The biopic was originally set to release on April 12, but its producers had advanced it by a week, claiming 'public demand'.
There was no move to advance elections to the assembly in Kerala which would be held in the mid-May next year, Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi said on Tuesday.
Sri Lanka's Supreme Court has asked opposition presidential candidate General Sarath Fonseka to direct his petition alleging bias on part of state-run media organisations to the election commissioner, before approaching the apex court.
Terming Maharashtra as "the capital of paid news", Election Commissioner H S Brahma on Friday asked the media fraternity to stop this practice, which has attracted a lot of attention in the recent years and led to calls for self-regulation.
Out of the 280 constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir, 43 are going to polls in the second phase with 25 in Kashmir and 18 in Jammu division.
Army sources, however, said preliminary investigations indicate that the complaints are unfounded.
S Y Quraishi, Election Commissioner, was on Tuesday appointed the new Chief Election Commissioner in the place of Navin Chawla, who demits office on Thursday.
During the pendency of suit filed by Odisha, the top court had on December 2, 1968 directed both the states to maintain status quo till the disposal of suit and said, "there shall be no further ingress or egress on the territories in dispute, on the part of either party".
In a curious case of the right hand not knowing what the left is doing, the Law Ministry has released the letter written by former Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami to the President seeking removal of fellow Election Commissioner Navin Chawla while the Rashtrapati Bhawan had declined to make the document public.
Congress MP Sushmita Dev said that speeches given by Modi and Shah are also punishable under section 153A of the Indian Penal Code as they "blatantly promote disharmony and feelings of enmity on the grounds of religion and such acts are also likely to prejudice the maintenance of public harmony and tranquility between religious communities".
The Election Commission on Friday night dismissed suggestions of differences among its three Commissioners and said it disposes of complaints of model code of conduct violation expeditiously.
The government on Sunday rejected Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami's recommendation for removal of Navin Chawla as Election Commissioner, paving the way for his appointment to the key constitutional post. A Rashtrapati Bhawan communique said President Pratibha Patil has accepted the government recommendation for rejection of the CEC's report against Chawla and arrived at a "considered opinion".
"I am right", Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami said on Sunday, unfazed by the sharp criticism to his recommendation for the removal of Election Commissioner Navin Chawla for "partisan" functioning.
The People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) swept the maiden District Development Council (DDC) polls by winning 110 seats, while the Bharatiya Janata Party emerged as the single largest party by getting 75 seats after securing the largest vote share in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said on Wednesday.
The Bharatiya Janata Party government has begun the search for the new chief election commissioner when the present incumbent V S Sampath demits from office on January 15, 2015.
Tandon, 64, an IAS officer of 1965 batch, was appointed election commissioner in 2001 and will be in office till June 2006.
'How do you apply indelible ink without coming into contact?' 'There have to be options for other activities like casting of vote where you press a button and that of the signature identifying oneself.' 'None of our procedures should lead to exposure to infections.'
Alleging that the Chief Election Commissioner's controversial recommendation for removal of his colleague has eroded the credibility of the poll body, the Communist Party of India-Marxist on Friday claimed the CEC himself has violated the independence of the Election Commission.
Election Commissioner Navin Chawla, whose removal was recommended by Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalswami on Saturday, appeared to be in a combative mood, saying the 'dignity' of the constitutional body is "paramount".
The recommendation comes about three months before Gopalaswami is to demit office on April 20 and is based on a petition by the BJP which had complained against the "partisan" functioning of Chawla. The BJP had alleged that Chawla was close to the Congress party
As people queued up to cast their vote, there were some famous faces in the lines at different polling stations.
As he prepares to leave his office, Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami on Saturday defended his controversial recommendation for the removal of Navin Chawla, who will succeed him on Tuesday and suggested that future appointments of Election Commissioners be made by a collegium and not the government.
A day after Election Commission rejected his claim that Electronic Voting Machines are not tamper-proof, former bureaucrat Omesh Saigal on Tuesday stuck to his charge that a particular software can be used to rig the polls.
Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, Assam and the Union Territory of neighbouring Puducherry are likely to go to polls in April or May.
Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami, who has been in the eye of the storm after recommending the removal of Election Commissioner Navin Chawla, is currently on a one-week leave to visit various pilgrimages in Gujarat. During his trip, the CEC is scheduled to visit Somnath, Dwarka and Gandhi Nagar. Gopalaswami, an Indian Administrative Service officer from the Gujarat cadre, speaks the native language fluently and considers the state his second home.
Asked about the timing of his move against Chwala, CEC Gopalaswami said, "This argument regarding timing is unfair. I was dictated by circumstances. It was not a deliberate decision. I had to wait till the Karnataka elections get over. He (Chawla) took five months to reply to me. For one month he went on leave. I have taken only one and a half months to prepare my opinion once I got his (Chawla's) response (to the charges made against him)."
Strange that the Law Ministry acted as the legal adviser to Chawla who sought its opinion on the explanation sought by CEC N Gopalaswami and now its minister claims that the CEC has no powers to recommend an election commissioner's removal unless asked for by the President, BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad asserted. The Congress was, however, quick to rubbish the BJP charge of the nexus between Bhardwaj and Chawla.
The CEC's letter to the President recommending Chawla's removal is just two pages long while he has dealt with 12 specific cases of partisanship in another 24 pages and annexed more than 800 pages of the Election Commission minutes, internal correspondence, etc in support of the case he has built up.
Chronological order of events leading up to Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami recommending the removal of Election Commissioner Navin Chawla.
Union Law Minister H Bharadwaj on Monday slammed Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami for 'overstepping his powers' by recommending the removal of Election Commissioner Navin Chawla to President Pratibha Patil."The CEC overstepped his powers. His allegations are unfortunate. He cannot behave like a political boss," Bharadwaj told mediapersons in New Delhi on Monday. He added that Chawla will take over as the next CEC once Gopalaswami demits office on April 20.
After battling with a day-long embarrassment of unending phone calls on Wednesday over Election Commissioner S Y Qureshi hinting in London about the Lok Sabha polls being held April 8 and May 15, Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami was stunned to find a Union minister barge into his house in the evening, without any appointment, to enquire about the election dates.
At the conclusion of the two-day visit to the state to review the poll arrangements along with the two election commissioners, Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswamy said, "More staff is required because the state is having concurrent elections to the assembly and the polls.
I had said that eloquence of silence is always difficult but far more desirable to see the election process through instead of creating ill-timed controversies.
Gearing up the machinery ahead of the general elections, the full Election Commission will visit Uttar Pradesh and Bihar this week to review the poll readiness in these two key states in the Hindi heartland which together accounts for 120 seats.
Assembly elections in 288 seats in Maharashtra and 90 seats in Haryana will be held on October 15 and counting will take place on October 19, the Election Commission announced on Friday.
The Congress on Wednesday accused Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami of being favourable to the Bharatiya Janata Party and cited two incidents -- the CD case and distribution of sarees during a rally -- to buttress its point. "For three years, the BJP has accused Election Commissioner Navin Chawla of supporting the Congress. The Congress has rejected it several times. Now, we would like to point out how the CEC has been favourable to the BJP," said a Cong leader.
However, there is no official word on the status of the controversial recommendation of the CEC for the removal of Election Commissioner Navin Chawla, though Law Minister H R Bhardwaj has rejected it and had indicated that Chawla will be the next CEC.
Those who are appointed to the EC must be like Caesar's wife -- above suspicion, men of impeccable integrity and credibility, and must be seen as fair and impartial in order to command the respect of citizens of this country and of all political parties.
Eight eminent personalities have appealed to people to "introspect and audit" the working of the Constitution.
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