Page 31 - Elections

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Another resolution seeking delay in Feb 8 polls moved in Pakistan Senate

A resolution seeking a delay in the February 8 general election was moved in Pakistan's Senate on Sunday, two days after a similar resolution was submitted in the Parliament's upper house. The resolution, the third of its kind to be moved in the Senate, cited cold weather and security concerns for the postponement of the elections, Geo News reported. Tabled by independent Senator Hilal-ur-Rehman, the resolution said that extreme cold weather and snowfall would create difficulties for citizens to cast votes in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and create challenges for candidates trying to campaign. In the same way, due to security concerns in the country, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, candidates are facing threats of terrorist attacks while campaigning, it said. The resolution added that the security issue was also creating obstacles and limiting the participation of candidates in their campaigns, the Dawn newspaper reported. The resolution claimed that due to the increasing sen

Not contesting Lok Sabha elections, I am 90 now: Ex PM Deve Gowda

Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda on Saturday said he will not contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in view of his age. The 90-year-old JD(S) supremo said he will campaign for candidates in the elections. "I am not contesting the elections. I am now 90. Whichever seats we get, wherever it is necessary, I will go there. I have some strength to talk and have memory power. With that I will campaign," Gowda said in a press conference. Regarding JD(S) state president H D Kumaraswamy contesting the Lok Sabha elections, the former prime minister said no decision has been taken yet. He said whatever Prime Minister Narendra Modi says will be followed. Gowda praised Modi for taking 11-day intense penance before the installation of the Lord Ram idol in the sanctum sanctorum of the newly built Ram temple in Ayodhya. He said Modi has done lots of 'Punya' (virtues), which is why he will perform the consecration of the Ram temple with the utmost devotion and spiritual discipline. The fo

Andhra polls: EC committed to inducement-free elections, says CEC Kumar

Asserting that the Election Commission is committed to conduct transparent and inducement-free polls, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Wednesday said instructions have been issued to officials to deal sternly with all offenders. Addressing a press conference here, Kumar said the commission has emphasised and given clear and firm directions to election machinery and the entire bureaucracy to be impartial, transparent and accessible to all stakeholders. He said the EC team has met several political parties who have made several requests ranging from curbing of cash distribution to influencing votes and strict enforcement for inducement-free elections. "It is not that you take action against only the small handlers of the liquor, those who are carrying it. Go to the kingpins who are the organisers of crime. Similarly, there would be a strict watch on cash through banks, by the wallets, by the UPI, whatever mode it gets transported," he said. All the airports including airstr

Bhutan's People's Democratic Party wins election, returns to power

The People's Democratic Party won the most seats in Bhutan's parliamentary elections on Tuesday and will form the new government as residents hope politicians make good on promises to fix the economic crisis in the Himalayan nation. Latest figures from the Bhutan Broadcasting Service, a national broadcaster, showed the PDP had won 30 of the 47 National Assembly seats to return to power, and the Bhutan Tendrel Party had secured 17. It was the country's fourth general elections since its transformation from a traditional monarchy to a parliamentary form of government in 2008. The Election Commission of Bhutan will make its final declaration on Wednesday. Candidates on Tuesday's ballot represented only the PDP of former Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay and the BTP led by former civil servant Pema Chewang. A primary round of voting in November eliminated three other parties, including the ruling center-left Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa party. Bhutan is located between China and India, with both

India a great friend: Bangladesh PM Hasina after her election victory

Describing India as a "great friend" of Bangladesh, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday said the two neighbours have resolved many problems bilaterally, a day after she won an overwhelming majority in the general elections and secured a record fourth straight term. The 76-year-old leader, who has been ruling the strategically located South Asian nation since 2009, won a fifth overall term in the one-sided election on Sunday, which witnessed a low turnout. "India is a great friend of Bangladesh. They have supported us in 1971 and also in 1975. They gave shelter to me and my sister and my other family members," she said, referring to her period in exile when she stayed in India for six years after the killing of her family members. In August 1975, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, his wife and their three sons were assassinated in their home by military officers. His daughters Hasina and Rehana survived the purge as they were abroad. "We consider India as our next-door neighbour. We had many

Hasina gets 4th straight PM term as her party wins majority in B'desh polls

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday secured a record fourth straight term as her Awami League party won two-thirds of the seats in the general elections marred by sporadic violence and a boycott by the main opposition BNP and its allies. Hasina's party won 200 seats in the 300-seat parliament while counting is still underway after the end of the day-long voting on Sunday. "We can call Awami League winner with the already available results but the final announcement will be made after the end of the counting of votes in the rest of the constituencies, an election commission spokesman told reporters. Hasina won the Gopalganj-3 seat for the eighth time since 1986. She bagged 249,965 votes while her nearest rival M Nizam Uddin Lashkar from the Bangladesh Supreme Party secured just 469 votes. The 76-year-old leader, who has been ruling the strategically located South Asian nation since 2009, secured a record fourth consecutive term and fifth overall term in the one-sided .

Bangladesh polls: PM Hasina's AL inching closer to victory amid boycott

Bangladesh Prime Minister and Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina was re-elected to parliament on Sunday from the Gopalganj-3 constituency after a landslide victory in the general elections marred by sporadic violence and a boycott by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Hasina, 76, bagged 249,965 votes while her nearest rival M Nizam Uddin Lashkar from the Bangladesh Supreme Party secured just 469 votes, bdnews24 reported. Gopalganj Deputy Commissioner and Returning Officer Kazi Mahbubul Alam announced the result. She has won the Gopalganj-3 seat for the eighth time since 1986. Prime Minister Hasina, who has been ruling the strategically located South Asian nation since 2009, is set to secure a record fourth consecutive term and fifth overall term. The ruling Awami League candidates are leading in most of the seats, according to the results so far. Earlier, the counting of votes started after the polling ended in the general elections which registered low voter .

