Page 24 - Election Commission Of India

CM Atishi launches crowdfunding for Delhi polls; BJP to seek EC probe

Chief Minister and AAP's Kalkaji candidate Atishi on Sunday launched a crowdfunding campaign to contest the upcoming Delhi Assembly polls and said she hoped that people would support her party's politics of work and honesty. Addressing a press conference here, Atishi released an online link for people to donate money, saying she needed Rs 40 lakh to fight the elections. The AAP has always fought the elections with the help of small donations from the common man which has helped it pursue the politics of work and honesty, she said. "Despite being in power in Delhi for 10 years, the AAP does not have even a rupee of corruption. We will contest the polls with the support of the people of Delhi and the country, as has been done in the previous elections," she said when asked about the BJP's claim that the CAG has projected a loss of Rs 2,026 crore due to the Delhi government's now-scrapped excise policy. Targeting the BJP, Atishi said, "Perhaps they have collected enough money from the

EC defends model code as vital for a level playing field in elections

One of the key reasons cited by the government to push for simultaneous polls has been that frequent imposition of model code disrupts development work and normal public life, but the Election Commission has asserted it is a "vital instrumentality" aimed at providing level playing field in polls. According to the bills brought by the government to implement 'one nation, one election', there is an imperative need for holding simultaneous elections for various reasons including polls becoming expensive and time-consuming. The Constitution amendment bill to implement 'one nation, one election' said the imposition of a Model Code of Conduct in poll-bound parts of the country puts on hold the entire development programmes and causes disruption in normal public life. It said that frequent poll code imposition also impacts the functioning of services and diverts the man manpower from their core activities to election duties for prolonged periods. But the poll authority is of the view that

As India nears 1 bn electors, it seeks solutions to freebies, black money

Estimates of election related expenditure of political parties and candidates, and EC's seizures, reveal barely the tip of the total election spends of candidates and political parties

Will detox, go to Himalayas: CEC Rajiv Kumar on post-retirement plans

Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar on Tuesday revealed his intention to "detoxify" himself and spend several months in solitude in the Himalayas post his retirement next month. Responding to a question while addressing a presser to announce the Delhi Assembly elections, he shared his post-retirement plans with an introspective touch. "I will detoxify myself for the next four-five months, go to the deep Himalayas, be away from the glare of all of you. I need some 'ekant' (solitude) and 'swadhyay' (self-study)," Kumar, who is set to retire on February 18, said. In October last year, Kumar was rescued from the remote Ralam village in Uttarkhand's Pithoragarh district following an emergency helicopter landing due to inclement weather and left stranded at over 12,000 feet. Kumar, a 1984-batch IAS officer from the Bihar/Jharkhand cadre, also shared a personal aspiration to give back to society by teaching underprivileged children. He recounted his humble beginnings, studying

'No room for manipulation': ECI chief on Kejriwal's 'voter deletion' charge

'Draft rolls are sent to political parties on January 1, and they are given the opportunity to raise claims and objections,' CEC Rajiv Kumar said

Election Commission to announce Delhi poll schedule at 2 pm today

The Election Commission will on Tuesday announce the schedule for polls to the Delhi Legislative Assembly. The Commission has convened a press conference at 2 pm on Tuesday to announce the election schedule. The term of the 70-member Assembly ends on February 23, and elections have to held before that to constitute a new House. Delhi has traditionally seen assembly polls in a single phase.

Voter ID alone doesn't ensure voting rights: Delhi chief electoral officer

Delhi's Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls nears completion and the final voter list will be published on January 6, 2025

Overseas Indian voters show poor participation in 2024 LS polls: EC data

Overseas Indians showed great enthusiasm in registering as electors, with nearly 1.2 lakh enrolling in the voter list, but a minuscule turned up to exercise their franchise in the Lok Sabha elections this year. According to the data released by the Election Commission, as many as 1,19,374 registered as overseas electors in 2024, with Kerala witnessing the highest registrations at 89,839. In 2019, as many as 99,844 had registered as overseas electors. The poll authority said only 2,958 overseas electors flew down to India to participate in the largest democratic exercise in the world. Of these, an overwhelming 2,670 were from Kerala alone. Several large states such as Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu saw zero turnout of overseas electors. Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state, saw only two out of 885 overseas electors casting their votes in the Lok Sabha elections. The same was the story in Maharashtra, where only 17 of the 5,097 NRI electors voted. Despite an

One-third of Lok Sabha MPs elected with 30% or fewer votes in 2024: ECI

Party wise, BJP received a total of 23.59 crore votes, Congress secured a total of 13.67 crore votes, and Samajwadi Party received 2.95 crore votes in the 2024 General Election

28% of Lok Sabha seats had no woman candidate in 2024, shows ECI report

The highlight of the 2024 LS election was again the better turnout of woman electors in percentage terms than men

BJP leads political donations with Rs 2,244 cr in FY24, Cong just Rs 288 cr

BJP's donations surged to Rs 2,244 crore in 2023-24, triple the previous year, with Prudent Electoral Trust contributing Rs 723 crore. Congress raised Rs 288.9 crore, up from Rs 79.9 crore in 2022-23

One Nation, One Election bill could give ECI say over Assemblies' terms

In the current version of CAB, if a state's elections cannot be held with the LS, the EC will be empowered to declare the dates for those polls, effectively giving it final say on the Assembly's term

Election rules tweaked to restrict public inspection of electronic records

The government has tweaked an election rule to prevent public inspection of certain electronic documents such as CCTV camera and webcasting footage as well as video recordings of candidates to prevent their misuse. Based on the recommendation of the Election Commission (EC), the Union law ministry has amended Rule 93 of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, to restrict the type of "papers" or documents open to public inspection. According to Rule 93, all "papers" related to elections shall be open to public inspection. The amendment inserts "as specified in these rules" after "papers". Law ministry and EC officials separately explained that a court case was the "trigger" behind the amendment. While documents such as nomination forms, appointment of election agents, results and election account statements are mentioned in the Conduct of Election Rules, electronic documents such as CCTV camera footage, webcasting footage and video recording of candidates during the Model Code of Cond

Election Commission meets representatives of Delhi's political parties

The Election Commission held a meeting with representatives of political parties at Palika Kendra in central Delhi on Wednesday morning. BJP MP from New Delhi Bansuri Swaraj, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chaddha and party leader Jasmin Shah attended the meeting. An election commission official said the meeting lasted for around half an hour and covered several topics. Sources earlier said the Election Commission will review on Wednesday the preparedness of its poll machinery in Delhi, where assembly elections are due early next year. The term of the 70-member Delhi Legislative Assembly ends on February 23 next year and polls are to be held before that.

Lawyers, activists call for extending POSH Act to political parties

Legal experts and activists have voiced the urgent need to bring political parties under the ambit of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, known as the POSH Act, citing the need for gender equality and accountability. The reaction comes after the Supreme Court on Monday disposed of a plea seeking direction to political parties to follow the procedure for the protection of women in the workplace under the 2013 POSH Act. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Manmohan asked the petitioner to approach the Election Commission of India (ECI) with a representation for the application of the POSH Act. Sonal Mattoo, a lawyer and director of NGO Helping Hands, called for a shift in perspective, urging political parties to focus on the spirit of the law rather than its technical definition. "The problem is they're looking at the letter of the law as opposed to the spirit of the law. If you look at the letter of the law, yes, you will struggle w

Kejriwal writes to EC, urges action on threat of mass vote deletions

A day after meeting the Election Commission officials over vote deletion issue, AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday wrote to Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar hoping the poll body will fulfil its "assurances" with necessary action. Earlier on Wednesday, Kejriwal led a delegation of the AAP in the meeting with the election commissioners to urge them for not undertaking any mass deletion of voters names before the Delhi Assembly polls. In his letter to the chief election commissioner, Kejriwal thanked the Election Commission for hearing concerns over "threat of mass deletions of voters names" in Delhi ahead of the assembly elections. We were all reassured by your commitment to uphold the sanctity of the electoral process and to safeguard the right to vote of each and every voter in Delhi," said Kejriwal citing "assurances", including "no mass deletion of votes in any assembly constituency until the Delhi Assembly polls", given to the delegation. He also cited various other

Election Commission colluding with BJP: AAP on 'deletion' of voters' names

Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh on Tuesday accused the Election Commission of "colluding with the BJP" as he reiterated his party's claims of deletion of voters' names from electoral rolls ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections. Addressing a press conference here, the Rajya Sabha MP said an application for the deletion of 3,800 voters' names has been submitted in RK Puram constituency and they belong to booths where the AAP has been winning elections. AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal and other party leaders have been alleging that many voters' names have been deleted from electoral rolls ahead of the Delhi polls due to be held in February next year. "We came to know that an application for the deletion of 3,800 voters' names has been submitted in the RK Puram constituency. When our workers and local MLA verified these voters, they found that 1,800 of them are still living in the same place and are eligible voters," Singh claimed at the press conference. "The voters named in the applicati

SC refers plea on including political parties under POSH Act to ECI

The Supreme Court on Monday disposed of a plea seeking direction to political parties to follow the procedure for protection of women at workplace under the 2013 POSH Act. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Manmohan asked the petitioner to approach the Election Commission of India (ECI) with a representation for the application of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH Act). Senior advocate Shobha Gupta, representing PIL petitioner Yogamaya MG, said there were six national parties in the country that did not have a grievance redressal mechanism against sexual harassment in line with the directions of the apex court and the 2013 law. The PIL arrayed 10 political parties including six national level parties -- BJP, Congress, BSP, CPI(M), National People's Party and AAP. The bench, however, observed political parties were registered under the Representation of Peoples Act and the competent authority under the law should be E

No sudden 'surge' in last hour of polling in Maharashtra, says official

Maharashtra's Chief Electoral Officer S Chockalingam has said the seven per cent increase in voter turnout in the last hour of polling for the state assembly elections was not a surge, as claimed by the opposition, but an "average" process. In a video statement on Monday, Chockaligam said Maharashtra is a large state with more than one lakh polling booths. "If 76 lakh voters turn up in the last hour of polling, it is only (an average of) 76 voters in each of the polling centres," he added. The assembly elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand were held last month. While the BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 of the 288 seats in Maharashtra, the JMM-led alliance bagged 56 seats in the 81-member Jharkhand assembly. 'Unlike Jharkhand, Maharashtra votes more in the later half of the day. Whereas in Jharkhand, most of the voting takes place in the first half," Chockalingam said. Jharkhand is a small state compared to Maharashtra and its voting ends at 5 pm, whereas voting in Maharashtra is allow

Markadwadi's DIY polls: This Maha village to hold re-vote after ECI results

Markadwadi village in Maharashtra plans to conduct a re-vote using paper ballots after dissatisfaction with the Election Commission's results in the recent Assembly elections