Parties including the Congress, Left, the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party have written to the Election Commission and the President opposing the advancing of the budget presentation to February 1 before the polls.
Does voter deletion controversy expose critical gaps in ECI verification procedures and safeguards protecting electoral roll integrity?
'Whenever the hike in voting percentage is more, the NDA gains more, and when the hike is negligible, the NDA falls.' 'I have established this in UP, Haryana and Jharkhand.'
The National Democratic Alliance was set to sweep the Bihar assembly polls, surging ahead in over 200 of 243 seats on Friday with the Bharatiya Janata Party emerging as single largest party with about 90 per cent strike rate, reaffirming the popularity and campaign clout of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was the face of the ruling alliance through the poll battle in the highly sensitive political state.
Election Commission asks Rahul Gandhi to either sign a declaration to support his vote theft claims or apologise for making 'fake' charges.
'How can the voting percentage be higher than the actual polled votes?'
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.
Polling for the 288 seats of the Maharashtra assembly will take place on Wednesday, November 20, 2024.
The Mahayuti landslide in Maharashtra will leave the state assembly without a leader of opposition as no party outside the ruling alliance has been able to get the mandatory minimum 29 seats.
The Election Commission on Wednesday put off its proposed visit to Jammu and Kashmir for review of election preparedness following the flood situation in the state.
Gandhi has been demanding voter lists, poll data and video footage from the election commission, alleging irregularities in Maharashtra assembly elections.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti coloured Maharashtra a vivid saffron on Saturday as it swept aside the Maha Vikas Aghadi for a landslide win while the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) retained Jharkhand, voters in both states giving the parties in power an emphatic thumbs up.
On Tuesday, Kumar issued a public apology on X, acknowledging the error in his original post.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi intensified his attack on the Election Commission, accusing them of 'vote chori' and warning of action if the INDIA bloc forms the government. He alleged a 'new special package' for Bihar, named SIR (Special Intensive Revision), is a 'new form of vote theft'.
The Karnataka chief electoral officer has issued a notice to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, requesting documents supporting his allegation that a woman voted twice. The Election Commission has also asked Gandhi to either substantiate his claims of vote theft or apologize.
Such meetings are routine, the former state home minister added.
Women-centric schemes could have proved a game-changer in both Maharashtra and Jharkhand, as both states witnessed a surge in women voters in the recently held assembly polls as well as return of the ruling alliances with a thumping majority.
Opposition parties in India, led by the Congress, have demanded a detailed discussion in Parliament on alleged discrepancies in voter lists. Rahul Gandhi raised the issue in the Lok Sabha, highlighting concerns about the integrity of the electoral process. The opposition alleges large-scale duplication of EPIC numbers, which they claim undermines voter integrity and the electoral process. They have also pointed out instances of inflated voter lists in states like Maharashtra and Haryana. The Election Commission has acknowledged discrepancies but maintains that these are not widespread and that corrective measures are being taken. The opposition, however, insists on a comprehensive discussion on the matter to ensure the integrity of elections in India.
Shinde He said anyone can go anywhere, it is their personal choice, but people support those who work for them and think about their welfare.
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.
Gandhi cited the example of Maharashtra assembly elections, claiming there was an addition of 65 lakh voters to the voter list in two hours, "which was impossible."
'Even as the Supreme Court's anti-punitive demolition judgment nears its first anniversary, no formal contempt proceedings have been initiated either by the Supreme Court or any high court against officers or demolition squads who have acted in violation of it.'
"More voters were added in Maharashtra in five months between the Lok Sabha and assembly polls than in five years," the former Congress president said.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the BJP of 'linguistic terror' and plotting to delete Bengali voters from electoral rolls, vowing to protect voting rights.
Soon after Gandhi's press conference, the Election Commission said it will respond with full facts in writing.
'If the BJP had its way, it would sideline him in favour of someone else. But that's not feasible. There is no vote catcher in Bihar for the BJP.'
Gandhi alleged that assembly and Lok Sabha polls were being "stolen" across the country and there was a "conspiracy" in Bihar to do the same through the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
Mumbai, infamous for its voter apathy, stepped out to exercise its franchise on Wednesday.
The leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha is preparing his excuses for future defeats in the upcoming assembly elections, including Bihar, Fadnavis said in his articles published in the Indian Express and Marathi daily Loksatta.
The Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) on Thursday stayed the elections to 92 municipal councils and four nagar panchayats in view of the next week's hearing on OBC reservations before the Supreme Court.
The strains are telling as old friends and new enemies face each other in the battlefield.
Sources in the Election Commission (EC) rejected claims on Saturday of rigging in last year's Maharashtra Assembly polls and said defaming the poll panel after receiving an unfavourable verdict from the voters is absolutely absurd.
The formation of a new government in Maharashtra has been delayed due to a disagreement between the Shiv Sena and BJP over who should be the next chief minister. Shiv Sena insists on Eknath Shinde continuing as CM while the BJP favors Devendra Fadnavis. The delay comes despite the BJP-led coalition winning a landslide victory in the recent assembly elections. Sources suggest that the coalition has not reached a consensus on the CM, with various leaders from both parties voicing their opinions on the matter.
Dharashiv, earlier Osmanabad, is among the eight districts that comprise the state's Marathwada region, where activist Manoj Jarange has led an agitation demanding reservation for Marathas in education and government jobs.
The final turnout in the Maharashtra assembly polls was 66.05 percent, up from 61.1 percent in 2019, according to the Election Commission. The polling percentage for the Nanded Lok Sabha bypoll was 67.81 percent. The increase, excluding postal ballots, highlighted the EC's efforts to engage a broader electorate, the statement added. Kolhapur led with 76.63 per cent, followed by 75.26 per cent in Gadchiroli, while the lowest was in Mumbai island city at 52.07 per cent and 55.95 per cent in the metropolis' suburban district. More than 68,000 citizens aged over 85 and 12,000 individuals with disabilities cast their votes through home voting.
The ruling Mahayuti is poised to retain power in Maharashtra with the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) also putting up a strong show in assembly polls, most exit polls predicted on Wednesday after conclusion of polling on 288 seats in the state. Jharkhand is likely to see a change of government with BJP-led National Democratic Alliance coming to power in the state, three exit polls said on Wednesday with one poll giving majority to the ruling JMM-led alliance.
With the cane crushing season set to commence on November 15, lakhs of cutters from various districts have already migrated to the sugarcane belts in western Maharashtra and many other states, according to the Maharashtra Sugarcane Cutters and Transport Association.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of a "scam" after the poll panel admitted to the existence of duplicate voter ID numbers. The ECI has said it will address the issue in the next three months. TMC leader Saket Gokhale alleged that the ECI is trying to "protect" someone and demanded answers about the extent of the duplication and why it took 25 years to address the problem.
There are 218,442 voters over 100 years on the electoral rolls.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar during the first day of review of poll preparedness of the state asked the district election officers and municipal commissioners to explain the steps taken by them to deal with 'urban apathy'.
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