Page 37 - Election Commission

Polling in 7 phases in West Bengal proves EC is 'long arm of govt': Sibal

Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Sunday said the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal is an evidence that the Election Commission is "a long arm of the government". Sibal also raised questions over the appointment of two election commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu recently, saying they were appointed despite the fact that there is a Constitution bench judgment stating that the Chief Justice of India (CJI) should also be a member of the committee that recommends the names of appointees. "As far as the seven phases (of the Lok Sabha polls in the country) are concerned, that was expected," he told PTI Videos. "In fact the way they appointed these two election commissioners despite the fact that there is a Constitution bench judgment saying that the CJI should also be a member of the committee. The way they have discarded the Constitution bench decision despite the challenge pending in the Supreme Court and the way they preponed the appointment, only shows that

Plea seeks details of electoral bonds sold from Mar 1, 2018 to Apr 11, 2019

A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking disclosure of the details of electoral bonds sold from March 1, 2018, to April 11, 2019, saying voters are entitled to know funding to political parties for the entire period since the start of the scheme. In a landmark verdict last month, the top court scrapped the Centre's electoral bonds scheme that allowed anonymous political funding calling it "unconstitutional" and ordered the State Bank of India (SBI), the authorised financial institution under the scheme, to submit the details of the bonds purchased from April 12, 2019 to February 15, 2024 to the Election Commission of India (ECI). A new application, filed by Citizen's Rights Trust, has submitted that 9,159 bonds worth Rs 4,002 crore have been sold between March 2018 to April 2019 which should also be disclosed. The petition seeks a direction to the SBI to share the details of electoral bonds sold and redeemed from March 1, 2018, to April 11, 2019, including the alphanumeric

25,000 CAPF personnel to be deployed for 1st phase polling in West Bengal

Around 25,000 central forces personnel will be deployed for the elections in the three Lok Sabha constituencies in northern West Bengal in the first phase on April 19, an official said on Saturday. Polling will be held in Cooch Behar, Alipurduar and the Jalpaiguri Lok Sabha seats in the first phase. "Around 250 companies of central forces will be deployed in the first phase of elections on April 19. There will be a control room in each of the districts, and senior officers will be in charge of those," the official said. One company of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) consists of around 100 personnel, meaning that around 25,000 personnel will be deployed for elections in these three seats. Chief Electoral Officer Ariz Aftab said all steps were being taken to ensure a free, fair and peaceful election in the state. "No disturbances will be tolerated," he said. He also urged leaders to have "control" over the statements they make during campaigning. "The Election Commission will

EC to use two laws to tackle misinformation during Lok Sabha election

The Election Commission will use a two-pronged strategy to deal with misinformation and fake narratives on social media during the Lok Sabha polls, with Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar asserting that the poll body will "join the issue" to provide the correct picture to voters. Addressing a press conference to announce the schedule for elections to the 18th Lok Sabha, Kumar said the commission will soon launch a "Myth vs Reality" project to clear the air around fake news being spread on social media. "Misinformation troubles us a lot during elections. We are conscious of two facts -- that social media helps us in our outreach programmes and there is freedom to criticise anybody in a democracy. But one cannot be allowed to create fake news, which is not based on facts because it can disturb public order," he said. Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kumar said that under sections 69 and 79 (3) of the IT Act, authorities in each state are empowered to ask to take down fake social

Highlights of the day: LS election counting on Jun 4 after 6 wks of voting

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Lok Sabha elections 2024: Voting schedule extends six days longer than 2019

Polling for 543 Lok Sabha constituencies will be conducted in seven phases, between April 19 and June 1, followed by counting of votes on June 4

Lok Sabha election 2024: 12 states have more women voters than men, says EC

Twelve states have more women voters than men, with a total of 47.1 crore females registered in the electoral roll in the country, the Election Commission said on Saturday. Addressing a press conference on elections to Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said gender ratio is 948 women to 1000 men in the country which is a "very healthy sign" of women participation in the electoral cycle. "There are 12 such states where the gender ratio is over 1000 which means that number of women voters is more than males and 1.89 crore new voters have joined, out of them in the age group of 18-19 years there are 85.3 lakh women electors so they are going side by side so that is a very healthy sign that women are also participating equally in our elections," he said. He did not give names of the states. Lok Sabha elections will be held in seven phases beginning from April 19 and results will be announced on June 4, Kumar said. The other phases will

Assembly elections: Schedule for Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Arunachal, Sikkim

Election Commission announces dates for state Assemblies which will be conducted alongside the Lok Sabha poll, from April 19

Lok Sabha elections: Polling to be held in 7 phases, result on June 4

Voting will begin on April 19 till June 1 in seven phases. The counting of votes will take place on June 4

Lok Sabha elections 2024 Phase 4: Voting on May 13, full details here

Lok Saha polls 2024: 96 constituencies in 10 states and Union territories will go to polls in the fourth phase of the 2024 general elections

Assembly polls in J&K to be held after Lok Sabha election: CEC Rajiv Kumar

The Assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir will be held after the Lok Sabha polls as organising both simultaneously is not viable from the security point of view, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar said on Saturday as he announced the schedule of the general election and some Assembly and bypolls. The Lok Sabha polls will be held in seven phases beginning from April 19 and the results will be announced on June 4. Asked why Assembly polls are not being held in Jammu and Kashmir along with the Lok Sabha election, the CEC said forces have to be provided to every candidate in the Union Territory, which is not possible at a time when elections are being held across the country. He also said the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act was amended in December 2023 after a delimitation exercise and the clock had started ticking for the Election Commission (EC) since then. "The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act was passed in 2019. There was a provision for 107 seats, 24 of which

Lok Sabha elections 2024 Phase I: Voting on April 19; check details here

Lok Sabha polls 2024: 21 states and Union territories will go to polls in the first phase of the 2024 general elections

Lok Sabha elections 2024 Phase 2: Voting on April 26, details here

89 constituencies in 13 states and Union territories will go to polls in the second phase of the 2024 general elections

Round 14 of India-UK FTA talks put on hold ahead of election schedule

The 14th round of the free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations between India and the UK has now closed, with formal negotiations being put on hold as India heads into election campaign mode as the general election schedule is announced on Saturday. According to UK officials familiar with the discussions, a lot of progress has been made but the teams are not in a position to conclude an agreement which led to the Round 14 closing on Friday. The next round of formal trade talks can commence only after the Lok Sabha polls have concluded. The India-UK FTA negotiations, which opened in January 2022, are aimed at securing an ambitious outcome for bilateral trade currently worth around GBP 38.1 billion a year as per official statistics from last month. We anticipate that while some talks might happen between rounds, the next round of negotiations will take place after the Indian elections, official sources in the UK said. Neither side is walking away from talks. It's just that we don't h

Congress demands Supreme Court monitored probe on electoral bonds issue

Stepping up its attack on the government over the electoral bonds issue, the Congress on Saturday alleged that thousands of crores have been "extorted" from corporate India and asserted that the need for a Supreme Court-monitored independent probe is pressing. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the BJP's four "corrupt tactics" -- "Chanda Do, Dhandha Lo (give donations, get business), Hafta Vasuli (extortion), Theka Lo-Rishvat Do (get contracts after paying bribe), Farzi Company - Dakait Sangni (loot through shell companies) -- emerged after a quick first analysis of the data on the "electoral bond scam". These four patterns of corruption that have emerged are of grave concern and the need for a Supreme Court-monitored independent probe is pressing, Ramesh said in a post on X. "In fact, since yesterday, we have seen dozens of examples of these kinds of corruption emerge. Thousands of crores have been extorted and extracted from corporate India, and thousands of crores of

Before LS poll announcement, Andhra govt orders releasing DA to employees

Less than 24 hours before the announcement of the Lok Sabha and Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections schedule, the state government issued orders for releasing dearness allowance (DA) to employees pertaining to multiple time periods. Special Chief Secretary (Finance) Shamsher Singh Rawat issued a government order (GO) on Friday night for the release of DA to government employees for the period from July 1, 2019 to December 31, 2021. He issued orders for the release of DA with effect from January 1, 2022 to eligible government employees. Also, the Special Chief Secretary said the government has issued orders to release DA raising it from 22.75 per cent to 26.39 per cent of the basic pay with effect from July 1, 2022. Similarly, the state government issued orders to revise the DA for government employees from 26.39 per cent to 30.03 per cent of the basic pay with effect from January 1, 2023. The state government issued orders to revise DA rates with respect to employees drawing revised

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SC orders SBI to disclose full electoral bond data to EC by 5 pm on Mar 16

The Supreme Court granted the EC's request for the unique identification numbers that will help link donors to the donations made to political parties under the now-scrapped electoral bond scheme

Electoral bonds data proves BJP is most corrupt party: RJD's Manoj Jha

Senior RJD leader Manoj Jha on Friday alleged that the data on electoral bonds has proved that the ruling BJP at the Centre is "the most corrupt political party in the history" of the country. Jha, the party's national spokesperson, also claimed that the data, which has been put up on the Supreme Court's website, flies in the face of the "nationalistic pretensions" of the BJP, while lending credence to the charge that central investigating agencies were being misused for political ends. "The data shows that shortly after the Pulwama terror attack, a Pakistani agency purchased electoral bonds. So much for the nationalistic pretensions of the BJP, which stands exposed as the most corrupt party in the history of Independent India," Jha told PTI video. The Rajya Sabha MP also pointed out that "a private company was raided by the Enforcement Directorate and, a few days later, it ended up purchasing electoral bonds. Anybody can join the dots and make out what the so-called largest politic

Electoral bonds: BJP received more funds than the next 6 parties combined

The ruling party received Rs 6,060 crore in electoral bonds, constituting 47% of the total donations, followed by TMC Rs 1,609.50 crore (12.6%) and Congress Rs 1,421.9 crore (11.1%)