Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud has urged citizens not to miss the opportunity to vote in the general elections, saying that it is the "foremost duties" in a constitutional democracy. In a video message for the Election Commission's 'My Vote My Voice' mission for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Justice Chandrachud said, "We are citizens of the world's largest democracy, which is our country. "The Constitution gives us a multitude of rights as citizens but it also expects that each of us performs the duty, which is cast upon us. And one of the foremost duties of citizenship is to cast a vote in a constitutional democracy," he said. "I will request every one of you please do not miss this opportunity to vote responsibly as citizens of our great motherland. Five minutes, every five years for our nation. It's doable, isn't it? Let's vote with pride. My vote, my voice," the CJI said. Justice Chandrachud said the citizens have a participatory role in electing the government and that is w
Rubbishing criticism, especially from within the party, that he is a product of "dynasty politics", Karnataka BJP President B Y Vijayendra said he has been appointed to the post based on his performance and commitment, and not just because he is the son of veteran leader B S Yediyurappa. His primary objective as the party president is to consolidate BJP's base pan-Karnataka, he said as he also asserted that people want to see Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister for the third term, and no factors including Congress government's guarantee schemes will come in the way of this. "I would have agreed with Eshwarappa or Yatnal's statements, if I had been appointed as the party President by Yediyurappa himself, but I'm president because of the decision of the national leadership, not by Yediyurappa," Vijayendra told PTI in an interview. Responding to senior party leaders K S Eshwarappa and Basangouda Patil Yatnal's repeated attacks on him accusing him of being a product of "dynasty ...
Around 5,000 electors from 'Budha Pahad'--a former Maoist hotbed --will cast their votes at their own booths for the first time after several decades in Lok Sabha polls, an election official said on Saturday. Located along Jharkhand's Latehar and Garhwa districts, Budha Pahad was freed recently from the red rebels' control by security forces after over three decades. There are five polling stations in Budha Pahad comprising around 5,000 voters. Earlier, these booths were used to be relocated to safe areas in view of Maoist activities, the official said. Jharkhand Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) K Ravi Kumar along with senior police officers on Friday visited the difficult terrain of Budha Pahad, which falls under Palamu Lok Sabha constituency, and took stock of the facilities extended to the voters. The Palamu constituency will go to the polls on May 13. Kumar visited the polling booths and also talked to voters and polling officials. "The voters here will exercise their franchise
An estimated 68 per cent of the total 16.23 lakh registered voters cast their ballot in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections in Udhampur, officials said, as Jammu and Kashmir witnessed incident-free polling in what was its first major electoral battle since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. In 2019, Udhampur parliamentary constituency had recorded a total poll percentage of 70.22 per cent. Voting began at 7 am at 2,637 polling stations across the constituency, including 31 near the International Border, to decide the fate of 12 candidates and ended at 6 pm. The voting percentage was around 68.27 per cent. It is especially highlighted that due to weather latest updated reports are awaited from some of the Polling Stations, specially located in remote hilly areas of Kishtwar, Gandoh, Ramban and Dudu-Basantgarh, the polling percentage is likely to increase slightly, the election office said in a statement shortly after midnight. It said once all polling parties, especially in .
