The counting of votes will be done on November 14, along with the Bihar assembly election votes.
Parliament is set to debate the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram and election reforms, with key discussions led by Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Shah.
Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voters' list commenced in nine states and three Union territories on Tuesday, amid objections from several parties with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee leading the anti-SIR offensive in West Bengal with a rally in Kolkata and alleging 'silent, invisible rigging' through the exercise.
Even if D K Shivakumar wanted to oust Siddaramaiah, whose support would he take?
The shrewd politician that he is, Siddaramaiah figured his rival had no option but to lump it, points out Aditi Phadnis.
'Previously, contributing only 25 per cent of material costs, states now face burdens of 40 per cent to 100 per cent of total costs, ensuring poorer states will curb project approvals, directly stifling work demand.'
If Meena resigns, it is likely to put pressure on other ministers whose areas also saw poor performance in the general elections.
'He is the same man who has won honours for the country across the world.'
BJP and RSS leaders are once again pushing to remove the words 'secular' and 'socialist' from the Constitution's Preamble, showing a deeper effort to change India's identity from a diverse, multi-religious republic to a Hindu-first nation, even though they don't have the numbers in Parliament to officially change the Constitution, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Opposition parties are questioning the Election Commission's intentions behind the second phase of special intensive revision of electoral rolls in 12 states and Union Territories. The BJP has slammed the Congress and called the opposition a 'herd of dissatisfied souls'.
The INDIA bloc in Bihar has announced Tejashwi Yadav as its chief ministerial candidate, signaling a united front after weeks of internal disagreements. The move aims to challenge the incumbent NDA government, with both sides engaging in political maneuvering and accusations.
Internal discord within the INDIA bloc has led to alliance partners contesting against each other in at least eight assembly seats in Bihar. The Congress, RJD, and Left parties are facing challenges in seat-sharing arrangements for the upcoming elections.
'Most pollution boards across the country have unused funds. There is practically no reason why pollution should not be a political priority.'
Bharatiya Janata Party's Rajya Sabha MP and candidate from Sawai Madhopur Kirodi Lal Meena Friday said two Bengaluru resorts have been booked for winning candidates of the Congress to camp there after the results of the Rajasthan Assembly polls are announced.
'Rahul Gandhi's problem is that he doesn't think big.' 'He looks more like an activist, while politics is like a game of chess. You attack and then defend and have a game-plan.'
BJP leaders in Maharashtra criticized Uddhav and Raj Thackeray's joint rally in Mumbai, calling it a desperate attempt to revive their political fortunes ahead of civic polls. They accused the Thackerays of using the Marathi language issue as a guise to regain power and criticized their past actions.
The panel, headed by Congress MP Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka, had called Patkar to hear her views on the implementation and effectiveness of the land acquisition law enacted by Parliament when the Congress-led UPA government was in power in 2013.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav likened Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to an infiltrator, saying he is from Uttarakhand and should be sent back to the state. Yadav also criticized the BJP's governance and alleged injustices against Dalits and backward communities.
The RSS which catapulted Jagdeep Dhankar to national prominence after 21 years of hibernation could not come to his rescue when BJP higher ups decided to seek his resignation, points out Prakash Bhandari.
In seniority in the BJP leadership team, V K Malhotra, who passed into the ages this week, was next only to Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L K Advani and Nanaji Deshmukh, notes Sudhir Bisht.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday picked first-time MLA Bhajan Lal Sharma as Rajasthan's new chief minister, ending days of speculation that followed its victory in the assembly polls.
'Cow slaughtering will incite people and hurt their sentiments, which will lead to some incidents'
It will try to exploit the infighting in the state's ruling Congress while it manages factionalism within its own ranks
The Bharatiya Janata Party returned to power in Rajasthan on Sunday, winning 115 seats out of the 199 where assembly elections were held last week.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma, state BJP president C P Joshi and Union minister Bhupendra Yadav welcomed them into the party at its state headquarters in Jaipur.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has already 'accepted defeat' by requesting him not to stop schemes initiated by the Congress in Rajasthan, and gave a guarantee that the Bharatiya Janata Party will not stop any scheme but only try to improve it.
As the feud in Rajasthan unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party intensified, over 43 Members of Legislative Assembly who are loyal to sulking leader Vasundhara Raje on Sunday offered to resign, but the party played down the crisis and her threat to quit the organisation. A day after Raje threatened to leave the BJP over state leader Gulabchand Kataria's proposed political campaign, her aide claimed that 43 MLAs, including 2 independents, submitted their resignation to Raje.
'If the BJP had its way, it would sideline him in favour of someone else. But that's not feasible. There is no vote catcher in Bihar for the BJP.'
'I gave enough evidence and proof to punish corrupt officials.' 'But my own government has not filed any FIR against such officials.'
Of the 34 SC reserved seats that went to the polls, the BJP won 22 and the Congress 11.
Sources close to him said senior leaders are trying to persuade him to withdraw his resignation.
On the eve of the counting of votes in Rajasthan, both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress have started reaching out to independent candidates, including rebels, and smaller parties.
Four of seven Bharatiya Janata Party MPs who fought the Rajasthan assembly elections won their respective seats while three others lost the polls.
With the party fielding three Union ministers, besides four other MPs, as candidates in the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls, it may continue with the strategy in Rajasthan.
Authorities relaxed the curfew in Leh, Ladakh, allowing markets to reopen after week-long restrictions following violent clashes. The situation is gradually returning to normal with increased security measures.
With the Bharatiya Janata Party a clear winner in the Delhi assembly elections, meet the BJP aspirants for the chief minister's post.
Union minister and the BJP's election in-charge for Rajasthan Pralhad Joshi, co-in-charge Nitin Patel, the party's in-charge for Rajasthan Arun Singh, state president C P Joshi, Union ministers Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Arjun Ram Meghwal and Kailash Chaudhary, Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Rajendra Rathore, Deputy Leader of Opposition and former state president Satish Poonia and other leaders were present at the meeting, which is likely to continue till late, the sources said.
The BJP will hold a legislature party meeting on Wednesday evening to decide the new chief minister of Delhi. The party won the February 5 assembly elections, ending the Aam Aadmi Party's five-year rule. The meeting will be held at the party's Delhi unit office and is expected to begin around 7 pm. The 48 BJP MLAs will choose the Leader of the House in the Delhi Assembly, who will become the chief minister. The meeting will be held in the presence of BJP's central observers, whose names are yet to be declared. The new chief minister, after being chosen by the party MLAs, will meet Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena at the Raj Niwas to stake claim to power. A grand swearing-in ceremony of the new government is scheduled for Thursday afternoon at Ramleela Ground. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other dignitaries are expected to attend the ceremony. The names doing the rounds for the new chief minister include Parvesh Verma, Vijender Gupta, Satish Upadhyay, Pawan Sharma, Ashish Sood, Rekha Gupta, Shikha Rai, Ravinder Indraj Singh, and Kailash Gangwal. Many within the party believe that the BJP leadership could choose a "dark horse" as Delhi's next chief minister.
The Rajasthan Assembly ended the suspension of three Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs by a voice vote on a suo motu motion moved by the ruling Congress in the House. The suspension of the three MLAs -- Gyandeo Ahuja, Bhawani Singh Rajawat and Hemsingh Bhadana -- by the Speaker on July 28, 2009 for their unruly behaviour and conduct was revoked with immediate effect on Thursday.
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.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi reiterated his vote theft allegations and criticized the Election Commission for demanding an affidavit to support his claims. He alleged collusion between the EC and BJP to steal the Lok Sabha election and called for investigation into election irregularities.
