Page 8 - Election Campaign

Seeking to plug loopholes, ECI tweaks policy on transfer of officers

The Election Commission has asked states to ensure that officers who are transferred out of a district ahead of polls as part of its policy are not posted in any district within the same parliamentary constituency. By tweaking its policy on transferring officers ahead of elections, the EC has sought to plug loopholes being exploited by state governments. The move comes after the poll authority took "serious note" of cases in which officers were being transferred in adjacent districts within the same parliamentary constituency by state governments. According to the policy of the Election Commission (EC), all officers who were either posted in their home district or have completed three years at a place are transferred out ahead of Lok Sabha or assembly polls to ensure they do not disturb the level-playing field in favour of a candidate or a party. "...the commission has strengthened its existing transfer policy to ensure that officials are not able to disturb the level-playing field

Iran begins first election campaign since 2022 protests over Amini's death

Candidates for Iran's parliament began campaigning on Thursday in the country's first election since the bloody crackdown on the 2022 nationwide protests that followed the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody. State television said 15,200 candidates will compete for a four-year term in the 290-seat chamber that hardliners have controlled for two decades. That is a record number and more than twice the candidates who contested the 2020 election, when voter turnout was just over 42 per cent, the lowest since 1979. Amini died on September 16, 2022, after her arrest by Iran's morality police for allegedly violating the country's strict headscarf law that forced women to cover their hair and entire bodies. The protests quickly escalated into calls to overthrow Iran's clerical rulers. In the severe crackdown that followed, over 500 people were killed and nearly 20,000 arrested, according to human rights activists in Iran. On Wednesday, the Guardian Council election watchdo

UP BJP set to hold meeting to chalk out Lok Sabha poll strategy today

Meanwhile, a two-day national convention of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), aimed at deliberating on the strategy for the Lok Sabha elections, commenced on Saturday in Delhi

Highlights: 4th round of talks between ministers, farmer leaders concludes

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Protests erupt in Balochistan over election rigging, army intimidation

The Baloch Raji Aajoi Sangar (BRAS), an alliance of armed pro-independence groups, claimed responsibility for 161 attacks in the 11 days leading up to the election, according to The Balochistan Post

Elections 2024: EC instructs parties not to involve children in campaigns

The EC reminded all political parties of their responsibility to adhere to the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986

Do not use children in election campaigning: EC asks political parties

Ahead of Lok Sabha polls, the Election Commission on Monday asked political parties not to use children in campaigning "in any form whatsoever", including for distribution of posters and pamphlets or sloganeering. In an advisory sent to parties, the poll panel conveyed its "zero tolerance" towards use of children in any manner during the electoral process by parties and candidates. Political leaders and candidates should not use children for campaign activities in any manner including holding a child in their arms, carrying a child in a vehicle or in rallies, the poll watchdog said. "This prohibition extends to the use of children to create the semblance of a political campaign in any manner including use through poem, songs, spoken words, display of insignia of political party or candidate...," EC said in a statement. However, the mere presence of a child accompanied by their parent or guardian in proximity of a political leader who is not involved in any election campaigning ...

Higher cash seizures being recorded by I-T dept every assembly polls: CBDT

Cash seizures made by the Income-tax department during successive assembly elections have shown a substantial increase, CBDT Chairman Nitin Gupta has said. He said the tax department is investigating these cases apart from other such instances where huge unaccounted currency and jewellery was unearthed during raids and other enforcement action by tax personnel. "In relation to cash seizures if we speak about the assembly elections, then it has been found that cash seizures have been quite substantial vis-a-vis cash seizure in the similar point of time five years back for the same time period of assembly elections. "We have seen that cash seizures have been quite large and high (every assembly election). These seizures are quite significant," the chief of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) told PTI. The Election Commission has also spoken about the surge in the seizure of cash and illegal inducements during various state polls. The poll panel, in an official statement issued

BJP to launch new campaign 'Quami Chaupal' to woo Muslim voters in UP

Seeking to connect with voters of the minority community in Muslim-dominated Lok Sabha constituencies of western Uttar Pradesh, the minority front of the BJP is all set to organise 'Quami Chaupal' in more than 4,100 villages and discuss issues concerning them. The campaign will start on February 10 from Kaserwa village of Muzaffarnagar district. The BJP's Minority Morcha will depute Lok Sabha constituency-wise in-charge for the 'Qaumi Chaupal' programme to be organised in 23 Lok Sabha constituencies of Western Uttar Pradesh BJP Minority Morcha's Uttar Pradesh unit president Kunwar Basit Ali told PTI that the Morcha has selected 23 Muslim dominated Lok Sabha constituencies, including Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Kairana, Meerut, Baghpat, Bulandshahr, Bijnor, Amroha, Rampur, Bareilly, Agra and Aligarh, for the programme. Leaders of the Morcha will visit the Muslim-dominated villages and discuss various schemes of the government and the work done by the government for the minorities. T

Tripura BJP announces 73-member state executive committee ahead of LS polls

The ruling BJP in Tripura announced a 73-member state executive committee months ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. All senior leaders of the party in the state, including Chief Minister Manik Saha, Rajya Sabha MP Bilab Kumar Deb, Union MoS for Social Empowerment and Social Justice Pratima Bhoumik and former deputy CM Jishnu Dev Varma, found a place in the committee announced on Thursday night. There are 14 invitee members in the committee. Names of 18 office-bearers of the party's state unit were announced on December 30. With an eye on the elections, the state BJP has reconstituted the committees of office-bearers of all its frontal organisations, including Mohila Morcha and Yuva Morcha.

