the party, founded by him and P A Sangma in 1999.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United said it was the right time to withdraw the general consent to the CBI.
Some of our leaders were busybusy over the weekend.
Polling for three parliamentary seats and 29 assembly constituencies were held on October 30, an exercise being seen as a barometer of the political mood in the country ahead of assembly elections in politically critical Uttar Pradesh as well as other states.
Rawat also said a legal framework is needed to be in place for holding simultaneous polls.
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