The bench gave liberty to Sharad Pawar to move the poll panel for allocation of the party symbol and directed the poll panel to allot it in one week of the application.
The pleas have also raised the issue of Election Commission's power on issuance of separate notifications for holding by-polls for casual and regular vacancies in Rajya Sabha.
The Aam Aadmi Party launched a scathing attack on the Congress on Thursday, accusing it of colluding with the Bharatiya Janata Party for the upcoming Delhi assembly polls to harm the prospects of the Arvind Kejriwal-led party.
While members from Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Nagaland and Tripura are retiring on April 2, five members from Punjab are retiring on April 9.
Amid cross-voting, BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan on Tuesday won the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Himachal Pradesh, defeating ruling Congress' Abhishek Manu Singhvi, officials said.
Entertainers can be good politicians if they treat the citizens as the audience, and treat their job like a live show, and work hard to make sure the audience likes them, asserts Sandeep Goyal.
Asked if the fear of possible defeat made him rethink of contesting from Madha, Pawar said, "I have successfully faced 14 elections. Do you think a 15th will deter me?"
The Rajya Sabha chairman asked him to authenticate his assertions and refused to accept newspaper clippings that the Congress leader showed to buttress his points.
The BJP has fielded as many as 10 turncoats, including those who joined the party from the JJP in recent weeks.
Discontentment seems to be increasing by the day in sections of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal with several leaders of both camps expressing displeasure over the selection of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Home Minister Amit Shah accused the Congress of twisting facts and distorting his comments on B.R. Ambedkar in the Rajya Sabha, saying the opposition party launched a malicious campaign after a parliamentary discussion "established" the Congress as being "anti-Ambedkar and anti-reservation." Shah defended his remarks, stating his address was clear and without confusion, and that his party would explore all legal options against the Congress for misrepresenting his comments. He also accused the Congress of insulting V.D. Savarkar, crushing constitutional values by imposing Emergency, and humiliating soldiers who laid down their lives.
'The Odisha government has changed the image of the state by making it a sporting hub of the country with high performance centres, state-of-the-art training facilities and hosting big tournaments. The sports loving people of Sundergarh and Odisha will not forget this while voting.'
The 'war room' has been running since 2008, and all the important party meetings were held there.
Mansukh Mandaviya replaced Anurag Thakur in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new cabinet.
Fadnavis said that with this win in the Rajya Sabha elections, the BJP has started its victory march, which he said would continue till the next polls.
Locked in a bitter tussle with the Centre over the control of administrative services, Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal will meet the chiefs of the Trinamool Congress, Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray and the Nationalist Congress Party this week seeking their support.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has alleged that some Congress leaders pressured individuals to donate funds to the Young Indian and Associated Journals Limited (AJL) on instructions from senior party functionaries. The ED's chargesheet in the National Herald case claims that these individuals made payments to the company "under the influence" from senior leaders who promised them "certain favours" in party politics. The chargesheet, filed on April 9 before a local court, names Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi as accused, along with five others, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The agency alleges that these donations were not made voluntarily but in expectation of political benefits. The ED also found that YI and AJL received funds from various entities through "quid pro quo" arrangements, where individuals were asked to make payments for advertisements in the National Herald in exchange for past favours from Congress leaders.
The AIMIM leader said that the party "laid certain conditions related to the development of our MLAs constituencies in Dhulia and Malegaon".
A controversy has erupted after Union minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's son, Kartikey, said during a public meeting in bypoll-bound Budhni that 'not even a brick will be laid in any village' in case a Congress candidate wins the by-election.
"Time will also take account of those registering cases and those getting them registered. Stopping the business of MLAs and allowing friends to loot, is this a change in the system?" he posed.
Elections have become a "big budget affair" and holding simultaneous polls to Lok Sabha and state assemblies would result in huge saving to the exchequer, the government said on Thursday.
Opposition members in Rajya Sabha on Thursday accused the government of imposing Hindi by bringing new bills with titles only in that language, a charge the treasury bench contested while alleging they were stuck with a colonial mindset.
From putting up a decent performance in the last Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh winning 10 seats stitching an alliance with arch rival Samajwadi Party, Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party drew a blank in the current general elections, dealing a severe blow to its reputation of representing the voice of Dalits in the state.
A parliamentary committee on Friday batted for reducing the minimum age to contest Lok Sabha and assembly elections, saying it would give the youth equal opportunities to engage in democracy.
High drama was witnessed during the Himachal Pradesh Cabinet meeting on Saturday with ministers Jagat Negi and Rohit Thakur leaving midway following a 'heated debate' over policy decisions, sources said.
The two 'One Nation One Election' (ONOE) bills, including one requiring an amendment in the Constitution, that lay down the mechanism to hold simultaneous elections were introduced in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday after a fiery debate.
Since the IPKF's withdrawal from Sri Lanka in March 1990, the LTTE's once-powerful influence in Tamil Nadu has faded.
The sources said that Priyanka Gandhi remained in constant touch with the party president, the chief minister, ministers and all important leaders, and did not allow any laxity.
'If you fight you win, if you don't fight, how will you win?'
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday named 14 candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls including former Union minister R P N Singh and Sudhanshu Trivedi -- the only outgoing MP renominated by the party.
Assisted by his personal staff and gunmen, Gowda, with a cannula on his right hand, attended multiple election meetings on Tuesday and addressed people sitting in his chair as he cited knee pain.
Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi talks to Kavita Chowdhury on the need to speed up electoral reforms.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's decision to nominate Ananta Rai 'Maharaj', who has been demanding a separate state of 'Greater Cooch Behar' to be carved out of West Bengal, as its candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections from the state, has kicked off a fresh storm with the ruling Trinamool Congress accusing the saffron party of fanning separatism in the state.
Acharya will contest from Saran while Bharti will try her luck in the Patliputra LS constituency.
Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United on Monday expelled its party leader and Lok Sabha candidate from Sheohar seat Shabir Ali for praising BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut has stated that there are ongoing "emotional talks" between his party and the MNS, though no formal alliance has been announced. Raut clarified that Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray has not set any preconditions for rapprochement with his cousin, MNS president Raj Thackeray. The speculation about a possible reconciliation began after Raj Thackeray expressed willingness to work with Uddhav in a podcast interview. However, the MNS spokesperson downplayed the significance of Raj Thackeray's remarks, emphasizing the need for the Sena (UBT) to support the MNS's agitation for Marathi language and people. Uddhav Thackeray, while open to reconciliation, has cautioned against working with those deemed "enemies" of Maharashtra, an apparent reference to the BJP and the Shinde-led Sena.
The Congress and AAP had fought the Lok Sabha polls together in Delhi, while they contested separately in Punjab.
The government has convened an all-party meeting on Wednesday to deliberate on a host of issues related to Parliament's monsoon session, which will begin from July 20.
The EC maintained that use of none of the above in Rajya Sabha polls was not a new move as it was introduced in 2014 after the Supreme Court in 2013 made it mandatory to have the NOTA option in EVMs.
'I have been battling cancer for the last six months. Now, I feel that the time has come to inform people about it'
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances