This would give BJP the chance to explore Constitutional options for government formation if there is no clear-cut mandate, explains Sheela Bhatt.
Independent candidates may have won just three seats in the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls, but they have garnered close to three per cent vote share -- higher than parties like Aam Aadmi Party, the Nationalist Congress Party and Communist Party of India.
Abrar is the MLA from the Sawai Madhopur seat and the party has declared him its candidate from this seat for the upcoming assembly elections despite protests against him.
In a poor village of daily wage earners in Siwan, Bihar, people speak about their hard lives and why they vote.
Voting for this crucial phase, covering 40 assembly segments across seven districts -- Jammu, Udhampur, Samba and Kathua in the Jammu region and Baramulla, Bandipora and Kupwara in north Kashmir -- is scheduled for October 1.
A 23-year-old Dalit woman was found dead in Mainpuri, Uttar Pradesh, with her family alleging she was killed for refusing to vote for the Samajwadi Party in the Karhal assembly bypoll. Two individuals have been arrested in connection with the woman's death. The incident has escalated into a political controversy, with the BJP accusing the SP of creating an atmosphere of terror and the SP alleging that the Election Commission is turning a blind eye to the BJP's alleged misuse of government machinery. The bypoll in Karhal is being contested by the SP's Tej Pratap Singh and his 'fufa' Anujesh Pratap Singh, with the BSP also fielding a candidate.
'The Indian government is better prepared this time and has reached out to all contenders and not putting all eggs in one basket.'
'For politicians, winning the next election has become more important than economic stability of the country and broader national interest.'
On the education details of the candidates, the survey said 669 have declared their education qualification to be between 5th pass and 12th pass, while 380 have declared having an educational qualification of graduate or above, 29 have declared themselves to be simple literates and 7 have declared to be illiterate.
Bangladeshis on Sunday began voting in the general elections expected to be won by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the absence of the main Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) which is boycotting it.
Indian Americans are likely to vote in the United States presidential elections based on what the candidates have done for them and not on the basis of their heritage or race, a newly formed body representing Asian communities has said, claiming that Republican candidate Donald Trump has a better track record than his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who is the Democratic presidential candidate, in an op-ed on Saturday, recollected her frequent visit to India as a child, and her mother's mission to cure cancer.
'Money power was deployed like an army in a war.' 'None of the MVA parties had that kind of money.'
Fissures surfaced among Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) partners ahead of the Jharkhand assembly elections as the Rashtriya Janata Dal on Saturday expressed disappointment over the announcement of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and Congress contesting 70 of 81 seats in the state.
The counting of votes for the bypolls to 46 assembly seats in 13 states and in the Lok Sabha segments of Nanded in Maharashtra and Wayanad in Kerala, a crucial electoral exercise since the parliamentary polls in April-May, will begin at 8 am on Saturday.
No final decision has been taken on the alliance with the Congress for the October 5 Haryana assembly polls yet, sources in Aam Aadmi Party said on Sunday. The last date to file nominations is September 12.
Hours after the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party put out its first list of 67 candidates for the Haryana Assembly polls, sitting MLA Lakshman Dass Napa quit the party while former minister Karan Dev Kamboj stepped down as state unit's OBC Morcha chief after being denied tickets.
Nineteen candidates saw an extremely close contest in the maiden District Development Council (DDC) polls in Jammu and Kashmir where the margin of victory was less than 100.
'Those who feared that I would have run one hell of a campaign targeting the most powerful people in India snatched away my democratic right from me.' 'I will expose these democracy-killers.'
'Ladakh has become a hollow UT.' 'Bureaucrats from Delhi rule Ladakh and there is no attention paid to the grievances of the people.'
In a breakthrough that could end the political uncertainty in Pakistan, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan Peoples Party have agreed on a power-sharing deal to form a new coalition government after intense negotiations following a fractured poll verdict.
The competition for the worst or most perilous 10 years has always been between the 1960s and the 1980s, points out Shekhar Gupta.
A number of high-profile electoral battles, starring veterans and debutants, formidable opponents and unlikely contestants, feature in Tuesday's outcome.
Haryana has recorded a voter turnout of 67.90 per cent with Ellenabad assembly seat in Sirsa district witnessing the highest polling percentage at over 80 per cent, according to the updated figures of the Election Commission on Sunday.
Of the 34 SC reserved seats that went to the polls, the BJP won 22 and the Congress 11.
The junior Abdullah would be banking heavily on Shia support as the constituency has many Shia dominated areas that include Budgam, Beerwah, Pattan, Sonawari and Bandipora, among other pockets.
Ahead of the US presidential elections this November, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are set to face off in their first debate in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday night ET.
In a major blow to the Bharatiya Janata Party, Sriramulu, a close aide of mining baron Reddy brothers, has decided to contest the Bellary rural by-polls as an independent candidate. Sriramulu said, "The manner in which I have been treated by the party has been insulting. The treatment has been crude and I do not think any of us from Bellary deserved that. I can never compromise with my self-respect and pride at any cost."
Did Jeff Bezos decide against endorsing Harris because it would hurt his business interests? Only God and Bezos know, and neither of them are talking, notes Prem Panicker.
The Congress party on Monday expelled former Member of Parliament Mani Kumar Subba from the party for six years with immediate effect for contesting election as an independent candidate from Tezpur Lok Sabha seat after he was denied ticket by the party.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday named its candidates for assembly bypolls in several states, fielding six disqualified MLAs of the Himachal Pradesh assembly in the state days after they joined the party after leaving the Congress.
Bihar MP Pappu Yadav said he could 'finish off within 24 hours' the network of Lawrence Bishnoi who is suspected to be behind the assassination of former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddiqui.
Senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of three-time former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, on Monday, became the first-ever woman chief minister of a province in Pakistan when she was elected to head the Punjab province, describing it as an 'honour' for every woman in the country.
Out of the 150 candidates analysed in Delhi, where Lok Sabha elections will be held on April 10, 23 candidates (15 per cent) have declared cases against themselves.
'The government does not want to be transparent or accountable. Therefore, they do not want to appoint information commissioners.'
'The relationship between India and the US, when Donald Trump was president, had been so much stronger.'
As part of the PML-N and PPP alliance, Shehbaz Sharif, the younger brother of former premier Nawaz Sharif, is expected to become Pakistan's next prime minister.
As many as 1,500, or 19 per cent, of all candidates contesting the Lok Sabha polls, face criminal cases, according to an analysis by election watchdog Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
The petition, filed by 20 students who had appeared for the medical entrance exam, has also sought a direction to the National Testing Agency (NTA) and others to conduct the test afresh.
Constituencies that are going to the polls in the first phase, slated for April 19, have just 19 days for campaigning. Contrast that with those going to polls in the 7th phase, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances