Amidst speculation over the NDA seat-sharing deal in Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar distributed JD(U) tickets, while the BJP announced its first list of candidates. The INDIA bloc also faces internal challenges as parties prepare for the upcoming elections.
Allahabad High Court judge Justice Shekhar Yadav, who was embroiled in controversy for his speech at a VHP event in December, has opted out of a seminar on the Ram temple movement in the Kumbh Mela area on January 22. Yadav was scheduled to deliver the keynote address at the seminar, which is being held to mark the first anniversary of the consecration ceremony of Lord Ram Lalla in the Ayodhya temple.
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.
'The amount of respect we have for people who guard our borders and put the country first.' 'Why do they do this?' 'The chances of not coming back are so high. Still, they take that risk.' 'It's for the love of the country.'
The disqualifications of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and party member Ram Gopal Yadav were never taken back on papers. Sources said revoking the duo's disqualification was conditional.
Electoral fortunes of 1,302 candidates, including over half a dozen ministers in the Nitish Kumar government, will be sealed on Tuesday with 3.70 crore voters eligible to exercise their franchise across 122 assembly segments in the second and final phase of the Bihar polls.
'This election was won because of Nitish Kumar's face and his policies.'
The move drew criticism from the Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad. Its president Mahant Ravindra Puri said that Mulayam Singh Yadav had always been "anti-Hindu and anti-Sanatan".
An ECI statement issued from New Delhi put the voter turnout at 68.76 per cent. The female turnout (74.03 per cent) was significantly higher, compared with males (64.1 per cent).
Bihar recorded its highest-ever voter turnout of 67.14 per cent in the second and final phase of the assembly elections. The election is seen as a referendum on Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Kishanganj recorded the highest polling percentage at 76.26.
Neeraj to lead India in World C'ships; three miss chance due to medical issues despite qualification
The RJD leader on Wednesday had accused senior BJP leader and Muzaffarpur Mayor, Nirmala Devi and her two relatives of "having dual voter ID cards".
The poll is witnessing a direct contest between ruling NDA nominee C P Radhakrishnan and joint opposition candidate B Sudershan Reddy, with the BJP-led alliance having a clear edge in the poll necessitated due to the sudden resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar.
The AFI added that it has got involved in the matter and Shirse should get his visa within the next 24 hours.
'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.'
'When the BJP wanted the election to focus on 'ghuspathiya' and promises that look like pies in the sky, we forced them to talk about jobs, giving free 125 units of power, and addressing women's indebtedness.'
'The way Abhishek and Shubman bat, it is like fire and ice.'
Left to its machinations, the BJP would have loved to cut Nitish down to size, but it can't afford to do so as the JD-U is in alliance with the BJP at the Centre, and cannot form a government on its own in Bihar. For now, both need each other: Nitish for legitimacy, the BJP for numbers, points out Ramesh Menon.
'We will announce the team on August 30. More confirmation has to come from World Athletics by then.'
There was no immediate reaction from the PSPL on the inclusion of Shivpal Singh Yadav's name in the SP's list of campaigners.
Asked about other SP leaders' "unhappiness" with Amar Singh, Shivpal said, "Taking everyone along makes an organisation stronger. There are all kinds of people in a party. One has to apply his mind also."
Chandrapuram Ponnusamy Radhakrishnan was sworn in as the 15th Vice President of India, succeeding Jagdeep Dhankhar.
If the two-time Olympic medallist Indian wins gold on September 18, the day of the finals, he will become the third men ever to win the world championships javelin title in two consecutive editions.
President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra D Modi, senior Cabinet ministers, Congress and Opposition leaders paid their respects to former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh, who passed into the ages on Thursday night, at his residence in New Delhi on Friday.
BJP sources suggest that the upcoming elections will likely revolve around the renewed enthusiasm for the temple unless another theme with religious and nationalist undertones emerges.
Declaring the result of the election at the Samajwadi Party national convention at Ramabai Ambedkar stadium here, Ram Gopal Yadav said Akhilesh Yadav was the only candidate for the post.
At the customary meeting ahead of the session beginning Monday, the opposition raised various issues, including voter roll revision in Bihar, the Pahalgam terror attack and Trump's 'ceasefire' claims.
Opposition parties are expected to announce their joint vice-presidential candidate, potentially leading to a 'south versus south' contest. Meetings and discussions have been held to finalize the candidate, with names from Tamil Nadu being considered. The opposition aims to field a non-political figure with national standing.
Popular YouTuber and social media influencer Elvish Yadav is making his presence felt inside the Bigg Boss OTT house.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi intensified his attack on the Election Commission, accusing them of 'vote chori' and warning of action if the INDIA bloc forms the government. He alleged a 'new special package' for Bihar, named SIR (Special Intensive Revision), is a 'new form of vote theft'.
The BJP, which won the Samajwadi Party strongholds of Rampur and Azamgarh in 2022 bypolls, hopes to wrest Mainpuri too.
'Talking about boycotting polls is simply a move to galvanise party leaders, workers, and supporters for the big political fight.'
According to the police, the bus was speeding and filled with passengers due to which the driver lost control and the vehicle rammed into the wing wall of the flyover.
Cracks appeared in the ruling National Democratic Alliance in Bihar on Saturday as Union minister Chirag Paswan expressed 'regret' over having to support the Nitish Kumar government, which he alleged has 'surrendered' before criminals.
The aunt of the minor girl, who was allegedly raped by former block head Nawab Singh Yadav at a private college in Kannauj, has been arrested, police said on Wednesday.
'Mr Modi has the power and pre-eminence in the BJP-RSS to choose how long he wants to serve, and he is definitely going to want to contest in 2029.' 'He will only be 79, as old as Donald Trump now, and fitter,' observes Shekhar Gupta.
Ram Singh Yadav missed a chance to confirm his qualification at the Beijing Olympics as he missed the cut by three seconds at the Mumbai Marathon.
"Had there been no demolition, probably the courts too would have ordered status quo," he said then. And his last wish, he said, was to live till the temple comes up.
'The EC should not have let the initiative go into the hands of the political leadership. By allowing this to happen, they have opened a Pandora's box.'
India's rich cultural diversity, military prowess, economic progress and the strides it has taken in sectors, such as science and technology, were on full display at the 76th Republic-Day celebrations on Kartavya Path on Sunday, in the presence of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto.
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