The Supreme Court has sought responses from the Centre and Union Territory of Ladakh regarding the detention of climate activist Sonam Wangchuk under the National Security Act. Wangchuk's wife filed a plea seeking his release. The court has scheduled the next hearing for October 14.
The Congress followed next with Rs 620 crore or 18.5 percent of the total expenses among the 32 national and regional parties whose records were analysed, the ADR said.
Total assets of the 699 candidates are worth about Rs 3,952 crore...
The Supreme Court has begun hearing petitions challenging the Election Commission's decision to conduct a special intensive revision exercise in Bihar ahead of elections, raising concerns about voter exclusion.
The Supreme Court has stated it will intervene if there is mass exclusion in the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, emphasizing the Election Commission's role as a constitutional authority.
"There is bound to be revision," the top court said, "otherwise, how will the poll panel delete the names of those who are dead, migrated or shifted to other constituencies?"
The Supreme Court of India dismissed a plea seeking a directive for 100% manual counting of Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips in addition to electronic counting. The court cited its previous rulings on the safety and security of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and stated that the issue was not open for reconsideration. The plea argued for a modified VVPAT system where voters could verify printed ballots before leaving the polling station, and for 100% manual counting of VVPAT slips. The court upheld the Delhi High Court's decision dismissing the plea, referring to previous Supreme Court judgments on the matter.
The Election Commission has assured the Supreme Court that no voter's name will be deleted from the draft electoral roll in Bihar without prior notice and a fair hearing. The EC also clarified that it is not required to share separate lists of those not included in the draft rolls.
Expressing surprise over political parties not coming forward in filing objections related to 65 lakh excluded voters, the top court directed the chief electoral officer of Bihar to implead them in the court proceedings.
The Supreme Court has directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to publish details of deleted names from the voters list in Bihar, along with reasons for non-inclusion, to enhance transparency in the special intensive revision (SIR) of the electoral roll.
Five of the seven newly sworn-in ministers in Delhi, including the chief minister, have declared criminal cases against themselves, while two are billionaires, according to the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). The findings are based on self-sworn affidavits submitted by the ministers ahead of the 2025 Delhi Assembly Elections. The report highlights that five ministers, including Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, have declared criminal cases against themselves, with one minister, Ashish Sood, facing serious criminal charges. On the financial front, two ministers are billionaires, with Manjinder Singh Sirsa having the highest declared assets worth Rs. 248.85 crores and Kapil Mishra having the lowest at Rs 1.06 crores. The average assets of the seven ministers stand at Rs 56.03 crores. All seven ministers have declared liabilities, with Parvesh Sahib Singh having the highest at Rs 74.36 crores. Six ministers have declared educational qualifications of graduate level or above, while one has completed only the 12th standard. Five ministers are between 41 and 50 years old, while the remaining two are aged between 51 and 60 years. The cabinet includes only one woman minister, the chief minister.
Opposition candidate B Sudershan Reddy appeals to MPs to vote with conscience in the upcoming vice presidential polls, urging them to prioritize the spirit of India and parliamentary traditions over party loyalty.
Underscoring the 'presumption of genuineness' of Aadhaar and voter ID, the Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay the publication of draft electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar and said it would once and for all decide pleas against Election Commission's special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
A bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi, however, questioned the timing of the exercise, besides offering its prima facie view that Aadhaar card, voter ID card and ration cards could be considered during the SIR in Bihar.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi is likely to take up the matter in which the EC has justified its ongoing SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar, saying it adds to the purity of the election by "weeding out ineligible persons" from the electoral rolls.
The declared incomes of registered unrecognised political parties witnessed a 223 per cent spike in 2022-23 and more than 73 per cent of these parties failed to publicly disclose their financial records, according to poll rights body the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear petitions challenging the Election Commission's decision to revise electoral rolls in Bihar. The hearing is scheduled for July 10.
The Delhi Assembly elections saw BJP's Karnail Singh emerge as the richest winner with assets worth Rs 259 crore, Umang Bajaj at 31 as the youngest winner, Tilak Ram Gupta as the oldest contestant at 73, and AAP's Amanatullah Khan the candidate with the highest, 19, criminal cases. Several winning candidates have pending criminal cases, according to a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms.
Polling for the Delhi assembly's 70 seats will be held on Wednesday, February 5, 2025.
The third and final phase of the three phase Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections will be held on Tuesday, October 1, 2024.
The crisis may not be as visible this time, but the stakes are just as high, points out Rajeswari Sengupta.
Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh (Phase II) go to the polls on Friday, November 17, 2023.
Polling for the 90 seats of the Haryana assembly will take place on Saturday, October 5, 2024.
The second phase of the three phase Jammu and Kashmir elections will be held on Wednesday, September 25, 2024.
According to a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is the richest chief minister in India with assets worth over Rs 931 crore, while West Bengal's Mamata Banerjee is the poorest with just Rs 15 lakh. The average asset per chief minister is Rs 52.59 crore, and the total assets of 31 chief ministers are worth Rs 1,630 crores. The report also highlights that 13 chief ministers have declared criminal cases against themselves, with 10 of them having declared serious criminal cases.
The Bharat Rashtra Samithi has fielded 114 crorepati candidates followed by the Congress (111), the Bharatiya Janata Party (93) and 30 by the Bahujan Samaj Party.
An analysis of the affidavits of all the 90 winning candidates by the Association for Democratic Reforms and Haryana Election Watch show a slight rise in the number of crorepati MLAs, from 93 percent in 2019 to 96 percent this time.
The first phase of the three phase Jammu and Kashmir elections will be held on Wednesday, September 18, 2024.
The Congress has fielded 121 candidates with declared criminal cases and 61 with serious criminal cases.
With the Bharatiya Janata Party a clear winner in the Delhi assembly elections, meet the BJP aspirants for the chief minister's post.
Of the 695 candidates in the fray, 88.2 per cent or 613 candidates are male candidates.
The polling for 230 seats for Madhya Pradesh and 70 seats in the second phase of Chhattisgarh will be held on Friday, November 17, 2023.
Of the 904 candidates, 89.49 per cent or 809 candidates are male candidates. 10.51 per cent or 95 candidates are women candidates in the final phase.
The average age is 56, making the Lower House the oldest in India's parliamentary history and a year older than the previous Lok Sabha.
While the BJP received the highest amount, securing Rs 1,685.63 crore, the Congress received Rs 828.36 crore, and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rs 10.15 crore.
The sixth phase of the Lok Sabha elections for 58 seats will take place on Saturday, May 25, 2024, covering 8 states.
Polling for the seventh and the final phase of the Lok Sabha election will be held on Saturday, June 1, 2024.
Of the 1,710 candidates analysed from a total of 1,717 nominees, 90.1 per cent or 1,547 candidates are male candidates.
8.25 per cent or 134 candidates are women candidates in the first phase.
Polling for the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha election will be held on Monday May 19, 2024.
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