The Committee of Administrators announced the elections date in New Delhi on Tuesday after due consultation with the apex court-appointed amicus curiae P S Narsimha.
'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.
Taking a step towards negating a Supreme Court order, Rajya Sabha on Tuesday approved a proposal to maintain the right of those in jail to contest polls amidst Law Minister Kapil Sibal's contention that courts are "enthusiastic" to prove politicians as criminals.
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..."
You still have time till March 9. HURRY!
Is the unusually and unbearably scorching Sun and the general laxity, bordering on laziness, among voters, responsible, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
20 observers will visit the state to receive voter and political parties' feedback.
While the Congress is in power in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh is ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party, Telangana by the Bharat Rashtra Samithi and Mizoram by the Mizo National Front.
The Congress on Wednesday said senior party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad was consulted several times before finalising the names in the revamped Jammu and Kashmir unit of the party, rejecting reports that the former Union minister was not on board.
Jeetega Bharat has selected 125 Lok Sabha seats across the country where it will assist the Opposition alliance.
Amid continuing violence in Assam, the Centre has told the Supreme Court that it would not be possible to delete names of 40 lakh doubtful voters from the state on the basis of their religious or linguistic profile as it would be unconstitutional.
First came the Supreme Court's stay on Tuesday on the municipal elections on December 18, directing the state election commission to notify the election dates on February 18 after the electoral rolls are revised. The Uttar Pradesh government had challenged the Allahabad high court order fixing the elections on December 18.
The BJP ignored the principle of the Cabinet's joint responsibility and the adage of the buck stopping at the top, observes Amulya Ganguli.
A total of 199 candidates, including nine women and 69 independents, are in the fray.
As the 16th Indian parliamentary elections get underway, Vikas Lather profiles Sukumar Sen, India's first chief election commissioner.
The Election Commission on Tuesday announced bye-elections on June 12 to Nellore Lok Sabha constituency in Andhra Pradesh and 26 assembly seats spread across nine states, a majority of them in the southern state whose outcome is crucial for ruling Congress.
The state's final electoral rolls would be published by February 15.
In some constituencies like Jowai, Mylliem, Mawlai and Jaiaw, women voters were about 20-25 per cent more than men. Observers attribute this to the matrilineal system followed by the society, unlike in other parts of the country.
Chief electoral officers will brief Lyngdoh on February 4.
Millions of NRIs wishing to get voting rights may have to wait a little longer to see their names in electoral rolls as differences between the government and the Election Commission have resulted in a delay in finalising the modalities for enrolment.Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi on Tuesday said two rounds of discussions have already been held between the Election Commission, the external affairs ministry and his ministry to finalise the modalities.
The two earlier visits in mid-January and end of January of the observers led to the detection of a huge number of false, dead and shifted voters.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi Tuesday appointed former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad as the party's campaign committee chief in the union territory, but he declined the offer.
Voting for 10 constituencies was held from 7 am to 3 pm in 10 seats and from 8 am to 5 pm in the rest 10 segments under a thick security blanket of police and paramilitary personnel in the Naxalite-hit Bastar division.
The Election Commission's insistence on physical verification of millions of non-resident Indians wishing to get voting rights has led to delay in finalizing modalities for entry of their names in electoral rolls.
Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal faced some protests on Tuesday as he decided to leave for Goa for campaigning without casting his vote in the Uttar Pradesh polls but in an anti-climax he could not exercise his franchise as his name was missing from the electoral rolls.
Lalu Prasad Yadav's Rashtriya Janata Dal was derecognised as a national party by the Election Commission on Friday, a decision that comes ahead of the assembly polls in Bihar.
There are of course, other ways to win elections including intimidation of voters, gerrymandering, fiddling electoral rolls, booth-capturing and other creative forms of rigging.
The Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party-led opposition alliance in Maharashtra will win 35 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats, senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde claimed here today.
'Modi must see how we live, what we have to do to educate our children.'
'You will see him frequently asking customers -- especially retail -- about service experience, pain points, areas of improvement and suggestions.'
If implemented after stakeholder consultations, migrant voters do not need to travel to their home district to exercise their franchise.
"Our electoral rolls revised according to the newly delimited constituencies will be ready by August 31," the CEC told reporters when asked whether the commission was ready to conduct Lok Sabha elections as per the redrawn constituencies.
Azad would be accorded a grand reception on his arrival from Delhi Sunday morning, and a procession would accompany him to the venue of the public meeting at the Sainik Colony.
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.
People in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand say the Agnipath military recruitment scheme and the Ankita Bhandari murder case will have a bearing on the electoral prospects of the Bharatiya Janata Party here as these issues weigh heavy on the minds of the electorate.
According to the schedule, the final publication of the electoral roll, with January 1, 2008 as the qualifying date, should be published by January 10. Though the terms of some assemblies in the northeast expire in March, there was no indication from the EC yet on whether elections in Karnataka could be held simultaneously to pave way for installation of an elected government at the earliest.
The prime minister has been unstoppable as he transported the BJP to colossal success on a wave of muscular nationalism, majoritarian pride and charisma.
'This verdict means that if there is presidential rule anywhere in any state of India, that state can be dismembered and from a state can be downgraded to a Union territory.'
Although the BJP has never been ballistic about the BJD and Narendra Modi has avoided being critical of Naveen Patnaik, the BJP is optimistic that the party can improve its electoral fortunes in Odisha on its own, notes Rup Narayan Das.
The constituency fell vacant after the death of sitting member and then Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa on December 5 last.
