The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party managed to notch up a morale-boosting win on its 'Mission Northeast' on Thursday by retaining Tripura emphatically, despite anti-incumbency and newcomer Tipra Motha playing spoilers to its party, while also piggy-backing to power in Nagaland on Neiphiu Rio-led NDPP's shoulder.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's bypoll win in four of the six seats it contested has invigorated the party ahead of assembly polls in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.
"We direct the government to either bring in a law or an ordinance (for the construction of the Ram temple). There will be no compromise on this," Ramanandacharya Hansdevacharya, the patron of the ABSS, said in his concluding remarks at the conclave.
Uddhav Thackeray and his followers have the option to stop riding a tiger and commence work around a more meaningful and enduring political ideology. It is an option Eknath Shinde's side may not have, supported as they were by the BJP, to maintain continuity of the old Sena, argues Shyam G Menon.
In a landmark verdict, the Supreme Court on Friday held that citizens have right to cast negative vote rejecting all candidates contesting polls, a decision which would encourage people not satisfied with contestants to turn up for voting.
I think we are just too complacent about our electoral system. There's a lot that is very wrong with it. But we continue to parrot the boring mantra of this being the greatest electoral exercise in the world. Things are not going to change. Next election let's just boycott the whole process en masse, says Sherna Gandhy.
The elections to the Upper House from the state, where assembly polls are due later this year, have received greater attention with BJP president Amit Shah and Union Minister Smriti Irani entering the fray and the Congress putting up its heavyweight Ahmed Patel.
'The margin of victory or loss would make both camps rethink their strategies for the 2024 assembly election in Maharashtra.'
NSUI's Rocky Tusheed won the president's post by a margin of 1,590 votes while ABVP's Mahamedha Nagar defeated NSUI's Minakshi Meena by 2,624 votes to win the post of secretary.
What startles a visitor like me from India is how the 2020 US presidential election has divided families, husband and wife, parents and children, observes Payal Mohanka.
Polling for three parliamentary seats and 29 assembly constituencies were held on October 30, an exercise being seen as a barometer of the political mood in the country ahead of assembly elections in politically critical Uttar Pradesh as well as other states.
DMK candidate Kathir Anand defeated All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam nominee AC Shanmugham in the bypoll by a narrow margin of 8,141 votes.
Without strategising together, Jayalalithaa's successor, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, and M Karunanidhi's son-cum-successor, M K Stalin, have used tough-talking on seat-sharing with allies, to replace charisma that they purportedly lacked, during the run-up to the assembly polls scheduled for April 6, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
NCP MLA Kandhal Jadeja said his party has decided to support BJP candidate.
AAP is working on its new strategy to build a strong organisational set-up with leaders from all sections of society, reports Nitin Kumar.
Finalising the nomination process to elect Shashank Manohar's successor as the next independent chairman of the world cricket body is the sole agenda for the ICC Board, which will meet virtually on Monday.
The highest winning margin was registered by BJP candidate Subhash Chandra Baheria in Bhilwara who defeated Congress candidate Ram Pal Sharma with a margin of 6,12,000 votes.
To claim that Tamil Nadu was waiting for a messiah of the 'spiritual' Rajini kind is misplaced, if not mischievous, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Traders have been the worst hit because of the government's policies, but for some unknown reason, many continue to support the BJP.'
BJP candidate and minister Kunvarji Bavaliya defeated his nearest rival Congress nominee Avsar Nakiya by a margin of 19,979 votes, officials said.
For the party's traditional vote bank -- traders -- demonetisation was a 'political betrayal.'
Congress retained absolute majority power in Arunachal Pradesh, known as its safest haven by securing 42 seats in the 60-member house and leading in one seat till last report poured in.
NSUI demanded re-election with paper ballot while the EC said the EVMs used were not provided by it.
Rawat also said a legal framework is needed to be in place for holding simultaneous polls.
We asked you to tell us your reason for choosing not to vote. This is what our readers shared.
The BJP has more than doubled its vote share in Uttar Pradesh to close to 40 per cent since the last assembly elections though there is a slight drop since the Lok Sabha polls of 2014.
The constituency had recorded an abysmal 7.13 per cent voter turnout, the lowest ever in its history.
A group of first time voters who run 10 km everyday to prepare for fauji recruitment rallies, tell Rediff.com's Archana Masih they need two things: quality education and jobs.
The quota stir by Patels has led to the emergence of new leaders on the political scene of Gujarat.
'Tamil Nadu is a state of temples, it's a holy land. People don't seem to realise that.'
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday retained Garoth assembly seat in Madhya Pradesh's Mandsaur district albeit with a reduced margin than in the 2013 assembly polls. The Congress, however, termed the BJP's win with a lower margin than earlier as a "moral defeat" for the ruling party.
Given the twin embarrassments of a TTV win and party nominee Karu Nagarajan losing his deposit, polling fewer votes than NOTA, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP boss Amit Shah would be pushed to rethink their strategy. Tamil Nadu would thus become a part of the BJP's grander strategy for 2019 rather than a stand-alone affair, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Sachin Pilot has revived the Congress.' 'What goes in favour of Ashok Gehlot is experience.'
The much-awaited schedule for the Lok Sabha polls will be announced by the Election Commission on Wednesday.
Congress candidate Gabriel Denwang Wangsu won the Kanubari Assembly seat in Arunachal Pradesh in a close contest defeating his lone rival Rongnai Maham of BJP by 885 votes in the October 15 by-poll.
Caste assertions, including from the upper castes, could have the Sangh Parivar stumble yet again in its efforts to construct a Hindu rashtra.
'The diversity of geography and demography of India is truly reflected in the challenges faced during the election process.' 'International observers have never been encouraged in India. The internal system of monitoring by neutral and senior government officers has become time tested and proving to be very useful during elections.' We, at the Commission, have to continuously strive to do things right and make sure that we conduct elections which are credible and transparent,' India's Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath tells Radhika Rajamani/Rediff.com in an exclusive interview.
'It would be interesting to see how Yogi Adityanath is received in Tamil Nadu, where he is due to end his Ram Rajya Rath Yatra in Rameswaram on March 23.'
The RK Nagar bypoll result is a danger signal to the AIADMK government in Tamil Nadu, says R Rajagopalan.
'The Election Commission has to deal with money power, intimidation tactics and caste politics.'
