The JD-U insisted that its decision to fight the polls independently will have no impact on its ties with the BJP in Bihar.
Besides disclosing in their affidavits, candidates have to prominently declare criminal cases they are facing, if any, thrice in newspapers in print as well on television, he said, adding that political parties too have to publish within three days of nomination why a candidate with criminal background was selected. "You (political parties) have to tell the public whether you did not get any (other) candidate and why was it necessary to select them (those with criminal background)," he said.
'It is advisable to stay away from the markets for now and buy only on a dip.'
All eyes in Uttar Pradesh were focused on Saturday when the seventh and final round of the seven-phased state assembly election would be accomplished with 1.82 crore voters deciding the political destiny of 962 candidates in 60 constituencies spread across 10 districts , largely bordering Uttarakhand and Nepal.
Polling started at 7 am and closed at 6 pm and there were reports of technical snags in EVMs at some places, but voting was peaceful, Election Commission officials said.
This will be Rahul Gandhi's first visit ever since he became leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha.
"Didi has already said in Delhi that if Akhilesh Yadav needs our help, we are ready to extend help. The gesture of senior SP leader Jaya Bachchan seeking votes for the TMC during the West Bengal Assembly elections will be reciprocated in Uttar Pradesh," said Laliteshpati Tripathi, who recently joined the TMC.
A total of 788 candidates are in the fray in the first phase of the elections on 89 seats spread across 19 districts of South Gujarat and Kutch-Saurashtra regions.
The party claimed 16 lakh votes were polled in the last one hour of polling on December 5.
The newly-inaugurated Kashi Vishwanath Corridor in Varanasi is being largely hailed as a symbol of resurrection of India's spiritual consciousness but a section of people here claims that the mega project is being showcased so that the ruling party gets a "political edge" in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.
Besides the national capital, polling for the sixth round of the marathon seven-phase elections will be held Saturday in 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh, all 10 seats of Haryana, eight seats each in Bihar and West Bengal, six seats in Odisha, four seats in Jharkhand and one seat in Jammu and Kashmir.
We show you which constituency will go to polls when.
Among the bigwigs are Union ministers Amit Shah (Gandhinagar), Jyotiraditya Scindia (Guna), Mansukh Mandaviya (Porbandar), Parshottam Rupala (Rajkot), Pralhad Joshi (Dharwad) and SP Singh Baghel (Agra).
Over 1.54 crore voters in the eastern states of West Bengal and Assam will exercise their franchise in the 1st phase of polling
The interchange fee -- paid by the card-issuing bank when a customer swipes at another bank's ATM, including at white-label ATMs -- may be raised to Rs 20 to Rs 23.
It was a protest which held a mirror to the government of a state taking pride in its commitment to democracy, gender equality and social indices.One person, who in his employed days had known governments and political parties at close quarters, told me that public perception of how the Kerala government handled the ASHA workers' strike had been terrible, reports Shyam G Menon.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, and Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar supremo Sharad Pawar were among the famous faces who queued up at the polling booths on Tuesday to caste their votes in the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections.
Polling began at 7 am on Saturday for 44 seats in the fourth phase of the West Bengal assembly elections amid tight security, officials said.
Opposition parties on Wednesday opposed the 'one nation, one election' proposal by calling it impractical and a 'cheap stunt' by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
The Election Commission expressed disappointment over the continued low voter turnout in urban areas of Maharashtra despite their efforts to increase participation. Despite motivational campaigns and measures for ease of voting, cities like Mumbai, Pune, and Thane recorded a dismal voter turnout. While Maharashtra recorded an overall voter turnout of 58.22 percent as of 5 PM, Jharkhand saw a higher turnout of 67.59 percent. The EC attributed the low turnout to urban apathy, a trend observed in previous state and parliamentary elections.
The Delimitation Commission, Gopalaswami said, will submit its final recommendations in two months and this will come into force after the presidential notification.
Here is the sentiment meter for the state, created by Rediff Labs.
Out of the 280 constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir, 43 are going to polls in the second phase with 25 in Kashmir and 18 in Jammu division.
The media campaign, largely to be looked after by a team of Central BJP leaders, will have all communication-friendly devices being set up at the major news publishing centres.
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.
As many as 623 candidates, including 73 women are in the fray in the first phase and around 2.28 core voters, including 1.24 crore men and 1.04 crore women are eligible to caste their francise, election officials said.
'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.
An estimated 57.03 per cent voters cast their ballots on Saturday in the sixth phase of the Uttar Pradesh elections covering 49 Assembly seats, including Mau, where gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari is in the fray.
Kumar said the increase was due to Outer Manipur being counted twice, since polls will be held there in two phases.
The abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019 paved the way for outsiders to contest polls in the Union Territory.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati, and Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray were among the famous faces who queued up at the polling booths on Monday to caste their votes in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections.
Over 56 per cent turnout was recorded on Monday in 54 assembly seats, including in Varanasi, in the seventh and last phase of Uttar Pradesh polls, marking the end of the voting process spread over two months in the crucial state.
Campaigning for the Uttar Pradesh state assembly elections came to a close on Thursday evening, with top leaders of different political outfits unleashing their horses in the 10 districts running along the Uttarakhand and Nepal border, where the seventh and final round of polling will take place on Saturday. Sharat Pradhan in Lucknow.
The Congress said it does not want to indulge in speculation and slugfest for TRPs.
The commission said enforcement authorities have seized Rs 4,650 crore even before polling begins for the Lok Sabha elections and it is the "higher than total seizures" made in the 2019 polls
While the Aam Aadmi Party is contesting on four seats, the Congress has fielded candidates for the remaining three seats.
Polling was held in 78 assembly segments of Bihar in the third and final phase of the state elections on Saturday in which 2.35 crore voters were eligible to decide the fate of 1,204 candidates.
With Bollywood connections of Amar Singh not a secret, the SP could well take a lead in bringing stars during the electioneering.
Bypolls to 10 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh will be a litmus test for the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA)'s unity after the group's success in the recent Lok Sabha polls when they won more than 40 seats, significantly contributing to the Bharatiya Janata Party's failure to win a simple majority in parliament.
Amid tight security, 62.60 per cent of 56,18,267 voters exercised their franchise in 17 to decide the fate of 309 candidates.
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