Mumbai:

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, speaking exclusively with NDTV, called for collective efforts to drive progress in Maharashtra and India. Assembly elections are scheduled in Maharashtra on November 20, with Mr Pawar contesting against his nephew Yugendra Pawar, the candidate of the rival Nationalist Congress Party faction led by Sharad Pawar.

Commenting on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s slogan “Batoge toh katoge” (If we divide, we will be cut), Mr Pawar said, “All castes should unite and think about India. They should think about Maharashtra. Development cannot happen by creating such differences among each other.”

Mr Pawar claimed the BJP follows an “80-20” voter strategy – that seeks the support of the 80 per cent and not the 20 per cent – and this has, at times, marginalised minority voices. Calling for a return to Maharashtra’s philosophy of inclusion inspired by leaders like Shivaji, Shahu, Phule, and Ambedkar, he said, “I want to follow a political ideology in which everyone is united whether Hindu, Muslim, Dalit or Maratha.” 

“Remember Atal Bihari Vajpayee when he was in power, he tried to take everyone along. His government was both a coalition and a majority, yet he led with an inclusive vision. Our country is so vast, and such thinking resonates with our youth, who are active on social media, constantly seeking new information and forming their opinions,” Mr Pawar told NDTV. 

“Prime Minister Modi speaks of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas,’ and we fully support that slogan. We need everyone to sit together and truly follow that vision. However, if conflicts arise, would you return to the Maha Vikas Aghadi or align with Sharad Pawar’s NCP? Our goal is to first form our Mahayuti government and win more MLAs. The election results are out on November 23, and the government must be formed before November 26,” he added.

Addressing rumours of rifts within the Pawar family, particularly concerning the Baramati constituency where his nephew has opposed him, Mr Pawar downplayed any ongoing disputes. “Everyone has the right to contest elections,” he said. 

Elections to the 288-member Maharashtra assembly will be held on November 20 and votes will be counted on November 23.

New Delhi:

The Election Commission (EC) will announce the dates for Assembly polls in Maharashtra and Jharkhand on Tuesday. The EC will announce the poll schedule at a press conference to be held at 3.30 pm.

In Maharashtra’s last Assembly elections in 2019, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), comprising a then unified Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), along with the Congress, had won 154 of 288 seats. This year’s election will probably be the last prestige battle of 2024 with the fractured Shiv Sena and NCP battling the BJP-led Mahayuti alliance.

Sources in the BJP told NDTV the party will contest on 158 of the state’s 288 seats. It has offered 70 seats to Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena and 50 to Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party.

The Congress, battered by the Haryana defeat, will face an upbeat BJP. Among the key figures to be watched out in the poll season in Maharashtra will be Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange Patil, who has held a series of hunger strikes to demand reservation for the community.

In the Lok Sabha election held this year, MVA won 30 of the state’s 48 Lok Sabha seats. The ruling alliance won 17. One seat went to an Independent candidate.

Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) is ready to lock horns with the BJP. In the 2019 elections, JMM had won 30 seats and went on to form the government with the Congress, which has won 16 seats.

Doubts over the future of this government emerged when Mr Soren was arrested in a land scam case in January, leading to the party’s Champai Soren to take over the chief ministerial post.

Soren said the JMM-led alliance will contest all 81 seats in the upcoming assembly elections. He expressed confidence in the party’s electoral preparedness and asserted that the alliance would regain power in the state.

While the term of the Maharashtra assembly ends on November 26, that of Jharkhand ends on January 5 next year. 

New Delhi:

Ahead of the counting of votes cast in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections, J&K National Conference (JKNC) vice president Omar Abdullah hoped the results would reflect the “good fight”.

JKNC chief Farooq Abdullah said on Monday that his party is open to a strategic post-poll alliance with the PDP to keep the BJP out of power. He also ruled out any chance of staking claim to the Chief Minister’s post should his alliance win the election.

Here’s wishing all my colleagues and allies the very best of luck for today. We fought the good fight & now, InshaAllah, the results will reflect that.

— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) October 8, 2024

The JKNC was among the parties that contested the first polls to be held in the Union Territory in 10 years. The assembly elections for its 90 constituencies were held in three phases – September 18, September 25 and October 1.

While the JKNC contested in alliance with the Congress, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) contested separately. The Congress-JKNC combine is predicted to win the most seats in Jammu and Kashmir, according to a poll of polls.

