“A team of Election Commission flying squad seized ₹25 lakh in cash from a vehicle near CC-2 under ECO Park police station in Kolkata, West Bengal,” officials said.

The flying squad team was deployed for election surveillance and enforcement operations when it intercepted a suspicious vehicle. The team identified one individual, named Thakor Suraji Abhesang, who was found travelling in a car under circumstances deemed suspicious. The search led to the recovery of ₹25 lakh in cash. Further investigation is under way. - ANI

Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly V.D. Satheesan alleged that a section of media spread false news about the Congress’ candidate selection process at the behest of the CPI(M).

A day after the media reports about uncertainty with regard to the candidature of Congress MPs K. Sudhakaran and Adoor Prakash, Satheesan said such news would not stop the party from winning the upcoming Assembly polls.

He also said a plethora of false news was spread by some media outlets about the candidate selection by the Congress for the Assembly polls to be held on April 9.

“These news reports were aired without speaking to the persons concerned and even before the Congress held any discussions regarding the candidature of those leaders. Such news is being run at the behest of the AKG Centre CPI(M) Kerala headquarters. But it will not hinder our chances of winning. The UDF will win more than 100 seats in the Assembly polls,” the Opposition leader said. - PTI

Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi expressed support for the United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala, stating that the alliance represents the aspirations of the people and is prepared for the upcoming Assembly elections. 

In a post on X, Mr. Gandhi wrote, “Team UDF is Team Keralam. Each candidate reflects the voice, the aspirations and the trust of the people of Keralam. This is a collective of experienced leaders and young change-makers - a strong team of men and women who understand the intricacies of the constituencies they represent. For me, Keralam is home, and the people of Keralam are family.”

He added, “The message from Keralam is clear - the people are ready for change, they seek a government that listens, understands, and delivers with honesty. Along with the coming UDF government, I will do everything to help build a better future for this beautiful State. Keralam will win. UDF will lead.” - ANI

CPI(M) State Secretary M.V. Govindan earlier launched a sharp attack on the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) and alleged internal discord in its candidate selection process ahead of the Assembly elections, while backing a third term for the Left Democratic Front (LDF).

He said the Opposition’s early confidence has weakened due to unresolved issues within its own ranks. 

“The Indian National Congress and the United Democratic Front had approached the upcoming election with a lot of confidence. They believed that they would be able to put up a strong fight, especially based on their assessment of strength at the local body elections. However, with the candidate selection process, they have now realised that their problems lie within their own camp,” Mr. Govindan said. - ANI

Kerala Leader of the Opposition (LoP) and senior Congress leader V.D. Satheesan dismissed reports of internal friction regarding seat distribution for the 2026 Kerala Assembly Elections, asserting that the United Democratic Front (UDF) has successfully allocated seats among its partners without any issues.

He further mentioned that the selection for 95 seats was completed within 48 hours without any complaints.”...We have completed our seat division among our UDF partners without any problem... We have completed our selection of 95 seats within 48 hours without complaint...” Mr. Satheesan said. 

Satheesan’s remarks came amid internal discussion over leadership and candidate selection ahead of the Kerala Assembly elections. - ANI

Alappuzha: CPI(M) rebel leader G. Sudhakaran said he would campaign against Agriculture Minister P. Prasad in Cherthala, accusing him of making unwarranted remarks.

Speaking to reporters in Alappuzha, Sudhakaran, who is contesting as an independent candidate from Ambalappuzha with the backing of the UDF, said he had earlier decided not to take part in campaign activities outside his constituency.

“I had decided not to attend any election campaign outside Ambalappuzha. But now I have decided to campaign against Prasad in Cherthala as he has made unnecessary statements against me,” he said.

Mr. Sudhakaran alleged that Mr. Prasad made the remarks without consulting the CPI State or district leadership. - PTI

Kolkata: Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP and senior lawyer Kalyan Banerjee moved the Calcutta High Court questioning the Election Commission’s transfer order of several IAS and IPS officers in West Bengal soon after the announcement of Assembly polls in the State.

The petitioner named Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar a party respondent in the matter. Mentioning the matter before a division Bench presided over by Chief Justice Sujoy Paul, the lawyer prayed for an early hearing of the petition.

“The petition, which questions the transfers without consulting the State government before the EC took the decisions, is likely to be heard early next week,” a lawyer connected with the matter said.

A large number of senior IAS and IPS officers, including the State’s Chief Secretary, Home Secretary and Director General of Police (DGP) were replaced by the Election Commission within hours of announcement of the Assembly elections in West Bengal. - PTI

Chennai: Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) general secretary TTV Dinakaran refuted claims by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister about seat-sharing talks, saying he alone knows the constituencies the party is seeking.

Mr. Dinakaran also criticised the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government for misappropriating funds and said the upcoming polls will be a contest between the AIADMK-led NDA and DMK alliances.

