Political parties have fielded sons, wives and daughters-in-law of legislators who quit after being elected to the Lok Sabha.
After the setback in the Lok Sabha election, the ruling Congress on Friday recorded a big win in the bypoll to three assembly seats in Uttarakhand retaining Dharchula seat which went to Chief Minister Harish Rawat and wresting Doiwala and Someshwar seats from Bharatiya Janata Party.
Just weeks before the assembly polls, expelled Bharatiya Janata Party's Uttarakhand minister Harak Singh Rawat rejoined his old party, the Congress, on Friday in the presence of former chief minister Harish Rawat.
Campaigning came to an end on Saturday for the single-day election in Uttarakhand and Goa, two states known for political volatility where the Bharatiya Janata Party is attempting to retain power, and for the second phase of assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh on February 14.
In Uttar Pradesh, the saffron party's vote share went up to 41.8 per cent as against 39.67 per cent in the 2017 assembly polls, an increase of 2.13 per cent.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat were among the early voters to exercise their franchise as polling was underway on Wednesday for the state assembly elections.
Opposition leaders believe this entire plan has been put in place to ensure that Mamata Banerjee is kept out of office in West Bengal.
Maharaj, who joined the BJP in 2014 soon after Harish Rawat became the chief minister of Uttarakhand, alleged that the Congress is "looking at people as Hindu and Muslim face".
Dhami, who is a two-time MLA from Khatima in Udham Singh Nagar district, replaces Tirath Singh Rawat who resigned on Friday night.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi had on Tuesday asked its state unit chiefs in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur to put in their papers after the party's drubbing in the recently held Assembly polls in these states.
Uttarakhand Governor Krishna Kant Paul on Saturday asked Chief Minister Harish Rawat to prove his majority on the floor of the state assembly by March 28 as the political crisis escalated with the Bharatiya Janata Party, claiming the support of rebel Congress MLAs, stepped up efforts to form its government.
'The Congress can exist without (someone from) the Nehru-Gandhi family being its president.'
An average voter turnout of 20 per cent was recorded in the first four hours of voting in the bypolls to 15 assembly seats spread across Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Kerala and Uttarakhand on Wednesday amid an incident of stone pelting in a village in UP's Meerapur and allegations of police personnel deterring voters from casting their ballot.
Known as a simple and down-to-earth leader, Tirath Singh Rawat takes over the rein of power in Uttarakhand at a time when the BJP is preparing for the state assembly polls due early next year.
In UP and Bengal, it is willing to sacrifice its interests to stop the BJP and would work towards ensuring the BJP did not win incremental seats in Odisha and Telangana.
Keen to rejoin the Congress after being expelled from the Bharatiya Janata Party, Harak Singh Rawat on Tuesday said he is ready to apologise to former chief minister Harish Rawat any number of times for the sake of Uttarakhand's interests.
Secretary of the Legal and Human Rights Department of the Congress party KC Mittal confirmed the development, stating that a complaint will be filed over the PM's "deplorable" statement during his address.
BJP leaders also say it will be a very difficult task before the new chief minister pleasing the 56 party MLAs, reports Shishir Prashant.
He won two terms in office, which was a stunning feat for a leader who used his silence as the most vocal weapon to change the economy and the lives of a billion people, asserts Tarun Vijay, former BJP MP and former Chief Editor, Panchjanya, the RSS weekly.
The Supreme Court on Monday imposed an interim stay on directives passed by the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments that eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route must display names of owners.
Dalit students at a government school in Champawat district refused to eat mid-day meals cooked by an upper caste woman after a cook belonging to the Scheduled Caste was sacked.
Over 74 lakh voters will seal the fate of 628 candidates in electronic voting machines between 8 am to 5 pm when polling concludes, state Election office informed.
A blame game began in the Congress on Tuesday as it failed in its bid to come back to power in Haryana after 10 years, with senior party leader Kumari Selja saying the party high command should assess all reasons that led to the disappointing result and identify the people responsible.
The mosque's maulana and the mazar's caretakers said they were not aware of any administrative order in this regard and claimed this was for the first time that such a step had been taken during the yatra.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday announced the names of candidates for 59 out of 70 seats in Uttarakhand for the upcoming assembly polls.
As the virus ravaged rural areas, the state BJP figured out it was impossible to underplay or escape its impact on its political plans.
During the first wave, when people were following lockdown guidelines suggesting that they stay where they are, the Congress was standing at Mumbai station and scaring innocent people, he said.
The electoral exercise, the first since the Lok Sabha elections, will decide the fate of many veterans and some debutantes including Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu's wife Kamlesh Thakur.
As per practice, counting of votes will take place on November 9 evening after polling concludes.
The Congress on Tuesday announced its second list of 43 candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, fielding Kamal Nath's son Nakul Nath once again from Madhya Pradesh's Chhindwara and Ashok Gehlot's son Vaibhav Gehlot from Rajasthan's Jalore.
A bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and S V N Bhatti said it won't issue any clarification on the July 22 order as "We have said what needed to be said in our July 22 order. Can't force anyone to disclose names."
The Bharatiya Janata Party's member of Parliament from Pauri Garhwal, Tirath Singh Rawat, will be the next chief minister of Uttarakhand.
The issue of imposition of President's Rule in Uttarakhand echoed in Parliament on Monday with Congress members in both Houses storming the Well and party leader Mallikarjun Kharge staging a dharna in the Lok Sabha.
Noting that elections will be held in four states, she urged party leaders to sustain the momentum and goodwill that had been generated for the party in the Lok Sabha elections.
The suspense over whether Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will contest the polls from Amethi and Raebareli respectively continued.
Rediff Labs analysed the 2012 Uttrakhand assembly election results merged with 2014 Lok sabha election result are to develop a Sentiment Meter for the 2017 electoral battle.
Facing allegations from the Bharatiya Janata Party of not taking timely action to rescue Bihari pilgrims in Uttarakhand, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday made a veiled attack on his Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi saying he was no 'Rambo' but took steps for assisting pilgrims there.
The recent tragedy confirms the view of humanitarian aid as a political weapon
The posters were put up on the shutters of the shops late on Sunday evening, Purola station house officer Khajan Singh Chauhan said.
