Nearly 13.04 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 9 am on Wednesday in 43 assembly constituencies in Jharkhand where voting is underway in the first phase, officials said.
"The agenda as published at the moment, is much ado about nothing - all this could have waited till Winter session in November. I am sure the legislative grenades are being kept up their sleeves to be unleashed at the last moment as usual. Parde ke peeche kuch aur hai!" he said.
The protestors called the state's administrative measures "only partial victory" of their movement.
The Election Commission on Sunday called on President Pranab Mukherjee and handed over the list of 543 newly-elected members of Lok Sabha that will enable him initiate the formal process of new government formation.
Living separately and refusing to co-exist in future, many members of both Kukis and Meitis communities ask - why elections at this time and what difference will they make?
"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.
A state government that came to power after swearing to protect all people without discrimination refused to help a non-Christian organisation till the high court rapped it on its knuckles, observes former BJP MP Tarun Vijay, former Chief Editor, Panchjanya, the RSS weekly.
Lavasa said, 'My view is very clear that transparency is important ... minority view should be included and there should be time-bound procedures'.
In a major setback to party founder Sharad Pawar, the Election Commission of India also allotted the NCP symbol 'Wall Clock' to the group led by Ajit Pawar.
SC hands back AIFF's day-to-day management to federation's administration
'Voters vote differently in the state elections and Parliamentary elections even if they are held together'
In separate letters to Chirag Paswan and Pashupati Paras, the poll panel said it has allotted the name 'Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas)' and the election symbol 'Helicopter' to the Chirag Paswan group.
The Wednesday's preliminary meeting focused on various thematic issues including assured minimum facilities at polling stations, ease of registration for voters, electoral roll, timely resolution of grievances, arrangements of electronic voting and paper trail machines, postal ballot facility for senior citizens who are 80 and above, and people with disabilities.
TV footage showed Prabhakar Reddy pressing the stab wound on his stomach (to stop the bleeding) while sitting in a vehicle.
Though electoral verdicts have historically been accepted, even though grudgingly, by all parties, there has been a sharper edge to the questions being raised by Opposition parties this time over the polling process, including the Election Commission.
Observing that it will not venture into the "policy issue", the top court dismissed the PIL which had also sought a direction to the poll panel to put in the public domain the audit report, if any, of EVM's source code.
Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal will attend the meetings of the committee as a special invitee, while legal affairs secretary Niten Chandra will be secretary to the panel.
Official sources indicated that the searches were held following 'some inputs', but they did not elaborate.
Former Navy Chief Admiral L Ramdas in his letter to CEC Sunil Arora said that the armed forces are not a "private force" belonging to any individual or political party.
Voters include 8.4 crore men, 8.23 crore women and 11,371 from third gender. There are as many as 35.67 lakh first time voters, besides 3.51 crore young voters in the age group of 20-29 years.
The Kirti Chakra awardees are Major Digvijay Singh Rawat of 21st Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (Special Forces), Major Deependra Vikram Basnet from the Sikh Regiment's fourth battalion and Havildar Pawan Kumar Yadav from the 21st battalion of the Mahar Regiment, according to the defence ministry.
The trouble for Ashok Lavasa's family began a few months back when his wife, Novel Singhal Lavasa, came under the scanner of the income tax department on charges of alleged tax evasion.
'Legally, anything can be promised in the manifestos. However, the SC has said the promises should not be unreasonable'
The Delhi high court on Tuesday set aside the election of Praful Patel, who was last year elected as the president of All India Football Federation for a four-year term, his third successive tenure.
The BJP has fielded 18 MPs, including four Union ministers, for the latest round of assembly polls so far -- seven each in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan and four in Chhattisgarh.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday told the poll panel that his remarks were aimed at containing graft and sought a review of its order to allow him to repeat the comments.
CoA files contempt petition against Praful Patel, pleads to bar him from football-related activities.
The Deputy Election Commissioners have drawn up three different sets of the tentative schedule in consultation with the states' chief election officers. One provides for the polling on April 20, 26, May 5 and 10, but the finality will come only after the full bench of the Election Commission sits down to consider all aspects and fixes the schedule, the EC sources said.
The incident sparked a political blame game in the state where bypolls to nine assembly seats will be held on November 20. Opposition parties blamed the BJP government in the state and said the deaths raise serious questions about the negligence of the administration.
Nepal's Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist on Thursday demanded a suspension of the vote counting, alleging conspiracy after initial results showed the party trailing at third position in the constituent assembly elections.
The Ajit Pawar faction is the real Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), the Election Commission announced on Tuesday, ending months of speculation over the factional fight with his party founder and uncle Sharad Pawar.
'All I can say is that there is a disparity between the removal procedures of the chief election commissioner and other election commissioners as may be seen from the provisions of the Constitution. Everybody is free to interpret it on the basis of what is already there in the Constitution. But how it is to be interpreted is a matter which can be decided only by a court, perhaps,' ex-CEC T S Krishnamurthy said.
Kande, in his petition filed through advocate Ajinkya Udane, said the ECI's decision discharging his vote has caused grave prejudice to his dignity and reputation, and sought that the HC quash and set aside the ECI's decision.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi can get reprieve from being disqualified as a member of Parliament under The Representation of People's Act until his appeal comes to a higher court in Gujarat.
The Centre on Saturday rejected the Bharatiya Janata Party's demand for immediate removal of Election Commissioner Navin Chawla, on the basis of Chief Election commissioner N Gopalaswami's recommendation, stating that the positions held by the three election commissioners are constitutional posts.Replying to a question raised by rediff.com, Home minister P Chidambaram said, "They hold constitutional positions and neither you nor I can change that position".
The Election Commission on Friday announced the schedule for assembly elections in five states of Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram.
Chawla, who was to retire in June this year, will get a five-year tenure as election commissioner.
'They have all committed that during campaign period, they will not allow anything which is adversely effecting level playing field be allowed on their platforms'
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