Page 39 - Elections

Opposition, NDA expected to set tone for 2024 Lok Sabha elections today

The meetings by the Opposition and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) come as a show of strength from each side ahead of the Lok Sabha elections 2024

Congress holds Lok Sabha elections strategy meet for northeastern states

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday met party leaders from six northeastern states and deliberated on the strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. During the meeting, the leaders from the states of Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Tripura and Sikkim also expressed concern over the "deteriorating" situation in Manipur, party sources said. Manipur has been witnessing violent clashes, especially between Kuki and Meitei communities, since early May. Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal, AICC in-charge of Sikkim, Tripura and Nagaland Ajoy Kumar and former Manipur chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh were among those present at the meeting held at the AICC headquarters here. Kharge has been holding key strategy meetings with leaders of various states, including some that are due to go to polls later this year. He has already held separate meetings with leaders of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand.

Bengal panchayat polls: Compilation taking time, results likely on July 17

The final results of the West Bengal panchayat elections are likely to be declared on July 17, as the compilation process is taking a lot of time, a senior official said on Friday. Results of a number of seats in the three tiers of the panchayat polls held on July 8 were out, but the final tally has not yet been released by the State Election Commission (SEC). The counting process which began on July 11 is over, but the compilation is still underway, the official told PTI. "There are a total of 71,000 seats, so one can understand the mammoth task of compiling the results. Besides, the process has become slow because of some technical issues. We are hoping to release the results on Monday," he said. The state poll panel has countermanded the panchayat polls in 20 booths in three districts because of various malpractices during the counting process. Fresh voting will be held in those booths at a later date to be notified in due course. According to the results declared so far, the .

133 Bengal people in Assam due poll violence: Himanta Biswa Sarma

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said over 100 people from West Bengal have taken shelter in the state, fearing for their lives because of the panchayat election violence back home. Stating that the people have been provided shelter in a relief camp, the chief minister assured them of any humanitarian aid during times of crisis. While West Bengal BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari thanked Sarma for providing relief to the tormented opposition party karyakartas of WB, cabinet minister of the neighbouring state Shashi Panja hinted that the Assam CM was raising a false alarm and creating a sense of panic. Yesterday, 133 individuals who feared for their lives due to violence in the panchayat election in West Bengal sought refuge in Dhubri district of Assam. We have provided them with shelter in a relief camp, as well as food and medical assistance, Sarma wrote on Twitter. Expressing gratitude to Sarma, Adhikari, who is the leader of opposition of West Bengal, wrote: I would

Services affected in Kolkata as migrants return to villages for rural polls

Services were affected in Kolkata as migrants employed in sectors ranging from domestic work to hospitality and transport went to their homes in villages to cast their vote in the West Bengal panchayat elections, and many are yet to rejoin work. Kolkata, being a fully urban area, is the lone district in the state which did not go to the rural polls. Commuters also faced a harrowing time as many buses and other vehicles were requisitioned for election duty. Restaurants and street food joints were also affected due to the exercise. Shiladitya Choudhury, owner of a chain of restaurants in the city, said, "On the polling day on Saturday (July 8), we barely managed with only around 40 per cent of the staffers. We had kept our menu short on that day." Owner of a roadside eatery in Salt Lake Sector V, the IT hub of the city, said pressure had mounted on his stall not only because some of his workers had left but also because other nearby shacks were shut. "The number of items had to be

Bengal SEC orders repolling on July 10 in booths where voting declared void

The West Bengal State Election Commission announced that repolling will be held on Monday in all booths where voting for the rural elections has been declared void. The SEC, which held a meeting on Sunday evening, went through reports of vote-tampering and violence which affected polling in many places, and passed the order, an official said. Among districts where repolling was announced, Murshidabad has the highest number of booths at 175, followed by Malda with 112. Violence-hit Nadia will see repolling in 89 booths, while North and South 24 Parganas districts will witness repolling in 46 and 36 booths respectively.

11 people killed as rural West Bengal votes in panchayat polls: Official

At least nine people were killed in election-related violence in West Bengal as voting was underway on Saturday for the three-tier panchayat polls in the state, officials said. Among those killed were five TMC members, and one worker each of the BJP, CPI(M) and Congress, and the supporter of an Independent candidate, they said. Besides violent clashes that injured several people, ballot boxes were destroyed in at least two polling booths, they added. The polling began at 7 am in 73,887 seats in the rural areas of the state with 5.67 crore people deciding the fate of around 2.06 lakh candidates. Till 9 am, 10.26 per cent voter turnout was recorded. Governor CV Ananda Bose visited different areas in North 24 Parganas district, and met people injured in the violence and interacted with voters. BJP polling agent Madhab Biswas was allegedly killed in Falimari gram panchayat in Coochbehar district, they said. The BJP alleged that when Biswas tried to enter the polling booth he was stop

BJP leaders from eastern states to meet ahead of 2024 LS elections

The eastern region includes the states of West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Assam, apart from Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha

'Collation of corrupts': Piyush Goyal's jibe at Oppn unity in Rajasthan

In an exclusive interview with ANI, the union minister said that the leaders of the opposition parties cannot influence a single vote outside their respective states

Rajasthan polls: AIMIM chief Owaisi to hold public meeting in Jaipur today

Party chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi is going to hold a public meeting at Ramlila Maidan in Jaipur late this evening and will launch the party's election campaign in Rajasthan

