Moderate to high turnout was recorded in 13 assembly constituencies across seven states where bypolls were held on Wednesday amid sporadic incidents of violence in Uttarakhand, Bihar and West Bengal.
The constitution of a committee by the Centre to explore the feasibility of "one nation, one election" has opened up the possibility of Lok Sabha polls being advanced so that they could be held with a string of state assembly polls.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday said the session of the state assembly will be summoned on September 27.
Kerala had the highest number of average sitting days at 48 days a year, followed by Odisha (41) and Karnataka (35).
Based on the recommendation of the Election Commission (EC), the Union law ministry on Friday amended Rule 93(2)(a) of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, to restrict the type of "papers" or documents open to public inspection.
'Women' as a political constituency appears to be an idea that has come of age. It is changing India in ways that we only dimly understand, asserts Aditi Phadnis.
A group of 101 farmers resumed their foot march to Delhi on Sunday to press the Centre for various demands, including a legal guarantee for Minimum Support Price (MSP). However, they were stopped at the barricading by Haryana Police who cited a prohibitory order clamped by the Ambala administration. The farmers have been pressing for various demands, including a legal guarantee for MSP, a farm debt waiver, pension for farmers and farm labourers, no hike in electricity tariff, withdrawal of police cases (against farmers), and "justice" for the victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence. Reinstatement of the Land Acquisition Act, 2013 and compensation to the families of farmers who died during the previous agitation in 2020-21 are also part of their demands.
"Opinions of candidates, workers, and party MPs are being recorded to so that any feud over the CM face between Channi and Navjot Singh Siddhu can be avoided," said sources.
The Punjab police arrested Jasvir Singh after the incident and booked him for hurting religious sentiments and attempt to murder.
About 20 Punjab Congress leaders met in Ludhiana on Tuesday, with some of them batting for a key role for Navjot Singh Sidhu, the former state party unit chief who was among the participants.
The incumbent Congress could win only 18 seats, with Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi losing both seats he contested -- Chamkaur Sahib as well as Bhadaur.
The AAP suffered a humiliating defeat in Haryana with most of its candidates set to lose their security deposit.
Dismissing the accusation, Singh asked why would the state government stop Kejriwal from holding a press conference when he was allowed to hold a party programme a few days back.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party head Ajit Pawar on Monday said discussions were underway among the Mahayuti partners to finalise a formula for the new government formation in the state.
The five-time former Punjab chief minister died at a private hospital in Mohali near Chandigarh on Tuesday, nine days after he was admitted there with breathing problems. He was 95.
The BJP won the Chandigarh mayoral election on Thursday, defeating the AAP-Congress alliance. Harpreet Kaur Babla of the BJP was elected as the new mayor, while the AAP-Congress alliance won the posts of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor. The victory of the BJP candidate indicated that cross-voting took place during polling. The Supreme Court had previously overturned the result of the 2023 mayoral poll, which had seen the BJP candidate win despite allegations of tampering with ballots. The court had ordered prosecution of the returning officer for the poll, Anil Masih, a BJP leader, for his "misdemeanour." The court had also declared defeated AAP-Congress alliance candidate Kuldeep Kumar as the new city mayor. This latest victory is a significant win for the BJP in the city and represents a setback for the AAP-Congress alliance.
The BJP may be in the Opposition in many states, but nowhere is it as divided as it is in Karnataka, points out Aditi Phadnis.
A 'jatha' of 101 farmers Friday began its foot march to Delhi from their protest site at Shambhu border, but was stopped a few metres away by a multilayered barricading.
Bhagwant Mann will take oath as the chief minister of Punjab on March 16 at Khatkar Kalan, the ancestral village of iconic freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, party sources said on Friday after he met the party's national convener Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi.
The Aam Aadmi Party has fielded Karamjit Anmol, while the BJP has named North West Delhi MP Hans Raj Hans from Faridkot, a reserved parliamentary constituency.
Senior advocate Anmol Rattan Sidhu has resigned from the post of advocate general of Punjab citing personal reasons, while criminal lawyer Vinod Ghai is set to succeed him.
Punjab Assembly Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal on Thursday suspended nine opposition Congress MLAs for the day for their unparliamentary behaviour and insulting the chair of the House.
JMM leader Hemant Soren was sworn in as the 14th chief minister of Jharkhand in a grand ceremony in Ranchi, amid the presence of a galaxy of INDIA bloc leaders. This is Soren's fourth stint as chief minister. The JMM-led alliance won a majority in the recent assembly polls, securing 56 seats in the 81-member assembly.
Punjab's 117 assembly seats are going to be a keenly-watched contest with the Congress, the AAP, the SAD-BSP alliance, and the BJP-PLC-SAD (Sanyukt) battling to form the government in the state, with a probable entry of farmers' front in the form of Sanyukt Samaj Morcha.
After many years, intricate caste calculations will dominate politics in Punjab.
He said that to concentrate on the upcoming polls in Uttarakhand, it had been on his mind to seek to be relieved of the responsibility of the party's Punjab affairs in-charge.
Sources said the party has also tasked its senior leaders to be observers at the meeting of the Congress Legislature Party in Haryana to elect its new leader.
To ensure free, fair and transparent assembly elections next month in Punjab, the police have intensified search operations, especially in the border districts, to keep a vigil on illegal activities in vulnerable areas.
In a post on Instagram on Tuesday, Singh alleged that the administration was harassing him to prove that the child was legal.
'Had the Congress made Sidhu its CM face, they would have won 80 out of 117 seats.'
He also said he even declined the post of deputy chief minister offered by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to him.
The BJP has released a video of Arvind Kejriwal's previous residence, calling it a "Sheeshmahal" and accusing him of corruption. The AAP has countered, accusing the BJP of running a "smear campaign" to distract from Delhi's worsening law and order situation. The controversy comes ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections.
Mamata asserted that she has not spoken to anyone in the Congress on seat-sharing in the state for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
The Congress is likely to declare its chief ministerial face for Punjab on February 6 when former party chief Rahul Gandhi will visit the poll-bound state, party sources said.
The Haryana assembly on Tuesday passed a resolution seeking the completion of the SYL canal and the transfer of Hindi-speaking areas from Punjab, while denouncing the neighbouring state for staking its claim over Chandigarh.
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday said he cannot restore the river water-sharing pact with three neighbouring states that was scrapped by a unanimous vote in the state assembly earlier this week.\n\n
The panel, chaired by Mallikarjun Kharge, has been tasked with addressing differences between Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and former minister Navjot Singh Sidhu.
In an apparent bid to reach out to Dalit voters, Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Friday urged people to remember Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar while voting in next month's assembly polls and said he "worships" the leader.
The SKM also gave a call for observing a nationwide 'Day of Betrayal' on January 31 against what it called the government's reneging on its assurances to the farmers on their demands, including legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) of crops.
Devendra Fadnavis will lead the new Mahayuti coalition government in Maharashtra, with Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar serving as deputy chief ministers. The swearing-in ceremony is scheduled for Thursday evening at Azad Maidan ground in south Mumbai and will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several Union ministers. The Mahayuti coalition won the recent assembly elections by a landslide, securing 230 out of 288 seats.
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