Nine seats are going to polls in Uttar Pradesh, four in Punjab and one in Kerala.
'Bihar's voters' electoral memory is long, and their evaluations are relational; who came to the village, who followed up, who resolved a problem.'
The opposition INDIA bloc has declared RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav as its chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming Bihar assembly elections.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's victory in the assembly polls on Thursday has put the party on a stronger wicket for the election for the post of President expected later this year.
Developing relations with the Taliban is needed, but plunging headlong into Afghanistan without due thought will be akin to the rooster entering a KFC outlet, warns Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (Retd).
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in Uttar Pradesh is reviving its 'brotherhood committees', a strategy used successfully in the 2007 elections, to bolster its support among Other Backward Castes (OBCs) ahead of the 2027 state assembly elections. These committees, to be formed in all 403 constituencies, aim to connect with 100 people from OBC communities in each village, acting as ambassadors of the party at the booth level. The BSP sees these committees as a counter to the Samajwadi Party's PDA pitch and a means to consolidate its scattered rural vote bank. The party is also highlighting the 'anti-Dalit' and 'anti-OBC' tactics of the Congress, BJP and SP, hoping to capitalize on perceived grievances and reposition itself as a champion of marginalized communities.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accuses the BJP-led government of stealing votes with the help of the Election Commission during a rally in Siwan, Bihar.
The Election Commission has issued a notification banning the conduct, publication or publicising of exit polls between 7.00 am to 6.30 pm on February 5 (Wednesday) when votes will be cast for the Delhi assembly and two bypolls in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
"It is high time India traded dynasty for meritocracy. This would require fundamental reforms, from imposing legally mandated term limits to requiring meaningful internal party elections, together with a concerted effort to educate and empower the electorate to choose leaders based on merit," Tharoor said.
Rajiv Pratap Rudy secured another term as Secretary (Administration) of the Constitution Club of India, defeating Sanjeev Balyan in a closely watched election that saw participation from prominent political figures.
An important meeting of top Bharatiya Janata Party leadership was held on Wednesday in Delhi regarding the party's organisational elections, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Tharoor led a multi-party delegation, visiting various countries, to apprise the world about India's stand against cross-border terrorism following Operation Sindoor, which was launched in retaliation against the ghastly Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives.
The Exit polls for the Lok Sabha 2024 elections were way off the mark this time with the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc whose rout they had predicted touching nearly 230 seats on the counting day with good showing in Rajasthan, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh as per the current trends.
Lok Sabha polls held over 5 phases so why hold assembly elections in single phase, asks Oppn.
...a time when his legacy ledger was still positive and before the debacle against China. With every subsequent election, our leaders tend to become weaker. India should consider passing a law that no person should hold the highest office in our country for more than two terms, points out Harishchandra.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav likened Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to an infiltrator, saying he is from Uttarakhand and should be sent back to the state. Yadav also criticized the BJP's governance and alleged injustices against Dalits and backward communities.
As an IAS officer in Kerala, Gyanesh Kumar -- who the Congress described as Amit Shah's 'right hand man' -- had a good working equation with the state's Congress and Left leaders.
In seniority in the BJP leadership team, V K Malhotra, who passed into the ages this week, was next only to Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L K Advani and Nanaji Deshmukh, notes Sudhir Bisht.
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.
Adityanath alleged that illegal mining, including rampant extraction of sand, coal and forest resources, was flourishing under the protection of the ruling coalition, leaving Jharkhand hollowed out by mafia activities.
An analysis of the upcoming Bihar elections, focusing on the key players, alliances, and issues that will shape the outcome. The article examines the strength of the ruling NDA coalition led by Nitish Kumar and the challenge posed by the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan, as well as the potential impact of Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj Party.
Ahead of the impending assembly polls, the rising crime graph and poor law and order situation have led to demands being revived to adopt UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's 'bulldozer' and police encounter policy in Bihar to deal with criminals.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday condemned the violence in West Bengal's Murshidabad district following the passage of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, accusing the opposition of instigating the violence. He also criticized the opposition for their alleged silence over the persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh and emphasized the BJP's commitment to protecting Hindus.
Here's a roundup of all Ranji Trophy matches played on Day 1 on Wednesday.
Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, BJP chief J P Nadda and new party entrant Ashok Chavan and Union ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw and L Murugan were among the 41 candidates elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha on Tuesday while Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh will witness polling on February 27.
Polling is scheduled in all 13 seats of Punjab and four of Himachal Pradesh, 13 constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, nine in West Bengal, eight in Bihar, six in Odisha and three seats in Jharkhand besides Chandigarh.
Chail MLA Pooja Pal, recently expelled from the Samajwadi Party, met with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Pal praised Adityanath's actions against gangster Atiq Ahmed, who was accused of murdering her husband. She also addressed comments about her personal life and political career.
Acting on complaints, the Election Commission on Wednesday ordered suspension of police personnel violating its guidelines on checking of voters and stopping them from casting votes in the Uttar Pradesh bypolls, officials said.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of protecting individuals involved in voter deletion and election rigging, citing data from Karnataka and Maharashtra.
For a few months an Indian Olympic Association ad-hoc panel ran the show but after UWW lifted its suspension following the conduct of elections, the committee was dissolved.
Amid the political blame game over Bengal's potato ban, which led to shortages in Jharkhand and Odisha, Uttar Pradesh farmers are the unlikely winners.
The Congress announced on Thursday that it would not field candidates in the nine assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh where bypolls are being held and would support Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) nominees.
All the behind-the-scenes action in the Uttar Pradesh elections is taking place in a non-descript room in Lucknow, reports Saisuresh Sivaswamy
'If the Mahagathbandhan ignores Mukesh Sahni's demands as it did in 2020, he will be left with no option but to join hands with the BJP.'
Two persons from Uttar Pradesh were shot at by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Budgam district on Friday evening, officials said.
Bypolls will be held on Wednesday in 15 assembly seats spread across Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Kerala and Uttarakhand. The bypolls, however, will not have any direct impact on the respective legislative assemblies. The results will be declared on November 23. In Uttar Pradesh, polling will be held in Katehari, Karhal, Meerapur, Ghaziabad, Majhawan, Sisamau, Khair, Phulpur and Kundarki. Ninety candidates are in the fray in these seats with the maximum of 14 in Ghaziabad. This will be the first electoral test of the INDIA bloc as well as the NDA in the politically-crucial state after the Lok Sabha elections. In Punjab, bypolls will be held in four assembly seats - Gidderbaha, Dera Baba Nanak, Chabbewal (SC) and Barnala. The bypolls were necessitated after MLAs representing them were elected to the Lok Sabha. Polling will also be held for the Palakkad seat in Kerala and Kedarnath in Uttarakhand.
For Adityanath, it's not just a chance to reaffirm his dominance in Uttar Pradesh, it's an opportunity to solidify his narrative as a vote-winner.
A strategist and a quintessential political leader with grassroots connect, Rajnath Singh is credited with expanding the Bharatiya Janata Party's organisational network in the Hindi heartland state of Uttar Pradesh in the 1990s and the subsequent decades.
The declared incomes of registered unrecognised political parties witnessed a 223 per cent spike in 2022-23 and more than 73 per cent of these parties failed to publicly disclose their financial records, according to poll rights body the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
With this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also sent a strong message to ally, Janata Dal-United President and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, that their partnership remains intact and that they will be formidable partners at the hustings.
