Several opposition leaders on Sunday criticised the bill on the appointment and service conditions of the chief election commissioner and election commissioners at an all-party meeting as "anti-Constitution" and "anti-democratic", sources said.
Kejriwal's remarks came shortly after the EC expressed dissatisfaction with his reply to its notice and gave him a fresh opportunity to explain his charges against the Haryana government.
The bench refused to entertain the plea filed by NGO Association for Democratic Reforms and dismissed it.
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 on Saturday deferred the Haryana assembly poll date to October 5 from October 1, saying the decision was taken keeping in mind a centuries-old festival of the Bishnoi community.
India and Canada have agreed to adopt a collaborative approach towards a new chapter in bilateral ties, including working closely to combat terrorism and transnational crimes, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.
The other three crore -- nearly 40 percent -- will have to provide one of the 11 listed documents to establish their place or date of birth.
'If the Trump administration could gain access to the nuclear weapons, they would be satisfied -- at least they could control them.'
'Militants are taking over the administration. Fundamentalists have been released from jail.'
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.
A new book by former West Bengal governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi claims that former chief election commissioner T N Seshan proposed an immediate halt to the general election process after Rajiv Gandhi's assassination in 1991 and even offered to become home minister. Gandhi, who was joint secretary to then president R Venkatraman, writes that Seshan was the one who broke the news of the assassination to the president and arrived at the Rashtrapati Bhawan "super-fast" that night. According to Gandhi's account, Seshan told Venkatraman that he felt the election process needed to be stopped and that he was ready to take on the role of home minister if necessary. However, Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar and Cabinet Secretary Naresh Chandra assured the president that the situation was under control and that there was no need to pause the election process. Seshan's suggestions were ultimately ignored, but he did manage to postpone the second and third phases of polling.
Thackeray had on Monday claimed his bag was inspected by the election authorities when he arrived in Maharashtra's Yavatmal to campaign for the November 20 assembly elections.
Senior Haryana police officer Y Puran Kumar was found dead with a gunshot wound at his Chandigarh home. Police suspect suicide. He was the inspector general, Police Training Centre, in Sunaria, Rohtak.
'There was no financing or even promise of finance involved in MoU, forget X or Y amount'
The session is likely to see the proceedings of Parliament move from the old building to the new Parliament building.
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.
Voting for the Delhi Assembly elections began on Wednesday, with prominent leaders like President Droupadi Murmu, Union ministers S Jaishankar and Hardeep Singh Puri, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, and Delhi Chief Minister Atishi casting their ballots early in the day. Other notable figures who participated in the electoral process included Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, AAP leader and former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva, Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora, and Delhi Chief Electoral Officer R Alice Vaz. The election is a triangular contest between the ruling AAP, BJP, and Congress, with the AAP aiming for a third consecutive term. Polling is underway at 13,766 stations across Delhi's 70 assembly constituencies to decide the fate of 699 candidates. The results will be announced on February 8.
Addressing reporters at his residence soon after the meeting ended, Chowdhury said six names came up before the panel for the selection of the two ECs and the names of Sandhu and Kumar were finalised by a majority of members of the high-powered panel.
A heated political battle erupted Tuesday over Arvind Kejriwal's claim of the Haryana government 'poisoning' the Yamuna water, with the Bharatiya Janata Party saying he cannot be forgiven for his 'dangerous statement', while the Aam Aadmi Party chief asserted he won't let the people of Delhi die due to the dirty, poisonous water.
The Awami League leaders were charged with committing crimes against humanity over the deaths of hundreds of people during last year's anti-government protests by a student platform. The protests resulted in the ouster of Hasina's 16-year-long regime on August 5.
The revised salaries of MPs are significantly lower than the salaries drawn by top bureaucrats in the country.
Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal went to the Election Commission's office in New Delhi on Friday and furnished his reply to the poll body over its notice to him on his 'poison mixed' in Yamuna water remark.
The bench said the petition has relied on a March 2 verdict of the apex court which had ruled that the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and ECs will be done by the President on the recommendation of a committee, comprising the prime minister, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha and the CJI, to maintain the "purity of election".
Meanwhile, the Congress' data analytics department chairperson Praveen Chakravarty on Tuesday wrote to Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, seeking assembly-wise voter rolls in excel sheet format for the Lok Sabha elections and the assembly polls in Maharashtra.
'Unlike in the sporting arena, where sports federations moved from partisan to impartial referees, in Indian democracy's biggest festival, it appears we are moving backward from unbiased and objective to one-sided and partisan,' observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the verdict is a victory of democracy.
The Congress has said the assembly polls results were "unexpected" and have alleged discrepancies in the EVMs in some seats.
A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Justice KM Joseph said the concepts of liberty, equality and fraternity must not be "strange bedfellows" to the ruling class.
Learning from East Asia, India must reform its district administration with performance, accountability, and vision to achieve the goal of Viksit Bharat, points out Deepak Mishra.
'Pakistan will also try to turn Bangladesh into a base for terrorist attacks on India.'
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.
Vijay, despite the loud message from his delayed arrival at the road-show/stampede venue, and more so his continued inaccessibility for fans-turned-cadres after graduating from a super-star to a political party leader with electoral ambitions, refuses to change. Or, so it seems, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The elections will begin on April 19 followed by subsequent phases on April 26, May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25 and June 1.
The rising tide of Indian nationalism meant that the people of princely states now were keen to become a part of a united and integrated India rather than remain subjects of a princely state. The Congress too supported the people's wish and it fell upon Patel to get the princes to agree. He did so magnificently, using every trick available, whether it was sweet talk or coercion; the rulers buckled and Patel earned the eternal gratitude of the entire nation.
The Congress party in India has alleged "serious and grave inconsistencies" in the data relating to the polling and counting processes for the recently concluded Maharashtra Assembly elections. The party has sought an in-person hearing from the Election Commission to present evidence of alleged discrepancies, including the arbitrary deletion and addition of voters and inexplicable increases in voting percentages. The Congress leaders claim these irregularities benefited the ruling BJP-led alliance, which won a decisive victory in the polls.
A five-judge constitution bench headed by Justice KM Joseph is likely to give its verdict.
Ahead of the Winter Session of Parliament, the government has convened a meeting of floor leaders of political parties in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on Saturday.
The first time the Election Commission has taken cognisance of a model code of conduct complaint against a sitting prime minister.
Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Canadian counterpart Anita Anand held their first phone conversation, focusing on strengthening bilateral economic ties and advancing shared priorities. The call comes amid efforts to repair relations between the two countries, which had been strained under the previous Canadian government. Both ministers expressed their commitment to improving ties and working together on areas of mutual interest. The conversation follows a period of tensions stemming from allegations of Indian involvement in the killing of a Sikh activist on Canadian soil.
Rajya Sabha on Tuesday passed a bill to regulate the appointment and service terms of Chief Election Commissioner and election commissioners incorporating key amendments like retaining their status at par with Supreme Court judges, upgrading the search committee and inserting a new clause to protect them from court cases while discharging their official duties.
