Assembly Polls

The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition seeking to revert to ballot paper voting in elections in the country. "What happens is, when you win the election, EVMs (electronic voting machine) are not tampered. When you lose the election, EVMs are tampered (with)," remarked a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and P B Varale. Apart from ballot paper voting, the plea sought several directions including a directive to the Election Commission to disqualify candidates for a minimum of five years if found guilty of distributing money, liquor or other material inducement to the voters during polls. When petitioner-in-person K A Paul said he filed the PIL, the bench said, "You have interesting PILs. How do you get these brilliant ideas?". The petitioner said he is the president of an organisation which has rescued over three lakh orphans and 40 lakh widows. "Why are you getting into this political arena? Your area of work is very different," the bench retorted. After Paul revealed he ha

Nearly 13 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 9 AM on Wednesday in 38 assembly constituencies in Jharkhand where voting is underway in the second and final phase, officials said. Polling began at 7 AM in 14,218 booths across 12 districts and will continue till 5 PM. However, polling in 31 booths will end at 4 PM though people standing in the queue at that time will be able to exercise their franchise, the officials said. The ruling JMM-led INDIA bloc is seeking to retain power riding on its welfare schemes, while the BJP-headed National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is trying to wrest it. "A voter turnout of 12.71 per cent was recorded in the first two hours of polling. Voting has been peaceful," an Election Commission official said. A total of 1.23 crore voters, including 60.79 lakh women and 147 third-gender electors, are eligible to exercise their franchise on Wednesday, another official said. Altogether 528 candidates, including Chief Minister and JMM leader Hemant Soren, hi

The fishing community of Dandi Hawar hopes for lasting solutions to their problems and a commitment from leaders to support their livelihoods

Police have seized more than Rs 3.70 crore cash from a van in Palghar district of Maharashtra amid the code of conduct in place for the November 20 assembly polls, an official said on Saturday. The cash was seized at Wada in the coastal district on Friday, police inspector Datta Kindre said. "The police's vigilance and flying squad received a tip-off that a van was transporting cash through the district. Based on the information, the team intercepted the van and carried out a check, during which it found that Rs 3,70,50,000 cash was being transported. The driver and security personnel failed to produce valid documents required for the transportation of the cash," he said. They told the police that the cash was being taken from a company based in Navi Mumbai to Vikramgad in Palghar, he added. The cash has since been seized and the Income Tax Department as well as election officials have been informed for further probe, he said, adding that two occupants of the van have been detained

A total of 38 candidates have filed their nomination papers for five assembly constituencies in Assam to be contested for the by-elections.By-elections for five assembly constituencies in Assam - Behali, Dholai, Samaguri, Bongaigaon and Sidli, will be held on November 13.On the last day of filing nomination papers, a total of 24 candidates filed their nominations for the five assembly constituencies on Friday.According to the Chief Electoral Officer of Assam, three candidates filed nominations for Dholai, one filed for Sidli, five filed for Bongaigaon, 12 filed for Samaguri and three candidates filed their nominations for Behali assembly constituency on Friday.With these nominations, the total number of candidates who have filed nominations is 38.The ruling BJP has fielded its candidates for three assembly seats - Behali, Samaguri and Dholai, while its ally parties Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and United People's Party Liberal (UPPL) are contesting in Bongaigaon and Sidli respectively.The

More than 900 centenarians, including 533 women, are eligible to exercise their franchise in 43 assembly constituencies going to polls in the first phase of Jharkhand elections on November 13, an official said. The Jharkhand assembly polls will be held in two phases on November 13 and November 20, while the counting of votes will take place on November 23. "A total of 995 voters aged above 100 years, including 462 male voters and 533 female voters, are eligible to cast their votes in the first phase of assembly elections in the state on November 13," the official said on Friday. As per the electoral rolls, Jharkhand has a total of 2.60 crore voters, of whom 1.13 lakh are senior citizens aged above 85 years. The official said that assured minimum facilities along with accessibility friendly infrastructure like ramps would be ensured at the polling stations for PWDs (persons with disabilities) and senior citizens. In Jharkhand, all polling stations are located at ground floor and ra

In the 2019 Assembly polls in Maharashtra, 62 of 64 urban seats polled below the state average of 60.56 per cent

The Uchana Kalan seat in Haryana saw one of the fiercest electoral encounters with BJP's Devender Chatar Bhuj Attri defeating Congress candidate Brijendra Singh by just 32 votes. The margin of 32 votes was the lowest margin among the 90 assembly segments where polling took place on October 5. The Jannayak Janta Party Dushyant Chautala who was the outgoing MLA from Uchana Kalan seat was at the fifth spot, as per the Election Commission. On the other hand, Congress party's Mamman Khan won the Ferozepur Jhirka seat in Nuh district by a highest margin of 98,441 votes. Khan, who was the sitting MLA from this seat, defeated BJP's Naseem Ahmed. Khan polled 1,30,497 votes while his nearest rival got 32,056 votes. Indian National Lok Dal's Aditya Devilal won the Dabwali seat by 610 votes and defeated Congress party's Amit Sihag. Congress party's Rajbir Fartia defeated BJP's senior leader Jai Parkash Dalal in Loharu seat by 792 votes. From Adampur seat, Congress party candidate Chander Pa

More voters in Jammu and Kashmir used the NOTA button against those in Haryana, latest Election Commission data shows. In elections to the 90-member Haryana assembly, out of over two crore electors, 67.90 per cent had exercised their franchise. Out of these, 0.38 per cent used the none of the above (NOTA) option on the voting machine. In the three-phased Jammu and Kashmir assembly polls to 90 seats, 63.88 per cent of the total electorate voted. Out of these, 1.48 per cent opted for the NOTA option. According to trends, not more than two per cent of the voters have opted for the NOTA option, indicating continued reluctance of electors in choosing the option. Introduced in 2013, the NOTA option on electronic voting machines has its own symbol a ballot paper with a black cross across it. After the Supreme Court order in September 2013, EC added the NOTA button on the EVMs as the last option on the voting panel. Before the apex court order, those not inclined to vote for any candidat

Haryana Assembly elections: The Congress had alleged that the Election Commission is delaying the uploading of current vote counting trends for the Haryana Assembly elections on its website

J&K, Haryana exit polls 2024 results highlights: Several exit polls indicated on Saturday (October 5) that the Congress is likely to storm back to power in Haryana after a 10-year drought

The SSP mentioned that a detailed traffic plan has been prepared for the day, which will be communicated to citizens soon to avoid any inconvenience

J-K Assembly elections exit polls: Voting in three phases in Jammu and Kashmir concluded on Oct 3, witnessing a 63.88% voter turnout