Election Commission asks Rahul Gandhi to either sign a declaration to support his vote theft claims or apologise for making 'fake' charges.
Transit accommodation in the Western Court Annexe or state bhavans will be provided to the newly-elected members who don't already have a government house in Delhi till they are provided regular accommodation by the Lok Sabha's House Committee, it said.
'...the electoral playing field is tilted significantly in its favour.'
This is the fourth such death reported in the state since the exercise began on November 4, sparking a political blame game.
The Election Commission of India is preparing for a nationwide special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, following a Supreme Court ruling. This move aims to update voter lists and address concerns about illegal migrants.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has refuted allegations by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) that the Commission is being run by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar. The ECI said it is a three-member body and has collectively noted "repeated deliberate pressure tactics" to malign the poll authority in the Delhi elections. The ECI has decided to exercise constitutional restraint and not be swayed by such insinuations. The AAP has alleged that the EC has been ignoring the BJP's alleged violations of poll code, and that Kumar is not taking action against the BJP to secure a post-retirement assignment. Delhi goes to polls on Wednesday.
If Modi rethinks on pro-biz policies, investors will suffer.
Simultaneous polls will help save resources, spur development and social cohesion, deepen "foundations of democratic rubric" and help realise the aspirations of "India, that is Bharat", the panel had said.
India has suspended visa operations at its application center in Chittagong, Bangladesh, following heightened tensions and protests after the death of a student leader.
Banking on the Budget's tax relief, the BJP seeks to energise Delhi's middle class; the AAP is doing its bit too. But will their outreach mobilise this politically crucial yet disengaged electorate?
Opposition parties in India, led by the Congress, have demanded a detailed discussion in Parliament on alleged discrepancies in voter lists. Rahul Gandhi raised the issue in the Lok Sabha, highlighting concerns about the integrity of the electoral process. The opposition alleges large-scale duplication of EPIC numbers, which they claim undermines voter integrity and the electoral process. They have also pointed out instances of inflated voter lists in states like Maharashtra and Haryana. The Election Commission has acknowledged discrepancies but maintains that these are not widespread and that corrective measures are being taken. The opposition, however, insists on a comprehensive discussion on the matter to ensure the integrity of elections in India.
India summoned the Bangladesh envoy to express strong concerns over extremist elements planning to create a security situation around the Indian mission in Dhaka.
The BJP has dismissed Rahul Gandhi's claims of vote theft in the Haryana Assembly polls as false and baseless, accusing him of defaming India's democracy and questioning the Election Commission to hide his failures.
While the DMK depends on a 'silver sieve' of welfare schemes to stay in power, its support is slowly draining away under the weight of poor governance, corruption, and voters who are no longer satisfied with benefits alone and now want basic administration to work, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Election Commission (EC) has announced 17 new initiatives for the Bihar Assembly polls, including compulsory webcasting, mobile phone-deposit facilities, and measures to improve voter turnout and accessibility.
'Should China's interest in the Teesta River projects be approved, it would likely result in heightened Chinese presence near the Siliguri corridor.'
The Election Commission of India has refuted claims of 'vote theft' made by the Congress party and Rahul Gandhi, calling them 'factually incorrect'. The EC issued a factcheck and provided evidence of transparency in the revision of electoral rolls in Bihar.
The Congress will launch a nationwide campaign against the repeal of the United Progressive Alliance-era rural employment legislation Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) on January 5, similar to the pushback against the three farm laws which eventually forced the Narendra Modi government to rollback its decision, party president Mallikarjun Kharge said.
After big win in Bihar, the BJP is likely to push harder in Tamil Nadu, where the DMK government and the uneasy BJP-AIADMK alliance are preparing for a tense election filled with seat-sharing fights, changing alliances, and the unpredictable entry of Vijay's TVK party, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
Congress candidates lost their security deposits on all but three seats in the Delhi assembly polls as nearly 80 per cent of all contenders, including those contesting independently, forfeited their deposits.
As votes for the Delhi assembly polls were counted on Saturday, latest data of the Election Commission showed that NOTA option got 0.57 per cent vote share as compared to 0.55 pet cent of the Bahujan Samaj Party and 0.01 per cent of Communist Party of India-Marxist.
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.
Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge alleges that Form 7 was misused under the previous BJP government to delete voters 'en masse' ahead of the May 2023 Assembly polls. He claims a large-scale voter deletion attempt was made in the Aland constituency, targeting Congress supporters, especially Dalit and minority voters.
A legend that sprang up after the Turkman Gate killing is that when the shrine is disturbed, the government will fall, as it happened with the Indira Gandhi government.
Gandhi cited the example of Maharashtra assembly elections, claiming there was an addition of 65 lakh voters to the voter list in two hours, "which was impossible."
Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge and Congress leader B K Hariprasad have raised concerns about the RSS not being a registered organization and questioned the sources of its funding, alleging that this lack of registration allows the RSS to evade government regulations. BJP leaders have defended the RSS, stating that registration is not mandatory for all organizations.
Raut said a Congress-AAP alliance would have crushed the BJP in Delhi assembly polls, as counting trends show the Arvind Kejriwal-led party losing many seats amid the saffron surge.
The UK government has condemned violence in Bangladesh and called for peaceful elections after reports of killings of Hindus and other religious minorities. Concerns were raised in the House of Commons, with calls for UK intervention to protect minorities.
A plea has been filed seeking action against Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, alleging her name was included in the electoral rolls three years before she became an Indian citizen.
The proposed first constitutional amendment bill would deal with making provisions for holding Lok Sabha and state legislative assembly elections together.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi intensified his attack on the Election Commission, accusing them of 'vote chori' and warning of action if the INDIA bloc forms the government. He alleged a 'new special package' for Bihar, named SIR (Special Intensive Revision), is a 'new form of vote theft'.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday called on President Droupadi Murmu separately within hours at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
This is the third meeting of CEOs after Gyanesh Kumar took over as the chief election commissioner in February. However, Wednesday's day-long meeting assumes significance as the preparedness of a pan-India SIR are being discussed, officials said.
The Election Commission on Thursday asked its Delhi chief electoral officer to probe the Aam Aadmi Party's complaints against Bharatiya Janata Party leader Parvesh Verma and allegations of additions and deletions in the electoral roll of the New Delhi assembly seat.
Polling for the Delhi assembly's 70 seats will be held on Wednesday, February 5, 2025.
In 2019, an all-party meeting was held in Delhi and it was attended by 19 political parties to discuss critical reforms in governance. One of the subjects of the discussions was simultaneous elections
In the run-up to the Delhi assembly elections, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) went all out to persuade voters to elect an effective and accountable government for the progress of the national capital, contributing to the BJP's thumping victory in the polls, according to sources.
On the eve of counting of votes for the Delhi Assembly elections, AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal accused the Election Commission (EC) of refusing to upload Form 17C, which contains details of votes polled per booth in each Assembly segment. In response, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has launched a website where it has uploaded Form 17C data for all the Assembly seats. Kejriwal stated that ensuring such transparency should have been the responsibility of the apex poll body. The office of the chief electoral officer responded by saying that the rule requiring presiding officers to furnish Form 17C to polling agents was complied with on the day of polling.
'The EC should not have let the initiative go into the hands of the political leadership. By allowing this to happen, they have opened a Pandora's box.'
The sources in the government said the notification announcing the name of the next CEC could be issued "in the next few hours".
