Page 26 - Elections

Rabri Devi files nomination for legislative council polls on last day

Former Bihar CM Rabri Devi on Monday filed nomination papers for election to the state legislative council, besides three other candidates of her RJD and one of alliance partner CPI(ML) Liberation. Three candidates of the BJP, including former minister and state unit chief Mangal Pandey, also filed their nomination papers. Rabri Devi reached the Vidhan Sabha secretariat along with her husband Lalu Prasad, the RJD president, and sons Tejashwi Yadav and Tej Pratap Yadav. The other RJD candidates who filed nomination papers were Abdul Bari Siddiqui, Syed Faisal Ali and Urmila Thakur. CPI(ML) Liberation's Shashi Yadav also filed nomination papers. Tejashwi Yadav, a former Deputy CM and the leader of multi-party Mahagathbandhan, told reporters, "It is a matter of delight that our coalition has fielded three women." While Yadav's mother is seeking re-election to the upper house for a third consecutive term, Siddiqui, a veteran leader, has had a three-year-long stint in the council in th

Kharge as PM candidate: A pre-election gambit

Umbrella parties with no fundamental commitment to OBC or Dalit politics are not known to have gained electorally from such opportunistic pivoting

Blues after the pink slip: BRS preparing to come back strongly in Telangana

But Congress and BJP are not giving it any breathing space. Aditi Phadnis reports from Hyderabad

Highlights of the day: Naidu-Pawan Kalyan seal alliance with BJP

From govt's decision to cut LPG cylinder prices to Rahul Gandhi's poll promises, catch all the latest news from around the world here

Cong expresses 'deep concern' over election commissioner Goel's resignation

The Congress on Saturday expressed "deep concern" over Election Commissioner Arun Goel's resignation, alleging that there is absolutely "no transparency" in how a constitutional institution like the Election Commission has been functioning and the manner in which the government "pressures" it. Goel resigned on Saturday, days before the expected announcement of the schedule for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. His tenure was till December 5, 2027, and he would have become Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) after incumbent Rajiv Kumar retired in February next year. Congress general secretary organisation K C Venugopal said in a post on X, "It is deeply concerning for the health of the world's largest democracy that Election Commissioner Mr. Arun Goel has resigned on the cusp of the Lok Sabha elections." There is absolutely "no transparency" in how a constitutional institution like the ECI has been functioning and the manner in which the government pressures it, he said. During the 2019

Disqualified MLAs moved like they are being shepherded: Himachal CM Sukhu

Firing a fresh salvo at the six disqualified Congress MLAs, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Saturday said they are being driven from one place to other like a shepherd herds a flock. Six Himachal Pradesh Congress MLAs who voted against party nominee Abhishek Manu Singhvi in the Rajya Sabha elections, along with three Independent lawmakers, have shifted to a hotel in BJP-ruled Uttarakhand amid an ongoing rebellion against Sukhu. Addressing a public meeting at in Mandi, Sukhu said the BJP is shepherding the six disqualified Congress MLAs, who betrayed the party, from one place to another, according to a statement. He also asked why the BJP kept the rebels MLAs in a hotel in Haryana's Panchkula before flying them to Dehradun in a chartered plane and lodging them in a seven-star hotel in Rishikesh. "These MLAs breached the trust of the people of their constituencies and the party by not listening to the call of conscience," he said. Sukhu added that the publi

Election Commissioner Arun Goel resigns weeks ahead of Lok Sabha polls

Election Commissioner Arun Goel resigned on Saturday, days before the expected announcement of the schedule for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. His tenure was till December 2027. According to a law ministry notification, Goel's resignation has been accepted by President Droupadi Murmu with effect from Saturday. It was not immediately known why he stepped down. Goel, a retired bureaucrat, was a 1985-batch IAS officer of the Punjab cadre. He had joined the Election Commission in November 2022. Following the retirement of Anup Pandey in February and Goel's resignation, the three-member EC panel has now only Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar.

Rahul should contest Lok Sabha polls from seat challenging BJP: D Raja

Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary D Raja on Saturday said a leader of Rahul Gandhi's stature should contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls from a seat where he can directly challenge the ruling BJP, even as he said it is a political party's prerogative to decide who would it field from a seat. The remarks came a day after the Congress announced that Gandhi will contest the parliamentary polls, likely to be held in April-May, from Wayanad in Kerala, the seat he currently represents in the Lok Sabha. CPI's Annie Raja, wife of D Raja, has been fielded as the Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate from Wayanad. Asked about the Congress's decision to field Gandhi from Wayanad, Raja said, "Within the LDF, the CPI has got four seats to contest and Wayanad is one of those, so we have announced our candidate. Secondly, it is the prerogative of any political party to choose its candidate from a constituency. In this case, it is the prerogative of the Congress." However, he pointe

What's stopping PM Modi from visiting strife-torn Manipur, asks Cong

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Assam's Kaziranga National Park, the Congress on Saturday attacked the Centre over the "increasingly disturbed" situation in different parts of the Northeast, and asked why the PM had not found time to visit the violence-hit Manipur yet. Prime Minister Modi took the elephant and jeep safari inside Assam's Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve on Saturday morning In a swipe at Modi, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, "We're glad that the Prime Minister has found time amidst his various travels to spend today morning in Kaziranga, an iconic national park which owes much to the great interest shown both by Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi." However, beyond Kaziranga, there are four questions for him on the "increasingly disturbed" situation in different parts of the Northeast of India, he said. "On June 19th, 2020, at the all-party meet on China, the Prime Minister declared that not a single Chinese ...

Mandates and swings

People in democracies need a sense of uncertainty in order to be convinced that their voice and their vote matter

UK trade minister Badenoch doesn't see Indian election as deadline for FTA

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking to win a third term, with the official election campaign expected to begin in the coming weeks

Cong's poll body meets to finalise 1st list of candidates for LS elections

The top leadership of the Congress is attending a meeting in the national capital on Thursday to finalise the party's candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chief Sonia Gandhi and general secretary, organisation, K C Venugopal, as well as other senior leaders who are part of the Congress' Central Election Committee (CEC) were present at the meeting. Finalising candidates for Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Telangana, Lakshadweep, Kerala, Meghalaya, Tripura, Sikkim and Manipur, among others, is expected to be discussed during the meeting. The Congress has not declared any candidate so far. Last week, the BJP came out with its first list of 195 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections. Congress sources said the party is likely to declare its first list of candidates soon to enable the candidates to start their poll campaign. Speculation is rife over Rahul Gandhi's candidature from Amethi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's from Rae

Pak elections this year were less fair than two previous polls: Report

A Pakistan independent organisation on Wednesday stated that the latest general elections were less fair than the two previous polls and demanded an independent probe into the allegation of electoral fraud. The Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT) issued a report detailing its assessment of the recently concluded general election, expressing deep concerns over a decline in fairness. Overall, the quality of General Election 2024 has scored 49% which is not only below 50% score but is also lower than the overall score of the past two elections 52% for GE-2018 and 57% for GE-2013 indicating greater concerns about the quality of the most recent General Election, PILDAT said in its report titled General Election 2024 Records Lowest Fairness Score Since 2013'. These overall scores, particularly the steady decline in them since 2013, are emblematic of the weakening of the democratic processes in general and electoral system in particular in Pakistan and

GDP vagaries in election years: There are valid explanations for variations

But, in an election year, questions will be raised whether non-economic factors are at play

'Modi ka Parivar': BJP's viral social campaign ahead of 2024 general elections

On Monday, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders suffixed their social media profiles with the phrase “Modi ka parivar” to proclaim that they were Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s family members. Watch t

Shehbaz Sharif becomes Pakistan's Prime Minister for a second time

Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday became the prime minister of Pakistan for a second time to lead a coalition government after he comfortably won a majority in the newly-elected Parliament. Shehbaz, 72, who was the consensus candidate of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), received 201 votes in the 336-member house.

Kuwait to hold polls on Apr 4, latest round of voting after yrs of turmoil

Kuwait said Saturday it will hold elections for its national assembly on April 4, its latest round of voting after years of political turmoil. The state-run KUNA news agency made the announcement, citing a decree published by the oil-rich country's official gazette. In February, Kuwait's emir dissolved parliament after a lawmaker reportedly insulted the ruler. Domestic political disputes have been gripping Kuwait for years including the overhaul of Kuwait's welfare system which prevented the sheikhdom from taking on debt. That has left it with little in its coffers to pay bloated public sector salaries, despite generating immense wealth from its oil reserves. Parliament has been repeatedly dissolved after failing to move forward, with Kuwait's Constitutional Court in 2023 annulling a 2022 decree overturning another such annulment. The country's late emir then annulled that parliament again and held an election for a new parliament, which was annulled with the February ...

BJP fields 71% of its sitting MPs in list of 195 Lok Sabha candidates

Includes mix of veterans and new faces, drops underperformers

Rahul Gandhi's 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra' resumes from Dholpur district

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra resumed from Rajasthan's Dholpur district on Saturday afternoon. Gandhi, along with former chief minister Ashok Gehlot, Rajasthan AICC in-charge Sukhjinder Randhawa and other leaders started the yatra in the presence of a large number of party workers. He was in an open jeep, greeting the party workers who were carrying the party flag. The yatra, which resumed after a break of five days, will enter Madhya Pradesh from Rajasthan and the night halt will be in Gwalior, a party spokesperson said here.

LS polls: EC calls for action against officials indulging in favouritism

The Election Commission of India on Saturday directed all the district magistrates and superintendents of police to take strong action against officials, who are indulging in favouritism. The poll body's move comes in a bid to ensure "temptation free (inducement-mukt)" Lok Sabha elections and provide a level-playing field to all the political parties. Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said that directions have been issued to all the DMs and SPs to ensure level playing field for all the political parties, and to take strong action against those officials indulging in favouritism. "Ensure impartiality with junior officials working at cutting-edge level for level playing field. All the DEOs (District Election Officers) have been asked to immediately act on the complaint lodged by the political parties," Kumar told reporters in Lucknow. "At present, no complaint is pending and all the problems have been satisfactorily redressed," he said. Kumar, who was accompanied by Election .