Amid sporadic violence, nearly 70 per cent of 1.1 crore rural voters Sunday exercised their franchise for Panchayat Samiti and Zila Parishad elections in Punjab.
The court made the observation while dismissing a petition connected with defection in one of the local self government bodies in Idukki district.
A village pradhan and a former village functionary in the border district of Lahaul and Spiti have been arrested on the charges of sedition after they allegedly threatened to seek China's help for development of the region.
Counting of votes for four legislative council seats representing panchayat quota in the state is scheduled to be taken up on Thursday and the results are expected by noon.
The sources said Bose briefed Shah about the prevailing situation and his assessment of the polls marred by violence that claimed 15 lives.
Hours before the 48-hour bandh called by the Maoists in Jharkhand, the ultras on Saturday blew up a panchayat hall and a school building in Palamau district.
Deriving from Narendra Modi's continuing charisma, the proposed scheme, if and when implemented, can cut both ways. That is to say, if Modi can win, he can lose. Or, someone else in his place, later on, could lose as much as he could win in his time, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
In the wake of the fresh militant attacks on Panchayat members in Jammu and Kashmir, around 20 panches and sarpanches of the Baramulla district on Sunday tendered their resignations here citing "threats to their lives".
Khap panchayats in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday said they will oppose same gotra marriages before the Supreme Court, which had sought their views, following a plea to curb violence against couples at the behest of such caste councils. At a meeting of over 200 khap leaders, the self-styled caste councils were unanimous in their opposition to same gotra marriages. They, however, stressed that they have never supported honour killings.
The Bharatiya Janata Party government in Gujarat on Tuesday announced 27 per cent reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in local bodies like panchayats, municipalities and civic corporations on the basis of a commission's report, paving the way for polls in these self-governing institutes.
With the Supreme Court rejecting West Bengal government's plea for rescheduling the Panchayat polls in view of Ramzan, the Congress and the Communist Party of India-Marxist on Tuesday blamed the ruling Trinamool Congress for it and said the party was not serious about holding the election at the grassroot-level.
Sporadic violence marked the third phase of panchayat elections in West Bengal on Friday covering three districts of Howrah, North 24-Parganas and South 24-Parganas where an average 25 per cent polling was recorded in the first four hours of voting.
A village panchayat in Korba district of Chhattisgarh has ordered boycott of a rape victim and her family, the police said on Monday.
A body representing the caste councils of western Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi has expressed its opposition to the proposed amendments of law to deal with honour killings and will submit a memorandum to the President on the issue.The All Khap Panchayat held at Shamli town in the district on Sunday evening, which was attended by the heads of different caste councils from western Utter Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi, had decided to oppose the proposed amendments.
In a veiled attack on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over his defence of khap panchayats, Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday described them as retrograde organisations which cannot be part of India's culture.
A Kudumbashree worker, who had gone missing last week, was found allegedly murdered and buried in a ditch in the compound of a former colleague's house in Tuvvur in this district, police said on Tuesday.
Of the 20,831 voters in this assembly constituency, an overwhelming majority of around 18,000 are not tribals.
A community panchayat in Rajasthan has unanimously favoured prohibiting girls from using personal mobile phones in order to ensure that they do not get involved with boys.
In a draft proposal, the ministry of rural development has also sought to engage non-government organisations in the ambitious programme by designating them as Lok Sewaks, who would in turn appoint and guide Lok Karmis in their territorial jurisdiction, which would not be more than four blocks in a district.
Farmer outfits had held a "khap mahapanchayat" in Uttar Pradesh and a series of protests in Punjab and Haryana on Thursday, showing solidarity with the wrestlers who have accused Singh of sexually harassing female grapplers, including a minor.
A panel of Union ministers held a fourth round of talks with farmer leaders in Chandigarh on Sunday over their demands, including a legal guarantee of MSP, as thousands of protesting farmers camped at the Punjab-Haryana border.
The newly married couple left the village in a bid to protect their lives, while the groom's parents were allegedly prevented from fetching drinking water from a public water tank and bathing in the pond by villagers, the family members claimed.
If the concerns over risking political capital are overcome, the long-term gains for the Indian economy will be immense, asserts A K Bhattacharya.
'Everyone knows there is no point in contesting elections from Gujarat as a Congress candidate because they know they will be wiped out.'
The first phase of the Panchayat polls in Jammu and Kashmir passed off peacefully without any incident on Wednesday. The authorities had made elaborate security arrangements for today's polls during which people exhibited enthusiasm in electing the representatives at the village level.
Kerala on Monday became the first state to adopt a water budget in a bid to come up with a solution to water scarcity in certain regions there. The first phase of the project would cover 94 gram panchayats and 15 block panchayats. The Public Water Budget was released by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday, along with the launch of the third phase of the Ini Njan Ozhukatte (Let me flow now) project, for the rehabilitation of irrigation networks in the Western Ghats.
Jarange had also claimed that a poisoning attempt was made against him through saline, though he did not elaborate on it.
As the final five phases of polls draw closer, rift among Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) partners, Congress-Left combine and the Trinamool Congress, which are fighting separately has intensified, triggering a fierce contest across half of the remaining 36 constituencies in West Bengal driven by local issues such as Sandeshkhali and the SSC scam.
The Left-Congress alliance won 19 out of 19 seats which is significant ahead of the panchayat polls.
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.
Six persons, including a woman, were killed and 18 were injured in violence and CRPF firing in the fourth phase of the West Bengal panchayat elections on Monday. Polling in four districts saw a voter turnout of 25 per cent.
At least seven people were killed and several others injured in clashes between supporters of the Communist Party of India Marxist and Congress supporters in Murshidabad and Birbhum districts, as polling for the third and final phase of the Panchayat elections was underway in seven districts of West Bengal on Sunday. Altogether 62 persons were arrested in Murshidabad district, the stronghold of the Congress.Following violence in the second phase, security has been beefed up
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said his government has made a "solemn promise" for restoration of Jammu and Kashmir's statehood and will stand by it, adding the Centre was working very hard to create the right conditions.
'India has the largest slate of local original content outside the US.'
The West Bengal state Election Commission on Monday moved the Calcutta high court appealing that the Panchayat election date notified by the state government be rejected.
With many of his close associates leaving his side, it is virtually a lone battle for Congress stalwart Kamal Nath to help his parliamentarian son Nakul Nath win from Chhindwara for a second time amid the Bharatiya Janata Party's aggressive push to wrest the seat.
Murshidabad district alone accounted for 18 deaths, mostly in clashes and bomb attacks between Congress and CPI-M supporters on Sunday, with Chief Medical Officer (Health) M G Mondal confirming 11 deaths at Domkol, two each in Raninagar, Lalgola and Kandi and one at Sagardighi. District Magistrate Subir Bhadra said one CPI-M activist was killed and another injured in an armed clash with Congress workers at Rezinagar, 40 km off Berhampore, on Monday morning.
The party also promised reservation to minorities on basis of their population after the caste census.
Ignoring the separatists' call for boycott, residents of Qoimoh block in south Kashmir on Wednesday turned out in numbers to cast votes in the first phase of panchayat elections, which are being held in Jammu and Kashmir after a gap of 10 years.