2024 Lok Sabha elections: Congress hires DDB Mudra for publicity campaign

In 2019, the Congress hired advertising agencies Percept, Silverpush, and Nixon Advertising, while in 2014, it turned to Dentsu India

Assam CM actions benefit the yatra, says Rahul Gandhi on clashes in state

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has urged police to file a case against the Congress leader for alleged provocation amidst Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra

High-level committee holds consultation on 'One Nation One Election'

As part of this consultation, on January 17, the Chairman of the HLC met Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari, former Chief Justice of Madras High Court in New Delhi

Rahul Gandhi to commence Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from Manipur today

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will on Sunday embark on his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from violence-hit Manipur as the party looks to set the narrative in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls by putting the spotlight on issues such as unemployment, price rise and social justice. A day before the yatra, the Congress asserted that the yatra is an ideological yatra and not an electoral one, and it was being taken out against the "anyay kaal" (period of injustice) of 10 years of the Narendra Modi government. The yatra will be flagged off from a private ground in Thoubal district, instead of Imphal, the party's initial choice. The state government had given the Congress conditional approval to flag off the yatra from the Palace Grounds in the state capital, restricting the number of participants. Therefore, the Congress decided to opt for another venue. The Thoubal district administration has also imposed some restrictions such as the duration should not exceed an hour and the number of ...

Congress sets up election committees for 8 states ahead of LS polls

The Congress has set up election committees for several states, including Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh, besides a political affairs committee for Madhya Pradesh. The move comes ahead of the Lok Sabha polls slated this year. "The Congress president has approved the proposal of the constitution of Pradesh Election Committees of Rajasthan, Kerala, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Tripura, and Pradesh Election Committee and Political Affairs Committee of Madhya Pradesh, with immediate effect," an official communication from the party said. Rajasthan PCC chief Govind Singh Dotasra was appointed the chairman of the Pradesh Election Committee in the state. The committee has as its members former chief minister Ashok Gehlot. Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya, Mohan Prakash, C P Joshi, Harish Choudhary, Ramlal Jat, Pramod Jain Bhaya, Pratap Singh Khachariyawas, Mamta Bhupesh, Bhajan Lal Jatav, Murari Lal Meena, Ashok Chandna,

Cong intensifies LS poll preparations, discusses manifesto & seat-sharing

Briefing about the Alliance Committee meeting, committee convener Mukul Wasnik said that in the meeting, a discussion regarding seat-sharing of Congress within the INDIA bloc was held

Emerging markets brace for wave of elections, fiscal discipline at stake

For investors, elections divide into three categories: Those where the outcome is rather obvious, such as Russia or Venezuela; those where it seems clear but ballot is contested, for example India..

BJP expects 'overwhelming' win in 2024, eyes big boost in vote share

The BJP has set its sights on an "overwhelming" win in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking key organisational leaders to work towards boosting the party's vote share by 10 per cent, sources said. Addressing the BJP's national office-bearers and state presidents on the concluding day of the two-day brainstorming meet on Saturday, Home Minister Amit Shah said that the BJP's performance should leave the opposition "stunned", the sources said. With the opposition INDIA bloc planning to put up a one-on-one fight against the BJP, Modi called for raising the BJP's vote share by 10 per cent from its show in the 2019 polls when the ruling party had fetched over 37 per cent of votes while the National Democratic Alliance led by it had bagged around 45 per cent votes. Since coming to power at the Centre in 2014, the BJP has continuously striven to raise its vote share to 50 per cent in state assembly polls and succeeded in this feat in many elections. Shah,

'Viksit Bharat' to be centrepiece of BJP's 2024 Lok Sabha polls campaign

Prime Minister Modi reiterated the significance of 'Viksit Bharat' campaign, focusing on pro-incumbency themes and India's development vision

Congress hatching conspiracy to insult Indian culture, identity: Thakur

Stepping up heat on the opposition over the north-south divide remarks, Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Wednesday accused the Congress of hatching a conspiracy to insult Indian culture and identity, instead of analysing the reasons for its defeat in the elections. Addressing a press conference here, he also questioned the silence of senior Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi on the issue and wondered whether the remarks on the north-south divide, reference to north India as "gaumutra states" and criticism of Sanatan Dharma had their sanction. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi is spreading the message of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' but the opposition has started using foul language and blaming the EVMs and regionalism for their loss in the assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh," the senior BJP leader said. "The Congress doesn't believe in constitutional institutions. After facing defeat, they never analyse the reason for the defeat. They keep blaming EVM