As part of the protest, BJP workers burned tyres, blocked roads, and closed shops in Nandigram, alleging that Trinamool Congress-backed criminals were responsible for the killing of Rathibala Arhi, a saffron party worker in Sonachura village.
Around 67 per cent of the electorate exercised their franchise right on Tuesday in the by-elections at Bankura in West Bengal while the figure was 73 per cent at Daspur, officials said.
The Election Commission has asked the returning officer of Amethi Lok Sabha constituency to probe allegations by Subramanian Swamy that Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi gave "wrong information" regarding his assets while filing nomination papers in the 2009 polls.
"The purpose of this film is only political -- to get some extra mileage in the elections. We believe, it is not just a corrupt practice, but the very launch of the film is motivated," Kapil Sibal told reporters outside the Election Commission.
Congress does unto AAP what Kejriwal's party had done to it in Haryana.
Chief electoral officers will brief Lyngdoh on February 4.
Over 83 per cent of the more than 13 lakh electorate cast their vote on Monday in the single-day Nagaland state election which passed off by and large peacefully, Chief Electoral Officer V Shashank Shekhar said.
The ceremonial proceedings are set to take place at the US Capitol Rotunda, where Trump will take the oath of office on Monday, roughly two weeks after his electoral college victory was officially certified by Congress.
Encouraged by their initiatives which resulted in high voter turnout in Naxal-hit areas, officers in Chhattisgarh's Chief Electoral Office are hopeful of a similar trend in 72 constituencies going to polls on Tuesday.
He further informed that the highest voting of 71.6 per cent was reported from the Ballimaran constituency, while the lowest turnout was in Delhi cantonment, which reported 45.4 per cent polling.
Kolewadi gram sabha in Maharashtra's Satara district has resolved to conduct future elections on ballot papers, becoming the second village in the state to pass a resolution against EVMs.
Over 60 per cent of 1.5 crore electorate on Saturday exercised their franchise in a keenly fought Delhi Assembly elections which saw stray incidents of violence but remained by and large peaceful.
The Election Commission on Saturday cautioned political parties over hate speeches and said it is closely monitoring social media posts to ensure clean assembly polls in five states.
The election authorities on Tuesday gave a clean chit to Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh's son and Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Jayant Chowdhury who was caught on camera accepting money from a local leader in Mathura and allegedly violating the model code of conduct.
With assembly polls in some states due by early next year, the Election Commission expressed concern over the "alarming proportion" of "paid news" and directed officials to closely monitor poll-related reports.
Rain played spoilsport during polling for the first phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections as only 5.17 per cent of the over 1.70 lakh electorate exercised their franchise in the first two hours.
The Election Commission is likely to declare poll dates for Gujarat and Himachal on October 4 or 5.
Re-polling would be held in eight polling stations spread across six constituencies in Tamil Nadu on Saturday, Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Kumar said.The re-polls were necessitated due to defective display of Electoral Voting Machines, damage of EVMs by unruly elements and also boycott of voters in one place protesting shifting of polling station among other reasons, he told mediapersons.
The Karnataka unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday petitioned electoral authorities against Unique Identification Authority of India Chairman Nandan Nilekani, tipped to be the Congress's candidate from Bangalore in Lok Sabha polls, taking exception to his name and picture figuring with Aadhar Card advertisements when the Model Code of Conduct is in force.
'For three months Raj Thackeray becomes a staunch Hindu and for the next three months he becomes anti-Hindu.'
The number of nominations filed by candidates for the May 5 Assembly elections in Karnataka crossed 2,000 on Tuesday.
Delhi Election Commission on Friday directed all mobile service providers to stop "political" bulk SMS services 48 hours before the assembly election to ensure that parties do not influence voters during this period.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), led by Arvind Kejriwal, suffered a major setback in the Delhi Assembly elections, losing to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The loss marks a significant blow to Kejriwal's national ambitions and raises questions about the future of the party. The AAP had been in power in Delhi for the past 10 years and had also formed a government in Punjab. Despite the defeat, the party still holds 13 MPs from Punjab and Delhi. The article examines the factors that contributed to the AAP's defeat, including allegations of corruption, poor civic facilities, and the BJP's relentless attacks. It also explores the impact of the loss on Kejriwal's national aspirations and the party's future.
Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi on Thursday called for a "complete check" on the menace of paid news during polls and emphasised on keeping a track on the expenditure record of candidates.
