Page 93 - Lok Sabha Elections

SC rejects pleas seeking 100% verification of EVM votes with VVPAT slips

The court also said that regressive measures to revert to paper ballots or any alternative to the EVMs that does not adequately safeguard the interests of Indian citizens have to be eschewed

Lok Sabha polls: Nearly 61% turnout recorded in second phase of elections

Nearly 61 per cent polling was reported in the second phase of Lok Sabha elections covering 88 seats across 13 states amid few complaints of EVM glitches and bogus voting in some states. Voters in some villages of Uttar Pradesh's Mathura, Rajasthan's Banswara and Maharashtra's Parbhani were boycotting the polls over various issues but were later persuaded by authorities to cast their franchise. Polling for the second stage of the seven-phase elections started at 7 am and ended at 6 pm. Several states experienced intense heat conditions. The first phase of polling was held on April 19 in 102 seats across 21 states and Union territories. The Election Commission (EC) said polling remained largely peaceful. The tentative figure at 7 pm of voter turnout of 60.96 per cent is likely to go upwards when reports from all polling stations are obtained, the EC said, adding voters reaching polling stations till the end of polling hour are allowed to cast their vote. The National Democratic ...

SC's EVM verdict 'tight slap' to Congress-led Opposition: PM Modi

'I will not allow reservations meant for SCs, STs and OBCs to be diverted for vote bank politics. This is Modis guarantee', he said

BJP's agri manifesto for Lok Sabha polls: The perils and the promise

Significant progress has been made in the production, yields and the cultivation area of pulse and oilseed between FY19 and FY23

Lok Sabha polls: 61% cast vote in Phase 2, Maharashtra sees lowest turnout

According to this newspaper's estimates, calculated from the data provided on the EC's turnout app at 9 pm, the voter turnout was almost 65 per cent

Frontrunner & elusive poll theme

Excitement is often highest in 'wave' elections. There is a sense of anticipation, a better future, even vengeance. For these reasons, 2024 is turning out to be an unexpectedly themeless election

Most SC/ST candidates fight without the backing of a political party

Indicative data shows a decline in the proportion of SC and ST candidates who participated in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections compared to previous elections

Jyotiraditya Scindia looks to reclaim lost glory in former bastion Guna

Jyotiraditya lost to his former aide Krishna Pal Yadav of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by a sizeable margin of over 125,000 votes from Guna in 2019

Lok Sabha elections outcome: This sector has gained every time since 2004

Unlike other general election years, analysts expect the Nifty IT index to underperform the markets in the near-term amid muted demand environment and client caution around discretionary spends

Odisha example before Andhra

Will Andhra Pradesh follow the Odisha model, voting differently in Lok Sabha and Assembly elections? Or will Odisha follow Andhra Pradesh, voting in new faces in both?

NRN, Sudha Murty, Rahul Dravid encourage citizens to vote in large numbers

IT industry veteran N R Narayana Murthy, his wife and member of Rajya Sabha Sudha Murty, cricketing legend Rahul Dravid, who were among the early voters on Friday urged people, especially the youth to come out and vote in large numbers. Voting was underway on Friday in the first phase of Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka, in 14 constituencies. "We get this right to vote once every five years. We have to exercise this right responsibly with a lot of thinking. No one should let go of this opportunity," Narayana Murthy told reporters here. His wife Sudha Murty said the 77-year-old Infosys founder came to vote, despite ill health. "Narayana Murthy was unwell and he was in the hospital. We got him discharged, and after voting, we are taking him home," she added. Noting that she had travel plans, but wanted to come and vote before that, Sudha Murty said, "Matadana Shreshta Daana (voting is nobel). Rather than sitting and talking, come out, vote and express your opinion. More and more people

LS election phase 2: FM Sitharaman, Rahul Dravid among early voters

Polling was underway on Friday in 88 constituencies spread across 13 states and union territories in the second phase of the Lok Sabha polls, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging people to cast their votes in record numbers. Polling started at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm. Asserting that their vote is their voice, Modi especially told the youth and women voters to turn up at the polling booths in great numbers, and said a high voter turnout strengthens democracy. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also urged voters to come out and vote to protect democracy from the clutches of dictatorship. He also said that the Constitution should reverberate in their hearts before they push to voting button. In Kerala and Karnataka, long queues of voters were seen outside polling booths as soon as voting started. However, there were reports of EVM breakdowns in various booths across Kerala, delaying the election process in those places. Polling in underway at 20 Lok Sabha seats in .

