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Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while attending a party meeting in Shimla on Thursday, said the BJP could have had a better win in Himachal Pradesh. "I wish this result had a bit more of other things, such as beautiful victory. It's a kind of loss...we all know it," she added. She is in Himachal Pradesh as the party observer.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has reached the 100-mark in the 182-member Gujarat Assembly after an independent MLA announced his "unconditional support" for the party. Ratansinh Rathod, who was elected from Lunawada seat, had contested the election after he was denied ticket from the Congress. Another independent MLA is reportedly expected to announce his support to the BJP.

In its review analysis of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections loss, Congress members have blamed infighting, sabotage by local leaders, and lack of resources as the reason for the defeat. Reportedly, some leaders also presented audio-visual proofs of sabotage. Congress' tally in the 68-member state assembly came down to 21 from 36 seats it had secured in the 2012 election.

BJP's veteran leader and five-time MLA Jai Ram Thakur has been appointed as the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh. This comes after the party's Chief Ministerial candidate Prem Kumar Dhumal lost the state Assembly election from the Sujanpur seat by 1,919 votes. Thakur won from the Seraj constituency against Congress candidate Chet Ram with a margin of over 11,000 votes.

Leading with almost double the votes received by rival AIADMK candidate Madhusudhanan, former AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran has said, "This is Amma's constituency. They have decided who should be Amma's successor. This a successor that the people have chosen." Claiming that he has late Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa's "wishes", Dhinakaran said that all AIADMK workers also support him.

Sidelined AIADMK leader VK Sasikala's nephew TTV Dhinakaran has won the RK Nagar bypolls by a margin of 40,707 votes. Dhinakaran was contesting against AIADMK leader E Madhusudhanan and DMK candidate Maruthu Ganesh to secure late Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa's constituency. The vote counting was temporarily paused due to clashes between the supporters of AIADMK and Dhinakaran.

BJP MP Subramanian Swamy on Sunday slammed the BJP as it was trailing behind NOTA (None of the Above) option in Tamil Nadu's RK Nagar bypoll. Swamy tweeted, "TN BJP record: A national ruling party gets a quarter of NOTA's vote. Time for accountability." After the eighth round of counting, rebel AIADMK leader Dhinakaran was leading with nearly 40,000 votes.

After rebel AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran won the RK Nagar bypolls, DMK working President MK Stalin on Sunday said the electoral result was a Himalayan loss for the Election Commission. Adding that it was not his party's loss, he tweeted, "Everyone should ask themselves whether giving out cash helps democracy". DMK candidate Maruthu Ganesh N stood third with 24,651 votes.

Congress leaders have said the party will conduct a 'scientific analysis' of vote share in constituencies to select right candidates for assembly elections. Local feedback, field presence, study of the demographics, and voting patterns will be taken into account for the analysis. "Whatever research BJP undertakes, we will be two steps ahead of them," a party spokesperson said.

BJP MLA Vijay Rupani on Tuesday took oath as the Chief Minister of Gujarat for his second consecutive term in state capital Gandhinagar. Rupani had won from the Rajkot West constituency by a margin of 53,755 votes. Nineteen other ministers, along with Deputy CM-elect Nitin Patel, also took oath.

As many as 18 out of 20 newly appointed Gujarat Cabinet Ministers, including CM Vijay Rupani, are crorepatis while eight are school dropouts, an Association for Democratic Reforms report stated. The data revealed the average assets of 20 ministers is estimated to be ₹13.34 crores, while 10 ministers are graduates or have higher degrees.

The Tripura Assembly Speaker has issued a show-cause notice to five-time Congress MLA Ratan Lal Nath for joining BJP despite being elected to the house from the former party. Nath had switched the party on December 22 along with several of his followers. Following this, Congress' state unit wrote to the Speaker, requesting cancellation of Nath's membership to the assembly.

Sidelined AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran on Friday took oath as an independent MLA in the Tamil Nadu Assembly after winning the bypolls from late CM Jayalalithaa's RK Nagar constituency. Fourteen former AIADMK MLAs, disqualified for supporting TTV Dhinakaran, were also present at the ceremony. The election was earlier scheduled for April but was cancelled over bribery and corruption.

The Samajwadi Party opened the application process for candidature in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. According to the letter sent to party functionaries, the applicants will have to pay a fee of ₹10,000 in cash along with a form filled up in the prescribed format. Further, the candidate should not be facing any criminal case except cases related to demonstrations.

The Border Security Force (BSF) has been told to keep a close watch on the India-Bangladesh border in Tripura to prevent entry of "unwanted elements" into the state where Assembly elections are due in 2018, an election official said. The central government has also agreed to send security forces as required by the Election Commission, the Chief Electoral Officer said.

Announcing his decision to enter politics, actor Rajinikanth on Sunday said he will form a new party to contest the next Tamil Nadu Assembly elections from all constituencies. Claiming that other states make fun of Tamil Nadu, Rajinikanth said he would feel guilty if he did not take this decision. Politicians are robbing us on our own land, he added.

The AAP has named its national spokesperson Sanjay Singh, social activist Sushil Gupta, and former President of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India ND Gupta as its three nominees for the Rajya Sabha elections. Slamming the party's decision, AAP leader Kumar Vishwas said that only Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's words mattered in the party.

After actor Rajinikanth launched a website on Monday to unite his fans and people to bring a good change in Tamil Nadu politics, over 3 lakh people reportedly joined his portal within two days. The website was launched a day after he announced his entry into politics with a new party, which will contest the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.