The leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha is preparing his excuses for future defeats in the upcoming assembly elections, including Bihar, Fadnavis said in his articles published in the Indian Express and Marathi daily Loksatta.
A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, particularly before parliamentary, state assembly and local body elections. The court has agreed to hear a batch of petitions challenging the Election Commission's decision to undertake special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bihar.
'Modi's charisma may have weakened as last year's Lok Sabha poll results showed but in the eyes of the Sangh Parivar, it has not waned.' 'Minus a strong BJP government at the Centre for another decade and more, there is apprehension that an anti-Hindutva government could reverse many of the ideological gains that the Modi dispensation has achieved through its three terms,' points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
The INDIA bloc is set to field a joint candidate for the upcoming vice presidential elections. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge is engaging with opposition parties to identify potential candidates and build consensus. The decision reflects a unified front among opposition parties aiming to send a strong political message.
Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam chief Vijay launched his state-wide campaign in Tiruchirappalli, encountering an audio glitch. He criticized both the central government and the DMK government in Tamil Nadu, stating his intention to serve the people, not to amass wealth.
The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill 2025, aimed at decriminalizing minor offenses to promote ease of living and business, was introduced in the Lok Sabha and referred to a Select Committee.
'Women' as a political constituency appears to be an idea that has come of age. It is changing India in ways that we only dimly understand, asserts Aditi Phadnis.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced that it will set up mobile phone deposit counters at polling stations to ensure that voters do not have to carry their phones inside the polling booth. This decision was taken after it was observed that several voters were concealing their phones in their clothes due to the absence of a facility to deposit it. The ECI has also rationalized the permissible norms for canvassing in line with the electoral laws to 100 meters from the entrance of the polling station.
Eleven states and Union territories -- Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Telangana, Gujarat, Punjab, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand -- had a voter turnout lower than the national average of 67.40 percent in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
The government rejected the Opposition's demand for a discussion on electoral roll revision in Bihar, citing that the matter is sub judice and pending before the judiciary.
Tharoor led a multi-party delegation, visiting various countries, to apprise the world about India's stand against cross-border terrorism following Operation Sindoor, which was launched in retaliation against the ghastly Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday said that 99 per cent of electors have already been covered under the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in poll-bound Bihar, ECI said.
Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said the Sports Bill is a key reform aimed at building a "transparent, accountable and world-class sports ecosystem" in India.
What piques the narrative is that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah decide on crucial matters, they play it close to their chest, and revel in springing a surprise.
Heat wave is believed to have contributed to several voters not turning up at polling stations in both the phases.
The BJP's surprise announcement of a caste census in the next census has sparked political debate, particularly in Bihar where the issue of backward empowerment holds significant electoral weight. The move is seen as a strategic maneuver by the ruling party to counter opposition efforts to mobilize support among disadvantaged sections of society. The decision is also viewed as a recognition of the growing influence of OBC politics in India.
In a tweet, he also asked them to wear masks and maintain social distancing.
Four times more liquor has been seized in the 2024 election than during the 2019 polls.
'Non-BJP state governments and their leaders, navigating today's political landscape, know well they have no clue what awaits around the corner.' 'The chances of charges pressed and oneself getting parked in custody play out on an uneven playing field,' points out Shyam G Menon.
7,06,252 people or 1.7 per cent of the voters opted for the option whereby they preferred not to vote for any candidate while exercising their democratic right.
The Election Commission of India has set up more than 200 polling stations within housing societies in the urban areas of Uttar Pradesh to increase the voter turnout in the politically crucial state.
The juggernaut of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance, which triumphed in three of the four east and north-eastern states that went for assembly bypolls on Saturday, was halted yet again in West Bengal where Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress registered a six-on-six clean sweep.
Moderate to high turnout was recorded in 13 assembly constituencies across seven states where bypolls were held on Wednesday amid sporadic incidents of violence in Uttarakhand, Bihar and West Bengal.
According to an official release, the voting percentage is likely to go up when reports from all polling stations are obtained, as polling was scheduled until 6 pm in many constituencies.
In some states, many women voters had enrolled themselves by their relationship with the male members of their family instead of providing their own names.
There are also over 10 million voters in the 18-29 age bracket. Winning them over could be Nitish Kumar's biggest challenge, reports Aditi Phadnis.
The IMD has warned of heatwave to severe heatwave conditions in parts of West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh during the next five days.
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.
RJD president Lalu Prasad has expelled his elder son, Tej Pratap Yadav, from the party for six years for "irresponsible behavior" and snapped all family ties with him. The decision comes after a viral Facebook post claimed that Yadav, a former Bihar minister, was "in a relationship" with a young woman.
This was the first major election in the country amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Obviously, the women of Bihar were not intimidated by the pandemic and came out in large numbers to vote.
Guidelines have been issued by the Commission for safe conduct of the electoral exercise in the midst of the raging COVID-19 pandemic. These guidelines include lowering the maximum number of voters for a polling booth from 1,600 to 1,000, staggering the polling hours and extending postal ballot facility to those above 80.
A total of 71 assembly constituencies of Bihar spread across 16 districts went to polls on Wednesday in the first phase amid tight security and with COVID-19 guidelines in place.
'I don't know whether the top Gujarati leaders of Indian politics (Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah) in Delhi realise that the narrative of HindiHinduHindustan will eventually destroy their own language too.'
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.
A careful calculation of the BJP's support base seems to have been at work in the cabinet expansion that took place a day after the party's national president chaired a meeting of the "core group" here.
Addressing BJP workers at a felicitation function after the Bharatiya Janata Party's victory in Bihar elections and various bypolls, he asserted that the only mantra for his party's victory was 'Sabka saath, sabka vikas and sabka vishwas' and also launched a veiled attack on the West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress, saying those who cannot challenge the saffron party democratically have resorted to 'murdering' its workers to realise their goals.
According to the Election Commission data, 30 out of the state's 40 Lok Sabha seats went to the BJP-led coalition in the latest elections, a sharp drop compared with 39 in 2019 and lower than the tallies of 2014 (31) and 2009 (32).
'But this Budget alone will not fix what ails the Indian economy.'
One person was killed and three others injured in post-poll violence in Bihar's Saran district on Tuesday morning, police said.
Raut said a Congress-AAP alliance would have crushed the BJP in Delhi assembly polls, as counting trends show the Arvind Kejriwal-led party losing many seats amid the saffron surge.
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