Page 25 - Election Commission

Over 15 million eligible to vote in Delhi's Lok Sabha elections on May 25

Lok Sabha elections 2024: All 7 Lok Sabha seats in Delhi will go to polls in a single phase on May 25

EC directs 'X' to take down Karnataka BJP's animated clip on Muslim quota

In a letter to the nodal officer of 'X', the EC took exception to the non-compliance of the directive of the Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer to the social media platform for taking down the video

Free breakfast to diamond rings, EC on overdrive to boost voter turnout

In Kashmir, the state EC counducted henna art and rangoli competitions for first time women voters, and held awareness programmes in colleges

Anonymous hoardings still cropping up in Delhi: EC prods CEO to take action

Amid complaints, including those by the Congress, the Election Commission has reminded the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) to take action against anonymous political hoardings. In a letter to the CEO of Delhi, the poll authority said it had been receiving representations from various stakeholders, including political parties, regarding anonymous election hoardings at authorised and unauthorised sites in the national capital. Anonymous political or election hoardings or advertisements are those which do not bear on their face the names and addresses of the printer and the publisher -- a violation of the electoral laws and the provisions of the Model Code of Conduct. The poll panel reminded the CEO of the various legal provisions and its instructions, including the one issued as recently as in March, to deal with such advertisements. "All these instructions are to be followed scrupulously in letter and spirit while dealing with the complaints referred to above," the EC told the p

Women of Guwahati LS seat seek better future for kids, secure environment

From aspiration of a better future for their children to the hope that the government will "work for the people" to appeal for a secure environment for office-goers, women voted with diverse issues in mind in Assam's Guwahati constituency on Tuesday, where two female candidates are locked in a direct fight. As polling for the prestigious seat commenced along with three other constituencies in the third and final phase in the state, voters braved inclement weather to exercise their right of franchise. Women, who outnumber men by over 34,000 in terms of total voters in Guwahati, had their agenda in mind while choosing their representatives. Out of the total 20,36,846 voters in Guwahati, 10,35,588 are women, 10,01,200 are men and 58 are from the third gender. BJP is seeking to retain the seat for the fourth consecutive term through its candidate Bijuli Kalita Medhi, while the Congress has fielded Mira Barthakur Goswami. Guwahati has been represented by a woman BJP MP since 2009. It

LS polls 2024: PM Modi hails EC for peaceful conduct of first two phases

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday congratulated the Election Commission for conducting the first two phases of Lok Sabha polls with hardly any violence and asked the people to come out in large numbers to vote. He said violence during elections was very common in the past. After casting his vote at Nishan School in Ranip area of Ahmedabad city under the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency in Gujarat, PM Modi also said the way the Indian elections are being conducted could be a learning process for other democracies. "Matdaan samanya daan nahi hai, hamare desh main daan ka mahatva hai (voting is not a common gift, in our country importance is given to donation). People of the country should vote in large numbers keeping this feeling in their hearts," Modi told reporters. The third phase of voting is underway on Tuesday and campaigning will go on for almost three weeks and four more phases of polling, he noted. "As a voter from Gujarat, I have been voting here (Nishan School) f

BJP an 'autocratic regime, drunk with power': Congress Chief Kharge

Lok Sabha elections 2024: Ruling party will 'go to any extent to stay in the chair', Mallikarjun Kharge says as India votes for Phase 3 of elections

Election Commission's credibility at all-time low: Kharge to INDIA partners

Lok Sabha elections 2024: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge writes a letter to INDIA alliance leaders raising concerns on voting data discrepancies and registered voters' list by the ECI

LS polls: ECI censures Jagan Mohan, Chandrababu Naidu for flouting MCC

The Election Commission on Monday censured YSRCP supremo and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and opposition leader N Chandrababu Naidu for violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), directing them to remain careful during public utterances. The poll body recognised that both the leaders have violated the provisions of the MCC by attacking each other with derogatory personal attacks during public addresses while electioneering in the southern state over the past several days. Therefore, the Commissionstrongly censures Jagan Mohan Reddy, president, YSRCP with the direction to remain careful in his public utterances in the future, said Avinash Kumar, Principal Secretary, Election Commission, in an order addressed to the chief minister. Kumar issued a similar order to Telugu Desam Party (TDP) supremo Naidu. The Election Commission took note of Reddy hurling taunts such as habitual offender', rogue', sadist', and others at Naidu, including portraying him as a villaino

