With assembly elections in Bihar likely to be held later this year, the Election Commission is dispatching four special teams of 'auditors' to the state on Monday for weeding out duplicate entries from electoral rolls.
All 39 constituents of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Tuesday reposed faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and resolved to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections unitedly under his leadership.
There have been media reports that the LJP was unhappy over the return of the Hindustani Awam Morcha-Secular into the National Democratic Alliance fold and contempleting fielding candidates against JD-U nominees.
'BJP and Modi are confident they will win the 2024 election.'
Former President APJ Abdul Kalam is likely to be the Election Commission of India's brand ambassador in a bid to increase voter turnout in the coming assembly polls in Bihar. Official sources in the state election commission told rediff.com that they has recommended Kalam as brand ambassador.
A nod has been given for the proposed amendments to be tabled in the monsoon session of the state legislature scheduled later this month.
In a bid to woo voters, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday promised laptops for students, colour televisions for Dalit and Mahadalit families, two-wheelers for girls and dhoti-sari for poor families annually if it wins the Bihar assembly polls and forms the next government.
Will Vijay will go the most successful MGR/Jayalalithaa way, or that of Vijayakanth, Seeman or Kamalahaasan, or will he end up as another Rajinikanth who cries wolf at the last minute and quits the scene even before it all had really begun, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
The anti-NDA alliances are still nebulous.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that the underprivileged need economic and political power and not empty words as he again called for removing the 50 per cent ceiling on quota and demanded reservations for Dalits and tribals based on their population.
The parties failed to make an impact with their voteshares getting restricted to 2 per cent or below.
A democracy is one, only if it has a robust Opposition. And as its actions show, the Modi-BJP combine gives two hoots for that. So, the Opposition must learn to convince people why the BJP must go. Else, it can count down to 2029, points out Shyam G Menon.
Lakhs of voters will vote on Thursday in first of the six-phase Bihar assembly polls to decide fate of dozens of Bahubalis, criminals- turned-politicians, and their wives who are in the fray. In 47 of 243 assembly seats going to polls on October 21, dozens of candidates with criminal records, will seek the people's mandate.
The Bihar assembly elections in October will be the biggest electoral test for Prime Minister Narendra Modi so far, scholars from a top American think-tank have said, noting that the ramifications of its results will be felt far away from the state's borders.
Farah and Sara, joined at the head, flashed their inked fingers after exercising their right to vote during the third phase of the assembly polls.
Among the seven seats which witnessed a stiff contest between the BJP and the regional parties, the saffron party held three and the Congress two, while the Shiv Sena and the RJD had one each.
Party believes Nitish-Lalu alliance beatable, but wary of self goals.
Bihar to get roads worth Rs 50,000 crore.
As Bihar awaits the results in the much-awaited polls, Rediff.com takes a look at some of those leaders who won and lost.
Chief ministers and other senior leaders made last-minute appeals to voters for their support in Mokama and Gopalganj of Bihar, Adampur of Haryana, Manugoda of Telangana, Gola Gorakhnath of Uttar Pradesh and Dhamnagar of Odisha.
The SEC, which held a meeting on Sunday evening, went through reports of vote-tampering and violence which affected polling in many places, and passed the order, an official said.
Former Rashtriya Janata Dal leader and Madhepura MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav on Sunday announced the formation of Jan Karanti Adhikar Morcha aimed at providing a "strong third option" to Bihar voters.
The dates for the much-awaited WFI elections have been confirmed, with the results also set to be announced on the same day.
"We will ban cow slaughter in Bihar if the BJP comes to power," former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi said.
Polling began on Tuesday morning in 35 constituencies spread across eight districts in the fifth and penultimate phase of the assembly elections in Bihar under the shadow of a boycott call by Maoists. In the 17 constituencies that have been declared 'Maoist-hit', voting began at 7 am and will end at 3 pm. Polling in the remaining constituencies will end at 5 pm.
'According to the survey, ideological issues like Article 370 and Ayodhya received only 14 and 12 per cent voter-backing, respectively.' 'It could well imply that hardline Hindutva issues have only that much voter-purchase, compared to Modi's overall popularity of 52 per cent -- putting the man way above the mission,' points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Election Commission is confident of holding the five assembly polls due early next year, including in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, on time as the poll panel has gained a lot of experience from the electoral exercise in Bihar, West Bengal and four other assemblies amid the coronavirus pandemic, Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra has asserted.
Grand alliance leaders accuse their rivals of having engineered electoral tactics to confuse its voters.
'We like to believe that it's the politicians who impose such bans. But it's the womenfolk of Bihar who made Nitish Kumar enact the ban,' says Ashis Nandy.
In a first, central paramilitary forces will be deployed at all 62,779 polling stations during the 5-phase Bihar assembly polls, the Election Commission said on Monday.
Shoot-at-sight orders have been issued and red alert sounded in the districts adjoining India-Nepal border, while aerial and marine surveillance were being carried out by four IAF helicopters and eight motorboats, equipped with sophisticated weapons.
The June 23 meeting of opposition parties, called by Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar, will see anti-BJP players chalk out a strategy for the Lok Sabha polls.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday made a scathing attack on Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad on his home turf, calling him a "tantrik" (occultist) and his party "Rashtriya Jadu Tona Party" as he reached out to the youth and weaker sections, promising a six-point programme for the state's development.
The social and educational conditions of 208 OBC communities enlisted by the state government will be collected during the survey, which will be followed by a special drive to ensure that none were left out across the state, an official said.
Rumblings of discontent in the Bharatiya Janata Party followed the party's disastrous performance in Bihar assembly elections on Sunday.
'The linking of Aadhaar to births and deaths will revive the debate around citizenship.'
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances