Rajasthan Election Final Results 2018

Rajasthan Assembly Election 2018: Counting of votes will begin shortly. Stay with us for LIVE updates on Rajasthan election result

Rajasthan Assembly Election 2018: Counting of votes has begun in Rajasthan. As exit polls predicted, Congress has taken early lead in the desert-state. Exit polls said Congress would defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), throwing out incumbent Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje’s government.

A party needs 101 seats in the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly, but election in one seat was rescheduled after a candidate died. The BJP had won 163 seats in the 2013 Rajasthan Assembly elections and secured a vote share of 46.03%, a jump of about eight percentage points over 2008. The Congress had bagged 21 seats with a vote share of 34.27%, a fall of two percentage points.

Rajasthan has a record of not returning any party to power since 1998 and it flip-flops between the BJP and Congress.

The Congress is contesting on 195 seats and has given five seats to its allies — two each to the Loktantrik Janata Dal and the Rashtriya Lok Dal, and one to the Nationalist Congress Party.

The BJP is contesting in all 200 seats on its own.

↓↓↓ Check the Final Counting of the Votes ↓↓↓

Rajasthan Election Final Results

Madhya Pradesh Election Final Results 2018

Madhya Pradesh election result 2018 will be declared today. Exit polls show a neck-and-neck fight between the BJP and Congress. Track LIVE updates on Assembly election vote counting

Madhya Pradesh Assembly Election 2018: Counting of votes has begun in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, where exit polls predict the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are locked in a tight contest. In both the states, early trends reveal stiff competition between the two national parties.

In Madhya Pradesh, the BJP has ruled the state since 2003, seeking to retain the state under Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who has held the post since 2005. Chhattisgarh recorded a 76.60 per cent voter turnout when elections were held on November 12 and 20 to elect a new 90-member Assembly.

Madhya Pradesh registered a voter turnout of around 75% in the November 28 Assembly polls. The state has a 230-seat Assembly, where the majority mark is 116. The BJP contested on all 230 seats, the Congress fought on 229, leaving one to its ally, the Loktantrik Janata Dal.

The BSP and the Samajwadi Party (SP), which has allied with the Gondwana Gantantra Party, and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are the other players to watch out for as election results come. The BSP has fielded 227 candidates, while SP and AAP have fielded 51 and 208 candidates.

↓↓↓ Check the Final Counting of the Votes ↓↓↓

Madhya Pradesh Election Final Results

Karnataka Elections 2018 : BJP workers protest against Amit Shah; top developments

Yeddyurappa announced his son will not be contesting from Varuna seat against Siddaramaiah’s son Yathendra in Karnataka elections 2018.

Karnataka Assembly Elections 2018 : The BJP on Monday released the fourth list of seven candidates for the May 12 elections to the 224-member Karnataka Assembly. According to a list finalised by BJP’s Central Election Committee, G R Pravin Patil will contest from Bhadravati while Jaggesh will be party’s candidate from Yeshvanthapura.

The party has fielded Lallesh Reddy from B T M. Layout assembly constituency, H Lilavathi from Ramanagaram, Nandini Gowda Kanakapura, H K Suresh from Belur and J Preetham Gow from Hassan. With this, the BJP has announced 220 candidates leaving names of four candidates.

Earlier today, Yeddyurappa at a rally in Mysuru announced that his son will not be contesting from Varuna seat against Siddaramaiah’s son Yathendra, as projected earlier. Following the announcement, BJP workers created ruckus throwing chairs around. Yeddyurappa himself requested workers to calm down.

Yeddyurappa further expressed confidence on winning the election and said, “I am going to be Chief Minister, it is as certain as the existence of sun and moon. I’m going to spend one day in each constituency to ensure my party’s victory.” Varuna was being seen as the battleground for the sons of Yeddyurappa and Siddaramaiah. The party had earlier released announced 72, 82, and 59 candidates respectively in three lists.

The elections to the 224-member Karnataka Assembly will take place in a single phase on May 12 while counting of votes will begin on May 15.

→ Karnataka Elections 2018

Karnataka Elections 2018: When religion and politics make for a heady cocktail

Bhatkal, with a population of 100,000 - 70% of that Muslim thrives on religion; this also happens to be the birthplace of Yasin Bhatkal, a Navayath who has been convicted in several bomb blast cases.

