The proportion of postal votes polled in the general elections has gradually risen since 2009.
Dr Nagesh Kumar, one of the three new MPC members, wanted the MPC to reduce the repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.25%.
Fifteen years after quitting the Sikkim Democratic Front in 2009, he decimated Chamling's party, scripting history by winning 31 of 32 assembly seats in the Himalayan state in 2024.
Indications are that the DMK combine will win more seats than the AIADMK and BJP, but is facing a tough fight in about half a dozen from the rest, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy of the electoral contest in Tamil Nadu.
Even as parleys continue in both states, the grand old party is expected to contest less than 110 seats in the November 20 polls for the 288-member Maharashtra assembly.
There are 1,349 candidates in the fray and over 1.45 crore electors are eligible to exercise their franchise in the elections to the 250 wards of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), the results of which may have ramifications beyond the national capital.
A freebie once granted can hardly be discontinued. All that can happen is to substitute it with a bigger freebie, notes A K Bhattacharya.
For the first time in his political career, he failed to carry his party to even a working majority -- and again, for the first time in his career, he finds himself in a situation where he cannot rule by dictatorial fiat, points out Prem Panicker.
The actor shared some pictures from the much-anticipated Web series, executive produced by the Russo Brothers' AGBO banner. The action spy thriller series will premiere on April 28.
The BJP's strategy seem to be to wean away allies from the Congress, in Dravidian Tamil Nadu, and maybe later in UP, Bihar and elsewhere, though in slow doses, but without wooing them into a new alliance. The idea seems to be only to weaken the INDIA bloc from within -- and leaving it at that, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Kailash Gahlot, a key minister in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi, has resigned, potentially impacting the party's ambitious plan to roll out a Rs 1000 monthly honorarium scheme for women ahead of the Assembly polls in February. Gahlot, who represented the Jat-dominated Najafgarh constituency in West Delhi, cited several issues, including the "Sheeshmahal" controversy over his former official residence, the Delhi government's tussle with the Centre, and the failure to clean the Yamuna River, in his resignation letter. Delhi BJP leaders welcomed Gahlot's resignation, fueling speculation that he could join the party before the assembly polls. However, AAP leaders claimed Gahlot resigned due to pressure from central agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate, and that joining the BJP was his last option. Gahlot's resignation has sparked speculation about his future and the impact it will have on the AAP's electoral prospects.
Chidambaram also stressed that there were lessons to be learnt by the Congress from the Gujarat loss, saying there is no such thing as a "silent" campaign in a hard-fought election.
'This victory would mean a huge inspiration for the next generation who can say that coming from India I can be anybody I want to be if I work hard and acquire the right skills.' 'They could be the next President, members of the Senate, or another Sundar Pichai.'
Approximately one per cent decline in vote share for both the BJP and the Congress saw the saffron party losing ten seats but the opposition party had a different outcome, bagging eight more seats.
The Delhi Capitals bowlers have come under the scanner for their poor death over bowling, but on Wednesday, they silenced critics with a sizzling display to bowl Gujarat Titans out for a paltry 89.
The Congress is now gearing up to take on the BJP over alleged corruption, jobs and issues tied to tribals, farmers and women.
From the Sensex pack, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zones, Mahindra & Mahindra, Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, Larsen & Toubro, NTPC, State Bank of India, UltraTech Cement and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the major gainers. In contrast, Tata Steel, Titan, Bajaj Finserv, JSW Steel, Bajaj Finance, Hindustan Unilever, ITC, Tata Motors and Tata Consultancy Services were among the laggards.
Parliamentarians and legislators across the country voted on Monday to elect India's 15th president, choosing between opposition pick Yashwant Sinha and National Democratic Alliance nominee Droupadi Murmu who is favoured to win the battle to the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Independent candidates may have won just three seats in the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls, but they have garnered close to three per cent vote share -- higher than parties like Aam Aadmi Party, the Nationalist Congress Party and Communist Party of India.
An elated Aam Aadmi Party after winning the Municipal Corporation of Delhi polls on Thursday vowed to improve civic amenities in the national capital while the Bharatiya Janata Party thanked voters for "recognising" its work as it took solace in securing over a hundred seats despite exit poll predicting its rout.
The Congress, which has 37 MLAs, had fixed a quota of 30 first preference votes for its candidate Satav, and seven remaining votes were to go to its ally Sena (UBT)'s nominee Narvekar, party sources said. Eventually, Satav got 25 and Narvekar 22 first preference votes, which meant at least seven Congress MLAs cross-voted.
In a village of Rajputs, the vote is for Modi even though the BJP is not contesting from here.
The SEC claimed that BSF could not provide central forces to more than 10,000 booths.
'The inauguration of the Ram temple was the pinnacle of the BJP's religious politics.' 'Politics is dynamic. What goes up has to come down.'
Exit polls by various channels predicted a hung house in Meghalaya, a win for the NDPP backed by the BJP in Nagaland, the two states that went to polls on Monday, and seemed to oscillate between predicting a clean sweep for the BJP to a hung house in the state of Tripura, where a new party the Tipra Motha may emerge as a potential king-maker in the polls, held a week back.
'The Congress cannot speak the BJP's words while targeting Kejriwal.' 'What is the difference between the two? Where is the unity of INDIA then?'
Sanjay Malhotra takes charge as the 26th RBI governor at a time when headline retail inflation has shot up to 6.2%.
The Opposition parties need 172 members in the 342-member house to orchestrate the downfall of Prime Minister Khan.
Maharashtra Bharatiya Janata Party president Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Wednesday said Chief Minister Eknath Shinde should be willing to make 'sacrifices', in terms of seat-sharing for the assembly polls, like the BJP has done to keep the alliance intact.
What's more gorgeous than one Stree promoting her film? Well, two Strees, of course!
The share of such voters has shrunk to 1.9 per cent of registered voters in 2024 from 2.7 per cent in 2014.
Though the Congress, AAP and other Opposition parties may have high hopes and some positive takeaways to seize on from the results, it is the BJP which has a big headstart and is firmly in the lead.
Discordant voices emerged on Sunday from the Mahayuti even as the alliance continued to remain in the throes of government formation more than week after it swept the Maharashtra assembly polls.
Modi wants the BJP to gets an additional 10% of the vote share from what it won in 2019. Plans are afoot to get new faces to replace MPs with poor chances of winning. Sources say more than 100 MPs are like to be axed, notes Modi biographer Ramesh Menon.
There was more to him than he let on, asserts Aditi Phadnis.
The principal opposition party though appeared content securing 99 of the 543 seats in the 2024 national elections as against its all-time low of 44 in 2014 and then 52 in 2019.
Devendra Fadnavis is the frontrunner to become the next chief minister of Maharashtra, according to a senior BJP leader.
The 52-year-old, who joins her mother Sonia and brother Rahul as an MP in what is a rare instance of three members of a family together in Parliament, would visit Parliament as a teenager to listen to her father Rajiv Gandhi speak as prime minister.
AIADMK insiders see the very idea of an NDA conclave as a measure of the BJP's current electoral assessment, stemming from relative weakness in 2024 compared to 2014 and 2019. In their reckoning, the BJP now needs allies more than the other way round, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
A sizeable number of MLAs from across state assemblies cross-voted in support of President-elect Droupadi Murmu, defying their parties' stated support to Opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha, sources said on Thursday.
