Newly elected mayors will campaign for the party in poll-bound Gujarat.
Rejoicing over the Bharatiya Janata Party's landslide victory in Gujarat, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said the election results there will have a positive effect on the party's prospects in poll-bound Karnataka.
The Congress, the main opposition party, had won only 36 seats, the SEC said about 4 pm.
Nitish Kumar wants to assure the BJP leadership that he will continue to be a part of the NDA. But he also wants to secure a larger number of seats for his party in the 2025 assembly elections in Bihar.
The Narendra Modi government in Gujarat has made a decision to bring into force an amendment bill during the forthcoming assembly session in the state, that would make it compulsory to vote during local body elections.
An OBC leader, Thakor, who has good oratory skills, will have to take along all factions in the state unit while taking on the well-organised BJP which has been in power in the state from 1998.
Though the Congress, AAP and other Opposition parties may have high hopes and some positive takeaways to seize on from the results, it is the BJP which has a big headstart and is firmly in the lead.
When Home Minister Amit Shah, who was in Gujarat to cast his vote in the urban body polls, learnt of the poor voter, instead of heading home he went to the Motera stadium, organised a control room, and was on the phone with practically everybody assigned duty on the ground: MPs, MLAs and BJP office-bearers. His single commandment was to check the voter list and phone or personally get people to the booths, reports Radhika Ramaseshan.
Patel's elevation to the coveted post is being attributed to his closeness to former Gujarat chief minister and current Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel. Both have residences in the same locality in the city.
On Sunday, Rupani, 64, fainted on stage while addressing a rally in Vadodara for the upcoming civic polls in the state, following which he was flown to Ahmedabad and admitted to the U N Mehta Hospital.
While the BJP faces rebellion in some pockets and an undercurrent of anger palpable among the dominant OBC Chaudhary community due to the arrest of dairy cooperative leader and former home minister Vipul Chahduary, local caste dynamics and selection of candidates are likely to play a major role in the final outcome, political analysts said.
A dedicated party worker, who made his way up in the state politics from the municipality level, Patel was a surprise choice for the top post when the BJP decided to effect a regime change, replacing the entire ministry a year before the elections.
There are around 15 lakh diamond workers in Gujarat, including nearly seven lakh employed in units in Surat, which is the largest hub of cutting and polishing of these precious stones.
AAP organisational general secretary Sandeep Pathak cited the performance of the party in recent local bodies polls in MP and said it will form the next government.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah asserted that the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 was crucial in ending terrorism in Kashmir. He stated that the provision fostered separatism among Kashmiri youth and impeded the region's full integration into India. Shah also highlighted the development initiatives undertaken in Jammu and Kashmir post-Article 370, including a reduction in terrorism, successful local body elections, and an increase in tourism and film production. He emphasized the significance of writing India's history with facts and evidence, countering narratives that had obscured the country's rich heritage.
Cyclone Biparjoy made landfall near Jakhau Port in Gujarat on Thursday evening with a wind speed of 115-125 kmph gusting to 140 kmph as heavy rains lashed the coastal region, where several areas plunged into darkness due to power cuts and a large number of trees, electric poles and hoardings got uprooted.
Gujarat Congress working president Hardik Patel on Monday removed his designation and party poll symbol of 'hand' from his Twitter profile amid mounting speculation about his next political move after he launched a scathing attack on the state party leadership and praised the ruling BJP.
Calling for a national discussion on replicating the Gujarat model of making voting compulsory, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday criticised the Congress and Left parties for opposing it 'without applying their minds'. Describing the bill as 'innovative and useful', senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu said the modalities of experimenting it in other states should be discussed.
The Gujarat government's law to make voting compulsory in local body polls in Gujarat has failed to impress the Election Commission which believes that extending the idea across the country is 'impractical'. "Such proposals have come up for discussion in the Commission on many occasions earlier. For India, it is full of difficulties. We also consider that democracy and compulsion do not go hand-in-hand," Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi said.
The ghost of the 2002 Gujarat riots continued to haunt Chief Minister Narendra Modi who was grilled for the first time by the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team this year.
The BJP has managed to retain its lead in all the six municipal corporations -- Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot, Vadodara, Jamangar and Bhavnagar -- which went to polls last month.
Under the new reservation rule, families with income below Rs 6 lakh per annum will be eligible for quota benefit.
Modi also lauded party workers in the state, saying each of them is a champion
Successor Anandiben Patel isn't having an easy time, with a protest movement by her own community and new challenges in keeping the mandate
Voting will be held on Thursday for the first phase of Gujarat Assembly elections in 89 seats spread across 19 districts in Saurashtra-Kutch and southern parts of the state where 788 candidates are in the fray.
In Gujarat, the Congress must have felt like the Swiss in Doha. Suffering at the hands of both the BJP and the AAP, they seemed to lack a goalkeeper. In Himachal, although a victory for the Congress, the tenor was more akin to Spain versus Morocco. The underdog triumphed, points out Shyam G Menon.
'It's dull because this time the election is spread over such a long period.'
Convener of the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti, Hardik Patel's clarification came a day after some Patel leaders announced they were planning to contest the upcoming local body polls.
At least 30 people were killed and 60 others injured in a pre-dawn stampede at the Sangam area of the Maha Kumbh early on Wednesday as crores of pilgrims jostled for space to take a holy dip on the occasion of one of the most auspicious days of Mauni Amavasya, officials said.
AAP's presence in both states has complicated the contests for the BJP and its Congress rival.
More than ever before, women voters can make or mar a political party's electoral fortunes.
In June this year, BJP chief Amit Shah had met the actor at her residence in Mumbai during his party's 'Sampark for Samarthan' programme
The keenly fought elections to the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation ended in a tie with the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress on Tuesday winning 16 seats each.
Tikait says PM Modi was supporter of MSP law when he was CM
Voting in the first phase began with reports of multiple faulty electronic voting machines at various booths, prompting Congress leaders to request quick action from the poll body.
The BJP asked voters in Gujarat to do "100 per cent voting for the son of the soil" Modi to take "revenge" in a democratic manner for the "insult"
Patel's elevation and his subsequent projection as chief ministerial face -- he is the first from the Kadva Patidar sub-group to be the chief minister -- is key to BJP's plans to woo the Kadva Patidar community, which some political observers feel, has drifted away from the party.
Ajit Pawar said CM Shinde is not capable of getting big projects to Maharashtra.
The court observed that 10 per cent reservation for poor among the unreserved category takes the total quota beyond 50 per cent, which is not permitted as per the SC's earlier decision.
He defeated sitting Congress MLA Kanti Sodha Parmar in Anand, the home of world famous Amul dairy brand.
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