Page 30 - Elections

No more elections will be held in India if Modi wins 2024 LS polls: Kharge

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday expressed apprehension that the 2024 Lok Sabha elections would be the last opportunity for the people to save democracy, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi might prefer dictatorship in case his party wins the upcoming polls. He urged people to keep away from the BJP and its ideologue RSS, alleging that they are "like poison". "This will be the last opportunity for the people to save democracy in India. If Narendra Modi wins another election, there will be dictatorship in the country," Kharge said while addressing a party rally. On the JD(U) of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar returning to the NDA leaving the Congress on Sunday, Kharge claimed it will not have any impact on the polls. "One person quitting Mahagathbandhan will not weaken us. We will defeat BJP," he said.

Russian authorities register Putin as candidate for March elections

Russia's election commission on Monday formally registered President Vladimir Putin as a candidate for the March presidential election, a vote in which he's all but certain to win another six-year term in office. Putin, 71, is running as an independent, but he retains tight control over Russia's political system that he has established during 24 years in power. With prominent critics who could challenge him either jailed or living abroad and most independent media banned, his re-election in the March 15-17 presidential vote looks all but assured. In 2018, Putin also ran as an independent, snubbing the United Russia party that nominated him to run in 2012. With his approval ratings hovering around 80 per cent, Putin is far more popular than United Russia, which is widely seen as a part of the Kremlin-controlled state bureaucracy rather than a political force. The Central Election Commission formally cleared Putin for the race after reviewing 315,000 signatures gathered by his campaig

CM Jagan sounds poll bugle, says target 100% Assembly, LS seats in state

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Saturday sounded the poll bugle for the YSR Congress party for the upcoming Assembly and Lok Sabha polls saying it is a 'Kurukshetra war' comparing himself with the Pandavas while the opposition TDP with the Kauravas (from the epic Mahabharatha). Addressing a rally of his party workers titled "Siddham" (Ready) at Bhimili near here, Jagan said the YSRCP Government has fulfilled 99 per cent of the poll promises unlike the TDP which has allegedly "dumped its manifesto in the dustbin." Seeking votes for the YSRCP in the coming elections, the CM said his government has disbursed Rs 2.53 lakh crore through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) without giving any scope for corruption and as many as 2.13 lakh government jobs were given in the past 56 months of his rule. "This a Kurukshetra war. This side Pandavas. That (opposition) side Kauravas. I am not Abhimanyu who was entangled in the Padmavyuham. I am Arjuna who was supported by you people

EC collaborates with Rajkumar Hirani for short film on voter awareness

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has collaborated with filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani for a short film to spread awareness about voting. Titled "My Vote My Duty", the short is compiled from video messages by cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar as well as actors Rajkummar Rao, Amitabh Bachchan, R Madhavan, Raveena Tandon, Vicky Kaushal, Boman Irani, Arshad Warsi, Bhumi Pednekar and Mona Singh. Hirani, who most recently directed Shah Rukh Khan-starrer "Dunki", has produced the short film, which was shared by the ECI on its official handle on microblogging site X on National Voters' Day on Thursday. It is directed by Sanjiv Kishinchandani. "A short film 'My Vote My Duty' produced by #ECI in association with @RajkumarHirani featuring several renowned celebrities on the theme 'Value of one vote' was released on #NVD2024," read the tweet. The film aims to address attitudinal barriers such as indifference and apathy, and inspire citizens to recognise the significance of their votes. "The mos

Lok Sabha polls: BJP appoints election in-charges for 23 states, UTs

The BJP on Saturday appointed election in-charges and co-in-charges for 23 states and Union territories in view of the Lok Sabha polls this year. BJP national general secretary Vinod Tawde has been made the election in-charge for Bihar, while BJP Rajya Sabha member and former Jharkhand unit chief Deepak Prakash will be the co-in-charge, according to a party statement. Tawde is the BJP's in-charge for political affairs in Bihar. The BJP has appointed vice president Baijayant Jay Panda as the election in-charge for Uttar Pradesh and national general secretary Dushyant Kumar Gautam as that of Uttarakhand. BJP national vice president and Rajya Sabha member Laxmikant Bajpai will be the election in-charge for Jharkhand, the statement said. The appointments have been made by BJP president J P Nadda in view of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, it said. BJP Rajya Sabha member and former Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb has been made the election in-charge for Haryana. BJP leader ..

2024 LS polls: 960 mn citizens, including 470 mn women, eligible to vote

Over 96 crore people, including 47 crore women, are eligible to cast vote in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, for which more than 12 lakh polling booths would be set up across India. Over 1.73 crore of those eligible to vote are in the age group of 18 to 19 years, according to Election Commission data. As many as 1.5 crore polling personnel will be deployed to ensure smooth conduct of the parliamentary elections to elect members of the 18th Lok Sabha. According to a 2023 letter sent by the EC to political parties, India had 17.32 crore registered voters in 1951, which rose to 19.37 crore in 1957. There were 91.20 crore voters in the 2019 polls. Out of the total voters registered in the electoral rolls, nearly 18 lakh are persons with disabilities. In the first Lok Sabha elections the voter turnout was recorded at 45 per cent. It was 67 per cent in the last parliamentary polls.

Pak SC gives relief to some leaders of Imran's party ahead of Feb 8 polls

In a relief to the jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf party, the Supreme Court on Friday allowed its president Parvez Elahi, and some other senior leaders to contest the February 8 general elections. A three-member bench heard Elahi's appeal against the rejection of his candidature by the Lahore High Court (LHC) and the election tribunal. The apex court also allowed other PTI leaders, Umar Aslam, Tahir Sadiq, Sanam Javed, and Shaukat Basra to contest the upcoming general elections. The beleaguered Khan and his PTI have suffered blow after blow ahead of the polls with the election commission snatching away its iconic cricket bat symbol and rejecting nomination papers of 71-year-old Khan and several top leaders on multiple grounds. The panel, after hearing the arguments, declared the decision to reject Elahi's nomination papers null and void and allowed him to contest the elections from a constituency of the Punjab assembly in his home province ...

Will he, won't he? Buzz on Nitish Kumar's BJP return amid INDIA rift

Union Home Minister Amit Shah himself sounded more open to such a possibility in a recent interview

Pakistani Taliban pledge not to attack election rallies ahead of Feb 8 vote

The Pakistani Taliban pledged Thursday not to attack election rallies, saying their targets are limited to the military and security forces, as political parties and independent candidates ramp up their campaigns ahead of the Feb 8 vote. We have nothing to do with these elections and the parties participating in them, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, said in a statement. Other militant groups have not made similar pledges, and some previous Pakistani elections have been marred by violence. Two-time former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was killed in a bomb attack in 2007 minutes after she addressed an election rally in the garrison city of Rawalpindi. Her son, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, is leading the campaign for her Pakistan People's Party. Thursday's rare pledge by the TTP came after the government approved the deployment of troops in sensitive constituencies after intelligence agencies warned that militants could target rallies, which are usually held outdoors in public ...

Rahul Gandhi to be arrested after Lok Sabha elections: Assam CM Sarma

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, against whom an FIR has been registered here on the charge of instigating violence will be arrested after the Lok Sabha elections, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Wednesday. The Assam police suo motu registered the FIR against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and several other leaders for wanton acts of violence here during the party's 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra' on Tuesday. 'We have filed an FIR. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) will conduct the investigation and he (Gandhi) will be arrested after the Lok Sabha elections', Sarma said on the sidelines of a programme at Nazira in Sibsagar district. The Lok Sabha elections are due within a few months in the country. Director General of Police G P Singh said that the case has been transferred to the Assam CID for a thorough investigation through an SIT to be constituted by the Additional Director General of Police (CID). Sarma had instructed the DGP to register a case against Gandhi for provo

Delhi's chief electoral officer rejects speculation over LS poll dates

The internal note circulated by the office of Delhi's Chief Electoral Officer with April 16 as the tentative "poll date" to help officials schedule various activities "in the build-up" to elections

Andhra Pradesh has 40.8 mn voters as per final electoral rolls 2024

The Election Commission on Monday published the final Special Summary Revision (SSR) of Electoral Rolls of Andhra Pradesh, pegging the total number of voters at 4.08 crore. Andhra Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Mukesh Kumar Meena said there are 2,00,74,322 male voters and 2,07,29,452 crore female voters in the state. There are 67,434 service electors and 3,482 third gender voters. The final electoral roll rose to 4,08,07,256 voters from 4,02,21,450 counted in the draft roll, he said. Following the rationalisation of upper limit of voters per polling station at 1,500, the total number of polling stations rose to 46,165 from 45,951 Accordingly, draft electoral rolls were published on October 27, 2023 as per the rationalized polling stations and claims and objections were received till December 9, 2023. After the disposal of these claims and objections, final electoral rolls have been published on January 22, 2024, said Meena in a press release. According to the CEO, 22,38,952

EC publishes Uttarakhand's final electoral roll with 8.24 mn voters

The final electoral roll of Uttarakhand published by the Election Commission of India on Monday showed a total voter count of 82,43,423 in the state. Of the total electorate, 42,70,597 are males, 39,72,540 are females and 286 third gender voters, according to the published data. Sharing the electoral roll figures at press conference here, Uttarakhand Chief Electoral Officer V Shanmugham said there are a total of 93,357 service voters in Uttarakhand, including 90,763 men and 2,594 women. The highest number of voters were recorded in the 30-39 age group at 22,44,926, followed by 17,04,523 electors in the 40-49 age group, 16,59,290 in 20-29 age group, 11,86,686 in 50-59 years. A total of 7,50,563 voters are in the 60-69 age group, 4,14,114 aged 70-79 years, 1,54,259 voters aged above 80 years, and 129,062 in 18-19 age cohort, he said. There are 11,729 polling stations in the state, of which 3,461 are in urban areas, while 8,268 in rural areas.

