CII joined hands with the EC in launching a mega blitz including round-the-clock voter helplines, sending SMS messages and setting up touch-screens at strategic spots to educate voters about their right to franchise.
Rediff readers share selfies and tell us about their election day style.
'If a poor voter sees Modi's picture on ration bags, it is natural he will vote for Modi and the BJP.'
Voting is being held in 59 of the total 60 seats .
Modi's BJP has promised more revdis or freebies for these assembly elections than ever before, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
It is natural for many of you to ask -- do things like Right to Reject and Compulsory voting violate our Right to Expression? No, I would say it is adding completeness in the opportunity for expression
It was the rejection of the Congress' welfarist economics by voters that led to the party's drubbing, says Andy Mukherjee.
'The people of Kota will show Om Birla his place.'
'Merchandise plays a key role in creating buzz about a specific party.'
'Chavan's political clout began declining since his Lok Sabha defeat in 2019.'
At least one commentator felt that both the BJP's reach and popularity had been underestimated in Kerala. They have shown systematic gain; one that seems personality-neutral and therefore institutionalised, explains Shyam G Menon.
'One of the principles of the MCC that you should not make hate speeches and create hatred between communities on the basis of religion was violated on a scale that was never seen before.' 'Religious symbols were very liberally used and speeches were made to polarise people on the basis of religion.'
'...vis-a-vis state or local elections,' Prannoy Roy and Dorab Sopariwala tell Uttaran Das Gupta.
'It's dull because this time the election is spread over such a long period.'
The apex court bench, also comprising justices Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, JB Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra, will assemble at 10.30 am to hear the two petitions.
'Free this and free that, and the voters were with them.'
Asked about the BJP's claim that its performance in southern states will be exemplary, Tharoor said, "The claim of an 'exemplary' performance is yet another product of the BJP's propaganda mill."
The bench, headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, will also hear a separate plea which has sought initiation of contempt action against the SBI alleging it "wilfully and deliberately" disobeyed the apex court's direction to submit details of the contributions made to political parties through electoral bonds to the Election Commission by March 6.
All 18 members of opposition All India United Democratic Front were expelled from the Assam assembly on Monday, the opening day of the monsoon session by Speaker Pranab Kumar Gogoi amidst noisy scenes.
A significant enrolment of young voters in the electoral rolls has resulted in the unusually high voter turnout in the state assembly elections, Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath has said.
In a state where thin margins and minor swings decide electoral outcomes, nothing can be left to chance, even for those relishing the cocooned life, observes Shyam G Memon.
With polls to elect the 18th Lok Sabha approaching, district poll panels are fixing the rates for expenses as part of the election expenditure monitoring process.
No government in the past initiated the process of policy making for its next tenure even before going in for elections. Once the Model Code of Conduct is enforced by the Election Commission, should the government of the day refrain from taking an active interest in policy making for the next five years and let that be the function of the new government?, asks A K Bhattacharya.
In violence-hit Manipur, the general buzz associated with elections and the related paraphernalia of posters, banners and rallies are missing but it is the presence of these brown boxes with pictures of guns that is symbolic of the strife-ridden society struggling to return to normalcy.
Its workers are on their toes to win over the voters once again, with idea of 'Amrit Kaal'.
In a jolt to the Centre, the Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the notification setting up a fact-checking unit under the Press Information Bureau (PIB) to identify fake news about the Union government.
As many as 67 petrol pumps across Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon and Rohtak will offer 50 paise per litre discount on petrol to consumers who exercise their voting rights on April 10.
Asif Ali Zardari was overwhelmingly elected as the 14th President of Pakistan on Saturday, becoming the only civilian President of the coup-prone country for a second time.
A section of voters in Delhi chose to exercise the newly-introduced 'None Of The Above Option' on Wednesday, saying they have "little expectations" from any of the political parties engaged in the electoral battle.
The Front partners welcomed the visit of the 19-member team ahead of Assembly elections.
Embattled Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal walked out of the Tihar Jail on Friday evening, hours after the Supreme Court granted him interim bail in a money laundering case to enable him to campaign in the Lok Sabha elections, in a huge relief to his party struggling to gain momentum in the absence of its foremost leader.
Shailaja Teacher, arguably the most famous Covid warrior in India, versus former student leader Shafi Parambil who defeated 'Metro Man' E Sreedharan in the last assembly election. Shyam G Menon reports from the Vadakara Lok Sabha constituency, which some feel is the most politically important contest in Kerala this election.
Former United States president Donald Trump was projected to win the crucial South Carolina primary, beating his Indian-American rival and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, major American media outlets said minutes after the closing of the polls Saturday.
The BJP game-plan: Take the top slot, or a close second, either for the 'Lotus' or the larger NDA, if it can and push the AIADMK to the third place, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
Entertainers can be good politicians if they treat the citizens as the audience, and treat their job like a live show, and work hard to make sure the audience likes them, asserts Sandeep Goyal.
Cricket climate change to medical practice, dropped candidates have their non-political life sorted.
The BJP, the AAP and the Congress had fielded six, five and three women candidates, but only Reena Kashyap of the BJP won the election.
Observing that the name and photographs of Sharad Pawar cannot be used by the Ajit Pawar faction for political gains, the Supreme Court on Thursday sought a response from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) faction led by the Maharashtra deputy chief minister on a plea of the veteran Maratha leader alleging misuse of his popularity by the rival camp.
Kerala's election discourse operates surreptitiously. Its explicit face focuses on important national and local issues. At the same time, it seeks to secure apt communal equations to ensure votes, notes Shyam G Menon.
The right-wing leader, who was born on September 29, 1936, in Milan, was elected as the Prime Minister of Italy four times and transformed Italian politics.
