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Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has strongly criticised the Centre over the women's reservation and accused it of trying to use it as a "weapon" to tackle the opposition before taking up the delimitation exercise based on population. "The Union government is not concerned about implementing reservations for women. If their concerns were genuine, they could have done it right away. Rather than doing that, the BJP-led Centre is thinking of using it as a weapon to tackle opposition and take up the delimitation exercise based on population," he told PTI in an interview. "Hence, the women's reservation must be implemented immediately without showing delimitation as a reason," the DMK president added. The Union Cabinet recently cleared the draft bill for the amendments to the law, Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, more commonly known as the Women's Reservation Act, that will ensure an increase in the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816 with 273 reserved for women, and its implementation in t
The ECI on Saturday ordered the transfer of Tamil Nadu Home Secretary Dheeraj Kumar and appointed K Manivasan in his place. The 1993 batch IAS officer Manivasan has been directed to join immediately. Further, the release from the Election Commission of India said Kumar should not be posted in any election-related posts till the completion of elections. Earlier, the ECI ordered the transfer of Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary N Muruganandam and appointed senior IAS officer M Sai Kumar in his place. Similarly, the ECI ordered the transfer of Greater Chennai Police Commissioner A Arun, replacing him with the 1997 batch IPS officer Abhin Dinesh.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday released the BJP's manifesto for the Assam assembly polls, promising protection of land, heritage and dignity of indigenous people and Rs 5 lakh crore infrastructure investment. BJP's 'Sankalp Patra' comprises 31 promises, including the recovery of encroached land from "Bangladeshi Miyas", implementing the Uniform Civil Code, and creating employment opportunities for youths. The manifesto pledged to protect the land, heritage and dignity of the indigenous people of Assam by implementing the Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950, to expedite the process of detection and pushback of illegal immigrants. The BJP also promised that it would strengthen the legislative protections to preserve the civilisation, heritage and rights of the people of Assam by implementing the UCC, excluding the Sixth Schedule and Tribal areas, to ensure the rights of ethnic communities. It pledged to "free every inch of land from encroachment by illeg
AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Saturday alleged that several "B teams" were formed and many tried to "break" the AIADMK by filing cases in court, but all that has been smashed and shattered into pieces. Without naming expelled AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam, Palaniswami, while garnering votes in North Chennai for the April 23 Assembly polls, here, said, "Several internal problems were created in the party and now see where they (Panneerselvam) have gone." "The true face (of Panneerselvam) has come out. The cat is out of the bag. After Amma's (As Jayalalithaa is fondly called, meaning mother) demise, many tried to capture this movement intentionally. But with the help of you all and party supporters, we stopped and have proven that AIADMK is a strong movement," he said. "After Amma passed away (on December 5, 2016) they thought the party would break. They tried so much to break this party by creating some B teams. But, along with the support of the people and party
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually interact with NDA workers of Assam and Puducherry on Monday as part of the 'Mera Booth, Sabse Mazboot Samvaad' initiative aiming to give messages directly to them ahead of assembly elections there. Modi said people of Assam and Puducherry are going to bless the NDA governments again in the state and the Union Territory (UT) respectively. Assembly elections in Assam and Puducherry will be held on April 9. "Assam's progress in the last decade is for everyone to see. The state is known for its developmental strides across sectors. "That is why, Assam is clear -- it's NDA all the way. People are all set for five more years of the double-engine NDA government," Modi said. The prime minister said he will be taking part in 'Mera Booth, Sabse Mazboot Samvaad - Assam' in the afternoon on March 30. About Puducherry, Modi said over the last five years, the double-engine NDA government in the UT has fulfilled the aspirations of the people there. "
The ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu on Saturday completed the seat-sharing process with its allies for the April 23 Assembly polls, identifying the constituencies to be contested by the Congress, Left parties, VCK and DMDK, among others. DMK leads the Secular Progressive Alliance (SPA) in the state. According to the understanding reached, DMK's principal ally Congress' 28 seats include Ponneri, Erode East, Vilavankode, Sivakasi and Karaikudi. DMDK, led by Premalatha Vijayakanth has already been allotted 10 seats, and they include Vriddhachalam and Pallavaram. Thol Thirumavalvan-led Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) will contest from, among the allotted eight seats, Kattumannarkoil, Panrutti and Tindivanam. The allocations to CPI (M) include Padmanabhapuram and Palani, while CPI will face the polls from Thalli and Bhavanisagar (SC), among others. Both Left parties have been given five seats each. The DMK also identified seats for other allies, including the Vaiko-led MDMK, which will
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday expressed alarm over the "arbitrary removal of more than 50 senior officials" in the poll-bound state, terming it a "political interference of the highest order". Continuing with her tirade against the Election Commission, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo claimed that such action amounted to "systematic politicisation of institutions" and a "direct assault on the Constitution". After announcing the schedule for the assembly polls, the Election Commission has ordered several reshuffles of senior officers, including the transfer of Chief Secretary Nandini Chakravorty, Home Secretary Jagdish Prasad Meena, and the removal of DGP Peeyush Pandey and Kolkata Police Commissioner Supratim Sarkar. On Wednesday, the poll body ordered a fresh reshuffle of senior officers, posting two secretaries to other poll-bound states as observers, and deploying 13 IAS and five IPS officers in key poll management roles. Slamming the poll body, ...
