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The final voter turnout in Delhi assembly polls was 62.59 per cent, five per cent less than 2015, the Election Commission announced on Sunday evening nearly 24 hours after the polling ended, while the Aam Aadmi Party questioned the "delay". Delhi Chief Electoral Officer Ranbir Singh, however, said there was no unusual delay in announcing the final voter turnout as the returning officers were busy with scrutiny of data to ensure its accuracy. After elections to the 70-member Delhi Assembly were held on Saturday, poll officials had said that there was a turnout of 61.46 per cent, subject to revision. However, as there was no final word from the EC till 4 pm on Sunday, AAP chief and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal took to Twitter saying it was "absolutely shocking" that the poll panel was not coming out with the voting figures. "What is EC doing? Why are they not releasing poll turnout figures, several hours after polling?" Kejriwal tw...

On the penultimate day of campaigning for the Delhi polls on Wednesday, the AAP , the Congress and the BJP slugged it out over issues ranging from citizenship law, appeasement politics and unemployment. The Congress fielded its leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to attack the AAP and the BJP, even as war of words escalated between the BJP and the AAP which traded barbs over the Shaheen Bagh shooter. On Tuesday, police had said that Kapil Baisala, the man who opened fire at Shaheen Bagh protest site last week, was an AAP worker. Addressing a press conference, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that if Baisala was even remotely connected to the his party then he should be given a "double punishment". "I am not aware of his (Baisala's ties) with the any political party. If he is even remotely connected to the AAP, he should be given double punishment. There should be no compromise on national security," he said. Read Com...

The Arvind Kejriwal led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has finally released its manifesto for the Delhi Assembly polls on Tuesday. Just 4 days before the voting begins. AAP's competitors in these elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Indian National Congress had released their manifestos on Friday and Sunday, respectively. So here’s a quick brief of what political parties are offering to win the electoral battle, whose results will be announced on February 11. Starting with the ruling Aam Aadmi Party, which has mentioned 11,000 buses and 500-km metro network for better transportation, doorstep delivery of ration, some commercial areas to remain open 24X7 on a pilot basis, amnesty for old VAT cases, no raid raj, and legal protection to street vendors and hawkers within six months They have also promised pucca houses for slum dwellers, free travel for students, besides women in DTC Buses. Read Complete Article

SpiceJet on Monday said it is offering "hundreds" of "free" tickets, where the base fare will be waived but taxes and other surcharges have to be paid, to select people who want to fly to Delhi to vote in the upcoming assembly elections on February 8. The budget carrier clarified that the participants, who will be selected by the airline's internal panel after their online registration, will have to bear all applicable taxes, surcharges, levies and any other additional costs incurred on the air tickets. In this "SpiceDemocracy" initiative, the airline stated that if the departure to Delhi and return from the city is on February 8, it will refund the entire base fare on both tickets. Alternatively, flyers will be offered a one-way ticket, with the base fare waived off, if they plan to fly on February 7 and return on February 8 or fly on February 8 and return on February 9. The online registration for this initiative will remain o...

It seems chowkidaar would not be guarding BJP’s interest on the back of which it won its massive mandate. The tagline has been dropped from the Twitter handle of the PM. And other leaders, sources said, might follow suit. “The time has come to take the chowkidaar spirit to the next level. The word chowkidaar goes from my Twitter name but it remains an integral part of me. Urging you all to do the same too!” Modi tweeted on Thursday evening. According to sources in Bharatiya Janata Party , the party is going to coin a new term that would replace chowkidaar. This term would portray how the government would function over the next five years. “The people of India became chowkidaars and rendered great service to the nation. Chowkidaar has become a powerful symbol to safeguard India from the evils of casteism, communalism, corruption and cronyism,” the PM said in another tweet. Read Complete Article

Write caption… When the last phase of Lok Sabha elections 2019 end on Sunday, all eyes will be on exit polls that will be released after voting concludes. The counting of votes, which will begin at 8 am on May 23, is expected to take longer than usual this time around and will reportedly continue well into the night. Till then, the numerous exit polls -- regardless of their accuracy -- will put forward their predictions on whether the Narendra Modi-led BJP government will come back to power or not. With the embargo on their broadcast being lifted on Sunday evening, the following exit polls will be announced today: Republic-Jan Ki Baat, Republic-CVoter, Today's Chanakya, ABP-CSDS, News18–IPSOS, India Today-Axis, Times Now-CNX, and NewsX-Neta. Here's everything you need to know about them. ALSO READ: Exit Polls 2019: Be careful; take their forecasts with a bucketful of salt ...

