State elections 2026 top developments: BJP eyes third term in Assam, NDA-INDIA face-off in Puducherry and a three-way contest in Kerala NEW DELHI: Voting began across Kerala, Assam and Puducherry on Thursday, with early turnout figures till 9 am indicating steady participation. According to the Election Commission of India, Kerala recorded 16.23% turnout, Assam 17.87%,…
Kerala is out for voting on Thursday and the noise is over.The ‘Kalashakkottu’ has ended, the loudspeakers are off and after weeks of rallies, temple runs, church visits, candidate selfies and backroom arithmetic, the election is back where Kerala likes it best – booth by booth, ward by ward, vote by vote.Now the real contest…
The CM vs ex-CM clash between N Rangasamy (left) and V Vaithilingam makes Thattanchavady the most high-profile seat The Union territory of Puducherry, a former French colony, heads to the polls on Thursday, with the ruling All India NR Congress (AINRC)–BJP combine seeking a second straight term in power.The Congress–DMK alliance has emerged as the…
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday urged voters in Kerala, Assam and Puducherry to turn out in large numbers as polling got underway in the three states.In a post on X, PM Modi emphasised the importance of strong participation in Kerala, calling on voters—especially youth and women—to take part actively in the democratic…
NEW DELH: Voting for the 2026 assembly elections in Puducherry began at 7 am on Wednesday, with an unusual attraction at a polling booth in the VOC Government School where a robot named “Nila” welcomed voters arriving to cast their ballots.The robot is seen all decked up and holding a flower tray to welcome the…
NEW DELHI: The informal group of ministers (iGoM) headed by defence minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday directed all departments to continue focusing on preparedness, coordination and resilience building to stay ready to deal with any eventuality due to conflict in West Asia.In a post on X, Rajnath said the govt is ensuring continued availability of…
NEW DELHI: Criticising the rejection of the opposition’s notices for moving a motion seeking removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar by both the Lok Sabha Speaker and Rajya Sabha Chairman, Senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi on Wednesday alleged that the move to reject the notice at the first step itself amounted to “strangulating”…
KOLKATA: BJP has not fielded a single Muslim candidate in the Bengal elections, even from seats it had nominated members of the minority community in previous state polls, despite having about two lakh Muslim members in its ranks in the state. It had fielded eight Muslim candidates in 2021 and three in the 2016 polls.The…
NEW DELHI: The Centre on Wednesday launched a veiled attack on a Tamil Nadu law that wrested control of appointment of ‘archakas (priests)’ to temples, saying Supreme Court in the past had wrongly classified appointment of ‘archakas’ as a “secular act” when it was purely a religious decision.Solicitor general Tushar Mehta made a strong pitch…
Representative image (PTI) HYDERABAD: Several residents of Hyderabad’s old city Tuesday contacted a booth-level officer (BLO) of the Election Commission to help them identify their names on the 2002 electoral rolls as part of the pre-SIR mapping exercise. To their shock, instead of someone who knew the rulebook, they were approached by a sanitation worker…