Karnataka Assembly Elections 2018 » When Mankal Vaidya, the sitting Congress member of legislative Assembly (MLA) from Honnavar-Bhatkal in Uttara Kanara on the Karnataka coast, was re-named the party candidate for the constituency, the first thing he did was writing to the local socio-political body Majlis-e-Islah-o-Tanzeem for support. Vaidya told local reporters: “I have already written to the body seeking its support in the upcoming election, and I am waiting for their response.”
The support of Majlis-e-Islah-o-Tanzeem plays an important role in the Bhatkal-Honnavar constituency, where Muslim bodies come together under the umbrella organisation and vote according to its instructions.

Also approaching Majlis-e-Islah-o-Tanzeem is Inayathullah Shabandri, who got the body’s support in the previous election and is now contesting on a JD(S) ticket. Bhatkal has a population of only about 100,000, but 70 per cent of the population is Muslim. They belong to the Navayath sect of Sunnis but belonging to the Shafi school of thought (unlike other Sunnis in India who belong to Hanafi school). Navayath is translated as “newcomer” from the original Arabic, so they probably settled on the Karnataka coast, having migrated from Iran and the Arabian coast. Majlis-e-Islah-o-Tanzeem, the official organ of the Navayaths, is regarded as the most powerful Muslim organisation in the entire Uttara Kannada district.

Bhatkal thrives on religion. You could say it is notorious for it. This is the birthplace of Yasin Bhatkal, a Navayath who has been convicted in several bomb blast cases across the country, his friends, two brothers Iqbal and Riyaz Bhatkal, and Abdul Kadir Sultan Armar, a former member of the banned Student's Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) who left home 10 years ago with his younger brother Saif.

Like Indian Mujahideen founder Yasin Bhatkal before him, Armar, an Islamic State (IS) volunteer, had also been recruiting jihadists both online and through one-on-one meetings. It was after the arrest of Bhatkal (also known as Mohammed Ahmed Siddibappa) that intelligence agencies discovered that Armar was engaged in acts of violence overseas. He was part of the Ansar-ut-Tauhid, an outfit that had claimed responsibility for the 2008 murder of US envoy John Granville in Khartoum, Sudan. His mission was to die fighting in Iraq and Syria, and so he headed for the IS and was killed recently in Kobane in northeast Syria along the Turkish border.

→ Karnataka Elections 2018

Karnataka Elections 2018 : BJP names 82 candidates in 2nd list; Owaisi backs JD(S)

Will Siddaramaiah be able to maintain his bastion or will Modi magic work again in Karnataka elections? The results will be known on May 15.

Karnataka Assembly Elections 2018 » The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday announced 82 candidates who will be contesting the high stakes, high decibel Karnataka elections. The list includes the elder brother of tainted mining baron G Janardhan Reddy and son of late chief minister S Bangarappa, for the Karnataka Assembly polls.

In the second list released today, the BJP has fielded Reddy’s elder brother G Somashekar Reddy from Bellary City while Kumar Bangarappa will contest from Sorab. G Janardhan Reddy is an accused in illegal mining case. Krishnaiah Setty, an old associate of Yeddyurappa, has been fielded from Malur. The BJP on April 8 had declared its first list of 72 nominees that included its chief ministerial candidate B S Yeddyurappa, and senior leaders K S Eshwarappa and Jagadish Shettar.

The Congress released it’s list of candidates on Sunday, following which, rebellion erupted in many constituencies as sitting MLAs and strong aspirants vented their ire on being denied a ticket. Supporters of Gayathri Shantegowda staged a protest at Azad Park in Chikmagalur and set tyres on fire as their leader was overlooked. They shouted slogans against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. In Belagavi, supporters of MLA DB Inamdar staged rasta-roko and burnt tyres, even before the list was announced.

The Congress has fielded Siddaramaiah’s son Yatheendra from Varuna, currently held by the chief minister who has shifted to Chamundeshwari. The BJP has not announced its candidate against the chief minister. The BJP was reduced to 40 seats in the last assembly polls in 2013, in which, the Congress had won 122 seats. JD(S) led by Deve Gowda had also won 40 seats. He is contesting from Shikaripura in the upcoming polls.

Karnataka will go to the polls on May 12. The last date for filing the nominations for the 224 constituencies is April 24, while April 27 is the last date for withdrawal of candidature. Will Siddaramaiah be able to maintain his bastion or will Modi magic work again? The results will be known on May 15.

Check BJP Candidate List → Karnataka Elections 2018

Karnataka Elections 2018 : Siddaramaiah gets ticket, no ‘one-family, one-ticket’ rule

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on April 8 announced the first list of its 72 candidates for the Karnataka Assembly election 2018, to be held on May 12.

Karnataka Elections 2018 : After months of speculation and six days of consultation, the All India Congress Committee on Sunday released the complete list of 218 candidates who will be contesting the Karnataka Assembly Election 2018, scheduled on May 12. Chief Minister of Karnataka, Siddaramaiah will contest from Chamundeshwari. Siddaramaiah’s son Yatheendra has also received a ticket — he will be fighting the election from Varuna constituency.

State party chief G Parameshwara will be in the fray from the Korategere seat. Veteran Congress Mallikarjun Kharge’s son Priyank Kharge, the state minister for Information Technology, will contest from the Chittapur constituency. The final candidates’ list contains the names of 112 sitting MLAs — only 10 sitting MLAs have not received tickets.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on April 8 announced its first list of 72 candidates. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah discussed the names of the candidates at the BJP Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting on Sunday. The party is all set to release the second set of candidates’ names in a few days, according to media reports.

Karnataka will go to the polls on May 12. The last date for filing the nominations for the 224 constituencies is April 24, while April 27 is the last date for withdrawal of candidature. Will Siddaramaiah be able to maintain his bastion or will Modi magic work again? The results will be known on May 15.

Out of the 224 constituencies, 173 are reserved for the general category, 36 for the Scheduled Caste (SC) and 15 for the Scheduled Tribe (ST). Congress party has fielded 15 women, 14 Muslims, three Christians and two Jains in Karnataka poll fray. In 2013 Assembly Elections, there were only 10 women contesting the polls.

Two former BJP MLAs — Anand Singh and businessman B Nagendra — whose names have been mentioned in the illegal iron ore mining racket, have been given tickets in Bellary region.

There are six seats where the Congress has not announced candidates are Sindgi, Nagthan, Melukote, Kittur, Raichur and Shantinagar. In Melukote, the ruling party may support Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha.

→ Karnataka Assembly Elections 2018

Karnataka Elections 2018: BJP's Yeddyurappa to fight from Shikaripura; updates

BJP released its first list of 72 candidates who will contest in the Karnataka Assembly elections May 12, to be held on May 12. Yeddyurappa will contest from Shikaripura, not Shimoga.

Karnataka Election 2018 : The BJP on Sunday released its first list of 72 candidates to contest in the Karnataka assembly elections 2018, to be held May 12 for the 224 seats across the southern state. “The central election committee of the party has decided the first 72 names for the ensuing Karnataka legislative Assembly elections,” said the BJP in a statement released by its state unit. The committee met under the party’s national president Amit Shah. Other members of the committe, such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also attended the meet at the party’s head office in New Delhi.

Among the candidates are many of the party’s 48 sitting or outgoing legislators from the state’s northern, central and southern regions, including Bengaluru, which has 28 Assembly constituencies. Prominent nominees are the party’s chief ministerial face B S Yeddyurappa from Shikaripura, K S Eshwarappa from Shivamogga, Jagadish Shettar from Hubli-Dharwad Central, Basavaraj Bommai from Shiggaon, C.M. Udasi from Hangal, K.V. Hegde from Sirsi and B. Sriramulu from Molakalmuru (reserved).

For Yeddyurappa, the BJP’s CM candidate, this is a do-or-die election as it will be seen as a prelude to the 2019 general elections as far as South India goes. For the Congress, on the other hand, this is an election for survival. Karnataka is one of the few states in India where they still hold power – and the party will be looking to retain the state.

Important dates for Karnataka Assembly Election 2018:

• 17 April: Issue of notification
• 24 April: Last date of nomination
• 25 April: Date of scrutiny
• 27 April: Last date of withdrawal of candidates
• 12 May: Date of Polling
• 15 May: Counting of votes/ Result day

* Date of notification is April 17 and nominations should be filed by April 24. The last date of withdrawal of candidature is April 27. Counting of votes will take place on May 15.

Different regions and historical voting trends:

In Karnataka, the 2008 assembly elections was won by BJP comfortably with 110 seats, whereas the 2013 assembly elections was swept by the Congress by winning 122 seats. The alternating results and trends may suggest that any party is capable of performing well throughout the state on their given day. Karnataka is divided into 30 districts and 4 administrative divisions and this geography of Karnataka is contained within 6 distinct regions. Different factors make these 6 regions conducive for one party whereas unfavourable to others.

• Coastal region: The coastal region of Karnataka is a BJP stronghold
• Old Mysore region – All the three primary political outfits the BJP, Congress and JD(S) have somewhat equal influence in the Old Mysore region of the state.
• Bangalore region – In the Bangalore region the BJP has historically done well
• Mumbai-Karnataka region – The Mumbai-Karnataka region is dominated by the Lingayat community who have their inclination towards the BJP.
• Hyderabad-Karnataka region – The Hyderabad-Karnataka region of the state is also dominated by the Lingayats and Reddy brothers, both of which are traditionally BJP supporters. Thus BJP has an advantage here as well, but Mallikarjun Kharge a prominent backward class leader of the Congress and the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha belongs to the said region too. This will ensure advantage Congress on many seats which have sizeable votes from the backward community
• Central Karnataka – In Central Karnataka both the BJP and the Congress are expecting to perform well.

Battle for Karnataka: Congress’ biggest challenges lie within, not in BJP

Congress has dubious distinction of snatching defeat from jaws of victory, mainly due to differences within – the one between Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah and his deputy G Parameshwar is an example.

Karnataka Elections 2018 : If there is one party that can be called an expert at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, it is the Congress. Talking of Karnataka, the story of the state government and party here is actually one of differences between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy (and party chief for a long time) G Parameshwar.

The two leaders have not seen eye to eye for a long time – since much before the party came to power in May 2013. In a way, it was the Congress’ considerable majority that led to the disagreements being made public. Siddaramaiah upstaged Parameshwar to become chief minister – after the latter lost his own seat from the Koratgere Assembly constituency in what appeared to be a Congress wave, and earned the dubious distinction of becoming the first party chief in 50 years to lose his own seat. This was after Rahul Gandhi campaigned extensively in the district.

Like past state party presidents like S M Krishna and Dharam Singh had gone on to become CMs, Parameshwar thought he could lay a legitimate claim to that office. Siddaramaiah could see the writing on the wall: Parameshwar’s supporters claimed it was Siddaramaiah who engineered the defeat by telling his own Kuruba community voters to vote en bloc for the rival JD(S) candidate rather than party colleague Parameshwar.

The rift between the two deepened when Siddaramaiah turned down the demand for making Parameshwar deputy chief minister or even minister in his Cabinet. The high command had to intervene to make Parameshwar deputy chief minister – though no one seems to know what a deputy chief minister’s powers are.

As Siddaramaiah is considered a newcomer in the ruling Congress, having joined only in 2005 after revolting against JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda, many old or senior Congressmen were already cut-up that their claims for the top (CM’s) post were ignored. Conscious that he was swimming in a sea of sharks, Siddaramaiah tried to swiftly consolidate his position: He unilaterally announced the Annabhagya (Re 1 per kg rice scheme to BPL families), which cost Rs 4,300 crore annually to the state exchequer, wrote off loans and additional subsidy to milk producers hours after he took oath as CM. He cut Parameshwar and other party leaders out of the deal, though all these promises were in the party’s 2013 manifesto.

→ Karnataka Assembly Election 2018 ←

Battle for Karnataka: What strategy is the Congress working on to beat BJP?

Will Congress’ ‘Ahinda’ formation help it overcome the BJP in the only big state it holds right now?

 

Karnataka Assembly Election 2018 : What is the strategy that the Congress needs to adopt in Karnataka, to retain the only government it has in an important state?

The party has itself indicated the direction in which it wants to go. Caste is going to be central to its calculations. In this context, what did it do right in 2013 that propelled it to power?

It relied on the Ahinda formation, the coalition of Dalits, backward castes, and minorities (Alpa Sankhyata, Hindulida, and Dalit, hence Ahinda). Political analysts have often written about Dalit-backed or socialist political parties forming the Ahinda combination as an election strategy.

Consider the data below. It indicates (in the absence of a caste census which was commissioned by the state government but an authoritative version is yet to come out), how the party deployed its caste appeal. Despite the much-vaunted backward class credentials of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah who is from the shepherd caste, tiny but influential and not populous enough to threaten the other castes, the Congress fielded 52 candidates but could win only 28. It is the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes which came to its rescue, with a strike rate of over 60 per cent between the two of them.

The Vokkaligas did not vote for the Congress and the Muslims had their doubts about them.

Both Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah and chief minister designate BS Yeddyurappa have been wooing Dalits with a passion. Yeddyurappa’s constant refrain is that while the Congress government has allocated money for the development of scheduled castes, (allocations amount to around Rs 60,000 crore) much of the money has been returned unutilized. Yeddyurappa has been spending time with Dalits in social gatherings – dining with them, participating in functions and feting them.

The Dalit bloc in Karnataka has 101 castes and they are categorised into five sections-touchables or Chalavadis (identified as right hand in Kannada to indicate they are touchables), untouchables or Madigas (who are called left hand to indicate they are untouchables), Bovis, Lambanis and 97 microscopic minorities. Though there is no proper study on the Dalit voting pattern, Chalavadis had drifted towards the Congress when Indira Gandhi was leading the party. The Madigas moved to the BJP in early 2000 along with Ramakrishna Hegde who made a special effort to identify politically with them.

Amit Shah fears more corruption if Congress re-elected in Karnataka

The Karnataka government is nothing but the ‘ATM’ of corruption for the Congress: Amit Shah.

Karnataka Elections 2018 : Equating the Congress with corruption, BJP National President Amit Shah on Saturday cautioned the Karnataka voters against re-electing the ruling party on May 12 as it would result in more graft in the southern state.

“If the same party (Congress) is re-elected and forms the government, then corruption will turn into a tsunami wave,” Shah told the media here on the second day of his visit to the state’s old Mysuru region.

Claiming that the people wanted to oust the corrupt Congress from power, the party chief said the ruling party had turned the state government into an ‘ATM’ of corruption for itself.

“The Karnataka government is nothing but the ‘ATM’ of corruption for the Congress,” Shah said.

Noting that 3,500 farmers had allegedly committed suicide across the state over the last four years due to agrarian crisis, Shah it was unfortunate Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had termed the death of so many farmers as a conspiracy.

“It’s a pathetic and insensitive statement by the Chief Minister,” he said.

Blaming the Congress for ignoring the Other Backward Classes (OBCs), Shah regretted that the grand old party had prevented the Modi government from giving constitutional status to the OBCs by blocking an amendment bill in the Rajya Sabha.

“Siddaramaiah says he is an OBC leader and that his government was doing a lot for the OBCs. If it were so, why did he fail to convince his party on not stalling the constitutional amendment,” the BJP leader said.

Appealing to the people to vote for the BJP in the ensuing assembly election, Shah said the state would development rapidly under its chief ministerial candidate B.S. Yeddyurappa and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Centre.

“If the people in the state are looking for change, it’s only the BJP under Yeddyurappa’s leadership is capable of providing it,” claimed Shah, adding the regional party Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) would not be in a position to form the next government in the state.

Vote count is on May 15 after single-phase polling on May 12.

→ Karnataka Assembly Election 2018 ←

Karnataka Assembly Elections 2018: JDS is “B team” of BJP, says Rahul Gandhi

The congress president claimed that his party believes in taking together the poor, dalits, advasis, backward communities and downtrodden.

Karnataka Assembly Polls 2018 : Addressing a rally here in the Lok Sabha constituency of former prime minister and JDS supremo H D Deve Gowda, he said “they (JDS) are supporting BJP from behind. They feel that people of Karnataka will not come to know and they can’t understand.”

Gandhi was on his third round of election campaign in poll bound Karnataka.

The Congress president said “In Karnataka only one party is going to win, its name is Congress party. ”

“Let RSS’ A team, B team, C team, D team, E team join hands, it makes no difference, Congress is going to win,” he added.

Assembly elections 2018 are expected to be held in Karnataka in April/May.

JDS and BJP had earlier joined hands to form a coalition government in Karnataka in 2006, with Deve Gowda’s son H D Kumaraswamy as Chief Minister and current state BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa as his deputy.

The congress president claimed that his party believes in taking together the poor, dalits, advasis, backward.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi today termed Janata Dal (Secular) as “B team” of BJP and said his party would win the coming Karnataka assembly polls 2018.

“JDS people, they have only one work do, (they are) BJP’s B team. They have decided, let whatever happens, let whatever needs to be done…make BJP win,” Gandhi said.

The congress president claimed that his party believes in taking together the poor, dalits, advasis, backward communities and downtrodden.

“On the other side, there are other parties that want to give away entire money of Karnataka to the rich,” he said.

He also asked the people to choose between the party that has given transparent government in Karnataka for the last five years and parties that are involved in corruption.

→ Karnataka Assembly Election 2018 ←

Karnataka Assembly Election 2018: Dates, Results and Opinion Polls

Karnataka Assembly Elections 2018 is one of the most keenly awaited electoral battles of 2018.

Karnataka Assembly Polls 2018 : In 2018, the Karnataka electoral battle becomes that much more interesting as Karnataka is one of the last two big states along with Punjab that is held by the Congress. Karnataka is also the only Southern state of India that has been ruled by the BJP in the past. The Karnataka state elections 2018 is being fought on the backdrop of recent by-poll election losses for the BJP which were held for both state assembly seats and Lok Sabha seats in the states of Rajasthan, MP, UP and Bihar.

Karnataka Assembly Elections 2013:

• From 2008 – 2013 Karnataka was ruled by the BJP government after it came to power under the leadership of B. S. Yeddyurappa by winning 110 seats in 2008 assembly elections and forming the government with the help of few independent MLAs. But later in 2011 due to corruption charges and internal revolts, B. S. Yeddyurappa had to resign from the CM’s post. Later he quit BJP and started his own party named Karnataka Janata Paksha (KJP) and fought against the BJP in the 2013 assemble elections. The Karnataka legislative assembly election of 2013 was held on 5th May 2013 with voting taking place in 50,446 polling stations. The state assembly elections in 2013 saw a healthy voter turnout of 70.23% with 4.18 crore voters exercising their right to vote. The results were declared on 8th May 2013 in which the Indian National Congress (INC) under the leadership of Siddaramaiah was able to secure simple majority of 122 seats with 36.6% vote share, 9 more than the majority mark of 113 in the 224 member house.

Karnataka Elections Dates & Voting Result:

• The current tenure of Karnataka assembly will end on 28th May 2018 and as per rules the assembly election will have to be held and new house will have to be constituted before the said date. It is expected that the Election Commission of India (ECI) will visit Karnataka in the first week of April 2018 and declare the official poll dates somewhere around 15th April 2018 after various board and other examinations are completed. Voting for the 224 assembly seats is expected to be held in early May 2018 with 2nd May being stated as the likely date. The polling is expected to be completed in a single phase just like in 2013.

  Karnataka Assembly Elections 2018 Opinion Polls:

• All the three major political parties and others in the race have launched their election campaign and last ditch political maneuvering is being played out by all players in the state of Karnataka as we speak. Most opinion polls held by private players in early January 2018 had predicted a hung assembly with a nail biting contest between all the three major players; Indian National Congress under the leadership of Siddaramaiah, Bharatiya Janata Party under the leadership of B. S. Yeddyurappa and Janata Dal (Secular) under the leadership of H. D. Kumaraswamy.

→ Karnataka Assembly Election 2018 ←

Northeast Elections 2018: Why BJP is so desperate to hype its Tripura win

Of late, BJP and party chief Amit Shah’s cloak of invincibility has been perceived to be slipping.

Northeast Elections 2018  : The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) celebrations over winning Tripura, and forming coalition governments through the back door in Meghalaya and Nagaland, continued at its parliamentary party meeting on Tuesday morning.

BJP Members of Parliament (MPs) distributed sweets, and raised slogans that now it was the party’s turn to win Karnataka.

Yes, the BJP won Tripura handsomely. But it won neither Meghalaya, where it got two of the 60 seats, nor Nagaland. The Congress was decimated in Tripura and Nagaland, and emerged the single-largest party in Meghalaya.

