Bypolls to the Lok Sabha seats vacated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav will be held on September 13, the Election Commission announced on Saturday.
Union Minister Beni Prasad Verma, who has been censured by the Election Commission for his insulting remarks against Narendra Modi, has stoked a fresh controversy by comparing the BJP prime ministerial candidate to a "monster".
Star batsman Cheteshwar Pujara, who has been appointed brand ambassador by the Gujarat State Election Commission to encourage more voters, will exercise his franchise when the voting for the parliamentary polls take place in the state on April 30.
Over Rs 313 crore in cash has been seized by Election Commission since the announcement of the 16th general elections with Andhra Pradesh topping the list in cash and liquor interceptions during this period.
The election commission had upped the expense limit for Lok Sabha elections from Rs 40 lakh to Rs 70 lakh per candidate in big states but a new report states that 537 MPs declared expenses of less than 50 per cent of the limit. Vicky Nanjappa/Rediff.com reports
What's in a name? A lot if an election is at stake and you have three other people with the same name standing up against you. And that's the case for Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, who filed his nomination from Varanasi on Thursday. Modi is facing 77 rivals, including three other Narendras.
Narendra Patel also showed bundles of cash that he said were handed over to him, at a late-night press conference on Sunday.
'This is not Ahmedabad Gymkhana but people's house'
Till he took over, political parties ferrying people to the polling stations was considered quite 'normal', and it was during Seshan's stint that it became impossible with the model code being made sacrosanct.
'You've got to be a doer to be re-elected.' 'You don't have to be a great communicator or an orator any more because voters want to see action and development on the ground.' 'And they want a doer rather than just an orator.'
The Election Commission on Saturday granted four more days to Narendra Modi to reply to its notice over his "khooni panja" (bloody claw) remark made during campaigning for Chhattisgarh polls after he sought more time.
'Although the Election Commission remains convinced about the EVM's integrity, as a fair umpire of the game it was necessary to travel the last mile to convince political players that the entire process was not only fair but transparently so.' A fascinating excerpt from former Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawla's new book, Excerpted from Every Vote Counts: The Story Of India's Elections.
The 47-year-old scion of the Nehru-Gandhi family will face the daunting task of restoring lost glory to the party whose fortunes have been dwindling in the recent past.
Medical seats for under-graduates and post-graduates remaining vacant in the NEET era, together with the Centre 'freezing' the number of medical colleges and seats in (Dravidian) Tamil Nadu and the launch of the PM's 'Vishwakarma Scheme' for the nation's craftsmen, are all seen as a bid to further reverse the state's progressive socio-economic agenda of and its achievements of the past hundred-plus years, argues N Sathiya Moorthy.
In a major embarrassment for ex-chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi ahead of Bihar polls, his son Praveen Kumar was on Sunday detained by the police after he was allegedly found carrying Rs 4.65 lakh in cash in a car.
He also lamented that EVMs are being used as a 'football' and some sections are doing a 'motivated slugfest' over their use.
Though largely seen as an official visit, with less than a year for elections, Shah during this trip is likely to meet senior party leaders including Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, veteran leader B S Yediyurappa among others
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath who went on a whirlwind tour of the state to ensure the victory of his party candidates, described it as a "historic win". He attributed the victory to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision and BJP chief Amit Shah's guidance.
BJP received chunk of the funds at Rs 437.04 crore, while Congress got Rs 26.65 crore.
Known as 'vikas purush' (man involved in developmental work), Sinha is a three-time Lok Sabha MP who held charge of the communication ministry as a minister of State in 2016 when the telecom industry was engaged in the sale of spectrum.
To review the security and other poll arrangements ahead of Assembly elections in five states, the Election Commission will hold a meeting of chief secretaries, directors general of police and chief electoral officers of poll-bound and neighbouring states in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Any defeat for the BJP now would imply that anti-incumbency against Modi has set in, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Taking cognisance of their alleged controversial remarks against Narendra Modi and Azam Khan respectively in election speeches, the Election Commission on Thursday issued show cause notices to Union minister Beni Prasad Verma and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Vinay Katiyar for prima facie violating the Model Code of Conduct.
'Even if something appears to be wrong, we can always request the government and Parliament to make amends.'
NCP MLA Kandhal Jadeja said his party has decided to support BJP candidate.
Bihar is no stranger to being at the centre of a tectonic shift in national politics fuelled by turbulent regional forces.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Friday attacked External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid for his criticism of the Election Commission and the Supreme Court, accusing him of denigrating the country's two most respected institutions on the foreign soil.
In a move that is bound to generate controversy, the election expenditure for both Parliamentary and assembly constituencies is likely to jump by one-and-a-half times before the coming Lok Sabha polls. Anita Katyal reports
Never before in the history of the Republic has an election in the state mattered so much as it does now, observes Virendra Kapoor.
Addressing BJP workers at a felicitation function after the Bharatiya Janata Party's victory in Bihar elections and various bypolls, he asserted that the only mantra for his party's victory was 'Sabka saath, sabka vikas and sabka vishwas' and also launched a veiled attack on the West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress, saying those who cannot challenge the saffron party democratically have resorted to 'murdering' its workers to realise their goals.
Amid an all-out attack by the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Election Commission on Friday said permission to Narendra Modi's rally in Varanasi city was denied after the Gujarat police said the venue was not suitable but regretted the "delay" in conveying the decision to the party concerned.
'This is fake. Tyagi was made to sign on a blank paper of the register for media entry and later the names of Rahul Gandhi and others were added in the register,' Congress said.
Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party are contesting in all the 30 seats, while the Communist Party of India-Marxist is in the fray in 15 and its alliance partners of Sanjukta Morcha the Congress and ISF are competing in 13 and two seats respectively.
Banerjee, speaking at a rally at Sahaganj in Hooghly district, also said Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah are spreading lies and hatred throughout the country.
Taking strong exception to Gujarat Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi addressing Rahul Gandhi as shehzada, the Congress on Saturday did some tough talking, threatening that its workers were capable of stopping such "undignified" language but were restrained due to their respect for laws and the Model Code.
Even though present times were fraught with challenges, there is still inherent, vast and untapped opportunity in India, concludes the 10th India Business Conference at Columbia Business School.
'Balakot and Pulwama will definitely help the BJP, but it will still not help them to create a 2014 like situation or go beyond that.'
Extensive arrangements have been made due to the COVID-19 pandemic including personal protective equipment kits for election staff, more polling booths, thermal screening, sanitisers, masks and gloves for voters and markings to ensure social distancing, officials said.
The term of the Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura legislative assemblies is ending on March 6, March 13 and March 14 respectively.
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