In last three decades of India's electoral history they were the strong voices of their party, states and respective constituencies in Lok Sabha but their voices will not be heard in the 17th Lok Sabha, which gave a decisive mandate to Narendra Modi government.Prominent...

With his worst-ever electoral defeat in Andhra Pradesh and losing relevance in national politics, Nara Chandrababu Naidu is facing the biggest challenge of his career.A leader, whose four-decade-long career saw his political pendulum swinging wildly from...

The parliamentary election in the world's largest democracy was watched by all countries, big and small, for reasons that are not far to seek: the likely impact on India's rising profile at the global level, the manner in which an extraordinary amount of...

Nationalism and social issues, which the ruling government had promoted over the last five years, created new genre of themes for filmmakers. During the last five years, especially so in the last three of the Modi/ NDA era, the most successful films turned out to...

An electoral face-off between a religious/nationalist party and a gaggle of vaguely Left-Liberal outfits is almost always an unequal contest as the scales are invariably tilted in favour of the former.For the "bleeding heart" liberals, which is how they...

North-east India, comprising eight states, is sending three women to the Lok Sabha -- one more than the 2014 general election. Of the three women, elected for the 17th Lok Sabha, two are new faces and belong to the BJP: Queen Oja (from Guwahati parliamentary seat)...

Political strategist Prashant Kishor and the I-PAC of which he is a mentor are basking in the glory of YSR Congress Party's landslide victory in the Andhra Pradesh elections.As the YSRCP stormed to power with 151 seats in 175-member Assembly, the India-Political...

In the political 'dangal' of the Lok Sabha elections 2019, a slew of film celebrities including Hema Malini, Sunny Deol, Kirron Kher, Manoj Tiwari, Anubhav Mohanty, Mimi Chakraborty and Nushrat Jahan emerged victorious.Veteran actress Hema Malini, Bollywood's...

The rout of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), which led the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar, has been the biggest shock in these elections.The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has swept the state, bagging 39 of the 40 seats, while the...

Indias 187 million Muslims deserve a round of applause for the diligent docility with which they have allowed themselves to be the "other" against which the divisions within Hindu society have been composed into an ever increasing expanse of saffron. In geological...

It is a royal victory for the BJP but royals in Uttar Pradesh have lost big, too.For the first time, almost all candidates in the opposition who belong to royal families have lost elections.In Pratapgarh, two royal candidates have lost elections. Rajkumari...

There was such a Modi wave in Bihar this time that the chiefs of the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP), Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and VIP - the three allies of the RJD-led Grand Alliance in Bihar - have been defeated in Lok Sabha polls.RLSP chief and former...

Punjab's ruling Congress won eight of the 13 Lok Sabha seats, one of the few states where it did well, while the BJP and its ally Akali Dal bagged two seats each. Bhagwant Mann, the AAP's only hope, retained his seat.The prominent winners included actor-turned...

In a first in Haryana's electoral history, the ruling BJP made a clean sweep by winning all 10 Lok Sabha seats in the state, while the Congress and Om Prakash Chautala's Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) faced humiliating defeats.Union Ministers Rao Inderjit...

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena combine marched to a spectacular victory in Maharashtra, leading in or bagging (as of 6 p.m.) 41 of the state's 48 Lok Sabha seats.Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis termed the success by saying: "Its not just a...

If one drives from Jammu and Kashmir to Tamil Nadu, one will not find a Congress MP in half-a-dozen of states. The party has scored a nil in 18 states and union territories in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The Congress losers include eight chief ministers...

The crushing defeat of non-NDA parties in Lok Sabha elections shattered the dreams of Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao, who was looking to play a key role at the Centre.The results came as a huge blow to the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS)...

Two days ahead of the Lok Sabha election results, leaders of around 20 opposition parties met here on Tuesday amid their concerns over the electronic voting machines (EVM) and use of VVPATs.Among those who attended the meeting were Congress leader Ghulam...

Shyam Saran Negi, a 102-year-old voter who also participated in the 1951-52 general elections which were the country's first, cast his ballot on Sunday at a picturesque hamlet in Kinnaur district as elections were held to elect four members of Parliament from...

UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi is said to be in close touch with DMK leader M.K. Stalin on building the numbers for the UPA, if push comes to shove following the counting of votes on May 23.Stalin, whose party is an ally of Congress, is reportedly working...

