Assembly polls in Andhra Pradesh, Sikkim and Odisha will be held simultaneously in the first phase.
The None of the Above option, like previous polls, had few takers in the assembly elections to West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry.
'If Mamata Banerjee doesn't want, then violence cannot be stopped.'
With most political parties failing to articulate the concerns of Muslims, who account for 15 per cent of the population and can swing the electoral outcome in 21 constituencies, the AIMIM hopes to make a mark in the ongoing assembly elections, says Shafeeq Rahman.
Modi and the BJP have been targeting the Congress during the campaign for assembly polls, claiming that the grand old party opposed the scrapping of Article 370.
Here's a list of the full first-time ministers in the second term of the Narendra Modi government.
Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, Assam and the Union Territory of neighbouring Puducherry are likely to go to polls in April or May.
Polling will be held between 7 am and 4 pm, except in some polling stations of the interior districts of Nagaland, where the process is scheduled to conclude at 3 pm. The two states have a 60-member House each, but voting will be held for 59 constituencies in both.
Zoramthanga has been chief minister of Mizoram twice. He was a former underground leader and a close aide of the legendary MNF leader Laldenga.
A number of Congress leaders across the country have gone against the party's stand in Parliament on abrogation of the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution in Jammu and Kashmir by supporting the Centre's move and a bill to bifurcate the state. The Congress has strongly opposed the move and the bill to bifurcate the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union territories.
Hitting the campaign trail in Assam for the first time this election, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Saturday lambasted the Bharatiya Janata Party as a "party that divides the people and thinks through only one person."
"This is an unparalleled and unprecedented win," he said.
Sahib Ali, hailing from Assam's Chirang district, is one of the five men who narrowly escaped the flooding coal mine a fortnight ago.
The term of the Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura legislative assemblies is ending on March 6, March 13 and March 14 respectively.
Even before the trends started coming, eager party workers were seen glued to their smart phones viewing the counting progress online.
Union Minister Kumari Selja was named the Congress nominee for Rajya Sabha elections, putting an end to speculation that former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit could be brought to the Upper House from Haryana.
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.
We should be ready beforehand and I agree that if we have to go for alliances then the formalities of those alliances should be completed as soon as possible
'We would do well to encourage all Indians to participate in democracy by contesting and laws that prevent or deter individuals and parties should be relooked at,' says Aakar Patel.
Given the controversy over Uttar Pradesh's population control moves, Hemant Shivsaran/Rediff.com digs deep to find out how many children BJP MLAs in UP have.
Four new governors -- three of whom are Bharatiya Janata Party leaders including Tathagata Roy for Tripura and Draupadi Murmu for Jharkhand - have been appointed by President Pranab Mukherjee.
First tranche of central funding of Rs 200-cr each to come in FY16 for those who meet all criteria.
The Bharatiya Janata Party appeared to cede ground in Uttar Pradesh where Samajwadi Party was leading on six of the 11 Assembly seats where bypolls were held while it was neck and neck with Congress in Gujarat and behind in Rajasthan, exactly four months after it swept the three states in Lok Sabha elections.
'Modi had promised to deposit money in the accounts of people, but he has done it only in the case of some rich businessmen like the Ambanis'
The BJP president will have to address issues like scrapping Article 370 of the Constitution, an issue dear to the party and the Sangh Parivar for long and a promise included in the manifesto during the last elections.
As the elections appear closer, the nervousness in the Congress party has become more visible. Each one is frantically concerned about his own position rather than wanting the Congress party to get ready for a spirited fight.
'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.'
In Maharashtra, where the 'Mahayuti' alliance of BJP, Shiv Sena and smaller parties is against the 'Maha-agadhi' led by the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party whereas the ruling BJP is locked in a contest with the opposition Congress and the fledgling Jannayak Janata Party for the 90 assembly seats in Haryana.
Probodh Panda and Atul Kumar Anjaan are among 39 candidates declared by the Communist Party of India for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls as the party said that it would fight on 60 seats in 24 states.
Objecting to telecast of Narendra Modi's road show in Varanasi when polling was on for the sixth phase, Congress on Thursday pressed the poll panel for registration of FIR against BJP leaders and alleged that EC "inaction" on previous violations of code of conduct had given the saffron party an opportunity to flout the electoral laws.
Moderate to high turnout on Saturday marked the bye-elections held in three Lok Sabha and 33 assembly constituencies spread across 10 states in an exercise seen as yet another key test of the Narendra Modi government's popularity since it assumed power in May.
Deb, whose name was proposed by party MLA Sudip Roy Burman in the meeting, will be the new chief minister of Tripura, Gadkari said.
The main contest is between the CPI-M and the BJP in the February 18 assembly polls for 60 seats.
It is the second Congress-ruled state after Punjab to pass such a resolution. The Rajasthan Assembly passed by voice vote the resolution which also asked the Centre to withdraw the new fields of information proposed to be included in National Population Register (NPR), 2020.
'When violence spread, it looked as if Mamata was losing control, but soon, she was able to contain the situation.' 'Now, the TMC stands to gain the most.'
Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari, who is not contesting Lok Sabha polls as he is ailing, has been made acting in-charge of the AICC Communication department along with party spokesman Randeep Surjewala.
Election Commission officials said they have deployed around 680 companies of central police forces and over 20,000 state police personnel in over 53 constituencies of South 24 Parganas, Kolkata South and Hooghly districts going to the hustings on Saturday in the fifth phase of polling.
The appointments of five governors, including for Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya, and Lt Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands by President Ram Nath Kovind were announced on Saturday.
Shah also said the Census 2021 data will be collected through mobile app.
Governor Tathagata Roy also administered the oath of office to BJP leader Jishnu Deb Burman as the deputy chief minister along with seven other ministers, including Indigenous People's Front of Tripura chief N C Debbarma.
