EVMs can't be used in presidential, vice-presidential, or Rajya Sabha polls because they only count simple votes, not the preference-based system needed for these elections.
Rai also asserted that the Congress will win the upcoming Assembly elections in all five states.
AIIMS-Delhi reports a rise in eye injuries caused by carbide guns during Diwali, prompting calls for a ban on these dangerous chemical firecrackers. Doctors report severe chemical burn-like injuries and highlight the need for stricter regulations and awareness.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday claimed that a 'systematic vote chori' method, evolved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Election Commission to 'kill Indian democracy', will be deployed in the Bihar assembly polls as well.
The Maharashtra government plans to introduce a stringent anti-conversion law in the winter session of the legislature, with provisions stricter than those in other states.
Hours after the Congress party released its first list of 144 candidates for the upcoming Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, Vice President of Congress Media Department Ajay Singh Yadav resigned from his post as fewer candidates from backward classes have been fielded by the party.
Of these, 200 are fielded by the BJP, 196 by the Congress and the rest belong to other political parties.
The Congress leadership is upset over Nath's remarks against many leaders of the INDIA bloc, including Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Janata Dal-United supremo Nitish Kumar, over seat sharing.
Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh (Phase II) go to the polls on Friday, November 17, 2023.
'If the RJD loses it would be out of power for nearly 25 years. Meanwhile, the JD-U will have survival issues if it gets less number of seats.'
The cabinet also gave its nod to a proposal to amend the Madhya Pradesh Minister (Salary and Allowance) Amendment Bill, 2024, and make a provision for state ministers to deposit their income tax instead of the government bearing such burden.
The voting for Madhya Pradesh's all 230 assembly seats was held on Friday, November 17, while Chhattisgarh voted in the second phase of the election.
'In the Congress, only those people who suck up to the leadership have value. I am not one of them.'
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi reiterated his vote theft allegations and criticized the Election Commission for demanding an affidavit to support his claims. He alleged collusion between the EC and BJP to steal the Lok Sabha election and called for investigation into election irregularities.
Justice Surya Kant is set to become the 53rd Chief Justice of India, bringing extensive experience and a record of significant verdicts on key issues.
Ahead of the Madhya Pradesh elections, Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs from Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra have arrived in Bhopal as part of the ruling party's programme wherein every legislator will be allotted one assembly seat each that they are supposed to visit to take stock of the ground situation, party leaders said.
The sources said the Congress is the binding force for the opposition bloc and the stronger the Congress emerges the better for the alliance.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched his Bihar assembly poll campaign, asserting that the NDA under Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will break all previous electoral records. He criticized the INDIA bloc and highlighted the NDA's cohesiveness and development efforts in Bihar.
The polling for 230 seats for Madhya Pradesh and 70 seats in the second phase of Chhattisgarh will be held on Friday, November 17, 2023.
'All these people who came from the Congress -- all outsiders -- have been given complete control of the party.' 'Today, we get no response or protection from the central leadership.' 'You can't run a party thinking only your people matter and nobody else should remain.'
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.
Voting for the bypolls in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Tamil Nadu were held on Wednesday.
The 10 who put in their papers include nine Lok Sabha MPs, including Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar and Prahlad Patel, and the one Rajya Sabha member, officials said.
The Congress has fielded 121 candidates with declared criminal cases and 61 with serious criminal cases.
'Rahul Gandhi's problem is that he doesn't think big.' 'He looks more like an activist, while politics is like a game of chess. You attack and then defend and have a game-plan.'
It also includes Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, BJP leader Manoj Tiwari and MP home minister Narottam Mishra.
Vijayvargiya stated that a clear decision on CM candidates will be revealed by December 10, but refrained from disclosing whether the party will select leaders from the newly elected MLAs or bring in outsiders.
The constitution of a committee by the Centre to explore the feasibility of "one nation, one election" has opened up the possibility of Lok Sabha polls being advanced so that they could be held with a string of state assembly polls.
Political parties have fielded sons, wives and daughters-in-law of legislators who quit after being elected to the Lok Sabha.
The ruling BJP in Madhya Pradesh will hold a three-day training camp for its leaders from June 14 in Pachmarhi in Narmadapuram. The move comes amid the party facing flak for some statements from its leaders post Operation Sindoor. BJP president JP Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have been invited to the camp to lecture the party cadre. The BJP said the event was pre-planned and was a routine affair, but the camp is seen as an attempt to discipline party leaders who have been making controversial statements.
'Bihar's voters' electoral memory is long, and their evaluations are relational; who came to the village, who followed up, who resolved a problem.'
"The truth is that the election system in India is already dead. Please remember one thing that the prime minister of India enjoys a very slim majority. If 10-15 seats were rigged, and we suspect the actual figures to be closer to 70-80 to 100, he would not have been the prime minister of the country," the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha claimed.
With the party fielding three Union ministers, besides four other MPs, as candidates in the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls, it may continue with the strategy in Rajasthan.
Verma said Kamal Nath and his son Nakul Nath are both not crossing over to the BJP and asserted that the latter will contest the Lok Sabha polls, likely to be held in April-May, from Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh as the Congress candidate.
The BJP has fielded 18 MPs, including four Union ministers, for the latest round of assembly polls so far -- seven each in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan and four in Chhattisgarh.
Upset with the Congress for not conceding any seat for the Samajwadi Party in the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday hinted that the Congress could get the same treatment from his party in Uttar Pradesh.
The BJP has not projected any chief ministerial face in the 2023 assembly elections.
Congress member of Parliament from Mandsaur Meenakshi Natarajan faced the wrath of party workers loyal to Congress leader Rajkumar Ahirwar, after Raghuraj Choradia was given the ticket to contest assembly elections from the Jawad constituency, instead of Ahirwar.
'The BJP will win comfortably if the Congress and AAP fight separately -- though not with 162 seats.' 'But if they form an alliance, it will become a major problem for the BJP. That's precisely why this expansion is happening now.'
Welcoming them into the BJP fold, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav cryptically said many people are feeling anxious and they will eventually join the saffron party in the coming days.
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