Unlike in the presidential polls, victory might not have been complete, at least as yet, for Mahinda Rajapaksa's electoral rivals. While his one-time aide and confidant, Maithripala Sirisena, became president without any issues after defeating him, incumbent Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who again may not command an absolute majority in the 225-member parliament, would have to count on his 'national government' concept to carry the day and the nation with him, this time round, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
"Does anyone think it's normal that one of the candidates doesn't even bother to present an election manifesto that can be voted on May 29."
Pakistan opposition leader Imran Khan on Sunday warned the Nawaz Sharif government that thousands of his supporters could enter the high-security Red Zone in Islamabad if the Prime Minister refused to quit, even as popular cleric Tahir-ul Qadri issued a 48-hour ultimatum demanding the same.
The Telangana Rashtra Samithi would seek to befriend Prime Minister-elect Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government to forge a good and healthy relationship, and would not be confrontationist with the successor state of Andhra Pradesh but would fight tooth and nail for the rights of Telangana, a key party figure said on Monday.
The Congress hit back saying the PM could not mislead the people by 'lying' as he had been 'exposed'.
The Election Commission has called for a meeting with websites on November 18 to discuss the use of social media by political parties and candidates in the ongoing five-state elections.
'If there is lesser number of elections, populism will naturally be restricted.' 'Decisions will be taken speedily because there won't be the spectre of adverse electoral impact of the decisions because elections will be held once in five years or maximum two times in five years.'
After debating the motion put forward by May in the House of Commons, 522 of the 650 sitting MPs voted in favour of the June 8 election, passing the threshold of two-thirds needed to approve the plan.
The 58-year-old leader will expand his council of ministers after the trust vote on Friday which he is expected to win without any hiccups.
'If the museum in his memory inspires and instils among Brahminical British Indians an attitude of equality towards Dalits, the edifice would be worth it,' reports Ashis Ray.
Sangh affiliates believe the government's apparent anti-poor message led to their loss
Single political leaders, Narendra Modi boasted recently at an election rally, can end corruption. He claimed that only those free of filial ties could end decades of corrupt rule, says Rahul Bedi.
'Genuine mistakes can and must be forgiven,' argues Vivek Gumaste.
If the BJP stays away from controversial issues like the idea of a Hindu state, treats minorities equally, then there is no reason why the NCP should not consider aligning with them, National Secretary of the Nationalist Congress Party and Rajya Sabha member Majeed Memon tells Kavita Chowdhury
The voter turnout is 1.28% higher than 65.86% polling in 2013 assembly polls.
India Inc is encouraged by a determined Budget.
'For Muslims it is time to understand what sense of fears are in the minds of Hindus.' 'I think the conversation somewhere is not taking place.'
Women voters have been outnumbering male voters in Mizoram for the past few years, but paradoxically there are no women representatives in the state legislature for years together.
He has left no one in any doubt about his ability to take bold, even out-of-the-box, decisions, to gauge the feelings and aspirations of the common people at the grassroots and to ensure that polices and schemes do not remain on paper, but are implemented, says B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant.
India has said that serious bilateral dialogue can happen only "without the shadow of terrorism" as Pakistan raked up the Kashmir issue at the United Nations.
Emotional embraces, tears of joy and an overwhelming message of equality washed over Australia after a majority of 61.6 per cent voted in favour of legalising gay marriage. Thousands of 'Yes' advocates erupted at the designated areas throughout the country.
Cassandras and Congressis may sneer at the findings, but the Times Now poll indicated that the Modi government was very much on its way to a second term.
'Scindia's willingness to consort with the BJP, a party he has rightly, and eloquently, excoriated in various speeches and statements in the recent past suggest a shallowness and hollowness of convictions and principles.'
The Centre on Monday told the Supreme Court that the Election Commission's recommendation to extend voting rights to NRIs through postal ballots has been accepted in letter and spirit.
The newly-elected MLAs of Peoples Democratic Party have voiced apprehensions about the party's future in the Valley if it was to enter into an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party for government formation in Jammu and Kashmir.
'Indian politics has had three-and-a-half master narratives -- secular nationalism, Hindu nationalism, justice for lower castes and regionalism. The AAP seeks to go beyond that. Therein lies its promise and its challenge,' says Ashutosh Varshney, Brown University professor and author of book Battles Half Won, India's Improbable Democracy.
'The army has been open about its determination to keep the PML-Nawaz out of power at all costs.' 'Both the military and the higher judiciary have indicated a preference for Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehrik e Insaaf,' says Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan Desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
Celebrations have begun in Hyderabad and all across Telangana as India's 29th state was born at the stroke of midnight.
'Let us not say that Modi has not delivered on anything; he has delivered something and in parts substantially, but he has to also deliver on a large number of his electoral promises.'
'The brutal violence of the UP government's first response to the anti-CAA protests suggests that the BJP will test drive the NPR/NRC in UP, where it has both a massive majority in the assembly and a chief minister whose instinct for Hindutva extremism and whose appetite for punitive policing allows a prime minister as darkly majoritarian as Modi to appear statesman-like,' notes Mukul Kesavan.
Voted to power with an absolute majority for the first time in nearly three decades, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, considered as an able administrator, promises "a fresh engagement" with the United States, a latest Congressional report has said.
India Inc has high hopes from the upcoming Budget.
The BJP's defeat in Delhi could turn into a larger national swing, but Prime Minister Modi and his party have enough time to tweak the party's policy agenda and project a more humble, secular, and inclusive image, say Ravi Agrawal and Harmeet Shah Singh
The scandal surrounding Lalit Modi serves as a reminder for how similar our mainstream political parties are in resisting institutional reform.
'Wisdom demands Modi moves to restore the critical institutions of the State and dial back on the cult building around his persona,' say Sonali Ranade and Shealja Sharma.
'We are certainly disappointed by our inability to win a single seat in the valley... We will analyse what led to this kind of dismal -- in terms of seats -- non-performance by the BJP.' 'I certainly don't want to attribute any religious or so-called communal reasons for it; for the simple reason, that even in Ladakh, a Buddhist majority area, we failed to win seats.' BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav, the man in charge of the party's election campaign in J&K, discusses the verdict with Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com
The demand was raised during a debate on the Constitution (123rd Amendment) Bill 2017 in the Upper House, which was passed by the Lok Sabha on August 2 superseding the amendments earlier carried out by the Rajya Sabha.
'Then all the usual troubles will break out.'
Delhi picked up the pace and a 67 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 6 pm.
Those who like to draw comfort from the fact that UP is the country's third-largest state in terms of the size of its economy should also note that its growth rate is one of the lowest, its per capita income is almost half of the national average and its poverty rate at 30 per cent places it at the twentieth rank among all the states, says A K Bhattacharya.
