Campaigning came to an end on Saturday for the single-day election in Uttarakhand and Goa, two states known for political volatility where the Bharatiya Janata Party is attempting to retain power, and for the second phase of assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh on February 14.
"Polling was held peacefully at the 11,697 polling booths across the state with 65.1 per cent of the electorate casting their votes till the close of polls," Chief Electoral Officer Saujanya who does not use a surname said.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat were among the early voters to exercise their franchise as polling was underway on Wednesday for the state assembly elections.
In yet another decision to please the priest community after withdrawing the Chardham Devasthanam Board Act, the Uttarakhand government has reconstituted the Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee under a new head to manage the affairs of the two Himalayan shrines.
'I think Uttarakhand's development is only possible under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and I want to work towards making Uttarakhand a better state'
BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Maharashtra in a grand ceremony at Azad Maidan in Mumbai.
Dominic Xavier is gobsmacked by the BJP's emphatic triumph in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur.
BJP leaders also say it will be a very difficult task before the new chief minister pleasing the 56 party MLAs, reports Shishir Prashant.
Party leader Rajnath Singh along with state chief B C Khanduri and other senior BJP leaders welcomed former Congress members Renu Adhikari and Barkha Rani in New Delhi on Sunday, saying that more defections were in the pipeline.
While the opposition alliance is putting up a united front in Ghosi constituency in Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand's Dumri, Dhanpur and Boxanagar in Tripura and Uttarakhand's Bageshwar, its constituents are contesting against each other in Dhupguri in West Bengal and Puthuppally in Kerala.
The Congress on Tuesday accused Home Minister Amit Shah of harboring "hatred" towards B.R. Ambedkar, demanding an apology from him for his remarks in the Rajya Sabha. Congress leaders pointed out that Shah's comments, which criticized the frequent invocation of Ambedkar's name by the opposition, demonstrate a deep-seated animosity towards the architect of India's Constitution. The allegations sparked outrage among Congress members, who accused the BJP and RSS of having a history of disdain for Ambedkar. The incident has fueled political tensions, with the Congress vowing to hold Shah accountable for his remarks.
Political parties have fielded sons, wives and daughters-in-law of legislators who quit after being elected to the Lok Sabha.
The results of the Assembly elections were nothing to exult about for the Bharatiya Janata Party with the party faring poorly in Uttar Pradesh and its chief minister B C Khanduri losing in Uttarakhand although it grabbed Goa from Congress.
Ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday sprang a surprise and was on set to emerge as the single largest party in Uttarakhand bagging 20 seats and leading in 12 more, notching a wafer-thin lead over rival Congress.
A US military aircraft carrying 112 Indian deportees landed at the Amritsar airport late on Sunday night, marking the third such flight in recent weeks. The deportees, who hail from various states across India, will be allowed to return home after completing necessary immigration procedures. The deportations are part of a crackdown by the Donald Trump administration against illegal immigrants.
While Chouhan has emerged as a favourite to remain at the helm in MP despite the presence of some challengers, the leadership race is wide open in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, two states where the BJP has snatched power from the Congress.
Former Union minister Prakash Javadekar and another senior party leader Om Prakash Mathur was made poll in-charge for Telangana and Chhattisgarh respectively, a party statement said.
Alleging "loot" of natural resources and corruption in implementation of central schemes in Uttarakhand, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday asked people in the hill state to recognise the "fraud" being played with them and oust the BJP government from the state.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday announced Prime Minister Narendra Modi will fight again from Varanasi in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as it named 34 Union ministers in the first list of 195 candidates.
The ceremony was attended by Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah and the family members of Advani, the Rashtrapati Bhavan said in a post on X.
The electoral exercise, the first since the Lok Sabha elections, will decide the fate of many veterans and some debutantes including Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu's wife Kamlesh Thakur.
Bhandari's body was recovered from the Cheela canal close to Rishikesh early on Saturday, six days after her parents found her missing from her room.
Over 74 lakh voters will seal the fate of 628 candidates in electronic voting machines between 8 am to 5 pm when polling concludes, state Election office informed.
The war of words between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party over the Uttarakhand floods continue, even as thousands continue to be stranded in the flood-hit state.
The BJP, which rules the Centre, is in power in Uttarakhand, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Goa, Assam, Tripura, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and is all set to get Madhya Pradesh back and snatch Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh from the Congress after today's vote count.
A video had gone viral on Thursday showing Rawat extolling the curative powers of the cow at a function in Dehradun.
A bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and S V N Bhatti said it won't issue any clarification on the July 22 order as "We have said what needed to be said in our July 22 order. Can't force anyone to disclose names."
It is for the second consecutive year that the yatra is not being held due to the pandemic.
Hours before the ceremony, Saini visited the Valmiki Bhawan and offered prayers at a gurdwara and the Mansa Devi temple in Panchkula.
The remarks by Sibal, a noted advocate, came after Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar and eight others were inducted into the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government.
With the strategy working in its favour, the BJP could be encouraged to undertake similar steps in states, including Karnataka, where elections are due next year, to counter factors that might work against it.
The task for RS Rawat to enter the assembly might not be easy, especially with the ongoing situation arising out of Covid-19, lack of vaccines and allegations of poor hospital facilities, reports Shishir Prashant.
Talking to reporters in Pauri, Yashpal Benam, the bride's father and Pauri municipal chairman, said he thought of getting his daughter married to a Muslim youth for her happiness.
"Won't you vote out a government which sullied the reputation of the abode of God," the prime minister said.
Opinion polls by a section of the media channels have stated that Harish Rawat is the most liked politician for the post of chief minister, way ahead of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.
BJP president J P Nadda also appointed former Congress spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill its national spokesperson.
'There is one way to defeat the intention behind this directive: To patronise Muslim establishments that have been forced to identify themselves.' 'This is one opportunity for the Congress to show that the 'mohabbat ki dukaan' its leader talks about does exist.' 'Can Akhilesh Yadav, who has asked the court to take note of this directive, order his party members to do this?' asks Jyoti Punwani.
Holding that the Constitution of India envisages a secular nation, the Supreme Court Friday directed the Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments to come down hard on hate speeches, promptly registering criminal cases against the culprits without waiting for a complaint to be filed.
The Opposition had dubbed the directives issued by the three states as divisive and discriminatory against Muslims, and the apex court's order effectively ensured that the Yatra was held without their orders being enforced.
