As leaders in both the BJP and Congress concede, neither has within their parties a leader to match Arvind Kejriwal's charisma in Delhi.
With crucial Assembly polls in Gujarat fast approaching, the Election Commission has despatched six teams of officials to check the progress in preparing electoral rolls and identify vulnerable areas in the state.
A West Bengal MLA has stirred controversy by allegedly asking Trinamool Congress workers to ensure that only those Bangladeshi immigrants who support the ruling party in the state find a place in the voters' list.
The development brings to an end the legal battle unleashed by President Donald Trump against the elections, which he lost both in terms of the popular vote as well as the majority in the 538-member electoral college.
Soon after a Congress delegation approached it on the issue, the poll panel formed two teams to probe the allegations.
While the major fronts, the CPI-M led LDF and Congress-led UDF have given three and one seat respectively to women, the BJP-led NDA has set aside five seats for their female politicians in the upcoming LS polls.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday ruled out holding any dialogue with Pakistan and asserted that the Modi government will wipe out terrorism from Jammu and Kashmir and make it the most peaceful place in the country.
What India needs more than one simultaneous election is better governance both at the central and state level. Yes, we need reforms, but our priority should be to make elections less expensive, make it more democratic, do away with freebies which are actually bribes before elections, allow only those who are educated to contest, and bring in a bill to make it impossible for criminals to contest, advocates Ramesh Menon.
'We accept EVMs cannot be hacked because it is not connected, but can they be manipulated?' 'Are you allowing us to check if EVMs can be manipulated?'
'A robust electoral democracy provides the institutional basis for the generation and regeneration of political hope.'
In the event of the BJP's poor performance in the assembly polls this year and in early 2025, Modi's hold will get further weakened because he will no longer remain the invincible electoral persona tightly controlling the machine at his disposal, asserts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
In Kolkata, senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala accused the prime minister of "putting pressure" on the EC to delay its press conference. He also said the CEC's explanation is "preposterous" and wondered whether Bharatiya Janata Party is the "super EC".
He said, "Only 67 per cent voters of the state have received photo identity cards, while there is an unending list of complaints about fudging in the electoral rolls."
Rao is one of 19 observers sent by the Election Commission to the state, where there have been widespread allegations by political parties of irregularities in the voters' list.
A significant enrolment of young voters in the electoral rolls has resulted in the unusually high voter turnout in the state assembly elections, Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath has said.
It's a single phase polling in Mizoram while first phase of assembly elections is underway in Chhattisgarh.
Manipur, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Maharashtra, Railways, Services and Association of Indian Universities (AIU) will not have any voting rights in case there is an election during the BCCI AGM on October 23.
Tiwari said that all the preparations have been made for the first phase of the polls and all the polling parties have left for their respective polling centers.
'Slogans like 'Ek hai toh safe hai' and 'Batenge toh katenge' resonated with voters.'
Villagers of Shantipur and Phulia brought to Rao's notice names of voters in the list who were no more.
The names of 2.5 lakh Kashmiri Pandits have been erased from the electoral rolls on the pretext that they do not have records to prove that they belong to the valley, a delegation said.
The Law Commission is working on a formula to synchronise all assembly polls by extending or reducing the tenure so that all state elections can be held along with the Lok Sabha polls 2029 onwards, sources said on Friday.
The Congress hit out at the government, alleging that it was treating the EC as its "subservient tool".
Delhi Finance Minister Atishi on Monday announced the 'Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojana' for the 2024-25 fiscal, under which Rs 1,000 will be given monthly to women aged above 18 from the fiscal year 2024-25.
Despite failing to secure a simple majority in Parliament, we will continue to see him on TV, newspapers, magazines, bill boards, vaccination certificates, railway stations, bus shelters, airports, sea ports, on the highway and on rural roads, sighs A Ganesh Nadar.
This is the first time that third gender figures in the state electoral roll.
Even when the Congress is facing the toughest challenge in its long history, it shows no sign of turning a new leaf and injecting internal democracy to revive its fortunes, argues Virendra Kapoor.
Udhayanidhi's 'untimely' elevation as deputy CM may be used against the party, for critics to argue that the DMK's 'first family's is not concerned about anything else but their clan's welfare. If packaged and delivered properly, some of the sting may stick at election time, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
Sources said the report of the law panel on simultaneous polls is not yet finalised. They said "some more things are required to be done", indicating that the law panel will be invited again by the high-level committee.
Mody, the returning officer for the presidential election, said 115 nomination papers of 94 persons were received till Wednesday, of which 107 were rejected for not meeting the required criteria.
'Unlike in the sporting arena, where sports federations moved from partisan to impartial referees, in Indian democracy's biggest festival, it appears we are moving backward from unbiased and objective to one-sided and partisan,' observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
"I don't want to be decided by the prime minister but he knows what he is saying is not true," Singh told reporters after casting his vote at Dispur Government High School in Guwahati.
The Supreme Court on Monday ordered no coercive steps shall be taken for two weeks against Hyderabad University professor Kham Khan Suan Hausing over two complaints lodged against him in strife-torn Manipur.
The biggest challenge will be to convert his regime into a coalition of minds. But given the fact that he is instinctively an authoritarian leader and supporter of the hard Hindutva line, the survival of his government will depend on his ability to balance between his heart and mind, between instinct and pragmatism, asserts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author of Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times.
Key states of Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Telangana would go for polls this year, besides states from the North-East.
A bench headed Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud agreed to list the matter for hearing on July 28 after senior advocate Anand Grover mentioned it for early hearing.
The ruling Congress on Thursday swept the Shimla Municipal Corporation (SMC) polls with a two-third majority by winning 24 wards out of the total 34, wresting the prestigious civic body from the BJP.
The review plea filed on May 10 said, "There are mistakes and errors apparent on the face of the impugned order..., and as such there are sufficient reasons which require review of the impugned order/judgment..."
The election is likely to witness a three-cornered contest involving the ruling Aam Aadmi Party, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress.
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