India News LIVE: Results of Northeast was all over, says PM Modi in victory speech

"Some 'Kattar' people are saying 'Mar Ja Modi', while citizens are saying 'Mat Ja Modi'," said PM Modi during his addresses to party karyakartas at BJP headquarters in New Delhi. His statement came after the BJP scored big in the north east polls. Read More 

The Information and Public Relations Department of Punjab said that the Punjab government has decided to exempt 2.25 percent stamp duty and fees to those registering their property or  land by March 31. 

"Under EC guidance election was conducted here. Results were announced at 6 pm. Throughout the election, EC protocols were followed. No recounting demand or complaint was received from any party. 90% voting was witnessed," said Kiran Gitte, Chief Electoral Officer. 

Hours after the election results were announced for the northeastern states, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said, "Be it Tripura or Nagaland, in fact in Meghalaya also our seats have increased...BJP has earned a glorious victory & I thank people of all 3 states for that...the possibility of two-third govt cannot be neglected."  

Addressing the party cadres at the BJP headquarters in Delhi, PM Modi said, "Some are baffled and eager to know what leads to BJP's victory. I don't watch TV often, but want to know if they have started abusing the EVMs or not!"

PM Modi live from BJP headquarters after lotus blooms in the northeastern states of Nagaland, Meghalaya and Tripura.  

Addressing the mega event after the election results for the northeastern states were announced, BJP national president JP Nadda credited PM Modi for the development of northeast. "It's because of the efforts of PM Modi ji to mainstream the northeast that we were able to perform better in the elections," he said. 

"PM Modi is the first PM of our country who visited the northeast around 50 times. He gave priority to the region and helped in mainstreaming it," the BJP chief added. 

"I thank Tripura for placing trust in BJP again. It is a victory of pro-development politics that BJP has delivered under PM Modi's leadership. Together we will move ahead & build a prosperous Tripura," Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Northeast Assembly poll results. 

He added, "I thank people of Nagaland from bottom of my heart for choosing peace and progress by re-electing the PM Modi-led NDA back in power. The duo of PM Modi and CM Neiphiu Rio will continue to advance peace and development in the state & fulfil people’s aspirations," 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will deliver a victory speech at the BJP headquarter in Delhi after a massive win in Tripura. The BJP is back in other two northeastern states-- Meghalaya and Nagaland-- with victories of its allies.

"I received a call from the party's national pres JP Nadda today to support NPP in forming government in the state. I have spoken to CM Conard Sangma and informed him about the party's decision. I'll meet him and submit a letter of support to him tonight: Meghalaya BJP President," Meghalaya BJP President Ernest Mawrie said per ANI. 

The same was confirmed by Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma who earlier revealed about the phone call between Sangma and Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the post-poll alliance. 

We have focused on developments, and it was one of our main pillars to move forward. People wanted to give us another chance and I am very happy," Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma said while speaking to Republic. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked the people of Tripura, Nagaland, and Meghalaya for supporting the BJP in the assembly elections. "Grateful to all those who have supported @BJP4Meghalaya in the Assembly polls. We will keep working hard to enhance the development trajectory of Meghalaya and focus on empowering the people of the state," PM Modi tweeted. 

Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma dialled Union Home Minister Amit Shah for discussions over an alliance to form the new state government on Wednesday, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma revealed in a tweet. 

The Supreme Court on Thursday, March 2, said that it would hear Ateeq Ahmad’s plea seeking protection on March 17. It will restrain him from taking him to central jail from Ahmedabad to Prayagraj or any part of the state of Uttar Pradesh. This is because of the fear that he may be killed in a fake encounter. Read full story here. 

Congress workers were seen celebrating the win of Bayron Biswas in the bye-election in West Bengal's Sagardighi constituency on Thursday. Biswas (85,381 votes) claimed the win by defeating Trinamool Congress candidate Debashish Banerjee (62,953 votes).

Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale's Republican Party of India (RPI), on Thursday, created history by winning two seats in the Nagaland assembly elections 2023. The party has won the Tuensang Sadar II-54 and Noksen constituencies thanks to candidates Imtichoba (5,464 votes) and Y. Lima Onen Chang (5,025 votes), respectively.

"North-East developed under PM's guidance and today we’ve got the result. We’ll win the 2024 elections. Rahul Gandhi wasted his time with Bharat Jodo Yatra. Congress is breaking and they lost Tripura," Athawale said per ANI. 

PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti has demanded a 'genuine' probe into the death of  Abdul Rashid Dar who went missing in December last year. The mystery ended with the discovery of his dead body from the Zurhama-PK Galli forests in J&K. 

"A genuine probe needs to be ordered. Until then the least LG administration & Army can do is to take steps by providing a government job & financial assistance to the victim’s family who have lost their sole breadwinner," Mufti tweeted. It is alleged that the youngster was detained by the Army and went missing from their custody. 

"There's a very deep understanding and appreciation of India's position on Russia-Ukraine by Italian PM Giorgia Meloni. She recognised India as voice of peace and its advocacy of dialogue and diplomacy perhaps is the way to solve the conflict," said Foreign Secretary on Indian and Italian PMs' meeting. 

Dr. S Jaishankar met with US secretary of state Anthony Blinken and China's foreign minister Qin Gang at the foreign ministers meeting for the G20 summit on Thursday. 

Taking to Twitter, Dr. Jaishankar said that he discussed bilateral ties and global issues. On his meeting with the Chinese minister, he tweeted, "Our discussions were focused on addressing current challenges to the bilateral relationship, especially peace and tranquillity in the border areas," as well as the G20 agenda. 

"TMC earlier has defeated Congress many times by torturing people with the help of police. As I said Congress is not going to lose and today it is proved, Congress is a party that defeats," Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary said reacting to Bayron Biswas' win in the Sagardighi bye-election. 

"TMC has betrayed Muslims and Muslims of the entire Bengal know that TMC acts as an agent of BJP. Muslims can be cheated once but not always," he said per ANI.

Tripura CM Manik Saha collected his winning certificate after registering a victory over Congress candidate Asish Kumar Saha by an extremely narrow margin. Contesting from the Town Bardowali constituency, the CM secured 18,731 votes whereas Asish Saha trailed with 17,551 votes. "I am feeling good and after winning I getting this certificate so what can be better than this?" Saha said while speaking to ANI. 

Overall, the BJP has won in 22 constituencies out of 60 and is leading in 11. The Tipra Motha party is trailing with ten wins and a lead in two seats. The CPI(M) has also won six and is ahead in five constituencies. 

Congress candidate Bayron Biswas has registered a huge victory in the bye-election in West Bengal's Sagardighi constituency. According to the Election Commission, Biswas won 85,381 votes defeating Trinamool Congress candidate Debashish Banerjee (62,953 votes). Dilip Saha from the BJP secured the third spot with 25,484 votes. 

Congress candidate Dhangekar Ravindra Hemraj in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance has won the Kasba Peth assembly bye-election in Maharashtra. Hemraj was awarded the winning certificate on Thursday after he defeated the BJP's Hemant Narayan Rasane by over ten thousand votes. 

Meghalaya CM and National People's Party (NPP) chief said that his party is open to an alliance with the BJP since no party is getting a simple majority. Speaking to Republic TV, Sangma said his party "will have to explore options" for joining hands with the BJP again. According to the Election Commission, The NPP is leading in 20 constituencies and has won five, the highest so far. 

Celebrations among the Congress party workers have begun as EVKS Elangovan (39,648 votes) is nearing victory in the Erode East bye-election in Tamil Nadu. BJP's Tsering Lhamu, on the other hand, has won the Lumla seat in Arunachal Pradesh. The by-polls were also conducted in Jharkhand's Ramgarh constituency and AJSU leader Sunita Choudhary has a lead over Congress candidate Mamata Devi.

In Maharashtra, BJP's Ashwini Laxman Jagtap is leading with 32,288 votes followed by NCP's Nana Kate (25,992 votes). The counting for bye-elections are also underway in West Bengal's Sagardighi where Congress candidate Byron Biswas (63,092 votes) is ahead of TMC's Debashish Banerjee (45,149 votes). 

Speaking to Republic, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha said that "victory is sure" for the Bharatiya Janata Party but asserted that the saffron party wanted more seats. "We will look into it why we didn't get (more seats)," he said.

As the G20 foreign ministers met under the shadow of fractured East-West relations over the Ukraine conflict, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday called for building consensus on pressing global challenges and not allowing differences on geopolitical tensions to affect overall cooperation in the grouping. 

Indian Secular Front (ISF) leader and Bhangar MLA Naushad Siddiqui, was granted bail. He was arrested for attacking the Police.

