The Bharat Mata controversy in Kerala shows how political and symbolic fights between the state and the Centre have taken attention away from education, throwing the state's oldest university into confusion and disorder, observes Shyam G Menon.
Parties like the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, Mahaan Dal, and Janvadi Party-Socialist had distanced themselves from the SP after its defeat in the 2022 state assembly elections.
The current situation in Kerala politics is perhaps best described as a case of the state's traditional two front politics now seeing a third front (the BJP) muscling in with the potential outcome being either a messy three front affair or a renewed endorsement of the two front pattern but with one of the old fronts compromised or quashed, observes Shyam G Menon.
'Talks are on between Uddhav Thackeray and other party leaders (about whether to go solo) for the BMC polls. Workers want the party to contest the polls solo'
Elections to 92 nagar parishads and four nagar panchayats in Maharashtra will be held on August 18, the State Election Commission (SEC) announced on Friday.
The first of the two-phase urban local body polls in Uttar Pradesh will take place on Thursday, a major poll battle in the politically crucial state ahead of the 2024 parliamentary elections.
A high-level committee on Thursday recommended simultaneous elections for Lok Sabha and state assemblies as the first step followed by synchronised local body polls within 100 days.
'If this is true, the Election Commission should come forward with data and officially confirm it.'
Political parties earlier used to seek vote on the basis of caste and religion, said Kejriwal.
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear petitions challenging the Election Commission's decision to revise electoral rolls in Bihar. The hearing is scheduled for July 10.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party won the mayoral elections in 10 of the 17 municipal corporations in Uttar Pradesh, results for which were announced on Saturday, virtually adding a third engine to its "double-engine" government.
By naming a sworn swayamsevak for vice president, the Modi-Shah duo have sent out a clear and positive message to Nagpur, where the RSS headquarters is located, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
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.
Security agencies have gathered evidence, including Pakistani government documents and biometric data, confirming that the terrorists involved in the Pahalgam attack were Pakistani nationals.
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.
On the 83rd anniversary of the Quit India movement, Utkarsh Mishra recalls the conditions under which the Congress, led by Mahatma Gandhi, launched the final struggle for independence.
The ruling Congress in Andhra Pradesh has remained unfazed over Thursday's developments in which senior party leaders decided to join the Telangana Rashtra Samithi over the separate statehood issue.
Former MLA Harshwardhan Sapkal has been appointed as the new president of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC), tasked with reviving the party in the state after its crushing defeat in the last year's assembly polls. Sapkal, a veteran politician, replaces Nana Patole, who held the position since 2021. The Congress aims to rebuild its base and prepare for upcoming local body polls, including those in Mumbai, Pune, Thane, and Nagpur. The party will also need to work with its allies, the Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP), to strengthen the opposition against the ruling BJP-led alliance.
Despite the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance securing a massive victory, winning 230 seats in the 288-member assembly, consensus has eluded the ruling combine's leaders so far on who should be the next CM.
The Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday issued a provisional list of reserved seats for mayors of municipal corporations, and chairpersons of municipal councils and nagar panchayats for the three-tier urban elections.
"The new districts, namely Zanskar, Drass, Sham, Nubra and Changthang, will take the benefits meant for the people to their doorsteps by bolstering governance in every nook and cranny," he said.
The ULB polls were also considered as indicative of the voters' mood before the next Lok Sabha elections.
While Shah is a member of the committee, Meghwal is a special invitee.
A high-level panel on 'One Nation, One Election' studied election processes in seven countries including South Africa, Sweden and Belgium before recommending simultaneous polls for Lok Sabha and state assemblies in India. The other countries where simultaneous elections are conducted are Germany, Japan, Indonesia, and the Philippines. The Union Cabinet approved bills to implement 'One Nation, One Election', and the draft legislations are likely to be introduced in Parliament in the ongoing Winter session.
While the panchayat and urban local bodies are completing their five-year term between November 5 and January 9, 2024, almost all political parties are demanding early assembly elections in J and K for restoration of popular government.
The parties which lost their registration also include Revolutionary Party of India-Khobragade faction, led by Uttam Khobragade and Uttar Pradesh-based Peace Party.
The arrest of two Catholic nuns from Kerala in Chhattisgarh on charges of human trafficking and forced religious conversion has ignited a political controversy, with opposition parties criticizing the arrest and the Chief Minister defending the police action.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has accused Bangladeshi migrants of seeking birth certificates illegally in the state to obtain voting rights, labeling it as "vote jihad part 2". He claimed that nearly 100 such cases have been reported in Amravati and Malegaon tehsil in Nashik. Fadnavis reiterated his government's commitment to combating anarchist forces and urged people to remain vigilant. He also lauded the BJP's performance in the recent assembly polls, attributing the victory to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership.
In a blow to the Gujarat government, the high court on Wednesday quashed an ordinance issued by it to pave way to delay local bodies polls.
A female student of primary school was killed in Kaliganj in West Bengal's Nadia district on Monday after bombs were allegedly hurled from a Trinamool Congress victory celebration rally taken out even before the results of the assembly bypoll were officially announced.
'Let's see how this love story shapes up in the run up to the municipal corporation election.'
During Operation Kagar, 350 Naxalites have been killed so far, including some of the movement's top leaders.
A parliamentary committee on Friday batted for reducing the minimum age to contest Lok Sabha and assembly elections, saying it would give the youth equal opportunities to engage in democracy.
Will the AIADMK acknowledge the role of CAA and the anti-CAA protests, both inside the state and outside, as among the causes for the current electoral reversal, as many in the party now want? It is unlikely to be so, but then the pressure will increase on the leadership to reassess the BJP alliance at one level and the 'blind support' for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's controversial policies on the other, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The apex court observed that it respects the local sentiments but asserted authorities cannot let the law of the land not prevail especially when there is nothing affecting the personal rights or personal laws.
Amid tight security arrangements, polling for the second and final phase of Tamil Nadu local body elections on Wednesday commenced on a peaceful note.
The Supreme Court on Monday said it would hear on January 17 the matters in which it had directed the state election commissions of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh to re-notify the seats reserved for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the local bodies in these states under the general category.
The humiliating rebuff given to the power brokers in Delhi in Kerala's local body election carries a big message: Malayalis thoroughly disapprove of the Modi government's shenanigans to misuse central agencies to destabilise a genuinely popular state government, notes M K Bhadrakumar.
They said that such a solution must rest on the pillars of political will, inclusive dialogue, constitutional safeguards and impartial endorsement of law and order.
The party has demanded immediate dismissal of the state government.
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