Cong will continue the campaign on greater use of VVPATs: Jairam Ramesh

The Congress will continue with its political campaign on greater use of VVPATs to increase public trust in the electoral process, the party said on Friday after the Supreme Court rejected pleas seeking complete cross-verification of votes cast using EVMs. The Congress was not a party, directly or indirectly, to the petition on VVPATs rejected by the Supreme Court today, party general secretary Jairam Ramesh said. "We have taken note of the verdict of the 2-judge bench and our political campaign on the greater use of VVPATs to increase public trust in the electoral process will continue," Ramesh said in a post on X. The Supreme Court has rejected pleas seeking complete cross-verification of votes cast using EVMs with a Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) and said "blindly distrusting" any aspect of the system can breed unwarranted scepticism. Maintaining that "democracy is all about striving to build harmony and trust between all institutions", a bench of Justices Sanjiv Kha

LS polls Highlights: Nearly 61% turnout recorded in 2nd phase of elections

Eighty-eight Lok Sabha seats (including parts of the outer Manipur seat), across 13 states and Union Territories, are set to vote today

Supreme Court rejects all pleas seeking 100% EVM-VVPAT verification

The top court was hearing petitions seeking a complete verification of VVPATs generated by EVMs during the elections

LS polls: Rajasthan records over 40% turnout in 13 constituencies till 1 pm

Over 40 percent voting was recorded till 1 pm in 13 Lok Sabha seats of Rajasthan where elections are being held in the second phase on Friday. 40.39 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 1 pm across the 13 parliamentary constituencies. At the same time, 51.50 percent voting took place in Bagidora assembly constituency, according to official data. The voting percentage in the first four hours in the second phase of the Lok Sabha polls is above that of the first phase. The polling percentage in 12 Lok Sabha seats that went to polls on April 19 was 33.73 per cent by this time. Around 2.8 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the second phase of the polls. This is the final phase of polling in Rajasthan. Voting is underway in Barmer-Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Jalore, Chittorgarh, Banswara, Kota-Bundi, Tonk-Sawai Madhopur, Ajmer, Pali, Udaipur, Rajsamand, Kota and Jhalawar-Baran, along with the Bagidora Assembly constituency where a bypoll is underway. The highest voter

Lok Sabha polls 2024 Phase 2: Over 27.5% voter turnout recorded till 11 am

Lok Sabha elections 2024: Tripura records the highest voter turnout, of 36.42%, till 11 am on Friday

Islamabad urges Indian leaders to not use Pakistan for political mileage

Pakistan on Friday urged Indian leaders to stop dragging the country in their speeches for political mileage during the election season. Speaking at a press briefing here, Pakistan's Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said that Islamabad rejects all the claims made by Indian leaders over Jammu and Kashmir. Indian politicians to cease their reckless practice of dragging Pakistan into India's populist public discourse for electoral motives, she said. We are witnessing an alarming surge in provocative statements from Indian leaders asserting unwarranted claims on Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan rejects these claims. Fuelled by hyper-nationalism, this inflammatory rhetoric poses a grave threat to regional peace and susceptibility, she said. Zahra claimed that Indian claims were contrary to historical and legal facts. Historical and legal facts as well as ground realities refute India's baseless claims over Jammu and Kashmir, she said. India has previously rejected such state

BJP's Tejasvi Surya booked for 'soliciting votes on the ground of religion'

Lok Sabha elections 2024: The Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer said BJP leader Tejasvi Surya posted a video on social media soliciting votes on the grounds of religion

Arvind Kejriwal's wife to lead AAP's national election campaign, seek votes

Sunita Kejriwal will begin her campaign with a road show in East Delhi constituency on Saturday