Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has criticized the State Election Commission's decision to postpone some local body elections, calling it unfair to candidates. The decision follows petitions and sub judice matters, which Fadnavis argues should not halt the election process. Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde also expressed disappointment, while tensions rise between BJP and Shiv Sena in Sindhudurg ahead of local polls.
The rally is being organised to protest against alleged electoral roll manipulation in the Maharashtra assembly elections, with opposition parties alleging that there were around 96 lakh fake votes which had been added in the 2024 assembly elections.
Rahul Gandhi alleges that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is an attempt to cover up "vote theft" and institutionalize it, claiming similar incidents occurred in other states.
The BJP has accused the Congress party, particularly Rahul Gandhi, of using social media accounts based in foreign countries to create an anti-India narrative. The BJP alleges that accounts originating from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Singapore, and the US are being used to target the BJP, RSS, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A BMC spokesperson said the average voter turnout stood at 29.96 per cent till 1.30 pm in the metropolis, which has more than 1 crore eligible electors.
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.
'To attribute motives to the individual election commissioner or the Election Commission as a group is very unfair.'
'The watershed moment was June 22, 2024, when the divisional in-charge of Gadchiroli, Giridhar Tumreti, who was their senior-most commander, along with his wife, came forward to surrender before the then deputy chief minister and home minister Devendra Fadnavis.'
In terms of MLA salaries, Odisha is followed by Telangana (about Rs 2.7 lakh), Maharashtra (Rs 2.6 lakh), Manipur (Rs 2.5 lakh), and Uttar Pradesh (Rs 2.4 lakh).
Maharashtra is set to hold local body elections on December 2 for municipal councils and nagar panchayats. The polls are seen as a test of the ruling coalition's strength after their recent assembly election victory.
The Supreme Court has directed the Maharashtra State Election Commission to complete the stalled local body polls by January 31, 2026, criticizing the commission for non-compliance with previous orders.
Maharashtra is set to hold local body elections for municipal councils and nagar panchayats, marking the first phase of a Supreme Court-mandated process. The elections are seen as a key indicator of political sentiment following the BJP-led Mahayuti's victory in the assembly elections.
A woman doctor of a government hospital allegedly died by suicide in Maharashtra's Satara district, leaving behind a note accusing two police personnel of rape and mental harassment, police said on Friday.
After issuing notices to hotels across the country for allegedly underpaying goods and services tax (GST) on restaurant services, the revenue department has now widened its scrutiny by seeking information from online travel platforms.
The Supreme Court granted bail to Arvind Dham in a money laundering case, emphasizing that prolonged incarceration without trial violates the right to a speedy trial under Article 21 of the Constitution.
The Supreme Court delivered a split verdict on a plea by the Maharashtra government seeking a review of the court's earlier direction to form a special investigation team (SIT) with Hindu and Muslim officers to investigate the 2023 Akola communal riots. Justice Sanjay Kumar refused to review the direction, while Justice Satish Chandra Sharma agreed to hear the review plea in open court.
Sharad Pawar claimed that two individuals had met him in New Delhi before the 2024 Maharashtra assembly polls and 'guaranteed' the Opposition's victory in 160 of 288 constituencies.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested Anmol Bishnoi, brother of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, after his deportation from the US. He is wanted in connection with several high-profile crimes.
A report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) reveals that a significant number of registered unrecognised political parties in Bihar have not made their mandatory financial disclosures public for 2023-24.
'Not giving the Commission space in Mumbai is an insult to Maharashtra's Dalits who are waiting for the inquiry report.'
On Tuesday, Kumar issued a public apology on X, acknowledging the error in his original post.
Sandwiched between a Hero MotoCorp showroom and a shop that hires out cooking utensils is a small, dingy building that's been locked up. The non-descript two-room building is a manufacturing unit of Sresan Pharmaceuticals, the pharma company made its Coldriff cough syrup that has allegedly killed 25 children in Madhya Pradesh.
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.
'The government does not want to be transparent or accountable. Therefore, they do not want to appoint information commissioners.'
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of protecting individuals involved in voter deletion and election rigging, citing data from Karnataka and Maharashtra.
'Our problem is not a budget deficit but a trust deficit. We need to trust our institutions and industries to innovate and lead. That is the way forward for India.'
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.
'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.'
The Enforcement Directorate has filed a chargesheet against businessman Raj Kundra in a bitcoin 'scam,' alleging he was a beneficial owner and concealed evidence.
'We want the Commission to finish its work; the issue it is investigating is too crucial for its work to be left incomplete.'
This is just another instance of the indifference with which the Commission has been treated by the government.
Maharashtra Cyber has issued advisories to various state government departments, including police, to take precautionary steps to avoid cyber attacks after the credentials of many of these departments were found on the darknet. The departments include the Maharashtra Public Service Commission, the Directorate General of Information and Public Relations (DGIPR), the Electricity Department, Maha DBT, among others. Maharashtra Cyber has also written to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) recommending blocking of Wikipedia and Proton Mail platforms under relevant sections of the Information Technology Act for failing to comply with specific police directives.
'Undeniably, Modi's position has stabilised and he has staged a comeback of sorts from the weeks after the Lok Sabha results.' 'Coalition partners are likely to be more tolerant of Modi... The forthcoming elections in Delhi and Bihar will determine whether this continues or not.' 'To win Delhi and Bihar, Modi will have to work in conjunction with the RSS.' 'However, because of the 'truce' that has been worked out within the Sangh Parivar, Modi will have to be more consultative than he has been in the past ten years,' reveals Modi biographer Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The Supreme Court of India has sought the government's response on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that challenges the appointment process of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), arguing it's unconstitutional. The PIL, filed by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation, claims the current process, solely through executive appointment by the Prime Minister, undermines the CAG's independence and violates constitutional principles. The court, while acknowledging the importance of institutional trust, questioned the extent to which it should intervene in the appointment process and whether this would constitute rewriting constitutional provisions. The PIL suggests the CAG's appointment should be similar to other independent bodies, with a selection committee comprising the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition, and Chief Justice of India. The case has implications for the independence and transparency of India's audit system.
Prime Minister Narendra D Modi dedicated three Made in India frontline naval combatants -- INS Surat, INS Nilgiri and INS Vaghsheer to the nation on Wednesday, January 15, 2025, morning, noting that this is the first time that a destroyer, frigate and submarine were being commissioned together into the Indian Navy.
Does voter deletion controversy expose critical gaps in ECI verification procedures and safeguards protecting electoral roll integrity?
Police in Thane have arrested a school principal and staff member after allegations that girl students were forced to strip to check for menstruation. The incident sparked outrage among parents, leading to protests and a police investigation.
He had promised his daughter that he would be there, come what may, a kin said. But fate had a different plan.
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.
'...in the minds of the youth of Assam.' 'Now, no protests happen in Assam because of fear of police encounters.'
