Election Results 2023 Live Updates: Zoramthanga resigns as party chief after 33 years

Zoramthanga, the departing chief minister of Mizoram, stepped down from his position as the president of the Mizo National Front (MNF) after leading the party for 33 years. This decision comes in the aftermath of the party's defeat in the assembly polls. Zoramthanga, in his resignation letter addressed to MNF senior vice president Tawnluia, expressed his acceptance of moral responsibility as the party's president for the election setback.

On Tuesday, key Congress leaders gathered at the residence of Mallikarjun Kharge, the head of the Congress party, to deliberate on the formation of the government in Telangana. Insider reports suggest that Revanth Reddy's candidacy for the chief ministerial role in Telangana received the nod during the meeting. Reddy, who holds the position of state Congress chief, is acknowledged for steering the party to success in the recently concluded assembly polls. Sources reveal that Rahul Gandhi held discussions with the Congress president at his residence, alongside Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar and Telangana Congress in-charge Manikrao Thakre, concentrating on the procedural aspects of government formation in Telangana.

National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah stated on Tuesday that the BJP's success in the assembly polls across three states doesn't signify the defeat of the INDIA bloc. He emphasized that the opposition parties did not join forces in contesting the elections. On Sunday, the BJP emerged victorious in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh, dealing a substantial blow to the Congress and consolidating its control in the Hindi heartland.

Days after the Congress lost the Madhya Pradesh assembly elections, former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh alleged that any machine with a chip can be hacked and that he has opposed voting by EVMs since 2003."Any Machine with a Chip can be hacked. I have opposed voting by EVM since 2003. Can we allow our Indian Democracy to be controlled by Professional Hackers! This is the Fundamental Question which all Political Parties have to address to. Hon ECI and Hon Supreme Court would you please defend our Indian Democracy?" Singh said in a post on 'X' on Monday.Singh also mentioned a thread on 'X' in which a journalist, Ravi Nair, explained how EVMs are not foolproof and are not safe for democracy."VVPAT is not a safeguard as long as every slip is not counted. Many people believe Mass tampering of EVMs is not possible. No need. 3 to 3.5% of the tampered EVMs will alter the results drastically. Whichever political party wins elections, EVMs are not safe for democracy," Nair said in a post on 'X'.

Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee expressed on Monday her disappointment with the election results in three Hindi heartland states, emphasising that it was "a defeat for Congress and not a defeat for INDIA". She also announced her decision not to attend the bloc's meeting at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's residence in Delhi on Wednesday, stating that she was "not informed earlier".Criticising Congress's strategy, she remarked: "The electoral strategy must be right. Don't expect to win elections by delivering speeches." Expressing sadness over the "tactical defeat", she highlighted the role of vote-splitters among opposition parties who, by fighting each other, inadvertently contributed to BJP's advantage.

The meeting of the newly elected MLAs of Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) will be held at the residence of Lalduhoma, Chief Ministerial candidate of ZPM in Aizawl today at 8 pm

The Congress was forced to delay the swearing-in of the new government in the state after some of its senior leaders are said to have objected to TPCC president Revanth Reddy's name as chief minister.Karnataka deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar and other AICC observers went to Delhi in a special flight on Monday with the details of the opinions of the 64 MLAs, which was taken in a one-on-one meeting at a private hotel at Gachibowli. They will submit the opinion of the MLAs to AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday following which the party high command is likely to build consensus among the legislators.

Electorate in seats reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs) voted similarly to voters in the rest of Madhya Pradesh, overwhelmingly supporting the ruling BJP, giving party 26 out of the 35 seats reserved for SCs. In the 2018 state assembly election, the BJP and the Congress were nearly evenly matched, with the Congress securing 17 seats and the BJP winning 18.Analyzing the outcomes in the seats reserved for scheduled castes, the Congress has claimed victory in four seats reserved for SCs in the Chambal region.The party emerged victorious in Ambah, Gohad, Dabra, and Bhander, while the BJP secured the Karera seat. However, as one moves to Guna and beyond, the BJP has overwhelmingly dominated the majority of seats reserved for SCs.Among the remaining SC seats, the BJP has emerged victorious in Guna, Bina, Jatara, Chandla, Hatta, Mangawan, Gunnour, Raogaon, Devsar, Amla, Pipariya, Sanchi, Kurwai, Berasia, Astha, Sarangpur, Agar, Sonkatch, Khandwa, Maheshwar, Sanwer, Tarana, Ghatiya, Alot, and Malharhgarh

