Page 27 - Election Commission Of India

Maharashtra BJP prez Bawankule alleges conspiracy in voters registration

Chandrashekhar Bawankule, BJP president in Maharashtra, said that at least 3000 voters were registered for two Assembly constituencies, who, according to him, belonged to one particular community

ECI gives aggrieved candidates choice on how they want to check EVM

Aggrieved candidates, who have applied for Supreme Court-directed checking of EVMs for tampering post Lok Sabha and assembly results, have been given various choices by the Election Commission, including picking machines from any polling station in an assembly segment and opting for a mock poll and mock VVPAT slip count. According to standard operating procedure issued on Tuesday by the Election Commission, the candidates who came number two and three have been given a vast number of random tests to choose from. The Election Commission said that by going beyond controlled environment check and verification process of burnt memory eliminates the possibility or apprehension of any bias or hidden functionality in the firmware. The Election Commission has received eight applications from aggrieved candidates, including those from the BJP and the Congress, for verification of tampering or modification in micro-controller chips embedded in the EVMs post declaration of the Lok Sabha electi

Election Commission to conduct mock polls to check EVMs post LS polls

The EC received eight applications for verification of EVMs used in the 18th Lok Sabha elections and three for the Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha

Assembly bypolls: INDIA bloc wins 3 seats, leading in 8; BJP leading in 1

INDIA bloc parties won three assembly seats and were leading on eight, while the BJP and an Independent were ahead on one each as votes were counted on Saturday for the by-elections held earlier this week, according to the trends on the EC website. AAP's Mohinder Bhagat won the Jalandhar West seat in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu's wife and Congress candidate Kamlesh Thakur won in Dehra and TMC's Krishna Kalyani in West Bengal's Raiganj. The Congress, Trinamool Congress (TMC), AAP and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) are the INDIA bloc parties that fielded candidates in the bypolls held on Wednesday in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Tamil Nadu. In Punjab, Bhagat won the Jalandhar West seat by defeating his nearest rival and BJP nominee Sheetal Angural by a margin of 37,325 votes, the Election Commission (EC) said. The seat fell vacant after Angural resigned as the AAP legislator and joined the BJP in

Congress candidates lead in Manglaur, Badrinath seats of Uttarakhand

Congress candidates for the Badrinath and Manglaur assembly bypolls in Uttarakhand were leading in both the seats on Saturday, officials said. The counting of votes for the by-elections in the two assembly constituencies, held on Wednesday, began at 8 am. Congress' Qazi Nizamuddin was ahead by 87,365 votes against the BJP's Kartar Singh Bhadana in the sixth round of counting in Manglaur. BSP's Ubaidur Rahman, who was behind Nizamuddin at the second spot in the initial rounds of counting, is now trailing at the third spot in the seat. The seat was with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) but fell vacant after Rahman's father and sitting MLA Sarwat Karim Ansari died in October 2023. In the Badrinath assembly seat, Congress' Lakhpat Singh Butola was leading by 1,935 votes against BJP's Rajendra Bhandari in the seventh round of counting. The seat fell vacant after Bhandari resigned from the Congress and the state assembly to join the BJP just before the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year.

Kashmir 'Martyrs Day': Mehbooba, others claim they are under 'house arrest'

Several political leaders in Jammu and Kashmir, including PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, on Saturday claimed authorities have put them under house arrest to prevent them from visiting the 'martyrs' graveyard' to pay homage to the 22 Kashmiri people killed by the army of a Dogra ruler on this day in 1931. However, there was no official word on the claims made by the politicians. Mehbooba, a former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, alleged that she was put under "house arrest" at her residence in Khimber in the outskirts of the city. "The gates of my house have been locked up yet again to prevent me from visiting Mazar e Shuhada - an enduring symbol of Kashmir's resistance and resilience against authoritarianism, oppression and injustice," she said in a post on X. The PDP chief said the "sacrifices of our martyrs is a testament that the spirit of Kashmiri's cannot be crushed" and added that "today even observing it in remembrance of the protesters martyred on this day has been ...

Himachal Pradesh bypolls: Cong leading in all three assembly by-polls

Congress' candidates, including Himachal Pradesh Chief Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu's wife, are in the lead in all three assembly constituencies in the state where bypolls were held earlier this week, officials said on Saturday. The counting of votes for the by-elections in Dehra, Hamirpur and Nalagarh, held on Wednesday, began at 8 am. Sukhu's wife Kamlesh Thakur was leading by 636 votes against her nearest rival and BJP candidate Hoshiyar Singh after the fifth round of counting, the officials said. In the Hamirpur assembly seat, Congress' Pushpinder Verma was ahead by 1,704 votes against BJP candidate Ashish Sharma after the second round of counting, they said. Congress candidate Hardeep Singh Baba was leading by 646 votes in the first round against BJP candidate K L Thakur in the Nalagarh assembly seat, the officials. Thirteen candidates were in the fray from the three seats. The Nalagarh assembly constituency had recorded the highest polling at 79.04 per cent, followed by Hamirpur

