Taking strong exception to Law Minister Salman Khurshid's recent comments, Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi has complained to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, saying the minister had tried to undermine the authority of the Election Commission with his public utterances.
The Bilawal Bhutto-led Pakistan Peoples Party which won the third largest number of seats in the National Assembly in the elections appears to be split on whether to join a coalition government or sit on Opposition benches.
The Congress on Wednesday accused Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami of being favourable to the Bharatiya Janata Party and cited two incidents -- the CD case and distribution of sarees during a rally -- to buttress its point. "For three years, the BJP has accused Election Commissioner Navin Chawla of supporting the Congress. The Congress has rejected it several times. Now, we would like to point out how the CEC has been favourable to the BJP," said a Cong leader.
Constitutional experts on Saturday attacked Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami's decision to suo motu recommend removal of Navin Chawla as Election Commissioner, saying the move has created a 'crisis' and its timing just ahead of the elections could make people believe there is 'some motivation'.
'There is one negative thing which has happened very quietly. The position of the election commissioner has been downgraded.'
The assembly polls in Maharashtra will be held in a single phase while Jharkhand polls will be held in two phases, the Election Commission of India announced on Tuesday.
The NGO challenges the validity of a provision of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023.
Ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal on Thursday met the full bench of the Election Commission of India (ECI) and alleged that the Border Security Force (BSF) is threatening people in the border areas of the state to cast their votes in favour of a particular political party.
Amid intense speculation over whether he would contest the Lok Sabha polls from Uttar Pradesh's Amethi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said he would abide by his party's decision on it.
Some of our leaders were busybusy over the weekend.
Hitting back at the Election Commission after it dismissed allegations about slowing down the updating of Haryana election results, the Congress on Tuesday said the poll watchdog's reply degrades the conversational level to an 'unacceptable low' and 'misrepresents crucial facts' in a vein similar to that done by the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The lawyer of Zakia Jafri on Thursday alleged before the magistrate's court here that Special Investigation Team probing the 2002 Gujarat riots cases "ignored and manipulated" conclusions of National Human Rights Commission and Chief Election Commissioner.
Lok Sabha polls will be held in seven phases beginning from April 19 and the counting of votes will take place on June 4 for the world's biggest election exercise in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi will bid for a third consecutive term.
The government on Sunday rejected Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami's recommendation for removal of Navin Chawla as Election Commissioner, paving the way for his appointment to the key constitutional post. A Rashtrapati Bhawan communique said President Pratibha Patil has accepted the government recommendation for rejection of the CEC's report against Chawla and arrived at a "considered opinion".
The government is examining the Supreme Court's verdict on the appointment of chief election commissioner (CEC) and election commissioners and it will take "appropriate action" on it, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday.
Tandon, an IAS officer of 1965 batch, was appointed as Election Commissioner in 2001.
Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami, who has been in the eye of the storm after recommending the removal of Election Commissioner Navin Chawla, is currently on a one-week leave to visit various pilgrimages in Gujarat. During his trip, the CEC is scheduled to visit Somnath, Dwarka and Gandhi Nagar. Gopalaswami, an Indian Administrative Service officer from the Gujarat cadre, speaks the native language fluently and considers the state his second home.
The BJP has often highlighted the global recognition of his leadership and India's enhanced stature at the international level in its political discourse, an issue which is likely to rise in salience following the G20 meeting.
A week after her return from the United States after surgery, Sonia Gandhi will be back to active party work by presiding over a meeting of the Congress's Central Election Committee. Party general secretary Janardhan Dwivedi said that Gandhi will be participating in Thursday's CEC meeting to finalise tickets for the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections scheduled early next year. This will be the Congress president's first public appearance after she returned to Delhi from the US.
I had said that eloquence of silence is always difficult but far more desirable to see the election process through instead of creating ill-timed controversies.
Law Minister Salman Khurshid on Monday night sought to cap the stand-off with the Election Commission over his Muslim sub-quota remarks by writing a letter to the poll body in which he is understood to have said that he has all the respect for the constitutional authority.
The Supreme Court on Thursday questioned the Centre over the procedure adopted for the appointment of election commissioners and asked how six names were shortlisted from 200 within a few hours.
A vacancy will arise in the three-member poll panel when Election Commissioner Anup Chandra Pandey demits office on February 14.
The bench said it was not questioning the credentials of the election commissioners appointed but the procedure.
Chief Election Commissioner Dr S Y Quraishi is not embarrassed by activist Anna Hazare's candid confession that Indian elections are corrupt and if he ever contested in one, he would end up losing his security deposit.When asked about Hazare's statement that Indian voters are not educated enough -- "they take a bottle of alcohol or Rs 500 and cast their vote" -- CEC Quraishi stated that the statement was not at all telling on his job. He argued, "Not at all, not at all."
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday chaired a meeeting of the party's Central Election Committee to finalise candidates for the upcoming Bihar assembly polls.
Opposition leaders on Monday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his comments made at an elections rally in Rajasthan, with some leaders also appealing to people to reach out to the Election Commission of India.
BCCI to seek SC approval to relax tenure reform
The announcement on Presidential election schedule is due shortly, new Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath on Monday said.
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.
'There are many smaller parties, which in the age of ballot paper, might not have come into existence'
For the sake of neutrality of the Chief Election Commissioners and Election Commissioners, CEC N Gopalaswami wants a bar on their joining any political party for ten years after retirement or taking up any government post. In a three-page note to President Pratibha Patil sent on January 16 when he separately recommended removal of Election Commissioner Navin Chawla, he has sought amendment in the Election Commission Act for the purpose.
In Kolkata, senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala accused the prime minister of "putting pressure" on the EC to delay its press conference. He also said the CEC's explanation is "preposterous" and wondered whether Bharatiya Janata Party is the "super EC".
Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath on Thursday said that any offensive material on social media during election period will be strictly dealt with.
"Early elections are possible. Technically it should be possible," Chief Election Commissioner J M Lyngdoh told NDTV 24x7.
CEC Dr S Y Quraishi in an exclusive chat explains his plans for ensuring an trouble free election in the five poll-bound states.
Taking potshots at the Bharatiya Janata Party, some opposition leaders also wondered if Goel resigned to contest the Lok Sabha polls on its ticket like former Calcutta high court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay.
Chief Election Commissioner Naveen Chawla has taken strong exception to the withdrawal of cases against Karnataka ministers and mining magnates Reddy brothers.
The commission said enforcement authorities have seized Rs 4,650 crore even before polling begins for the Lok Sabha elections and it is the "higher than total seizures" made in the 2019 polls
While the Congress is in power in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh is ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party, Telangana by the Bharat Rashtra Samithi and Mizoram by the Mizo National Front.
