Page 30 - Election Commission Of India

Will begin process of holding assembly polls in J&K very soon: CEC Kumar

Encouraged by the voter turnout in Jammu and Kashmir in the Lok Sabha polls, the Election Commission will "very soon" initiate the process of holding assembly polls in the Union Territory, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Saturday. He also told PTI Videos that the people of Jammu and Kashmir deserve their government. Responding to a question on the turnout in various seats of Jammu and Kashmir and if assembly elections could be held soon, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kumar said the poll panel is very encouraged by people's participation in the parliamentary polls. "It's music to (my) ears. People -- youth, women -- are happily turning out in large numbers (to vote). The roots of democracy are being further strengthened, people are participating," he said. "They deserve their government. We will initiate that process very soon very encouraged to do this," the CEC added. While announcing the schedule for the Lok Sabha elections in March, Kumar said holding assembly a

We need to dispel doubts, suspicions around electoral processes: CEC

Kumar commited to addressing concerns about the integrity of the electoral process

LS polls 2024: AAP, Cong join hands in hopes of unseating PM Modi In Delhi

In his campaign rallies, Kejriwal has tried to highlight bread and butter issues to supporters

LS polls: President Murmu casts vote in New Delhi Lok Sabha constituency

President Droupadi Murmu cast her vote in the New Delhi Lok Sabha constituency on Saturday, officials said. Murmu reached the polling booth at Dr Rajendra Prasad Kendriya Vidyalaya, inside the President's Estate, around 9 am, they said. After voting, Murmu held up her inked finger as she posed for photos for media persons outside the polling booth, which was decorated in pink and white colours. Voting for seven constituencies of Delhi -- Chandni Chowk, North East Delhi, East Delhi, New Delhi, North West Delhi, West Delhi and South Delhi -- began at 7 am. Murmu, who hails from Odisha, was sworn in as the 15th President of India on July 25, 2022. She received her new voter identification card with the updated address on November 28 last year. Her old voter ID carried her Odisha address.

LS polls: All you need to know about India's monumental election logistics

The voter rolls for all 543 parliamentary constituencies are available online, ensuring transparent stakeholder verification

LS polls 2024: Democracy thrives when people are engaged says PM Modi

Union Home Minister also appealed to the voters to come out and vote against appeasement and corruption

Lok Sabha polls 2024: 60K police personnel, drones deployed in Delhi

The Delhi Police has made robust security arrangements for the Lok Sabha election in the city on Saturday, deploying over 60,000 personnel on the ground to ensure peaceful, free and fair polling, officials said. They said the city police are also maintaining a strict vigil in areas bordering Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. According to the department, 51 companies of paramilitary forces and 13,500 home guards from Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, besides drones and CCTV cameras will also strengthen the security apparatus. Voting for all seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi began Saturday morning in the sixth phase of the general election. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Election Cell) Sanjay Sehrawat told PTI that an elaborate arrangement has been made to ensure peaceful voting. "Around 60,000 police personnel have been deployed in Delhi and at least 33,000 of them are guarding voting centres. There are 2,628 voting centres, of which 429 are 'sensitive'. Extra paramilitary personnel

LS polls phase 6: Two former CMs among prominent candidates in fray

The Lok Sabha will be completed on June 1 after the seventh phase of polls in which voters from 57 constituencies will exercise their franchise

LS polls: SC refuses to issue EC direction to upload voter turnout data

The Supreme Court on Friday refused an NGO's plea to issue the Election Commission directions to upload polling station-wise voter turnout data on its website during the Lok Sabha polls, saying it would be difficult for the poll panel to to mobilise manpower. A vacation bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma said it cannot issue any such directions at the moment as five phases of polling have concluded and two remain. The top court adjourned the interlocutory application filed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) to be listed before the regular bench after the elections and pointed out that prima facie it appears the prayers in the application are similar to the main petition pending since 2019 on the issue. The bench said it would be difficult for the poll panel to mobilise manpower for uploading the voter turnout data on its website. Granting any relief in IA will amount to granting relief in the main petition which is pending, the bench said. On M

Lok Sabha elections: What is Form 17C that EC has refused to make public

The ECI's decision has sparked controversy, especially amidst concerns over delays in releasing final voter turnout data and discrepancies between provisional and final figures

Lok Sabha polls Phase 6: List of constituencies, key candidates. Details

Lok Sabha elections: Eight states and UTs including Delhi and Haryana will go to polls in the sixth phase on May 25

Publishing polling booth-wise data will 'vitiate' electoral space: EC

The Election Commission has opposed in the Supreme Court an NGO's demand to upload polling station-wise voter turnout data on its website within 48 hours of the conclusion of polling for each phase of the Lok Sabha elections, contending it will "vitiate" the electoral space and cause "chaos" in the poll machinery in the midst of the general elections. A vacation bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma is scheduled to hear the plea of NGO Association for Democratic Reforms', which has also sought direction to the poll panel that scanned legible copies of Form 17C Part-I (Account of Votes Recorded) of all polling stations be uploaded immediately after the polls. In its counter affidavit, the poll panel said there is no legal mandate to provide Form 17C to any person other than the candidate or his agent. It said that public posting of Form 17C - which gives the number of votes polled in a polling station - is not provided in the statutory framework and could lead t

LS polls: 60,000 personnel, cameras to ensure peaceful voting in Delhi

With 60,000 personnel, including 51 companies of paramilitary forces and 13,500 home guards from Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, and drones and CCTV cameras, the Delhi Police is all prepared to conduct the Lok Sabha polls in the city. The voting for all seven Lok Sabha seats of Delhi is scheduled on May 25 in the second last phase of the elections. These seven seats include East Delhi, New Delhi, North East Delhi, North West Delhi, South Delhi, West Delhi and Chandani Chowk. Deputy Commissioner of Police (election cell) Sanjay Sehrawat told PTI that an elaborate arrangement has been made to ensure peaceful elections in the national capital. Around 60,000 police personnel will be deployed in Delhi on the polling day and at least 33,000 of them will be guarding voting centres, DCP Sehrawat said. "There are a total of 2,628 voting centres of which 429 are sensitive. Extra paramilitary personnel with drones and CCTV cameras will be deployed in these sensitive poll centres,"