Key candidates contesting Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections are Omar Abdullah, who is fighting from the Budgam and Ganderbal seats, Sajad Gani Lone of People’s Conference (from Handwara and Kupwara seats), Congress’ Tariq Hamid Karra (from Batamaloo) and BJP state president Ravinder Raina (Nowshera seat).

Follow Jammu Kashmir Election Results LIVE Updates Here

The other notable contestants are Congress leader Ghulam Ahmad Mir (Dooru), PDP leaders Waheed Para (Pulwama), Iltija Mufti (Bijbehara), who is the daughter of Mehbooba Mufti  Apni Party president Altaf Bukhari (Chanapora), CPI(M) veteran Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami (Kulgam) and former deputy J&K chief ministers Muzaffar Hussain Baig and Tara Chand.

Srinagar:
Voting in the first phase of the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir is underway with ballots being cast in 24 of the state’s 90 constituencies.

Here are the top 10 points in this big story:

New Delhi:

With the conclusion of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections on Saturday, all eyes are now on June 4, when the election results will be declared.

While the parties wait for the results with bated breath, about 13 bellwether seats spread across 7 states give a good indication of what to expect on the counting day.

A bellwether seat is a constituency that gives an indication/trend for the region and also its impact on the national level.

Such seats signal the election mood not just locally but nationally as well, as the party winning here is usually the winner at the national level.

These bellwether seats are Valsad, Jamnagar, Banaskantha and Anand (in Gujarat), Faridabad, Ambala, Karnala (in Haryana), Jammu, Udhampur (Jammu), Alwar (Rajasthan), Secunderabad (Telangana), Sasaram (Bihar) and Ranchi (Jharkhand).

All these constituencies voted for a party, which rose to power and formed the government at Centre.

Rajasthan’s Alwar seat voted for BJP (1999, 2019) and for Congress (2004, 2009).

Jharkhand’s Ranchi Lok Sabha seat voted for BJP (1998, 1998, 1999, 2019) and for Congress (2004, 2009).

Haryana’s Karnal LS seat voted for BJP (1999, 2014, 2019) and for Congress (2004, 2009).

Faridabad, another Lok Sabha seat of Haryana voted for BJP (1998, 1999) and for Congress (1980, 1984, 1989, 1991).

Jammu and Kashmir’s Jammu LS seat voted for BJP (1998, 1999, 2014, 2019) and for Congress (2004, 2009).

Meanwhile, a couple of exit polls, at least six polling agencies, have predicted a hat-trick for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, claiming that the BJP is poised to win 2024 elections with a thumping majority.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

BJP leader Sambit Patra found himself in the eye of a political storm following an unfortunate slip of the tongue. During an interaction with media after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s roadshow in Odisha’s Puri yesterday, Mr Patra suggested that Lord Jagannath, the revered deity of the ancient town, is a devotee of PM Modi. This gaffe has ignited a fierce backlash from political rivals, especially from Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal (BJD).

The incident occurred in the sweltering heat and chaos following PM Modi’s roadshow. Mr Patra in his clarifications has said that he had aimed to highlight PM Modi’s devotion to Lord Jagannath but mistakenly stated, “Jagannath is Modi’s bhakt.” The comment, captured on camera, immediately stirred controversy, drawing ire from multiple quarters. The political fallout as a result of Mr Patra’s remarks has prompted the BJP leader to undertake a period of “upvaas” (fasting) in atonement.

READ | Sambit Patra’s “Slip Of Tongue” That Found A New ‘Bhakt’ For PM Modi

“Today, a statement made by me had created a controversy. After PM Narendra Modi’s roadshow in Puri, I gave byte to many media channels and everywhere I said the same thing, that PM Narendra Modi is an ardent devotee of Mahaprabhu Jagannath… In the end, when another channel took my byte, it was extremely hot, crowded and noisy. Unknowingly, while giving the byte, I said the opposite, that Mahaprabhu is a devotee of PM Narendra Modi. This can never be true, and a person in his senses can never say such things that god is a devotee of a human. I have made this mistake unintentionally. I know some people must have been hurt but even god forgives mistakes made unintentionally… I need to seek forgiveness from Mahaprabhu Jagannath for this slip of the tongue and I have decided to do a ‘upvaas’,” Mr Patra said.

