Unemployment, delivery of justice in desecration cases, illegal sand mining and drug menace are likely to be key issues in the Punjab assembly elections.
Hamza was re-elected to the post by just three votes amidst high drama.
The SKM also gave a call for observing a nationwide 'Day of Betrayal' on January 31 against what it called the government's reneging on its assurances to the farmers on their demands, including legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) of crops.
Sarari has resigned from the cabinet of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, confirmed a senior leader of the ruling AAP.
Punjab's 117 assembly seats are going to be a keenly-watched contest with the Congress, the AAP, the SAD-BSP alliance, and the BJP-PLC-SAD (Sanyukt) battling to form the government in the state, with a probable entry of farmers' front in the form of Sanyukt Samaj Morcha.
Badal's resignation came days after he urged the Akal Takht Jathedar to pronounce his punishment for religious misconduct charges, saying more than two months have passed since he was declared 'tankhaiya' (guilty of religious misconduct).
Sources said the party has also tasked its senior leaders to be observers at the meeting of the Congress Legislature Party in Haryana to elect its new leader.
A heated political battle erupted Tuesday over Arvind Kejriwal's claim of the Haryana government 'poisoning' the Yamuna water, with the Bharatiya Janata Party saying he cannot be forgiven for his 'dangerous statement', while the Aam Aadmi Party chief asserted he won't let the people of Delhi die due to the dirty, poisonous water.
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.
The Election Commission on Thursday asked its Delhi chief electoral officer to probe the Aam Aadmi Party's complaints against Bharatiya Janata Party leader Parvesh Verma and allegations of additions and deletions in the electoral roll of the New Delhi assembly seat.
Arora will have to resign from the Rajya Sabha if he wins the bypoll, the date for which is yet to be announced.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra campaigns for Navjot Singh Sidhu ahead of the Punjab assembly election on Sunday, February 20, 2022.
An analysis of seats across the five states shows that the race was won on tighter margins than five years ago, except for Punjab and Uttarakhand.
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.
At many places, where the voters had entered booths before 6 pm and were standing in queues, they were allowed to cast their votes.
Mayawati said it became necessary for her to make the announcement as the Congress and some other parties, as part of a "conspiracy", are allegedly trying to create an impression that they would be forging an alliance with the BSP.
'When the assembly elections happened in West Bengal, it was predicted that Mamata didi will win only by a thin margin but she won with a huge margin'
'Had the Congress made Sidhu its CM face, they would have won 80 out of 117 seats.'
Sidhu, who had been attacking the AAP-led government in the state over various issues including the law and order situation, said Punjab's resurrection was possible only with a collective effort.
"Opinions of candidates, workers, and party MPs are being recorded to so that any feud over the CM face between Channi and Navjot Singh Siddhu can be avoided," said sources.
The five-time former Punjab chief minister died at a private hospital in Mohali near Chandigarh on Tuesday, nine days after he was admitted there with breathing problems. He was 95.
The incumbent Congress could win only 18 seats, with Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi losing both seats he contested -- Chamkaur Sahib as well as Bhadaur.
'2019 was fought on delivery. But in 2024, you can see the before and after effects.'
The Mayawati-led BSP will fight 20 of the 117 assembly seats in Punjab, while the rest will be contested by the SAD.
The Congress party suffered a crushing defeat in the Delhi elections, failing to secure a single seat in the 70-member assembly for the third consecutive time. Key candidates, including Sheila Dikshit's son, Sandeep Dikshit, lost their deposits. The only consolation for the party was a slight improvement in its vote share, which they attribute to a vigorous campaign and a renewed focus on contesting elections independently. However, the defeat raises questions about the party's ability to compete in the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections, particularly in light of its performance in other recent state elections.
The BJP's vote share in Punjab has been declining -- 8.21 per cent in 2007 to 7.13 per cent in 2012, and finally to 5.4 per cent in 2017, when it won just three of 23 seats the party contested. So doing an election deal with Amarinder and a political formation he might float in the future is not inconceivable.
The upcoming Delhi Assembly elections have turned into a fierce battleground of slogans, one-liners, and AI-generated memes between the three main contenders: AAP, BJP, and Congress. From the AAP branding the BJP as the "Bharatiya Jhootha Party" (Indian Liar Party) to Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling the AAP "AAP-Daa" (disaster), the war of words has taken center stage. With the poll results set to be announced on February 8, the elections are being viewed as a referendum on the AAP's governance model, which emphasizes free welfare schemes. The ruling party faces stiff competition from a resurgent BJP that is seeking to return to power in the capital after a gap of more than 25 years. The Congress, although a long shot, hopes to regain its lost ground.
Moderate to high turnout was recorded in 13 assembly constituencies across seven states where bypolls were held on Wednesday amid sporadic incidents of violence in Uttarakhand, Bihar and West Bengal.
'The allegations of government involvement in targeted assassinations abroad are likely to help, not hurt, the ruling party.' 'True or false, they convey a sense of muscularity and, in some quarters, are celebrated as a harbinger of 'great power' status.'
Panthic politics came easily to Parkash Singh Badal. But he was quick to abandon it when it became a problem, points out Aditi Phadnis.
A mathematical model is used to calculate how seat distribution will be altered as sentiment/percentage of votes towards a contesting political party changes.
While the BJP has assured voters that these benefits will not be discontinued, AAP leaders have questioned the party's long-term commitment.
After Parineeti Chopra and Aam Aadmi Party leader Raghav Chadha were spotted together on several occasions, rumours linking them have been doing the rounds.
The move came in the wake of Vishwas' allegations against AAP convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
The Congress and AAP had fought the Lok Sabha polls together in Delhi, while they contested separately in Punjab.
The BJP and Congress have called out the 'Delhi model' as a hoax, built on sustained propaganda when the ground reality is different.
Some Congress leaders consider Kishor as an "overrated" person and argue that in 2017 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, he led to the decline of the party.
Last month, the Channi government replaced the state's advocate general A P S Deol after strong opposition from Sidhu.
Senior lawyers H S Phoolka and Himmat Singh Shergill figure in the first list of 19 candidates released by the AAP on Thursday for Punjab assembly elections.
Among the political parties, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) emerged as the largest party, winning 227 seats, followed by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) with 160 seats.
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