The Election Commission on Saturday asked the Uttar Pradesh government to uncover statues of Chief Minister Mayawati and of elephants, the Bahujan Samaj Party's poll symbol, in the state. "The EC secretary has written a letter to the UP chief secretary stating that the statues draped following its January 7 order should be uncovered forthwith," said UP Chief Electoral Officer Umesh Sinha.
Embattled Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal walked out of the Tihar Jail on Friday evening, hours after the Supreme Court granted him interim bail in a money laundering case to enable him to campaign in the Lok Sabha elections, in a huge relief to his party struggling to gain momentum in the absence of its foremost leader.
Pratibha Pawar, wife of NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, was allegedly stopped from entering the premises of Baramati Hi-Tech Textiles Park in Pune district on Sunday for half an hour. This was informed by the office of Baramati MP Supriya Sule. Notably, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar's wife and Rajya Sabha member Sunetra Pawar is the chairperson of the Baramati Hi-Tech Textiles Park. A video shared by Supriya Sule's office shows female aides of Pratibha Pawar and Sule's daughter Revti Sule asking a security guard at the Park to open the gate as they wanted to do some purchasing. The guard told them he was instructed by one Anil Wagh to not open the gate. A male aide accompanying Pratibha Pawar and Revti Sule confirmed to PTI that they were not allowed to enter the premises for at least 30 minutes. When contacted, Textile Park chief manager Anil Wagh said he was not aware that Pratibha Pawar was supposed to visit the premises. He claimed he instructed security personnel to not allow any political rally inside. When he was told that Pratibha Pawar had arrived, he immediately asked security guards to open the gate and allow them inside. According to Wagh, Pratibha Pawar and Revti Sule visited some companies on the premises of the Park and interacted with women workers. Baramati Hi-Tech Textile Park is one of 26 parks approved by the Union Ministry of Textiles. Under the chairmanship of Sunetra Pawar, this park was set up in the year 2008 over an area of 65 acres in Baramati in Pune district. A fierce electoral battle is playing out in the Baramati assembly constituency between Ajit Pawar, who revolted against uncle Sharad Pawar last year, and his nephew Yugendra Pawar.
Voting will be held on Thursday for the first phase of Gujarat Assembly elections in 89 seats spread across 19 districts in Saurashtra-Kutch and southern parts of the state where 788 candidates are in the fray.
The Election Commission has directed returning officers and chief electoral officers of Uttarakhand and Jharkhand not to start counting and announce results of the Rajya Sabha elections before its clearance. In a letter sent to the election officials in the two states, the poll panel has directed them that counting of votes "shall not be taken up" until they receive a specific written clearance from the commission.
The ruling Biju Janata Dal candidate Ranendra Pratap Swain on Wednesday defeated his nearest Congress candidate Suresh Chandra Mohapatra by 47,390 votes in the by-election for Athgarh assembly seat in Odisha.
Twelve candidates are in the fray for the three tribal seats, elections for which are being held ahead of the remaining 65 assembly constituencies for the first time in the state's history. In all 1,27,785 voters, including 61,902 women, will exercise their franchise for the three constituencies, while polling for the remaining 65 assembly constituencies will be held on December 19.
In a statement, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh questioned the motive behind the inauguration of the "incomplete" temple by the leaders of the BJP and the RSS.
Around seventy seven per cent voting was recorded in the third phase of West Bengal assembly polls in 75 seats covering Kolkata, North and South 24 Parganas districts on Wednesday.
Party leaders list three clear positive outcomes -- an activated Congress which has hit the ground running leaving the past inertia behind, an interactive top brass which is directly engaging the people, and a mobilised organisation which was dormant for many years.
'For politicians, winning the next election has become more important than economic stability of the country and broader national interest.'
'The Election Commission cannot be regulated by the government.'
The Election Commission is keeping open the option to reschedule the assembly elections in Uttarakhand if the cold wave continues for the next few days.
The Bhzaratiya Janata Party on Monday filed a complaint with the Election Commission against opposition Congress, accusing it of levelling "baseless allegations" against it without evidence.
Was Ram Rahim's release on parole for the 10th time since his conviction in 2017 timed to coincide with the Haryana assembly elections? It does seem so when one considers he has been released mostly when there was an election in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. Listing the times that Ram Rahim has been out on parole.
