Congress leader Rahul Gandhi intensified his attack on the Election Commission, accusing them of 'vote chori' and warning of action if the INDIA bloc forms the government. He alleged a 'new special package' for Bihar, named SIR (Special Intensive Revision), is a 'new form of vote theft'.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claims a Bengali-speaking woman and her child were threatened in Delhi after an alleged assault. She urges Bengali migrant workers in BJP-ruled states to return to Bengal if harassed and questions the absence of central commissions in BJP-ruled states when atrocities occur.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the NDA's victory in the Bihar assembly elections as a win for good governance, development, and social justice. He congratulated alliance partners and thanked the people of Bihar for their support.
The government is likely to push for the passage of the National Sports Governance Bill in the Lok Sabha, despite ongoing parliamentary disruptions due to opposition protests over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Other bills are also listed for consideration.
'The Election Commission's involvement in the avoidable SIR controversy has carried a message down to the last voter -- who just does not like it,' observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday alleged that the Congress party's setback in the recent Lok Sabha polls in the state was the result of 'illegal manipulation' of the electoral process by the Bharatiya Janata Party, accusing it of 'misusing' the Election Commission.
It also said over two crore young electors in age group of 18 to 29 years have been added in the voters' list.
The Election Commission on Friday directed officials for a review of the deletions and additions in the electoral rolls of three assembly seats in Karnataka and ordered the suspension of two additional district election officials after allegations of 'electoral fraud' in the state.
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear on May 17 a plea of an NGO seeking a direction to the Election Commission to upload polling station-wise voter turnout data on its website within 48 hours of conclusion of polling for each phase of the Lok Sabha elections.
The government rejected the Opposition's demand for a discussion on electoral roll revision in Bihar, citing that the matter is sub judice and pending before the judiciary.
The Election Commission has announced Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in Andhra Pradesh as well as Telangana and the final rolls will be published on January 11, 2016, an official said in Hyderabad on Tuesday.
"The voter turnout data for the first two phases of the ongoing 2024 Lok Sabha elections published by ECI on April 30 has been published after 11 days of the first phase of polling... on April 19 and four days after second phase of polling... on April 26.
Masoodi said all the participants are against giving voting rights to non-locals as "it will be tantamount to the disenfranchisement of the local voters."
Days after rules were issued allowing linkage of Aadhaar with voters list to weed out duplicate entries, the Election Commission has warned of 'severe' disciplinary action against electoral registration officers for any leakages of physical forms filled by electors to share their Aadhaar details.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Wednesday said the fresh revision of electoral rolls in Jammu and Kashmir does not disturb the schedule or conduct part of polls and the poll panel is aware that there is a "vacuum" in the Union territory which needs to be filled.
As many as 19.31 lakh applications have been registered so far as part of the ongoing summary revision of electoral rolls in Maharashtra and voters would have the opportunity to enrol themselves until the last date of filing of nomination papers, the Election Commission of India said in Mumbai on Tuesday.
With polls to elect the 18th Lok Sabha approaching, district poll panels are fixing the rates for expenses as part of the election expenditure monitoring process.
Reflecting the woes of transgenders who have remained social 'untouchables' with restricted access to education and jobs, only a minuscule 2,996 transgenders in Tamil Nadu enrolled themselves in the 5.3 crore strong voters list.
A significant enrolment of young voters in the electoral rolls has resulted in the unusually high voter turnout in the state assembly elections, Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath has said.
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.
The Election Commission is considering advancing the polls by a month to avoid the May heat, reports R Rajagopalan.
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioner Anup Chandra Pandey carried out a review and directed the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Electoral Officer to map the redrawn assembly constituencies.
The BJP had earlier demanded that the elections should be held by February 2008. However, the election was delayed as the voters' list in the state had to be revised. The state BJP has said that it will explore all means, including legal ones, to ensure that polls in Karnataka are not delayed beyond May 2008.
Against the backdrop of the Bharatiya Janata Party's demand that the Centre should not postpone Assembly polls in Karnataka, state Governor Rameshwar Thakur on Wednesday said the elections are likely to be held in May.
Bank account holders are no longer required to visit their bank branches to update 'know your customer' (KYC) details provided they have already submitted valid documents and not changed their address, the RBI has said. Instead, if there is no change in KYC information, they can submit a self-declaration through email-id, registered mobile number, ATMs, or any other digital channels. Following up on Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das stating that banks should not insist on branch visits for KYC updation, the central bank on Thursday issued guidelines for the same.
A day after over two lakh Mumbaikars, including several prominent personalities, were left disenfranchised after their names were found missing from the electoral rolls, the Bharatiya Janata Party asked the election authorities on Friday, to revise electoral rolls.
TDP Telangana unit president Ramana said they favoured a 'grand alliance' for the elections in the interest of Telangana people.
Responding to a question, Abdullah said elections can be held whenever the government wants.
Hours after taking a 'U-turn' by informing the high court that it is withdrawing its notification dissolving all gram panchayats in the state, the Punjab government suspended two senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers on Thursday for a 'technically-flawed' decision.
'Everyone is unhappy with the lieutenant governor's administration, which is ignorant, high-handed, and inaccessible.'
Wednesday's Vikravandi by-election has become a referendum on the Stalin government, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Jammu and Kashmir has been without an assembly since November 2018 when the then legislative assembly was dissolved by then Governor Satya Pal Malik after the People's Democratic Party-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition government fell apart earlier that year.
According to DMK, the voters are already consolidated on ideological lines, hence the impact of anti-incumbency, whether against the BJP Centre or the DMK state may not be too much, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'A robust electoral democracy provides the institutional basis for the generation and regeneration of political hope.'
Neither the BJP, nor the Congress before it, made any manifesto commitments on defence spending, even though allocations have plummeted from 4 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the late 1980s to less than 2 per cent today, points out Ajai Shukla.
Government officials favoured compulsory biometric identification but said it did not happen because of the Supreme Court judgment on Aadhaar
At the same time, the amendment bill makes it clear that 'no application for inclusion of name in the electoral roll shall be denied and no entries in the electoral roll shall be deleted for inability of an individual to furnish or intimate Aadhaar number due to such sufficient cause as may be prescribed'.
'Bribing voters is very, very less in Kerala; I would say, almost zero... Across the border, there is so much of money power during the elections. But I don't think in Kerala, people vote for money... People of Kerala do believe that politics can bring in good governance, 'says Nalini Netto, the Chief Electoral Officer, Kerala.
The elections to the AIFF Executive Committee will be held on September 2 and aspiring candidates can file fresh nominations from August 25, the returning officer announced.
On one hand, South Indian states have been complaining about denial of a proportionate portion of the sharable funds from the Centre, based on population. On the other hand, they stand to lose Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha seats that again are based on population, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
