Page 37 - Election Commission Of India

LS polls: 15 'crorepati' candidates in fray for five seats in Assam

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

Election Commission issues notice to BRS chief KCR over remarks on Congress

The Election Commission has asked KCR to explain his stand in respect to his remarks by 11 am on April 18

Freebies announced during elections a matter of concern: NHRC chief

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 ...

Elections 2024: ECI receives 200 complaints on code violations; acts on 169

BJP has filed 51 complaints, Congress 59 and other parties 90 with the Election Commission

Platform X withholds some posts in India after ECI's takedown order

India, with nearly a billion eligible voters, will commence the world's largest electoral exercise on April 19

Not found it correct to take step that could overlap legal process, says EC

Amid allegations by opposition parties that the government was misusing probe agencies to target its leaders, the Election Commission on Tuesday asserted that while it remains committed to protecting level playing field and campaign entitlement of parties and candidates, it has not found it correct to take any step that could overlap or overrun the legal judicial process. In a statement, the poll authority said it was guided by constitutional wisdom when presented with "live situations" involving political persons which have been under active consideration and orders of the courts based on criminal investigations. "While the Commission remained unwaveringly committed to protection of level playing field and campaign entitlement of political parties and candidates, it has not found it correct to take any step that could overlap or overrun the legal judicial process. Several political parties from the INDIA bloc had approached the poll panel, accusing the government of using probe ...

Lok Sabha polls: ECI has seized over Rs 100 crore per day since March 1

Lok Sabha polls: The Election Commission of India seized Rs 3,475 cr during the entire 2019 Lok Sabha polls. This time it has seized Rs 4,650 crore already

Worry takes root even as hope grows in fields of western Uttar Pradesh

Sugarcane farmers, whom Business Standard spoke to, shared that conditions have improved over the last decade; however, there are still unfulfilled needs

BJP's manifesto a collection of jumlas, INDIA bloc will win: Congress

Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee president Govind Singh Dotasra said the manifesto released by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is a "collection of jumlas". Dotasra said the manifesto neither has the actual report card of the BJP's 10 years of rule, nor does it present any vision for reducing the basic problems faced by the country's people such as inflation and unemployment. The BJP released its Lok Sabha poll manifesto - 'Sankalp Patra'- on Sunday, prioritising development and welfare while shunning populist measures and contentious issues like the NRC, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi pitching for electing a strong and stable government in an uncertain world. Pointing out that the BJP's manifesto is just a "collection of jumlas", Dotasra, in a statement, said people no longer have faith in the party's promises. The Congress leader added that the BJP will have to face a crushing defeat in the Lok Sabha elections and the INDI Alliance will form its government at the Centre w

EC seizes record $557 million in illicit cash, goods before LS elections

The commission has vowed to crack down on black money used to bribe voters in the world's biggest election, which kicks off on Friday

LS polls: Mamata dares I-T officials to check chopper of BJP leaders

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Monday dared the Income tax officials to check the chopper used by BJP leaders for the election campaign, a day after a row erupted over the TMC's claim of a "raid" by income tax officials targeting a helicopter used by party leader Abhishek Banerjee. Banerjee, while addressing a rally in Cooch Behar, alleged that the BJP is misusing central agencies against the TMC ahead of the elections. "Income Tax officials conducted a raid and searched Abhishek Banerjee's chopper before the trial run but found nothing. Those I-T officials claimed that we had inputs that there was money and gold in the chopper, but they found nothing. We don't engage in such acts. "It is the BJP that is involved in such things. But will the officials of the central agency ever dare to check BJP leaders' choppers," she said. The Trinamool Congress on Sunday said its general secretary Abhishek Banerjee's helicopter was raided by Income Tax officials in Kolkata's Behala flying clu

