On Thursday, August 8, 2024, an Election Commission team led by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar arrived in Srinagar to meet with representatives of political parties.
Kamal has a crisp pen when it comes to writing short and yet powerful film dialogues. But while speaking ex tempore -- and that has been his style -- he looks every bit a confused man, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
On the eve of counting of votes for the Delhi Assembly elections, AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal accused the Election Commission (EC) of refusing to upload Form 17C, which contains details of votes polled per booth in each Assembly segment. In response, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has launched a website where it has uploaded Form 17C data for all the Assembly seats. Kejriwal stated that ensuring such transparency should have been the responsibility of the apex poll body. The office of the chief electoral officer responded by saying that the rule requiring presiding officers to furnish Form 17C to polling agents was complied with on the day of polling.
'It is important India to stay focussed on its primary national objectives: Combating terrorism; not losing sight of other security and strategic concerns (on the Sino-Indian front for instance); ensuring a strong economy and registering growth which includes improving the lot of common people; and finally making certain that the social fabric remains intact and harmony among people is not jeopardised, at least any further,' asserts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal, along with his family, cast his vote in the Delhi Assembly elections
A voter turnout of 69.69 percent was recorded in the third and final phase of voting Tuesday in the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the Election Commission said.
Former deputy chief minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig was among the 24 candidates in Baramulla constituency whose deposits were forfeited.
"I'm amazed channels are bothering with exit polls especially after the fiasco of the recent general elections. I'm ignoring all the noise on channels, social media, WhatsApp etc. because the only numbers that matter will be revealed on the 8th of Oct. The rest is just time pass," Abdullah, a former chief minister, wrote on X.
Raut said a Congress-AAP alliance would have crushed the BJP in Delhi assembly polls, as counting trends show the Arvind Kejriwal-led party losing many seats amid the saffron surge.
Over the medium and long term, the BJP hopes to devour the AIADMK, they having identified the party as 'ideologically not as sound as the DMK', predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
Nitish Kumar wants to assure the BJP leadership that he will continue to be a part of the NDA. But he also wants to secure a larger number of seats for his party in the 2025 assembly elections in Bihar.
This was the third public meeting between the cousins in the last two months, further intensifying speculation of a thaw in ties between the two parties.
'Rather than assuaging the feelings of the Hindus accommodated in schools and hospitals, she calls a meeting of imams and tries to assuage them.'
The third and final phase of the three phase Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections will be held on Tuesday, October 1, 2024.
'If, as happened in Baramulla during the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the youth in the Valley get triggered enough to jump into the wider fray, the end result would be difficult to predict, especially as the state's post-August 5, 2019 political format remains substantially fragmented and foggy,' points out Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the veteran commentator on Kashmir affairs.
Unless Governor Ravi or the Union of India moves in appeal, seeking a hearing by a constitutional Bench, this is where it all will have to end, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The second phase of the three phase Jammu and Kashmir elections will be held on Wednesday, September 25, 2024.
Speculations about a rapprochement between Uddhav Thackeray and his estranged cousin Raj Thackeray are gathering steam, but leaders of the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) acknowledge that personal ties and organisational synergy are significant hurdles that need to be overcome. While both parties have expressed a willingness to put aside "trivial issues" and unite, the prospect of a reunion is complex, involving family dynamics, ideological differences, and the potential for internal conflicts. The reunion buzz has come at a time when both parties are experiencing a political nadir, with the Sena (UBT) winning 20 seats and the MNS drawing a blank in the 2024 assembly polls. The prospect of the two cousins coming together has enthused supporters of both parties, but it might not be the case with a section of cadres and party leaders. Key concerns include seat-sharing agreements, potential conflicts in areas with strong bases for both parties, and ideological differences.
'Whatever we do, the purpose will be to re-establish deterrence.'
Isn't there something significant in the UPI example for all of us to learn from and execute to enable world-scale success for our startups?, asks Ajit Balakrishnan.
The first phase of the three phase Jammu and Kashmir elections will be held on Wednesday, September 18, 2024.
Schemes like the Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana strain fiscal resources amid rising unemployment and prices of food items.
The political parties have been given time slots for the meeting with the Election Commission.
Take the Rediff style poll and tell us who you think rocked the runway.
Political sources say Modi is 'keen' on getting the NCP (SP) over to the Mahayuti to counter Eknath Shinde's 'demands' and to act as a cushion against his present allies, Nitish Kumar and N Chandrababu Naidu, 'in case their relationship became untenable'.
The PDP looks a distant third in the race, observes Mohammed Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir politics.
EPS has had its way on most things, alliance-wise. A week earlier, he reiterated that he would not re-admit OPS and Sasikala Natarajan back in the party. It was a message not just to detractors in the AIADMK. It was even more so for the BJP leadership in Delhi. Even more important for the AIADMK was their demand for accepting EPS as the chief ministerial candidate of any alliance that the party would form, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Prime Minister Modi will visit RSS headquarters in Nagpur on March 30.
Rekha Gupta had the support of the RSS, which actively participated in the Delhi assembly poll campaign to help the BJP win.
Mehbooba Mufti said she will not contest the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, pointing out that she would not be able to fulfil her party's agenda in the union territory set up even if she were to become the chief minister.
Nongriat, in the East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya, is one of India's most challenging non-motorable polling stations.
Voting for this crucial phase, covering 40 assembly segments across seven districts -- Jammu, Udhampur, Samba and Kathua in the Jammu region and Baramulla, Bandipora and Kupwara in north Kashmir -- is scheduled for October 1.
Trump's tariffs, falling shrimp prices, and fears of additional US levies, spark a crisis in Andhra Pradesh's politically vital aquaculture sector.
Banking on the Budget's tax relief, the BJP seeks to energise Delhi's middle class; the AAP is doing its bit too. But will their outreach mobilise this politically crucial yet disengaged electorate?
"Religion should remain within the four walls of your home. A Hindu identifies as a Hindu only when Muslims take to the streets or during riots; otherwise, Hindus are divided by caste," he said.
The six constituencies of northeast Delhi affected by the 2020 riots saw a close contest between the BJP and AAP, with both parties winning three seats each. AAP's Chaudhary Zubair Ahmad won Seelampur by a margin of 42,477 votes, defeating BJP's Anil Kumar Sharma. AAP also won Babarpur and Gokalpur, while the BJP won Mustafabad, Karawal Nagar and Ghonda.
Given the possibilities that next year's assembly elections could throw up, Stalin told the state assembly that an interim report had to be submitted by January 2026. The outcomes may well find its way into the DMK's poll manifesto, thus seeking to keep the electoral focus still on the BJP-ruled Centre and Prime Minister Modi, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Nishant Kumar's demand that the NDA name Nitish Kumar as its chief ministerial nominee is seen as a gambit to consolidate the CM's position in the ruling alliance.
Mumbai, infamous for its voter apathy, stepped out to exercise its franchise on Wednesday.
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