In a big bang election promise , Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday announced that 20 per cent families belonging to the poorest category will be given Rs 72,000 each annually as minimum income if his party comes to power. Making the announcement at a press conference here, Gandhi said 50 million families and 250 million will directly benefit from the scheme. "Final assault on poverty has begun. We will wipe out poverty from the country," he said Gandhi said the Congress has studied the fiscal implications of the scheme and consulted renowned economists and experts before finalising the scheme. "It is an extremely powerful, ground-breaking and well-thought through idea. We have consulted many economists on the scheme," he said. "People have suffered in the last five years and we are going to give justice to them," he added. A Congress official said any family earning less than Rs 12,000 a month would receive Rs 6,000 every month....

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) released its first list of 184 candidates for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls on Thursday. It said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will contest from his sitting seat of Varanasi, while party chief Amit Shah will make his Lok Sabha electoral debut, contesting from Gandhinagar in Gujarat. Other highlights were BJP announcing 28 candidates in Uttar Pradesh, replacing six sitting MPs, four of whom were on seats reserved for Scheduled Castes, which reflected the party’s concerns at the Samajwadi Party–Bahujan Samaj Party–Rashtriya Lok Dal alliance. In 2014, the BJP had won 71 of UP’s 80 seats, with ally Apna Dal winning two. In Chhattisgarh, the party declared candidates on five seats, replacing all five sitting MPs. It has already announced that it will replace all 11 candidates in Chhattisgarh. In 2014, the BJP had won 10 of Chhattisgarh’s 11 seats. The BJP has been disinclined to fielding leaders above 75 years of age. Senior leader L K Advani, the inc...

With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) mobilising itself on social media and on the ground by invoking the chowkidar (watchman) tag, the move has both political and business underpinnings. For one, private security companies -– a booming sector in India -- have donated varying amounts of money to the BJP. A look at the contribution reports of political parties shows that while real estate companies donated both to BJP and Congress, private security sector donations were unique to the BJP. In 2017-18 at least seven private security companies donated to a sum of almost Rs 61 lakh to the party. The biggest donor among these was Security & Intelligence Service (SIS) – one India’s biggest private security companies. It donated Rs 50 lakh to BJP in 2017-18. There were other small security companies which donated as little as Rs 21,000 to the saffron party. Although donations by private security companies are unique to BJP, they are a drop in the ocean of Rs 438 crore donations re...

In India, the world’s fastest-expanding economy, the link between growth and job creation is weakening. New research from the privately-run Azim Premji University shows that a growth rate of 7 per cent is now leading to less than 1 per cent improvement in employment, while in the 1970s and ’80s an expansion of 3 per cent to 4 per cent was resulting in a much higher 2 per cent gain in jobs. The outcome is an unemployment rate that’s hit 5 per cent in 2015, the highest in at least 20 years. The main reason for the worsening correlation between growth and jobs was a mismatch between skills and “ good jobs ,” according to researchers led by Amit Basole. The share of the so-called goods jobs that broadly includes formal employment with regular pay accounted for only 17 per cent of the country’s 467 million workforce. “Simply put, higher growth has raised aspirations but has failed to generate the kind of jobs that will allow people to fulfill those aspirations,” the researchers wr...

The IT Ministry is of the view that WhatsApp has not addressed all concerns raised by the government on curbing fake messages that incite mob lynching incidents, and may reach out to the messaging platform again in a few days, a senior official said today. "We will have to reach out to WhatsApp again... This only happens when one is not entirely satisfied with earlier response," a senior IT Ministry official told PTI. The official added that IT Ministry has "more expectations" from WhatsApp and is "looking into the matter". This could take 2-3 days, the official indicated. "The Ministry feels more need to be done and they (WhatsApp) have not addressed all the concerns," said the official who is privy to the development. An email sent to WhatsApp remained unanswered. WhatsApp has been under fire from the Indian government over fake news and false information being circulated on its messaging platform. Such messages hav...

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has quit the ruling alliance in Jammu and Kashmir, a senior leader said on Tuesday, taking a veiled dig at chief minister Mehbooba Mufti’s Peoples Democratic Party in the wake of a surge in violence in the militancy-hit state. “ It has become untenable for the BJP to continue in the alliance,” party leader Ram Madhav said. He did not, however, name Mufti or the PDP in his address to the press. Ram Madhav said the Centre’s ruling BJP did everything feasible for the development of the state, which has been on the boil since the killing of a militant leader two years ago. Madhav backed his party’s decision to tie-up with the PDP after the 2015 assembly polls, stressing the BJP’s objectives were to restore peace and encourage fast development. “ Keeping in mind the larger interest of India's integrity and to bring the deteriorating situation in the state under control, it would be apt to hand over the governance to the governor of J...

Lal Singh, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former minister in the Mehbooba Mufti-led Jammu and Kashmir government, took out a rally on Sunday to demand a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the rape and murder of the eight-year-old girl in Kathua district. Singh walked barefoot for around five hours after which he got in a vehicle as he developed blisters on his feet. BJP leaders Singh and Chander Prakash Ganga had found themselves in a controversy after they took part in a rally organised by the Hindu Ekta Manch in January in support of the accused in the case, following which they had to resign from the Mehbooba Mufti Cabinet. Meanwhile, a report by the Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory (CFSL) has revealed that the signatures of Vishal Jangotra, who is a key accused in the Kathua rape and murder case , at his examination centre in Meerut were forged. Jangotra had claimed that he was writing his exams in Meerut when the rape incident had a...

