The other alliance led by Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar will not leave any stone unturned either, but will concentrate on rural areas. Parts of Bhojpur and Buxar are affected by Left-wing insurgency. The Election Commission is expected to keep a close watch to ensure a violence-free election.
Nagar Parishads: Litmus test for BJP before big battle
Elections to the civic corporations of Kolhapur and Kalyan-Dombivali will be held on November 1, a poll battle in which the big four of Maharashtra politics - the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Shiv Sena, the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) - will be taking on each other. Before that, a three-phase election to three newly carved Nagar Parishads, 68 Nagar Panchayats and 2,352 Gram Panchayats in different parts will be held on October 28, November 1 and November 6, and counting of votes will take place on November 7. Campaigning will be in full swing this week.
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The Kalyan-Dombivali Municipal Corporation (KDMC), located in Thane district, has 122 seats, of which 61 are reserved for women. Kolhapur Municipal Corporation (KMC) in south-west Maharashtra has 81 seats, of which 41 are reserved for women. The Sena-BJP combine currently rules KDMC, while the Congress-NCP alliance is in power in Kolhapur. However, this time, NCP, Congress, Sena and BJP will contest separately in both the civic bodies. The results of KMC and KDMC polls are likely to have an impact on the political permutations and combinations for the municipal corporation polls slated in early 2017 in Mumbai and other important cities such as Thane, Pune, Nashik and Nagpur.
BJP, which has remained a junior partner of Shiv Sena in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation for years, is eyeing a large share of votes on the back of its good showing in Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in Maharashtra. Sharad Pawar's NCP has announced a tie-up with Jansurajya Shakti Party in Kolhapur, where BJP will go with local outfit Tararani Agadhi. Maharashtra Navnirman Sena bagged an impressive 26 seats in KDMC in 2010, but its clout diminished following a poor show in 2014 Assembly polls. The Raj Thackeray-led party cannot be ignored altogether. Shiv Sena has 31 corporators in the civic body, BJP nine, and Congress and NCP 15 each. In Kolhapur, Congress was the single largest party last time with 31 seats, followed by NCP (29), BJP (4) and Shiv Sena (3).
Schedule for urban local bodies election in J&K
The schedule for the much-awaited elections to urban local bodies in Jammu & Kashmir are likely to be announced this week.
The government has already started preparing. Urban local body elections were earlier held in January 2005 after a gap of 23 years. The elections were due in 2010 but the government failed to conduct the poll in time, resulting in lapsing of central government funds. There are 82 urban local bodies in the state, which include the Jammu and Srinagar municipal corporations, 74 municipal committees and six municipal councils.
Sharif might flag India's 'obduracy' with Obama
US President Barack Obama has invited Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for a meeting at the White House on Thursday. A senior US official said the meeting was intended to "advance our mutual interests and address areas of concern, particularly terrorist and militant attacks emanating from Pakistani soil".
Obviously, Pakistan will flag India's 'obduracy' about talks, the issue of Jammu & Kashmir and discuss a civil nuclear deal between Pakistan and the US.
The meeting could also flag issues of funding.
Oli gets invition for India visit but no clarity on date
When will new Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli come to India? An invitation has been issued and some dates could be discussed this week. It is imperative, for obvious reasons, for Oli to travel to Delhi before he visits Beijing. India might have had other faces in mind for a new PM in Baluwatar (official residence of the Nepal PM). But it has gallantly accepted defeat and is ready to do business with anyone in place.