The overall voting percentage in the bypolls to 51 assembly seats was nearly 56.84 per cent, the Election Commission said while releasing data available till 7 pm, adding that the polling passed off peacefully.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday announced Prime Minister Narendra Modi will fight again from Varanasi in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as it named 34 Union ministers in the first list of 195 candidates.
Even if the BJP gets 60, 70, or even 100 per cent of the votes in the seats where it scored more than 50 per cent in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, these will still add up to only 224 seats, argues Shekhar Gupta.
Opposition leaders have slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party over its Lok Sabha member Ramesh Bidhuri, who is in the eye of a storm for his derogatory comments against Bahujan Samaj Party MP Danish Ali, being given poll responsibility by the party in Rajasthan's Tonk district.
Key states of Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Telangana would go for polls this year, besides states from the North-East.
To snatch a state government out of Congress hands is therefore a high-stakes game with national political implications, for it denies the party the essential fuel to run effective election campaigns, notes T N Ninan.
He said there used to be mutual respect between the government and the opposition, which is diminishing.
'Who has given how much money to which party, the people of India must know this fact.'
French president Emmanuel Macron arrived on Thursday in a decked-up Jaipur city, where he will spend several hours savouring the sites -- and perhaps some roadside chai -- before engaging in talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on strengthening India France ties.
In a letter to all MLAs, Gehlot sought their cooperation in fulfilling the promises of development and prosperity of the state.
Two state ministers have also come out in the open to demand a detailed assessment by the top leadership.
Seen by political watchers as the favourite to retain power for a third straight term, the Bharatiya Janata Party has set itself an ambitious target of winning 370 Lok Sabha seats, a goal aimed as much at projecting its strength as at diminishing the opposition in popular imagination.
The Congress alleged that the claims made by the ED against Baghel are part of a "conspiracy" hatched by the BJP to tarnish the Chhattisgarh chief minister's image and asserted that the people of the state would give a befitting reply to such tactics in the upcoming Assembly poll.
Close to half of the total 543 Lok Sabha seats are bracing for multi-cornered fight this time, making the contest way more interesting and intense than it was in the 2019 elections.
'Rather than criticising the kind of candidates fielded by political parties from our living rooms, NOTA in a sense implores the electorate to say this by turning up in person at a polling booth to ensure their protest is registered.'
The Supreme Court on Monday sought the Centre's response on a PIL that questioned the non-election of deputy speaker in Lok Sabha and several state assemblies, and observed that the issue is "very important".
Newly-elected Bahujan Samaj Party Member of Legisative Assembly from Dholpur B L Kushwaha, wanted in a chit fund fraud case, was detained by police at the assembly here when he had gone to take oath.
The party was trounced in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and is now left with only Himachal Pradesh in the north. It is ruling in only three states on its own and is in power in Bihar and Jharkhand as a junior partner in alliance with regional parties.
'Star campaigner' to address election meetings in poll-bound Chhattisgarh, MP, Rajasthan.
The action followed a show-cause notice to the Shahpura MLA, who is a former Speaker of the state assembly, from the party's state unit president CP Joshi.
The media is under the pressure of the central government but they should see the interest of the public, Gehlot told reporters.
The proportion of postal votes polled in the general elections has gradually risen since 2009.
There is little doubt that the prime minister's own charisma exceeds that of his party, but 2024 is proof that no party can ultimately depend on one person to deliver victory all the time, points out R Jagannathan.
Functioning in several departments related to revenue collection has also been affected. Revenue collection has reduced by Rs 17,000 crore in March.
Modi can abandon the path of Hindutva only at risk to his position within his own fraternity. But if he pursues a hard line, he faces the risk of being hauled up by his coalition-partners. For the first time in a decade, Modi is not in enviable situation, observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Gandhi, on the other hand, has also reached out directly to the party workers in the three states to know their top choice for the chief minister post through an internal mobile messaging app, party leaders said.
Meena, however, refused to elaborate on the incident, which is seen as an attempt at 'badabandi' -- holing up elected leaders in resorts as a show of strength.
Chouhan and Raje were overlooked by the BJP for the chief minister posts in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan respectively despite ensuring the party's return to power in the assembly polls held recently.
The poll results show that the BJP has increased its base among the SC, ST communities in the state. However, the party's prominent tribal face and Union minister Faggan Singh Kulaste lost the election.
Sacked Rajasthan minister Mahipal Maderna was on Friday grilled for the second day in Devi abduction case by the Central Bureau of Investigation which also questioned his wife and another Congress member of Legislative Assembly even as the agency filed a status report on its probe in the Rajasthan high court.
On Wednesday, the Congress had announced that former chief minister Ashok Gehlot and Pilot would be contesting the Rajasthan assembly elections.
'The biggest change that the BJP can initiate in the run-up to 2024 is appointing new faces as chief ministers.' 'In doing so, it will send a message well beyond 2024.'
The fact that Home Minister Amit Shah recently met Raje was a marker that Delhi will be compelled to take her more seriously than it would care to. Like B S Yediyurappa, she's a regional chieftain who can't be discarded at will, reports Radhika Ramaseshan.
A writ petition, challenging the ordinance was filed in the Rajasthan high court.
The meeting, which began around 10:30 pm on Thursday, lasted for more than four hours and was held at the party's headquarters in New Delhi.
Youth unemployment (ages 15 to 29) is higher than the national average of 12.4 per cent in Telangana (14.2 per cent) and Rajasthan (13 per cent), followed by Chhattisgarh (6.7 per cent) and MP (6 per cent).
All 41 candidates from Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Telangana were elected unopposed on Friday after the biennial elections to 57 Rajya Sabha seats were announced recently.
Those responsible for protecting MPs have failed in their constitutional duties, said Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
Campaigning ended on Wednesday evening for 102 Lok Sabha seats across 21 states and Union territories which will go to polls in the first phase on April 19 with top leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance and the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) making a last-gasp effort to woo voters.
The Jat community is itching to end its brief dalliance with the BJP, but it is also upset with the Congress, the party they have traditionally supported, for not giving them their due, reports Archis Mohan.