Bangladesh election commission app slowed down after cyber attack: Official

Bangladesh Election Commission on Sunday said hackers from Ukraine and Germany carried out a cyber attack on its app, slowing down its functioning during the 12th general election in the country, according to a media report. Speaking to the media, Bangladesh Election Commission (EC) Secretary Md Jahangir Alam said that it had created a mobile application called "Smart Election Management BD" which provides real-time voting information. However, voters during the polls complained since Sunday morning that the EC app was not operating properly, the Dhaka Tribune website reported. After a probe, it was found that there was a cyber attack from hackers from Ukraine and Germany on the app. "A cyber attack has been carried out on the app 'Smart Election Management BD' of the Election Commission (EC) from Ukraine and Germany," he was quoted as saying in the report. Alam said that the EC app slowed down after the cyber attack from Ukraine and Germany. "Our team has been working round the

SC agrees to review Colorado decision to decide Trump's 2024 ballot access

The decision made by the state court last month almost guaranteed that the justices would have to hear the contentious issue and decide whether or not Trump could be struck from the ballot

BJP sets target of increasing vote share by 10% in Lok Sabha polls in HP

The Himachal Pradesh BJP has set a target of increasing its vote share by 10 per cent in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, banking on the opening of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, party leaders said on Saturday. The party charted a road map for the elections at a meeting of its state core committee in the presence of national president J P Nadda Friday night. The leaders discussed about increasing the vote share and winning margin, the party's media department in-charge Randhir Sharma said on Saturday. The target is to increase the vote share by 10 per cent in the Lok Sabha polls, due in April-May, coming after the consecration ceremony at the Ram temple in Ayodhya. After the party's victory in recent assembly elections in three states, the aim is to surpass the previous victory margin in Himachal Pradesh, he told reporters. He said Nadda visit to the state, following the party's victory in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, has enthused the party cadre in the hill state. A meet

Kovind-led panel on simultaneous polls invites suggestions from public

The panel on 'One Nation, One Election' led by former president Ram Nath Kovind has invited suggestions from the public "for making appropriate changes in the existing legal administrative framework to enable simultaneous elections in the country". In a public notice, the high-level committee said the suggestions received by January 15 would be taken up for consideration. The suggestions can be posted on the committee's website onoe.gov.in or sent by e-mail to sc-hlc@gov.in, the notice said. The committee has held two meetings since it was constituted in September last year. It had also recently written to political parties seeking their views and an interaction on a "mutually agreed date" on the idea of holding simultaneous polls. It had later sent a reminder to the parties. Letters were sent to six national parties, 33 state parties and seven registered unrecognised parties. The committee has also heard the views of the Law Commission on simultaneous polls. The law panel could b

Govt's disinvestment target in FY25 could be its lowest in nine years

The Modi government has met its privatisation and divestment target only twice in the last decade, even though its track record outstrips that of previous administrations

Congress to focus on just 255 seats in Lok Sabha elections, says report

2024 general elections: The Congress leadership stated that seat-sharing negotiations with INDIA partners would commence soon

As it finalises preparations for LS polls, EC to visit states from Jan 7

The Election Commission (EC) will start reviewing preparedness of states for the Lok Sabha elections with a visit to Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu next week. The commission led by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and comprising Election Commissioners Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel will be in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu between January 7 and 10. Ahead of the visit, deputy election commissioners will brief the full commission about the preparations in the two states on January 6. The deputy election commissioners have visited almost all the states to oversee the preparation for the Lok Sabha polls. It is usual for the EC to tour states ahead of assembly or Lok Sabha elections to meet political parties, senior police and administrative officials and its ground poll machinery. It is, however, not yet certain whether the EC will visit all the states and union territories. It may skip states where assembly polls were held recently. In 2019, the Lok Sabha elections were anno

Fear, panic plague Opposition in Bangladesh ahead of Jan 7 elections

The United States, the biggest buyer of Bangladesh's garments, has condemned the violence, and curbed visas for citizens of the South Asian nation believed to have a role in undermining elections

Pak Election Commission to set up over 92,500 polling stations for polls

The official polling scheme will notably be revealed 15 days before the scheduled February 8 general elections

In position, but not ready: Karnataka's political turmoil ahead of LS Polls

The incipient revolt against two recent appointments by a section of leaders indicated that the BJP may have to get its act together before challenging the Congress

AI-powered deepfakes rise in 2023; concerns of its impact on privacy

From politics to films and even war, the year 2023 has demonstrated that not everything one sees or hears on the internet may be real. With the ever-evolving Artificial Intelligence technology rapidly becoming a part of people's lives, a sharp rise in deepfakes has raised concerns in the country about its potential to influence electoral politics, especially during the Lok Sabha polls slated to be held next year. Deepfakes are manipulated videos or other digital representations that use artificial intelligence to create cogent videos or audio of individuals they never did or said, posing a risk of spreading misinformation and damaging their reputation. According to the '2023 State of Deepfakes Report' by 'Home Security Heroes' -- a US-based web security services company -- deepfake videos saw a five-times increase since 2019. In 2023, India witnessed scores of troubling instances related to deepfake videos, like the one involving actor Rashmika Mandanna, whose face was superimposed

2024 shaping up to be 'Hindutva vs popular welfare': Tharoor's dig at PM

General elections 2024: In 2024, the BJP will now revert to its core message and offer Narendra Modi to the nation as a Hindu Hriday Samrat, said Congress leader Shashi Tharoor