Sapphire news

The April 9 Assembly election in Assam is expected to be more than a high-voltage battle of two alliances — one led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) eyeing a third straight term and the other by the Congress. The spotlight of the election to the 126-member House, the first single-phase exercise in Assam since … Read more

Trinamool Congress (TMC) chairperson and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee addresses the media as she announces the party’s candidate list for the upcoming legislative assembly elections, in Kolkata on March 17, 2026. | Photo Credit: AFP The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Tuesday (March 17, 2026) announced the names of 291 candidates for the 294 … Read more

Multiple sources in TVK told The Hindu that party founder Vijay is zeroing in on Perambur and dismissed speculative reports that he might simultaneously contest from Tiruchi East. | Photo Credit: The Hindu With actor-politician Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) gearing up to go alone in the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, party sources indicate … Read more

A view of the headquarters of Election Commission of India, Nirvachan Sadan, in New Delhi. File | Photo Credit: The Hindu The Election Commission of India (ECI) has deployed general observers, police observers and expenditure observers for 234 Assembly constituencies of Tamil Nadu, ahead of the April 23 Assembly poll in the State. It has … Read more

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at a protest rally in Kolkata. | Photo Credit: ANI The Election Commission (EC) on Tuesday (March 17, 2026) continued with its spate of transfers of top police officers in West Bengal, two days after the dates of the State’s Assembly polls were announced. Upset with the electoral body’s … Read more

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has deployed a total of 1,111 observers for the upcoming Assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, as well as the bye-elections in six States The Election Commission of India (ECI) has deployed a total of 1,111 observers for the upcoming Assembly elections in Assam, … Read more

We will support anti-BJP government: AIUDF MLA Rafiqul Islam ahead of Assam polls Ahead of the Assembly Elections in Assam, All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) MLA Rafiqul Islam on Tuesday emphasised that the party will support an “anti-BJP government”, accusing the previous Congress and incumbent BJP-led NDA Government of failing to solve people’s issues. … Read more

The people of Assam, seeking a unified Opposition with immense hope, had been frustrated by the inability of the Congress and activist-turned MLA Akhil Gogoi’s Raijor Dal to strike a seat-sharing deal, and contest the upcoming election together, a citizens’ collective said. File | Photo Credit: ANI A citizens’ collective has urged Congress and Raijor … Read more

The opposition Assam Jaitya Parishad (AJP) on Tuesday (March 17, 2026) announced its first list of candidates for eight seats for the state assembly elections, putting its president Lurinjoyti Gogoi and working president and former Union minister Rajen Gohain in the fray. The party, which is part of a Congress-led alliance in the State, will … Read more

Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Suvendu Adhikari will contest from two constituencies – Nandigram in Purba Medinipur district and Bhabanipur in Kolkata. File. | Photo Credit: ANI The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday (March 16, 2026) announced its first list of 144 candidates for the Assembly election in West Bengal.   Leader of Opposition in … Read more

Dilip Ghosh. File | Photo Credit: PTI Former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Dilip Ghosh has returned to contest from the Kharagpur Sadar Assembly constituency, a seat he won in the 2016 Assembly elections, as the party released its first list of 144 candidates for the West Bengal Assembly elections. Speaking to the reporters, Dilip … Read more

The battle lines in Kerala for the 2026 Assembly elections have been drawn, and the impending poll campaign may have the makings of a close race. The ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF), weighed down by 10 years of incumbency, is seeking to defy the odds and return to power for a third consecutive term. It … Read more

Representative image. | Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto Almost 50% of 2.5 crore voters in Assam are women, the State’s Chief Electoral Officer, Anurag Goel, said on Monday (March 16, 2026). Filing of nominations for the single phase election on April 9 began on Monday (March 16, 2026) and will continue until March 23, Mr. Goel … Read more

Former Kolkata Mayor and Rajya Sabha MP Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya will fight from Jadavpur in the Assembly Election 2026. File | Photo Credit: Sansad TV The Communist Party of India (Marxist) led Left Front on Monday (March 16, 2026) released its candidate for 192 out of 294 Assembly seats for the upcoming West Bengal Assembly polls. Party veterans along with the emerging youth leaders have made to … Read more

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar during the announcement of elections to Assemblies of five States and Puducherry in New Delhi on March 15, 2026. | Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy Assembly election would be held in a single phase in Assam, Puducherry and Kerala on April 9 and in Tamil Nadu on April 23, while West … Read more

Aggression and novelty in poll campaigns have remained the hallmarks of West Bengal elections. We take a look at the issues that are likely to occupy the campaign centre stage for political parties across the board. Bengali sub-nationalism Before the SIR exercise acquired political centre stage in Bengal, the TMC aggressively campaigned, both on the … Read more

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, centre, with Election Commissioners S.S. Sandhu and Vivek Joshi announcing Tamil Nadu Assembly polls. | Photo Credit: PTI The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday (March 15, 2026) announced the complete schedule for the 234 Assembly seats in Tamil Nadu. The polling is scheduled to be held on April … Read more

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, centre, with Election Commissioners S.S. Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, addressing the complete schedule for Assam assembly polls. | Photo Credit: PTI The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday (March 15, 2026) announced the complete schedule for Assam Assembly elections. The State will conduct polls in a single phase on … Read more

An electoral officer demonstrates the functioning of the Electronic Voting Machine and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail. File | Photo Credit: PTI The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday (March 15, 2026) announced the schedule for the 2026 Assembly elections in West Bengal. Voting will take place in two phases on April 23 and … Read more

Image used for representational purpose only. | Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto As the Opposition mulls moving a motion of removal against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, experts and activists on Tuesday (March 10, 2026) said the appointment process for the CEC and the Election Commissioners (ECs) needs to be made “broad-based” and “transparent”. Suggestions … Read more

A voter checks his name in the list after the Election Commission published West Bengal’s post-SIR electoral rolls, in Kolkata, on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. File | Photo Credit: PTI The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal has finally ended barring a judicial adjudication of about 60 lakh electors as per the directions of … Read more

Watch: CEC Gyanesh Kumar defends SIR process, says sole objective is to keep the voters’ list ‘pure’

The Election Commission of India’s (EC) Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls — a large-scale exercise aimed at updating voter lists — is being carried out across 12 States and Union Territories covering close to 51 crore voters. The enumeration phase of the exercise began in November 2025. Among these States and UTs, Tamil … Read more

With the Election Commission of India (ECI)’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process in its claims and corrections phase, it is prudent to ask, yet again, whether the entire process to “clean the electoral rolls” has become a dragnet affecting genuine electors across 12 States. On Monday, the Supreme Court of India issued fresh directions to … Read more

The first phase of Bihar’s Assembly elections on Thursday (November 6, 2025) witnessed a heartening democratic statistic — an impressive voter turnout across 121 constituencies. Provisional estimates have placed the figure at 64.69%, which may rise further as complete data emerge from all polling booths. These same constituencies have consistently recorded turnouts between 55.4% and … Read more

The Enforcement Directorate (ED)’s searches on January 8, in Kolkata, at locations linked to the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC), are a development set to be repeated in the run-up to the West Bengal Assembly election. I-PAC is a political consultancy firm that spearheaded the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC)’s election campaign in 2021. The ED … Read more

AIADMK leader M. Thambi Durai. File | Photo Credit: The Hindu The AIADMK on Wednesday (March 4, 2026) announced the renomination of its senior leader, M. Thambi Durai, for the lone Rajya Sabha seat that it would contest. This was announced by the party general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami in a release. In another release, … Read more