Remove fake content from social media within 3 hours: EC tells parties

The Election Commission (EC) on Monday directed political parties to remove fake content from their social media platforms within three hours of such content being brought to their notice. This is part of directives issued by the poll panel to political parties for responsible and ethical use of social media in election campaigning to ensure a level playing field for all stakeholders after taking cognisance of certain violations by them. Recently, deepfake videos featuring Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and actors Aamir Khan and Ranveer Singh posted on certain social media handles were taken down and criminal complaints were filed. The EC also warned the parties against misuse of artificial intelligence-based tools to create deepfakes that distort information or propagate misinformation and emphasised the need to uphold the integrity of the electoral process. "Taking cognizance of certain violations of MCC and the extant legal provisions by Political ..

LS polls 2024: SC grants bail to Umar Ansari in violation of MCC case

The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to Umar Ansari, son of late gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, in a criminal case registered against him during the 2022 assembly elections for alleged violation of the model code of conduct. A bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and PK Mishra asked Umar to appear before the trial court in connection with the case. On January 25, the top court had granted him protection from arrest in the case. The Allahabad High Court on December 19 last year had rejected the anticipatory bail application of Ansari, and said that looking at the facts and circumstances of the case, the offence is made out. An FIR was lodged on March 4, 2022 at Kotwali police station in Mau district against Abbas Ansari (SBSP candidate from Mau Sadar seat), Umar Ansari and 150 unknown people. It was alleged in the FIR that on March 3, 2022 at Pahadpura ground, Abbas Ansari, Umar Ansari, and organiser Mansoor Ahmad Ansari in a public meeting called for settling a score w

Why India's voter turnout is low and improving it will be complicated

Its numbers trail those of several developing countries like Indonesia and Brazil

Pvt helicopter going to pick Shiv Sena (UBT) leader tilts in Maha's Raigad

The pilot of a helicopter was injured after it tilted during landing in Maharashtra's Raigad district on Friday, a police official said. The chopper was scheduled to pick Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sushma Andhare for a public rally in connection with the ongoing Lok Sabha polls, he said. The helicopter got tilted when the pilot tried to land on a makeshift helipad at Mahad around 9.30 am, he said. While the pilot suffered injuries, the helicopter's rotor blades got damaged in the incident, he said, citing preliminary findings.

Lok Sabha elections: 1,351 candidates in fray for phase 3, says EC

As many as 1,351 candidates from 12 states and union territories are in the fray for the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections on May 7, the Election Commission said on Tuesday. These include eight candidates from Betul seat of Madhya Pradesh, where the election was to be held in the second phase but was postponed to the third following the death of the BSP candidate, the EC said in a statement. BJP candidate from Surat seat in Gujarat Mukesh Dalal has been elected unopposed. The last date for the withdrawal of candidature for all 12 states and union territories was April 22. A total of 2,963 nominations were filed for 95 seats, including Betul. After the scrutiny of all nominations, 1,563 were found to be valid. In the third phase, Gujarat had the maximum of 658 nomination forms from 26 parliamentary constituencies, followed by Maharashtra with 519 nominations from 11 seats, according to the EC. Osmanabad constituency in Maharashtra received the maximum of 77 nomination forms,

LS polls 2024: AAP delegation meets EC over its LS polls campaign song

A delegation of senior AAP leaders on Tuesday met the Election Commission (EC) over the Delhi poll panel asking the party to modify its campaign song, and asserted that there was "nothing objectionable" in its lyrics. The party on Sunday had claimed that the commission has "banned" its Lok Sabha campaign song "Jail Ka Jawab, Vote Se Denge", but officials of the Delhi poll body had said the AAP was asked to modify the contents of the song since it violated EC's guidelines and advertising codes. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) delegation included Delhi ministers Saurabh Bharadwaj and Atishi, national secretary Pankaj Gupta and senior leader Dilip Pandey. After meeting the EC, Bharadwaj said they told the commission that many objectionable hoardings had been put up by the BJP all over Delhi for about a month. "In these hoardings, opposition leaders, especially (AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister) Arvind Kejriwal, have been shown in an objectionable manner through pictures. We ha

