The prestige of Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav and that of Bhartiya Janata Party star campaigner Uma Bharti will be at stake during the fifth round of the seven-phased Uttar Pradesh state assembly elections on Thursday. Sharat Pradhan reports.
The draft rolls published on December 16 had already pared down the electorate from 7.66 crore to 7.08 crore, deleting over 58 lakh names on grounds of death, migration, duplication and untraceability.
The entire election process will be concluded by November 16.
Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor believes migrant workers who stayed back after Chhath Puja are influencing the Bihar assembly elections.
A close associate of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar claims that Pawar was actively pursuing a merger of the two Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) factions before his death. The associate, Kiran Gujar, stated that Pawar had indicated the merger was imminent just days before a fatal plane crash.
Multiple exit polls predict a victory for the NDA alliance in the Bihar Assembly elections, with forecasts of a disappointing debut for Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj party.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Rahul Gandhi are set to address public rallies in Bihar on Wednesday in support of their respective party nominees. Other leaders will also campaign ahead of the upcoming elections.
The Association for Democratic Reforms, in its report, analysed the candidates contesting the fourth phase of elections in Uttar Pradesh. Vicky Nanjappa outlines the interesting findings
The Shiv Sena has shifted its 29 members to a hotel in Mumbai, ostensibly for an orientation workshop to make them aware of the functioning of the country's richest civic body, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.
Among major engagements in 2026 is the visit of the European Union leadership, chief guests at the Republic Day parade.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and several prominent faces among 676 candidates are contesting on 57 seats spread across 10 districts in the state.
The Election Commission (EC) has announced 17 new initiatives for the Bihar Assembly polls, including compulsory webcasting, mobile phone-deposit facilities, and measures to improve voter turnout and accessibility.
In a unique initiative to speed up the ongoing special intensive revision of electoral rolls, the Pilibhit administration has announced a set of incentives, including a family safari and lunch, for booth-level officers who fills up the maximum number of digitised forms in their respective assembly constituencies.
613 candidates are in the fray on 54 seats, including those falling in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's parliamentary segment Varanasi.
The second phase of the Systematic Integration of Rolls (SIR) in West Bengal is causing distress among elderly, disabled, and vulnerable voters, leading to political accusations ahead of the assembly polls.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked the ruling Left and Congress in Kerala, raising the Sabarimala gold loss issue and accusing the Congress of aligning with hardline elements. He urged voters to choose the BJP for development and good governance.
With nominations for the first phase of Bihar elections closing soon, the INDIA bloc is struggling to finalize seat sharing, while the NDA has announced its candidates. Key political figures are actively campaigning.
A turnout of about 59 percent -- the highest in the past seven elections -- was recorded in the first phase of assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, Chief Electoral Officer P K Pole said, adding polling passed off peacefully.
Votes will be counted on January 16 and the outcome will be keenly watched as the BJP-led Mahayuti will seek to stamp its supremacy in urban landscape, especially in Mumbai, while the Opposition parties will try to redeem themselves after last year's rout in assembly polls.
The central government has provided armed security to West Bengal's Chief Electoral Officer following potential threats related to the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in Uttar Pradesh is reviving its 'brotherhood committees', a strategy used successfully in the 2007 elections, to bolster its support among Other Backward Castes (OBCs) ahead of the 2027 state assembly elections. These committees, to be formed in all 403 constituencies, aim to connect with 100 people from OBC communities in each village, acting as ambassadors of the party at the booth level. The BSP sees these committees as a counter to the Samajwadi Party's PDA pitch and a means to consolidate its scattered rural vote bank. The party is also highlighting the 'anti-Dalit' and 'anti-OBC' tactics of the Congress, BJP and SP, hoping to capitalize on perceived grievances and reposition itself as a champion of marginalized communities.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) expelled 16 leaders, including a sitting MLA and two former ministers, for anti-party activities ahead of the assembly elections. The expelled leaders were charged with violating the party's ideology and working against official NDA candidates.
Of the 114 constituencies going to polls in the first two phases in Uttar Pradesh elections, 41 are red alert constituencies -- they have three or more candidates with criminal records. According to the record of the candidates analysed by the Association for Democratic reforms, 36 per cent of the constituencies in the first two phases of UP polls are red alert ones. Of the 41 red alert constituencies, 28 have three candidates with declared criminal cases.
On the eve of the sixth and penultimate phase of the marathon Uttar Pradesh elections, Rediff.com's Aslam Hunani reports on what's at stake.
If the TVK joins the NDA, there is every likelihood of the AIADMK winning an absolute majority in the 234 seat assembly and wanting to form a stand-alone government. In turn, it could mean that the BJP especially and the TVK equally so, will want to restrict the AIADMK's seat share closer to the cut-off figure, if only to ensure that EPS won't get the absolute majority that he desires (if the NDA won, that is) and will have to settle for a coalition government, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Voters are weighing a stark trade-off -- between preserving a socially driven policy and reversing course to revive revenue, restore fiscal balance, and rein in the underground liquor economy.
Real estate firm Godrej Properties' profit (attributable to the equity holders of the parent) for the second quarter of FY26 grew 21 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 405.1 crore, beating analysts' estimates. The Bloomberg analysts' poll had pegged the profit at around Rs 349.4 crore.
Polling across 55 assembly constituencies assembly in nine districts got off to sluggish start at 7 am due to the cold and fog at several places.
The share of none of the above (NOTA) option went up marginally this time in the Bihar assembly polls as compared to the last elections but is still much lower than 2015, data shared by the Election Commission shows.
In a first, the Bihar assembly polls this time saw no voting day deaths and no re-polling being ordered in any constituency.
Several Congress leaders, including the state president, received tickets for the Bihar assembly polls amidst internal disputes and efforts to reconcile with allies. The distribution process was marred by protests and accusations of corruption.
The Election Commission has defended its Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu in the Supreme Court, refuting allegations of mass deletion of genuine voters as exaggerated and politically motivated.
The districts where polling was held were Pilibhit, Lakhimpur Kheri, Sitapur, Hardoi, Unnao, Lucknow, Rae Bareli, Banda, and Fatehpur.
Both NDA and INDIA are racing to woo marginalised groups with Assembly polls fast approaching.
Assam, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala and West Bengal will to polls in 2026 and they are amongst the states where the voters' list cleanup exercise will begin first.
'Now there is no fight between us (Thackerays); now the fight is with them.'
The prominent faces among the 676 candidates for 57 seats spread across 10 districts in this phase included Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath from Gorakhpur Urban and state Congress president Ajay Kumar Lallu from Tamkuhi Raj.
Till 5 pm, Agra recorded 56.61 per cent polling, Aligarh 57.25 per cent, Baghpat 61.35 per cent, Bulandshahr 60,52 per cent, Gautam Buddh Nagar 54.77 per cent, Ghaziabad 54.77 per cent, Hapur 60.50 per cent, Mathura 58.51 per cent, Meerut 58.52 cent, Muzaffarnagar 62.14 per cent and Shamli 61.78 per cent, an EC report said.
'The move to appoint a person with a profile, markedly lower than the leader Nitin Nabin will replace, has the potential to put the brakes on the careers of several others in the party and government in the positions they currently hold,' points out Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
From invoking the 'Saptarishi' (Ursa Major) constellation, seven basic notes of Indian classical music to 'saat phere' (seven circumambulations) -- parties give different reasons and logic to claim that they will emerge victorious in the polls.
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