The counting of votes for the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh polls along with six assembly and one Lok Sabha by-elections will commence at 8 am on Thursday with prohibitory orders in place around counting halls to ensure peace and tranquillity.
The Election Commission on Wednesday asked the Gujarat chief electoral officer to inquire and take action "as warranted" after the Aam Aadmi Party alleged that its Surat (East) candidate was abducted and coerced by the Bharatiya Janata Party to withdraw from the poll fray.
With the election campaign in Karnataka witnessing a bitter war of words between the BJP and the Congress, both the parties rushed to the Election Commission, seeking ban on electioneering by top leaders of the other side.
The Congress, referring to Gandhi's speech at a campaign rally at Hubballi on Saturday, said in a tweet that the Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson "sends a strong message to 6.5 crore Kannadigas,' and also posted pictures of her speaking at the public meeting.
The poll panel has convened a press conference to announce the schedule. The term of the 182-member Gujarat assembly ends on February 18 next year.
Soren's comment comes in the wake of the governor saying on October 27 that he has sought a "second opinion" in the case and claimed that an "atom bomb could explode any time in Jharkhand", apparently indicating to his pending decision in the matter.
The State Bank of India (SBI) on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that a total of 22,217 electoral bonds were purchased by donors between April 1, 2019 and February 15 this year, out of which 22,030 were redeemed by political parties.
On Sunday, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) formed the committee to probe the explosive allegations levelled by former Rawalpindi Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chattha that widespread rigging aided by the judiciary and the top election body took place against jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's party in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.
'The poll body should have taken a decision in a holistic manner rather than passing an interim decision'
While at some places people who had turned up at polling booths early in the morning left without casting their vote after waiting in line for a long time, Sena-UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray alleged that the process was slowed down deliberately.
Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar convened the meeting of leaders of opposition parties in the Rajya Sabha, which was attended by Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, independent Rajya Sabha member Kapil Sibal, Samajwadi Party leader Ramgopal Yadav, Shiv Sena (Thackeray faction) member Anil Desai and Bharat Rashtra Samithi member K Keshav Rao among others.
Amid a debate on the freebies, the Election Commission on Tuesday proposed amending the model code to ask political parties to provide authentic information to voters on the financial viability of their poll promises.
The Supreme Court said on Wednesday it cannot 'control the elections' or issue directions simply because doubts have been raised about the efficacy of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM), as it reserved its judgment on a clutch of petitions claiming the polling devices can be tinkered with to manipulate the results.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Monday dared the opposition to share evidence of allegations that returning officers and district magistrates were influenced to vitiate the poll process so the panel could take action against them.
In a letter to the poll panel dated March 21, DMK's Organisation Secretary R S Bharathi alleged Modi made that claim in Tamil Nadu while campaigning for the ensuing LS polls. Modi's remark was a gross violation of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and the Model Code of Conduct.
The party prayed for the removal of the advertisement and action against its authors and publishers.
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Delhi has been sent as a special officer to oversee the counting process in Meerut and Bihar's CEO to Varanasi.
According to an Election Commission statement, the two have decided not to avail exemption from income tax on sumptuary allowance and to surrender two of the three Leave Travel Concessions (LTC) available each year.
The constituency of Mumbai South, home to industrialists as well as high-ranking government officials, fared the worst with 47.7 percent voting.
The bench refused to entertain the plea filed by NGO Association for Democratic Reforms and dismissed it.
This is for the first time that the Thackeray family has lost control of the party that was founded in 1966 by Balasaheb Thackeray on the principles of justice for the sons of the soil.
The Karnataka State Election Commission on Tuesday told the high court of Karnataka that the state government had taken away its powers, making it unable to hold elections to zilla panchayat and taluk panchayats as mandated by the Supreme Court.
Advocate Mohit D Ram was a panel counsel for the EC in the Supreme Court since 2013.
Kumar said the increase was due to Outer Manipur being counted twice, since polls will be held there in two phases.
The BJP said the former Congress chief's comments during the public meeting were "extremely objectionable" as they are not just in violation of the model code of conduct but could have serious implications.
The Election Commission of India has set up more than 200 polling stations within housing societies in the urban areas of Uttar Pradesh to increase the voter turnout in the politically crucial state.
Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday claimed a 'deal of Rs 2,000 crore' has taken place so far to 'purchase' the Shiv Sena party name and its 'bow and arrow' symbol.
The top court issued notice to the Election Commission on the PIL filed by author, activist and motivational speaker Shiv Khera.
The NGO challenges the validity of a provision of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023.
The male-female turnout gap was wide in Bihar and Jharkhand. While in Bihar, the male turnout was 52.42 percent, the female turnout was 61.58 percent.
Future Gaming of lottery king Santiago Martin was the biggest purchaser of electoral bonds at Rs 1,368 crore, of which nearly 37 percent went to the DMK.
The bench said it was not questioning the credentials of the election commissioners appointed but the procedure.
Dharashiv, earlier Osmanabad, is among the eight districts that comprise the state's Marathwada region, where activist Manoj Jarange has led an agitation demanding reservation for Marathas in education and government jobs.
Pakistan's election commission has formed a high-level committee to probe the explosive allegations levelled by a senior bureaucrat that widespread rigging aided by the judiciary and the top election body happened against jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's party in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.
The poll authority had received several complaints that such messages highlighting the government's initiatives were still being delivered on citizens' phones despite the announcement of the General Elections 2024 and the MCC coming into force.
The EC said polling percentage in the Anantnag-Rajouri seat in Jammu and Kashmir is the highest in 40 years.
An approximate voter turnout of 59.06 per cent was recorded in the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Saturday in 58 constituencies across six states and two Union territories with the polling percentage in the Jangal Mahal region of West Bengal touching 78.19.
"You want my father's face, but not his son. I was ready to come along. If you ditch me when I wanted to implement a promise given to my father, what should I do?" he asked while targeting the BJP.
The campaigning for phase one of Uttar Pradesh assembly election on February 10 ends on February 8 evening.
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