In a strategic move for the upcoming West Bengal elections, the BJP has announced its first candidate list, highlighted by Suvendu Adhikari challenging Mamata Banerjee in both Nandigram and Bhabanipur.
Dismissing Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal's apprehensions that electronic voting machines could be rigged to favour BJP in the Delhi Assembly polls, the Election Commission on Wednesday said the machines are "non-tamperable".
Union Home Minister Amit Shah accuses the West Bengal government of openly facilitating infiltration, defends the Special Intensive Revision of voter lists, and asserts BJP's prospects in upcoming elections.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's resignation, alleging manipulation of voter lists during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal. She also questioned the abrupt resignation of Governor C V Ananda Bose and accused the BJP of anti-women policies and spreading misinformation.
The Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, Mritunjay Kumar Narayan, has reassured the public that individual data collected during the upcoming census will remain confidential and cannot be used for any purpose other than statistical aggregation.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accuses the BJP of 'vote chori' in collusion with the Election Commission, calling it an anti-national act. He raised concerns about election reforms and institutional capture.
A report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) reveals that the BJP declared the highest income among national parties in FY 2024-25, while the Congress's income declined.
Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan accuses the TMC of objecting to the omission of names from electoral rolls due to fears of losing the 'infiltrator' vote bank in the upcoming West Bengal Assembly polls.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has refuted reports that indelible ink marks on voters' fingers were being wiped off during the ongoing civic polls. The BMC clarified that the Municipal Commissioner had not made any such statement.
EVMs can't be used in presidential, vice-presidential, or Rajya Sabha polls because they only count simple votes, not the preference-based system needed for these elections.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has announced a new unemployment allowance of Rs 1,500 per month for young job seekers in the state, starting March 7. The announcement comes ahead of the assembly elections and aims to support unemployed youth aged 21-40 who have passed their secondary exams.
Sonia Gandhi's counsel argued in a Delhi court that a complaint alleging she was included in the electoral roll before acquiring Indian citizenship was politically motivated.
"The Congress-led UPA government is committed towards one objective -- to destroy each and every Constitutional authority in the country for its own narrow political gain," BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar told reporters in New Delhi.
'This daylight robbery of elections is happening in the commercial capital of India, Mumbai city, so you can imagine what they will do to win elections in the interiors of India.'
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has accused President Droupadi Murmu of acting on the advice of the BJP and questioned her silence on issues affecting tribal communities in other states. This comes after Murmu raised concerns about the pace of tribal development in West Bengal.
65 candidates from ten municipal corporations in Maharashtra were declared elected unopposed ahead of elections held on January 15, according to the State Election Commission (SEC). The BJP led with 43 unopposed candidates.
The Maharashtra State Election Commission on Friday announced that Thursday, January 15, will be a public holiday in areas falling under the 29 municipal corporations where polling for civic elections will be held, an official said.
The Election Commission has uploaded the names of people on the list of SIR logical discrepancies list on its website following a Supreme Court order. The district electoral officers will download the list and display it on panchayat bhavans and block offices.
The Election Commission has called an all-party meeting on October 4 to discuss issues related to the use of money and muscle power in elections and the criminalisation of politics. Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi said the commission has invited leaders from all political parties for the meeting on October 4. The meeting will be held in two parts. In the morning, discussions will be done with leaders of national parties.
The draft electoral roll for Uttar Pradesh was published after a special intensive revision exercise, with 12.55 crore voters retained out of 15.44 crore listed earlier. Around 2.89 crore voters were excluded due to deaths, migration, or multiple registrations.
The Supreme Court has reserved its verdict on a petition challenging the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, following arguments from various lawyers and the Election Commission of India.
India needs to examine some way in which, assuming that there is either no vaccine or a delay in administering it to everyone, voting can be made safer, notes Aakar Patel.
The Maharashtra State Election Commission has prohibited civic poll candidates from using microphones and moving in large groups during door-to-door canvassing after the end of the public campaign. Opposition parties have criticised the decision.
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.
Gandhi did not speak to the media persons after the meeting, as the leaders of the Mahagathbandhan, of which the Congress is a part, remained in a state of disbelief after the NDA swept the polls.
All along, we were told SIR was an essential exercise carried out as part of the Election Commission's regular duties. But now that the ideological mentor of the ruling party has declared that SIR is a means of detecting infiltrators, one understands the unseemly haste with which it is being carried out, notes Jyoti Punwani.
The Election Commission (EC) defended its power to revise electoral rolls and ensure no foreigners are registered as voters before the Supreme Court. The EC argued it has a constitutional duty to maintain the purity of electoral rolls and exclude those not eligible to vote.
The Election Commission has issued instructions to district election officials in West Bengal regarding voters marked as 'unmapped' due to technical issues during the digitisation of the 2002 electoral rolls.
The Election Commission is working on a new design of Electronic Voting Machines, which will accommodate more than the present maximum limit of 64 candidates.
"The CBI Director should be empowered to report directly to the minister and the prime minister with exclusive powers like the Cabinet secretary and should act alone without being under the administration of the central government," the judgment further read.
'Imagine, for the last 12 years the prime minister belongs to the BJP, the home minister belongs to the BJP... If that is the case, you have waited for 12 years to remove infiltrators. Which means you and your central government has failed India on stopping infiltration.' The Rediff Podcast Featuring Shiv Sena-UBT leader Aditya Thackeray.
Speculation is rife in Bihar about Chief Minister Nitish Kumar potentially moving to the Rajya Sabha, leading to discussions about a possible BJP chief minister and a role for Kumar's son, Nishant. Senior BJP leaders have dismissed the rumours.
"The Election Commission's press conference should be welcomed because it is a good step to clear public doubts regarding the SIR process (in Bihar) and other issues," Rawat told PTI in Indore.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut announced a joint squad with MNS to 'thrash' dual and bogus voters during the upcoming civic polls, raising concerns about potential violence.
The Supreme Court has directed the Election Commission to display the names of those on the 'logical discrepancies' list at various public offices in West Bengal, addressing concerns about irregularities in the voter rolls.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee escalates tensions ahead of assembly polls by accusing President Droupadi Murmu of political bias and criticising her stance on tribal welfare, sparking a major controversy.
The power struggle in Tamil Nadu's main opposition party, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, appears set to go on for a long time with sidelined leader O Panneerselvam (OPS) approaching the Election Commission and the influential Edappadi K Palaniswami camp refusing to budge.
Amid claims of Amartya Sen being summoned over Special Intensive Revision (SIR), the Chief Electoral Office of West Bengal has clarified that the notice to the Nobel laureate was issued after the Electoral Roll Officers' Network (ERONET) portal flagged a 'logical discrepancy'.
Like the realisation on the failure of development, we have also internalised the failure on democracy, argues Aakar Patel.
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.
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