'Ladki Bahin' scheme: Maha Govt to use existing data of women beneficiaries

The existing data of women beneficiaries available with various departments will be used for the Maharashtra government's recently-announced 'Mukhyamantri Majhi Ladki Bahin' scheme, an official said. Officials from various departments held a meeting in this connection on Wednesday. Under the scheme, announced ahead of state assembly elections due in October, eligible women will get Rs 1,500 per month. "The idea is to use the existing data to reduce the burden of data collection to some extent," an official in the Women and Child Development (WCD) department said. "Departments like Rural Development and Food and Civil Supplies already have the database of women beneficiaries, collected for older schemes. These departments have been asked to share the data with the Women and Child Development department which is going to implement the Ladki Bahin Yojana," an official from the Food and Civil Supplies department said. The WCD department will consolidate the data, bank accounts and oth

Assembly by-polls today: In Himachal's Dehra, CM Sukhu's wife in fray. List

Assembly by-polls update: By-elections for Himachal's Hamirpur, Dehra, and Nalagarh seats were announced following the resignation of three independent MLAs who joined the Bharatiya Janata Party

EC to update voters' list in poll-bound states, including Jammu and Kashmir

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said on Thursday that assembly elections would be held soon in Jammu and Kashmir and plans are underway to restore statehood to the UT in the near future

EC begins J&K Assembly polls prep, electoral roll expected by Aug 20

State and UT Assembly elections will be conducted in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), Haryana, Jharkhand, and Maharashtra, along with 47 by-polls

EC begins updating electoral rolls for Haryana, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, J-K

The Election Commission on Friday said it has initiated preparations for forthcoming assembly elections in Haryana, Maharashtra and Jharkhand with updation of electoral rolls in these states. July 1, 2024 will be the qualifying date. For the just-held Lok Sabha polls, the voters list was updated with January 1 as the qualifying date. Qualifying date helps establish number of voters on a given date in a state or in the country. The term of the existing legislative assemblies in the three states are going to end on November 3, November 26 and January 5, 2025 respectively and elections to these legislative assemblies are required to be conducted before the completion of their terms. Besides, assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir are also to be conducted for constituting a new house after delimitation of constituencies, the EC said. "Witnessing the huge participation of the people of Jammu and Kashmir in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, the Commission has also directed

EC should invite Musk to attempt hacking EVMs, says Andhra BJP chief

BJP's Andhra Pradesh unit chief D Purandeswari on Monday appealed to the Election Commission to invite global technocrat and Tesla founder Elon Musk to come and attempt hacking Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). Reacting to a social media post by Musk that EVMs should be eliminated as they can be hacked by humans or Artificial Intelligence (AI), Purandeswari made this plea to the poll panel. "According to Elon Musk, any EVM can be hacked. Request election commission to please invite him to India to attempt hacking our EVMs," she said in a post on X. According to the state BJP chief, despite "numerous opportunities provided by the Election Commission, no one has succeeded yet'. On June 15, Musk, a top global serial entrepreneur, called for the abolition of EVM in a post on the micro-blogging site X owned by him. "We should eliminate electronic voting machines. The risk being hacked by humans or AI, while small, is still too high," said Musk. However, this social media post by the

SC, EC need to take drastic decision on EVM irregularities, says AAP

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday joined the political slugfest over the electronic voting machines (EVMs), saying the Supreme Court and the Election Commission need to take a drastic decision on the issue. AAP's Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said that his party has been raising the incidents of irregularities related to the EVMs for long but were mocked by the BJP. Singh alleged that there were 80 Lok Sabha seats won by the BJP in the recent polls and claimed "if proper counting of votes on these seats happened, the current BJP government will collapse". These 80 seats are in Maharashtra, UP, Bihar and other states, he said. Citing the controversy related to EVM in North West Mumbai Lok Sabha seat, Singh said "The Supreme Court and the Election Commission should now take a strict decision over the EVM issue." A fresh political slugfest has erupted over EVM tampering claims with the Congress and other opposition leaders citing a media report that alleged that a relative of the Shi

Rahul, Aaditya should apologise for remarks over EVMs: Sanjay Nirupam

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Nirupam on Monday said Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray should apologise for disseminating "false" information based on a news report on the EVMs. A political slugfest erupted on Sunday over EVM tampering claims with Gandhi, Thackeray and other opposition leaders citing a media report which alleged that a relative of Shiv Sena's Mumbai North West Lok Sabha seat candidate Ravindra Waikar was found using a mobile phone "connected" to an EVM during the counting of votes on June 4. The media report said a relative of Waikar, who won from seat by just 48 votes, had used a mobile phone to "unlock" an electronic voting machine (EVM) when the votes were being counted. Vandana Suryavanshi, returning officer of the constituency, however, dismissed the report in 'mid-day' newspaper as "false news" and said a defamation notice has been issued to the publication. She asserted that the EVM is a standalone system, not programmable and has

