The final phase saw voting in all 13 seats of Punjab and an equal number of seats in Uttar Pradesh, nine in West Bengal, eight seats each in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, four in Himachal Pradesh, three in Jharkhand and the lone seat Chandigarh.
Five of the six Lok Janshakti Party MPs in Lok Sabha have joined hands against their leader Chirag Paswan and elected Pashupati Kumar Paras, the youngest brother of Paswan's late father and party founder Ram Vilas Paswan, in his place, causing a big churn in Bihar politics.
'The Bihar verdict has shown that the people of Bihar don't desire to go back to the mandir-masjid rhetoric.' 'Jobs, wages and development are the aspiration of the people of Bihar and we hope the next government will keep that in mind.'
Though the run-up to the poll saw a high pitched campaign by the parties, the turnout of the voters on December 1 was an unimpressive 46.55 per cent (34.50 lakh) out of the total 74.67 lakh voters.
Many factors like women, caste combination, education qualification, age and performance of the legislators will be taken into consideration before the formation of the Yogi government 2.0, sources said on Thursday. Several rounds of meetings have taken place within the party after the poll results came out on March 10.
'In his election speeches, Nitish has been parroting Modi, praising him like never before.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged people to vote in large numbers. "Today, there are bypolls taking place in various places across India. I urge those voting in these seats to vote in large numbers and strengthen the festival of democracy," he said in a tweet.
Women, if addressed properly, have the potential to become a decisive factor in elections.
After the alteration of the boundaries, the BJP assessed the wards afresh to see what changes in strategy were needed
The marital dispute between Prasad's elder son Tej Pratap Yadav and Aishwarya Rai, a daughter of Chandrika Roy, has its shadow in the poll battle on this seat which votes on November 3.
The Election Commission has given a go-ahead to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's latest episode of Mann ki baat to be aired on Sunday with a rider that it will not carry anything which could be construed as influencing the voters of Bihar.
Elections 2024 is not as open and shut as has been presumed. There is some life left in it, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
With this phase, election will be over in 424 seats and polling in the remaining 118 seats will be held on May 12 and 19.
To beat BJP, you either deny them a critical mass of Hindu vote or build a regional leader and party strong enough to protect their turf, observes Shekhar Gupta.
It is the voter who has corrupted politics, not the politician, says Aakar Patel.
Think you are a political junkie? Go ahead, take the Rediff.com Election Game!
'Many estimates by international agencies suggest that the 21st century will be ruled by three industries -- agriculture, food processing and textiles. And in these three critical industries, UP, surely, has more advantages than any other location in the world -- this is the Gangetic belt,' says Professor Arvind Mohan, who is bullish about the Uttar Pradesh economy.
Following the Supreme Court's directions in February this year, the Election Commission had in March asked political parties to justify why they chose candidates with criminal history to contest elections.
'It is more of a catalyst.' 'People bring in their own demons and they are not created by fake news'
A rapid vaccination programme is needed immediately for the interests of health and well-being of all concerned, Banerjee said in a letter to Modi.
Sarmesh Kumar is the first in his family, that comes from the community of rat eaters, to go to college. Archana Masih/Rediff.com met the young man and traveled to his village -- which Bill Gates visited a few years ago -- as Rediff.com looks at Bihar through the stories of its people.
Voters will decide the fate of 456 candidates in 32 constituencies spread over six Naxal-hit districts.
The 2020 assembly polls marked the coming of age of a politician who valiantly went down fighting an army of battle-hardened veterans.
The fulcrum of victory or defeat of parties attempting to form a government is held by smaller players and those willing to defect.
Noting that it was his government that had recommended a CBI probe into the actor's death, Kumar said the incident saddened both the state and the country.
Biharis can confidently decide whether they want to follow Badlav Se Bhadiya Bharosa (Trust is Better than Change) or Badaliye Sarkar, Badaliye Bihar (Change the Government, Change Bihar), asserts Asmita Bihari.
Tej Pratap, the RJD chief's elder son said that "the numbers could swing as voters' mood is also not quite clear at the moment".
Complaints of electronic voting machine malfunctioning poured in from several booths on Tuesday during the third and largest phase of Lok Sabha polls which saw voters turning out in large numbers to cast their vote in 116 seats, including all constituencies of Gujarat and Kerala.
To help the country emerge as a true welfare State, political parties must put the country's interests first before strategising to win elections and short-term goals, argues Ramesh Menon.
The prime minister said the Congress has run away from the battlefield conceding defeat in the 68-member assembly.
It may well be possible to defeat Modi. But nobody seems to know how, points out Vir Sanghvi.
Indian cricket's one-time power centre Mumbai has lost its permanent voting status as per the new constitution of the Indian Cricket Board finalised by the Committee of Administrators (COA) appointed by the Supreme Court of India.
The BJP said all its public meetings will be held in open places following all COVID-19 guidelines and that it will distribute six crore masks and sanitisers in the state.
Hailing Banerjee as the "real Bengal tigress", the party, which had earlier said that it would join the electoral battle in the state, vowed to "stand in solidarity" with the TMC camp.
The Election Commission on Friday gave the go-ahead to the airing of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Mann ki Baat programme on Sunday.
The overall voting percentage in the bypolls to 51 assembly seats was nearly 56.84 per cent, the Election Commission said while releasing data available till 7 pm, adding that the polling passed off peacefully.
In spite of his trying hard he is unable to connect not only with ordinary voters but with most party colleagues as well, observes Virendra Kapoor.
Jayanta Roy Chowdhury reports on how the West Bengal elections are being fought by the BJP and Trinalool Congress amid COVID challenges, 'Bangaliana', and campaigns based on religion, region, and caste.
The decision of its two oldest allies to walk out means that Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, who is also president of the Janata Dal-United, is now the oldest BJP ally besides being the most powerful.
'Does a political or social worker ever retire? Is Nitish Kumar himself contesting the assembly elections'
