Indian Elections

Appeared under pressure: Rahul Gandhi as he takes dig at Shah's LS speech

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said he directly challenged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to discuss his press conferences on "vote chori" in Parliament but did not get any answer. A day after the Lok Sabha witnessed a heated exchange between him and Shah during a debate on election reforms, Gandhi claimed that Shah appeared to be "under pressure". "He (Shah) used the wrong language, his hands were shaking, you would have seen all this. He is under pressure mentally that was witnessed in Parliament, the whole country saw it," the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha told reporters in the Parliament House complex. "The things I have said, he did not address, did not give any proof. We have said it publicly in press conferences. I directly challenged him to let us discuss my press conferences in Parliament. Did not get an answer. You know the reality," Gandhi said. Gandhi on Wednesday called the home minister's response during the debate "completely defensive" and asserted

High-pitched election campaigning for Nuapada by-election in Odisha ends

The high-pitched election campaign for Nuapada by-election in Odisha ended on Sunday evening after weeks of rallies and road shows by senior leaders. The bypoll, necessitated following the death of BJD MLA Rajendra Dholakia on September 8, is the first electoral battle after the BJP formed the government in the state last year. Though the electioneering started from the 11th day memorial meeting of the late MLA, it gained momentum after Dholakia's son Jay joined the BJP on October 11 after quitting his late father's party, BJD. Dhokalia was elected to the assembly on a BJD ticket in 2009, 2019 and 2024. Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, his Chhattisgarh counterpart Vishnu Deo Sai, BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik, deputy chief ministers from Odisha and Chhattisgarh, Union minister Jual Oram, a dozen ministers and MPs and around 100 MLAs from the two states campaigned in the seat. The seat also saw road shows for the first time. The Congress has fielded Ghasiram Majhi, a local tribal le

Electoral freebies underpin growing drift in states' fiscal discipline

The deepening fault line of sub-national fiscal drift beneath India's political economy is now hard to ignore

EVM an aggregator of votes, can't be used in presidential, V-P elections

Electronic voting machines (EVMs), which have so far been used in five Lok Sabha and over 130 assembly polls, cannot be used in presidential, vice presidential, Rajya Sabha and state legislative council elections. Why? Because the machines, in use since 2004, are designed to work as vote aggregators in direct elections such as the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. Voters press the button against the name of the candidate of their choice and the one who bags the maximum number of votes is declared elected. But the presidential and vice presidential elections are held in accordance with the system of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote. Under the system of proportional representation by means of single transferable vote, every elector can mark as many preferences as there are candidates contesting the election. These preferences for the candidates are to be marked by the elector, by placing the figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and so on, against the names of the ...

Best of BS Opinion: Why India needs wide-ranging regulatory reforms

Today's opinions track regulatory practices and reforms that are required across key sectors of the Indian policy-scape.

Cooperative Election Authority tasked with ensuring transparent polls: Govt

The Cooperative Election Authority (CEA) is responsible for conducting elections in cooperatives transparently and weed out vested interest and opacity in the electoral process, Union Cooperation Secretary Ashish Kumar Bhutani on Tuesday said. He was addressing the First Foundation Year of the CEA here. CEA Chairman Devendra Kumar Singh, Central Registrar of Cooperative Societies Rabindra Kumar Agrawal, Vice Chairman of CEA R K Gupta, and senior officers of Ministry of Cooperation and heads and representatives of Multi-State Cooperative Societies attended the event, according to an official statement. In his address, Bhutani said things are definitely moving in the right direction in the cooperative sector. The CEA was formed after the passage of the Multi-State Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Act 2023 by Parliament, he added. Bhutani said it was a very comprehensive amendment to the Act by the Centre and its process for amendment spanned for over 12 years. The secretary said t

Cong dubs Trump's USAID claim 'nonsensical', asks govt for white paper

Amid a row over alleged funding by USAID for raising voter turnout in India, the Congress on Thursday demanded that the Indian government should bring out a white paper on the US agency's support to both governmental and non-governmental institutions in India over the decades. The Congress also dubbed US President Donald Trump's claims related to USAID as "nonsensical". The opposition party's assertion comes after President Donald Trump questioned the purpose of providing USD 21 million to India for "voter turnout". "Why do we need to spend USD 21 million for voter turnout in India? I guess they were trying to get somebody else elected...," Trump has said. In a post on X, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, "USAID is very much in the news these days. It was set up on November 3, 1961. Claims being made by the US President are typically nonsensical to say the least." "Even so, the Government of India should bring out a White Paper at the earliest

DOGE nixes $21 million US grant to increase India's 'voter turnout'

The project in India was one of several across the world, including in Nepal and Bangladesh, funded by the Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening

Best of BS Opinion: A lighter touch makes things easier all around

From the sight of chained and cuffed Indians to electoral campaign, to the regulatory space, our articles today argue that a light touch, firmly enforced, can go a long way

Cong vs AAP: Rahul attacks Kejriwal over liquor scam, bungalow controversy

Rahul Gandhi criticises Kejriwal over the Delhi liquor scam and his official bungalow, while the AAP chief questions why no Congress leader has been arrested in the National Herald case

Meta's Zuckerberg to face Parliamentary summons over India elections remark

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey accused CEO Mark Zuckerberg of spreading misinformation through his earlier comments on the 2024 Indian general election

28% of Lok Sabha seats had no woman candidate in 2024, shows ECI report

The highlight of the 2024 LS election was again the better turnout of woman electors in percentage terms than men

ECI releases world's largest electoral dataset for 2024 LS & Assembly polls

As per the data, Lok Sabha Elections created world record with 646.4 mn voters exercising their franchise

Impacting growth, liquidity management: Shifting sands of fiscal policy

There is a very high chance that the actual fiscal deficit target will undershoot even 4.9 per cent of GDP as there was a decline in government expenditure during the general elections

US and Indian Elections: A comparison of electoral systems between the two

Moreover, the Electoral College tampers with the principle of 'one person, one vote, one value' in two significant ways

Will Omar Abdullah return as CM of J-K? Yes, says NC chief Farooq Abdullah

J-K Assembly elections: The National Conference and Congress alliance is expected to secure 47 to 52 seats in 90-seat Assembly, well over the 46-majority mark

J-K Assembly elections: BJP's Rana leads Nagrota, but Raina trails Noushera

Early trends in Jammu and Kashmir election results show BJP's Ravinder Raina trails behind NC's Surinder Kumar Choudhary

J-K Assembly elections: Ex-CM Omar Abdullah leads in Budgam and Ganderbal

Early trends in Jammu and Kashmir election results show Iltija Mufti, daughter of PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, trailing NC's Bashir Ahmad Shah Veeri in Srigufwara-Bijbehara

At 10 am, BJP reverses trend in Haryana, NC leads in 50 seats in J-K

BJP leads 49 seats in Haryana Assembly elections, Congress in 36; NC and Congress 49 seats in J-K Assembly elections, BJP leads in 23 at 10 am

Jammu & Kashmir Assembly polls records 56.01% voters turnout till 3 pm

The fate of 415 candidates contesting in Assembly election of the valley state Jammu & Kashmir is set to be sealed where voting continues for the 40 Assembly seats across seven district of the state