The EC maintained that use of none of the above in Rajya Sabha polls was not a new move as it was introduced in 2014 after the Supreme Court in 2013 made it mandatory to have the NOTA option in EVMs.
Fiery cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri, who recently led a protest against the Pakistan government to push for electoral reforms, on Thursday approached the supreme court to seek the restructuring of the election commission.
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.
Official sources indicated that the searches were held following 'some inputs', but they did not elaborate.
'The ruling provides a Constitutional template, it draws boundaries, and there is this expectation that henceforth political parties will not make crude appeals to religion for electoral gains.'
The veteran politician, who has been chief minister of the erstwhile state three times as well as union minister, also said the time has come for the opposition parties to come together and fight the forces who are bent on destroying the secular fabric of the country.
The apex court began a crucial hearing on a slew of petitions challenging the holding of dual office by Musharraf.
Setting in motion the process for the 16th presidential election, the Election Commission on Thursday said anyone desiring to contest would need 50 electors as proposers and 50 others as seconders -- a move aimed at weeding out non-serious candidates in these polls that once saw nominations getting rejected for 36 out of 37 candidates.
Citing complaints against Rajshekhar for 'running an extortion racket and demanding protection money', Delhi vigilance minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on May 13 ordered withdrawing all work assigned to the officer with immediate effect.
'How come the BJP won even in the Muslim belt? I am 100% sure that the BJP would not win in the Muslim belt.'
In a reprieve for Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani, Pakistan parliament's speaker on Thursday ruled out his disqualification in the wake of his conviction for contempt by the supreme court for refusing to revive graft cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.
Congress complained against Modi, Shah, Irani; the BJP against Rahul Gandhi.
It should not surprise anyone if either of the contending parties in the 'TN speaker's case' comes up with a submission for referring the matter of 'speaker's powers' to a Constitution Bench. In political terms it could buy more time for the Edappadi camp, to settle down and stabilise itself, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The BJP is now inventing new angles to keep its campaign relevant -- even if it's old wine in an old bottle, which is what the allegation on 'Katchatheevu' is, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
India has slammed Pakistan for its decision to hold elections in Gilgit-Baltistan and said any action to alter the status of the militarily-occupied region has no legal basis.
Political parties can no longer make tall promises on freebies in their election manifestos as they will now have to explain the rationale of their pledges and ways and means of meeting the financial requirements.
The apex court made this observation while hearing petitions challenging President Pervez Mushrraf holding dual offices.
A bench of justices Abhay S Oka and Prashant Kumar Mishra, which heard the matter in a special hearing, urged the Chief Justice of India to assign the matter to a larger bench.
Sena has challenged the Governor's June 30 decision to invite a coalition of the Shinde faction and the BJP to form government in Maharashtra.
Any move of the present government to appease the Marathas may boomerang. Eknath Shinde is a worried man with the agitation not having an easy solution, notes Ramesh Menon.
On April 24, the High Court had directed the EC to register a case against Jayalalithaa following a petition filed by DMK MP C Kuppuswamy alleging that AIADMK leader had suppressed facts and filed nominations from four Assembly constituencies.
For the first time, the Election Commission will provide 'None Of The Above' option button in EVMs for the 11 crore voters who will exercise their franchise in the five states going to polls beginning next month.
'OPS is the first person in history to ransack his own party office.'
Pakistan's Election Commission on Saturday confirmed President Pervez Musharraf's re-election for a five-year term and the military ruler is expected to take oath after doffing his uniform on November 29. The new Supreme Court on Friday validated his re-election on October 6 which had been marred by an Opposition boycott and asked the Election Commission to notify the result.
The Supreme Court on Thursday said it was mystified as to how bureaucrat Arun Goel applied for voluntary retirement on November 18 last year if he was not aware about the proposal to appoint him as an election commissioner.
The Election Commission usually comes out with the press release announcing the poll schedule within 2-3 days.
Neither the ruling DMK nor the fractured AIADMK Opposition anticipated that an assembly by-election would put them both to test, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
SC notice to Centre, EC over Chawla's removal
A bench of Justices B R Gavai and Vikram Nath said the matter requires to be heard.
What makes Dhankar so outspoken? Could it because as governor he will be in the driver's seat if the Trinamool Congress performs below par in the elections next year? Shikha Shalini reports.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the verdict has quashed a 'false propaganda' aimed at defaming the state government.
The Centre told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that almost every country, including India, was grappling with the problem of use of black money in elections and the electoral bonds scheme was a "conscious attempt" to eradicate the menace of "unclean money" in the poll process.
A writ petition was filed in the Supreme Court on Tuesday, seeking registration of an FIR against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray for assaulting Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Azmi in the Maharashtra Assembly for taking oath in Hindi instead of Marathi.
The BJP had earlier demanded that the elections should be held by February 2008. However, the election was delayed as the voters' list in the state had to be revised. The state BJP has said that it will explore all means, including legal ones, to ensure that polls in Karnataka are not delayed beyond May 2008.
Narayanswami Srinivasan has given an undertaking in the Supreme Court that he will stay out of matters related to the Indian Premier League if elected BCCI president till he gets clean chit.
Invoking its Constitutional powers, the Election Commission on Saturday put in place certain restrictions, including extending the 'silence period' from 48 hours to 72 hours, for the fifth phase of polling in West Bengal after violence in Cooch Behar district.
'Legalised election betting would drive black money and satta operators out of business while creating a more level and transparent playing field for politics,' argues Devangshu Datta.
Two sets of lawmakers say they have the mandate to rule in the Central Asian Republic of Kryzgyzstan.
Allowing the petition, the court directed that polls be held by December following issuance of a fresh notification.
The Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to the Centre and the Election Commission on a petition seeking derecognition of political parties whose names indicate their inclination towards a particular religion.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances