Exit polls present a mixed picture, with some predicting a win for the Shinde-led Mahayuti alliance and others favouring a majority for the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA)
The Hemant Soren-led JMM seeks a second term, while the BJP aims to regain power. In 2019, JMM won 30 seats, Congress 16, and BJP 25.
Maharashtra Assembly Elections: To achieve a majority and form the state government, a party or coalition must secure at least 145 seats
A voter turnout of 32.18 per cent was recorded till 1 pm on Wednesday in Maharashtra, where polling is underway in all 288 assembly constituencies, election officials said. Polling began at 7 am in the state assembly elections, where the ruling BJP-led Mahayuti alliance is vying to retain power and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) combine is hoping for a strong comeback. Voting will continue till 6 pm. There are a total of 1,00,186 polling booths in Maharashtra this time, compared to 96,654 booths in the 2019 assembly elections, the officials said. Gadchiroli district recorded 50.89 per cent voter turnout. The Aheri assembly seat in the district saw 52.84 per cent voting, while Armori registered 51.05 per cent polling. Mumbai city district recorded 27.73 per cent voting and Mumbai suburban district saw 30.43 per cent turnout. The Colaba assembly segment in the megapolis registered 24.16 per cent polling, Mahim 33.01 per cent and Worli 26.96 per cent. Shivadi recorded 30.5 per cent ...
In a press conference, the BJP accused National Congress Party leader Supriya Sule and Congress MLA Nana Patole of allegedly using Bitcoins illegally to fund elections
Cash for votes: BJP leader Vinod Tawde accused of distributing Rs 5 crore at a hotel in Virar, Palghar district, to woo voters ahead of Maharashtra state Assembly polls
Jharkhand BJP MP Nishikant Dubey on Wednesday said he had filed a complaint with the Election Commission against a presiding officer for allegedly "favouring a ruling party candidate" in Madhupur assembly constituency during voting. Dubey claimed that following his complaint, the officer was arrested. "I filed a complaint with the Election Commission against the presiding officer at booth number 111 in Madhupur, Deoghar district, for favouring Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) candidate and Minister Hafizul Hassan. The commission took my complaint seriously and arrested the officer," Dubey told reporters in Deoghar. However, the Deoghar administration said the officer was replaced after being found too close to the voting compartment, which is against Election Commission rules. An official statement from Deoghar administration clarified that the presiding officer at booth number 111 had been replaced. "During monitoring in the webcasting room, the presiding officer was found too close
Union minister and senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday urged the Election Commission to address issues in the voter enrolment process, citing irregularities in the inclusion of names in the voters' list. The Maharashtra assembly polls were underway from 7 am on Wednesday. Gadkari cast his vote in Nagpur city located in the state's Vidarbha region. Speaking to reporters in Nagpur, Gadkari said, "Some names of the people who have passed away are still in the voters' list, while names of those who have filled the forms for enrolment are missing. The EC should take serious cognisance of this and review its methods for including names in the voter list." The current system was causing disappointment to many people, he said. "The system is not appropriate, and several people have expressed their disappointment to me. The EC must make the process leak-proof to ensure that all voters have their rightful opportunity to exercise their franchise," he said.
Polling began Wednesday morning in the Maharashtra assembly elections, where the ruling BJP-led Mahayuti alliance is vying to retain power and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) combine is hoping for a strong comeback. Voting began in all the 288 assembly seats at 7 am and will end at 6 pm, an election official said. The votes will be counted on November 23. Over 9.7 crore voters will be choosing from among the 4,136 candidates in the fray, the official said. In the Mahayuti alliance, the BJP is contesting 149 seats, Shiv Sena is in the fray in 81 seats, and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP has fielded candidates in 59 constituencies. In the opposition's MVA combine, the Congress has fielded 101 candidates, Shiv Sena (UBT) 95, and NCP (SP) has put up 86 candidates. Smaller parties, including the Bahujan Samaj Party and the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM), are also contesting, with BSP fielding 237 candidates and AIMIM 17 in the 288-member Lower House. The election campaign saw ...
Polling for 38 assembly seats in the second and final phase of Jharkhand elections commenced on Wednesday, amid tight security arrangements, officials said. Voting began at 7 AM in 14,218 booths across 12 districts and will continue till 5 PM. However, polling in 31 booths will end at 4 PM though people standing in the queue at that time will be able to exercise their franchise, the officials said. A total of 1.23 crore voters, including 60.79 lakh women and 147 third-gender electors, are eligible to exercise their franchise on Wednesday. Altogether 528 candidates, including Chief Minister and JMM leader Hemant Soren, his wife Kalpana Soren and Leader of Opposition Amar Kumar Bauri of the BJP, are trying their luck in the second phase of the elections. Eighteen of the 38 constituencies are in the Santhal Pargana region comprising six districts - Godda, Deoghar, Dumka, Jamtara, Sahibganj and Pakur. The remaining 18 seats are in North Chotanagpur division and two in South ...
