Elections

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has fielded 40 candidates, giving added importance to the GMC elections while the ruling BJP is making all out efforts to win the polls. After its success in the recent Punjab Assembly elections and buoyed by its first taste of success in two municipal wards in Lakhimpur and Tinsukia districts in last month's civic polls, the AAP is seeking to expand its base in Assam and in the northeastern region.

The bypoll for the erstwhile royal seat of the Chhatrapatis was necessitated following the death of Congress MLA Chandrakant Jadhav who succumbed to Covid-19 in December 2021. Top leaders of the Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress hailed Jayashree Jadhav's victory saying that the people of Kolhapur had rejected outright the BJP's divisive politics of Hindutva and hatred vis-a-vis the MVA's all-inclusive developmental agenda.

Even before the din over the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections subsides, political parties are gearing up for the legislative council elections. Nominations for the legislative council elections to be held across 36 seats began on Tuesday. The voting will be held on April 9 and the counting of votes will take place on April 12. At present, the Samajwadi Party has a majority in the legislative council.

In a major development, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday announced that two former Union Ministers -- Shatrughan Sinha and Babul Supriyo -- will contest the upcoming West Bengal bypolls for the Trinamool Congress.The chief minister announced that Shatrughan Sinha will be the party's candidate for bypoll to Asansol Lok Sabha seat, and Babul Supiyo will be the candidate for Ballygunge Assembly constituency.

Five women were elected to the 60-member Manipur Assembly in the 2022 polls, the highest-ever in the electoral history of the state, where 10,57,336 women voters (52 per cent) outnumbered the male electorate of 9,90,833. Firebrand women leader and JD-U candidate Thounaojam Brinda, who was the Additional Superintendent of Police (Headquarters), also contested the elections from the Yaiskul constituency but came third, bagging 4,574 votes (18.93 per cent).

As per latest Election Commission update at 11 a.m., the BJP is leading in 44 constituencies with 44.2 per cent vote share while the principal opposition party Congress is leading in 21 seats with 39.2 per cent vote share. The Bahujan Samaj Party is leading in two seats with 4.8 per cent vote share while two independents are leading in Uttarakhand.

As per the early counting trends, former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat is now trailing by over 7,000 votes from his nearest rival BJP's Mohan Singh Bisht in the Lal Kuan constituency. At 10.30 a.m. as per the Election Commission data, Rawat got 7,939 votes while the BJP candidate is leading with 14,724 votes. Rawat was a top contender for the Chief Minister's post if Congress gains a majority.

As per early counting trends, former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat is leading with a slight margin in the Lal Kuan constituency as the Congress and BJP are running neck to neck in the 70-member Assembly. Rawat is a top contender for the Chief Minister's post if Congress gains a majority. Even as the exact numbers were awaited, sources said that Rawat was in the leading position.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has swept the civic bodies polls in Assam securing a majority in 75 municipal boards while its ally Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) wrested two, election officials said on Wednesday. The main opposition Congress managed to secure only Narayanpur Municipal board in Lakhimpur district, and independents bagged two boards -- Mariani Municipal Board and Hailakandi Municipal Board.

With exit polls predicting a tight race between the ruing BJP and the Congress in Goa, the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party may emerge as an integral part of the government formation process, with the regional party expected to expand its footprint from three seats to between six and nine according to the surveys. The MGP and the Trinamool had a pre-poll alliance for the February 14 polls.