The Association of Democratic Reforms in its lartest report has noted serious discrepancies between lump sum amount that political parties declared to have given to their candidates for election expenditure, and the actual amount received by the candidates. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
According to the ADR analysis, during the period 2016-18 business houses donated a total of Rs 985.18 crore, constituting 93 per cent of the total contribution to political parties from known sources.
Andhra Pradesh's Chandrababu Naidu has emerged as the wealthiest chief minister with declared assets worth over Rs 177 crore, followed by Arunanchal Pradesh's Pema Khandu (over Rs 129 crore) and Amarinder Singh of Punjab (over Rs 48 crore).
The survey also found that employment opportunities, transport and women empowerment are key issues in the Himachal Pradesh assembly polls.
All you need to know about the Himachal Pradesh elections.
The government said that the massive amount of political donations were earlier made in cash by individuals or corporates using 'illicit means of funding'.
Mother and son refuse to go away despite indications blowing in the wind that their leadership is ringing the death knell of the party, observes Ramesh Menon.
BJP tops the list with 27 tainted candidates
The report prepared by ADR also stated that 81 per cent are crorepatis.
A total of 130 candidates with serious criminal cases against them including related to murder will contest in the first phase of Bihar assembly polls on October 12.
With the Yogi Adityanath government taking credit for cracking down on criminals and making it an election issue, political parties are now having a rethink on aligning with those who have a criminal background but also enjoy influence in their areas.
The income of these parties from "unknown" sources was Rs 689.44 crore, which is 53 per cent of their total income.
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha's vote share in the just-concluded Jharkhand assembly polls has slumped to 18.72 per cent despite the party winning 30 of the total 81 seats in the state. The JMM had won 19 seats in 2014 polls with a vote share of 20.43 per cent. This time the party bagged 30 seats but its vote share came down to 18.72 per cent.
Of the 143 candidates contesting in the first phase of Chhattisgarh assembly elections, 15 candidates have criminal cases registered against them.
The Supreme Court Wednesday flagged the issue of possible misuse of funds received through electoral bonds by political parties for illegal purposes like terrorism and asked the Centre whether there was any 'control' over how these funds were put to use.
Chief Justice of India U U Lalit on Saturday got teary-eyed while reminiscing about the time he spent in Nagpur at the beginning of his career as a lawyer.
If only you had thought ahead, you would have stocked snacks and biscuits, bread and cake, and vegetables suited for Amma or pondatti to make your favourite bajji and pakoda, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Association of Democratic Reforms, voluntary organisation whose efforts made Central Information Commission bring six national parties under the umbrella of the RTI Act, had shot RTI applications to 45 recognised political parties of which only four have responded so far, a statement from ADR said.
Sixteen per cent of the candidates contesting in the first phase of Assam assembly elections have declared criminal cases against themselves, according to a report by poll rights group Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
'It would be a huge mistake to think that Gorbachev's reforms did not achieve anything.' 'We all live in the world, which is in many respects a result of Glasnost and Perestroika.'
A day after India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Cabinet of 45 ministers, the analysis has begun. Of the 44 ministers examined, a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms reveals that 13 of Modi's men have criminal charges registered against them.
Madhya Pradesh will see 243 candidates with criminal background in the forthcoming elections. Out of the 1,045 candidates analysed by the Association for Democratic Reforms, 243 or 23 per cent of the candidates have a criminal record.
Madhya Pradesh will see 243 candidates with criminal background in the forthcoming elections. Out of the 1,045 candidates analysed by the Association for Democratic Reforms, 243 or 23 per cent of the candidates have a criminal record.
The party's steady flow of money from industrialists has all but dried up, leaving a cash crunch so serious that it's been forced to crowd-fund for a candidate.
There has been a whopping 164 per cent growth in assets of 216 members of Legislative Assembly, who are seeking re-election to the Maharashtra assembly, since the last polls, as per a study conducted by two Non-Governmental Organisations.
On the education details of the candidates, the survey said 669 have declared their education qualification to be between 5th pass and 12th pass, while 380 have declared having an educational qualification of graduate or above, 29 have declared themselves to be simple literates and 7 have declared to be illiterate.
The Congress on Wednesday approached the Supreme Court challenging the Delhi high court's verdict holding it along with the Bharatiya Janata Party prima facie guilty of violating the foreign funding law by receiving donations from United Kingdom-based Vedanta Resources' subsidiaries.
The ruling party received Rs 742 crore in 2018-19, a rise of 70 per cent from the previous year.
The dinner Jill Biden and her husband US President Joe Biden hosted for Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, June 22, at the White House brought together, Indians and Americans from so many firmaments.
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed the setting up of a three-member Committee of Administrators (CoA) to take over the affairs of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).
Hoping that the 14th Prime Minister will provide clean and exemplary governance, the National Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms wrote to the Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi, requesting him not to induct those who had criminal cases registered against them into Parliament and his Cabinet.
Citing India's commitment to deep economic reforms and ease of doing business, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted on Monday that this is the best time to invest in the country as policy-making is focussed on the needs for the next 25 years for a 'clean and green' as well as 'sustainable and reliable' growth period. In his special address to the World Economic Forum's online Davos Agenda 2022 summit, Modi underlined a host of reform measures undertaken by his government to stress that it has worked to reduce the administration's interference in business by deregulating many sectors and to clear the way for free trade agreements with different countries. India was once associated with "license raaj", he noted and highlighted the measures, including reduction of corporate tax to boost business and doing away with over 25,000 compliance requirements.
In an interim relief, the Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the status quo and said the Delhi High Court-appointed three-member Committee of Administrators (COA) will not take over the affairs of the Indian Olympic Association.
Phases 1 to 4 of the Lok Sabha elections will witness 278 candidates with charges. The data of 1,566 candidates which have been analysed by the Association for Democratic Reforms show that out of the 278 candidates with charges, 155 of them have serious charges against them.
The Delhi high court on Friday reserve its order on a Public Interest Litigation alleging that the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party received funding from subsidiaries of United Kingdom-based Vedanta Resources in violation of various Indian laws.
The Association for Democratic Reforms came out with the figures in a report after analysing affidavits of the candidates of 12 Lok Sabha seats that are going to polls. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
When it comes to crorepati leaders winning the elections, Delhi seems to have taken the cake among the four states with at least 52 such members of Legislative Party in the 70-member strong assembly.
The measures include an information search prompt with the Election Commission of India (@ECISVEEP) and State Election Commissions to provide reliable information around the elections, a custom emoji to encourage participation, a series of pre-bunks and debunks to tackle election-related misinformation, and a youth discussion series titled #DemocracyAdda aimed at voter literacy and civic participation among young Indians for the upcoming elections.
Six national parties collected 86.91 pc (Rs 1,041.80 crore) of their total income from voluntary contributions for 2017-18.
Shah said that Modi has always maintained that he is in power to change the country for the better and not merely to run the government.
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