'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.'
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.
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".
The challenge would be held in the first week of May and could continue for ten days.
'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.'
The CEC said when people lose elections, they blame their defeat on EVMs, but when they win they don't do so.
The meeting at SP headquarters was attended by Akhilesh, his uncle Shivpal Yadav, senior leader Azam Khan and party office bearers.
Voting is being held in the politically sensitive Kairana in Uttar Pradesh, Palghar and Bhandara-Gondiya and Nagaland Lok Sabha seats.
Till date, 107 elections to states and three parliamentary polls have been smoothly conducted using the EVMs.
Mann said there was no use in finding fault with EVMs and the party should introspect on the reasons behind its defeat.
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.
The Patidar leader also urged the Congress to raise the issue of EVM tampering.
To clear doubts over EVMs, Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi will soon call all-party meet.
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.
Political parties and leaders wait with bated breath for the Haryana and Jammu-Kashmir assembly poll results on Tuesday.
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.
It would be far more sensible for AAP to build on what they have achieved than to destroy what credibility they have by floating wild conspiracy theories, says Sankrant Sanu.
Rejecting the contention of political parties like Bharatiya Janata Party, AIADMK and CPI(M) that electronic voting machines (EVMs) were tampered with during the Lok Sabha polls, Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawla today said no one was able to prove it.
The poll watchdog also said that as per laws related to elections, after the declaration of results, the only option available to verify the data of votes cast was filing an election petition before the high court concerned.
The Election Commission sought a detailed report from the district poll authorities in Bhind, where a bypoll is due on April 9.
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.
Additionally, the Haryana police and home guard personnel will be deployed for security during the elections, he said.
Fourteen people, including 10 polling personnel, have died due to heatstroke in Bihar in the last 24 hours, officials said on Friday afternoon.
At Thamnapokpi under Moirang constituency in Bishnupur district, armed men fired several rounds in the air near a polling booth prompting voters to flee, police said on Friday, adding additional security personnel were rushed to the spot to contain the situation.
Many exit polls have kept the incumbent Bharatiya Janata party ahead of the Congress in what was a straight contest between two main parties. Assembly polls were held in the state in a single phase on November 17.
The date of the proposed challenge, an official said, would be decided after the all-party meeting.
Rabi Ranjan Chattopadhyay, Trinamool Congress candidate from Burdwan South Assembly seat alleged that four Electronic Voting Machines of the constituency are missing on Wednesday.
'PM Modi would have swept the elections in Kashmir after notebandi but then he scrapped Article 370 so all his good work went down the drain.'
Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Tuesday demanded a probe into the charges made by the self-proclaimed US-based cyber expert, terming them as "very serious" as they concern the survival of democracy in India.
This might be the first time in the country's electoral history that the poll body has convened a press conference on the conclusion of polls.
The EC has time and again rubbished allegations that EVMs can be programmed to favour any particular party.
Till 5 pm, Agra recorded 56.61 per cent polling, Aligarh 57.25 per cent, Baghpat 61.35 per cent, Bulandshahr 60,52 per cent, Gautam Buddh Nagar 54.77 per cent, Ghaziabad 54.77 per cent, Hapur 60.50 per cent, Mathura 58.51 per cent, Meerut 58.52 cent, Muzaffarnagar 62.14 per cent and Shamli 61.78 per cent, an EC report said.
The Election Commission told the AAP chief that tampering was not possible.
Former President A P J Abdul Kalam was among a large number of voters in several constituencies in Delhi who on Wednesday faced problems while exercising their franchise because of the malfunctioning of Electronic Voting Machines.
He, however, did not give any date for the proposed challenge which he announced in his opening remarks at the meeting.
The party continued to allege tampering of the electronic voting machines for the verdict, and not a Modi wave, as claimed by the BJP.
EVM -- described as the "devil" by one worried voter -- was the hot topic of discussion among the people
The IMD has warned of heatwave to severe heatwave conditions in parts of West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh during the next five days.
The AAP has announced that it will hold a parallel hackathon of its own.
Arvind Kejriwal said that 20-25% of AAP's votes transferred to SAD-BJP.
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