While EC Secretary General Umesh Sinha would be visiting Tamil Nadu next week, Deputy Election Commissioner Sudip Jain would be in West Bengal in the coming days, sources said.
The three state assemblies have a strength of 60 members each.
Decks were cleared on Thursday for holding of assembly elections in the state, which has been under President's Rule for the last nine months, with the Union Cabinet approving dissolution of the 81-member House.
The ministry of home affairs (MHA) on Monday sent a letter to the West Bengal State Election Commission (SEC) seeking details of the need for additional 485 companies of central forces, for which it has sent a requisition, an official said.
The top court reserved its verdict on a batch of pleas seeking a collegium-like system for the appointment of ECs and the Chief Election Commissioner and asked the parties to file written submission in five days.
The protestors called the state's administrative measures "only partial victory" of their movement.
The Indian CEC has observed that the US electoral system lacks uniformity of the Indian one.
The Election Commission on Sunday ordered the suspension of Telangana Director General of Police (DGP) Anjani Kumar for violation of the model code of conduct amid the counting of votes, sources said.
A delegation of diplomats from 16 countries, including the United States, Norway and Singapore, on Wednesday observed the ongoing assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir.
Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi on Wednesday said that the debate on Lokpal Bill does not have any link with the Election Process as the model code of conduct does not apply to Parliament.
The Election Commission on Monday extended the ban on roadshows, padyatras, vehicle rallies and processions till February 11, but enhanced the number of people allowed in door-to-door campaigning from the present 10 to 20 and permitted a maximum of 1,000 people for physical public meetings.
'How come the BJP won even in the Muslim belt? I am 100% sure that the BJP would not win in the Muslim belt.'
Bidhuri, the BJP MP from South Delhi, had faced strong criticism over his "derogatory" comments against Bahujan Samaj Party MP Danish Ali in the Lok Sabha.
Nearly Rs 3,400 crore (Rs 34 billion) in cash and other items were seized in the elections in 2022-2023, an increase of 835 per cent over 2017-2018.
Citing convention followed in 2017, the poll panel had not announced the Gujarat poll schedule when it came out with Himachal Pradesh election dates earlier this month.
Aam Aadmi Party leader and Ludhiana West MLA Gurpreet Bassi Gogi has died of gunshot injuries, with police saying on Saturday it could be a case of 'accidental fire' from his own licensed pistol.
The CEC said that in the case of Wayanad, the remainder of the term is more than a year.
He also suggested holding elections to all representative bodies simultaneously.
Based on a private complaint filed under Section 200 of the CrPC by Raghavendra Raju, the judicial officer "acted in undue haste" without conducting any preliminary enquiry and without recording the statement of the complainant, the high court said.
Living separately and refusing to co-exist in future, many members of both Kukis and Meitis communities ask - why elections at this time and what difference will they make?
All parties in Jammu and Kashmir said the assembly election should be held with the parliamentary polls, but the entire administrative machinery said it cannot be done simultaneously
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) have intensified their investigations against Gaurav Mehta, a suspect in a Bitcoin Ponzi scam, following allegations that politicians may have been involved in using cryptocurrency to influence Maharashtra assembly polls. The ED searched Mehta's residence in Raipur and seized computers and digital devices. The CBI summoned him to appear before investigators. The ED is probing Mehta's potential links to politicians, politically exposed persons, and bureaucrats as part of its money laundering probe. The allegations came after BJP released purported voice notes suggesting that Congress and NCP leaders were attempting to use cryptocurrency for election campaigning. Both parties denied the claims, calling the voice notes fake.
The Ministry of Home Affairs has issued the final gazette notification for redrawing of municipal wards in Delhi, paving the way for civic polls in the city.
The CEC, who was in the state last week to oversee the poll arrangements, said sufficient number of central paramilitary forces would be available to ensure free and fair polls.
Mahua asserted that despite all efforts by the Bharatiya Janata Party to "sound the death knell" for constitutional democracy, India is too great a country to be destroyed by the fascists.
The repolling started at 7 am amid tight security with four central forces personnel deployed in each booth, besides state police. Till 11 am, 10.9 per cent voter turnout was recorded.
Ahead of the Parliament session, the government will hold a meeting with leaders of all parties on Sunday to brief them and hear their views, amid an intense buzz on whether it will have some surprise item up its sleeve during the five-day sitting.
The Election Commission is confident of holding the five assembly polls due early next year, including in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, on time as the poll panel has gained a lot of experience from the electoral exercise in Bihar, West Bengal and four other assemblies amid the coronavirus pandemic, Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra has asserted.
The incident sparked a political blame game in the state where bypolls to nine assembly seats will be held on November 20. Opposition parties blamed the BJP government in the state and said the deaths raise serious questions about the negligence of the administration.
Arora gave the example of recently-held JEE and NEET examinations, saying thousands of candidates from various district across India came out to write the test.
Around 65 per cent polling was reported in elections to 147 municipal councils and 17 nagar panchayats in Maharashtra on Sunday.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday urged the junior doctors protesting the rape and murder of their colleague at R G Kar Hospital to end their fast-unto-death stir, stating that most of their demands have been addressed while rejecting their insistence on removing the state health secretary.
The CEC needs to have powers to disqualify a candidate or impose penalties in the event of any violations, the chief election commissioner said.
In separate petitions submitted to the Odisha police, both parties alleged that the victim approached multiple police stations -- Puri Ghat, Sadar, and Barang --before her FIR was accepted by the Badambadi police station.
Voters include 8.4 crore men, 8.23 crore women and 11,371 from third gender. There are as many as 35.67 lakh first time voters, besides 3.51 crore young voters in the age group of 20-29 years.
In Mumbai and nine other civic corporations, polling will be held on Thursday, a working day, while counting would be held the next day, on February 17. Polls will also be held for Ulhasnagar, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Solapur, Amravati, Akola and Nagpur civic bodies. Counting of votes for the zilla parishad polls would be held on February 8, she said.
Tandon, who reviewed the situation in Kerala and elicited views of major political parties, said the state government had suggested two-phase polling for Kerala.
Though electoral verdicts have historically been accepted, even though grudgingly, by all parties, there has been a sharper edge to the questions being raised by Opposition parties this time over the polling process, including the Election Commission.