Raj Kapoor Singh, the father of Jai Kishore Singh who lost his life in the 2020 Galwan Valley clash, was granted bail by ADJ 3 Naveen Kumar Thakur's court in Hajipur.

His family alleged that Singh was thrashed and later arrested for building a memorial for his son on government land.

Congress candidate Bayron Biswas was leading in the Sagardighi assembly seat in West Bengal's Murshidabad district where the counting of votes was underway for a by-election, according to the Election Commission (EC).

Biswas, who enjoys the support of the Left, was leading by 7,694 votes over TMC candidate Debashish Banerjee.

Biswas bagged 35,300 votes, and Banerjee got 27,606  votes, while Dilip Saha of the BJP secured 6,305 votes.

AJSU party candidate Sunita Choudhary was leading by 16,863 votes over her nearest Congress rival  Bajrang Mahto after four rounds of counting in the Ramgarh by-election, an official said on Thursday. 

AJSU Party, which has tied up with the BJP for the bypoll, got 51779 votes, while Congress, an ally of the ruling JMM-led coalition, received 34944 in the first round, the official said.  

Congress' EVKS Elangovan established a comfortable lead of over 15000 votes against his nearest rival KS Thennarasu of the AIADMK in the Erode East Assembly bypoll. The counting of polled votes was proceeding on Thursday.

The clear lead of the ruling DMK-backed Elangovan, at the end of the third round of counting, prompted celebrations from supporters of the Dravidian party-headed Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA), whose other constituents include the two Left parties.

As Supreme Court on Thursday ordered setting up of a six-member committee headed by former apex court judge A M Sapre to look into various regulatory aspects for stock markets, Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani welcomed top court's order and said that truth will prevail.

Congress candidate Ravindra Dhangekar was ahead of his rivals in Kasba Assembly seat while Bharatiya Janata Party's Ashwini Jagtap was leading in Chinchwad seat, as per the early trends of counting underway on Thursday for bypolls to the two seats in Maharashtra's Pune district.

In the Kasba seat, Dhangekar got 5,844 votes in the first round of counting and took a lead over BJP candidate Hemant Rasane, who has so far received 2,863 votes, according to election officials.

In the Chinchwad bypoll, BJP's Jagtap bagged 4,053 votes while Nationalist Congress Party's (NCP) Nana Kate got 3,604 votes in the first round, they said.

5 judge constitution bench of SC verdict: Election Commissioners will be appointed by the President of India on the advice of a Committee consisting of the PM, and leader of Opposition in LS (or leader of largest opposition party), and Chief Justice of India.

SC delivered verdict in pleas challenging the existing appointment system of Election Commissioners.

SC asks SEBI to expeditiously conclude investigation in 2 months and file a status report. The Supreme Court formed a committee under the leadership of former Supreme Court judge Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre. Other members of the committee are OP Bhatt, Justice JP Deodhar, KV Kamath, Nandan Nilekani to be included. No sitting judge in the committee formed by SC.

In order to protect Indian investors there is need for the formation of committee, said the Supreme Court. 

Everybody expected this and our party people were very confident to win. We are going to win that seat with a huge margin. People are pro DMK-Congress alliance: Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge on party's lead in Erode East bypoll in Tamil Nadu 

E.V.K.S.Elangovan of Congress leading in Erode East by-election. A total of 77 candidates contested the bypolls. The main contest ois between Congress' EVKS Elangovan and AIADMK’s Thennarasu.

All Jharkhand Students Union (AJST) leading in Ramgarh (Jharkhand) by-election

BJP leading in Chinchwad (Pune, Maharashtra) by-election, Congress leading on Kasba Peth seat (Pune, Maharashtra)

According to the Election Commission of India website, BJP is leading in one of the two Maharashtra bypolls - Kasbapeth and Chinchwad constituency. 

BJP has 43.11% voteshare with 4053 votes, NCP has gained 38.34% voteshare (3604 votes)

DMK led alliance in Erode East extends lead, now ahead by 7000 votes, early trends till 9 AM suggest. 

EVKS Elangovan has 10952 votes and AIADMK’s Thennarasu 3305 votes.

Frisking and Security Arrangements at the gate of the Counting Venue - Sagardighi K.K. Mahavidyalaya of 60-Sagardighi AC WBLA Bye-Election of West Bengal. 

Congress leading in the Sagardighi constituency after the end of the first EVM round.

