In Jhalawar, which her only child Dushyant Singh represents in the Lok Sabha, Vasundhara Raje, the BJP's chief ministerial candidate, told reporters, 'I thought we would win 120, 125 seats, but it is going to be more than that.' Shahnawaz Akthar reports.
Exit polls predict clean sweep for the BJP, rout for AAP.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday criticised the central government for its alleged failure to tackle drought and price-rise, and said this "failure" would lead to early Lok Sabha elections.
Making citizens queue to vote just when the disease is declining, but is still in the air, could just cause a fresh spurt. The logic for this scheduling is inexplicable, especially since the entire process could so easily have been pushed back by three weeks, argues David Devadas.
A councillor of the Aam Aadmi Party has moved the Supreme Court challenging a Punjab and Haryana high court order that has refused to grant any interim relief to the party seeking fresh mayoral polls in Chandigarh.
For trust in democracy to be retained, elections need to be not just free of intervention -- ruling out Pakistan and Russia -- but also demonstrate the capability to both deliver ruling mandates and hold the potential for large swings in favour of the opposition, points out Mihir S Sharma.And, after an election is done, they need to see a mandate in order to go back to their lives and let their representatives get on with the business of government, points out Mihir S Sharma.
In the first such initiative, the Bharatiya Janata Party has invited the ruling and Opposition parties from around the world to witness the Lok Sabha elections in India first-hand.
The Bharatiya Janata Party will not contest the November 3 bypoll to Andheri East assembly seat in Mumbai, Maharashtra party chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule said on Monday.
Even Karl Rove, the man known as George W Bush's 'Brain' and the person behind Bush's 2000 and 2004 campaign victories, predicts a win for Democratic candidate Barack Obama in the US presidential election on Tuesday.
Some India states are likely to record a significantly higher number of heatwave days, according to the national weather body.
Gopi defeated Communist Party of India leader VS Sunilkumar in an exciting fight.
The BJP often forgets that in Dravidian Tamil Nadu, the voter does not mix religion, which is personal, and politics that is in the public sphere, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Mizo National Front, a constituent of the BJP-led NEDA said he was completely against the BJP as far as the ideology and other things are concerned.
'Rahul Gandhi is going to turn 54 and in India political leaders peak when they are around 60.' 'This 'bhai-behen ki jodi' has done a wonderful job for the Congress.' 'Priyanka Gandhi was a very effective campaigner.'
Delhi's appeasement strategy may now translate as more mega arms deals with the US, generating substantial business and job creation in the American economy. Make no mistake, Americans will use it to pressure India, predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The remark came at an event in Lucknow where he accused Narendra Modi of being a monarch and not a prime minister, calling him a front for 'two-three financiers'.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said his government has made a "solemn promise" for restoration of Jammu and Kashmir's statehood and will stand by it, adding the Centre was working very hard to create the right conditions.
'I have serious doubts about the longevity of the NDA government and the longevity of the 18th Lok Sabha itself.'
With poll fever gathering steam, business is booming for New Delhi's detective agencies as politicians, especially aspiring candidates, are hiring private eyes to spy on their rivals and even colleagues.
By proposing the addition of six permanent members this year, it may appear that it was a major concession, but in actual fact, it will make no difference to the privilege of the permanent five as the new six will have no veto, ever! points out Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Digital canvassing is expected to benefit from political money looking for alternative blow horns.
Saturday's voting will mark the end to the marathon polling process that began on April 19 month and has already covered 486 Lok Sabha seats in 28 states and Union territories.
Wednesday's Vikravandi by-election has become a referendum on the Stalin government, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
RSS leader whipped up a political storm for stating that the BJP was restricted to 240 seats, well below the majority mark, in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls, due to its "arrogance".
Professor Allan Lichtman has predicted that if elected, Trump, 70, would eventually be impeached by a Republican Congress that would prefer a President like Mike Pence -- someone whom establishment Republicans know and trust, the Washington Post reported.
The two-wheeler segment has shown signs of recovery in the first half (H1) of calendar year (CY) 2024, largely driven by improving performance in rural areas. According to the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations, rural contribution to two-wheeler sales surged by 57-60 per cent in the April-June quarter of 2024-25, indicating a rising demand in these regions. Experts believe that this trend will continue, supported by a favourable monsoon season and government initiatives aimed at rural development.
Speaking at the Congress manifesto launch programme, Gandhi said it is a much closer contest than what is propagated by the media, and expressed confidence in winning the polls.
'The longevity of the government is a doubt for me because when the going gets tough, there could a be a point in time where there might be pressure, from within the party or from the allies.'
There is no use of the BJP targeting the likes of Mamata Banerjee and M K Stalin, directly by the party's political bosses, both in Delhi and the respective state capitals, or even using the Raj Bhavans to fire those salvos from. Successive elections have proved that it's counter-productive, if anything. But the BJP is yet to understand it, acknowledge it, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Deloitte India on Friday said it estimates India's GDP growth at 6.6 per cent in the current fiscal helped by consumption expenditure, exports rebound and capital flows. In its India's economic outlook report, Deloitte said the rapid growth of the middle-income class has led to rising purchasing power and even created demand for premium luxury products and services. With the expectation that the number of middle-to-high-income segments will be one in two households by 2030/31, up from one in four currently, we believe this trend will likely become further amplified, driving overall private consumer expenditure growth, it said.
The BJP, which has allied with a few smaller parties, has sought to upend the state's conventional politics, which has so far been indifferent to Hindutva politics, by taking the ruling DMK head-on for its alleged insult of Sanatan Dharma besides involvement in corruption.
If opinion polls are to be believed, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi seems all set to make a hat-trick in the state.
Over 56 per cent turnout was recorded on Monday in 54 assembly seats, including in Varanasi, in the seventh and last phase of Uttar Pradesh polls, marking the end of the voting process spread over two months in the crucial state.
Addressing a gathering of priests and devotees, he said the redevelopment of centres of faith in India shows the country's growing pride in its ancient saints and philosophers like Adi Guru Shankaracharya and Swami Vivekananda.
Ten to 20 days of heatwave are expected against the normal of four to eight days in the entire April-June period.
The June quarter is usually considered as a seasonally strong period for the IT sector.
'The Constitution of India defeated the BJP.'
'Union Budgets are often used as political instruments and that was the intention of this government too.' 'But while the exercise has settled two fronts, it has left open several others and this has the potential to aggravate with time,' predicts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The Aam Aadmi Party has sought the setting aside of Tuesday's election, alleging tampering of ballot papers, and fresh elections under the supervision of a retired high court judge.
'Someone who cannot even take his cabinet into confidence, how will he take the NDA alliance into confidence?'
