Page 7 - Election

Around 7,500 central forces personnel deployed in Odisha for elections

Around 7,500 central forces personnel have been deployed in Odisha in view of the Lok Sabha polls and the assembly elections, which are held simultaneously in the state, an official said on Monday. A total of 75 companies of CAPF have been deployed in Odisha for the smooth conduction of the elections, said CRPF IG Archana Shivhare, who has been appointed as the state coordinator of the forces by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. She said that 35 companies each of the CRPF and BSF along with five companies of CISF have been deployed in two phases since March 1. One company consists of nearly 100 personnel. "The forces have been deployed in sensitive and hyper-sensitive districts from an election point of view," Shivhare said. The central forces are conducting area-dominating exercises, including patrolling and flag marches in the Maoist-affected areas, to instill confidence among the people, she added. "We are continuously coordinating with the state police in all sensitive and

Lok Sabha polls: EC directs observers to ensure intimidation-free elections

The Election Commission on Monday asked its observers to ensure polls free of coercion and intimidation and pushed for judicious use of central and state forces keeping in mind that their deployment should not favour any particular party. Addressing a meeting of more than 2,100 general, police and expenditure observers here ahead of the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections and some state assembly polls, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar directed them to ensure a level-playing field for free and fair elections. The polls should be free of intimidation and inducement, he said. The CEC reminded them that as observers, they represent the commission, and are expected to conduct themselves professionally and be accessible to all stakeholders, including candidates. The observers were instructed to be tough but polite in their conduct on the field, the Election Commission (EC) said in a statement. The observers were also asked to be confined physically within the boundarie

Sikkim Democratic Front announces six candidates for Assembly polls

The Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) on Monday announced its candidates for six assembly seats, days before the announcement of the election schedule, officials said. Former chief minister Pawan Kumar Chamling will be contesting from Namchi-Singhithang in a bid to secure a record ninth term as a legislator, they said. For the three seats in Mangan district, the SDF has nominated former minister Hissey Lachungpa for Lachen-Mangan (BL-Reserved) constituency, while Gnawong Chopel Lepcha and Sonam Gyatso Lepcha will contest from Kabi-Lungchok (BL-Reserved) and Dzongu (BL-Reserved) seats, respectively. Lachungpa recently completed two terms as a Rajya Sabha MP, they said. In Gangtok district, the main opposition party has nominated Ashish Rai for Arithang seat. Rai had previously contested as an independent in 2019 after being denied a ticket by the SDF but has now returned to the party. Norzang Lepcha has been named as the SDF nominee for the Tumin Lingee (BL-Reserved) assembly seat. BL

Govt unlocks infrastructure blitz before 2024 Lok Sabha elections

PM launches projects worth Rs 2.3 trillion in a week; more lined up

11 Himachal MLAs move to U'khand, Union minister says Sukhu govt will fall

Six Himachal Pradesh Congress MLAs who voted against party nominee Abhishek Manu Singhvi in the Rajya Sabha elections, along with three Independent lawmakers, have shifted to a hotel in BJP-ruled Uttarakhand amid an ongoing rebellion against Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu. Two BJP MLAs Vikram Thakur and Trilok Jamwal from Himachal Pradesh were accompanying the legislators, who arrived in Rishikesh from Haryana's Panchkula by a chartered flight late on Friday and checked into Hotel Taj. Congress MLAs Sudhir Sharma, Rajinder Rana, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Devinder Kumar Bhuttu, Ravindra Thakur and Chaitanya Sharma have since been disqualified for defying the party whip on the state budget. They have approached the Supreme Court for relief in the matter. Three Independent MLAs Hoshiar Singh, KL Thakur and Ashish Sharma were also with them when they arrived. The Congress currently has 34 MLAs in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly while the BJP has 25. The three Independent MLAs had als

Congress in Kerala in quandary as stalwart Karunakaran's daughter joins BJP

The decision of Padmaja Venugopal, daughter of former Kerala chief minister and Congress stalwart late K Karunakaran, to join the BJP has left the grand old party in a quandary in Kerala before the Lok Sabha polls. Padmaja officially joined the BJP at a function held at the party headquarters in New Delhi on Thursday. The saffron party has suggested that it marks the decline of the grand old party. Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief K Sudhakaran termed Padmaja's decision as "cheating and betraying" the party and a "breach of confidence". He added that there were no reasons for Padmaja to leave the party and it was a "wrong and unfortunate decision". The KPCC chief said that he himself had taken many decisions to protect her interests, but she disregarded all that to leave the party and join the BJP. "Nevertheless, as she is the daughter of the late K Karunakaran, we still have love and respect for her," he said. Emotionally reacting to the development, K Muraleedhara

UK trade minister Badenoch doesn't see Indian election as deadline for FTA

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking to win a third term, with the official election campaign expected to begin in the coming weeks

Cong's poll body meets to finalise 1st list of candidates for LS elections

The top leadership of the Congress is attending a meeting in the national capital on Thursday to finalise the party's candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chief Sonia Gandhi and general secretary, organisation, K C Venugopal, as well as other senior leaders who are part of the Congress' Central Election Committee (CEC) were present at the meeting. Finalising candidates for Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Telangana, Lakshadweep, Kerala, Meghalaya, Tripura, Sikkim and Manipur, among others, is expected to be discussed during the meeting. The Congress has not declared any candidate so far. Last week, the BJP came out with its first list of 195 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections. Congress sources said the party is likely to declare its first list of candidates soon to enable the candidates to start their poll campaign. Speculation is rife over Rahul Gandhi's candidature from Amethi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's from Rae

