Page 5 - Assembly Elections

For the Congress, a middle position is hard to sustain: Zoya Hasan

'While the Congress claims that the yatra is not a tool to win elections, its success will only be gauged in electoral terms in the future'

Will fight next assembly elections: National Conference leader Farooq

Having already announced his decision to step down as president of National Conference, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah on Saturday said he will be contesting the next assembly elections. Abdullah, who on Friday had announced he will be relinquishing the presidency of NC next month, said he is not escaping the responsibility and will continue to work to strengthen the party. "Insha Allah, I am going to fight the next Assembly elections whenever held (in J&K)," Abdullah told reporters here on the sidelines of a function organised to welcome new entrants into the party. Several prominent political activists, including Gurjeet Sharma from Nagrota, joined the National Conference in presence of Abdullah and Jammu provincial president Rattan Lal Gupta. Asked about the next party president, he said the National Conference is a democratic party and the party elections will take place on December 5 to elect a new leader. "People will file their nominations and the .

Gujarat polls: 788 candidates in fray for 89 seats in first phase on Dec 1

A total of 788 candidates, including 70 women, remain in the fray for the first phase of the Gujarat Assembly polls for 89 seats on December 1 after the culmination of process of scrutiny of nomination papers and withdrawal of candidature, officials said on Friday. These include candidates from 39 parties and 339 independents, a release from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) for Gujarat informed. While the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the main opposition Congress have fielded their candidates on all the 89 seats, the Aam Aadmi Party will fight on 88 seats, the Bahujan Samaj Party on 57 and All Indian Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) on six Assembly segments. In all 1,362 candidates had filed their papers for the 89 seats, which went down to 999 after scrutiny on November 15, and dipped further to 788 on November 17, which was the last date to withdraw nominations. The Election Commission has so far received 1,515 nomination papers for the 93 seats that

PM Narendra Modi to visit Arunachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh on Saturday

His visit to Arunachal Pradesh is being seen as a key step towards boosting connectivity in the northeast region

Nadda, union ministers, CMs to address 89 BJP rallies in Gujarat on Friday

Senior BJP leaders, including its national president J P Nadda besides Union ministers and chief ministers, are expected to address public meetings on Friday in the 89 Gujarat assembly constituencies going to the polls in the first phase of elections on December 1. With the BJP intensifying its campaign, party sources said Nadda will hold rallies in three places -- Navsari, Ankleshwar and Rajkot East -- while Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Narendra Singh Tomar and Anurag Singh Thakur will speak at three, four and four meetings, respectively. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his Madhya Pradesh counterpart Shivraj Singh Chouhan will address three and four rallies, respectively. Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union ministers V K Singh and Faggan Singh Kulaste are among other party leaders who will be addressing rallies, they said. Saurashtra, Kutch and south Gujarat are the regions going to the polls in the first phase while 93 seats in north a

Gujarat Assembly polls: PM Modi to hold road show in Vapi on Saturday

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior BJP leaders are expected to hold several road shows and public rallies in Gujarat as the party looks to rev up its election campaign to retain power in the state. Modi is likely to hold a road show in Vapi in Gujarat on November 19 and other senior leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, will also spearhead the mass contact programme in different parts of the state, party leaders said. After arriving in his home state on November 19, the prime minister is expected to hold public meetings across the state in the next two days. Shah, who has been frequently camping in the state to give final touches to the party's poll strategy and campaign, may hold over 30 public meetings for the elections scheduled for December 1 and 5, party sources said. Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari will also campaign intensively, they said. The BJP has won assembly polls in the state for six consecutive times since 1995 and is pulling o

999 nomination forms out of 1,362 valid for 1st phase of Gujarat polls

A total of 999 nomination forms have been found valid out of the 1,362 forms filed for the first phase of the Gujarat Assembly polls in 89 seats, state election officials said on Wednesday. Tuesday was the last day for the scrutiny of nomination forms for the first phase of elections to be held on December 1. The Election Commission started accepting forms for the first phase on November 5 and the last date was November 14. After due scrutiny, 999 forms were held valid, the office of the state Chief Electoral Officer said in a release. For the second phase of election to be held on December 5 in 93 seats, 341 nomination forms have been received so far since November 10 when the process began, it said. Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, who is contesting from Ghatlodia seat in Ahmedabad where voting will be held in the second phase, will file his nomination on Wednesday. The Assembly seats in Banaskantha, Patan, Mehsana, Sabarkantha, Aravalli, Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, Anand, Kheda, ..

Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP MPs predict mid-term Assembly polls in Maharashtra

NCP MP Sunil Tatkare and Sena (UBT) MPs Sanjay Raut and Vinayak Raut have expressed the likelihood of early elections in view of the "unstable" political situation in the state.

Gujarat: BJP candidates list out, Alpesh contesting from Gandhinagar South

The party has fielded Mahesh Bhuria from Jhalod, Jayantibhai Rathwa from Jaitpur and Keur Rokdia from Sayajiganj.

If BJP wins majority, Bhupendra Patel will be CM of Gujarat again: Shah

Bhupendra Patel will remain the chief minister of Gujarat if BJP secures a majority in the next month's Assembly elections, senior party leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Monday. Shah's statement makes it clear that Patel is the chief ministerial candidate of the BJP, which is eyeing the seventh consecutive term in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah. "If BJP gets a majority in Gujarat, Bhupendra Patel will be the next chief minister," Shah told CNN-News18 here. Patel replaced Vijay Rupani as the chief minister in September 2021, a move that surprised many. He is the first-time MLA from the Ghatlodia constituency. He is renominated from the same seat. Earlier, Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party had declared party leader Isudan Gadhvi as the chief ministerial candidate after conducting a "public survey". Congress has decided not to declare the CM face for the elections. Voting for the total of 182 seats in Gujarat will be held in two phases on

EC puts in place multi-layered monitoring mechanism for Assembly polls

The Commission visited Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh in Sept for reviewing electoral preparedness and dedicated teams also visited various regions of the two states in October to oversee preparations

Gujarat polls: BJP faces rebellion, 5 threaten to contest as independents

At least one sitting Bharatiya Janata Party MLA and four former legislators have threatened to contest as independents after being denied tickets by the BJP for the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections. While some of these disgruntled leaders have said they will make their next move after consulting supporters, former BJP MLA and the party's known tribal face Harshad Vasava already filed his nomination papers on Friday as an independent from Nandod seat, reserved for Scheduled Tribe candidates. Vasava is the president of Gujarat BJP's Scheduled Tribe Morcha and represented the erstwhile Rajpipla seat between 2002 and 2007 and from 2007 to 2012. Nandod in Narmada district is currently held by the Congress. The BJP has fielded Dr Darshana Deshmukh from the seat. Unhappy over the announcement, Vasava resigned from his post in the BJP and submitted his nomination papers for the Nandod seat on Friday. Elections for the 182 member Gujarat Assembly will be held in two phases on December 1

Guj Assembly polls: 324 candidates file nomination forms; AAP leads with 70

A total of 324 candidates have filed nominations for the two-phase polls to the 182-member Gujarat Assembly since the process began on November 5, an official said on Saturday. While 316 candidates have filed nomination forms for the first phase of polling on December 1, eight for the second phase on December 5, a release from the state's chief electoral officer said. Votes will be counted on December 8. As per information made available by poll authorities, 70 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidates have filed nominations, followed by 52 from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), 48 from the opposition Congress, 21 from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), nine from the Bharatiya Tribal Party (BTP) and several Independents. AAP candidates have filed 14 nominations for seats in Surat district, 12 in Rajkot and eight in Kutch, it said. Nominations have been filed in different districts such as Kutch, Surendranagar, Morbi, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Devbhumi Dwarka, Porbandar, Junagadh, Gir Somnath, ..

