Page 40 - Elections

BJP will fight 2024 elections on its own in Odisha: Bhupender Yadav

The BJP will fight the 2024 elections in Odisha on its own, Union Minister Bhupender Yadav said on Saturday, dismissing speculations about an alliance with the state's ruling BJD. Speculations were rife about a possible alliance between the two parties after the BJD backed the BJP on the opposition's no-confidence motion in Parliament and the Delhi services bill that entails the creation of an authority for the transfer and posting of Group-A officers in the national capital. The speculations were further fuelled by a one-on-one meeting between Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here last week on the sidelines of official engagements. The two parties were in an alliance from 2000 to 2009. Yadav, a senior BJP leader who is also the Union environment minister, was here to attend a function on World Elephant Day. Asked by reporters about the speculations, he firmly ruled out any possibility of alliance between the BJP and BJD. He said the BJP will fight

Oppn bloc INDIA partners to jointly campaign for Jharkhand's Dumri by-poll

Jharkhand unit of opposition INDIA will jointly campaign for the Dumri by-poll to ensure the victory of its candidate, sources in it said on Saturday. The alliance has fielded Bebi Devi, a JMM candidate and wife of former education minister Jagarnath Mahto, for the by-election. She will file her nominations on August 17. The by-poll will take place on September 5, while the votes will be counted on September 8. The last date for filing nomination is August 17. The first meeting by the INDIA on Dumri by-poll was held at the CM's House. Chaired by Chief Minister Hemant Soren, INDIA alliance held its first meeting on Dumri bypoll. The alliance has decided to hold joint campaign for the by-election to ensure win of our candidate, said senior Congress leader Alamgir Alam. The INDIA candidate will be the winner and the victory would be a true tribute to Jaggarnath Mahto, the former minister whose death necessitated the by-poll, he asserted. Mahto, was the husband of Bebi Devi who died

CM Bhupesh Baghel inaugurates projects worth Rs 1000 cr in Bastar, Surguja

Ahead of the Chhattisgarh Assembly elections 2023, the Chief Minister made several announcements for the welfare of tribals in adivasi-dominated Bastar district and northern regions in the state

US FEC moves plans to regulate AI deepfakes in political campaign ads

The Federal Election Commission has begun a process to potentially regulate AI-generated deepfakes in political ads ahead of the 2024 election, a move advocates say would safeguard voters against a particularly insidious form of election disinformation. The FEC's unanimous procedural vote on Thursday advances a petition asking it to regulate ads that use artificial intelligence to misrepresent political opponents as saying or doing something they didn't a stark issue that is already being highlighted in the current 2024 GOP presidential primary. Though the circulation of convincing fake images, videos or audio clips is not new, innovative generative AI tools are making them cheaper, easier to use, and more likely to manipulate public perception. As a result, some presidential campaigns in the 2024 race including that of Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis already are using them to persuade voters. The Republican National Committee in April released an entirely AI-generated ad meant to

Chhattisgarh Assembly election: Tribal body holds rally on World Tribal Day

Former Union minister and president of Sarva Adivasi Samaj Chhattisgarh Arvind Neetam announced that his party will contest the Assembly elections from Scheduled Tribes (STs) reserved seats

Kejriwal slams PM on bill on appointments of election commission officials

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a bill that seeks to regulate the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and election commissioners, claiming it will influence the fairness of elections. Future chief election commissioners and election commissioners will be selected by a three-member panel headed by the prime minister and comprising the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha and a Cabinet minister, according to a bill listed for introduction in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. This is in contrast to a Supreme Court judgment of March which said the panel should comprise the prime minister, the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha and the Chief Justice of India. In a couple of long posts on X, earlier known as Twitter, Kejriwal also accused Modi of not following the Supreme Court order and said this is a "very dangerous situation". "I had already said that the prime minister does not obey the Supreme Court of the country.

Pakistan Senate passes resolution urging ECP to hold timely elections

The resolution presented by JI Senator Mushtaq Ahmad also asked all the state institutions to assist the ECP in holding the polls in every possible manner

Centre's grain stockpiles key to PM Modi's pre-election strategy: Report

With the vote less than a year away, Modi's government is going all out to build up its food stockpiles

Telangana elections: Rs 1 lakh assistance scheme for minorities from Aug 16

The government has allocated a total of Rs 270 crore for the implementation of the scheme

India's grain stockpiles crucial to PM Modi's pre-election strategy

Modi and his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, campaigning to be re-elected for a third term, are facing widespread frustration about rising prices, a concern that has brought down past governments

People of Delhi will give befitting reply to BJP in elections: AAP

The AAP on Tuesday targeted the Centre over the Delhi services bill passed by Parliament and said the people of the national capital will give a "befitting reply" to the BJP in the upcoming elections. AAP chief national spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar said the entire opposition "unitedly opposed" the bill. Party Delhi convener Gopal Rai said the bill is an "insult" to the people of Delhi. "The entire opposition unitedly opposed the unconstitutional bill yesterday. We are fighting the battle in Parliament and the court. The people of Delhi will give them (BJP) a befitting reply in the next elections," Kakkar told PTI. Parliament on Monday passed the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023, that gives the central government control over bureaucrats in the Delhi government. Rai alleged that the bill was introduced in Parliament by the Central Government against the decision of the Supreme Court and called it a "murder of democracy". "The bill brought in

