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.
Eighteen distinct amendments to the Constitution and other statutes would be required for the implementation of the Kovind committee's recommendations on simultaneous elections, according to the panel's report accepted by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday.
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.
Uddhav and Raj Thackeray, estranged cousins and leaders of Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS respectively, will share a public stage after two decades to celebrate the Maharashtra government's decision to roll back the three-language policy in primary schools.
After big win in Bihar, the BJP is likely to push harder in Tamil Nadu, where the DMK government and the uneasy BJP-AIADMK alliance are preparing for a tense election filled with seat-sharing fights, changing alliances, and the unpredictable entry of Vijay's TVK party, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
Left to its machinations, the BJP would have loved to cut Nitish down to size, but it can't afford to do so as the JD-U is in alliance with the BJP at the Centre, and cannot form a government on its own in Bihar. For now, both need each other: Nitish for legitimacy, the BJP for numbers, points out Ramesh Menon.
The numbers tell us the BJP's acceptability in Maharashtra is growing -- at the expense of the Shiv Sena, no matter what the faction, points out Aditi Phadnis.
He said the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi was studying the poll results and "technicalities" behind them.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government will implement 'one nation, one election' within its current tenure, sources said, exuding confidence that the reform measure would receive support across party lines.
The government must develop a legally tenable mechanism in order to restore the cycle of simultaneous elections.
'If the BJP seriously addresses employment, examination integrity and systemic corruption, they might salvage their position. Otherwise, they are heading toward serious trouble in 2027.'
'The BJP will win comfortably if the Congress and AAP fight separately -- though not with 162 seats.' 'But if they form an alliance, it will become a major problem for the BJP. That's precisely why this expansion is happening now.'
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 ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu has won the Erode East bypoll with a massive margin, defeating actor-politician Seeman's NTK. The victory is seen as a boost for the DMK ahead of next year's Assembly elections. DMK candidate V C Chandhirakumar trounced Naam Tamilar Katchi's (NTK) M K Seethalakshmi by a margin of 91,558 votes, leading to the NTK forfeiting its deposit. Chief Minister and DMK president Stalin attributed the win to the DMK government's good governance, while AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami termed it a "fake" victory. The bypoll was necessitated due to the death of Congress MLA EVKS Elangovan last year.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the Opposition Congress in Madhya Pradesh, where assembly polls are due by 2023-end, are not attaching much importance to the presence of the AAP and the AIMIM citing the largely bipolar politics of the state.
The proposed first constitutional amendment bill would deal with making provisions for holding Lok Sabha and state legislative assembly elections together.
The ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is leading in a string of urban local bodies across Tamil Nadu as counting of votes began on Tuesday for the just concluded civic polls.
The Congress, which had initially wanted the by-elections to be conducted first, now feels that the local body polls should be held first, reports Vicky Nanjappa.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday said that 99 per cent of electors have already been covered under the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in poll-bound Bihar, ECI said.
Briefing reporters, Nadda said his party has proposed that if holding the three-tier polls together was not possible immediately, then Lok Sabha and assembly elections can be held together first.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, a key ally of Congress-led United Progressive Alliance, on Wednesday announced it would contest coming local body elections in Tamil Nadu on its own, saying alliances were required only for Lok Sabha and assembly polls.
The GMC poll was being seen as a litmus test for the BJP in the backdrop of its sudden and surprising decision to change the state's chief minister and the entire cabinet recently, ahead of the state Assembly polls due next year.
A 30-year-old man was hacked to death by Naxalites in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district on the suspicion of being a police informer. The incident comes close on the heels of the murder of two men, one of them a former Naxalite, in neighbouring Bijapur district two days ago. The two were killed by Naxalites, as per the police. Earlier on January 26, Naxalites killed a 41-year-old man in Bhairamgarh area of Bijapur, accusing him of being an informer. On January 16, Naxalites killed a 48-year-old man in Mirtur area of Bijapur for the same reason.
The ruling BJP is confident of bettering its 2017 performance, especially with the new UP party chief, Bhupendra Chaudhary, at the helm of affairs, reports Virendra Singh Rawat.
The panel may recommend amending at last five articles of the Constitution to enable holding of simultaneous polls in the country.
The new entrants in Tamil Nadu politics, actor-turned-politicians Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan, have decided to stay away from the elections, reports T E Narasimhan.
The Election Commission had pegged the cost of procuring additional Electronic Voting Machines and paper-trail machines for holding synchronised Lok Sabha and assembly polls at nearly Rs 9,300 crore.
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.
'One nation, one election' is not possible under the present Constitution. It requires at least five constitutional amendments'
The Gujarat high court on Friday stayed the implementation of a law that makes voting compulsory in the civic body elections in the state.
NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar has praised the RSS for its dedicated cadre and urged his party to create a similar base committed to progressive ideas. He attributed the NCP's recent electoral setbacks to complacency and a failure to communicate its work for the OBC community. Pawar also emphasized the need for social engineering to address caste tensions and announced that 50% of the tickets for upcoming local body elections will be given to new faces.
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.
Kerala state Congress president Ramesh Chennithala has called for the resignation of the state Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan from the post following the defeat of the Communist Party of India-Marxist led left front in the local body elections.
Sources within the Congress, including those who have been members of the teams that drafted its 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha poll manifestos, said the Karnataka government decision lacked any empirical basis.
An impressive performance in Jharkhand and, especially, Maharashtra assembly polls next month by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance will lay to rest the doubts over the party's political dominance after its underwhelming performance in the Lok Sabha polls and strike a body blow to the Opposition.
'They have no chance of winning if free and fair polls are conducted.'
Indian-Americans have affirmed their growing importance in United States politics with at least five members of the community emerging victorious in the recently concluded state legislatures and local body polls.
"Grassroots democracy must get precedence than any other considerations, including security," the functionary said.
"List it for hearing on Thursday," said the bench, which also comprised Justice B R Gavai and Justice Surya Kant.
'Prashant Kishor is a businessman before he is a politician, and given that the expected average turnout for JSP candidates is 5,000 to 6,000 votes and since Bihar has a significant number of seats where the margin between the winner and runner-up falls within that range he will capitalise on exactly that to showcase his presence.'
