The fourth phase of polling in Jammu and Kashmir ended peacefully on Sunday recording a turnout of 49 per cent, the lowest compared to the earlier three phases.
Decks were cleared on Thursday for holding of assembly elections in the state, which has been under President's Rule for the last nine months, with the Union Cabinet approving dissolution of the 81-member House.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday laid the foundation stone for the Noida International Airport at Jewar in Uttar Pradesh. It will be one of the largest aerodromes in Asia.
A total of 89 seats -- out of 182 -- spanning the Saurashtra and south Gujarat regions, are up for grabs in the first phase with 977 candidates in the fray, including Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.
Uttar Pradesh, which is set to witness game-changer elections, and four other states will go to polls simultaneously, most likely in February-March next, commencing shortly after the presentation of the Union Budget on February 1.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday struck an alliance with the All Jharkhand Students Union for the upcoming polls to the 81-member state assembly for which it has given its new partner eight seats.
Sukhu said that he was a warrior and will fight till his last to ensure the welfare of the state and its people.
The BJP campaign highlighted Yogi's persona as a tough-as-nails leader and an incorruptible man with no nest to feather; Modi's charisma which was turned on full blast in the penultimate phases; Amit Shah's ground work; a well-oiled party organisation, and the RSS's back-up.
A 27-year-old burqa-clad woman, who is an instant talaq victim, is campaigning for the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls to make the Muslim women realise the "good work" being done by the saffron party in the state. Nida Khan believes that unlike other parties, the BJP does not see Muslims as a vote bank only but considers them as equals.
Rediff.com brings you some special moments captured during the polling process.
'Higher valuation remains the only spoiler for equities.'
Addressing an election meeting on what once was the home turf of slain gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday appeared to invoke nature as a great leveller -- a force that delivers justice.
'The kind of situation we are seeing...we don't believe that this can happen in a settled democracy like India'
Most of the parties supported 'one nation one election', says defence minister Rajnath Singh.
In the first such initiative, the Bharatiya Janata Party has invited the ruling and Opposition parties from around the world to witness the Lok Sabha elections in India first-hand.
The voter turnout in the first three phases of the civic polls in the valley has been low.
Singh in a statement noted several newspapers have claimed that he cancelled his visits to Jhabua and Khategaon due to his displeasure.
Increasingly seen as the 'bellwether' for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the assembly election results will not only decide as to who will rule UP but show which way the wind is blowing ahead of the Lok Sabha elections two years hence.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, for whom the temple town sharpened its Hindutva plank, is facing a challenge particularly from the Samajwadi Party in the ongoing state polls.
The Tamil Nadu unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday announced that it would contest alone in the urban civic polls slated to be held on February 19, even while asserting that its alliance with the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in the state remained intact.
The results were supposed to be declared on September 8.
The BJP's challenge is whether it can again deflate a Congress, which now looks reinvigorated and has adopted sharper messaging around its 'guarantees', and several regional parties, especially in Bihar, Maharashtra and West Bengal.
This time however, the poll panel did not share the overall polling percentage at its briefing.
A delegation of Trinamool Congress leaders on Wednesday met Election Commission officials here and alleged that the use of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's photo on advertisements of various central schemes and the COVID vaccination certificates, distributed by the Union health ministry, violated the model code of conduct.
PM Modi's remarks at the rally at Akbarpur come amid a row in Karnataka where schools have stopped Muslim girls from attending classes while wearing hijab.
An India TV-C Voter exit poll showed the SP securing 23 to 27 seats, the BJP 13 to 17, the BSP 11 to 15 and the Congress two to six seats from today's voting.
The Election Commission of Pakistan has announced that independent candidates, a majority of them supported by the PTI secured 101 seats, followed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) with 75 seats, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) getting 54 seats, and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) bagging 17 seats.
In an embarrassment for the Bharatiya Janata Party in Gujarat ahead of the assembly elections, a candidate allegedly said liquor can be sold openly, leading to the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against him for indulging in "corrupt practices".
The duo has been victorious multiple times from Sultanpur and Pilibhit. In the recent rejig of the BJP national executive committee, the two were also dropped from that list.
Vasava is the president of Gujarat BJP's Scheduled Tribe Morcha and represented the erstwhile Rajpipla seat between 2002 and 2007 and from 2007 to 2012.
Half-way through the polls, the fight has become more personal.
Leaders of the West Bengal Congress unit, which has an alliance with the CPI-M-led Left Front in the state, were seen welcoming the Left leaders.
'Interim Budget has ignited the entrepreneurial spirit.'
Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras on Saturday said he will contest the next Lok Sabha polls from Hajipur, rebuffing his nephew Chirag Paswan who has staked claim on late father Ram Vilas Paswan's constituency.
After Rajnath Singh and Uma Bharti, another union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi feels the same.
Virtually addressing party workers and voters of 11 assembly constituencies that will go to vote in the first phase on October 28, Kumar highlighted the achievements of his governments during his three terms as CM since 2005, and compared those with the work done during the 15-year rule before that.
"You are seeing my face everywhere," the Congress leader added while addressing a press conference to release the party's 'youth manifesto' along with her brother and former president Rahul Gandhi.
The Chief Election Commissioner pointed out that the exercise involved nearly 7.3 crore voters and over 1.06 lakh polling stations.
The CEC said 7.2 crore single-use gloves for voters to press electronic voting machine buttons, more than seven lakh units of hand sanitiser, about 46 lakh masks, about six lakh personal protection equipment (PPE) kits, 7.6 lakh units of face shields have been arranged.
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