A bench of Justices SK Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia said the Centre cannot preclude reservation from being extended to women in civic bodies by saying it doesn't apply to tribal areas.
Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal will attend the meetings of the committee as a special invitee, while legal affairs secretary Niten Chandra will be secretary to the panel.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's niece Sonal Modi, who had sought Bharatiya Janata Party nomination to contest the Ahmedabad civic body polls, on Thursday failed to get a ticket with the party citing new rules for candidates.
'The Congress cannot speak the BJP's words while targeting Kejriwal.' 'What is the difference between the two? Where is the unity of INDIA then?'
Holding simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and state assemblies would need at least five constitutional amendments and a large number of additional EVMs and paper-trail machines costing "thousands of crores of rupees", but will yield a huge long-term saving to the public exchequer, officials said on Friday.
The Gujarat high court on Friday stayed the implementation of a law that makes voting compulsory in the civic body elections in the state.
Prime Minister Modi said BJP's performance in Parliamentary, assembly and local polls across India over the last few days illustrated that people want all-round progress and will not tolerate corruption and misgovernance.
Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, however, said the party performed satisfactorily "despite the odd circumstances" under which the recent civic elections were held in the state.
The stage is set for the high-stakes civic polls in Delhi on Sunday, with poll authorities and security forces all geared up for the elections, largely being seen as a three-way contest among the Aam Aadmi Party, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress.
According to the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957, the mayor and the deputy mayor are to be elected in the very first session of the House after the civic polls.
A majority of its Trinamool Congress coucillors switched over to the BJP.
Eknath Shinde, a former auto-rickshaw driver, has emerged as a key leader in Maharashtra, culminating in his appointment as Deputy Chief Minister. His journey from a Shiv Sena rebel to a dominant figure in the state's politics is a testament to his resilience and political acumen. He gained popularity for his pro-people stance and his contributions to infrastructure projects and social welfare schemes, solidifying his position as a powerful player in the Mahayuti alliance.
Taking note of a plea of an Aam Aadmi Party councillor alleging wrongdoing in the polls, the court issued notices to the Chandigarh authorities, including the civic body.
Like, Share, Subscribe, Vote: The 2024 polls may be dubbed 'YouTube election'.
His remarks came after the Union cabinet on Tuesday approved a bill to unify the three civic bodies -- North, East and South -- in Delhi.
Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Friday met Shiv Sena (UBT) head Uddhav Thackeray at the latter's residence in Bandra in suburban Mumbai.
Sounding the bugle for Mumbai civic body polls, Union Home Minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah on Monday asked party leaders and workers to inflict a 'deeper wound' on Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena on its home turf.
The LDF was also leading in 10 out of the 14 district panchayats and 108 block panchayats of the total of 152, according to the State Election Commission figures.
The ruling Congress in Andhra Pradesh on Monday suffered a major blow in the urban civic body polls in the Seemandhra region, where opposition Telugu Desam Party put up a stellar performance, but stole the show in Telangana for whose statehood the party claims credit.
Ahead of Kejriwal's visit, drama ensued at the Ghazipur landfill site and roads leading to the area as scores of Bharatiya Janata Party supporters staged a protest, showed black flags and raised slogans against him.
"The opposition parties should draw proper lessons from these results and draw up plans to put up an effective united opposition to the BJP state-wise by marshalling all the forces," the CPI-M said in a statement.
A bench headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar granted liberty to the petitioner to serve the advance copy of the plea to the standing counsel for the respondents.
The Commission, under Justice (retd) Ritu Raj Awasthi, would recommend an amendment to the Constitution to add the "new chapter or part" on simultaneous elections, the sources said.
The Calcutta high court has asked the State Election Commission to explore the possibility of postponing the civic polls to four municipal corporations by four to six weeks in view of a surge in COVID-19 cases in West Bengal.
The LDF is also maintaining its lead in village and block panchayats from where results have begun to pour in.
BJP is set to win majority of 32 municipality boards and 42 town committees in Assam
The apex court observed that it respects the local sentiments but asserted authorities cannot let the law of the land not prevail especially when there is nothing affecting the personal rights or personal laws.
The Sonia Gandhi-led party is a constituent of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition in the state, which is led by the Shiv Sena and also comprises the NCP.
Addressing an election meeting on what once was the home turf of slain gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday appeared to invoke nature as a great leveller -- a force that delivers justice.
Aiming to breach the Bharatiya Janata Party's Gujarat bastion, the Aam Aadmi Party fielded its candidate to contest all 182 assembly seats and carried out a high decibel campaign in the run-up to the polls in Gujarat.
The Maharashtra government will bring an ordinance to grant OBC quota in upcoming by-elections to a set of local governing bodies without crossing the Supreme Court-mandated 50 per cent cap on reservation, said state minister Chhagan Bhujbal on Wednesday.
The rebel Shiv Sena group led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the Bharatiya Janata Party will contest the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation elections in alliance, a rebel faction functionary said on Thursday.
"List it for hearing on Thursday," said the bench, which also comprised Justice B R Gavai and Justice Surya Kant.
The Supreme Court on Thursday warned the Maharashtra State Election Commission (SEC) of contempt action if it renotifies the election process to 367 local bodies, where it has already commenced, in order to provide reservation to OBCs.
In a major boost to the party ahead of next year's Assembly polls, the Trinamool Congress on Tuesday scored a landslide victory in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation bagging 114 of the 144 wards, and also won 69 of the 91 civic bodies in districts across West Bengal.
As the Queen star found herself in the middle of a row, with the BJP distancing itself and the Congress attacking it, here's a look at some of the controversies, political and otherwise.
Party sources claimed that many BJP MLAs and MPs are upset over the chosen candidates, with the party symbol withheld on eight seats due to dispute over ticket distribution.
The government had sent the proposal to hold the House session on February 16 and Saxena has accepted it, they said.
In the 35-member municipal House, the BJP has 17 councillors. The number of BJP's strength increased from 14 to 17 after three Aam Aadmi Party councillors switched over to it on February 19. The AAP has 10 members while the Congress has seven. The Shiromani Akali Dal has one councillor.
Opposition parties demanded that all elections in the future be held through ballot papers.