Congress leading by 639 votes.
TMC in 2nd place
BJP in 3rd place.

Congress leads in postal ballot counting. Congress - Left alliance candidate Bayron Biswas leading by 521 votes after first round of counting. EVM first round is over.

Congress ahead by 639 votes.
TMC in 2nd place
BJP in 3rd place.

Security Arrangements outside the Counting Venue - Sagardighi K.K. Mahavidyalaya of 60-Sagardighi AC WBLA Bye-Election of West Bengal. The total voting percentage recorded in the constituency was 73.49%.

The TMC and BJP fielded Debashish Banerjee and Dilip Saha respectively. Bayron Biswas contested from the Congress supported by the Left. The voting was held on February 27. 

As per the initial trends from the postal ballot counting, DMK-led alliance candidate EVKS Elangovan is ahead by 70 votes.

Counting of votes underway for Kasba Peth by-elections. The counting began with postal ballots voted alongwith the electronically transmitted postal ballot system.

NIA attached property of designated terrorist in J&K in Srinagar's Nowhatta area. 

He is currently the head of AL Umar Mujahideen based in Pakistan and is also the Chief Recruitment handler for Lashkar-e-Taiba in J&K.

Mushtaq Latram was among the three terrorists released post hijacking of IC-814 IN 1999. He was also among the terrorists who kidnapped Rubaiya Syed, daughter of the then Home Minister Mufti Mohd Syed. Latram was designated as a terrorist by the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2022.

The Ramgarh constituency recorded a total voter turnout of over 67.96 per cent.

Overall there are 18 candidates in the fray, including 14 Independents, the direct contest is mainly between the Congress a part of the ruling JMM-led alliance, and the All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU). The party has allied with the BJP for the poll.

The Congress legislator Mamta Devi was disqualified following her conviction in a criminal case, which necessisated the Ramgarh poll. While Congress has fielded Mamta Devi’s husband, Bajrang Mahto, from the seat, the AJSU has nominated its leader Sunita Choudhary.

The voting for the bypolls were held on February 27.

Ramgarh (Jharkhand) - 67.96 per cent

Kasbapeth (Maharashtra) - 50.06%

Chinchwad (Maharashtra) - 50.47% 

Sagardighi (West Bengal) - 73.49%

Erode East (Tamil Nadu) - 70.58%

The winner for the Kasbapeth, Chinchwad constituency in the Pune district of Maharshtra will be announced today as the counting begins at 8 am. The average voter turnout for both seats, where the voting was held on Monday (February 27), was 50 percent. The main contest is between the BJP - Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) alliance and the Congress, NCP.

The contenders for Kasbapeth include Hemant Rasane (BJP), and Ravindra Dhangekar (MVA). In Chinchwad, the BJP has fielded Ashwini Jagtap, the wife of the former MLA Laxman Jagtap, Nana Kate (NCP), and Rahul Kalate (Independent).

Kasbapeth Voting percentage - 50.06%

Chinchwad Voting percentage - 50.47% 

The counting of votes for the Lumla bypoll Assembly in Arunachal Pradesh will begin at 8 AM. The seat is located in the Tawang district situated at the India-China border.

The byelection to Lumla seat was necessitated after the death of BJP MLA Jambey Tashi aged 48. BJP has fielded Tsering Lhamu. She is the wife of former Lumla MLA Jambey Tashi.

In the Erode East seat, there are 77 candidates in the fray however the main contest is likely between DMK-backed Congress candidate EVKS Elangovan and AIADMK's KS Thennarasru. Nam Tamizhar Katchi's Meneka Navaneethan is among the other major candidates contesting the bypoll.

The election was necessitated due to the death of Elangovan's son and Congress legislator E Thirumahan Everaa.

The constituency has a little over 2.27 lakh voters and 238 polling stations. 

The byelection to the Union Territory of Lakshadweep (ST) was necessitated because of the disqualification of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) member Mohammed Faizal P.P. as he was convicted in a criminal case.

The Lok Sabha seat of the UT covers the entire region of Lakshadweep and is reserved for the scheduled tribe candidates.

The Sagardighi constituency voted on February 27 for which the results will be announced on March 2. The bye-election was necessitated after the demise of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Subrata Saha in December 2022. 

The TMC and BJP fielded Debashish Banerjee and Dilip Saha respectively. Bayron Biswas contested from the Congress supported by the Left.