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday said the BJP and its allies have started to distance themselves from Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's "Batoge toh katoge" slogan. Yadav termed the slogan -- given by Adityanath in a call apparently to Hindus to stay united -- as "unconstitutional" and the "most negative" in the history of the country. Addressing a gathering in the Bakshi Ka Talab area here, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said, "The chief minister's slogan is like the British's divide and rule policy. The British have left but people with their thinking are taking their ideas forward". "Batoge to katoge is the most negative and unconstitutional slogan in the country's history. The BJP leaders and its allies are distancing themselves from the slogan," he added. Taking a veiled jibe at Adityanath, the SP chief said without taking any names that one becomes a 'yogi' by one's thoughts and words, not clothes. He said the BJP knows that it is going to
The BJP on Tuesday played purported voice notes of Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole and NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule to allege attempts to encash Bitcoins to influence Maharashtra elections, claiming it poses a serious question on the conduct of polls in a free and fair manner. BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi claimed that the development has "unmasked" the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and sought replies from the Congress and Sule, a Lok Sabha MP and daughter of NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar. Ahead of the BJP's scheduled press conference, Sule posted on X about the "familiar tactics of spreading false information to manipulate the righteous voters" before the polling day on Wednesday. She said, "We have filed a criminal complaint to the ECI & the Cybercrime Department against the fake allegations made of bitcoin misappropriation. The intent and mala fide actors behind it are amply evident, condemn-worthy that such practices are taking place in a healthy ...
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Police on Tuesday registered two FIRs against BJP general secretary Vinod Tawde, party candidate Rajan Naik and others in connection with the alleged distribution of cash to voters at a hotel in Palghar a day before the Maharashtra polls, an official said. The cases were registered at the Tulinj police station in the district for alleged violation of the election code of conduct in place for the November 20 assembly elections, he said. The first FIR named Tawde and others for assembling at a hotel in violation of the poll code, while the second one accuses them of luring voters by offering cash and alcohol to them, the police said. Hours before the assembly polls, Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA) leader Hitendra Thakur accused Tawde of distributing Rs 5 crore at a hotel in Virar, 60 km from Mumbai, to woo voters, a claim the BJP leader denied, saying he was only providing guidance to party workers on poll procedures. A Tulinj police station official said, "In the first FIR, 22 people, ..
The incident, which took place in Mumbai, unfolded as Bahujan Vikas Aghadi members cornered BJP leader Vinod Tawde for allegedly carrying Rs 5 crore cash to distribute among voters
The BJP relies on micro-management to connect with the public. This strategy was successfully employed during the Maharashtra assembly elections 2024, utilizing social media to reach not only domestic
Gahlot's shock resignation followed just months before the Delhi Assembly elections. He joined the BJP a day later on Monday and cited internal challenges in the AAP as the reason behind his decision
BJP leaders on Tuesday staged a protest against the AAP government and distributed face masks at the most polluted areas of the city, Anand Vihar and ITO, as Delhi continued to grapple with severe air pollution. During an awareness-cum-mask distribution programme at Anand Vihar, Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva slammed Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal and Chief Minister Atishi, alleging the government's inaction in addressing the pollution crisis. "The people of Delhi are struggling for their breaths while Kejriwal and Atishi are defending AAP government in Punjab where crop stubble burning is choking the national capital. The condition of damaged roads and dust pollution has worsened the situation further," Sachdeva claimed. Former Union Minister Vijay Goel staged a protest at ITO, and alleged that the AAP government in Delhi has failed to help the people struggling against the persisting hazardous air in the city. Goel questioned how many more years it will take for .
The Congress on Tuesday took a swipe at the BJP over some MLAs of the ruling NDA reportedly skipping a meeting called by Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh, saying the writing on the wall is clear and asked whether Home Minister Amit Shah is reading it. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh also asked how long will the "excruciating agony" of the people of Manipur continue like this. Noting that the Manipur Assembly has 60 MLAs, Ramesh said that on Monday night, the CM of Manipur called a meeting in Imphal of all MLAs belonging to the NDA. "Other than him, only 26 showed up. Of these 26, 4 belong to the NPP whose National President has already written to the BJP National President withdrawing support to the present CM," he said. "The writing on the wall is clear. But is the grand sutradhar of Manipur - the Union Home Minister, to whom the PM has abdicated and outsourced all responsibility for the state - reading it?" Ramesh said in his post on X. Amid
The Congress on Tuesday accused the Mahayuti government in Maharashtra of creating a water crisis in Marathwada and said the region's water woes remain a glaring example of its inadequate planning and failure to provide sustainable solutions. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the Mahayuti's "six-step guide to creating a water crisis" includes delayed implementation of a water grid. Despite launching the ambitious Marathwada Water Grid Project in 2019, the BJP-led government failed to ensure its timely execution, he said in his post on X. Ramesh said that after returning to power by horse-trading in 2022, the Mahayuti revived the Water Grid Project but its execution continues to be slow, with no substantial relief provided to Marathwada's water-scarce regions so far. The government's focus on securing Rs 20,000 crore from the central government and international organisations has delayed the scheme's implementation on the ground, the Congress lea