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.
Announcing it on X, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said she has taken the decision in the interest of the party and the movement and till the time Anand gains "full maturity".
Electioneering ended in Madhya Pradesh at 6 pm except in Naxalites-hit districts of Balaghat, Mandla and Dindori, where campaigning drew to a close early at 3 pm.
Here are some of the big political leaders' who await their fate on Monday.
The commission also directed political parties to adhere to the provisions of the model code of conduct and broader guidelines on Covid-19.
Addressing a public event in Orai in Jalaun district, where elections are scheduled on February 20 in the third phase, she went all guns blazing against the BJP, the Congress and the SP.
Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said in case a situation arises in Uttar Pradesh that there is a hung assembly, the AAP will enter into a post-poll alliance to keep incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party out of power in the state.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Rajasthan on July 7 and 8 during which he will inaugurate and lay the foundation stones of about 50 projects worth around Rs 50,000 crore, official sources said Tuesday.
'Episodes of targeted attacks on Muslims established that for a section of people and, sadly, even officials of the State, the election results conveyed no lessons.' 'Opposition parties must not be hesitant in speaking out whenever the mob with tacit State support targets Muslims,' asserts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author of Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times.
From Instagram to X, social media platforms, in the run-up to the polls have seen bitter poster wars and even bitter meme battles for political one-upmanship.
On Tuesday, November 29, 2022, the final day of campaigning before Thursday's first phase of the Gujarat assembly election, the Bharatiya Janata Party fielded an array of leaders to canvass votes for the party that has ruled the state since 1995.
In a letter to Kharge, Khan said he will not campaign for party candidates for the remaining phases of the Lok Sabha polls and is also resigning from the state Congress campaign committee.
The stage is now set for the first substantial round of polling in the Lok Sabha elections on Thursday, involving nearly 11 crore voters in 92 seats spread across 11 states, including Delhi and the national capital region and the riot-hit Muzaffarnagar.
According to sources, the filters were applied on Saturday night soon after the poll schedule was announced.
The panchayat polls or those for district panchayat chiefs are not held on a party symbol but candidates enjoy the tacit support of various parties.
Her name figures among the 40 star campaigners that the Congress has finalised and forwarded to the Election Commission on Tuesday for the first phase of Uttar Pradesh polls.
He alleged that the MVA allies were refusing to consider the factor of Maratha activist Manoj Jarange.
Out of the 167 candidates, 54 are crorepatis. Manipur Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms ADR said.
According to the exit poll, if present voting patterns continue, the BSP could emerge as the single largest party with 131-141 seats against 98 in 2002 elections, followed by the Samajwadi Party with 109-119 seats (145 in 2002).
As many as 69 assembly constituencies in the Yadav heartland, considered crucial for the ruling Samajwadi Party in the state, went to the polls in this phase.
'We get the opportunity for new recruitment and the chance to introspect.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Tuesday poised to form the government for a third consecutive term with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance getting a majority in the Lok Sabha, notwithstanding crushing losses in three Hindi heartland states after a bitterly fought election that was projected as a referendum on his popularity.
The nomination process for the first phase of the seven-phased Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections began on Tuesday with the issuance of the notification.
'The opposition wants the country to run on the basis of Shariat but this cannot happen'
Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com tracks Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi's project-launching spree with just about three months to go for the assembly election in India's most populous state.
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.
However, the RLD leader gave a terse response. 'Invite those +700 farmer families which you have destroyed, not me,' he tweeted in Hindi.
The curtain came down on rumbustious electioneering over the last two months when assembly polls were also held in four other states - Goa, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Manipur.
Playing the same tunes, the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance has come up with a rhythmic slogan, sounding more or less like Salman Khan starrer 'Sultan's' song 'Baby ko bass pasand hai.'
"Krishna was born in Uttar Pradesh but made Gujarat his karma bhoomi. I was born in Gujarat but Uttar Pradesh has adopted me," the PM said in Hardoi.
In the second phase on April 18, 97 seats,spread across 13 states and one Union Territory, will go to the polls.
Saini said he had resigned from Yogi Adiyanth government because 'for five years Dalits, backward classes were suppressed, their voices were suppressed'.
'The Congress in the past backed the demand, but will not support it now since the SP opposes any division of UP.'
Two persons, including a woman, were killed and 18 others were injured on Thursday in clashes between rival groups during the second phase of three-tier panchayat elections across Uttar Pradesh, which recorded 75 per cent polling.
As per the report, out of 612 candidates, 168 (27 per cent) are crorepatis.
Stressing that the Apna Dal-S stands for social justice, Union minister Anupriya Patel on Monday dissociated her party from "Hindutva and all those issues" and said it is ideologically different from the Bharatiya Janata Party.
While people voted in a fifth round that will set the tone as this election rounds into the straight, and while Modi on the stump chews the cud of personal grievances and hackneyed promises that have long since passed their use-by date, there is a rogue wave rising -- what damage it will do, we will know 16 days from today, observes Prem Panicker.
According to sources, the Election Commission has a tentative schedule to hold the Uttar Pradesh elections from February 16 or 17. The polling will be completed in six phases by around March 6, and the counting would be done along with all other states on March 10. Other states, including Punjab, will have one-day polls.
The districts going to polls in this phase are Balrampur, Gonda, Faizabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Bahraich, Shravasti, Basti, Siddharth Nagar, Sant Kabir Nagar, Amethi and Sultanpur.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday claimed that the Congress and Samajwadi Party will run a bulldozer over the Ram temple if elected to power, and asked them to take 'tuition' from Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath 'where to run bulldozers'.