'Deeply shocked and terribly heartbroken to learn that we have lost Ajit Dada in a tragic accident.'
The SEC, which held a meeting on Sunday evening, went through reports of vote-tampering and violence which affected polling in many places, and passed the order, an official said.
The opposition Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) conceded defeat in the elections to municipal councils and nagar panchayats, accusing the election commission of 'facilitating' the victory of the ruling Mahayuti alliance.
As many as 90,000 electors in Goa have either been found absent, shifted, deceased or possessing duplicate voter cards in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the state, a senior official said on Sunday.
'If the RJD loses it would be out of power for nearly 25 years. Meanwhile, the JD-U will have survival issues if it gets less number of seats.'
Aggrieved by the violence that marked the panchayat poll in West Bengal which claimed at least 12 lives and left 43 injured, several candidates who were in the fray had met the SEC officials and demanded the repolling.
Political observers said the announcement assumes significance as the state prepares for the assembly elections, with political parties stepping up outreach to various community groups.
In a surprising turn, rival Shiv Sena factions led by Eknath Shinde and Uddhav Thackeray have joined forces with NCP factions to contest local elections in Maharashtra's Barshi taluka, setting aside political differences.
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.
This comes after Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee hinted at foul play behind the plane crash and demanded the Supreme Court's probe into the incident.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has accused the BJP of manipulating voter rolls to divide the state, alleging a conspiracy to deprive Bengali-speaking people of their voting rights. She claims the Election Commission is complicit in deleting lakhs of names from voter lists.
A retired Navy officer has been arrested in Kerala after excise officials seized ganja and cannabis plants from his residence.
A retired Navy officer has been arrested in Kerala after excise officials seized ganja and cannabis plants from his residence.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has removed Amit Palekar from the post of Goa unit president following the party's poor performance in the recent Zilla Panchayat elections. Shrikrishna Parab will hold the additional charge until further orders.
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.
The Uttarakhand high court has asked two top officials of the state to find out whether an officer who has no knowledge of English can effectively control an executive position after an additional district magistrate responded in Hindi during the hearing of a public interest litigation (PIL).
Protests erupted across several districts of West Bengal over alleged harassment of people in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, leading to road blockages and tyre burning. Demonstrations were held in South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas, Jhargram, and Purba Medinipur.
The Supreme Court will hear on Wednesday a plea filed by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee challenging the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state.
The Supreme Court has directed the Maharashtra government and its state election commission to conduct local body elections, clarifying that the results will be subject to the court's final verdict, especially concerning the 50% quota limit. The court will hear pleas regarding OBC reservation in local bodies in January 2026.
State Election Commissioner Rajiva Sinha on Thursday said that the village council elections will be held on a single day, with the deadline for filing nominations set for June 15. The votes will be counted on July 11.
NCP (SP) leader Rohit Pawar has raised doubts about the circumstances surrounding the death of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar in an air crash and plans to provide a detailed presentation on the matter.
The Congress-led UDF secured a decisive victory in Kerala's local body elections, dealing a blow to the LDF, while the BJP gained significant ground, including winning control of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation.
Chowdhury said he has directed Congress workers to extend all cooperation to the CPI-M in fighting the July 8 polls.
The Congress party in Kerala has strongly condemned the heckling of its MLA, T Siddique, during the inauguration of a government township project in Wayanad, alleging a conspiracy by the CPI(M). The party claims that hired individuals disrupted the event, and criticizes the Chief Minister's silence during the incident.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Nitin Nabin on his election as the BJP national president and declared that the young leader will be his boss in matters related to the party.
The remarks drew flak from the Opposition, with Shiv Sena-UBT leader Ambadas Danve accusing Pawar of threatening voters.
'Marathi-speaking people of Mumbai have now emerged as a consolidated vote bank standing firmly behind the Thackerays.'
According to police, they have received reports of two such incidents happening in the past 10 days.
Shiv Sena leader Shahajibapu Patil accuses the BJP of undermining him politically by supporting his rival in Sangola during the Maharashtra assembly elections. He claims the BJP helped PWP candidate Babasaheb Deshmukh despite his support for the BJP in the Lok Sabha election.
'The entire Pawar family -- Sunetra Vahini, Jay and Parth Pawar (Ajit Pawar's sons), Sharad Pawar, his daughter Supriya Sule -- will sit together and decide how to move forward.'
'If the BJP had contested all 227 seats, I believe they would have managed to secure a majority on their own.'
'It was very clear in the Parliament election that there was an erosion of Hindu votes in southern Kerala from the CPI-M to the BJP.'
The talks about the reunification had already started when Ajit Pawar was alive. In fact, the two parties even contested the civic polls in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad together.
Maharashtra Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule blames the State Election Commission (SEC) for the Bombay High Court's decision to defer the counting of votes for local bodies polls, citing 'misinterpretation of laws'.
A technical snag was detected in a helicopter scheduled to transport Maharashtra Minister Pankaja Munde for campaigning, delaying her journey. The issue was discovered during a routine inspection, leading to the grounding of the helicopter and a DGCA investigation.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah criticizes Kerala's ruling Left government over the Sabarimala gold loss case, demanding a neutral investigation and accusing the government of protecting the real culprits. He also signals the start of the BJP's campaign for the upcoming Assembly elections.
Six policemen were injured and a police vehicle vandalised in a mob attack during an attempt to arrest a TMC worker in Sandeshkhali, once again pushing the coastal block into political focus ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah rejects the ceasefire offer from Maoists, stating that surrender is the only option. He also addresses Naxalism's ideological roots and progress in Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast.
The State Election Commission on Friday informed the Calcutta high court that it has requisitioned 822 companies of central forces for the July 8 panchayat polls in West Bengal.
Maharashtra is set to hold local body elections on December 2 for municipal councils and nagar panchayats. The polls are seen as a test of the ruling coalition's strength after their recent assembly election victory.
