The West Bengal government has filed FIRs against five state government employees for alleged lapses in electoral roll revisions, following an Election Commission ultimatum. The action comes after the EC directed the state to initiate criminal cases against the accused for adding fictitious names to voter lists.
As an IAS officer in Kerala, Gyanesh Kumar -- who the Congress described as Amit Shah's 'right hand man' -- had a good working equation with the state's Congress and Left leaders.
Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday announced the launch of the Mukhya Mantri Mahila Samman Yojna to give a monthly assistance of Rs 1,000 to women in Delhi, and promised the amount would be raised to Rs 2,100 after the elections.
Wearing white caps with a red cross on the words 'SIR' and "vote chori", the protesting MPs started their march from Parliament's Makar Dwar raising slogans against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Bihar and "vote chori" while carrying placards and banners.
Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday conceded his party's defeat in the high-stakes Delhi Assembly elections.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal has been booked in Haryana's Kurukshetra district for his "poison in Yamuna" remark, which was made ahead of Delhi assembly elections. The FIR was filed based on a complaint by a local resident and advocate, accusing Kejriwal of making provocative statements and spreading false claims about industrial waste being drained into the Yamuna. The case has been registered under sections related to inciting riots, promoting enmity between groups, and outraging religious feelings.
The government has provided Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar with a Z-category VIP security cover of armed commandos in view of potential threats against him, official sources said on Tuesday.
The Election Commission on Thursday asked its Delhi chief electoral officer to probe the Aam Aadmi Party's complaints against Bharatiya Janata Party leader Parvesh Verma and allegations of additions and deletions in the electoral roll of the New Delhi assembly seat.
Certification of Election of Pranab Mukherjee as President of India has been handed over to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday.
The Election Commission of India launched the Lok Sabha polls process by convening an all party meeting on February 4 at the Nirvachan Sadan in New Delhi.
The Election Commission is all set to hold elections to the Jharkhand Assembly in mid-December with the state governor K Shankarnarayan recommending the dissolution of the assembly.
A major fire broke out in a multi-storey building housing offices of banks, around 300 metres from Parliament House, in New Delhi on Wednesday evening, fire brigade officials said.
An anonymous call threatening to blow up the Election Commission's office in New Delhi on Sunday triggered panic, but it turned out to be a hoax.
An unperturbed Election Commissioner Navin Chawla on Monday attended the office and declared to join the Lok Sabha poll preparation drill that begins from Tuesday with a day-long meeting of the Election Commission with the political parties. Leaders of seven national and 40 recognised state parties have been invited to Nirvachan Sadan on Tuesday to elicit their views on the elections, the dates for which will be finalised only after two other meetings slated this week.
In an attempt to curb bogus voting and monitor the migration of voters across India, the Election Commission is planning to link the Census data of 2011 with its electoral rolls. The EC then plans to use global positioning system to automatically record the voters' migration or shifting of residence.Once the Census data is made available to the Election Commission, it will be clubbed with the electoral rolls. The GPS chip would be added to the electronic photo identity cards.
Chief Election Commissioner Shahabuddin Yaqoob Quraishi still takes out time to jam with the who's who of Indian administration -- National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon and Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao.
N Gopalaswami is expected to be the next chief election commissioner succeeding B B Tandon, who is retiring on June 29.
'They refuse to be transparent. They refuse to be accountable.'
The Election Commission is considering advancing the polls by a month to avoid the May heat, reports R Rajagopalan.
Insiders say President Kovind has been told he will not be re-nominated, reveals R Rajagopalan.
'A government whose policies are focused around making the life of ordinary citizens, specially the most deprived sections, richer; a government that prioritises education, health and transport, that doesn't treat its citizens as subjects who must come to it for everything, is rare in our country.' 'When such a government is thrown out, one is left stunned,' notes Jyoti Punwani.
The challenge would be held in the first week of May and could continue for ten days.
Government offices located in New Delhi's central area, including North Block and South Block, will be closed from 2 pm on Thursday till 9:30 am on Friday in connection with the 'Run for Unity' to be flagged off by Prime Minster Narendra Modi.
Hari Shankar Brahma, who took over as the 19th Chief Election Commissioner on Friday, said his priority and "mission objective" is to ensure free and fair conduct of Delhi assembly polls.
"For the Lok Sabha elections, we are making meticulous planning on all fronts including electronic voting machines (EVMs) and the voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT)," he said.
Elections for 18 of these 24 seats were deferred due to the coronavirus pandemic. Of these 18 seats, four each are from Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, three each from Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, x'two from Jharkhand, and one each from Manipur and Meghalaya.
The Election Commission on Wednesday asked the Gujarat chief electoral officer to inquire and take action "as warranted" after the Aam Aadmi Party alleged that its Surat (East) candidate was abducted and coerced by the Bharatiya Janata Party to withdraw from the poll fray.
In an apparent reference to Ramgopal, Mulayam Singh said "one person has influenced his son" which has led to "problems in the party".
The Congress hit out at the government, alleging that it was treating the EC as its "subservient tool".
Sushil Chandra will conduct the UP, Punjab, Goa, Manipur, Uttarakhand elections before he retires in May 2022.
Simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and state assemblies can help reduce difficulties in terms of expenditure and management, President Pranab Mukherjee said on Wednesday and asked the Election Commission to take the initiative in bringing political parties on one platform to discuss the issue.
The Commission said it cannot, under the existing law, disqualify a contesting candidate or prevent him from contesting the election, nor can it prevent an elector from casting his vote in an election, if otherwise qualified and eligible, as is being demanded by some of the parties.
The EC announced on Friday evening that out of eight parties only Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party and the CPI-M accepted the dare. Friday was the last date to enlist for the challenge.
They also demanded that if any discrepancy is found during VVPAT verification, 100 per cent counting of the paper slips of VVPATs of all polling stations of that particular assembly segment should be done and compared with the electronic voting machine (EVM) results.
The voting will be held on November 30, December 7, 12, 16 and 20.
The EC again rubbished the Aam Aadmi Party's claim that EVMs could be tampered with
Voting is being held in the politically sensitive Kairana in Uttar Pradesh, Palghar and Bhandara-Gondiya and Nagaland Lok Sabha seats.
In a major development in the ongoing Samajwadi Party feud, Mulayam Singh Yadav has postponed the national convention of party called by him on January 5.
'The EC is a sacred institution.' 'In the last few years, more than once, we have found the EC bending over backwards to accommodate the government.'
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