Political parties have fielded sons, wives and daughters-in-law of legislators who quit after being elected to the Lok Sabha.
The poll panel has convened a press conference at 4.30 pm.
Leaders of several INDIA bloc parties met the Election Commission over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar and raised concerns over its timing, alleging that over two crore voters of the state may be disenfranchised by this mammoth exercise being done just ahead of assembly elections.
The counting of votes in all these states and the UT will take place on May 2.
Apparently rattled by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor's Malabar tour, Leader of Opposition in the Kerala assembly, V D Satheesan on Tuesday said any kind of sectarianism or parallel activities would not be allowed in the party and warned that such moves would be dealt with 'seriously'.
The coming election to the Delhi assembly has so far been labelled a two-way contest between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Aam Aadmi Party, but the Congress is not throwing in the towel yet.
He was trolled during the Lok Sabha poll campaign, but despite the tactics by his rivals, action hero Suresh Gopi rose to national stardom in cinema style on June 4, winning the Thrissur seat on a BJP ticket and scripting history for the saffron party in Kerala.
Election Commission officials report finding a large number of illegal migrants from Nepal, Bangladesh, and Myanmar during a review of Bihar's voters' list. Measures are being taken to exclude them from the final electoral roll.
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the proposal for 'one nation, one Election' as recommended by the Kovind panel, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday.
"I was never a politician and do not wish to. I am 90 now and hence do not want to be in politics. I need not be a politician to serve people which I am doing through three trusts," he said, speaking at a private function in Ponnani near Malappuram.
The six week-wait for who will rule Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, Assam and West Bengal will end on Friday as counting of votes for assembly elections begins.
The counting of votes for the assembly elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry would be held on Thursday morning with trends expected early.
The grand old party alleged that these namesake candidates are backed by the Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Bharatiya Janata Party to confuse voters.
The results for the polls will be announced on May 18, Election Commission sources said.
According to the Election Commission of India, the code has evolved over the last 60 years to assume its present form.
The Congress's second AICC session in Gujarat post-Independence is being held on the 100th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's party presidency and the 150th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin has announced the formation of a panel headed by a retired Supreme Court judge to study the relationship between the Union and state governments and ensure state autonomy. The panel, which will submit its interim report in January 2026 and its final report in two years, will examine the transfer of subjects from the State List to the Concurrent List, citing the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) as an example of a subject outside state purview.
The results will be announced on May 2.
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.
If the DMK is able to sustain the momentum until the assembly polls, the AIADMK especially and the PMK and possibly the infant TVK too would find it hard to sign up with the BJP, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
The political and ideological differences between the Congress and Shashi Tharoor is no longer a matter of whispers.
"Mock polls" are part of the first level check (FLC) process.
Ruling parties held sway in most of the 13 states in the assembly byelection results declared on Saturday, with the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies wresting seats in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan and the Trinamool Congress sweeping West Bengal.
Eight sitting Members of Legislative Assembly including two ministers and the deputy speaker do not figure in the first list of candidates released by the Communist Party of India for the April 13 Kerala assembly polls.Revenue Minister K P Rajendran, Forest Minister Binoy Viswom and Deputy Speaker Jose Baby missed out following the party's decision not to field MLAs who have served two terms, party sources said.
'Women' as a political constituency appears to be an idea that has come of age. It is changing India in ways that we only dimly understand, asserts Aditi Phadnis.
The Left rewrote history in Kerala on Sunday by becoming the first government to get a second term in four decades but its fortunes fell to a historic low in West Bengal where it failed to bag even one seat, resulting in its complete decimation in a state it once ruled for over three decades.
Noted poet K Satchidanandan has alleged that he was restrained by Facebook from liking, commenting and sharing posts for 24-hours after he tried to upload online a satire video on the Bharatiya Janata Party's defeat in the recently concluded Kerala assembly polls.
At least one commentator felt that both the BJP's reach and popularity had been underestimated in Kerala. They have shown systematic gain; one that seems personality-neutral and therefore institutionalised, explains Shyam G Menon.
In 2019, an all-party meeting was held in Delhi and it was attended by 19 political parties to discuss critical reforms in governance. One of the subjects of the discussions was simultaneous elections
Just eight months after its good showing in the Lok Sabha polls, the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) seems to be running out of steam with internal bickering and conflicting ambitions resulting in diminishing electoral returns that have once again put the Bharatiya Janata Party in the driver's seat in national politics.
JNU Students Union president Kanhaiya Kumar, who walked out of Tihar jail on bail last week, on Wednesday indicated that he is unlikely to campaign in the upcoming West Bengal and Kerala assembly polls.
"Congratulations to Mamata Didi for @AITCofficial's win in West Bengal. The Centre will continue to extend all possible support to the West Bengal Government to fulfil people's aspirations and also to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic," he tweeted.
Both LDF and UDF are finding it hard to set their houses in order.
A little over a year after it retained power in Kerala with a massive victory, the CPI-M-led Left Democratic Front suffered a huge setback on Friday in a bypoll held to Thrikkakara assembly constituency, with Congress candidate Uma Thomas winning with a historic margin of 25,016 votes, giving a boost to the morale of the party-led United Democratic Front in the southern state.
Gopi defeated Communist Party of India leader VS Sunilkumar in an exciting fight.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday urged party leaders in Kerala to shed their differences and fight the coming assembly polls unitedly
Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan on Thursday clarified that the Bharatiya Janata Party has not yet decided to nominate former Delhi Metro chief E Sreedharan, popularly known as 'Metro Man', as the chief ministerial candidate of the party for the upcoming Kerala assembly polls.
'Kerala voters vote from their mind rather than their heart.'
The Commission, under Justice (retd) Ritu Raj Awasthi, would recommend an amendment to the Constitution to add the "new chapter or part" on simultaneous elections, the sources said.
It is for the first time that Kerala is having multi-phased elections.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances