The Madras high court on Wednesday declined to grant a total stay against the 10.5 per cent Vanniyar quota but held that admission in higher educational institutions and appointment in government services will be subject to the outcome of the batch of petitions challenging the same.
Biennial elections to the legislative councils in Maharashtra, Telangana, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh from 42 local authorities' constituencies will be held on December 10, the Election Commission announced on Tuesday.
After barring Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma from campaigning in the assembly polls for 48 hours, the Election Commission has also transferred his brother and Goalpara Superintendent of Police Sushanta Biswa Sarma from the district.
Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar had "prima facie" violated the Model Code of Conduct by his 'ink' remark, the Election Commission said on Monday and asked him to explain his stand by Thursday evening failing which a decision will be taken without asking him further.
The PM, while addressing a rally in Wardha on April 1, had reportedly said, the opposition party was "scared" to field its leaders from constituencies where the majority dominates.
The Election Commission has reduced maximum number of campaigners for the recognised parties to 30 while for the unrecognised parties it would be not more than 20 in view of coronavirus pandemic, Additional Chief Electoral Officer (ACEO) Sanjay Kumar Singh said on Friday. The maximum number was earlier fixed at 40 for everybody.
Sidhu, while addressing a rally, had warned Muslims not to split their votes and instead defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party by voting against it unitedly.
The Election Commission on Saturday said it will consider the issue of the appointment of the next army chief at a meeting of its top brass next week.
On Monday, Thakur egged on participants of an election rally to raise an incendiary slogan that 'traitors should be shot', after he lashed out at anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protesters.
'These are the two core skill sets that are required for any job, in any profession.'
'Why should we disclose classified information to satisfy those who doubt our Hydrogen Bomb capability?'
'...the President is pleased to accept the resignation tendered by Shri Ashok Lavasa, Election Commissioner with effect from the 31st August, 2020,' the notification said.
Before the MCC came into effect, Modi was busy laying stones, cutting ribbons, and unveiling plaques across the country.
The Congress, a responsible political party, has never cast unwarranted aspersions on the actions of Constitutional bodies, Surjewala said.
Announcing the election schedule with a strong focus on digital and virtual modes of campaigning, Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra said the ban on rallies, roadshows, nukkad sabhas, padayatras and vehicle rallies will be reviewed on January 15.
Initially, Tata Sky had stated that the channel had been added to all subscribers account "as a launch offer."
Over 60 per cent voter turnout was recorded on Monday in 49 constituencies in six states and two Union territories in the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections, with Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir recording its highest-ever voting percentage.
The party claimed 16 lakh votes were polled in the last one hour of polling on December 5.
If Modi wants to leave a real legacy, breaking India's strategic triangulation would be the real gift, notes Shekhar Gupta.
Kicking up a controversy, Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Suresh Rana said that curfew will be imposed in Kairana, Deoband and Moradabad if he is elected again in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls next month.
In nearly 100 seats, the BJP stands almost no chance of winning. In 200 seats, it is a direct fight between the BJP and the Congress where the BJP has an upper hand. In 243 seats, the BJP is pitted against regional parties and it is not going to be easy. That is why 400 seats may end up as a pipe dream, states Ramesh Menon, author of Modi Demystified: The Making of a Prime Minister.
BJP releases new poster taking a dig at Kejriwal.
In the 2017 assembly election, the voter turnout in the first phase covering the same 89 constituencies stood at 66.75 per cent.
In his letter to Kumar, the veteran leader has made a series of suggestions including an amendment in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Gurantee Act, bringing Lord Buddha's begging bowl from Kabul and hoisting tricolor at Vaishali, the land of world's first Republic.
The states have outstanding liabilities of a whopping Rs 59,89,360 crore as on March 31, 2021, and the new sources of risk have emerged in the form of rising expenditure on non-merit freebies, the Supreme Court was told on Thursday by a PIL petitioner opposing irrational handouts.
The Congress on Friday moved the Election Commission to restrain the Bhyaratiya Janata Party from using a Red Fort replica in Narendra Modi's election rallies in Delhi.
Downplaying the AAP's allegations, Gambhir had earlier termed it as "negative politics".
Modi said he relied on his 'raw wisdom' to dispel the doubts of the defence experts who had planned the mission.
In continuing operations to enforce the Model Code of Conduct, more than Rs 10.5 lakh unaccounted cash and 3,112 litres of illegal liquor were seized from different parts of the state on Saturday.
A complaint has been lodged against Aam Aadmi Party candidate Kumar Vishwas and hundred others for staging a dharna inside a police station, police sources said in Amethi on Saturday.
'These letters are part of my communication with the students to encourage them to vote and to introduce them to academic discussions on what good governance and development is all about' Dr Fraser Mascarenhas, principal of Mumbai's St Xavier's College, remains unmoved even as the Bharatiya Janata Party complains to the Election Commsion over his email to students on the Gujarat model. Prasanna D Zore reports from Mumbai
The Election Commission on Thursday banned Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader A Raja from campaigning for 48 hours after finding him guilty of violating the model code of conduct by making derogatory remarks against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami.
Political parties can no longer make tall promises on freebies in their election manifestos as they will now have to explain the rationale of their pledges and ways and means of meeting the financial requirements.
Accusing Union Ministers Beni Prasad Verma and Kapil Sibal of vitiating the election campaign, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday approached the Election Commission seeking strong action against them for making "baseless" allegations against its leaders.
Around 40,000 Delhi Police personnel, 190 coys (companies) of Central Armed Police Forces and 19,000 Home Guards have been deployed for smooth conduct of election in the national capital, officials said.
Union Minister Jairam Ramesh on Sunday refuted reports that he wanted Rahul Gandhi to apologise to the Muslim community for his controversial remarks that ISI was having links with Muzaffarnagar riot-hit youths, saying that his comments were twisted by the media.
The BSP chief's brother Anand Kumar has been appointed as the party's national vice president and her nephew Akash Anand as its national coordinator.
'Commentators have said that dealing with allies as equals will make Modi more sensitive.' 'Remember that the people Modi is dealing with are equally autocratic in their own lairs.' 'Further, Modi always has handy the threat of dissolving Parliament and calling for fresh polls.' 'Most of his own party, and certainly his allies and opponents having blown their budgets of efforts and resources in the just concluded elections, have no stomach for this.' 'They are all greatly looking forward to the loaves and fishes of office on offer.' 'That gives Modi an unbeatable advantage in any push-comes-to-shove situation,' explains Shreekant Sambrani.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's youth wing leader Pamela Goswami was arrested with cocaine from south Kolkata's upscale New Alipore area on Friday, the police said.
The Commission did not announce the elections for the Gujarat assembly, the term of which ends on February 18, 2023.
