Page 6 - Political Parties

SC rejects plea seeking direction to fix expenses' limit by parties

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a petition seeking a direction to fix the limit of expenses by political parties and candidates in elections, saying these are matters of legislative policy. "Either these are legislative changes or policy matters. How can we entertain a petition like this," a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud observed. The bench was hearing a plea filed by a Haryana-based man seeking several directions, including to calculate and fix the limit of expenses by political parties and candidates, restrict the expenditure on articles printed and posted prior to nominations and calculate expenses of rallies performed during filing of nomination. "These are all matters of legislative policy," said the bench, also comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. The plea had also sought a direction to all the high courts to decide election petitions within six months. "These are not matters on which we can merely give directions. There is already a law..

The future of INDIA

The Congress will need to be more accommodative

EC must have power to derecognise political parties for violations, SC told

The Election Commission (EC) must have the power to deregister a political party in case of a violation of the mandatory conditions for registration and for breach of laws, the Supreme Court has been told by a petitioner. Fresh written submissions, seeking more punitive powers to the poll panel, have been filed by petitioner and advocate Ashwini Upadhyay ahead of a crucial hearing on his plea on Tuesday. A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, is hearing pleas, including the one filed by Upadhyay, alleging that the pre-election promise of freebies by political parties is a corrupt practice and amounts to a "bribe" under the Representation of the People Act. The pleas have also said the EC should be empowered to effectively deal with this practice. The written submissions, filed through senior advocate Vijay Hansaria and advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey, said, "The Election Commission of India shall be entitled to deregister a political party on failure to satisfy t

Promise of pre-poll freebies is corrupt practice under People Act: SC told

Promise of pre-election freebies by political parties is a corrupt practice and "bribe" under the Representation of the People Act which is a ground for declaring an election to be void, the Supreme Court was told on Wednesday. A three-judge bench was deliberating on pleas including the one filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay opposing promises of such handouts by the parties during polls. The petitions have sought direction to the Election Commission to invoke its powers to freeze the election symbols of these parties and cancel their registration. Senior advocate Vijay Hansaria, appearing for the petitioner, told the bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud that the 2013 judgement delivered by a two-judge bench of the apex court in the matter of S Subramaniam Balaji vs The Government of Tamil Nadu and others required reconsideration. In its 2013 judgement, the apex court had noted that after examining and considering the parameters laid in section 123 of the Representatio

One nation, one election in national interest, says former Prez Kovind

Former president Ram Nath Kovind, who heads the committee to explore the possibility of "one nation, one election", said holding simultaneous polls is in the national interest and has got nothing to do with any particular political party. "Holding simultaneous elections will be beneficial for the public as the revenue saved will be used for development work," the former president, on a private visit here, told reporters on Monday night. "I am requesting all the political parties to cooperate as this is in the national interest. No political party has got anything to do with it," he stressed. The government constituted the high-level eight-member committee, headed by Kovind, earlier this year. The former president said, "Many committees such as the parliamentary committee, Niti Aayog, Election Commission of India, and others have said that the tradition of 'one nation one election' needs to be revived in the country." "The government has constituted a committee for the purpose and

Political harvest: Promises galore, but what is the mood in the fields?

The second and concluding part of the MSP series looks at farmer sentiment in poll-bound states

Give data of funds received by political parties via bonds: SC directs EC

The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to produce before it in sealed cover the "up to date" data of funds received by political parties through electoral bonds till September 30, 2023. A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud referred to the April 12, 2019 interim direction passed by the apex court directing political parties to furnish the details of funds received by them through electoral bonds to the poll panel in a sealed cover. The bench, also comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, B R Gavai, J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, said the April 2019 order was not restrictive to the date on which it was pronounced, and if there was any ambiguity, it was necessary for the poll panel to seek a clarification from the top court. While hearing arguments on a batch of petitions challenging the validity of the electoral bonds scheme for funding political parties, the bench observed the ECI should have the up to date data. "I

All you need to know about Vasundhara Raje, Rajasthan's former CM from BJP

Vasundhara Raje is a two-time chief minister of Rajasthan and winner of the 'Women Together Award'. Here is everything you need to know about BJP's most popular face in Rajasthan

11 parties collect Rs 2,077 cr in funds for Gujarat, HP polls of 2022: ADR

The ADR analysis is based on the election expenditure statements that political parties must submit to the Election Commission within 75 days of completion of Assembly elections

Freebies announced by political parties have 'tadka' of populism: CEC Kumar

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Monday said the freebies announced by political parties and state governments have a 'tadka' of populism and it is difficult for those who win polls to either implement these sops or stop this practice. Responding to a question on freebies announced by various parties and government ahead of elections, he said while it is the domain of the state governments, they do not remember such sops for five years but announce them just a month or a fortnight before the poll schedule is announced. Kumar made these remarks at a press conference convened here to announce the schedule of elections in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Telengana and Mizoram. He said the matter was at present sub-judice and the poll panel will act as soon as clarity and decision is available on this. He recalled that the EC had recently brought out a proforma for parties and states to explain how and when the promises made by them in their poll manifesto will be ...