Himachal Pradesh records 65.92% turnout till 5 pm: EC provisional data

Himachal Pradesh recorded a voter turnout of 65.92 per cent till 5 pm on Saturday, the Election Commission said, citing provisional polling figures for the state where the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress are locked in an aggressive fight. Voting began at 8 am on a slow note but picked up as the day progressed and the sun warmed the winter chill. The assembly election is a crucial test for the BJP which is hoping to beat precedent and return to power while the Congress has urged voters to go by tradition of voting out the incumbent. Only around five per cent polling was recorded in the first hour, while till 11 am, it was 19.98 per cent. It notched up to 37.19 per cent by 1 pm and 55.65 per cent till 3 pm. Till 5 pm, a 65.92 per cent turnout was recorded, the Election Commission (EC) said. The highest polling of 72.35 per cent was recorded in Sirmour district followed by 68.48 per cent in Solan and 67.67 per cent in Una and 67.5 per cent in Lahaul and Spiti. The high-altitud

Himachal Pradesh Assembly polls: 55.65% voter turnout recorded till 3 pm

Himachal Pradesh, where the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress are locked in an aggressive fight, recorded a voter turnout of 55.65 per cent in the first five hours of polling till 3 pm on Saturday, the Election Commission said. Voting began at 8 am on a slow note but picked up as the day progressed and the sun warmed the winter chill. The assembly election is a crucial test for the BJP which is hoping to beat precedent and return to power while the Congress has urged voters to go by tradition of voting out the incumbent. Only around five per cent polling was recorded in the first hour, while till 11 am, it was 19.98 per cent. It notched up to 37.19 percent by 1 pm and till 3 pm, the state recorded a 55.65 per cent turnout. The highest polling of 62.75 per cent was recorded in Lahaul and Spiti district, followed by 60.38 per cent in Sirmour and 58.9 per cent in Mandi, the home district of Chief Minister Jairam Thakur. The high-altitude district of Lahaul and Spiti had recorded

HP elections: 157 polling stations solely being managed by women staff

157 polling stations across the state are such that are being managed solely by women staff: EC

Nearly 30,000 security personnel deployed to ensure free, fair polls in HP

Polling for 68 Assembly segments would be held in a single phase today

Double-engine govt necessary for development of Himachal: Anurag Thakur

Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Thursday said a "double-engine" government is necessary in Himachal Pradesh to ensure faster development of the hill state. Addressing rallies on the last day of campaigning for the November 12 Assembly polls, Thakur said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) governments at the Centre and in Himachal Pradesh have ensured all-round development of the state. "Double engine" is a term often used by BJP leaders to refer to the party ruling at the Centre and in a state. "Projects delayed for years were not only started but also completed," Thakur said, addressing rallies in Shimla Rural, Kasauli, Sujanpur and Hamirpur. Polling for the 68-member Himachal Pradesh Assembly is scheduled to be held on Saturday. The BJP is locked in a tough fight with the Congress to retain power in the state. Thakur hit out at the Congress and accused the opposition party of putting up hurdles in the way of development projects in the state. "In 2003,

Multiple CM faces our strength, not weakness: Congress President Kharge

The presence of several chief ministerial faces in Himachal Pradesh is not the Congress' weakness but its strength, party president Mallikarjun Kharge said on Thursday as the campaign for assembly elections in the hill state drew to a close. The ruling BJP, in contrast, is going into elections banking just on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's face because it is "aware of the failures of the chief minister (Jairam Thakur) and the state government", Kharge, who is overseeing his first elections after assuming charge as Congress president last month, said. "The PM is saying don't look at the candidate, vote for me. This attitude belittles the people of Himachal Pradesh. They know the prime minister will not be there in the state after the voting ends," the Congress veteran told PTI in an interview, referring to Modi's campaign speeches. Confident that the Congress will wrest power from the BJP because the people were determined to bring in change, Kharge said his party is going into the .

Ahead of assembly polls, 23rd tranche of electoral bonds opens for sale

Ahead of assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, the 23rd tranche of electoral bonds opened for sale on Wednesday. The bond sale will close on November 15. The Gujarat assembly elections will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5, while Himachal Pradesh will go to polls on November 12. Electoral bonds have been pitched as an alternative to cash donations made to political parties as part of efforts to bring transparency in political funding. State Bank of India (SBI), in the 23rd phase of sale, has been authorised to issue and encash electoral bonds through 29 authorised branches from November 9-15, the finance ministry had said in a statement earlier this week. Usually, electoral bond tranches are open for sale between 1-10 of a designated month. For instance, the 22nd tranche of bond sales took place from October 1-10, 2022 while 21st tranche was from July 1-10, 2022. Sale of the first batch of electoral bonds happened from March 1-10, 2018. The authorised SBI