The commission has also enhanced the limit of people allowed for door-to-door campaign.
Announcing the election schedule with a strong focus on digital and virtual modes of campaigning, Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra said the ban on rallies, roadshows, nukkad sabhas, padayatras and vehicle rallies will be reviewed on January 15.
The term of the 243-member Bihar legislative assembly comes to an end on November 29.
Having twice betrayed the BJP -- and Arvind Kejriwal determined not to admit in AAP anyone who could question his authority -- Sidhu seems to have reached a dead-end in his political career, asserts Virendra Kapoor.
The Election Commission of India has decided to seize both licensed and illegal weapons before the Lok Sabha election and will reject requests from political parties for change of poll dates because of festivals in Assam.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday took note of the Eknath Shinde faction's claim about the Uddhav Thackeray camp stalling the proceedings before the poll panel where the former's application staking claim over the Shiv Sena and its symbol is pending, and said it will consider listing its plea before a Constitution bench.
G C Murmu rarely speaks in public and when he does, his statements are always in lockstep with the thinking within this government.
While the Bharatiya Janata Party already has a good presence on social media platforms, the Samajwadi Party and others are putting in efforts to strengthen their digital army and chalking out strategies to boost their support base.
The broadcast and publication of opinion polls is unlikely to be restricted in the coming months as Election Commission has told the Law Ministry that it will not take such a step using its powers under the Constitution and it wants the government to come out with a law on the issue.
While the chair car fares are 1.5 times the base price of Shatabdi trains running the same distance, the executive class fares are 1.4 times that of the base fare of first class air conditioned seating in the premium train
These items will remain under essential commodities segment till June-end, a move aimed at ensuring availability at reasonable prices and cracking down on hoarders/black marketeers.
In a country where 'booth-capturing' and open intimidation of voters used to be a part of the poll processes until not very long ago -- and remains a factor even now - postal vote can challenge the very credibility of the electoral process as a whole, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Campaigning came to an end on Saturday for the single-day election in Uttarakhand and Goa, two states known for political volatility where the Bharatiya Janata Party is attempting to retain power, and for the second phase of assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh on February 14.
He also said the Bihar chief electoral officer has already responded to everything. The EC held four press conferences on counting day on November 10 to respond to various aspects of the process, Arora pointed out.
Congress has backed Election Commission's views on restricting publication and dissemination of opinion polls during elections, saying the random surveys are "erroneous", "lack credibility" and could be "manipulated" by vested interests.
Nishad said he will meet senior BJP leaders, including Amit Shah, in Delhi on Monday to finalise the constituencies where the party will field its candidates.
Kiran Vissa, co-convenor of National Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture, said that amendments to the EC Act have nothing to do with farmers' welfare but instead meant to please big players and agriculture companies. This is because small and marginal farmers don't have the storage capacity to attract provisions of the EC Act.
The scheduled meeting with the governor had triggered a speculation that the three parties might stake a claim to form government, but the leaders of the Sena and Congress maintained the interaction was restricted to discuss the farm distress.
The notification issued by the law ministry on Monday night said the maximum expenditure a candidate can incur for campaigning in Lok Sabha polls is now Rs 77 lakh. It was so far Rs 70 lakh. For assemblies, it has been hiked from Rs 28 lakh to Rs 30.8 lakh.
Law Minister Kapil Sibal on Wednesday said the Election Commission should take "hard decisions" if it finds that opinion polls are used to further the cause of parties as a sting operation showed that poll data is manipulated by agencies conducting such exercise.
He said that the AAP MLAs were issued two notices by the EC but their response was not in the context of the notice served on them.
Politics, bureaucracy, ineptitude, double-standards and an attempt to politicise the fight in pseudo-nationalistic terms have all hampered the fight against this deadly virus, says Vir Sanghvi.
A group of five people, including candidates but excluding security personnel, is allowed to take part in door-to-door campaigning.
"The cause of action has not arisen within the jurisdiction of this court... We find no grounds to entertain the petition," it said.
The Election Commission of India had recently had sought the views of the political parties on restricting publication and dissemination of opinion polls during elections. Here's a round up of what major political parties had to say about the EC's query.
Will appeasement, rising unemployment and her dictatorial style become major obstacles in her path? asks Payal Singh Mohanka.
Reliance's hydrocarbon business was adversely impacted due to reduction in demand for refined products and petrochemicals.
He, however, did not give any date for the proposed challenge which he announced in his opening remarks at the meeting.
Congress will not be sending its spokespersons and panelists for television discussions on pre-poll surveys after the party's trashing of such exercises as being "erroneous" and "manipulated" by vested interests.
Given the international practice, it is inexplicable why the government is going with anonymous electoral bonds.
Tax Guru Anil Rego answers your personal income tax queries.
'Are they assuming that by the end of May or the 15th of June, we will see the end of the pandemic?'
'What was the message that was going to them?' 'The message was, we are a great country and we have beaten Covid!' 'No one talked about the precautions to be taken.'
'The Election Commission has to deal with money power, intimidation tactics and caste politics.'
Counting of votes in all elections will be held on May 2.
He warned that Pakistan-supported terrorist groups would continue to carry out attacks inside India.
BJP leader Arun Jaitley on Thursday questioned the Election Commission's order for registration of an FIR against Narendra Modi and said it acted in "haste and anger" and the interpretation given by it may fall foul of Constitutional provisions.
Tejashwi accused the Nitish Kumar-led government of meting out "step-motherly" treatment to migrant labourers.
By evaluating their loan rate against the best available every year, borrowers can achieve considerable savings over the entire tenor, suggests Sanjay Kumar Singh.
Those complaining to the Election Commission about violation of model election code must keep in mind that right to free speech has not been diluted by the MCC in any way, Jaitley noted.
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