Govt approves 28th tranche of electoral bonds, sale from October 4

The government on Friday approved the issuance of the 28th tranche of electoral bonds that will open for sale for 10 days beginning October 4. The decision comes ahead of assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram. Poll dates are likely to be announced soon. Electoral bonds have been pitched as an alternative to cash donations made to political parties as part of efforts to bring transparency to political funding. "The State Bank of India (SBI), in the XXVIII Phase of sale, has been authorised to issue and encash electoral bonds through its 29 authorised branches (as per list enclosed) w.e.f. October 4-13," the finance ministry said in a statement. The sale of the first batch of electoral bonds happened in March 2018. The authorised SBI branches include those in Bengaluru, Lucknow, Shimla, Dehradun, Kolkata, Guwahati, Chennai, Patna, New Delhi, Chandigarh, Srinagar, Gandhinagar, Bhopal, Raipur, and Mumbai. SBI is the only authorised bank

Akhilesh Yadav to kick off SP poll campaign from Sirmaur on Sept 27

The state is scheduled to go for the Assembly polls later this year. Through the polls, the state will elect legislators from 230 Assembly constituencies

NIA files charge sheet against 13 people in killing of a political worker

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed a charge sheet against 13 people in the case of killing of a political functionary in Puducherry about six months ago, an official said on Friday. Senthil Kumaran was brutally killed by six motorcycle-borne assailants on March 26. The accused hurled country-made bombs at the political activist in front of a bakery in the Villianur area of the Union territory and then attacked him with machetes, killing him on the spot. The local police had initially registered a case, which was handed over to the NIA and re-registered by the central agency on April 29. The key conspirator in the case, Nithiyanantham, was later arrested along with his associates identified as Vignesh, Siva Sankar, Raja, Pradap, Karthikeyan, Vengatesh, Rajamani, Ezhumalai, Kathirvel, Ramachandiran, Lakshmanan, Dhilipan and Ramanathan. "All of them, except Ramanathan, have been charge-sheeted by the NIA under various sections of IPC, Arms Act, Explosive Substances Act

Parties hesitant to celebrate Telangana Day due to vote bank politics: Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said even after the formation of Telangana state political parties were hesitating to celebrate the 'Telangana Liberation Day' due to vote bank politics. Shah was speaking at the Centre's official celebration of Hyderabad Liberation Day' to commemorate the region's freedom from erstwhile Nizam rule and merger of Hyderabad state with the Indian Union on September 17, 1948. He termed as 'unfortunate' political parties hesitating to celebrate the 'Liberation Day' due to vote bank politics. "I would like to tell them that people of the country would turn away from those who turn away from their country's history. The Union Minister pointed out that no government in the past 75 years has celebrated the historic 'Hyderabad Liberation Day. Owing to 'appeasement policies' the previous governments were always afraid and did not celebrate it, he said, adding Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to celebrate the Hyderabad Liberation day. Shah credited

Pak's PTI challenges objections on plea seeking polls within 90 days

As per details, PTI filed an appeal against the objections raised by the registrar of an apex court on a petition seeking general elections in 90 days

Pak's PTI, other parties criticise govt over hike in petrol, diesel price

The price of petrol and diesel hit a record high after the Pakistan government announced a hike of PKR 26.02 and PKR 17.34 per litre, respectively, on Friday

Election fever: Political consulting firms looking for top talent

Apart from IITs and IIMs, political consulting firms are hiring fresh graduates from TISS, NLU, Delhi University, among other institutions

K Kavitha urges all parties to unite and pass the Women's Reservation Bill

Emphasising the importance of inclusivity in our democracy, she asserted that increased women's representation is not a matter of exclusivity but a means to build a more balanced political landscape

WB Dhupguri bypoll: A litmus test for parties ahead of Lok Sabha elections

The triangular contest will be a litmus test for these major parties mainly for the INDIA bloc which are pitted against each other in Dhupguri

J-K Lt Guv, political parties congratulate Isro on Chandrayaan-3's landing

Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and political leaders on Wednesday congratulated ISRO scientists on Chandrayaan-3's successful landing on the Moon, which put India in a group of select nations that have mastered the technology of soft-landing on the lunar surface. The feat has been achieved by the US, China and the erstwhile Soviet Union. Celebrations by tourists erupted near the historic 'Ghanta Ghar' (Clock Tower) in the Lal Chowk city centre as soon as the spacecraft made the soft landing. They were watching its live telecast. Jammu city also witnessed celebrations by political parties and other organisations on the occasion. Led by its Jammu and Kashmir unit chief Ravinder Raina, BJP workers burst firecrackers and distributed sweets among people. "India is on the moon! Heartiest Congratulations to team @ISRO for the success of the Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission. Absolutely momentous achievement and important milestone in the development of India's space programme