With just one round of polling remaining, Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) on Saturday expressed confidence that the regional political parties would garner a major chunk of Lok Sabha seats and would bind in the form of a 'Federal Front' for governance at the...

In agrarian Punjab, where Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes make 55 per cent of the population, religion and riots more than concerns of farmers and poor are likely to play a decisive role in the Lok Sabha elections going to the polls on Sunday.Chief...

Uttar Pradesh is known for its 'Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb' -- a fusion of Hindu and Muslim culture -- and its Aligarh and Rampur Lok Sabha constituencies have shown this since the first Lok Sabha.Of the total 16 general elections since independence, Rampur, an...

After Varanasi, if there is any other Lok Sabha constituency that has the spotlight fixed on it in Uttar Pradesh, it is the adjoining Chandauli.State BJP President Mahendra Nath Pandey is seeking re-election form Chandauli and this increases the importance...

With the Lok Sabha elections being in the last leg, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) of West Bengal has sensed that the BJP has gained ground in the state, possibly at the cost of the Left, due to polarization efforts of the saffron party.The state, which...

The SP-BSP alliance, even at the fag end of the elections, remains an enigma for many and political pundits remain sceptical about its future. The seeds of the future of the alliance lie buried in its past.Yadavs and Jatavs in Uttar Pradesh have been at...

A turnout of 60.21 per cent was recorded in elections for Delhi's seven parliamentary constituencies on Sunday amid reports of EVM malfunctioning in some polling stations, the Election Commission said.The polling percentage was less then that in 2014 when...

Bachan Singh is among the millions who voted in the capital on Sunday in the penultimate phase of the general election, but he is unique because of his vintage.At the ripe old age of 111, Bachan Singh is Delhi's oldest voter.His house is within 100 metres of...

Around 77 per cent of the 141,251 voters cast their votes during the re-polling at 168 polling stations in the Tripura West parliamentary constituency on Sunday, election officials said.In the troubled-marred polling on April 11 in the first phase of the Lok...

As the election campaign in Rohtak reaches in its final stage the people of this parliamentary constituency, which has been represented for long by both former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his son Deepender, feel that votes in this election...

Family members, mainly spouses, campaigning for candidates are common feature in elections. In Jharkhand, spouses of political bigwigs, including Arjun Munda, Jayant Sinha and Kriti Jha Azad are sweating it out as political and actual temperatures soar for...

 He has no high-profile means or a campaign strategy as he moves around on an Activa scooter with his lone Punjab Police security guard riding pillion. But 'Baba Jee Burger Wale', as independent candidate Ravinder Pal Singh is better known in the Model town...

The polling in Kulgam district on Monday started on a very dull note and remained the same even as some areas showed an upward trend in the later part of the day but the overall polling remained almost close to what it was in Anantnag district on April 23.In...

Clashes marred the second leg of three-phased schedule for Anantnag Parliamentary Constituency in Kulgam on Monday. The district observed a complete shutdown in wake of the polling. The lower voter turnout barring Noorabad assembly segment was witnessed in Kulgam....

Veteran actress Moon Moon Sen says she is in politics to win people's love and feels donning a politician's hat has been easier for her as there is far less amount of mudslinging compared to the film industry.The 64-year-old Oxford alumnus, who is fighting the...

The phenomenon of film actors joining forces with politicians is not a new thing. In the South, it happened much earlier while the Hindi film actors took the cue a bit late. One of the reasons the Hindi film industry kept away from politics for long was...

In Haryana, a state where the sex ratio was the worst till last year and where women are told to remain behind the 'ghoonghat' (veil), at least six mothers have got down to lead from the front for the political cause of their sons.Four of these mothers...

West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress on Thursday fielded former state minister Madan Mitra, who spent nearly 21 months in jail after his arrest by the CBI in connection with the Saradha ponzi scam, as its candidate for the Bhatpara assembly by-poll.Chief...

Kannauj, the perfume capital of the country, does not smell good right now. Traditionally, a Samajwadi bastion, the Kannauj Lok Sabha seat which has Dimple Yadav as its sitting MP, seems undecided about its choice in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.Dimple Yadav...

The Shiromani Akali Dal's first couple party President Sukhbir Singh Badal and his Union Minister wife Harsimrat Kaur Badal, are making a couple entry in the Lok Sabha elections in Punjab this time.While Sukhbir Badal, who is a sitting legislator from the...

The road to political success that six-time Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and former Telecom Minister Sukh Ram, both Congress veterans, have followed throughout their lives has never been the same.Arch rivals -- Virbhadra Singh, 83, and...

In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Hisar gave the country its youngest-ever Member of Parliament (MP) in Dushyant Chautala. He was only 26 years and one-month old at that time. This time, the Hisar Lok Sabha seat is witnessing the grand fight of two great...

Anantnag Lok sabha Constituency which goes polls in three phases due to security Concerns & first phase polling Polling was held on Anantnag district today Amid tight security Recorded A low Voter turnout about 13. 61% ,Rest of the three districts goes Polling...

The first phase of elections in the restive South Kashmir Lok Sabha constituency that started from Anantnag district on Tuesday witnessed a very low voting as people preferred to stay away from the election process, adding worries to the contesting candidates...

In a setback to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled Himachal Pradesh, its three-time MP Suresh Chandel, who was caught in a sting operation in cash-for-query scam in Parliament in 2005, joined the Congress on Monday.He belongs to Bilaspur district under...

As campaigning ended in Rampur on Sunday evening, another salvo was fired at Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Jaya Prada from the Azam Khan camp.Azam Khan's son, Abdullah Azan Khan, in a meeting held in Pan Dareba said: "Ali bhi humare, Bajrangbali bhi...

 From the moment it was announced that Congress President Rahul Gandhi will contest the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, for many his victory was a foregone conclusion. The opposition disagrees.For those who insist that Gandhi's victory from this hilly region is a...

With a long pending railway project, lack of development, scarce job opportunities and rampant infiltration and smuggling in the region, West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) has its task cut out in retaining the Balurghat Lok Sabha constituency in...

With just 20 days to go for polling in the national capital, suspense continues over Delhi's ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress on forming an alliance to take on the BJP.While the AAP is also keen on an pre-poll alliance in Haryana, which will...

With a long white flowing beard, white robes and a red �tilak on the forehead, Acharya Pramod Krishnam looks more like a godman and less like a politician, who is set to take on Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on May 6 in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha...

Former President Pranab Mukherjee's son Abhijit Mukherjee faces a tough battle in West Bengal's Jangipur as he seeks a hat-trick of wins from the constituency which had sent his father to Parliament twice.Amid a desperate drive by state's ruling Trinamool Congress...

A whopping 570 candidates out of a total 1,612, who are contesting in the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections, have declared criminal cases against them, according to Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) data published on Friday.The ADR data was...

At a time when the poll scene is hotting up for the May 19 Lok Sabha polls in Punjab and leaders of all parties have jumped head-long into campaigning, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh is playing it cool regarding his 'Mission 13' campaign.Having led the...

The biggest nightmare for candidates in the Mumbai, Thane, Palghar and Raigad Lok Sabha constituencies is how to "catch" the slippery commuters who are their main electoral bank.As is well-known, nearly two-third of Mumbaikars comprising office-goers, workers...

Four veteran politicians -- L.K. Advani, Sumitra Mahajan, Kamal Nath and Yogi Adityanath -- who were elected to the Lok Sabha on five or more successive occasions since 1998 will not be seen in the next Lok Sabha.Thirteen political leaders who were MPs in...

At 91, eight-time matronly Congress legislator Vidya Stokes continues to battle tirelessly to ensure victory of the party in all the four parliamentary seats of Himachal Pradesh.She is daily rubbing shoulders with party leaders, a majority of them almost...

With just a week to go for the polls, the three political fronts are sweating it out but also exhibiting supreme confidence that this time, it will be different in Kerala.Kerala goes to the polls on April 23rd to elect 20 Lok Sabha members.In the outgoing...

High school and college students of Himachal Pradesh are daily getting tips on ways to strengthen democracy through 'Walls of Democracy' set up in 7,681 places, poll officials said.The aim is to increase awareness among the future and first-time voters in...

Caste intricacies has tied up the elections in Tamil Nadu in several knots because of a cluttered four-cornered contest throwing up new factors. The four corners in the poll contest are represented by AIADMK-led National Democratic Alliance -- comprising BJP,...

The Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) said on Monday that it will go it alone in the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh.

"We will field 25 candidates and contest on our own. We have waited long enough for the BJP and we are going ahead alone,"...