A voter turnout of over 40 per cent was recorded till 1 pm on Monday in the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections in 96 constituencies spread over 10 states and Union Territories amid incidents of violence in Andhra Pradesh and reports of poll boycott in some villages of Uttar Pradesh.
Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj party faces skepticism and challenges as it enters the Bihar Assembly elections, with critics questioning its experience and impact.
The Election Commission released the names of deleted voters in West Bengal ahead of the publication of the draft electoral rolls for the upcoming assembly elections.
Polling is scheduled in all 20 seats of Kerala, 14 of the 28 seats in Karnataka, 13 seats in Rajasthan, eight seats each in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, six seats in Madhya Pradesh, five seats each in Assam and Bihar, three seats each in Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, and one seat each in Manipur, Tripura and Jammu and Kashmir.
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.
The fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections has so far registered a voter turnout of approximately 62.19 percent, 1.97 percentage points less than 2019.
The list included turncoats like Shyam Rajak, who returned to the JD-U, quitting RJD about a year ago, and don-turned-politician Anant Kumar Singh, who had filed nomination papers from the Mokama assembly seat on Tuesday.
Heat wave is believed to have contributed to several voters not turning up at polling stations in both the phases.
The first phase of the three phase Jammu and Kashmir elections will be held on Wednesday, September 18, 2024.
Earlier today, former RJD candidate Madan Shah broke down in public, claiming that he was promised a ticket by the Rashtriya Janata Dal for the upcoming 2025 Bihar assembly polls.
The build-up of voters at polling stations, which are manned heavily by security personnel was slow initially, but picked up later. The state government has declared a holiday on Saturday to ensure that voters turn up in large numbers. Polling has been peaceful so far in the 12 districts and no untoward incident has been reported.
Filing of nomination papers ended on Monday for the second and final phase of Bihar assembly polls, with the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) appearing fractured, as constituents would end up fighting each other in a number of seats.
'A tally less than 150, even if it is 120 or 130, shall be a defeat for me'
Jharkhand's ruling JMM announced it would not contest the Bihar assembly elections, citing a "political conspiracy" by allies RJD and Congress. The party will review its alliance in Jharkhand with the Congress and RJD.
The likes of Sengottaiyan can help Vijay navigate it better and faster -- but not necessarily to his goal, which is farther, and can move towards or away from him as well in the weeks and months to come, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Congress party has released its initial list of 48 candidates for the upcoming Bihar Assembly elections, including key state leaders. The announcement precedes the finalization of seat-sharing arrangements with Mahagathbandhan allies.
Special Intensive Revision (SIR), the Election Commission's voters' list cleanup exercise, will commence in nine states and three Union territories from Tuesday.
Booth-level officers in Kolkata scuffled with police during a protest against alleged excessive work pressure related to the ongoing SIR process. The officers allege unrealistic deadlines and lack of support from the Election Commission.
The third and final phase of the three phase Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections will be held on Tuesday, October 1, 2024.
World champions Amanjot and Harleen get grand welcome in Chandigarh
'If Nitish Kumar were to depart from this alliance, it would signal substantial instability in central government politics.'
The elections will be conducted in seven stages.
The second phase of the three phase Jammu and Kashmir elections will be held on Wednesday, September 25, 2024.
Yadav died at Khushhalchak village three days ago during election campaigning. An assailant reportedly shot him, and an SUV crushed him, officials confirmed.
Senior BJP leaders, including Amit Shah and J P Nadda, met with party leaders and allies to discuss the upcoming Bihar polls. Seat-sharing arrangements with NDA partners are expected to be announced soon.
Real estate firm Godrej Properties' profit (attributable to the equity holders of the parent) for the second quarter of FY26 grew 21 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 405.1 crore, beating analysts' estimates. The Bloomberg analysts' poll had pegged the profit at around Rs 349.4 crore.
'When maximum voter participation occurs, they do not vote to re-elect the incumbent government. They vote to change it.' 'How can anyone credibly suggest that crores of young voters -- particularly the unemployed youth -- would vote to re-elect an existing government that has demonstrably failed them?'
'If the RJD loses it would be out of power for nearly 25 years. Meanwhile, the JD-U will have survival issues if it gets less number of seats.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday claimed that the Congress had been unwilling to accept Tejashwi Yadav as the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) chief ministerial candidate and relented only after the Rashtriya Janata Dal pointed a 'katta', an unlicensed country-made gun, at its head.
The final phase of elections in Jammu and Kashmir on December 24 will have the distinction of having the highest number of Independents in state's electoral history. Of the total 370 candidates in the fray in 21 constituencies, 140 are Independents, election department officials said.
The Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), an NDA member, announced it will contest 153 seats in the upcoming Bihar elections after not being allocated any seats by the NDA. The party claims the BJP's Bihar unit provided a negative report regarding their strength.
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.
Less than a month before assembly polls in Bihar, a Delhi court on Monday framed charges against Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi and their son and leader of opposition Tejashwi Yadav in the alleged IRCTC scam case.
A voter turnout of 60.19 per cent was recorded till 5 pm in the third phase of Lok Sabha elections in 93 constituencies spread over 11 states and Union Territories on Tuesday with sporadic incidents of violence in West Bengal.
'This will be a close election. At least now, it appears that the NDA has an edge.'
Ashok Gehlot convinced the RJD leadership that the Congress had no issue about declaring Tejashwi as the Mahagathbandan's chief minister face.
RJD candidate Satendra Sah was arrested immediately after filing his nomination papers from Bihar's Sasaram assembly seat due to a pending non-bailable warrant from Jharkhand. This marks the third such incident of INDIA bloc candidates being arrested after filing nominations.
During the presser, Gandhi showed a picture of a woman who appears on the voter list 22 times in 10 booths in the Rai assembly constituency, and said this shows that this was a 'centralised operation'.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched his Bihar assembly poll campaign, asserting that the NDA under Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will break all previous electoral records. He criticized the INDIA bloc and highlighted the NDA's cohesiveness and development efforts in Bihar.
The None of the Above (NOTA) option once again found few takers, with 0.75 per cent of the electorate pressing the button in Maharashtra and 1.32 per cent in Jharkhand. Votes for the assembly elections in these two states were counted on Saturday.
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