The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday took a major step to implement its key plank of "one nation, one election" as the Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the constitutional amendment bill to roll out the concept of simultaneous Lok Sabha and state assembly polls, sources said.
'All my wealth I earned in the US. It is all money earned transparently. I have paid all taxes.'
A voter turnout of 65.79 per cent was recorded in the just-concluded Lok Sabha elections, but the final figures may change as it does not include postal ballots, the Election Commission said on Thursday.
Polling for the fourth phase of the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections will take place on Monday, May 13, 2024, with 96 seats going to the polls across 10 states.
In a memorandum submitted to the EC, the INDIA party leaders submitted a list of recent instances of central agencies targeting Opposition parties and alleged an absence of a level playing field for the opposition.
The Samajwadi Party and Congress have announced that they will contest together under the INDIA bloc.
Polling for the fifth phase of the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections will take place on May 20, 2024, with 49 seats going to the polls across 8 states.
Given the possibilities that next year's assembly elections could throw up, Stalin told the state assembly that an interim report had to be submitted by January 2026. The outcomes may well find its way into the DMK's poll manifesto, thus seeking to keep the electoral focus still on the BJP-ruled Centre and Prime Minister Modi, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Supreme Court has adjourned pleas challenging the appointments of the chief election commissioner (CEC) and election commissioners (ECs) under the 2023 law. The court indicated the matter would be listed after the Holi festival break due to a paucity of time. Petitioners, including the NGO Association for Democratic Reforms, argued for an urgent hearing, emphasizing the importance of the issue and the potential impact on democratic processes. The appointment of the new CEC and ECs under the 2023 law, which excludes the Chief Justice of India from the selection panel, has been a point of contention, with petitioners alleging it undermines the independence of the election commission.
The report is likely to recommend that India adopt the German model of 'constructive no-confidence' which stipulates that the unseating of a government must be immediately followed by the formation of a new one, which will serve out the remainder of the legislative term.
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 Supreme Court on Tuesday deprecated criticism of electronic voting machines (EVMs) and calls for reverting to ballot papers, saying the electoral process in India is a "humongous task" and attempts should not be made to "bring down the system".
Polling for the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha elections will take place on Saturday, May 25, 2024, with 58 seats seats going to the polls across 8 states.
Of the 87.54 crore electors in the first six phases of the Lok Sabha polls, as many as 57.77 crore voters turned up at the polling stations to cast their votes.
Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir will be held in three phases from September 18 while Haryana will go to polls in a single phase on October 1, the Election Commission announced on Friday.
Mufti resigned from the post of the chief minister on June 19, 2018 after alliance partner BJP withdrew support to her coalition government.
In a viral video, Yerunkar alleged a mismatch in the polling data and EVM numbers. He received only two votes at the polling centre where four members of his family voted, he said, questioning the count.
Raut claimed that by not deciding on the disqualification petitions, Chandrachud kept doors and windows open for defections.
Polling for the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections for 94 seats will take place today, covering 11 States and Union Territory.
Top leaders of the two parties are campaigning in Jharkhand and Maharashtra for the ongoing assembly polls in the two states.
Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President PT Usha on Tuesday insisted that its commitment to host the 2036 Summer Games "remained steadfast" despite the "internal challenges" her organisation has been facing due to her feud with the Executive Council members.
Bypolls will be held on Wednesday in 31 assembly seats spread across 10 states and Kerala's Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, from where Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is making her electoral debut. Though these bye-elections are not going to have any bearing on the governments, they are seen as a big test for the Congress and the INDIA bloc which failed to put up a united show in the recent Haryana assembly polls. Most of these seats fell vacant after the sitting MLAs contested the Lok Sabha elections and won while in some constituencies, the bypolls are being held due to death of the representatives. The Wayanad seat was vacated by Rahul Gandhi, who also won from the Rae Bareli parliamentary constituency which he kept. Voting will be held in seven seats in Rajasthan, six in West Bengal, five in Assam, four seats in Bihar, three in Karnataka, two seats in Madhya Pradesh, and one seat each in Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Kerala and Meghalaya. Votes will be counted on November 23.
If left unchecked, the 2024 elections may be infamously remembered as the election of deepfakes. The ECI has a tough task ahead, but, more importantly, it has an opportunity to become a global model for scores of countries going to polls this year, notes Ajay Kumar.
'It will split people and create caste clashes. Unity of people will be affected for the time being.'
Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi has criticized the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, calling it a 'brazen assault' on the Constitution and part of the BJP's strategy to keep society in a 'permanent state of polarization.' She also spoke out against the One Nation, One Election Bill, calling it a 'subversion of the Constitution.' Gandhi further accused the Modi government of ignoring the women's reservation bill and other demands for reservation, and of 'dragging the country into an abyss' where the Constitution will only exist on paper. She also criticized the government for limiting the speaking time of the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament and for not allowing discussions on important issues like the working of the defense and external affairs ministries and the challenges posed by China on the border.
No government in the past initiated the process of policy making for its next tenure even before going in for elections. Once the Model Code of Conduct is enforced by the Election Commission, should the government of the day refrain from taking an active interest in policy making for the next five years and let that be the function of the new government?, asks A K Bhattacharya.
'Skirmishes with officials in the Press Information Bureau were an everyday affair as the newspapers sought clearances from the media censors for publishing the next day's editions'
The Bahujan Vikas Aghadi supporters gheraoed Vinod Tawde and raised slogans.
It will be court's opinion versus the legislative power to enact law, the Supreme Court on Wednesday said as it posted the pleas challenging the appointment of the chief election commissioner and election commissioners under the 2023 law on February 4.
The EVMs are based on a technology where they work as aggregator of votes in direct elections such as the Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
When the Bharatiya Janata Party's Mukesh Dalal was declared elected unopposed to the Lok Sabha from Surat on Monday, he became the first candidate to achieve the feat from Gujarat since its formation 64 years ago though the erstwhile state of Saurashtra saw a similar instance in 1951.
Senior Congress leader Ripun Bora has been summoned by Assam Police for questioning in connection with a case related to party colleague Gaurav Gogoi's alleged links with Pakistan. The summons comes after Bora publicly stated that Gogoi's wife received salaries from the Pakistan government, which prompted Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to claim that Bora "knows a lot" about Gogoi's alleged links. The case centers around allegations of Pakistani national Ali Tauqeer Sheikh, who is claimed to have links with Gogoi's British wife Elizabeth Colburn, interfering in India's internal affairs. Gogoi has vehemently denied the allegations and accused Sarma of making baseless accusations.
The IOC launched the first Olympic Values Education Programme (OVEP) in India in May 2022, with the Olympism-themed curriculum being integrated into the school education system in Odisha.
During 2023-24, while the BJP received over Rs 723 crore worth of donations from Prudent Electoral Trust, it also got over Rs 127 crore from Triumph Electoral Trust and over Rs 17 lakh from Einzigartig Electoral Trust.
Election Commission data shows 15.88 crore (158.8 million) voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the second phase on Friday.
The bench said it was not questioning the credentials of the election commissioners appointed but the procedure.
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the proposal for 'one nation, one Election' as recommended by the Kovind panel, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday.
Lavasa would soon be joining the Asian Development Bank as vice president
Senior Congress leader and former Rajya Sabha MP Ripun Bora was on Thursday questioned by Assam Police in connection with a case related to party colleague Gaurav Gogoi's alleged links with Pakistan, officials said.
The Congress on Wednesday questioned the Election Commission's move to get a post on electoral bonds scheme deleted from social media platform X and said that the issue raised in the post makes the government 'extremely uncomfortable'.
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