आज महाप्रभु श्री जगन्नाथ जी को लेकर मुझसे जो भूल हुई है, उस विषय को लेकर मेरा अंतर्मन अत्यंत पीड़ित है।

मैं महाप्रभु श्री जगन्नाथ जी के चरणों में शीश झुकाकर क्षमा याचना करता हूँ। अपने इस भूल सुधार और पश्चाताप के लिए अगले 3 दिन मैं उपवास पर रहूँगा।

जय जगन्नाथ।

ଆଜି ଶ୍ରୀ… pic.twitter.com/rKavOxMjIq

— Sambit Patra (Modi Ka Parivar) (@sambitswaraj) May 20, 2024

The reaction from Naveen Patnaik was swift and sharp. The Odisha Chief Minister condemned Mr Patra’s statement in a scathing social media post, saying that such remarks insult the sanctity of ‘Mahaprabhu’ Jagannath and hurt the sentiments of millions of devotees. He urged the BJP to refrain from dragging the deity into political discourse, a sentiment echoed by other opposition leaders.

“Mahaprabhu Shree Jagannatha is the Lord of the Universe. Calling Mahaprabhu a bhakt of another human being is an insult to the Lord. This has hurt the sentiments and demeaned the faith of crores of Jagannatha bhaktas and Odias across the world,” Mr Patnaik wrote.

Mahaprabhu Shree Jagannatha is the Lord of Universe.

Calling Mahaprabhu a bhakt of another human being is an insult to the Lord. This has hurt the sentiments and demeaned the faith of crores of Jagannatha bhaktas and Odias across the world.

The Lord is the greatest Symbol of…

— Naveen Patnaik (@Naveen_Odisha) May 20, 2024

The controversy quickly gained momentum, with leaders from various parties joining the chorus of condemnation. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi criticised the BJP’s perceived arrogance, suggesting that such statements indicate a dangerous level of self-aggrandisement within the party. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal echoed these sentiments, calling Mr Patra’s statement a height of arrogance and an “insult to God”.

The Congress, BJD, and AAP capitalised on the uproar, with the Congress demanding an apology from Prime Minister Modi himself. “Sambit Patra, who is immersed in Modi Bhakti, should not have committed this sin. Narendra Modi should apologise for this disgusting statement,” stated the Congress’s official communication.

Amid the escalating backlash, Mr Patra took to social media to clarify his statement. He explained that it was an inadvertent slip of the tongue, a mistake made under the strain of the moment. “I gave a number of bytes today to multiple media channels…by mistake during one of the bytes I pronounced just the opposite. I know you too know and understand this. Sir, let’s not make an issue out of a nonexistent issue. We all have a slip of the tongue sometimes,” Mr Patra wrote directly to Chief Minister Patnaik, seeking to defuse the situation.

Despite Mr Patra’s apology, opposition parties remained unyielding. The Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) lodged a formal complaint, alleging that Mr Patra’s statement was a deliberate attempt to insult religious sentiments. They accused him of violating the model code of conduct and called for strict action.

This controversy unfolds as Odisha heads into a crucial phase of the elections, with Patra’s gaffe potentially influencing voter sentiment. The BJP, which is striving to make significant inroads in the state, now faces the challenge of mitigating the fallout from this incident.

Police and paramilitary personnel stand guard at the polling station during the third phase of Lok Sabha Polls, in Etah on May 7, 2024.
| Photo Credit: ANI

Three Independent MLAs withdraw support to BJP government in Haryana

Three Independent MLAs supporting the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) government in Haryana on May 7 announced the withdrawal of their support to the government, even as the Congress party demanded the holding of Assembly election under the President’s rule in the State, as the government has been reduced to a “minority”.

Karnataka BJP post on Muslim quota | Election Commission tells X to immediately take down post

The Election Commission of India (ECI) ordered X, formerly Twitter, to take down an animated video posted by BJP Karnataka. The video features caricatures of Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, advancing the party’s recent messaging that the Congress is diverting funds and resources away from SC/ST/OBC Hindus towards Muslims. As of May 7 evening, the post had garnered over 90 lakh views, and had not yet been taken down. 

CBI arrests four for pushing Indians into Russia-Ukraine war

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has so far arrested four accused in a case related to trafficking of Indian nationals for combat role in the Russian Army. Arun and Yesudas Junior, both residents of Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram, were held on Tuesday in the case registered on March 6. The other two accused, Nijil Jobi Bensam from Kanyakumari and Anthony Michael Elangovan from Mumbai, were earlier arrested on April 24 and are in judicial custody.

