Weekend news wrap: Assembly polls, Adani crisis, BGT & more

The Mahayuti alliance swept Maharashtra polls, winning 53 of 70 seats, while the JMM-led alliance retained power in Jharkhand with 56 of 81 seats. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra triumphed in Wayanad, marking her political debut. Meanwhile, US prosecutors charged Adani Group with fraud, and India faces Australia in the first five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy series at Optus Stadium. Check the biggest news this week.
Mahayuti alliance bagged 53 of the 70 assembly seats in Maharashtra to mark a stupendous victory.
The Mahayuti, comprising the BJP, Shiv Sena of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and NCP, emerged as a formidable force, leaving the MVA with just 12 seats in the western Maharashtra region, comprising constituencies across Pune, Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur, Solapur, and Ahilyanagar districts.
The results of the November 20 state polls were announced on Saturday.
In a stunning comeback, Hemant Soren’s JMM-led alliance on Saturday stormed to power in Jharkhand for a second consecutive term, winning 56 seats in the 81-member assembly, despite an all-out blitz by the BJP-led NDA which managed only 24 seats.
The majority mark in the state assembly is 41 seats.
The BJP was confident that it could turn the tide in its favour through an aggressive campaign that targeted CM Soren’s leadership, and raised issues like “infiltration” from Bangladesh and the government’s alleged “corruption.”
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday won the Wayanad Lok Sabha bypoll with a thumping margin of over four lakh votes, surpassing her brother Rahul Gandhi’s victory margin in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, in her electoral debut.
The 52-year-old Congress leader defeated Sathyan Mokeri of the CPI(M)-led LDF by securing more than six lakh votes to succeed her brother, Rahul Gandhi, in the hill constituency, which he had won twice since the 2019 elections.
Mokeri got 2,11,407 votes while BJP candidate Navya Haridas finished third with 1,09,939 votes.

US prosecutors on Wednesday charged Indian billionaire Gautam Adani with involvement in a plan to pay more than $250 million in bribes to Indian government officials to win solar energy contracts, and concealing the plan as the group sought money from US investors.
In a five-count indictment, the prosecutors also accused the billionaire’s nephew Sagar R. Adani and Vneet S. Jaain, both executives at Adani’s renewable energy company Adani Green Energy Ltd., of breaking US laws.
The charges are related to one contract of Adani Green, which is about 10% of the overall business of that firm, Singh said in the post, adding the group became aware of the “specificity” of the allegations two days ago.
Adani Group has denied any wrongdoing and said it would seek all possible legal recourse to defend itself. It scrapped a $600 million bond sale on Thursday.

India is currently playing the first test match against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy of the 3-match series starts today at the Optus Stadium.
Australia has not won the legendary Border-Gavaskar Trophy in the last 10 years. The last time Australia won a BGT was in 2014-15. Since then, India have dominated both at home and away. For a change, the BGT will be a five-Test affair for the first time this year.