Though electoral verdicts have historically been accepted, even though grudgingly, by all parties, there has been a sharper edge to the questions being raised by Opposition parties this time over the polling process, including the Election Commission.
The Election Commission on Friday cited convention followed in 2017 for not announcing the assembly polls in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat together and underlined that the model code this time has not been "unnecessarily extended".
Voting was underway on Friday in 102 Lok Sabha seats spread across 21 states and Union territories in the first of the seven phases of the world's largest electoral exercise, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging voters to exercise their franchise in record numbers.
These officers will oversee the entire poll processes as eyes and ears of the commission on the ground to ensure free, fair and voter-friendly elections.
A delegation of Congress leaders met the Election Commission and handed over complaints against the prime minister, alleging that he has trampled upon and violated the model code and directions of the poll body.
'The Election Commission cannot be regulated by the government.'
Amid allegations of attempts at horse-trading in the Rajya Sabha elections in four states, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Thursday said special observers have been appointed to oversee the poll process which will be videographed.
The Election Commission on Thursday said that there were 'multiple factors' leading to the delay in the announcement of the Gujarat assembly polls, adding that the recent Morbi bridge collapse tragedy was one of them.
In some states, many women voters had enrolled themselves by their relationship with the male members of their family instead of providing their own names.
Congress Whip in Lok Sabha Manickam Tagore said the government has deliberately disqualified Rahul Gandhi under a well-planned conspiracy to not allow him to attend Parliament during this budget session.
The decision to schedule/postpone the UP election will be taken by Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra and Election Commissioners Rajiv Kumar and Anup Chandra Pandey.
From Instagram to X, social media platforms, in the run-up to the polls have seen bitter poster wars and even bitter meme battles for political one-upmanship.
Voters include 8.4 crore men, 8.23 crore women and 11,371 from third gender. There are as many as 35.67 lakh first time voters, besides 3.51 crore young voters in the age group of 20-29 years.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta issued notice to the Centre on a plea filed by an NGO, Association for Democratic Reforms, and listed the matter along with other pending petitions on the issue for hearing in April.
Days after Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar undertook an hours-long trek to a remote polling station in Uttarakhand, the poll panel on Tuesday decided to double the remuneration of polling officials going to such booths as early as three days before voting day.
Co-founder of the Chilume Educational Cultural and Rural Development Institute (Chilume Trust) Krishnappa Ravikumar was the main accused, according to the police.
The bench said it was not questioning the credentials of the election commissioners appointed but the procedure.
'One of the principles of the MCC that you should not make hate speeches and create hatred between communities on the basis of religion was violated on a scale that was never seen before.' 'Religious symbols were very liberally used and speeches were made to polarise people on the basis of religion.'
Pronouncing the judgement, Justice Khanna said the court has rejected all the petitions, including those seeking resorting back to ballot papers in elections.
It said that increased focus on expenditure monitoring was the reason being the seizures, which included freebies such as sarees, 'food kits', pressure cookers and kitchen appliances.
Bypolls to one Lok Sabha and four assembly seats across four states will be held on May 10 along with the Karnataka assembly polls, the Election Commission announced on Wednesday.
Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar was on Thursday appointed as the next chief election commissioner.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Wednesday said the fresh revision of electoral rolls in Jammu and Kashmir does not disturb the schedule or conduct part of polls and the poll panel is aware that there is a "vacuum" in the Union territory which needs to be filled.
This election will be remembered for being the first election where the Election Commission failed to take action on gross violations involving the ruling party that repeatedly used religion, communal slurs, lies and undocumented allegations, observes Ramesh Menon.
During a review, the EC found that the performance of some officers was "unsatisfactory" and they were found "complacent, if not complicit" in various matters, including the illegal supply of liquor as a possible poll inducement, sources said.
The value of the vote of a member of Parliament has gone down to 700 from 708 in the presidential poll scheduled for July 18 due to the absence of a legislative assembly in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Election Commission on Monday extended the ban on roadshows, padyatras, vehicle rallies and processions till February 11, but enhanced the number of people allowed in door-to-door campaigning from the present 10 to 20 and permitted a maximum of 1,000 people for physical public meetings.
Rajya Sabha on Tuesday passed a bill to regulate the appointment and service terms of Chief Election Commissioner and election commissioners incorporating key amendments like retaining their status at par with Supreme Court judges, upgrading the search committee and inserting a new clause to protect them from court cases while discharging their official duties.
Gujarat witnessed seizures of Rs 71.88 crore in just a few days after the announcement of the election
The last assembly elections were held in Jammu and Kashmir in 2014, five years before the erstwhile state was reorganised into two Union territories on August 5, 2019.
The BJP and Congress have already launched spirited campaigns for the elections.
Gujarat will go to polls in two phases on December 1 and 5 with the counting of votes on December 8 along with that of Himachal Pradesh, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar announced.
This is in contrast to a Supreme Court judgment of March which said the panel should comprise of the prime minister, the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India.
For people with disabilities, a mobile application called 'Saksham' has been introduced, which they can login to and choose the option to vote.
The indication of a timeline comes two days after the Election Commission initiated the revision of electoral rolls in the union territory and prepare the draft rolls by August 31.
In separate letters to Chirag Paswan and Pashupati Paras, the poll panel said it has allotted the name 'Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas)' and the election symbol 'Helicopter' to the Chirag Paswan group.
The Election Commission on Monday allotted 'flaming torch' (mashaal) election symbol to the Uddhav Thackeray faction of Shiv Sena, rejecting their claim to the 'Trishul' citing religious connotation.
The final electoral roll has a total of 83,59,771 electors -- 42,91,687 males, 40,67,900 females and 184 third gender -- Joint Chief Electoral Officer of Jammu and Kashmir Anil Salgotra said.
The income tax department on Wednesday conducted raids in multiple states as part of a pan-India tax evasion probe against certain registered unrecognised political parties (RUPP) and their alleged dubious financial transactions, official sources said.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioner Anup Chandra Pandey carried out a review and directed the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Electoral Officer to map the redrawn assembly constituencies.
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