Though the contest is tough in Baramati, Sule has an edge over her rival as the locals may not break the pattern that she is meant for the Lok Sabha and Ajit Pawar for the state assembly, the political analyst felt.
'There is one negative thing which has happened very quietly. The position of the election commissioner has been downgraded.'
The latest ultimatum underlines the hardening of the government's stance on the issue of deepfakes and misinformation powered by AI, after the Centre categorically told platforms to crack down with urgency on doctored and manipulated videos rampantly being circulated on social media.
Additionally, the Haryana police and home guard personnel will be deployed for security during the elections, he said.
The court also left it to the discretion of the State Election Commission to take a call on extension of time for filing of nominations, refusing to consider a prayer in this regard.
In focus are the assembly polls in 2026. From a BJP perspective, their attack on the ruling DMK, using the 'Hindutva' card, and Annamalai's targeting of both Dravidian majors on corruption has not worked, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
If Tamil Nadu voters preferred the DMK combine, it owed to the Modi-Annamalai combo's ideological battle which often crossed the line of political decency and also challenged 'Tamil pride', argues N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Can we force somebody to contest and fight an election when they don't want to contest an election?'
Dominc Xavier wonders if this latest Modi pitch is in tune with strongmen trends around the world, setting the course for a presidential-style poll during the Lok Sabha election.
The credibility of the examination system has also come under question, they said.
If Myanmar's election demonstrates reasonable transparency and fair process, it would go down in history as the first free and fair one in the country in more than two decades, says Dr Rahul Mishra.
A voter turnout of over 40 per cent was recorded till 1 pm on Monday in the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections in 96 constituencies spread over 10 states and Union Territories amid incidents of violence in Andhra Pradesh and reports of poll boycott in some villages of Uttar Pradesh.
We asked colleagues, present and past, to reflect on a man who has made such a difference to their lives and careers. Here it is then, a rich collection of memories that offer enchanting glimpses of the enigmatic Ajit Balakrishnan.
'If the Pawars are so powerful, then why are they scared of me?'
This is possibly the first time Hasina's daughter will be by her mother's side during an official visit to close neighbour and ally India, and analysts believe this to be significant in many ways.
You don't prep for 2028 but for 2040, or even 2044. Sustained sporting excellence is based on mass support, grassroots development, and funding - and it is this trifecta India needs to work on, systematically, asserts Prem Panicker.
Naveen delivered the coup de grace in the penultimate over by bowling Taskin Ahmed and trapping Mustafizur Rahman in front off consecutive balls, triggering tearful celebrations from his team mates.
Pappu Yadav has been asserting that he will contest the seat he had won thrice in the 1990s, with the claim of "assurances" from Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi.
Khan, 71, has been lodged at the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi on account of multiple cases against him.
The MVA government had planned to arrest Devendra Fadnavis and when he objected, they planned to arrest him as well, said Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde
Besides the national capital, polling for the sixth round of the marathon seven-phase elections will be held Saturday in 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh, all 10 seats of Haryana, eight seats each in Bihar and West Bengal, six seats in Odisha, four seats in Jharkhand and one seat in Jammu and Kashmir.
At Thamnapokpi under Moirang constituency in Bishnupur district, armed men fired several rounds in the air near a polling booth prompting voters to flee, police said on Friday, adding additional security personnel were rushed to the spot to contain the situation.
Akhilesh Yadav replaced his nephew Tej Pratap Yadav and decided to contest the Kannauj seat himself.
The Rajya Sabha chairman asked him to authenticate his assertions and refused to accept newspaper clippings that the Congress leader showed to buttress his points.
The EU mission noted that political and campaign fundraising and financial expenditure lack transparency and effective oversight.
The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a plea seeking direction for investigation by an independent probe agency like the Central Bureau of Investigation into the March 10 incident where West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had sustained leg injury after an alleged attack on her in Nandigram.
While people voted in a fifth round that will set the tone as this election rounds into the straight, and while Modi on the stump chews the cud of personal grievances and hackneyed promises that have long since passed their use-by date, there is a rogue wave rising -- what damage it will do, we will know 16 days from today, observes Prem Panicker.
'I wonder how people who come to power through democratic means turn out this way.' 'But people of India are strong, and those who think they can hoodwink people, are mistaken.' 'You can fool some people for some time, but not all people, all the time.'
In the five years in politics Priyanka Gandhi has undeniably emerged as a thorn in the BJP flesh, notes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay. It is time that this thorn is twisted a wee bit more when the elections have become far more uncertain than what it was when the Election Commission announced the poll schedule.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, which continued hearing on the Kejriwal's plea challenging his arrest for the consecutive day, posed several queries to Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the ED, and sought his reply on Friday.
'What happened to Andhra Pradesh? It is the perfect example of the transientness of Federal Units.' 'Federalism is a transient thing in this country.'
'Go around and ask what Amritpal has done for the village and nearby areas.'
The campaign vehicle carried a banner with photographs of Sunetra Pawar and Ajit Pawar with the symbol of the Nationalist Congress Party.
If the concerns over risking political capital are overcome, the long-term gains for the Indian economy will be immense, asserts A K Bhattacharya.
The bill to amend the law governing Waqf boards proposes far-reaching changes in the Wakf Act, 1995, including ensuring the representation of Muslim women and non-Muslims in such bodies.
Biden, 81, is increasingly receiving calls from Democratic Party leaders and editorial boards of mainstream American media to step down from the presidential race and let others from the party lead them in the November 5 elections. So far, he has resisted these calls.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday announced that the Gujjar, Bakerwal and Pahari communities in Jammu and Kashmir will get reservation benefits in accordance with the recommendations of the Justice Sharma Commission which examined the issue of quota.
'Can you imagine that Surat's voters won't have any say now in exercising their fundamental right to choose a candidate of their own choice? This is what the BJP has reduced India's democracy to.' 'With this ugly act, in one stroke, the BJP has disenfranchised the voters of Surat.'
Springing a surprise, independents backed by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party won the lion's share of 101 seats in the National Assembly in Thursday's election.
Pronouncing the judgement, Justice Khanna said the court has rejected all the petitions, including those seeking resorting back to ballot papers in elections.
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