The campaigning for the polling to Jharkhand's 48 urban local bodies (ULB), including Ranchi, concluded on Saturday evening, a State Election Commission official said. The election will be held on February 23 and votes will be counted on February 27, he said. "The campaigning for the urban local body polls ended at 5 pm on Saturday. The polling will take place on February 23 from 7am to 5pm," SEC Secretary Radhe Shyam Prasad told PTI. He said that the 48-hour 'silence period' started from 5pm on Saturday, during which all forms of campaigning are banned. "Under the rules, no person shall call, organise, or attend any public meeting for a period of 48 hours before the time fixed for the close of poll. This provision came into effect at 5 pm today," Prasad said. The candidates made their last-ditch efforts to garner people's supports in their favour on Saturday. The elections are scheduled to be held for the post of 48 mayors or chairpersons and councillors at 1,087 wards in nine .
As many as 480 companies of Central Armed Police Forces will be initially deployed in poll-bound West Bengal for area domination, confidence-building measures and other election-related duties from March 1, an EC official said on Saturday. They will also guard EVMs at strong rooms and counting centres during the election process. The assembly elections in the state are due in a few months. The official said that the first batch of around 240 companies will be inducted by March 1, while an equal number of companies will join them by March 10. The contingents will include personnel from the Central Reserve Police Force, Border Security Force, Central Industrial Security Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police and the Sashastra Seema Bal. The final electoral roll after the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is scheduled to be published on February 28, while the election schedule is expected to be announced in March.
A high-level meeting on the SIR exercise began at the Calcutta High Court on Saturday afternoon, in accordance with the SC's directives, officials said. The meeting, presided over by HC Chief Justice Sujoy Paul, aims to establish a framework for judicial oversight as mandated by the apex court, they said. The meeting follows the Supreme Court's direction that the remaining stages of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls must now be conducted under the supervision of judicial officers and former judges. Chief Secretary Nandini Chakraborty and Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Agarwal were among the officers attending the meeting. The CEO said the meeting would allow all stakeholders to present their "points of view" to resolve existing complexities and receive specific directions on the way forward. Dismayed over the ongoing tussle between the West Bengal government and the Election Commission, the Supreme Court on Friday issued an "extraordinary" direction to .
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday congratulated Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley on her third consecutive electoral victory and said India deeply values its long-standing friendship with the Caribbean country. Mottley's party secured all 30 seats of Parliament in this week's general election. "Warm congratulations to Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley on her historic third consecutive electoral victory. India deeply values its long-standing friendship with Barbados, which continues to expand across diverse areas of cooperation," Modi said on X. "I warmly recall our meeting on the sidelines of the India-CARICOM Summit in 2024 and look forward to working closely with her to further strengthen our partnership for the benefit of our peoples," he said.
West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Agarwal on Saturday requested the Election Commission of India to extend the final date of hearing under SIR of electoral rolls by seven days, after several district election officers reported delays in completion of hearings, verification, and data uploading. The deadline for the hearing under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls was February 7. Agarwal told reporters that the appeal was made following inputs from seven to eight districts where different stages of the process were still pending. "I have appealed to extend the last date of hearing for seven days after receiving inputs from seven to eight district election officers. In some places, the process of hearing is yet to be over, while in others uploading, verification, and final decisions by the AEROs and EROs are still pending," Agarwal said. He said if allowed, hearings will now continue till February 14, adding that the final electoral roll, which was earlier