Eight Union ministers, two former chief ministers and one ex-governor are among those who are set to test their electoral fate in the first phase of elections on April 19 when 102 seats across 21 states and Union territories will go to polls.
Shah said the ULFA, the oldest insurgent group of Assam, agreed to abjure violence, disband the organisation and join the democratic process.
The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea challenging the government's decision to constitute the delimitation commission for redrawing the legislative assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies in the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
He claimed that out of 90 secretaries of the government of India, only three are from the Other Backward Classes and control only five per cent of the Budget, which he said was an "insult" to the backward classes.
There are 1,349 candidates in the fray and over 1.45 crore electors are eligible to exercise their franchise in the elections to the 250 wards of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), the results of which may have ramifications beyond the national capital.
The Congress on Wednesday said senior party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad was consulted several times before finalising the names in the revamped Jammu and Kashmir unit of the party, rejecting reports that the former Union minister was not on board.
With the special officer and the new commissioner taking charge, the exercise to reshuffle and reorganise the municipal staff will begin.
Congress sitting MLA Saleh Mohammad, is hoping to buck the trend of anti-incumbency in the seat, and believes people will vote for his development work and not along religious lines.
Among the keenly watched contests are those involving former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav (Kannauj, UP) and Union ministers Giriraj Singh (Begusarai, Bihar), Nityanand Rai (Ujiarpur, Bihar) and Raosaheb Danve (Jalna, Maharashtra).
If this happens, it will be an "unprecedented development" in the civic body's journey as budget is traditionally passed by a House, they said.
Authorities in New Delhi are all geared up for the counting of votes polled in the Delhi municipal elections, with officials saying 42 centres have been set up for the Wednesday exercise which will begin at 8 am amid tight security.
Responding to a question, Abdullah said elections can be held whenever the government wants.
The two candidates, current mayor Oberoi and BJP's Rai, had earlier filed their nominations for the Delhi mayoral poll slated to be held on April 26, officials had said.
November 14 was the last day for filing nominations for the high-stakes Municipal Corporation of Delhi elections for 250 wards.
The stage is set for the high-stakes civic polls in Delhi on Sunday, with poll authorities and security forces all geared up for the elections, largely being seen as a three-way contest among the Aam Aadmi Party, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress.
Shah arrived in the evening and was received at the airport by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Union minister Jitendra Singh, among others.
Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday appealed to the opposition for the unanimous passage of the women's reservation bill and said shortcomings, if any, can be rectified at a later date.
Once more women assume leadership roles and join the nation-building process, he said, adding they will become a guarantee of the country's bright future.
Initiating the debate from the opposition's side in the Lok Sabha, Gandhi said, "I stand here in support of Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam."
Assuming we still have a Modi-led majority government after May 2024, there is no guarantee that reforms will move at anything more than a snail's pace, though we must be thankful even for that, notes R Jagannathan.
This will be the first civic election after the fresh delimitation exercise, and the much-awaited poll will be held in the gap between the two phases of the Gujarat assembly elections, which will take place on December 1 and 5.
Well ahead of the November 12 assembly elections, the BJP projected Thakur as the next chief minister.
The apex court, which had passed an order on May 10 and noted that no reservation for OBCs can be provisioned until the triple test formality is completed 'in all respects' by the state government, permitted the state to notify the reservation pattern local body wise as delineated in the reports of the dedicated commission.
The Supreme Court Wednesday directed the Maharashtra State Election Commission to notify the programme for local bodies elections within two weeks.
'I have voted in several elections and now this is the first time I have been told that my vote is not here'
It is crucial to electoral democracy that the exercise of freedom to vote is not subject to undue influence, the Supreme Court said on Thursday while striking down as unconstitutional the electoral bonds scheme for political funding.
According to senior officials, nine additional commissioners have been allocated departments and office spaces at different floors of the Civic Centre, while three deputy commissioners were also appointed.
Jammu and Kashmir is likely to get around 25 lakh additional voters including outsiders after the special summary revision of electoral rolls being held for the first time after the abrogation of Article 370, an official said on Wednesday.
The Congress on Monday promised that a government led by it will conduct a nationwide caste census and implement 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies at the earliest, including adequate representation for women belonging to the OBC community.
The mayor and deputy mayor of Delhi will be elected on Tuesday by the second municipal House after the December 4 civic polls.
What the leaders said after the all-party meeting called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Thursday.
'The general elections in May 2024 may not have any impact on the Census.'
The Karnataka State Election Commission on Tuesday told the high court of Karnataka that the state government had taken away its powers, making it unable to hold elections to zilla panchayat and taluk panchayats as mandated by the Supreme Court.
The Parliament had earlier this week given its nod to the legislation for bifurcating the state, a bold and far-reaching decision that seeks to redraw the map and future of a region at the center of a protracted militancy movement.
The Supreme Court on Monday granted four more months to the Tamil Nadu State Election Commission's (TNSEC) for concluding the poll process for the urban local bodies' elections in the state.
The BMC election will hold the key to a new shift in political power -- not just in Mumbai but in Maharashtra, reports Sarthak Choudhury.
After his party lost power in Haryana in the 2014 polls, the 72-year-old satrap had nothing going in his favour.
Deriving from Narendra Modi's continuing charisma, the proposed scheme, if and when implemented, can cut both ways. That is to say, if Modi can win, he can lose. Or, someone else in his place, later on, could lose as much as he could win in his time, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
The criminal case filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act is linked to the recovery of at least two diaries by the ED after raids on an alleged associate of Mehbooba, a former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister.
'For the government, statehood is one of the end-points of the journey. A vast distance has to be traversed to reach there. There are many turns on the road, some resting points, and possibly, many cul-de-sacs.'
