Around 1.5 crore polling and security personnel, about 55 lakh EVMs and four lakh vehicles will be deployed for the polls, according to the poll authority.
The Congress said the ECI finally released the voter turnout data late last night after a completely unacceptable delay of 11 days for Phase I and 4 days for Phase 2.
Congress leaders were seen giving media bytes at various places at the headquarters, arguing that the trends would change by 1 PM but it did not happen.
The Union cabinet on Wednesday accepted the recommendations of the high-level committee headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind on simultaneous elections.
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.
Over 60 per cent voter turnout was recorded on Monday in 49 constituencies in six states and two Union territories in the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections, with Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir recording its highest-ever voting percentage.
Independent MLA candidate Naresh Meena was arrested on Thursday following high drama and escalating violence in which a mob assaulted a PTI reporter and video cameraperson and burnt their camera.
...'hum decide karenge kaun banega mukhyamantri. This decision is not to be taken in Mumbai.'
Tiwari said on Amarinder's remark that when the latter was PCC president, he had himself demonstrated as to how the EVMs can be gerrymandered.
Haryana is now in the same bracket as Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh where the BJP is the centre-point of politics.
'I don't believe there is an international conspiracy to swamp tribals in India or in Jharkhand.'
Madhusudan Gupta smashed an EVM in a fit of rage in Guntakal, alleging that party symbols were not properly printed on the ballot unit.
To counter the doubts over the machine's reliability, the Election Commission has come out with a list of FAQs to put across its views in public domain.
Over 2.5 million voters will decide the fate of 239 candidates in the fray for 26 Jammu and Kashmir assembly seats in the second phase of the election to be held in the Union territory on Wednesday.
The poll panel said it did not receive specific complaints or concrete material from political parties and candidates about alleged tampering of EVMs during recently held election process.
'Whenever the hike in voting percentage is more, the NDA gains more, and when the hike is negligible, the NDA falls.' 'I have established this in UP, Haryana and Jharkhand.'
Veteran Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Wednesday said he does not need an invitation from anyone to visit the newly-constructed temple in Ayodhya as Lord Ram resides in his heart.
The Congress leader said he believes that democracy is derailed and "we are becoming too authoritarian". "It's all about one-man show," he said.
According to an AAP functionary, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal held a meeting with senior party leaders, including Sanjay Singh and Manish Sisodia, and political strategist Prashant Kishor at his residence on Saturday night.
"The voting percentage is likely to go upwards when reports from all polling stations are obtained as polling is scheduled till 6 pm in many constituencies. Final figures will be known on Saturday after the scrutiny of form 17A," the EC said.
'Rather than criticising the kind of candidates fielded by political parties from our living rooms, NOTA in a sense implores the electorate to say this by turning up in person at a polling booth to ensure their protest is registered.'
'I know most of the politicians in this country and I know how fair-weather friends they can be.' 'If they get defeated in elections, they will blame it upon something that cannot respond to their allegations like the EVMs.'
Polling and police officers travel in a boat with election materials to reach to a remote polling station ahead of the first phase of India's general election in the Majuli district, Assam, April 18, 2024.
Their lists show that a significant number of contenders are closely related to the current ministers, legislators or MPs, including their sons or daughters, wives and brothers or sisters.
'We cannot override the CJI's order... This is nonsense'
District Collector Alok Ranjan Ghosh said that the Sector Officer Awadesh Singh's driver had expressed his desire to vote. According to a primary reply by the officer, he had taken the EVM machine and VVPAT into a private hotel. A formal reply by the Sector Officer is awaited.
Political parties and leaders wait with bated breath for the Haryana and Jammu-Kashmir assembly poll results on Tuesday.
'Hopefully, the new majority government will give the country a fool-proof electoral system,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Here is the detailed procedure of how the AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj 'tampered' an EVM.
NSUI demanded re-election with paper ballot while the EC said the EVMs used were not provided by it.
Buoyed by the exit polls projections, the party has sent its senior leaders including general secretary Randeep Surjewala and Avinash Pande, chairman of the Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee screening committee, to Patna for proper coordination with the allies and possibly also to keep its flock together after the results are declared.
Widespread violence between supporters of the Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party over alleged electoral malpractices in strife-torn Sandeshkhali marred the final phase of Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal on Saturday, resulting in injuries to a number of people.
The tallying of VVPAT slips with the votes cast and stored in the EVMs will be done to demonstrate that the voting system has been working perfectly.
Senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for petitioners, told the bench that the apex court had increased the random matching of VVPAT slips with EVMs to five polling booths per assembly segment and they are now seeking that it should be increased to 25 per cent at least.
The Election Commission on Tuesday asserted that EVMs used in the Lok Sabha polls are "absolutely safe" in strong rooms, dismissing allegations that the voting machines used in the elections were being switched with fresh ones ahead of counting of votes on May 23.
Whatever happens with this election, there is going to have to be a serious rethink of how the ECI, and elections, are run in India. There can't even be the whiff of impropriety. In a country that believes in democracy, EVM rigging isn't stealing an election, it's stealing the soul of a nation, says Cleo Paskal.
The Election Commission has decided to replace 9,30,430 EVMs purchased before 2006 as the older machines are nearing their 15-year life cycle.
Vijayvargiya stated that a clear decision on CM candidates will be revealed by December 10, but refrained from disclosing whether the party will select leaders from the newly elected MLAs or bring in outsiders.
They are learnt to have taken stock of the prevailing political situation following the exit polls predicting a big win for the BJP-led alliance, and the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA)'s series of meetings rejecting the forecast and sticking to its claim that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government is on its way out.
Dismissing Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal's apprehensions that electronic voting machines could be rigged to favour BJP in the Delhi Assembly polls, the Election Commission on Wednesday said the machines are "non-tamperable".
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