Together, the three states send five MPs to the Lok Sabha – Tripura and Meghalaya send two each and Nagaland sends one.

The BJP has put some thought into its strategy to continue celebrating its Tripura win, and form coalition governments in Meghalaya and Nagaland. It needs to restore the impression of invincibility that it had managed to create after its victories in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand in March 2017.

However, in that series of Assembly polls, too, the BJP had lost Punjab. Its incumbent government in Goa failed to emerge as the single-largest party, and it was not the single-largest party in Manipur either. But it formed governments in these two states, thanks mostly to behind-the-scenes machinations.

The past few months have not been very good for the BJP and the Narendra Modi government. There have been sustained farmer and trade union protests, and the government has had to try to reach out to farmers.

The Modi government’s claims on providing jobs have been punctured as well. It is seen to have failed to deliver on its promise of creating 20 million jobs a year.
Additionally, the Punjab National Bank fraud has punched holes in its claims of providing corruption-free governance.

→ Meghalaya Elections 2018 Results ←

Nagaland outranks rich states in health, gender equity, but jobs a concern

Almost all or 97% of households in Nagaland have access to electricity, above the national average of 88.2%

Business Standard News : After a decade of precarious peace, Nagaland, India’s once troubled north-eastern state, now rivals and even outperforms India’s richest states on a number of development outcomes, according to an IndiaSpend analysis of 10 states on 20 socio-economic and health indicators.

However, poor infrastructure and a fragile peace continue to be problem areas as the state–formed on December 1, 1963–heads to the polls on February 27, 2018.

Perched on India’s eastern edge bordering Myanmar, Nagaland is roughly the size of Kuwait and has 2 million people, the same as the central Indian city of Indore. There are 16 major tribes and 20 sub-tribes, each marked by distinct clothing and jewellery; 87.93% of its population is Christian. English may be the official language, but over 30 languages and dialects are spoken.

With a per capita income of Rs 78,367, Nagaland ranks 22nd in India, below the national average of Rs 86,454, though ahead of low-income states such as Chhattisgarh (Rs 78,001) and Rajasthan (Rs 75,201). It is also ahead of other north-eastern states such ase Meghalaya (Rs 64,638) and Assam (Rs 52,895), according to the India Economic Survey 2016-17.

For the first time since Nagaland attained statehood in 1963, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which heads the ruling alliance at the Centre, is seeking to expand its presence in the state and in the rest of the north-east. Along with the Naga People’s Front (NPF), the BJP has been a part of the ruling coalition here, the Democratic Alliance of Nagaland.

However, earlier this month, the BJP broke away from the incumbent NPF government over seat-sharing issues. It has now instead joined forces with the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party, which includes many former leaders of the NPF, agreeing to a 20:40 seat-sharing arrangement.

Meghalaya Assembly Election 2018: Explosion at Tizit, top developments

Voting underway in Meghalaya and Nagaland Assembly elections 2018; BJP and Congress slug it out for the Northeast.

Business Standard News : The results of the polls in the two states, along with that of Tripura, will be declared on Saturday, March 3.

Here are the top developments in the crucial Meghalaya and Nagaland Assembly polls:

1) Bomb blast at Nagaland polling station: One person was injured in a bomb blast at a polling station in Mon District’s Tizit, in Nagaland.

2) Voting underway in both states: Amid tight security, voting for the Meghalaya Assembly elections 2018 began on Tuesday, an official said. “Men and women in large numbers queued up in front of many polling stations well before polling opened at 7 am in the entire state. Polling ends at 4 pm,” Chief Electoral Officer Frederick Roy Kharkongor said.

3) Voting only in 59 constituencies in both states: While the two states have a 60-member House each, voting will be held for only 59 constituencies each.

4) Webcasting at 193 polling stations; restrictions on exit polls: Webcasting will be done at 193 polling stations. Further, 312 micro observers have been deployed.

5) BJP leaving no stone unturned to push Congress out: This time around, the BJP appears to be leaving no stone unturned to push the Congress out of power and add Meghalaya to its kitty. The BJP’s push in the north-east, which has traditionally been a Congress stronghold with the saffron party being a marginal player, is being keenly watched by political observers.