With its victory in Maharashtra and Arunachal Pradesh and emerging close to retaining power in Haryana, the Congress may well consolidate its hold on national politics and look for revival in states where it is out of power.
For Raman Singh, who spearheaded BJP's victory campaign in Chattisgarh for the second successive term, it was the organisational skills and the ability to push populist economic programmes that made him stand out among other party leaders.
The 71-year-old is the first Congress chief minister to win a third term. Dikshit's had to tackle the triple threat of detractors within the party, anti-incumbancy, and a resurgent Bharatiya Janata Party. She has proved with her charisma and good governance over a decade that she is the unmatched leader of the Congress in the national capital leaving her detractors red-faced.
Former chief minister and state Congress chief Lal Thanhawla leads the list of the winners by bagging the South Tuipui seat in Lunglei district and Serchhip seat in Serchhip district, his home turf.
'Destabilising the Yediyurappa government is not a cakewalk.' 'If he is destabilised, then the BJP will have problems in Karnataka.'
Along with the development plank, the Bharatiya Janata Party is counting on the 'Gujarat formula' of dropping 'unpopular legislators' as a strategy to minimise the anti-incumbency factor and return to power in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
Chief Minister Harish Rawat lost both seats he contested.
The 31-year-old is seeking re-election from Raghopur in Vaishali district which he had wrested back for his party from the Bharatiya Janata Party's Satish Kumar in 2015. The BJP leader had defeated Yadav's mother Rabri Devi, a former chief minister, in 2010.
The sources said Gandhi wants India to lead in the niche area which comes after software development.
Over 10 million farmers have received Rs 2,000 crore under the flagship scheme says Virendra Singh Rawat.
In the unlikely event of the BJP-NDA losing all five states going to the polls in February-March, the Presidential electoral college numbers could be significantly altered, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
For the first time since 1985, Tamil Nadu has voted in favour of an incumbent party which has been a shock to those in Anna Arivalayam -- the office of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Chennai.
As leaders go, while Modi's visits to the state will be watched with curiosity, Rahul will need to be dislodged from the popular consciousness -- Tamil Nadu is one state where he's present, notes Aditi Phadnis.
As things stand, both the UPA and the NDA may gain or lose 15-20 seats this way or that in 2009. In such a scenario, the role of the third pool of the non-Congress and non-BJP parties will become critical. The BSP is likely to lead the pack, even though Mayawati is not expected to go for pre-poll alignments.
Watched by a galaxy of top party leaders, including BJP chief Rajnath Singh, Chouhan, 49 , was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Balram Jakhar, marking a high-point in the three-decade-old career of a politician who had taken over the reins of the party in the state at a critical time following the resignation of Uma Bharti.
.gif)
The Congress on Monday created history in Delhi by winning Assembly elections for a third consecutive term, overcoming anti-incumbency and fear of Mumbai terror attacks costing it votes.
The Congress today stormed to power in Mizoram bagging two-third majority with 28 seats in the 40-member assembly.
Arun Jaitley, New Delhi's media's most favourite analyst on days of election results, was less effusive than usual on Monday.
The return of the Congress to power is the change that has been long awaited. The anti-incumbency factor had stacked up against the MNF. For Pu Zoramthanga, who lost in his home constituency Champhai North and his party, the decade of smooth tongue wagging to save the party failed after they repeatedly did not deliver their promises.
'It will be suicidal for Left voters to vote for the BJP because of their anger against the TMC.'
The ruling Mizoram National Front in the state, which retained power on its own in 2003, has now decided to continue its ties with the Mizoram Congress Party and forge an alliance with smaller political outfits to come back to power for the third consecutive term in the November assembly polls.
Political observers say that except for a strong anti-incumbency sentiment, there is little that might go against the BJP.
Riding high on the anti-incumbency wave at the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), Jagmohan Dalmiya on Tuesday regained the president's post having spent 18 months in wilderness.
Consigning anti-incumbency to dust, the ruling BJP, led by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, today retained power in Madhya Pradesh though with a reduced majority in the Assembly elections which saw the defeat of firebrand expelled BJP leader Uma Bharti.
Naxal-hit Bastar, which goes to polls on Monday, is witnessing a stiff political battle with Congress going all out to wrest control from BJP of the region widely seen as a deciding factor in winning Chhattisgarh.
Chirag Paswan is young. He is articulate. He has no political baggage. All he needs is the blessing of Chanakya, observes Asmita Bihari.
Conforming to the cycle of the ruling party being ejected from power in the hill state, the saffron party bagged 41 seats, five short of two-thirds majority in the 68-member assembly. In the outgoing House, BJP had only 19 MLAs.
The message from Gujarat is that people want to see in their leaders the time-honoured values of intellectual honesty, personal integrity, performance-oriented governance and straight dealing. They do not any longer want to put up with politicians who speak differently from different corners of the mouth and soft-pedal the looming dangers to the nation from hostile forces and traitorous groups.
It will be the year of preparation for the electoral test in Uttar Pradesh, due in 2022. But before that, the West Bengal Assembly election will set the mood for the rest of 2021.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley said on Sunday that the relationship of Rahul Gandhi with Amethi is "nominal" and it remains one of the most backward constituencies in the country.
A high voter turnout was recorded in West Bengal, Assam Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry assembly elections on Tuesday. The massive polling exercise following COVID-19 health protocol and involving lakhs of personnel began at 7 am and the last hour from 6 pm to 7 pm was set aside for COVID-19 patients and those under isolation. The counting of votes in the states will be held on May 2.
The final results from the Maharashtra assembly election are just an hour away but already tantalising possibilities are being seen by the non-Bharatiya Janata Party outfits from the fractured mandate.
The Congress's revival plan says it needs to bring back into its fold Hindus repelled by the Sangh Parivar, take its message to youth and women and sections upset at curbs on their personal freedoms.
If not for Palaniswami, it is hard to guess if the AIADMK would have been able to garner 33.3 per cent vote share as against the DMK's 37.7 per cent. AIADMK won 66 seats, its allies Pattali Makkal Katchi and Bharatiya Janata Party five and four seats respectively and proved yet again that the western region was its fortress.
Modi, Shah and Nadda have created a strategy to boost the BJP and the government's image.
'Sidhu's suggestions regarding formation of the new government were completely ignored, so he stepped down.' 'Channi's government is walking on the same path as Amarinder Singh's.'
However, it was BJP, which put up an unexpectedly impressive performance bagging 19 of the 23 seats it contested.
'Both are mature enough to realise that a break will not benefit either of them and both will be losers'
Is anyone in the BJP listening -- to what Nitin Gadkari had to say, but possibly left unsaid? asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
It predicted same number of seats for Congress, which had won 36 seats last time, despite the much-feared anti-incumbency factor.
