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Polls opened in the Central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan on Sunday in a snap parliamentary election amid the arrests of opposition figures and the closure of independent media outlets. It is expected to cement the grip of President Sadyr Zhaparov, who has sought to suppress dissent in what was once Central Asia's most democratic country. The vote is being held a year earlier than scheduled, a move that officials have justified by arguing that the parliamentary elections would otherwise fall too close to the 2027 presidential elections. There have also been sweeping changes to Kyrgyzstan's electoral system, with 30 constituencies electing three lawmakers each. According to the Central Election Commission, 467 candidates are vying for the 90 seats in Kyrgyzstan's one-chamber parliament, the Jogorku Kenesh. There's also a gender quota system that requires at least one female lawmaker from each district. Analysts say candidates loyal to Zhaparov are likely to succeed thanks to the rapi
Former governor Andrew Cuomo decried socialism as he shook hands in Manhattan and the Bronx, Democrat Zohran Mamdani walked over the Brooklyn Bridge with supporters at sunrise, and Republican Curtis Sliwa campaigned on Coney Island as New York City's mayoral candidates sprinted through their last full day of campaigning before Tuesday's election. The campaign hurtled toward its end after a final stretch that included the conclusion of early voting, President Donald Trump throwing his support behind Cuomo and Cuomo releasing AI-driven attack ads. More than 735,000 votes were cast during the city's nine days of early, in-person voting -- over four times the number of ballots cast during the only other mayor's race to allow early voting, in 2021. The tally was well short of the nearly 1.1 million early, in-person votes cast during last year's presidential election, but some voting locations saw large crowds on Sunday, the last day of early voting. The line at one polling place in ...
The BJP on Thursday made important appointments for key poll-bound states, including for next year, naming Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Bhupender Yadav as its election in-charge of Bihar and West Bengal. The party appointed Baijayant 'Jay' Panda, one of its vice presidents, its in-charge for the assembly polls in Tamil Nadu where it is a junior partner to the AIADMK. While the Bihar assembly elections are expected to be held in November, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu are likely to go to polls in March-April. A BJP statement said Union minister C R Paatil, who heads the party's Gujarat unit and is considered a capable organisation hand, and Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya are co-incharges for the Bihar polls. Former Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb is the co-incharge for West Bengal and Union minister Murlidhar Mohol is the co-incharge for Tamil Nadu, it added. Both Pradhan and Yadav are among the most experienced poll managers of the BJP and
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday said the names of people evicted from encroached land will be deleted from the voters' list of the place where they were living illegally. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a programme in Margherita in Tinsukia, Sarma claimed the previous generation of the state failed to "save" lower and central Assam, but efforts must be made to "save" upper and northern parts, in an apparent reference to the sizeable population of Bengali-speaking Muslims in those areas. "If someone is evicted from a place, their name cannot be on the voter list of that place. Along with eviction, names will be deleted from the voter list," he said. "Their modus operandi is to enter upper and northern Assam now. Our attempt is to ensure that, like lower and central Assam, these parts are not gone. We and our previous generation failed to save lower and central Assam, but we are now trying to save upper and northern Assam," he added. Sarma had earlier sai