The announced election schedule for five assemblies reveals fewer phases, a condensed voting period, longer gaps between polling days, and a delayed counting process compared to previous elections.
'The current Election Commission functions more like a government department than an autonomous body.'
The Election Commission is considering holding the West Bengal assembly elections in two phases to mitigate potential poll-related violence, according to a senior official.
'One of the principles of the MCC that you should not make hate speeches and create hatred between communities on the basis of religion was violated on a scale that was never seen before.' 'Religious symbols were very liberally used and speeches were made to polarise people on the basis of religion.'
The Election Commission's move to transfer West Bengal's chief secretary and DGP soon after the announcement of Assembly poll dates triggered a political slugfest.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has accused the BJP of manipulating voter rolls to divide the state, alleging a conspiracy to deprive Bengali-speaking people of their voting rights. She claims the Election Commission is complicit in deleting lakhs of names from voter lists.
'The Election Commission cannot be regulated by the government.'
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has accused the BJP-led central government of attempting to suppress voting rights through voter roll revisions, describing Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the 'biggest infiltrator'.
Haryana Congress MLAs will visit 'mandis' to assess and support farmers facing difficulties in wheat and mustard procurement, following a decision made at a Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting in Delhi.
The Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, has stated that the primary goal of the Election Commission is to ensure all voters in West Bengal can participate in the upcoming assembly elections without violence or intimidation.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee launched a scathing attack on the BJP-led central government, accusing it of attempting to suppress voting rights and polarise the electorate ahead of the assembly elections.
The counting of votes for all 824 seats across four states and one Union Territory will be held on May 4.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has accused the BJP-led central government of attempting to suppress voting rights through voter roll revisions, describing Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the 'biggest infiltrator'. She framed the upcoming assembly elections as a fight for democratic rights and Bengal's social harmony.
Mamata Banerjee is in Delhi to meet Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, along with families affected by the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, met with the Chief Election Commissioner to voice their concerns and demand a halt to the revision process.
The West Bengal government has filed FIRs against five state government employees for alleged lapses in electoral roll revisions, following an Election Commission ultimatum. The action comes after the EC directed the state to initiate criminal cases against the accused for adding fictitious names to voter lists.
In a first, the Bihar assembly polls this time saw no voting day deaths and no re-polling being ordered in any constituency.
Banerjee is personally present in court room one along with her lawyers. A gate pass was issued in the chief minister's name on Tuesday.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has accused the central government of pressuring the outgoing Governor C V Ananda Bose to resign and alleged that his replacement, R N Ravi, is a BJP cadre.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of presenting a misleading picture of West Bengal's development and employment situation during a rally in Kolkata, alleging that he is acting more as a BJP campaigner than as the Prime Minister.
The Delhi government, now led by the BJP, has withdrawn all cases filed by the previous AAP administration against the Union government, the Lieutenant Governor, and several senior bureaucrats.
The Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, Mritunjay Kumar Narayan, has reassured the public that individual data collected during the upcoming census will remain confidential and cannot be used for any purpose other than statistical aggregation.
These civic body bypolls were a litmus test for the BJP, as they were its first big electoral battle after coming to power in Delhi in February this year.
Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan accuses the TMC of objecting to the omission of names from electoral rolls due to fears of losing the 'infiltrator' vote bank in the upcoming West Bengal Assembly polls.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's resignation, alleging manipulation of voter lists during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal. She also questioned the abrupt resignation of Governor C V Ananda Bose and accused the BJP of anti-women policies and spreading misinformation.
EVMs can't be used in presidential, vice-presidential, or Rajya Sabha polls because they only count simple votes, not the preference-based system needed for these elections.
The Election Commission will conduct phase two of the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in 12 states and Union territories between November and February, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar announced on Monday.
Assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal are due in 2026.
The Election Commission (EC) clarified that Nobel laureate Amartya Sen is not required to appear for a hearing regarding discrepancies in the spelling of his name in the voter list. The correction will be handled administratively. The EC also issued instructions to ensure timely delivery of notices related to voter list discrepancies.
The Supreme Court will hear on Wednesday a plea filed by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee challenging the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state.
The Election Commission is ramping up preparations for a special intensive revision of voter lists across India, assessing the progress made on mapping current electors with voters as per the last SIR in different states.
The Election Commission is expected to initiate a phased, pan-India special intensive revision (SIR) of the voters' list, prioritizing states with upcoming assembly elections. This cleanup exercise aims to weed out illegal foreign migrants and ensure accurate electoral rolls.
Poll preparations for Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Delhi have begun, and the preliminary conference of chief electoral officers of these states will be held in Delhi in the first week of June.
Assam, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala and West Bengal will to polls in 2026 and they are amongst the states where the voters' list cleanup exercise will begin first.
Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voters' list commenced in nine states and three Union territories on Tuesday, amid objections from several parties with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee leading the anti-SIR offensive in West Bengal with a rally in Kolkata and alleging 'silent, invisible rigging' through the exercise.
'Some states have become more populous, while others have become less populous. Those who became less populous became economically strong. Those where population increased, they became economically weak
Turning her guns on the Election Commission, Banerjee alleged that the BJP had "stolen" the mandate in Maharashtra with the poll panel's help and was now attempting to replicate it in Bengal through the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise by deleting genuine voters' names.
'Theatrics replace analysis. Public spectacle takes the place of public service.'
According to reports, the exit polls will be banned from 7 am on Monday when polling for the first phase in Chhattisgarh starts till 5:30 pm on December 4 when the Delhi Assembly polls end.
During the presser, Gandhi showed a picture of a woman who appears on the voter list 22 times in 10 booths in the Rai assembly constituency, and said this shows that this was a 'centralised operation'.
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