Women outnumber men by 67,028 in Manipur as final electoral roll published

Women outnumber men by 67,028 in Manipur, as the final photo electoral roll of the northeastern state published on Monday revealed. The final electoral roll also showed a drop of 31,231 voters as compared to the final roll of 2023. The number of voters in 2023 was 20,57,854 while it is 20,26,623 now, according to the final electoral rolls of the two years. "Manipur recorded 20,26,623 electors with 9,79,678 men, 10,46,706 women and 239 third gender voters as per the final rolls for 2024," Chief Electoral Officer Pradeep Kumar Sha said in a statement. The total number of newly enrolled electors is 34,700 with 15,596 men, 19,095 women and nine third-gender electors. The names of 16,509 were deleted from the rolls during the revision period, the statement said. Imphal West district recorded the highest number of electors (3,81,005) followed by Imphal East district (3,23,844). Jiribam district has the least number of voters - 30,776, according to the statement.

Lok Sabha polls: BJP to run mass connect programme between February 4-11

Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP will run a mass connect programme between February 4 and 11, with its 30 lakh members expected to reach out to seven lakh rural polling booths and all urban booths during the period. The BJP has named its rural outreach "Gaon Chalo", with party president J P Nadda launching a workshop for its members on Saturday. He told them to spread the message about the numerous successes of the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the last man, sources said. BJP members from its 37 organisational states attended the programme, with its leaders saying that similar training exercises will be held in its 988 organisational districts and 16,188 'mandals'.

More global money will flock to India post general elections: Goldman

India's stock benchmarks, trading at record highs, just clocked their eighth straight year of gains as investors bet on the country's booming economic growth prospects

Pakistan receives $700 million tranche from IMF ahead of elections

Ahead of the next month's elections, cash-strapped Pakistan on Wednesday confirmed that it received over USD 700 million second tranche from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under an existing USD 3 billion bailout package. The loan was part of a USD 3 billion bailout package agreed towards June last year when Pakistan was slowly drifting towards default. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) confirmed in a statement that it has received SDR 528 million (equivalent to $705.6 million) in value 16th January 2024 from IMF following successful completion of the first review by the Executive Board of IMF under Stand By Arrangement (SBA)." It further said that the disbursement will be reflected in SBP reserves for the week ending on January 19, 2024. The handing over of around $700 million brings the total disbursements under the SBA with the IMF to $1.9 billion, while another $1.1 billion will be provided in April as the two sides are set to complete the nine month program. The ...

Focus on voters at booth-level for electoral success, PM Modi to Kerala BJP

Prime Minister Narendra Modi provided guidance to party workers on Wednesday on winning over voters in Kerala, where the BJP has not made any major gains in elections till now. Addressing a gathering of around 6,000 in-charges of 'Shakti Kendras,' each comprising two to three booth-level areas, at Marine Drive, the prime minister said that Kerala has the potential to influence who will be in power in Delhi. He urged the BJP workers to ensure victory in their respective booths. "If we win our booths, we will win Kerala. For that you (party workers) have to focus your attention on every voter in every booth-level area and work hard. "You should have a list of every beneficiary in your booth, meet them, get to know their names, meet their families; that should be the first priority," Modi said. He further advised his party workers to include in the ongoing Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra in Kerala those who have not yet benefited from the central government's development and welfare ...

OpenAI to roll out new tools to thwart misinformation ahead of elections

For ChatGPT, OpenAI will enable people to get real-time information about current events using the chatbot

Owaisi opposes 'One Nation, One Election', writes to high-level committee

Expressing opposition to the idea of 'One Nation, One Election', AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday claimed that the proposal will be a "disaster" for Indian democracy and federalism and that it is a "solution searching for a problem". Owaisi, who wrote a letter to Niten Chandra, Secretary of a high-level committee (HLC) 'One Nation, One Election' that has called for suggestions for implementation of the idea, urged the "HLC to duly record the finding that simultaneous elections are neither constitutionally permissible nor necessary, nor viable". In a post on social media platform X, the Hyderabad MP said, "Wrote to the High Level Committee on One, One Election. #OneNationOneElection will be a disaster for Indian democracy & federalism. It is a solution searching for a problem." "I write to you to oppose the proposal of "One Nation, One Election" in my capacity as Member of Parliament and President of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen. I have appended my substantive ..