It is a good performance by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Karnataka Assembly polls and this is being reflected well in the enthusiasm shown by the markets. The upbeat performance at the bourses was warranted, given the surprising outcome. However, this is as far as the markets will go in the short term. They were already factoring in a good performance – though not exactly a majority – ahead of the poll result. The performance has actually been better than expected. Going ahead, the markets will now look at domestic and global cues for direction. There are a number of headwinds at the global level that they will have to face now – rising interest rates in the US, geopolitical situation in Iran, crude oil prices and the upcoming US – North Korea meet being some of them. That said, the sentiment will remain upbeat for a few days given the Karnataka assembly election outcome. The Nifty50 can hit 11,000 in the next couple of days. ALSO READ: Karnataka Election res...

On the cusp of delivering a crushing defeat to the Congress in Karnataka Assembly election 2018, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday was on course to emerge as the largest single party in the state. But the 110-seat halfway mark of the 222 constituencies that went to the polls on Saturday was still eluding the party at the time of filing of this report. Elections to the remaining two seats will be held on May 28. Interestingly, the Congress led the BJP in terms of vote share by over a percentage point. But, the BJP maximised its winnings in its areas of influence. If the Congress’ vote share was 38 per cent, the BJP's was 36.7 per cent. The Janata Dal (Secular) proved that prophecies of its demise were premature. The JD(S) was on course to match its 2013 tally of 40 seats, and its vote share was 17.7 per cent, two percentage points less than in 2013. But, with BJP inching towards the majority mark, it seemed the JD (S) could have lost the opportunity to play the ...

In a major development in the politically sensitive Unnao rape case , the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has reportedly confirmed rape charge against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar. Citing sources, The Times of India reported that the CBI corroborated the survivor’s charge that Sengar raped her at his home on June 4 last year while his female accomplice, Shashi Singh, stood guard outside the room. The central agency is also reported to have found the local police at fault. According to the report, the police did not name Sengar and some other accused in the FIR, even as the survivor mentioned their involvement several times. Speaking to the media over the report, the vicitim and her uncle demanded death sentence for Sengar. "I demand death penalty for BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar for raping me and murdering my father," the victim said. In an apparent connivance with the accused persons, the police also reportedly delayed the girl'...

Haryana's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Chief Media Coordinator Suraj Pal Amu on Sunday passed derogatory remarks against ' Padmavati ' filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali, actress Deepika Padukone and actor Ranveer Singh. Amu threatened actor Ranveer Singh, who is playing Delhi Sultanate ruler Alauddin Khilji in the movie, for supporting Bhansali. "If you (Ranveer Singh) do not take back your words, we will break your legs [Agar tune apne shabd wapas nahin liye, toh teri taango ko todkar tere haathon mein de dengey)," he said, adding slurs against the actor. He also praised the Meerut youth for announcing Rs 5 crore bounty for beheading Deepika and Bhansali. "I want to congratulate the Meerut youth for announcing Rs 5 crore bounty for beheading Deepika, and Bhansali. We will reward the ones beheading them, with Rs 10 crore, and also take care of their family's needs," he added.

Sixty-eight Assembly seats will on Thursday go to the polls in a single phase in Congress-ruled Himachal Pradesh, where the BJP is determined to take power. Officials said everything was in place for a smooth conduct of the polling in 7,525 booths. A total of 5.025 million electorate, including 1.9 million women and 14 transgenders, will decide the fate of 338 candidates including 19 women. The vote count will be held on December 18 along with those of Gujarat. The CPI-M has fielded candidates on 14 seats while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which made its debut in the hill state in the 2014 Lok Sabha election, has preferred to stay away. ALSO READ: Himachal Pradesh goes to polls today Political observers say the contest between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is neck and neck as there is no clear wave in favour of any party. It is literally a do-or-die battle for both the Chief Ministerial faces. Both are struggling for their political survival...

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) parliamentary board is slated to meet on Monday to pick the vice-presidential candidate of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Today, Opposition presidential candidate Meira Kumar and vice-presidential candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi met members of political parties supporting their respective candidatures. Addressing the members, both Kumar and Gopalkrishna Gandhi stressed that while electoral college numbers are stacked against the Opposition but the battle was ideological and has brought together political parties from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. Congress president Sonia Gandhi said the Constitution and the law of the land were “sadly under siege today”. “In these contests, the numbers may be against us. But the battle must be fought and fought hard. We cannot and must not let India be hostage to those who wish to impose upon it a narrow-minded, divisive and communal vision,” she said. The voting for the presidential election...