Freebies being doled out by the Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan governments ahead of the assembly polls Friday came under scrutiny by the Supreme Court which sought responses from the two states, the Centre and the Election Commission on a PIL alleging misuse of public money.
Amid high political drama over leadership change in Rajasthan, the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday hinted at imposition of President's rule in the state.
'There is some deep rot that has set in the Congress party. This requires an organisational surgery.'
The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) could have performed better in the recently-held Lok Sabha polls and perhaps, too much time was spent in reaching seat-sharing agreements, Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya has said.
Gandhi also said the idea of 'One Nation, One Election' was aimed at distracting from real issues of the people.
The counting of votes in three out of four states on Sunday showed that less than 1 percent of the voters exercised the 'none of the above' option in the just-concluded assembly polls, according to the election commission.
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.
While Chouhan has emerged as a favourite to remain at the helm in MP despite the presence of some challengers, the leadership race is wide open in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, two states where the BJP has snatched power from the Congress.
In Karnataka, the BJP lost the elections because of multiple poles of power, a problem the central leadership could not sort out in time. Could the same happen to the Congress in Rajasthan? asks Aditi Phadnis.
As Madhya Pradesh goes to polls, all eyes will be on 29 key assembly seats, out of the total 230, where the contest will be keenly watched.
The Congress on Wednesday demanded a thorough probe into 'discrepancies' found in some Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) during the counting of votes of the Haryana assembly polls and demanded that such EVMs should be sealed and secured pending the inquiry.
Abrar is the MLA from the Sawai Madhopur seat and the party has declared him its candidate from this seat for the upcoming assembly elections despite protests against him.
Three sitting BJP MPs figured in the third list of candidates, consisting of 35 names, for the Rajasthan Assembly elections declared today.
The Bharatiya Janata Party swept Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh on Sunday inflicting a resounding defeat on the Congress to tighten its stranglehold in the Hindi heartland, in a big boost for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and setting the tone for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Senior party leaders, including the Congress' Rajasthan in-charge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, state unit chief Govind Singh Dotasra and co-in-charges Qazi Muhammad Nizamuddin, Amrita Dhawan and Virendra Rathore were present at a meeting at the party's Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Road office in New Delhi, during which they are likely to discuss Pilot's march.
The case was registered against the minister and four others earlier this week on the orders of the high court, after the local police allegedly did not act on the complaint filed with them.
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.
Where other Indian states cry for women representatives in assemblies and other elected bodies, Rajasthan has highest number of women legislators and sarpanchs (village heads), but the recent electoral list shows drastic decline of female voters in the desert state.
Sacked Rajasthan minister Rajendra Gudha on Wednesday made public three pages of the purported "red diary" which he has claimed contains the details of financial misdeeds of the Congress government and cited their contents to allege corruption in Rajasthan Cricket Association election.
According to officials, this year there has been a three-fold increase in the total seizure, which was Rs 322 crore in 2021, Rs 347 crore in 2022 and Rs 1,021 crore so far in 2023.
The BJP is faced with the crucial question of who will lead the party in the four impending state polls this year: In Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana.
A Mumbai court on Monday remanded the third person arrested for the killing of Nationalist Congress Party leader and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique to police custody till October 21.
12 of the 20 MPs with the highest winning margins in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls have not been re-nominated by their parties for the 2024 general elections.
'Sports has been politicised, it is a sad thing': Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore on Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia Joining Congress
The states of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram will go to polls between November 7 and 30, and the votes will be counted on December 3.
Congress sitting MLA Saleh Mohammad, is hoping to buck the trend of anti-incumbency in the seat, and believes people will vote for his development work and not along religious lines.
The mortal remains of former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh were consigned to flames at the Nigambodh Ghat in New Delhi on Saturday amid the chanting of religious hymns. The funeral pyre was lit by his eldest daughter Upinder Singh.
These are the 15 seats to watch out for in Rajasthan where assembly elections will be held on November 23. The state has 200 constituencies.
Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said his party wants a floor test in the state assembly and is 'begging' for it, but the Governor is not convening the House and 'delaying' the trust vote allegedly at the behest of the central government.
Pilot was spied on after revolt, says Gehlot's OSD
The two parties have fielded 33 candidates each belonging to the Jat community for the December 7 polls.
The election management committee and the election manifesto committee were formed by the party's national president J P Nadda.
Ramesh also said the Congress leadership is considering a proper solution to the Rajasthan issue.
The counting began at 8 am to decide the fate of the candidates contesting the polls, among whom all eyes will be on Dimple Yadav, Mulayam Singh Yadav's elder daughter-in-law and the wife of Akhilesh Yadav, who is contesting from the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat, necessitated by the demise of Samajwadi Party veteran Mulayam Singh Yadav in October.
'They could have told the media that there is nothing in it and let me read it out.'
Several BJP-backed state governments have unveiled schemes targeting the poor, women, farmers and students, following the party's setback in the Lok Sabha polls.
The Rajasthan Dharma Swatantraya Bill, 2008, reintroduced by Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje last week, prohibits conversion by use of force, allurement or fradulent means. It was passed by voice vote, even as Congress, Communist Party of India-Marxist and Lok Janshakti Party Legislative Assembly members demanded that it be referred to a select committee.
'Unlike in the sporting arena, where sports federations moved from partisan to impartial referees, in Indian democracy's biggest festival, it appears we are moving backward from unbiased and objective to one-sided and partisan,' observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The seat got vacant after the death of Bharatiya Janata Party's Rajya Sabha MP Madan Lal Saini in June. Rajasthan has 10 Rajya Sabha seats.
Former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot, who has been involved in a leadership tussle with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, skipped his interaction.
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