Page 26 - Election Commission

Election Commission declines to comment on PM Modi's Rajasthan poll speech

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the Congress party, if elected to power at the Centre, would distribute people's property, land and gold among Muslims

2024 Lok Sabha elections: Second phase to test BJP's poll dominance

Of the 87 seats, the BJP and its former allies won 62, or 71% of the seats, and another seat was won by its current ally, the JD(S) in the previous general election

LS polls: EC holds meeting to discuss measures to mitigate heatwave risks

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, along with Election Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu chaired the meeting

EC files FIR against Karnataka BJP official for illegally carrying cash

An FIR was registered on Sunday against BJP Office Secretary Lokesh Ambekallu and two others for illegally carrying Rs 2 crore cash in a car, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer said. The matter came to light on Saturday when the Static Surveillance Team (SST) of Chamrajpet intercepted a car here carrying cash of Rs 2 crore at 4.05 pm and intimated income tax officials, they said. According to the EC officials, the Income Tax department summoned office bearers of the BJP and concluded that there was no violation under IT laws as the source of the money was legitimate. But as per ECI (Election Commission of India) direction, cash more than 10,000 given to party functionaries and candidates' agents for political activities shall be done through cheque or online mode. ECI had also advised political parties not to carry huge amounts of cash. As there is a violation of ECI directions and the recipient's list was not produced, based on the suspicion that the money may be used for .

LS polls: Undercurrent in favour of INDIA gaining strength, says Congress

A day after polling for the first phase of the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress on Saturday claimed that the INDIA bloc is far ahead of the BJP and an undercurrent in favour of the coalition is gaining strength. Polling in the first phase of the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections covering 102 seats across 21 states and Union territories took place on Friday. In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "BJP's Graph: South Mein Saaf, North Mein Half! Here's what we know after the first phase of voting: In the first phase, voting was held on 102 seats in 21 states. Ground reports clearly show the INDIA coalition far ahead of BJP." "We have swept Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, and performed strongly in Bihar, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh," he claimed. Ramesh further said that the BJP's performance in key states has been "remarkably poor". "The BJP leadership is in panic due to these trends - the PM's tweet is an indication of the desperation in their camp," he claimed. Ram

LS polls: Over 200,000 complaints of election violation received in Kerala

: With Lok Sabha polls just six days away, a total of 2,09,661 complaints regarding violation of model code of conduct have been received in Kerala, of which action was taken in 2,06,152, Chief Electoral Officer Sanjay Kaul said here on Saturday. The complaints were received through the cVIGIL mobile app set up by the Election Commission. The complaints were received from March 16 to April 20 and 426 are currently being processed, Kaul said in a statement. Majority of the complaints received through the cVIGIL were related to unauthorised posters, banners, boards, wall writings, posters without mandatory information, property vandalism, unauthorized monetary transactions, use of vehicles without permission, distribution of alcohol, gifting, weapon display, and hate speeches. Of the total complaints received, 3,083 were dismissed as baseless, the statement said. The Chief Election Officer said that the public can send complaints about violations through the cVIGIL (Citizens Vigil)

D K Shivakumar faces police case for 'bribery, undue influence at polls'

An FIR has been registered against Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar for violation of the Model Code of Conduct for allegedly promising water supply in exchange of votes to residents of a housing society near here, the Election Commission said on Saturday. The matter came to light after the BJP approached the poll body seeking action against Shivakumar after a video of him seeking votes from the residents of a housing society in Bengaluru Rural Lok Sabha segment was shared widely on social media platforms. Taking to social media platform 'X', the office of the Chief Electoral Officer of Karnataka said that an FIR is lodged by the FST (Flying Squad Teams) of Bengaluru against Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar for violation of MCC while addressing apartment owners in RR Nagara. The FIR has been registered at RMC Yard police station under appropriate sections of the Indian Penal Code for bribery and undue influence at elections, it stated. In the video clip, Shivakumar

LS polls: Share of senior citizens in voting age population highest ever

Southern and Western parts ageing faster than the rest of the country

LS polls: K'taka BJP chief Vijayendra rubbishes 'dynasty politics' charge

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 ...

LS polls: 5K electors to cast votes for first time at former Maoist hotbed

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

As Lok Sabha elections phase 1 begins, Instagram encourages Indians to vote

Instagram sent an alert urging people to cast their votes in Lok Sabha elections 2024

Lok Sabha election 2024: How much does it cost to hold elections in India?

Based on previous years' trends, the 2024 election is expected to cost approximately double the amount of the last election, amounting to a staggering Rs 1,00,000 crore

Battleground 2024: Polls begin today, Gadkari to Sonowal on the ballot

Assemblies in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh to also hold elections

Lok Sabha elections: EC, India Inc team up to encourage people to vote

Tamil Nadu is set to vote for all constituencies today

Lok Sabha elections 2024 Phase-I: Here's how to download voter slip online

The Election Commission of India has already started sending the voter information slip (VIS) to registered voters whose names are in the electoral roll

SC reserves verdict on cross-verification of votes using EVMs with VVPAT

The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its verdict on a batch of pleas seeking complete cross-verification of votes cast using EVMs with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT). A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta reserved its verdict after hearing the response of Election Commission on the pleas. The petitioners have also sought reversal of the poll panel's 2017 decision to replace the transparent glass on VVPAT machines with an opaque glass through which a voter can see the slip only when the light is on for seven seconds. Senior advocate Maninder Singh, appearing for the Election Commission, explained the process of how an EVM functions. Advocate Prashant Bhushan and senior advocate Gopal Sankararanarayanan appeared for the petitioners. Other lawyers represented the intervenors. On April 16, the top court had deprecated criticism of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and calls for reverting to ballot papers, saying the electoral process in India is a "humongo

LS polls: Election officials climb hills, ford rivers to reach voters

The Election Commission has to set up more than 1 million polling stations for the nearly two-month duration, with 15 million officials and security personnel fanning out for the task

LDF to lodge complaint with EC over EVM wrongly recording votes for BJP

The CPI(M)-led LDF said on Thursday that it would lodge a complaint with the Election Commission over a few voting machines allegedly having recorded votes wrongly in favour of the BJP candidate during a mock poll conducted in Kasaragod Lok Sabha constituency. Talking to PTI, senior CPI(M) leader K P Satheesh Chandran alleged that there were instances where two or three voting machines exhibited such errors during the mock poll on Wednesday, and a complaint will be filed before the EC. CPI(M) leader M V Balakrishnan is contesting against Congress leader and current Kasaragod MP Rajmohan Unnithan and BJP's M L Ashwini in the constituency for the April 26 Lok Sabha polls.

TMC files complaint with Election Commission against Bengal Guv Ananda Bose

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.

EC's prior nod must for Goa mines dept to execute lease deed: Officials

Goa poll authorities have said it was binding on the state mines department to obtain prior permission of the Election Commission of India (ECI) to execute a lease deed during the period of the model code of conduct (MCC). State Additional Chief Electoral Officer Sunil Masurkar said this in a letter written to the ECI on Wednesday after an NGO complained that the Goa government and Vedanta Limited signed a lease deed on March 22 for the commencement of mining operations. This amounted to violation of the MCC, the Goa Foundation (NGO) claimed. The MCC came into effect on March 16 with the announcement of the Lok Sabha polls. Masurkar on Wednesday wrote to the ECI's principal secretary, claiming the reply filed by the state Directorate of Mines and Geology is "not satisfactory." "The reply filed by the Directorate of Mines and Geology is examined by this office and the same is found not satisfactory," the letter said. "It is observed that the mining lease deed executed by the Depar