Page 6 - Chief Election Commissioner

Use of unaccounted money during elections: EC's fight to continue

Nearly Rs 3,400 crore in cash and other items were seized in the elections in 2022-23, an increase of 835 per cent over 2017-18, the data showed

Ahmedabad East LS seat Cong candidate Rohan Gupta withdraws from poll fray

Congress candidate from Gujarat's Ahmedabad East Lok Sabha seat Rohan Gupta has said he has withdrawn from the contest due to his father's serious medical condition. Gupta is the Congress' national spokesperson and his name was in the list of candidates declared by the party on March 12. "Due to serious medical condition, my father is admitted in hospital and I am withdrawing my candidature for Ahmedabad east parliament seat as Congress Candidate. I will extend complete support to the new candidate nominated by party," Gupta said in a post on X on Monday. He also posted an image of his handwritten letter to Gujarat Congress president Shaktisinh Gohil, informing about his decision to withdraw from the poll fray. All 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat will witness polling in a single phase on May 7 and vote counting will be held on June 4. The Congress is yet to declare candidates for 19 seats. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has declared 22 candidates in the state so far.

Over 24.3 mn to vote in upcoming LS polls in Assam; polling in 3 phases

The Chief Electoral Officer in Assam said that there will be 1,409 women-managed polling stations, 262 model polling stations and 15,777 polling stations where webcasting will be held

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EC launches 'KYC' app to know if candidates have criminal backgrounds

The Know your Candidate (KYC) app is available on both the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store, the Election Commission posted on its website while also sharing the QR code to download the app

Highlights of the day: LS election counting on Jun 4 after 6 wks of voting

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Election Commission set to announce Lok Sabha elections dates today

The dates for the polls will be announced at a press conference scheduled for Saturday at 3 pm

Ex-CEC S Y Quraishi bats for more transparency in political funding

Former chief election commissioner S Y Quraishi on Friday pitched for enhanced transparency in political funding, saying people should know who is giving money to parties. In a video interview with PTI, he said transparency of political funding is extremely important for free and fair elections. "Free and fair elections are the basic structure of the Indian Constitution," he underlined. He said it is important for people to know what kind of money -- dirty money or drug money -- is coming. He said it was important to know the nexus between the donors and government policies "as there are no free lunches". People want to know who is funding the government (apparently referring to the ruling party), he said. He said there may be instances that those donating may end up grabbing licences, contracts, bank loans "on which they default." "All these things have to be in the public domain," he said. His remarks come against the backdrop of the Supreme Court on Friday admonishing the St

Supreme Court refuses to stay appointments of new ECs under 2023 law

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay the appointments of new election commissioners (ECs) under a 2023 law that excluded the chief justice of India from the selection panel. A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna, Dipankar Datta and Augustine George Masih told the petitioners, who pointed out that a meeting for the selection of ECs was pre-poned, to file a separate application pointing out the fact. Refusing to stay the appointments made in accordance with the 2023 law, the bench said, "Normally and generally, we do not stay a law by way of an interim order." It deferred the hearing on a batch of pleas challenging the appointment of two ECs under the 2023 law. Senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing in the court on behalf of petitioner Jaya Thakur, said when a judgment is passed, there cannot be any transgression. He contended that there was a clear-cut transgression in the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term o

Newly appointed ECs Gyanesh Kumar, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu assume charge

Newly appointed election commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu assumed charge on Friday. The former bureaucrats were appointed as election commissioners on Thursday. They are the first ones to have been appointed as members of the poll panel after the new law on appointment of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and ECs came into force recently. Welcoming them, CEC Rajiv Kumar spoke about the significance of their joining at a historic point when the Election Commission is all set to conduct Lok Sabha elections, a spokesperson said. The vacancies had come up in the Election Commission after the retirement of Anup Chandra Pandey on February 14 and the sudden resignation of Arun Goel on March 8. Gyanesh Kumar and Sandhu, both 1988-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers, belonged to the Kerala and Uttarakhand cadres, respectively.

EC will disclose details on electoral bonds in time, says CEC Rajiv Kumar

The Election Commission has received details from the State Bank of India (SBI) related to the electoral bonds and will share all relevant information in time, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said here on Wednesday. The assertion comes in the wake of the Supreme Court directing the SBI to submit the details of the electoral bonds purchased since April 12, 2019 to the EC. SBI is the authorised financial institution to issue the electoral bonds. "The SBI was supposed to submit the data by March 12. They have given to us the details in time. I will go back and look at the data (and) would definitely disclose it in time," Kumar told reporters here. Kumar reached here on Wednesday to review preparations for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. "We are ready for the 2024 Lok Sabha election. We will ensure free and fair elections across the country. We request voters across the country including Jammu and Kashmir to enthusiastically take p

Two election commissioners likely to be appointed by March 15: Report

Two election commissioners are likely to be appointed by March 15 to fill the vacancies created by the retirement of Anup Chandra Pandey and the surprise resignation of Arun Goel, sources said on Sunday. Days before the poll panel is expected to announce the schedule for the Lok Sabha polls, Goel resigned on Friday morning. His resignation was accepted by President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday and the Law Ministry issued a notification to announce it. This leaves Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar as the sole member of the poll authority. Pandey had demitted office on February 14 on attaining the age of 65 years. A search committee under Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal and comprising the Home Secretary and the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) Secretary will first prepare two separate panels of five names each for the two posts. Later, a selection committee headed by the prime minister and comprising a Union minister and Leader of the Congress party in the Lok Sabha Ad

No place for violence in polls, bureaucracy must be impartial: CEC

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Tuesday said strict instructions have been issued to the West Bengal bureaucracy to ensure a level playing field for all political parties, and asserted that any form of violence will not be tolerated during the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Kumar, addressing a press conference here, said the goal of the Election Commission is to ensure a free, fair and violence-free elections in the state. "There is no place for fear or intimidation in elections. Partisan approach of the bureaucracy will not be tolerated; we have made this clear," he said. Kumar said sufficient number of central forces will be deployed in West Bengal, and it will be done in an impartial manner. "The SPs have been repeatedly told that if there is any complaint of intimidation, they should take immediate action. They have assured us that it will be done. If they don't act, we know what needs to be done to make them act. Police officials have been instructed to be impartial an

Zero-tolerance policy towards misuse of money in elections: CEC Kumar

Addressing a press conference CEC chief on Saturday asserted that the Election Commission determines to ensure free, fair, and transparent elections

Defence minister Rajnath Singh to address mega rally in Assam's Barpeta

Union Minister Rajnath Singh is scheduled to visit Assam on February 29, where he will address a mega rally in the Barpeta Lok Sabha Constituency, according to a BJP official

Use of modern tech by EC in polls example for all democracies: Prez Murmu

President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday said the use of modern technology by the Election Commission in the electoral process is an example for all the democracies of the world and hoped that its use will be enhanced in the future. She also appreciated the efforts of the poll panel in ensuring inclusive elections by enhancing the participation of women, persons with disabilities and vulnerable groups. The president was addressing the 14th National Voters' Day event here. The Election Commission was established on January 25, 1950, a day before India became a republic. For the last 14 years, the EC's establishment day is observed as National Voters' Day. In the last 75 years, Murmu noted, the poll authority has organised 17 Lok Sabha elections and over 400 assembly elections. Describing the process of holding Lok Sabha elections as the biggest logistics exercise in the world, she noted that people voted in over 12 lakh polling stations with exercise being managed by 1.5 crore polling .

Election Commission releases final summary rolls, TN has 61.8 mn voters

Tamil Nadu has an electorate strength of 6,18,90,348 with women voters outnumbering men as per the integrated final electoral roll of the special summary revision, 2024, released on Monday here. The final published electoral roll had reference to January 1, 2024 as the qualifying date, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Satyabrata Sahoo said. Of the total electorate, male voters are 3,03,96,330, female voters constitute 3,14,85,724 and the third gender 8,294. The Shozhinganallur Assembly constituency in Chengalpattu district has the highest number of electors with 6,60,419 (male 3,30,522, female 3,29,783, third gender 114), followed by Kavundampalayam Assembly constituency in Coimbatore district which has 4,62,612 electors (male 2,29,950, female 2,32,538, third gender 124). The Kilvelur Assembly constituency in Nagapattinam district with 1,72,140 electors (male 84,702, female 87,435, third gender: 3) has the least number of voters followed by Harbour Assembly constituency in Chennai ...

Kovind panel gets 21K responses, 81% 'affirm' idea of simultaneous polls

The committee on 'one nation, one election' headed by former president Ram Nath Kovind has received nearly 21,000 suggestions from the public out of which 81 per cent "affirmed" the idea of simultaneous polls, an official statement said on Sunday. The statement further said that suggestions were also invited from 46 political parties. "Till date, suggestions have been received from 17 political parties," it said. Various opposition parties, including the Congress and the TMC, have opposed the idea of holding simultaneous polls. On January 5, the panel had issued a public notice inviting suggestions from citizens for making appropriate changes in the existing legal-administrative framework to enable simultaneous elections in the country. The Kovind-led committee, which was constituted in September last year, held its third meeting on Sunday. "Altogether 20,972 responses were received out of which 81 per cent affirmed the idea of simultaneous election," the committee said after its

SC refuses to stay law excluding CJI from panel to select CEC, ECs

Through the Act, the Chief Justice of India was dropped from the committee to appoint the CEC and ECs

SC refuses to stay Bill on appointment of CEC, ECs; issues notice to Centre

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay the new law that provides for appointment of the chief election commissioner and election commissioners by a panel excluding the Chief Justice of India. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, however, agreed to examine a batch of petitions challenging the new law and issued notice to the Centre. The bench asked senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for Congress leader Jaya Thakur, who sought a stay on the new law, to serve a copy of the petition to the Centre's counsel. "Please stay this law. This is against the separation of powers," Singh said. The bench told Singh, "No, without hearing the other side, we can't. We will issue a notice." Several petitions, including Thakur's, have been filed in the apex court amid a political row over dropping the chief justice of India (CJI) from a panel empowered to choose the chief election commissioner (CEC) and election commissioners (ECs). Advocate Gopal Singh has also moved the t