HC says 'it trusts EC' to take steps to stop deepfake videos' circulation

The ECI told Delhi high court that the videos of Amit Shah, Rahul Gandhi, Aamir Khan, and Ranveer Singh, referred to in the petition, have been taken down and criminal complaints have been filed

Seek votes on performance, not through 'hate speeches': Kharge to PM Modi

In a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday said when the elections are over, people will only remember him as the PM who indulged in "divisive and communal speeches filled with lies" to avoid an inevitable defeat. Kharge urged the prime minister to seek votes on the performance of his government over the last ten years instead of indulging in "hate speeches". The Congress president made the remarks in a letter to Prime Minister Modi in which he rebutted the attack and charges levelled against his party in the PM's letter to NDA candidates after the second phase of the Lok Sabha polls. Prime Minister Modi has asked the BJP-led NDA candidates in the Lok Sabha polls to spread awareness among voters about the Congress's intention to snatch "reservation from SC, ST and OBC communities and give it away to their vote bank". In a personal letter written to them, Modi also accused the Congress and its allies of having divisive and

LS polls 2024: EC increases polling time in Telangana in view of heat wave

The Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday increased the polling time for the Lok Sabha elections in Telangana by an hour in view of heat wave conditions prevailing in the state. The new timing would be 7 am to 6 pm against the earlier 7 am to 5 pm. Polling for all 17 Lok Sabha seats in the state will be held on May 13 in the fourth round of the seven-phase elections. While the extended time for voting will be applicable in all assembly segments of 12 Lok Sabha constituencies, in the remaining five parliamentary seats, the timing will apply in certain assembly segments, according to a notification issued by the commission. The hours of polling will be 7 am to 6 pm in the Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Zahirabad, Medak, Malkajgiri, Secunderabad, Hyderabad, Chevella, Mahabubnagar, Nagarkurnool (SC), Nalgonda and the Bhongir Lok Sabha seat, it said. The new timing will also be applicable in five assembly segments of the Adilabad Lok Sabha seat, three of Peddapalle seat, six of Warangal (SC) s

EC bars KCR for 48 hours from campaigning for remarks against Congress

The Election Commission on Wednesday reprimanded Bharat Rashtra Samithi president K Chandrashekar Rao and barred him from campaigning for 48 hours for his "objectionable" remarks against the Congress. The EC said his remarks at a press conference Sircilla on April 5 were violative of the provisions of the model code of conduct and its advisories. The English transcript of his statement provided by the EC in its order shows he used invectives against the Congress which rules Telangana. The 48-hour ban of the former Telangana chief minister comes into force at 8 pm on Wednesday. After Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala, Rao is the second politician to be banned from campaigning for 48 hours in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. In his reply to a show-cause notice issued by the poll authority, Rao had claimed that his words were "twisted". He also said the local poll officials could not follow the local Telugu dialect. The order served on him reminded that Rao had violated the po

EC revises protocol on storage of symbol loading units after SC verdict

The Election Commission has come out with a new protocol for handling and storage of symbol loading units following the directions of the Supreme Court which had ordered that the machines should be sealed and secured in a container and stored in a strongroom along with the EVMs at least for 45 days post the declaration of results. In a statement on Wednesday, the poll authority said all state chief electoral officers have been directed to create necessary infrastructure and provisions to implement the new protocols for handling and storage of the symbol loading units (SLUs). "As mandated by the Supreme Court, the revised protocols are applicable in all cases of completion of the symbol loading process in the VVPATs undertaken on or after May 1, 2024," the Commission said. The top court had on Friday last issued directions to seal and store symbol loading units and also paved the way for verification of micro-controllers embedded in the electronic voting machines (EVMs) on the reques