The Bharatiya Janata Party, which won 25 seats in the Himachal Pradesh elections, suffered a setback in the assembly segments falling under Shimla, Hamirpur and Kangra parliamentary constituencies in the hill state.
The difference in the number of votes received by the candidates of the two parties in Bhoranj, Sujanpur, Darang, Bilaspur, Sri Naina Devi, Rampur, Shillai, and Sri Renukaji was less than 1,000 votes.
This classification of districts is to be followed by states and union terrotories till a week post May 3, when the second phase of lockdown will end, for containment operations.
The Northern Railways said it has cancelled around 17 trains and diverted around 12 others, while traffic has been suspended at four locations due to waterlogging.
Many towns in Gir Somnath turned into islands as the district has been witnessing heavy rains for the third consecutive day.
While the BJP says it is confident Dalits will vote for it in the state assembly polls due this year-end, the Congress says it is paying attention to seats with 10 per cent or more Dalit population.
Mercury hovered around 40 degrees Celsius in large parts of the country on Monday as the Indian meteorological department predicted heat wave conditions in parts of east India over the next four days and the northwest region over the next two days.
Delhi's primary weather station, the Safdarjung Observatory, registered a maximum temperature of 40.4 degrees Celsius, four notches higher than normal.
Cyclone Tauktae weakened into a 'depression' and lay centred over south Rajasthan and adjoining Gujarat region on Wednesday morning, the India Meteorological Department said.
The community members have decided not to lift carcasses till they were issued such identity cards to ensure their security.
With the party bagging its first victory in the hill state without the charismatic presence of Virbhadra Singh, Sukhu's elevation makes it clear that the party is ready to move on.
Out of these nine constituencies in the two districts, seven had been held by the ruling party while the Congress represented Amreli and Una seats.
Fund crunch may come in the way of infrastructure development; women's safety another issue that will be in focus.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday undertook an aerial survey of affected areas in Gujarat and the adjoining Union territory of Diu to assess the devastation caused by Cyclone Tauktae.
Enraged community members took out rallies in towns and cities, blocking roads, damaging buses.
The highest polling of 72.35 per cent was recorded in Sirmour district followed by 68.48 per cent in Solan and 67.67 per cent in Una and 67.5 per cent in Lahaul and Spiti. The high-altitude district of Lahaul and Spiti had recorded 21.95 per cent, the lowest, till 1 pm, but polling was brisk as the sun came out.
Dalit leaders ask community members to give up disposing dead cattle to 'send a strong message' to the Gujarat government.
According to organisers, though conversions are carried out every year on Vijaya Dashmi, this year the numbers were high on account of the Una Dalit flogging incident.
Himachal Pradesh has become a champion by being the first state to administer the first dose of Covid vaccine to all eligible people despite logistic difficulties, he said through video conference.
Jignesh Mevani of Dalit Samiti on Monday said the PM paid only lip service instead of reining in the cow vigilantes.
Police have arrested 22 people in connection with the attack on Dalits returning to Bhavnagar after attending a protest rally in Una town in which cops were also targeted.
On poll eve, both the BJP and the Congress claimed they were headed towards a majority and would form the government.
The Dalits are protesting against the brutal assault on fellow community members on July 11 for allegedly skinning a cow in Una in Gir-Somnath district.
Arvind Kejriwal exhorted all community members to unite in the fight against Gujarat BJP's "oppressive" regime.
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said the PM was not conducting an aerial survey of the cyclone-hit areas in Maharashtra because he knew that the state is led by a strong chief minister unlike in his home state Gujarat.
On the intervening night of September 22-23, 2012, three Dalit youths were killed when police opened fire to disperse a violent mob to control a clash between Dalits and OBC Bharwad community members at Thangadh town in Surendranagar district.
Heavy rains continued to lash various parts of Himachal Pradesh, disrupting normal life in lower and mid hills while most of the rivers are in spate due to sudden rise in water level due to rains in catchments areas.
At least 1,100 postcards with a small message and tagline 'Badbu Gujarat Ki (stink of Gujarat)' were sent on Tuesday to state tourism's brand ambassador and Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan by Dalits as part of a campaign to highlight "atrocities" against them in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Telangana BJP MLA Raja Singh has defended the cow vigilants in the backdrop of flogging of Dalits in Gujarat.
The decision to stay away from the work by the community members has left the administration harried
If the Anandiben Patel administration was shaken by the Patidar agitation, the Vijay Rupani government would have to deal with the Jignesh Mevani-led Dalit movement.
Rupani claimed that the state government had taken 'prompt action' in the incident as all the main culprits were arrested the next day.
The state and Indian Air Force choppers on Saturday rescued 100 persons, including 16 foreigners, from Kaza and various parts of rain ravaged tribal district of Kinnaur even as the recovery of 10 bodies took the death toll to 24.
Gujarat will have a polling booth for a single voter, while Himachal Pradesh will see the world's highest polling booth being set up during the forthcoming assembly polls.
Even as Tauktae's intensity weakened, it left behind a trail of destruction with as many as 13 people losing their lives in different parts of Gujarat, including Bhavnagar, Rajkot, Patan, Amreli and Valsad, officials said.
The stylish batsman of yesteryears polled 173 votes while his opponent Prakash Chand Jain got 73 votes. His entire panel won their respective contests.
The team members said that Dalits are "soft targets" for these vigilante groups.
The Congress won 77 seats or 42% of seats in the 2017 polls. How then can Gujarat be called a BJP bastion, asks Sanjeev Nayyar.
The Dalits were accused of stealing a bike.
A mob of "gau rakshaks" allegedly beat up two Dalits in East Godavari district.
