Page 4 - Political Parties

Time to speak up, women

Ahead of the upcoming elections, political parties have started announcing incentives to benefit women, but what do women truly seek for genuine gender parity?

Why politicians defect

Indian politics wouldn't be a fraction as fascinating if it did not defy any idea that seemed obvious or an answer that began with 'of course'. They would all fail the test of Indian politics

LS elections: Most parties in Tamil Nadu want EC to hold single-phase polls

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Saturday said most of the political parties in Tamil Nadu have urged the EC to conduct the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in single phase in the state. At the end of his two-day visit to Tamil Nadu to review poll-preparedness, Kumar said the Election Commission (EC) would come down heavily on those officials who do not ensure level playing field to parties as "in a democracy, officials should be absolutely impartial." Briefing reporters on the issues raised by the political parties, he said, "most of the political parties want single phase polling and demanded steps to curtail use of money power during the elections. They also sought disqualification of candidates who are found distributing cash during the elections or any inducement." "Process wise, they (political parties) have said that the bureaucratic machinery needs to be impartial. They need to provide a level playing field so that every candidate is treated equally," he said. Kumar,

Zero-tolerance policy towards misuse of money in elections: CEC Kumar

Addressing a press conference CEC chief on Saturday asserted that the Election Commission determines to ensure free, fair, and transparent elections

Never accepted any electoral bonds funding; always opposed it: CPI(M)

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Friday said it has not accepted any funding through electoral bonds and it never opened a designated SBI account as required to accept the bonds. "Reports have appeared in some sections of the media that the CPI(M) has received various amounts as contributions through electoral bonds," the CPI(M) said in a statement. "The party wishes to clarify that these reports are false and baseless. The fact is that the CPI(M) has refused to accept electoral bonds on principle. That is why it did not even open a designated State Bank of India account as required by the law to accept electoral bonds," it said. "The CPI(M) had appealed to the Supreme Court against the electoral bonds scheme because of this basic opposition," it added in the statement. In a landmark verdict just months ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the Supreme Court on Thursday scrapped the Centre's electoral bonds scheme of anonymous political funding, calling it "unconstitutional" and .

Regional political parties get lion's share of electoral bond funds

Share of other sources has declined as a proportion of overall income

Tamil Actor Vijay enters politics with 'Tamilaga Vetri Kazham' party

Renowned South Indian actor Vijay has declared that his newly launched party will not be contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and will not extend support to any other party

Rajasthan legislative assembly to commence its first session today

A preparatory meeting held at the BJP headquarters outlined strategies for the upcoming session, attended by Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma and other BJP legislators

What AAP achieved in 12 years, other parties could not in 75 yrs: Kejriwal

The National Convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Delhi's CM, Arvind Kejriwal, chaired the party's National Executive and the 12th National Council meeting on Sunday

Parties should set aside differences and unite to crush terror in J-K: Azad

Speaking to ANI, the founder-chairman of the Democratic Progressive Azad Party stressed the need for all political parties to set aside their differences and come together to fight terror

EC asks parties not to use derogatory words for persons with disability

The Election Commission has asked politicians not to use derogatory words for persons with disability in public speeches, saying usage of such semantics in speech by members of any political party and their candidates can be interpreted as an affront to such people. In an advisory issued to parties on Wednesday, the poll panel said the very foundation of democracy lies in representation of all communities in the electoral process. "Accessible and inclusive elections have been a non-negotiable priority for the Election Commission of India in particular to ensure equal participation of PwDs. With a renewed rigour, the Commission is consciously striving to promote the principle of accessibility and inclusivity in the elections," the advisory read.

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