Responding to allegations that victory certificates were not been handed over to candidates from the opposition grand alliance by returning officers on 119 seats, the Commission said the latest figures on its website state that while 146 results have been declared and trends of 97 other seats were available.
A total of 833 candidates from 61 political parties, including Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel of the Bharatiya Janata Party, are contesting the polls in these assembly segments spread across Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Gandhinagar and other districts.
Gujarat will go to polls in two phases on December 1 and 5 with the counting of votes on December 8 along with that of Himachal Pradesh, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar announced.
Nagaland Chief Electoral Officer Abhijit Sinha said the violence in Akuluto constituency in Zunheboto district left one dead and two injured.
The Supreme Court's verdict -- giving the voter the right to reject a candidate through negative voting under Rule 49 O in the Conduct of Elections Rules -- is a landmark one.
"For the Lok Sabha elections, we are making meticulous planning on all fronts including electronic voting machines (EVMs) and the voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT)," he said.
Sources said the poll panel is in final stages of completing its logistical preparations to hold elections.
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.
The EC currently follows a system of random counting of VVPAT slips in one polling booth per assembly segment of a Parliamentary or assembly constituency.
The highest polling of 72.35 per cent was recorded in Sirmour district followed by 68.48 per cent in Solan and 67.67 per cent in Una and 67.5 per cent in Lahaul and Spiti. The high-altitude district of Lahaul and Spiti had recorded 21.95 per cent, the lowest, till 1 pm, but polling was brisk as the sun came out.
Accepting his mistakes, Kejriwal asserted that it's time to get back to work.
The CEC said when people lose elections, they blame their defeat on EVMs, but when they win they don't do so.
EC officials said the counting of votes for the Lok Sabha elections will begin at 8 am on Thursday and results are expected only by late evening.
Banerjee, who was speaking to reporters at West Bengal's state secretariat, said that her party's name will remain the All India Trinamool Congress.
"The Commission, with certain additional resources, can undertake the exercise of (holding) simultaneous elections in future," he said.
Cricket has taken many steps forward towards excellence and fairness. Electoral politics has a lot of catching up to do, points out Rajeev Bhargava in his fascinating new book Between Hope and Despair.
With the D-day for the polls drawing closer, Modi upped the ante against the Siddaramaiah government addressing four back to back rallies at Gadag, Tumakuru, Shivamogga and Mangaluru.
'Whatever the Supreme Court expected, it wasn't achieved in these five years.' 'So, we have made an amendment now to achieve that objective.'
Voting is being held in the politically sensitive Kairana in Uttar Pradesh, Palghar and Bhandara-Gondiya and Nagaland Lok Sabha seats.
In Maharashtra, where the 'Mahayuti' alliance of BJP, Shiv Sena and smaller parties is against the 'Maha-agadhi' led by the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party whereas the ruling BJP is locked in a contest with the opposition Congress and the fledgling Jannayak Janata Party for the 90 assembly seats in Haryana.
The poll watchdog faces two Heruclean tasks -- to produce over a million VVPATs in time for the 2019 elections and also iron out manufacturing tweaks in the machines which are already in use.
In an editorial in its mouthpiece 'Saamana', the Sena doubted the mandate with which the Modi government came to power, alleging elections were won through money, misuse of power and tampering of electronic voting machines.
Jammu and Kashmir has been without an assembly since November 2018 when the then legislative assembly was dissolved by then Governor Satya Pal Malik after the People's Democratic Party-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition government fell apart earlier that year.
Reacting to the ED's summons to Raj, his estranged cousin and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, in an intriguing comment, said he did not expect any 'solid outcome'.
The Congress MP from Sivaganga also slammed the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance and said the people of Tamil Nadu do not want a government which has any "stain, scent or shadow" of the BJP as its 'Hindi-Hindutva' agenda "irritates" them.
The party's gamble to go in for early elections paid rich dividends.
With parties blaming the electronic voting machines, the poll panel was extra cautious in its approach.
Modi hit out at the Congress for its president Mallikarjun Kharge's attempt to play down his party's poor show in the polls by describing it as "small state elections".
By-elections to Lok Sabha and assembly seats in the states of Assam, Tripura, Madhya Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Tamil and West Bengal passed off peacefully on Saturday amidst tight security.
The party continued to allege tampering of the electronic voting machines for the verdict, and not a Modi wave, as claimed by the BJP.
Vishwas also appeared defiant despite the party's gag order of not talking to the media and said he will keep highlighting the mistakes of the Aam Aadmi Party and say what is right in the interest of the country.
Bharti further said that this is high time the party took things seriously.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the PAC, has entrusted Vishwas with the responsibility of Rajasthan which goes to polls by the end of 2018.
"I am sure that in 2018, we will come back to power hundred per cent," he added.
A multi-functional facility, equipped with 36 specially designed vaults for storage of Electronic Voting Machines and VVPATs, was on Friday inaugurated by Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra in Delhi, officials said.
The Election Commission on Wednesday ruled out any change in the schedule of the West Bengal assembly polls and told the Trinamool Congress that its suggestion to club the last three of the eight phases is "not feasible".
Addressing a press conference in London via Skype, the man, identified as Syed Shuja, said the BJP would have won Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh elections if his team hadn't intercepted the BJP attempts to hack the transmissions in these states.
Leaders of 22 political parties had on Tuesday urged the poll panel to ensure paper slips from the VVPAT module are matched before the counting begins so that in cases of discrepancy, all votes in that particular assembly segment can be cross-checked with the paper slips.
The next general elections would be held in multiple phases next year and be completed in time to constitute the 16th Lok Sabha by June 1, Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath has said.
The 80-year-old anti-corruption crusader, whose previous agitation propelled many leaders, including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, to the national limelight has decided that those who wish to associate with him now will have to swear in an affidavit that they will not join politics in future.