With a total of 163 MLAs, including union ministers, MPs, a national general secretary, and several senior MLAs who have been elected to the state assembly three times or more, the formation of a council of ministers under the new chief minister will be challenge for the BJP.However, unlike 2020, when the government was formed under Shivraj Singh Chouhan after the toppling of the Congress government, political observers believe the party will not be under any constraints in selection of ministers“There is a question whether the 2 union ministers, party's general secretary Kailash Vijayvergiya and 3 MPs would be retained as MLAs or would go back to Delhi. With the BJP holding a comfortable majority in the House, unless one of them becomes the chief minister and the others are accommodated as ministers, there is no reason for them to remain as MLAs,” said a BJP leader on the condition of anonymity, adding that Shivraj Singh Chouhan would likely continue as the chief minister.

Mizoram's 8.5 lakh-strong electorate on Monday turned its back on NDA ally Mizo National Front (MNF) and old favourite Congress - the only two parties to have governed since statehood came in 1987 - and gave a 27-seat mandate in the House of 40 to ex-IPS officer Lalduhoma's Zoram People's Movement (ZPM), which until four years ago wasn't even a registered party.

Lok Sabha was adjourned on Monday withing nine minutes of opening as Speaker Om Birla objected to BSP member Danish Ali wearing placards on his chest in protest against BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri's "derogatory" remarks. As the House met, Birla first read out the obituary references to members who had passed away.When Question Hour started, Ali raised the issue of his complaint against Bidhuri for allegedly making derogatory remarks against him in the last session. Ali had two placards hanging around his neck. One read, "Saansad ka apmaan, Sansad ka apmaan hai" (insult to an MP is an insult to Parliament) while the other said, "Punish Bidhuri, Save democracy".

BJP received Rs 720 crore through contributions in excess of Rs 20,000 during 2022-23, marking a 17.1% rise in its receipts from 2021-22. Congress’s receipts from similar contributions by individuals, corporates and electoral trusts fell by 16.3% to Rs 79.9 crore in 2022-23 from Rs 95.4 crore in 2021-22, reports Bharti Jain.As per contribution reports filed by various national parties for the year 2022-23 and which were placed by the Election Commission in the public domain on Monday, BJP received Rs 719.8 crore through contributions, up from Rs 614.5 crore it had received in 2021-22.While Prudent Electoral Trust contributed Rs 254.7 crore to BJP (35% of the party’s total contribution), Einzigartig Electoral Trust contributed Rs 8 lakh.

The Congress on Monday said the party will seek discussion on people-centric issues such as unemployment, price rise and the "widening gap between the rich and the poor" in the country during the Winter Session of the parliament, which began today.

The party also intends to seek discussion on the border situation and the country's foreign policy.

Rajasthan governor Kalraj Mishra on Monday issued a notification to dissolve the 15th Legislative Assembly.

The governor issued the notification to dissolve the assembly with effect from December 4.

Earlier, Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Gupta and other representatives of the Election Commission of India presented the list of 199 newly elected MLAs.

The assembly election results were declared on Sunday in which the BJP got a mandate of 115 seats while the Congress got 69 seats.

The Congress on Monday said the Assembly poll outcome in three states has been disappointing, but the party is not dejected and will soon hold deliberations to analyse it and prepare for the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

After a meeting of the party's parliamentary strategy group, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the election results in Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Rajasthan have certainly been disappointing, but the party has not lost hope and will emerge stronger after introspection.

In what appears to be a "show of strength", about 25 BJP MLAs on Monday met former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje here who is said to be among the frontrunners for the CM post.

The development comes amid intense speculations over the contenders for the top post after the BJP returned to power in the state, winning 115 seats in the assembly polls held last week. The party did not name its CM candidate in the elections.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee might skip the upcoming meeting of the opposition's INDIA bloc on December 6, as the party supremo said on Monday that she was "not aware" of any such meeting.

The December 6 meeting will be held after a gap of three months since the last one in Mumbai on August 31 and September 1.

While addressing the media on Monday, the West Bengal CM said that her party was unaware that the INDIA grouping is planning to hold a sitting in New Delhi.

A total of 27 women have been elected to the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, comprising 21 from the Bharatiya Janata Party, which emphatically retained power in the state, and six from the Congress.

The number of women who won the 2018 Assembly polls stood at 20.

Polls to the 230-member MP Assembly were held on November 17, while results were declared on Sunday.

The Congress has convened a meeting of all 230 candidates on Tuesday to discuss the defeat in the Madhya Pradesh assembly elections and the reasons behind the poor performance, party leaders said.

The meeting will also discuss how to strengthen the party and the way forward, a leader said.

MP Congress president Kamal Nath is scheduled to address the meeting. Senior leaders Digvijaya Singh, Suresh Pachouri and others will discuss the causes of the party's debacle with the participants, sources said on Monday.

Senior TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee on Monday claimed that the Congress, which faced defeats in assembly elections in three states, was suffering from complacency and called for addressing its "internal strife" before the Lok Sabha elections due next year.

The Congress has lost assembly elections in the three Hindi heartland states of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh and only won in the southern state of Telangana.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Monday said the impressive success achieved by the BJP with a hat-trick in the just concluded assembly elections will be replicated by PM Narendra Modi in the parliamentary elections slated in May next year.

Likewise, he anticipated a similar hat-trick in the Haryana assembly election four months later after the Lok Sabha polls.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday hailed the BJP's victory in three states as a “spectacular” feat and said the results indicate that the party will return to power at the Centre with a clear majority in 2024.

The BJP swept Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh on Sunday inflicting a resounding defeat on the Congress to tighten its hold in the Hindi heartland, in a big boost for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and setting the tone for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Four Hindu priests have been elected to the Rajasthan Assembly in this election after being fielded by the BJP which wooed voters on the Hindutva plank, vociferously raising issues of alleged minority appeasement.

Among the four priests turned politicians, Baba Balaknath, who is an MP from Alwar and has won from the hotly-contested Tijara seat, has often courted controversies with his remarks, while Balmukund Acharya, elected from Hawa Mahal, came into limelight after he launched a campaign against the "demolition" of temples in the area.

A day after the BJP’s landslide victory in Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, the state unit Congress head Kamal Nath met Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

The veteran Congress leader paid a customary visit to Chouhan at the CM’s house in Shyamla Hills in Bhopal. Chouhan himself received Kamal Nath and his son and Chhindwara MP Nakul Nath.

Assam Congress chief Bhupen Kumar Borah on Monday said that the grand old party lost the assembly elections in the states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh due to "over confidence".

He praised the "fighting spirit of the BJP" in the three states and said that the saffron party was "striving for victory even when all indications were pointing at the BJP's defeat".

Nineteen women candidates have been elected to the 90-member Chhattisgarh assembly this time, six more than the tally in the 2018 state polls.

Of the newly-elected women members, 11 are from the Congress and eight from the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The recently concluded Assembly polls that saw the BJP win three states will not impact the INDIA bloc but the opposition parties need to work harder for the Lok Sabha polls next year, opposition leaders said on Monday.

The BJP swept Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh on Sunday, inflicting a resounding defeat on the Congress to tighten its stranglehold in the Hindi heartland, in a big boost for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and setting the tone for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

For the first since the formation of Chhattisgarh in 2000, the new assembly will not have any MLA belonging to erstwhile royal families as all seven candidates fielded by Congress, BJP, and AAP bit dust. Prominent among the royals to lose the turf was senior Congress leader and outgoing deputy chief minister TS Singhdeo.

"PM Modi's magic has continued and the result is in front of everyone. They are not INDIA blocs, they are dash-dot blocs. When the policy and faith are not right, the world sees and the voters also see," Lekhi said.

Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) CM face Lalduhoma won the Serchhip seat by 2,982 votes, according to the Election Commission. Lalduhoma got 8,314 votes while J Malsawmzuala Vanchhawng of Mizo National Front received 5,332 votes. R Vanlaltluanga of Indian National Congress secured 4,241 votes, BJP candidate K Vanlalruati got 97 votes while Independent candidate Lalawmpuia Renthlei received 69 votes and Ramhlun Edena got 21 votes. The counting of votes polled in the assembly elections in Mizoram began at 8 am on Monday amid tight security.

In a strong criticism of the Congress, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the grand old party's "greed and lust for power" were the reasons for its defeat in the Hindi heartland states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh assembly elections. Vijayan said that the Congress thought it was competent to win against the BJP on its own and therefore, did not join forces with the other INDIA alliance parties in these states to present a united front against the saffron party.

BJP leader Ramesh Mendola won by the highest victory margin of 1,07,047 votes from Inodre-2 seat in the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls, while party candidate Arun Bhimawad bagged Shajapur seat by the lowest margin of just 28 votes. MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and BJP's woman legislator Krishna Gaur also registered victory margins of more than one lakh votes.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) asserted that the Congress, its junior ally in the state, made a mistake by going it alone in assembly elections for Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and not having a truck with partners in the INDIA coalition. JD(U) chief spokesperson and MLC Neeraj Kumar also blamed the defeat of the Congress in these states on its failure to effectively counter the BJP's alleged politics of "sectarian frenzy".

Congress leader and former member of Rajya Sabha V Hanumantha Rao predicted that Revanth reddy could be the next Chief Minister of Telangana. When asked about the potential Chief Ministerial face in Telangana, Congress leader V. Hanumantha Rao said, "We will have to see what is decided in the CLP meeting. Most probably, Revanth Reddy has chances to become the Chief Minister going by all the work he did."

The number of women MLAs in Chhattisgarh, Telangana, and Madhya Pradesh assemblies remains much below the one-third mark, as provided under the women's reservation bill passed by Parliament recently, data compiled by think tank PRS Legislative Research said. Their number in Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Madhya Pradesh assemblies has gone up marginally, while it has gone down in Rajasthan, the data said. Chhattisgarh scores the highest among all four states with 21 per cent of its newly elected lawmakers women. In 2018, Chhattisgarh had 13 women MLAs, 14 per cent of the total, which has gone up to 19 women now.

The Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) was racing towards power in Mizoram, having already won 12 seats and leading in 15 others as votes were being counted for assembly elections on Monday, according to the Election Commission (EC). The ruling MNF has won two seats and was leading in eight others, but several of its senior leaders were either trailing or have already lost. Chief Minister Zoramthanga was trailing in the Aizawl East-1 seat to ZPM's Lalthansanga after three rounds of counting.

Congress was blindsided by all-round favourable feedback about its prospects in the election-going states and the party ignored visible gaps in its campaign in MP, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. The party is also ruing Rahul Gandhi's failure to prevail upon the veterans on candidate selection and poll feedback, which made the critical difference in the final outcome.

BJP, which suffered a huge setback in Chhattisgarh's tribal-dominated assembly seats in the 2018 polls, put up a good show this time winning 17 of the 29 seats reserved for the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category. According to poll experts, the public rallies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief JP Nadda in the tribal belt, launch of the party's two parivartan yatras from tribal pockets and pre-poll promises worked in the party's favour in the adivasi belt.

BJP won the Palak and the Saiha Assembly constituency in Mizoram on Monday, according to the Election Commission. BJP candidate K Hrahmo won the Palak Assembly constituency defeating his MNF rival K T Rokhaw by 1,241 votes, the EC said. Hrahmo got 6,064 votes while Rokhaw secured 4,823 votes. Indian National Congress candidate I P Junior received 3,729 votes while Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) nominee K Robinson got 1,378 votes.

Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) has secured its first victory in Tuichang, triumphing over the incumbent Mizo National Front (MNF) MLA, according to the Election Commission of India. As per the ECI, W Chhuanawma, the ZPM candidate from Tuichang assembly constituency registered victory after defeating MNF candidate Tawnluia. Early counting trends in Mizoram on Monday showed the Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) edging towards victory with majority.

Amid ruckus the Lok Sabha was adjourned till 12 noon on Monday shortly after the Winter Session of Parliament commenced with BJP MPs raising slogan of "Teesri Baar Modi Sarkar" and "Baar Baar Modi Sarkar" in the presence of PM Narendra Modi. Ahead of the start of proceedings of the day, keeping with tradition, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing reporters outside Parliament said that political temperatures in the country are soaring even though the winter is approaching slowly.