BJP's idea that India should have only one leader is insulting, says Rahul

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday accused the ruling BJP at the Centre of imposing the idea of "one leader in the country" and said it was an "insult" to the people of the nation. India is like a bouquet of flowers and each one has to be respected because it promotes the beauty of entire bouquet, the Wayanad MP said. "This idea that India should have only one leader is an insult to every single young Indian," he said. Gandhi was addressing party workers and voters in this high range constituency after a massive road show as part of his election campaign. He asked why India could not have more leaders and claimed that this line of thought is the main difference between the Congress and the BJP. The MP said the Congress wants to listen to the people of the country and love and respect their beliefs, language, religion, culture. But, the BJP wants to impose something from the top, he alleged. "We did not get freedom from the British to be colonised by the ideology of the

ECI permitted WB to pay ex-gratia to families affected by storm: Adhikari

Senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari on Monday claimed that the Election Commission has granted permission to the West Bengal government to pay ex-gratia to the families affected by the storm in Jalpaiguri district on March 31. He alleged that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee were telling lies to the people that the state government was not able to pay compensation to the families affected by the storm as the model code of conduct was in force and the Election Commission has not given permission for it. Adhikari, the Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, posted in his X handle the ECI letter dated April 9 granting NOC to the state government's proposal to pay ex-gratia to the families affected by the storm. "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time. The renowned pair of pathological and congenital liars of West

LS polls: U'khand to cast votes at over 11,000 polling booths on Apr 19

Notably, among the 543 Lok Sabha seats, Uttarakhand contributes just five seats

MCC nodal officer issues warning to Shashi Tharoor over 'unverified claims'

Tharoor claimed that Chandrasekhar was offering money to voters and religious leaders in exchange for votes

EC takes care of electoral rolls, not me: Owaisi on bogus votes allegation

Rejecting BJP Hyderabad Lok Sabha candidate K Madhavi Latha's allegation of about six lakh bogus votes in the constituency, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday said the Election Commission takes care of the issue of voters' lists. Owaisi, who is seeking re-election from Hyderabad constituency, wondered what his role was in the matter. The AIMIM leader said the process of addition of names and publication of final voters' list is carried out every year by the Election Commission which he does not head. He was responding to a query from reporters about Madhavi Latha's charge that Owaisi wins with the help of the six lakh bogus votes The allegation amounts to "abusing" the Election Commission, he added. "By speaking like this, you are insulting Hyderabad electorate, which includes brothers from backward class and Dalits, minority Muslims, Christians who are going out to vote. Because of their votes, every party is getting votes and AIMIM is successful," he told reporters. A

Special polling booths arranged for 5K voters displaced by Manipur violence

All arrangements to enable displaced people to vote have been made in accordance with the guidance received from the central government

Friends are foes, foes turned friends in Maharashtra's electoral battle

With parties breaking up and new alliances forming, Maharashtra is seeing head-spinning political realignments in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections where one-time colleagues have become rivals, and enemies have become allies. An illustration of this was on display at Union minister Amit Shah's rally in Nanded on Thursday where former chief minister Ashok Chavan and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Pratap Patil Chikhalikar shared the stage. Chikhalikar, then the MLA of undivided Shiv Sena from Loha in Latur district, joined the BJP in 2019 and went on to defeat sitting Congress MP Ashok Chavan from Nanded, a Congress bastion, in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections. Modi, at a campaign rally then, had targeted Chavan over the Adarsh society scam, while then chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had said Chavan was a "dealer and not a leader." Chavan joined the BJP in February this year, and became its Rajya Sabha member. He is now campaigning for Chikhalikar and other BJP candidates in the .

Lok Sabha polls: CSDS survey reveals dip in trust in Election Commission

The decline in the trust in poll body corresponds to doubts over the electronic voting machines and the alleged use of federal agencies by the ruling party for personal vendetta

Lok Sabha polls 2024: EC updates 'Form M' procedure for Kashmiri migrants

Kashmiri migrant voters in Jammu and Udhampur zones won't fill out Form M anymore; they'll be assigned 'special polling stations'