838,000 voters in Mizoram including 431,000 female voters: Election dept

There are over 8.38 lakh voters, including 4.31 lakh female voters, in Mizoram, according to the draft voters' list published on Wednesday, officials said. Female voters outnumbered their male counterparts again by 24,545. As per the draft rolls published by the state election department, out of 8,38,039 electorates, 4,06,747 are males and 4,31,292 females, officials said. There are 5,021 service voters, including 89 females in the state, they said. The draft electoral rolls were prepared for special summary revision of voter list to include people attaining 18 years of age on October 1, 2023, they said. Aizawl district with 12 assembly constituencies has the highest number of voters at 2,81,192 followed by south Mizoram's Lunglei district at 98,516 and Lawngtlai at 89,749. There are six assembly constituencies in Lunglei district. Hnahthial district, which was created in 2019, has the least electorates at 15,875. The last date for filing claim (inclusion) and objection is Augu

Pak law minister says polls not possible till new census approved

Talking to Geo News on Saturday, Tarar said a meeting of the Council of Common Interest (CCI) headed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif "unanimously" approved new census results

Pakistan elections likely to be delayed as cabinet endorses census results

Pakistan's general elections could be delayed, albeit briefly, following the unanimous endorsement of the latest census results by a top constitutional body on Saturday. The Ministry of Planning in a briefing to the meeting of the Council of Common Interest (CCI), chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and attended by Cabinet ministers, provincial chief ministers as well as other senior officials, showed that Pakistan's population had reached 240.10 million. All participants unanimously approved the results of the census carried out in March and April with enumerators going door to door, while people also had an option to login and register their family details. After the approval of its result, it is mandatory for the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to carry out a new delimitation exercise to determine new electoral districts in the entire country for elections, which is expected to impact the 60 or 90 days period needed to hold the upcoming elections after the end of the .

SC stays HC order that declared MP Ravindhranath's election invalid

The Supreme Court has stayed a Madras High Court order that declared as "null and void" the 2019 election of expelled AIADMK member P Ravindhranath from Tamil Nadu's Theni parliamentary constituency. A bench of justices Surya Kant and Dipankar Datta admitted the appeal filed by Ravindhranath against the high court order for hearing and issued notice to P Milany, who filed the petition challenging his election from the Theni constituency. "Meanwhile, operation of the impugned judgment and order dated July 6, 2023, passed by the High Court of Judicature at Madras, shall remain stayed. Resultantly, the appellant (P Ravindhranath) shall be allowed to continue as a Member of Parliament of the 17th Lok Sabha for all intents and purposes till further orders," the bench said in an order passed on Friday. Ravindhranath is the son of deposed AIADMK leader and former Tamil Nadu chief minister O Panneerselvam. Milany alleged before the high court that Ravindhranath suppressed various materials

INDIA coalition's next meet likely on Aug 31-Sept 1 in Mumbai: Reports

Opposition bloc INDIA is likely to hold its next meeting on August 31 and September 1 in Mumbai, sources said on Friday. They said it would be held on the format of the Bengaluru meeting with leaders first confabulating in an informal setting on August 31 before their main meeting the next day. "The opposition meeting will be a two-day affair and will take place on August 31 and September 1 with all leaders approving the dates," a source said. The likely venue would be a hotel in Pawai and there will be a press conference on September 1 evening, the source said. There have been several dates that have been talked about earlier but those did not work out as all leaders were not available on those dates. The third meeting of the bloc is being hosted jointly by the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the NCP's Sharad Pawar faction, with support from the Congress -- the three constituents of the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance. The MVA constituents had been holding parleys to schedule the meeting. The I

'Early elections needed in J&K amid ongoing human rights violations'

Notably, up until June 2023, J&K has been denied the right to representation for five years

Elections to 39 municipal councils, nagar panchayats of Punjab in November

Elections to 39 municipal councils and nagar panchayats in Punjab will be held between November 1 and 15, according to a government notification. By-elections to 27 wards of some municipal councils and nagar panchayats and certain wards of three municipal corporations of Bathinda, Batala and Hoshiarpur will also be held in the first fortnight of November this year. "...the general elections to elect the members of municipal councils/nagar panchayats and bye-elections of certain wards of various municipal councils/nagar panchayats (will) be held within the first fortnight of November 2023," the notification issued by the local government department read.

Trump could soon be indicted in Georgia over election manipulation case

A Georgia prosecutor is expected to seek a grand jury indictment in the coming weeks in her investigation into efforts by Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the former president's 2020 election loss. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis began investigating more than two years ago, shortly after a recording was released of a January 2021 phone call Trump made to Georgia's secretary of state. Willis has strongly hinted that any indictment would come between July 31 and August 18. One of two grand juries seated July 11 is expected to hear the case. If Trump is indicted by a Georgia grand jury, it would add to a growing list of legal troubles as he campaigns for president. Trump is set to go to trial in New York in March to face state charges related to hush-money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign. And he has another trial scheduled for May on federal charges related to his handling of classified documents. He has pleaded not guilty in those cases. The ...

Top Headlines: Welfare schemes in poll-bound states, Q1FY24 results, more

Business Standard brings you the top headlines at this hour