General Elections 2024 news updates: Catch all the news updates on the announcements related to Lok Sabha polls here
Instagram sent an alert urging people to cast their votes in Lok Sabha elections 2024
The Lok Sabha Elections 2024 commence on April 19. The Election Commission of India has already started sending the voter information slip (VIS) to registered voters whose names are in the electoral r
A total of 150 polling stations in Arunachal Pradesh, which goes to simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly polls on Friday, will be managed by women, a senior election official said here on Thursday. Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Pawan Kumar Sain said over 1,000 women officers and officials have been deployed across these stations to facilitate the electoral process, with women security personnel also stationed for assistance. Terming it as unique' for a record number of women to participate in the electoral process this time, the CEO highlighted that six district election officers (DEOs) in the state are women. "In Roing, the headquarters of Lower Dibang Valley district, the deputy commissioner, the superintendent of police and majority of the polling officials are women. It is a encouraging that women are contributing in the election process," Sain said. Altogether 50,842 government employees have been deployed for conducting polls in the state. The CEO informed that 2,073 polling
The Election Commission of India has already started sending the voter information slip (VIS) to registered voters whose names are in the electoral roll
The Election Commission of India on Thursday informed the Supreme Court that allegations of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) showing one extra vote during a mock poll in Kerala's Kasaragod were false. The top court was hearing a batch of pleas seeking complete cross-verification of votes cast using EVMs with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT), an independent vote verification system which enables an elector to see whether his vote was cast correctly. "These news reports are false. We have verified the allegation from the district collector and it appears that they are false. We will submit a detailed report to the court," senior deputy election commissioner Nitesh Kumar Vyas told a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta. Vyas was present in the courtroom to apprise the bench about the functioning of EVMs. Earlier during the day, the top court asked senior advocate Maninder Singh, appearing for the Election Commission, to look into the issue after advocate Prasha
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Thursday filed a complaint with the Election Commission against West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose for allegedly interfering in the ensuing Lok Sabha polls in the state. "A complaint against Governor C V Ananda Bose has been lodged with EC for repeatedly interfering with the ensuing Lok Sabha Elections, 2024 and attempting to visit poll-going areas during the silent period and on polling day," a TMC leader said. The Election Commission has advised the West Bengal Governor to call off his proposed tour of Cooch Behar on the eve of the Lok Sabha polls' first phase as it was violative of the Model Code of Conduct, sources said on Wednesday. Polling is scheduled in Cooch Behar on April 19 and the 48-hour silence period when campaigning is barred began on Wednesday evening.
According to the poll body's notification, the last date for making nominations is April 25. Scrutiny of nominations will take place on April 26
The election campaigning for the first phase of Lok Sabha elections concluded at 3 pm today in the North East, and in other areas, it ended at 6 pm
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday alleged the electoral bonds scheme was the biggest "extortion scheme" in the world and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the "champion of corruption". Addressing a joint press conference with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav here, Gandhi said there is a strong undercurrent in favour of the opposition INDIA bloc in the Lok Sabha elections and the BJP will be limited to 150 seats. Yadav said the winds of change will start blowing from Ghaziabad in western Uttar Pradesh to Ghazipur and the BJP will be given a grand farewell in the Lok Sabha elections. "We have to ensure that not a single vote is divided in the Lok Sabha polls," Yadav said. Criticising the now-scrapped electoral bonds, Gandhi said the prime minister claims that the scheme was brought to bring transparency in poll funding but then why was it struck down by the Supreme Court. "The electoral bonds scheme is the biggest extortion scheme in the world. India's businessmen kn
It is said elections are fought on emotions and they are an art more than science, but the rise of poll strategists would suggest otherwise
Of the 35 candidates in the fray for the five Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam going to the polls on April 19, fifteen are 'crorepati' with the richest being independent woman candidate Diluwara Begum Chowdhury from the Kaziranga seat. The five Lok Sabha constituencies going to the polls on April 19 are Jorhat, Kaziranga, Dibrugarh, Sonitpur and Lakhimpur. Five BJP candidates, three of Congress, two of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), one each of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) and Bharatiya Gana Parishad (BGP) and three independents have assets over Rs one crore, according to the affidavits filed by candidates. The average assets of AAP candidates are the highest at Rs six crore, followed by the BJP candidates at over Rs four crore, the Congress at Rs three crore, the AITC and the BGP at Rs one crore each. Independent candidate Diluwara Begum Chowdhury who owns fuel stations has total assets of over Rs 17.58 crore, comprising Rs 4.65 crore as movable and Rs 12.92 crore as immovable
The Election Commission has asked KCR to explain his stand in respect to his remarks by 11 am on April 18
General announcement of "freebies" during the elections must be "pondered" as to whether it furthers directive principles or thwarts their objectives, NHRC chairperson Justice (retd) Arun Kumar Mishra said on Tuesday. Mishra said this in his address during an event here. He also said the constitutional mandate is to form a uniform civil code, which is "necessary to abolish discrimination" against women. Women are provided safety, security and dignity in the workplace, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) chief was quoted as saying in a statement. "To empower women, we have to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women on the grounds of gender, particularly in respect of education, employment, inheritance and property. World over, women are discriminated against for civil rights, and there is a necessity for a standard civil code to make men and women equal by clearly defining the parameters of gender equality. Women must enjoy social equality, improved status and ...
BJP has filed 51 complaints, Congress 59 and other parties 90 with the Election Commission
India, with nearly a billion eligible voters, will commence the world's largest electoral exercise on April 19