The EC again rubbished the Aam Aadmi Party's claim that EVMs could be tampered with
Whatever happens with this election, there is going to have to be a serious rethink of how the ECI, and elections, are run in India. There can't even be the whiff of impropriety. In a country that believes in democracy, EVM rigging isn't stealing an election, it's stealing the soul of a nation, says Cleo Paskal.
Jammu and Kashmir has been without an assembly since November 2018 when the then legislative assembly was dissolved by then Governor Satya Pal Malik after the People's Democratic Party-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition government fell apart earlier that year.
Leaders of 22 political parties had on Tuesday urged the poll panel to ensure paper slips from the VVPAT module are matched before the counting begins so that in cases of discrepancy, all votes in that particular assembly segment can be cross-checked with the paper slips.
CM Yogi Adityanath said the BJP was getting widespread support from the people.
A multi-functional facility, equipped with 36 specially designed vaults for storage of Electronic Voting Machines and VVPATs, was on Friday inaugurated by Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra in Delhi, officials said.
He, however, did not give any date for the proposed challenge which he announced in his opening remarks at the meeting.
Around 30,000 personnel have been deputed for poll duty as the state decides its fate today.
'Hopefully, the new majority government will give the country a fool-proof electoral system,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Assembly polls in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal, Odisha and Sikkim will also be held simultaneously, the Election Commission said.
Senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for petitioners, told the bench that the apex court had increased the random matching of VVPAT slips with EVMs to five polling booths per assembly segment and they are now seeking that it should be increased to 25 per cent at least.
The National Democratic Alliance, led by strong man Narendra Modi secured a whopping 352 of 542 seats, making it evident that his message of muscular nationalism, security and Hindu pride had worked wonders.
The party's gamble to go in for early elections paid rich dividends.
Voter turnout was 67.47 per cent in 2015 assembly election. The voting percentage was 57.04 till 6 pm deadline, and rose to 61.46 per cent as those in queues at polling stations were allowed to vote, poll officials said, adding it may increase further.
The Opposition can only question us if we stop them from campaigning. The opportunities are equal for all, he said.
Till date, 107 elections to states and three parliamentary polls have been smoothly conducted using the EVMs.
Assembly elections in Bihar, where the Bharatiya Janata Party is set for a battle against a united Janata Parivar, are likely to be held sometime in September-October when extensive central forces and a reworked expenditure monitoring system will be deployed to curb money and muscle power.
A total of 89 seats -- out of 182 -- spanning the Saurashtra and south Gujarat regions, are up for grabs in the first phase with 977 candidates in the fray, including Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.
At places in the border districts of Barmer and Jaisalmer, people walked miles through the desert to cast their votes.
'I know most of the politicians in this country and I know how fair-weather friends they can be.' 'If they get defeated in elections, they will blame it upon something that cannot respond to their allegations like the EVMs.'
'If the TRS, with 75% seats in the Telangana assembly, can be coerced into a sense of resignation by a tiny party that has just 10% of seats, then questions have to be asked about KCR's mettle as leader,' says Sudhir Bisht.
Did we miss the DeepState's Brazil Model in action in India in 2004 and 2009, asks Rajeev Srinivasan.
Barring Maharashtra, the poll percentage in rest of the states was in excess of 60 per cent while in Puducherry it was 80.47 per cent.
Two persons were injured in a clash which took place between AAP and Congress workers at Sultanpur village in Sangrur district.
From triple talaq to simultaneous polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday touched upon the various issues n his monthly 'Mann ki Baat' radio address.
The poll watchdog also said that as per laws related to elections, after the declaration of results, the only option available to verify the data of votes cast was filing an election petition before the high court concerned.
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