Ecstatic BJP workers broke into celebrations in across West Bengal as the party took early lead in the state assembly polls.
Vote counting is underway in West Bengal, with BJP ahead in 194 seats as of 2 pm. Counting began at 8 am across 77 centres for 293 constituencies in 23 districts
Initial trends showed the ruling Congress in Karnataka was ahead in Bagalkot, while opposition BJP has maintained a lead in Davanagere South assembly segment, as the counting of votes for by-elections is underway on Monday. The voting for the by-election was held on April 9. The polls were necessitated by the deaths of senior Congress MLAs H Y Meti (Bagalkot) and Shamanur Shivashankarappa (Davanagere South). According to the Election Commission, Congress party's Umesh Meti was ahead of BJP's Veerabhadrayya Charantimath by a margin of 5,016 votes. In Davanagere South, BJP's Srinivas T Dasakariyappa was leading ahead of Congress party's Samarth Mallikarjun by a margin of 577 votes. Nine and 25 candidates were in the fray, respectively in the Bagalkot and Davanagere South Assembly segments. Although the outcome of these by-elections is unlikely to have an immediate impact on state politics, the contest is seen as a matter of prestige for both the ruling Congress and the opposition .
Mamata Banerjee urged TMC workers to stay at counting centres, alleging BJP and the Election Commission were hiding TMC's real lead as Bengal trends showed BJP ahead
Police resort to lathi charge at Jai Hind Bhavan polling booth in Bhabanipur after BJP candidate Suvendu Adhikari alleges attack by TMC workers.
The Commission's decision effectively annuls the earlier voting in the constituency, with fresh polling now scheduled later this month
Punjab Police is learnt to have booked Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak, who recently defected to the BJP, sources said on Saturday. Two FIRs have been lodged against Pathak under non-bailable sections, they said. No further details about the FIRs have been disclosed yet. Pathak was among the seven Rajya Sabha MPs who had quit the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and joined the BJP. On April 24, the AAP suffered a jolt when seven of its 10 Rajya Sabha MPs quit, alleging that Arvind Kejriwal's party has strayed from its principles, values and core morals. Of the seven MPs -- who were Pathak, Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal, Harbhajan Singh, Rajendra Gupta, Vikramjit Sahney and Swati Maliwal -- six were from Punjab. Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan later officially accepted their merger with the BJP, reducing AAP's strength in the Upper House to three. Meanwhile, the BJP on Saturday has reacted to the FIRs on Pathak, accusing AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal of indulging in vendetta politics and
BJP wants to forcefully rig elections; our workers and people ready to die, says CM Mamata Banerjee
Exit polls show a setback for the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF, strongly favouring the UDF, while the BJP remains on the margins
A poll of exit polls shows that TMC and BJP will be neck-and-neck in the state, as both parties are expected to win around 132-151 and 138-154 seats, respectively
A poll of exit polls has predicted the BJP to win around 82-92 seats in the state, while the Congress-led alliance is expected to win around 24-32 seats
Senior BJP leader Amit Malviya claimed that in multiple booths, the BJP option was allegedly blocked using tape and demanded repoll in affected areas
Voting began on Wednesday in 142 constituencies in the second and final phase of the West Bengal assembly elections, amid unprecedented security arrangements and a high-stakes contest that could decide whether the ruling TMC retains its dominance over southern districts or the BJP can force open the gates of power in the state. Polling started at 7 am with voters lining up outside booths across Kolkata, Howrah, North and South 24 Parganas, Nadia, Hooghly and Purba Bardhaman - districts that together form the political and electoral core of the state. Unlike the first phase, where the BJP sought to defend its north Bengal gains, the final round shifts the battle squarely to the TMC's strongest belt. In 2021, the ruling party had won 123 of these 142 seats, leaving just 18 for the BJP and one for the ISF. That arithmetic explains why the BJP has treated this phase as its real test. Without breaching south Bengal, there is little route to power in the state. At the centre of the conte
The ruling BJP has taken a lead in the local body elections in Gujarat, winning 2,531 seats so far out of more than 9,200 as per the initial rounds of counting that began on Tuesday morning, officials said. According to the latest data shared by the State Election Commission (SEC), the Congress has won 385 seats, while the Independents and other parties, including the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), have bagged 169 seats. The BJP has emerged far ahead of its rivals, clinching 1,165 seats in taluka panchayats, 251 in district panchayats, 825 in municipalities and 290 in municipal corporations, according to early trends. The Congress, the main rival party, has secured 235 seats in taluka panchayats, 23 in district panchayats, 118 in municipalities, and 8 in municipal corporations. Officials said counting of votes commenced at 9 am amid tight security arrangements across the state. Polling was held on Sunday for elections to 15 municipal ...
Raghav Chadha, a Rajya Sabha member from Punjab, resigned from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday after months of tension with the party leadership.
Young voters cite gaps in employment opportunities, strained public services and governance challenges as key factors shaping their choices
AAP plans legal challenge after Rajya Sabha Chairman accepts merger of seven MPs with BJP, sparking debate over anti-defection law provisions
West Bengal recorded a turnout of 18.76 per cent in the first two hours of voting in the first phase of the assembly polls on Thursday, according to the Election Commission.
Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan on Monday officially accepted the merger of seven Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MPs with the BJP, reducing the strength of Arvind Kejriwal's party in the Upper House to three. After this transition, the BJP's strength in the Upper House has increased to 113. Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal, Harbhajan Singh, Sandeep Pathak, Vikramjit Sahney, Swati Maliwal, and Rajinder Gupta are the seven MPs who have merged. The Rajya Sabha website now shows that the seven MPs are part of the BJP list of members. The seven MPs had on Friday petitioned the Rajya Sabha Chairman to be treated as BJP MPs after the merger and the same has been accepted, sources said. The AAP had on Sunday moved a petition before the RS Chairman seeking the termination of the membership of the seven MPs, who had switched sides. Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh said he has submitted a petition to Chairman Radhakrishnan seeking the disqualification of the seven party MPs in the Upper House, who
Industrial distress and precarious law and order situation in the jute hub of North 24 Parganas district in West Bengal dominate the poll agenda in the cosmopolitan Noapara, Bhatpara and Barrackpore assembly constituencies, where the feud between BJP leader Arjun Singh and his associate-turned-rival TMC MP Partha Bhowmick writs large. Singh, a former BJP MP of Barrackpore Lok Sabha seat, is contesting from Noapara, promising to resolve the jute crisis affecting the mills in the region. He is taking on TMC's Trinankur Bhattacharjee, who replaces veteran party leader and sitting MLA Manju Basu in Noapara. While the TMC won Barrackpore and Noapara in the previous polls, the BJP won Bhatpara in the 2019 bypoll and the 2021 elections. The BJP has renominated Arjun's son, Pawan Singh, from Bhatpara. A centre of Sanskrit learning in medieval and pre-modern Bengal, Bhatpara has now become infamous for turf wars and deadly clashes that keep the residents on tenterhooks. Bhowmick and Arjun .