LS polls: Cong to hold discussion on candidates for 10 States in CEC meet

According to sources, the states of Chattisgarh, Delhi, Karnataka, Telangana, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Meghalaya, Tripura, Sikkim and Manipur will be put for discussion

Congress to give final shape to manifesto for LS polls, to focus on justice

The Congress is likely to wind up internal deliberations for giving final shape to the party manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls and is likely to come up with some innovative measures like an apprenticeship scheme to deal with unemployment. The party's manifesto committee, which is headed by former finance minister P. Chidambaram and has senior leaders like Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Shashi Tharoor and Anand Sharma, among others, is likely to wind up discussions on the manifesto on Tuesday. The key members of the panel met at the party headquarters on Tuesday afternoon and gave final shape to the document. The key members of the panel also met here on Monday. "The committee will hold the last round of talks before finalising the party manifesto today and will make its final recommendations," a sources said. The 50-page document will be presented before the party top leadership and then the Congress Working Committee for final approval. Among those who participated in the ...

Obscene video: Won't contest election till proven innocent, says Rawat

A day after an obscene video allegedly involving him surfaced on social media, BJP MP Upendra Singh Rawat who has been fielded again by the party from Barabanki on Monday said he will not contest any election till proven innocent. He also demanded an investigation into the matter. In a post on X in Hindi, Rawat said, "A fake video of mine generated by deepfake AI technology is being made viral, for which I have lodged an FIR." He said he has requested the party president to get it investigated. "I will not contest any election in public life until I am proven innocent," the first-time MP said. An obscene video purportedly involving Rawat emerged on social media, police said on Sunday. The video surfaced a day after the BJP fielded him as its candidate from the Barabanki Lok Sabha seat. On the basis of a complaint by MP's personal secretary Dinesh Chandra Rawat, a case has been lodged against an unknown accused, Kotwali police station in-charge Aditya Tripathi had said. It was a

Unwarranted: India's response to UNHR High Commissioner's comment on polls

India on Monday said that the concerns" raised by the UN's top human rights official over its electoral process are unwarranted and do not reflect the reality of the world's largest democracy, as New Delhi highlighted that many across the globe seek to learn from its electoral experience and aspire to emulate it. India's Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva Ambassador Arindam Bagchi said Delhi has noted comments by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk about the country's forthcoming general elections. In his global update to the 55th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Turk voiced concern by "increasing restrictions on the civic space with human rights defenders, journalists and perceived critics targeted as well as by hate speech and discrimination against minorities, especially Muslims. However, his concerns in this regard are unwarranted and do not reflect the reality of the largest democracy in the world, Bagchi said. Bagchi underlined that in

Free and fair Lok Sabha polls would be ensured in J&K, says CEO Pole

Jammu and Kashmir's Chief Electoral Officer P K Pole on Saturday said free and fair Lok Sabha polls would be ensured in the Union Territory. Pole reviewed the preparations for the polls in the Anantnag Parliamentary constituency in south Kashmir. "The notification for Lok Sabha polls would be issued in 10-12 days. Election is definitely a challenging task, but our officers are experienced. Our endeavour is to have a peaceful, transparent, free and fair election and improve the voter turnout compared to the last elections," Pole told reporters. Asked about the security arrangements, the CEO said the security environment has become better over the last few years but there were some challenges. "The challenges are still the same and so we have flagged the requirement for forces. The locally available forces and those who come from outside will be deployed according to the norms of the election commission whether it is on polling station duty or area domination or other duties. We will

Google partners with news publishers to curb deepfakes ahead of elections

The company added that fact-checks in multiple Indian languages and formats, including videos, will be shared and amplified via partnering news publishers

BJP's manifesto on defence

From an arms importer, India now ranks among the top 25 arms-exporting nations. BJP's 2024 manifesto must include a coherent policy to increase defence exports

Artificial intelligence chatbots not ready for election prime time: Study

All of the models performed poorly. The results found that just over half of the answers given by all of the models were inaccurate and 40% were harmful

RS polls: Cong wins 3 seats in Karnataka; BJP bags lone seat in HP, 8 in UP

The ruling Congress in Karnataka won three seats and the BJP one in the Rajya Sabha elections in Karnataka on Tuesday. Those who were elected to the Upper House are Ajay Maken, G C Chandrasekhar and Syed Naseer Hussain, all belonging to the Congress, and Narayansa K Bhandage of the BJP. Five candidates were in the fray for the four seats in the elections, including JD(S) contestant D Kupendra Reddy. The elections were marred by cross-voting. While one of the BJP MLAs, S T Somashekar, voted for the Congress's Maken, the other, A Shivaram Hebbar, abstained.

Elections, manifestos, and the infra agenda

Manifestos should clearly indicate the thrust areas planned to be addressed

Rajya Sabha polls highlights: BJP wins 8 seats out of 10 in UP

Rajya Sabha polls latest updates: Catch all the latest news on the Rajya Sabha elections here

RS polls: BJP accuses CM Sukhu of violating model code of conduct Shimla

He demanded that his vote should not be counted till a decision in this regard is taken by the election commission