Dinakaran criticised the DMK government, accusing it of misappropriating funds, and said,”No matter how much funding comes from Delhi, you (the DMK) misappropriate it, which is why the people of Tamil Nadu are eager to replace you (the DMK government).” This election will actually be between the AIADMK-led NDA alliance and the DMK.” 

His remarks followed a statement by Mr. Stalin, who criticised Edappadi K. Palaniswami’s recent visit to Delhi to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah for alliance discussions. - ANI

Guwahati: Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Himanta Biswa Sarma filed his nomination from Jalukbari Assembly constituency as he eyes a second term as Assam Chief Minister. The CM filed the nomination at the District Commissioner’s office of Kamrup (Metro) district in Guwahati, where he reached with a large number of BJP supporters, showcasing his strength ahead of the Assembly polls.

Going into the polls, Himanta Biswa Sarma laid down his objective for Assam, centred around the identity and development of the State. “This will be my seventh election. I’ll get full support from the people of Assam. We want to secure identity of Assam. We want to have faster development. These two are our objectives.” He also thanked Assam Congress President Gaurav Gogoi for seeing him as the only opponent in the upcoming elections. 

He said more people from the Congress will join the party. “I think more people will join. I am going to have every Hindu person in the fold of the BJP. That is my mission because Hindus should be united,” he said. - ANI

TMC MP and senior lawyer Kalyan Banerjee on Friday (March 20, 2026) moved the Calcutta High Court questioning the Election Commission’s transfer order of several IAS and IPS officers in West Bengal soon after the announcement of Assembly polls in the state.

The petitioner named Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar a party respondent in the matter.

Mentioning the matter before a division bench presided by Chief Justice Sujoy Paul, the lawyer prayed for an early hearing of the petition.

- PTI

Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) leader Fathima Farhana took a dig at the slew of welfare promises made by the major political parties in Tamil Nadu ahead of the scheduled Assembly polls, saying that the “freebies” must ensure sustainable living for the people.She said that Tamil nationalist NTK favoured “freebies” such as proper education and access to medicine.

“We want to be a change from these common political parties that are already there. When all the other parties are giving ₹2,000 or so as a freebie to appease votes from the general public, I think the real freebie would be proper education and access to medicine. These should be of international standards. We see neighbouring states providing good medical facilities, and we lag in that,” Ms. Farhana told ANI on Thursday (March 20, 2026).

- ANI

Pinarayi, a village in Kannur district, holds a special place in the history of Kerala’s communist movement. It was here in 1939 that legendary leaders like E.M.S. Namboodiripad, P. Krishna Pillai, K. Damodaran and N.C. Sekhar came together to organise what would later grow into a powerful political force in the State— the communist movement.

Over the decades, Pinarayi has remained more than just a place on the map. It has come to symbolise the roots of left politics in Kerala -- a movement that reshaped the state’s social and political landscape.

The village continues to make political history even today as it is the hometown of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, one of the most influential leaders of the CPI(M), who broke a long-standing trend in Kerala politics by leading the Left Democratic Front (LDF) to consecutive victories -- something rare in a state known for alternating between the LDF and the Congress-led UDF.

- PTI

Suspended TMC MLA Humayun Kabir said the emotive issue of constructing a new Babri Masjid in Murshidabad at his behest could shape the political discourse ahead of the 2026 West Bengal Assembly polls, asserting that the next State government may, for the first time since Independence, see either a Muslim Chief Minister or a Deputy CM.

In an interview with PTI, Mr. Kabir, who has floated the Am Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) ahead of the high-stakes elections, claimed that a growing sense of political assertion among Muslims in the State could significantly influence the electoral outcome.

- PTI

Read more here

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday (March 20, 2026) held a rally, starting from Veterinary College Field, Khanapara, to the District Commissioner’s office of Kamrup (Metro) district in Guwahati, where he will file his nomination from Jalukbari Assembly constituency.

BJP supporters gathered in large numbers as the CM’s caravan progressed to file the nomination for the Assam Assembly elections.

Himanta Biswa Sarma is a five-time MLA from Jalukbari. First elected in 2001, he served three terms in Congress before his famous switch to the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2016.Mr. Sarma is looking to retain his seat as he eyes a second term as Assam Chief Minister.

- ANI

​

​

After days of negotiation and uncertainty, the Congress and Raijor Dal finalised seat-sharing arrangements for the Assam Assembly polls, and decided that the national party will leave 11 constituencies for the other one, and there will be a friendly contest in two. In a late-night development on Thursday (March 20, 2026) at Jorhat, leaders of the two parties, headed by State Congress president Gaurav Gogoi and Raijor Dal chief Akhil Gogoi, signed the agreement.