Reject proponents of lies, hatred for a brighter future, Sonia Gandhi urges voters

Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s niti (policy) and niyat (intentions)have led to unemployment, crimes against women and discrimination against Dalits, Adivasis and minorities.

SC to think about giving bail to Kejriwal for campaigning; ED calls it a luxury a ‘real aam aadmi’ cannot afford

The Supreme Court on May 7 decided to mull over the question of granting interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to enable him to campaign as an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader for the ongoing Lok Sabha election.

Advertisers to submit self-declarations before promoting products in media, SC orders

The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed that advertisers should submit self-declarations that they are not misrepresenting or making false claims about products before promoting them in the media.

Gujarat sees 55% turnout; Modi, Shah cast their votes

Over 55% voting turnout was registered till 5 p.m. in the 25 parliamentary constituencies of Gujarat where polling was held in the third phase of the Lok Sabha election on Tuesday. There are 265 candidates in the fray, including three Cabinet ministers Amit Shah, Mansukh Mandaviya and Parshottam Rupala and a Minister of State Devusinh Chauhan.

Fact-check | Misleading posts cast doubt over the credibility of EVMs

Even as the third phase of polling for the Lok Sabha election draws to a close, some on social media have been casting aspersions on the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), the device used to electronically record and count votes cast in elections.

U.K. court rejects fifth bail plea of PNB scam accused Nirav Modi

The fifth bail application of diamantaire Nirav Modi, who is one of the prime accused in the ₹13,578-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam, has been turned down by a United Kingdom court. In April 2021, the Secretary of State of U.K.’s Home Department had ordered his extradition to India, but it has not been implemented so far.

Interpol issues Blue Corner Notice against Prajwal Revanna 

Interpol issued on Tuesday (May 7) a Blue Corner Notice against “absconding” Hassan JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna, accused of multiple instances of sexual abuse. This will help the Special Investigation Team probing the case to locate Prajwal Revanna. He flew to Germany from Bengaluru on April 27 using his diplomatic passport. His whereabouts are currently not known, amid reports that he later flew to Dubai or Hungary.

Foreign Secretary to visit Bangladesh, talks may feature China

China’s planned project along the Teesta in Bangladesh is expected to feature during Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra’s upcoming visit to Bangladesh, a prominent daily in Dhaka has reported.

Want 400 seats to prevent Congress from bringing back Article 370 and locking Ram Temple: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 7 said he needed 400 seats in the Lok Sabha election to prevent the Congress from “bringing back Article 370 [in Kashmir] and putting a lock on Ayodhya Ram Temple”, drawing parallels to the Rajiv Gandhi government overturning the Supreme Court ruling in 1985 in the Shah Bano case, which he characterised as appeasement politics.

Polling ends in Karnataka; month-long, nail-biting wait begins

As the curtains came down on the hard-fought and high-pitched Lok Sabha elections amid the sweltering heat in Karnataka on Tuesday, it will be nearly a month-long tense wait for the electoral fortunes to be known. The counting of votes across the country will take place on June 4.

U.K. court rejects fifth bail plea of PNB scam accused Nirav Modi

The fifth bail application of diamantaire Nirav Modi, who is one of the prime accused in the ₹13,578-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam, has been turned down by a United Kingdom court. In April 2021, the Secretary of State of U.K.’s Home Department had ordered his extradition to India, but it has not been implemented so far.

Supreme Court provides relief to nearly 24,000 Bengal teachers

The Supreme Court on May 7 gave relief to the West Bengal government by protecting nearly 24,000 teaching and non-teaching staff members from immediate termination from their jobs in schools across the State.

Militant commander Basit Dar, wanted in 18 cases, among two killed in Kulgam operation: J&K police

Two militants, including a ‘commander’ of The Resistance Front (TRF), were killed in a two-day anti-militancy operation in south Kashmir’s Kulgam on Tuesday. 

More than 63% polling in third phase, sporadic violence in West Bengal

At least 63.27% of the electorate in 93 constituencies cast their votes on May 7 in the third phase of the Lok Sabha election, which has now crossed the halfway mark, with voting complete in 282 out of 543 seats. Apart from sporadic incidents of violence in West Bengal, the voting was largely peaceful. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah were among the voters in this phase, with the latter also in the fray.