In a move to track down mischievous messages during campaigning, the Election Commission on Friday banned, for the first time, the use of Short Messaging Service by candidates 48 hours before polling for the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh assemblies.
During Friday's hearing, the Congress leader replied 'I don't know' to most of the questions asked by the court on the basis of recent testimonies of two witnesses -- the then electoral officer of Kolar in Karnataka where Gandhi had made the speech, and a videographer appointed by the Election Commission to shoot that rally.
The National Commission for Women has summoned Udit Raj over his "sycophancy" remark against the president.
The Election Commission has done good work in recent years but sometimes it takes decisions in over-anxiety, the Supreme Court on Friday said while referring to poll watchdog's order on cash seizure above Rs 2.5 lakh in transit ahead of Gujarat assembly elections.
The Gujarat University on Thursday told the high court in Ahmedabad the Right to Information Act cannot be used for satisfying someone's "childish curiosity" as it defended its petition seeking quashing of an order under the transparency law to provide information on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's degree to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.
"Gandhi's disqualification is illegal and the case is also bogus. I am sure that a higher court in Gujarat will do justice to Gandhi," said Raut, whose party is an ally of the Congress in Maharashtra.
The party strongly raised the issue of alleged violation of the model code of conduct by the prime minister.
The Election Commission on Wednesday announced by-elections on September 10 to fill up 20 seats in the assemblies in seven states, most of which fell vacant from their members getting elected to the Lok Sabha.
Verma replaces Sonal Mishra who along with seven senior civil and police officers, said to be close to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, were shifted by the poll panel on Monday.
The Bharartiya Janata Party's prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi has for the first time declared himself as a married man by revealing his wife's name as Jashodaben in an affidavit filed before the Election Commission.
Tamil Nadu Election Candidates, TN 2016, Deepika Election Live, Thanjavur Election are some of the apps keeping people hooked to their handsets.
Congress candidate Ajay Rai on Monday landed in a controversy after he went to vote wearing his election symbol on his kurta, prompting Election Commission to launch an inquiry into the matter while BJP and Aam Aadmi Party also sought action against him.
The Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh Assemblies must be in place before January 15, 2013.
From the voter-level, traditionally anti-BJP, anti-Hindutva minorities and other secular voters would have an option, especially in the face of the mounting anti-incumbency against the ruling party -- as it happened in the 2001 assembly polls, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Hitting out at Election Commission for lifting the ban on Bharatiya Janata Party leader Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh Minister Azam Khan on Friday said he will move the Supreme Court against the poll panel's order barring him from campaigning in the state.
In a bid to increase participation of disabled voters in the Gujarat assembly polls next month, the Election Commission has introduced Braille numbers and ballot papers besides setting up ramps at polling booths for their convenience.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi will not campaign in Bihar during the upcoming assembly elections as the Bharatiya Janata Party has kept him out of the list of its campaigners against the backdrop of reservations expressed by ally Janata Dal-United.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi could be in double trouble with Congress moving the Election Commission over his alleged "wrong" affidavits in the past on his marital status and government saying that a judge for the snoopgate probe will be named soon.
Rahul is likely to emerge as the lone candidate in the fray and decks have been cleared for his election as the Congress president, succeeding his mother Sonia Gandhi, who has held the post for 19 years in a row now.
Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Tuesday received support from unexpected quarters on the issue of covering elephant statues in poll bound UP with Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi terming the decision as 'ridiculous'.
Narendra Modi on Friday accused Congress and its chief Sonia Gandhi for resorting to "low-level" politics and raising issues from his personal life to his caste in their bid to prevent him from coming to power.
The results will be seen as a virtual referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity after his demonetisation decision.
Several loyal party old guards were unhappy and had expressed their displeasure openly about "migrants" scuttling the chances of them becoming ministers.
The strategic move will also bolster the BJP's push to decimate Uddhav Thakceray-led party by depriving it of its pet Hindutva and ethnic sub-nationalism plank.
A police complaint has been filed against BJP leader L K Advani by the Election Commission officials for alleged breach of model code of conduct by talking to mediapersons outside a polling booth during the Assembly elections, police officers said.
For Yoginder, it is a release from pain. But for us, his friends, it is the loss of a warm and generous life companion, says Nitin Desai of his 50-year association with the eminent economist who passed into the ages on December 6, 2022.
Voters from different sections of society queued up on Saturday morning outside the polling boots in 89 seats spread over south Gujarat and Saurashtra.
The BJP decimated the opposition Congress and is set to sweep the assembly polls in Gujarat for another five-year-term for Modi as Gujarat chief minister.
If you think that revenue officials are going berserk, acting on their own, while the government chants the mantra of 'ease of doing business', you would be wrong. These moves appear to have full official backing, points out Debashis Basu.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday urged the Election Commission to re-consider its decision to stick to the original poll schedule, as she stressed that wrapping up the last three phases of polls on a single day or at the most in two days would check the spread of Covid-19 to some extent.
According to the schedule, the final publication of the electoral roll, with January 1, 2008 as the qualifying date, should be published by January 10. Though the terms of some assemblies in the northeast expire in March, there was no indication from the EC yet on whether elections in Karnataka could be held simultaneously to pave way for installation of an elected government at the earliest.
The PM has assets worth Rs 2.5 crore including a residential plot in Gujarat's Gandhinagar, fixed deposits of Rs 1.27 crore and Rs 38,750 cash in hand.
The Congress may stand a better chance in the assembly polls if it followed the 'Himachal model', suggests N Sathiya Moorthy.
The apprehensions about Narendra Modi among Muslims will "go away" once he becomes the prime minister as there will be policy initiatives to remove such perception, his close aide Amit Shah said on Sunday.
'It was more than ego.' 'It carried with it a sincere belief that he was the quintessence of the country, that the country's destiny was irrevocably intertwined with his destiny.' An excerpt from T J S George's The Dismantling of India: In 35 Portraits.
The Congress won 40 seats in the 68-member Himachal Pradesh assembly while the BJP got 25 seats.
Miffed over being denied permission to hold a rally in Varanasi, Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate continued his attack against the Election Commission and accused them of being biased.
The EC conveyed its displeasure to Shukla and asked him to be more cautious in future so that the provisions of model code of conduct are adhered to and duly observed in its letter and spirit.
The new chief minister, if from the Congress, will have little or no time for political administration, to ensure that he does not lose the voter's goodwill even before the Lok Sabha polls. He can count only on one thing. That the BJP may not want to upset him too early lest an early failure should become an added problem for the party in all the polls to follow, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
India's star cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara, who is also Election Commission's Brand Ambassador in Gujarat, specially flew down from Abu Dhabi, where he has been part of the Kings XI Punjab in the ongoing Indian Premier League, to cast his vote in Rajkot on Wednesday.
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