Akhil Gogoi will contest from Sivasagar, a seat he won in the last polls while still in prison on sedition charges for allegedly instigating violence during the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests.

The Congress had given the Margherita seat to the Raijor Dal. Earlier, the national party had given it to Prateek Bordoloi, who decided not to contest on a Congress ticket after his father defected to the BJP earlier this week.

- PTI

Read more here

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday (March 20, 2026) said the efforts of the Election Commission to “gerrymander” will not change the results in West Bengal Assembly elections, expressing confidence that Trinamool Congress will emerge victorious.

“No amount of effort by the Election Commission to gerrymander will change the results. Come counting day Mamata Didi will win a thumping majority,” Abdullah posted on his personal X handle.

Commenting on the large-scale transfers ordered by the Election Commission in the poll-bound state, Abdullah said these things happen only in the states where the BJP is not in power.

- PTI

Putting an end to 48 hours of uncertainty that put the Congress party in Kerala on the edge ahead of a crucial Assembly election, senior Congress leader K. Sudhakaran, MP, on Thursday night put an end to a rebellion that he initiated after the All India Congress Committee (AICC) denied permission to sitting MPs to contest the Assembly polls.

Speaking to the media outside his residence in Delhi after several rounds of talks with the party leadership, Mr. Sudhakaran indicated that he had decided to cede to the party. Quelling all rumours, he said he would abide by the decision of the party and not contest as an Independent. The details of the compromise formula that led to Mr. Sudhakaran’s climbdown remained mysterious.

“I will continue to be a member of the Congress party. Just because I was denied candidature does not mean I have been expelled from the party. I will contest only if the party allows me to. Else, I will not. I will reach every constituency as part of the Congress’ campaign,” he said.

Read more here

The Congress party on Thursday (March 19, 2026) announced its second list of candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections in Kerala, hours after senior leader K. Sudhakaran made it clear that he will abide by the party’s decision.

Among the list of 37 candidates put out by the All India Congress Committee (AICC) are T.O. Mohanan from the Kannur Assembly constituency, which was sought by Mr. Sudhakaran, and Satheesh Kochuparambil from the Konni constituency, which was sought by Adoor Prakash, MP. The AICC stuck to its stand that no sitting MP will be allowed to contest in the Assembly elections in the State.

Read more here

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and several prominent candidates of both the ruling BJP and opposition parties like the Congress will file their nomination papers on Friday for the Assembly polls.

Mr. Sarma, contesting from Jalukbari, will file his nomination at the Kamrup (Metropolitan) District Election office here.

He will hold a rally from the Veterinary Field in Khanapara to the Election Office in Hengrabari, approximately 5.6 km away, before filing his papers.

‘’Inviting everyone to join the rally from Khanapara Veterinary Field to DC Office, Kamrup (M), as I file my nomination for #AssamElections2026. Your blessings will power up my journey and inspire me to carry forward the responsibility entrusted by the people of Assam,’’ Mr. Sarma said in a post on X.

- PTI

Congress MP Rajmohan Unnithan on Friday (March 20, 2026) observed that the candidate list for the Kerala Assembly elections is unlikely to undergo any modifications at this stage.

The senior leader noted that since the State leadership has already returned to their respective constituencies to begin campaigning, any revision would now require a fresh and lengthy consultation process.

Congress MP Rajmohan Unnithan, while talking to reporters, said, “The Leader of the Opposition and the KPCC president have already returned to Kerala and begun their constituency tours and campaign activities. Naturally, if any changes are to be made to the list finalised by the Central Election Committee, it would require a detailed process. Leaders from Kerala would have to be consulted again, or their consent would need to be obtained. Given my long experience in politics, I do not see much possibility for such changes at this stage. Of course, politics is the art of possibilities, so anything can happen, but I don’t expect any major developments now.”

- ANI

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha has said that BJP is confident of winning the Dharmanagar by-election, which will be held on April 9.

CM Manik Saha said that the decision was taken by the central BJP and candidature was given to Jwahar Chakraborty. He is a long-time member of the BJP.

“When I used to go to Dharmanagar for party work, I used to go with him on his bike. His family is engaged with the BJP. People of Dharmanagar know him, which is an advantage for us, and we are confident that we will win there. There is no doubt,” he said.

Mr. Saha also said that the BJP takes every election very seriously and is waiting to complete the Assembly, after which “the show will start.”

- ANI

The First Randomisation of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in connection with the forthcoming Election to the Assam Legislative Assembly, 2026, has been successfully conducted across all 35 districts covering 126 Assembly Constituencies on Wednesday (March 18, 2026).

The process was carried out in the offices of the respective District Election Officers (DEOs) in the presence of representatives from recognised National and State Political Parties, ensuring transparency and adherence to the guidelines of the Election Commission, a release said.

- ANI