EC should release data on EVMs found faulty in LS polls: Gaurav Gogoi

Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi on Monday asked the Election Commission to put out data on how many EVMs were found faulty throughout the Lok Sabha polls. Gogoi, who won the just concluded Lok Sabha elections from Assam's Jorhat seat by defeating his nearest BJP rival by a margin of over 1.44 lakh votes, said he can confidently say that these machines have shown inaccurate results. Gogoi's statement came a day after a fresh political row erupted over EVM tampering claims with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders citing a media report that alleged that a relative of the Shiv Sena candidate in Mumbai North West Lok Sabha constituency was found using a mobile phone "connected" to an electronic voting machine during the counting of votes on June 4. In a post on 'X', Gogoi said before treating the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) as infallible, the Election Commission of India should put out data on how many EVMs were found faulty throughout the elections. He said the

EVMs in India are 'black box', nobody allowed to scrutinise them: Rahul

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said EVMs in India are a "black box" which nobody is allowed to scrutinise, and asserted that "serious concerns" are being raised about transparency in India's electoral process. "Democracy ends up becoming a sham and prone to fraud when institutions lack accountability," Gandhi said and tagged a media report which claimed that a relative of Shiv Sena's candidate, who won the polls from Mumbai's north west by 48 votes, had a phone that unlocks an EVM. The former Congress president also tagged the post on X by Elon Musk in which he talked about eliminating EVMs. "We should eliminate electronic voting machines. The risk of being hacked by humans or AI, while small, is still too high," Musk had said in his post. The opposition parties have been raising concerns over EVMs for some time now and had demanded a 100 per cent count of the VVPAT slips which was not allowed.

IAF played vital role in LS polls, flew over 1,000 hours in 1,750 sorties

From extending the reach of the Election Commission into remote corners of the country to airlifting EVMs, the IAF played a vital role in the recently-held general elections, with its aircraft flying more than 1,000 hours in over 1,750 sorties. The Indian Air Force on Wednesday shared details about the helping hand it lent to the electoral machinery in the conduct of the Lok Sabha polls. "During the general elections 2024, the substantial flying effort has taken place over the last few months by medium-lift helicopters (Mi-17 variants), light utility helicopters (Chetak) and the indigenously manufactured advanced light helicopters (ALH Dhruv)," the IAF said in a statement. The force has been actively involved with the task of airlifting electronic voting machines (EVMs) and deploying Election Commission of India (ECI) personnel on election duties, as has been carried out during previous general or assembly elections, officials said. During the general elections 2024, the IAF played

Bypolls for 13 Assembly seats in 7 states on July 10; results on 13th: EC

The Election Commission on Monday announced bypolls to 13 assembly constituencies across seven states, including four in West Bengal, on July 10. The bypolls are to be held against vacancies created either due to deaths or resignation of incumbent members. The assembly seats going for bypolls are Rupauli (Bihar), Raiganj, Ranaghat Dakshin, Bagda and Maniktala (all West Bengal), Vikravandi (Tamil Nadu), Amarwara (Madhya Pradesh), Badrinath and Manglaur (Uttarakhand), Jalandhar West (Punjab) and Dehra, Hamirpur and Nalagarh (Himachal Pradesh). The notification for the elections will be issued on June 14, the last date for filing of nomination papers is June 21, the poll papers will be scrutinised on June 24 and the last date for withdrawal of nomination papers is June 26. The bypolls will be held on July 10 and the counting of votes will be on July 13. The Election Commission said the bypolls have to be completed before July 15.

65.79% turnout recorded in LS polls, excludes postal ballots, says EC

A voter turnout of 65.79 per cent was recorded in the just-concluded Lok Sabha elections but the final figures may change as it does not include postal ballots, the Election Commission said on Thursday. In the 2019 parliamentary polls, the turnout was 67.40 per cent. While in 2019, India had 91.20 crore voters and out of these, 61.5 crore had exercised their franchise, in the 2024 polls, the size of the electorate grew to 96.88 crore. At a recent press conference, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar had said a total of 64.2 crore voters have exercised their franchise in the 2024 polls. "Overall, 65.79 per cent voter turnout recorded in general elections, 2024, at the polling stations," the Election Commission said in a statement. Voter turnout at polling stations means votes polled in electronic voting machines. The poll panel said detailed statistical reports having the number of postal votes and gross voter turnout will be made available after finalisation of details as rec