Never spoke about rotational CM post, buzz created by media: TS Singh Deo

A day after the Congress's move to appoint T S Singh Deo as the deputy chief minister of Chhattisgarh, the state minister said he had never spoken of an "agreement" over rotation of the chief ministerial post and claimed it was a buzz created by the media. After arriving at the Raipur airport from New Delhi on Thursday morning, Singh Deo expressed gratitude to the party for the announcement of his elevation and said "der aaye durust aaye" (better late than never). A Congress statement on Wednesday said party president Mallikarjun Kharge has approved the proposal for the appointment of Singh Deo as the deputy chief minister in Chhattisgarh. The decision to appoint him as the deputy CM came just a few months ahead of state Assembly elections due this year-end, but Singh Deo said the responsibility given even for a day is crucial. He was accorded a warm welcome on Thursday by a huge crowd of supporters at the airport who raised slogans of "TS Baba zindabad" . Asked about the two-and-

T S Singh Deo's appointment as Chhattisgarh dy CM is his 'insult': BJP

BJP's Chhattisgarh unit chief Arun Sao on Wednesday termed state minister T S Singh Deo's appointment as the state deputy chief minister as his insult, and said the decision will not save the Congress from being defeated in the upcoming assembly elections in the state. Talking to reporters, Sao said, the move is just an attempt to settle differences within the ruling party in the state. The Congress - the ruling party in Chhattisgarh - said in a statement on Wednesday night that party president Mallikarjun Kharge has approved the proposal to appoint Singh Deo as the deputy chief minister in Chhattisgarh. When asked about the development, Sao told reporters in Bilaspur, "Congress party does not have the right to appoint a deputy CM. It is the right of the CM and Governor." "The other thing is that the Congress party, which had promised Singh Deo to make him CM for two-and-a-half-years, has done injustice to him by making him deputy CM for just four months. It is an insult to Singh .

18 former Cong corporators disqualified for cross-voting in mayoral poll

As many as 18 former Congress corporators of Maharashtra's Bhiwandi Nizampur City Municipal Corporation (BNCMC) have been disqualified from contesting any elections for the next 6 years for voting against their party's official mayoral candidate in 2019. In an order issued on Monday, the Urban Development Department headed by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said that the ex-corporators defied the whip issued by the Congress. Despite the Congress having 47 corporators in the 90-member BNCMC House, its mayoral candidate Rishika Raka lost the poll in December 2019 due to cross-voting by 18 corporators from the party. Pratibha Patil of the Konkan Vikas Aghadi, which had only 4 members in the House, got the support of 20 BJP corporators, the 18 Congress corporators and seven members of smaller allies to secure the mayor's post with 49 votes. Raka's defeat prompted the local Congress leaders to file a petition with the Konkan Divisional Commissioner seeking the disqualification of those who

J'khand cabinet gives nod triple test to decide OBC quota in civic polls

The Jharkhand cabinet on Monday gave the nod to set up a dedicated commission to conduct a "triple test" to decide on OBC reservation in urban local body polls. The opposition parties, mainly AJSU Party, have been demanding a "triple test" before holding ULB polls. The civic polls are pending in many areas including Ranchi. The "triple test" includes setting up a dedicated commission to conduct an inquiry into the nature and implications of the backwardness in connection with local bodies. The second condition is to specify the proportion of reservation required to be provisioned in the local bodies as per the commission's recommendations. The third test is that the reservation should not exceed 50 per cent of the seats reserved in favour of SCs, STs, and OBCs taken together. "The cabinet gave its approval to set up a dedicated commission for the purpose of reviewing the eligibility for reservations to backward classes," Cabinet Secretary Vandana Dadel said. The commission is bei

Bring back Modi govt to sustain pace of development: Gambhir tells voters

East Delhi BJP MP Gautam Gambhir on Monday urged first-time voters in Surajmal Vihar here to bring back the Narendra Modi government at the Centre once again to sustain the pace of development in the country. He said that the picture of the country will change for the better if the country's youth showed enthusiasm in politics. Addressing a gathering of new voters, Gambhir said the Modi government at the Centre has worked towards improving the daily life of the youth and has worked to enhance their future. The BJP MP said that young voters should use their vote to guide the country in the right direction. Their vote was crucial at it will decide their present and future, he said. The Lok Sabha polls are scheduled to be held next year. The cricketer-turned-politician also gave autographed certificates to around 250 participants of the youth conference organised by the BJP's Yuva Morcha.

Gauhati High Court stays the Wrestling Federation of India elections

The Gauhati High Court on Sunday stayed the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) elections, scheduled for July 11, on a petition filed by the Assam Wrestling Association. Assam Wrestling Association, in its petition filed against the WFI, IOA ad-hoc body and the Sports Ministry, said that though it was entitled to be an affiliated member of the WFI, it was granted one "despite recommendation made by then WFI Executive Committee at WFI's General Council in Gonda, on November 15, 2014. The ad-hoc panel has fixed June 25 as the last date for receiving the names for the electoral college while the while the elections to elect the new governing body would be held on July 11. The petitioner contended that unless their body is affiliated to the WFI, and they can nominate their representative to the electoral college, the election process should be stalled. The court directed the respondents -- WFI ad-hoc body and the Sports Ministry -- that till the next date is fixed for hearing they shou

All-party Opposition meet ahead of 2024 elections today; all you must know

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar is hosting the crucial meeting in which most of the non-BJP parties are taking part as they plan to take on the BJP in the next year's general election

Musk's Twitter must bolster resources ahead of elections, warns EU

There are a few critical areas that Twitter needs to focus on immediately, especially around child abuse and controlling disinformation around elections, Breton said

Pakistan enters election mode, poll body starts making arrangements

As per law, the last date of registration, exclusion and verification of voters is July 13

Nitish Kumar is not a PM candidate for 2024 elections, says JD(U) leader

CM Nitish Kumar is spearheading the Opposition gathering, scheduled for June 23, to discuss methods to better challenge the BJP in the upcoming elections