Indiscriminate disclosure of voter turnout data online to cause chaos: EC

The Election Commission on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that "indiscriminate disclosure" of polling station-wise voter turnout data and posting it on website will cause chaos in the election machinery which is already in motion for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. The poll panel said that public posting of Form 17C - which gives the number of votes polled in a polling station - is not provided in the statutory framework and could lead to mischief and vitiation of the entire electoral space as it increases the possibility of the images being morphed. The EC also dismissed as false and misleading the allegation that the first two phases of the Lok Sabha elections saw an increase of "5-6 per cent" in the voter turnout data released on the day of polling and in the subsequent press releases for each of the two phases. The Election Commission stated this in an affidavit filed in response to a plea of an NGO seeking a direction to the poll panel to upload polling station-wise voter .

LS elections: 8,360 candidates in fray in 2024 polls, highest since 1996

A total of 8,360 candidates are contesting the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, the highest since 1996, according to an analysis of official data. In the 2019 polls, there were 8,039 candidates, and in 1996, a record 13,952 candidates were in the fray for 543 seats of the Lower House of Parliament. The 2024 general elections are being held in seven phases, with five rounds of polling completed. The sixth and last rounds will be held on May 25 and June 1, respectively. Counting of votes will be taken up on June 4. The fourth phase of the elections held on May 13 had the highest number of candidates in the fray, 1,717 in 96 parliamentary constituencies in 10 states and Union Territories (UTs). The first phase held on April 19 had 1,625 candidates in 102 constituencies in 21 states and UTs, according to Election Commission (EC) data. There were 1,198 candidates in the second phase on April 26 in 89 constituencies across 13 states and UTs, 1,352 candidates in the third phase on May 7 in 94

Women make up less than 10% of candidates contesting Lok Sabha polls: ADR

Less than 10 per cent of the candidates contesting in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections are women, according to an analysis of data shared by the poll rights body Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). Of the 8,337 candidates analysed, only 797 are women, representing a mere 9.5 per cent of the total candidates contesting across the seven phases of the elections. This is the first election since the passage of the women's reservation bill to reserve one-third of seats in Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women, reviving a bill pending for 27 years for want of consensus among parties. The bill is yet to come into effect. During the first phase of the elections, out of 1,618 candidates, only 135 were women. This pattern continued in the subsequent phases, with women candidates remaining a small fraction of the total. Phase 2 saw 1,192 candidates of which affidavits of 1,198 candidates were analysed and as many as 100 were women. Phase 3 had 1,352 candidates, including 123 women a

INDIA bloc inching closer to victory with each poll phase: CM Kejriwal

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday accused Union Home Minister Amit Shah of referring to the people of Delhi as "Pakistanis" and asserted that they are his family and should not be abused. Addressing a virtual press conference, Kejriwal said with the completion of each phase of the Lok Sabha polls, it is becoming clearer that the Narendra Modi government is on its way out and the INDIA bloc is coming to power on June 4. He said the INDIA bloc will give a stable government to the country. On Monday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath addressed public meetings in South Delhi and East Delhi parliamentary constituencies respectively. Kejriwal alleged the number of people who attended Amit Shah's rally was less than 500. "He said the supporters of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are Pakistanis. I want to ask him that the people of Delhi have formed the government by giving us 62 seats (and) 56 per cent vote share. Are the people of Delhi Pakistanis? "The .

EC bans BJP candidate Abhijit Gangopadhyay from campaigning for 24 hours

Gangopadhyay's comment about Mamata Banerjee 'outrightly condemnable', says commission

LS polls: BJP has won 310 seats after 5 phases of voting, says Shah

Claiming that the BJP has bagged 310 seats after the completion of five phases of the Lok Sabha polls, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday urged the people of Odisha to free the state from babu-raj and allow the BJP to form government at the Centre and also in the state. Addressing an election rally in Sambalpur where the BJP has fielded Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Shah said this time lotus, the party's symbol, will bloom in Odisha. After the fifth phase of polls, the BJP has already bagged 310 seats. We will secure 400 plus seats after the sixth and seventh rounds of polls," He also alleged that the state has been ruled by a "handful of officers" and this election will end the ongoing babu raj in the state. Shah also accused the BJD government of insulting Odisha's pride, language, culture and tradition. The BJD government wants to convert the Jagannath temple to a commercial centre. The mutts and temples have been destroyed and all four gates of the temple are yet to

EC responsible for slow voting in Maha, poll body helping BJP, alleges Raut

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Tuesday claimed the Election Commission was an "extended branch of the BJP" and the voting process in Maharashtra's 13 Lok seats was slow wherever the MVA candidates were expecting a good turnout. Talking to reporters, Raut also claimed the election was seamless in areas where the possibility of the ruling BJP or its allies getting votes was more. An average turnout of 54.33 per cent was recorded after voting on Monday in the 13 Lok Sabha constituencies, including six in Mumbai, during the fifth and final phase of general elections in the state, as per poll authorities. The final figures will be declared later, an official from the state CEO's office said on Tuesday. The six Lok Sabha constituencies in Mumbai recorded an average turnout of 52.27 per cent, compared to 55.38 per cent in the 2019 general elections. Raut claimed wherever the Shiv Sena (UBT) or MVA was expecting good votes, there was snail-paced election. "The Election Commission