Till he took over, political parties ferrying people to the polling stations was considered quite 'normal', and it was during Seshan's stint that it became impossible with the model code being made sacrosanct.
The International Cricket Council's Chief Executives' Committee (CEC) on Wednesday recommended that the Champions Trophy be held in South Africa and not Sri Lanka as rainfall could affect the tournament to be held during September-October this year.
Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday night released the first list of 43 candidates for the high-stakes Bihar polls, giving about 60 per cent representation to those from SC and backward castes in an apparent attempt to target the base of rival Janata Dal-United-Rashtriya Janata Dal combine.
Bihar will have five-phase assembly elections between October 12 and November 5 and counting of votes will take place on November 8.
Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswamy has convened an all-party-meeting at 1000 hrs on Tuesday, to take note of the views of the political parties so that the commission can make a decision on the dates for the Lok Sabha elections.
Rumblings within the Bharatiya Janata Party came to the fore on Wednesday night as the party decided to field L K Advani from Gandhinagar for Lok Sabha polls, angering the patriarch who wanted to shift to Bhopal in a reflection of his tensions with Narendra Modi.
"Our electoral rolls revised according to the newly delimited constituencies will be ready by August 31," the CEC told reporters when asked whether the commission was ready to conduct Lok Sabha elections as per the redrawn constituencies.
In a major setback to the Praja Rajyam party of filmstar Chiranjeevi in Andhra Pradesh, the Election Commission of India has rejected its request for a common election symbol on the ground that the party has not contested even a single election so far.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday announced new playing conditions that give liberty to on-field umpires to consult the third umpire in case of unclean catches and also bar players from taking 'comfort breaks' in one-dayers. The new rules, to be applicable from Wednesday, have been aimed at improving the the quality of one-day internationals.
If Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami lives by the rulebook, so does his colleague Navin Chawla. Only that the book is written by him and the rules are his own.
'Just as the monkey god needed a Jambavan to prod him into realising his superpowers, so did the poll panel need a poke from the Supreme Court into remembering it had an armoury of powers at its disposal to stop the infractions,' notes Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Polls for assembly constitutencies will begin with the first phase beginning on November 17 and the seventh and last phase of election on December 24.
Stepping up his attack on Narendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party rebel Jaswant Singh on Tuesday said "personality cult" was not good in a democracy and it would harm the party.
Incidentally, Rao's wife Nirupama Rao is India's ambassador to China. With the appointment of Meera Shankar as ambassador to the United States, Nirupama Rao's chances of becoming foreign secretary are quite bright once the incumbent, Shiv Shankar Menon, retires
The election is likely to witness a three-cornered contest involving the ruling Aam Aadmi Party, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress.
Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami is a stickler. For rules. For details. For discipline. For principles. For values. For him, there is only one way of doing things: The right way. He is known to make copious notes about how every hour of his day passes. "He jots down details in a tiny diary. Even if you speak to him on the phone for a few minutes, your name and details of the conversation go into that tiny diary," revealed a friend who has known the CEC for 20 years.
The majority of the International Cricket Council's Board members on Saturday voted in favour of restructured revenue sharing model including rollback of the Big 3 formula despite vehement opposition from Board of Control for Cricket in India's representative Vikram Limaye.
"We have submitted a petition to the CEC as per the directions of the Supreme Court seeking removal of Navin Chawla, as he has been favouring a particular party in his decisions," Arun Jaitley said.
Talking to reporters at a media briefing, 33-year-old Sreesanth said his name has been cleared by the court in a match-fixing case and he is, therefore, not worried about any Opposition attack on him regarding the controversy.
India will start their World Cup campaign on June 5 as the BCCI will have to maintain a mandatory 15-day gap between the IPL final and international assignment as per the Lodha Committee recommendations.
According to the CEC, while Tripura will go to polls on February 23, the elections in Meghalaya will be held on March 3 and in Nagaland on March 5. The elections in all the three states will be held in a single phase and electronic voting machines will be used this year. While counting of votes for Tripura and Meghalaya is scheduled to be held on March 7, in Nagaland, the counting will take place a day later.
The chief election commissioner also said he did not see an early evolution of a two-party system in the country, saying the idea favoured by Kalam is "too difficult at this stage".
He was responding to a question on whether Gujarat polls would also be staggered like the seven-phased UP polls. The term of the present Assembly in Gujarat expires on December 26.
Racial abuse at cricket matches may result in fans being ejected or banned for life from venues in line with anti-racism laws adopted by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan and BCCI chief Sharad Pawar are not in favour of the ICC holding a World Twenty20 Championship.
The CEC needs to have powers to disqualify a candidate or impose penalties in the event of any violations, the chief election commissioner said.
'Religious sentiments should not be used for political purposes," Chief Election Commissioner T S Krishnamurty said. 'This applies to all political parties.'
The governor has also asked for security arrangements to be beefed up.
"Based on the ground realities in West Bengal, we decided on a five-phase poll schedule,'' CEC B B Tandon said.
Senior National Democratic Alliance leaders urge the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioner to keep a watch on Bihar's bureaucratic reshuffles
Concerned over the dubious handling of politically sensitive cases by the Central Bureau of Investigation, a group of eminent citizens has written to agency chief Ranjit Sinha seeking to know whether his force really needs autonomy.
Tandon said, after the review meeting at Madurai and Chennai on Tuesday, they would decide on the Tamil Nadu election date.
Chawla, who was to retire in June this year, will get a five-year tenure as election commissioner.
Recognising the malaise of paid news, the Election Commission has proposed to the government to make it an electoral offence even as it continues to tackle it itself by monitoring the expenditures of candidates.
The International Cricket Council asked an internal panel to suggest harsher punishment for ball-tampering and other misbehaviour by players in its bid to establish a "culture of respect".
Besides the various political parties, the election commission is also getting into poll mode.
A Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud said like the Indian Cricket Board, AIFF can also be asked to frame an amended constitution incorporating the suggestions of the Delhi high court.
He will take over from chief election commissioner-designate T S Krishnamurthy on February 8.
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