Elections News

Only a week before Delhi Assembly polls, Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday dropped its candidate, PS Saluja, from Rajouri Garden constituency after finding a criminal case against him. AAP said that since last date for withdrawal of names was over, so "Saluja can't be withdrawn officially, but he’s not a party candidate anymore and we are leaving the seat vacant".

Rajasthan recorded 72.87% voting on Sunday, the highest ever surpassing the 2003 average of 68.18%, with the highest polling percentage in the four districts of Hanumangarh, Jaisalmer, Sriganganagar and Chittorgarh, each of which recorded voting above 80%. While Marwar region's Nagaur had the lowest voter turnout at 65.88%, capital city Jaipur witnessed 72.0% voting.

Surpassing the previous record of 61.75% in 1993, Delhi on Wednesday saw a record 66% voting in the assembly polls, with a large turnout of young voters. Even as the deadline for voting ended at 5pm, an estimated 1.7-lakh people were standing in queues, following which the Election Commission decided to continue voting till late in the evening.

The Delhi Assembly elections saw the highest number of violations of the Model Code of Conduct, with 346 FIRs lodged against various political parties. The Aam Aadmi Party led the list with 105 cases, followed by Congress (88) and BJP (86). Moreover, 21 cases of paid news were detected, and liquor and cash worth over Rs 2.64 crore were seized.

According to various exit polls, BJP is set to make an impressive comeback in Rajasthan and comfortably retain Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The polls gave BJP 130-140 seats in the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly, while 121-128 seats in the 230-member MP assembly. In Chhattisgarh, BJP might have a slight edge of 1-2 seats over Congress, whereas in Mizoram, Congress would lead.

As early Delhi Assembly polls results poured in predicting a drubbing for Congress, CM Sheila Dikshit sent her resignation to the Lieutenant Governor Sunday morning. According to initial trends, Sheila, who had contested the election from the New Delhi Constituency was said to be lagging behind the AAP founder Arvind Kejriwal with a whopping vote margin of 15000 at noon.

BJP on Sunday secured a landslide victory in Rajasthan, with the party, led by Vasundhara Raje, forming an absolute majority. BJP won 162 seats out of the 199 seats, beating the last best showing by any party -- a record held by Congress with 156 seats in 1998. CM Ashok Gehlot-led Congress got only 21, the worst by any party.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government led by CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan romped home to a triumphant victory on Sunday as results for 230-assembly seat showed the BJP returning to power for the third consecutive five-year term. While the BJP secured an overwhelming majority of 165 seats, the Congress was a distant second, bagging only 58 seats.

Incumbent Chief Minister Raman Singh won a third straight victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Chhattisgarh 2013 Assembly elections on Sunday, with the party getting an absolute majority. While the BJP bagged 49 of the 90 seats, the Congress, which at one time looked as if it would oust the BJP, managed to win 39 seats.

The "None of the above" option, introduced in September this year, polled just 0.63% (49,892 voters) of the valid votes in Delhi, followed by 1.9% (6,43,144 voters) in Madhya Pradesh and 1.92% (5,88,609 voters) in Rajasthan. However, the option was exercised on a wider scale in Chhattisgarh, particularly in the Naxal-affected constituencies, with 3.07% (4,01,058 voters) turnout in its favour.

Suspense over government formation after Delhi delivered a hung house continued Monday, with the AAP insisting on playing the opposition's role and BJP, the single largest party, uncertain on how to cobble a majority. While BJP's CM candidate Harsh Vardhan said he was not interested in talking to any other party, the one-year-old AAP said it would prefer a re-election.

In a public meeting at New Delhi's Jantar Mantar, the Aam Aadmi Party on Wednesday hinted that one of its leaders, Kumar Vishwas, would be contesting against Rahul Gandhi from Amethi in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Moreover, AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal appealed to "honest" people from all spheres and parties, including Congress and BJP, to join the party.