Presidential Polls

Marxist leaning leader Anura Dissanayake wins Sri Lanka presidential polls

Marxist leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Sunday was declared winner of the Sri Lankan presidential election by the country's Election Commission after an unprecedented second round of counting of votes. Dissanayake, 56, the leader of the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna party's broader front National People's Power (NPP), defeated his closest rival Sajith Premadasa of Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB). Incumbent president Ranil Wickremesinghe was eliminated in the first round after he failed to become within the top two in the vote list. NPP said Dissanayake will take oath on Monday. Earlier, the Election Commission ordered a second round of counting after no candidate secured over 50 per cent votes needed to be declared the winner of Saturday's election. Dissanayake will be the country's 9th president. No election in Sri Lanka has ever progressed to the second round of counting, as single candidates have always emerged as clear winners based on first-preference votes.

Harris not backing from Biden's democracy focus, but putting her spin on it

Before dropping his bid for reelection, President Joe Biden framed voters' choice in November in dark and ominous terms, painting Republican nominee Donald Trump as a menace to American democracy and questioning whether the country could survive if he won. The Democratic Party's new nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, isn't exactly shrinking from that message, warning in her Thursday night acceptance speech of extremely serious consequences of Trump returning to the White House. But Harris is putting her own spin on what has been a central messaging strategy for Democrats. Rather than focusing on the existential threat a second Trump term could pose to the country's foundational institutions and traditions, she is expanding Democrats' definition of what's at stake in this election: It's about preserving personal freedoms. The fresh frame was on full display this week at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where attendees wrote their own definitions of freedom on handma

Sri Lanka sets expenditure limits for prez election campaign for first time

For the first time, Sri Lanka's upcoming presidential election on September 21 will be subject to campaign finance regulations, following the introduction of the Regulation of Election Expenditure Act in January 2023. According to a gazette notification dated August 16 and published Monday, each candidate is allowed to spend a maximum of Rs 109 per elector for election campaigning activities, totalling Rs 1,868,298,586 (approx USD 5 million) per candidate. The expenditure limit per candidate has been set at 60 per cent of the total amount, while political party secretaries are allowed 40 per cent for their candidate's election campaign activities. The parties must submit expenditure reports to the Elections Commission within 21 days of the election results being declared, the notification stated. A record number of 39 candidates are in the fray for the upcoming presidential election. Incumbent president Ranil Wickremesinghe, the main opposition leader Sajith Premadasa, and the lea

Harris gains ground in key battleground States, continues fundraising spree

: Indian American Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States and the Democratic presidential nominee, has gained ground nationally and also in several key battleground States. Harris, 59, not only continues to be on a fundraising spree, taking her campaign coffers to an unprecedented level but also has been receiving a record crowd in her rallies. We will win this election, Harris told a fundraiser in San Francisco wherein she raised another USD 12 million that was attended by some 700 donors, including several Indian Americans. In less than a month of her being on top of the ticket of the Democratic Party, after incumbent President Joe Biden decided to withdraw from the race, Harris has nearly wiped out the national lead of Donald Trump, Republican presidential candidate. According to Real Clear Politics, which monitors all the major national and State polls, Harris is now leading Trump by 0.5 percentage points in an average of all the national polls. Harris has also surged

Venezuelan presidential election: Maduro wins 3rd term in disputed polls

Authoritarian leader Nicolas Maduro was declared the winner in contentious Venezuelan election amid widespread irregularities in polls, sparking protests

Russia presidential polls: Supporters name Putin as independent candidate

Russian President Vladimir Putin's supporters on Saturday formally nominated him to run in the 2024 presidential election as an independent candidate, state news agencies reported. The nomination by a group of at least 500 supporters is mandatory under Russian election law for those not running on a party ticket. Independent candidates also need to gather at least 300,000 signatures in their support. The group that nominated Putin included top officials from the ruling United Russia party, prominent Russian actors and singers, athletes and other public figures. Whoever is ready to support the candidacy of Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin for the post of president of Russia, please vote. Who's in favour? Mikhail Kuznetsov, head of the executive committee of the People's Front, asked those gathered. The People's Front is a political coalition, founded in 2011 by Putin. After the vote, Kuznetsov announced that the group had voted unanimously to nominate Putin. According to Russian electi

Lebanese parliament fails to elect new President twice over lack of quorum

The Lebanese parliament has failed for the second time in a month to elect a new head of state as President Michel Aoun's term is about to end in about two weeks

Iraqi Parliament elects Abdul Latif Rashid as country's new President

Iraqi lawmakers have elected Abdul Latif Rashid as the new President of Iraq, marking a crucial step toward forming a new government for the country, the parliament said

LIVE news: Calling Kharge or Tharoor remote control insulting, says Rahul

Live news updates: She will also attend a civic reception to be hosted in her honour at Punjab Raj Bhavan in Chandigarh

Kharge, Tharoor and Tripathi in fray for Congress Presidential poll

Mallikarjun Kharge, Shashi Tharoor and K N Tripathi are the three men in the Congress presidential race for which nominations end on Friday with the veteran Kharge from Karnataka emerging a clear favourite. The 80-year-old Kharge, flanked by top Congress leaders, filed several sets of nomination papers with the proposers also including members from the G-23 ginger group comprising Anand Sharma, Prithviraj Chavan, Manish Tewari and Bhupinder Hooda. Tharoor, who was also part of the G-23 group, filed five sets of nomination papers, while former Jharkhand minister Tripathi filed a single set of poll papers with Madhusudan Mistry, the chairman of the Congress's Central Election Authority. Kharge appeared to be a clear favourite for the Congress presidential election as a galaxy of leaders were present by his side when he filed his nomination papers at the AICC headquarters here. "I was encouraged by all leaders, party workers and delegates from key states to contest the elections. I th

Top headlines:Deadline for 6 airbags extended; Gehlot out of Cong Prez race

The government said on Thursday it is deferring until October 2023 the implementation of norms mandating six airbags in all cars, giving the industry a one-year extension

Prez, VP polls: Split wide open in Oppn ranks as Cong, TMC schism widens

The polls to elect the president and the vice president may be over but the bitter aftertaste in the Opposition ranks is likely to linger with the schism between the Cong and the TMC widening

My election proves poor can dream and achieve too: President Murmu

President Droupadi Murmu on Monday said her election to the top constitutional post proves that in India, the poor can not only dream but also fulfil those aspirations

Cross-voting in Bihar during prez polls shows resentment against Tejashwi

Bihar BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal has claimed that "resentment" against Tejashwi Yadav got reflected in the presidential polls wherein Murmu got more votes than the number NDA had in its kitty

Prez polls: Goa CM thanks three Opposition MLAs for voting for Murmu

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has thanked three MLAs from opposition benches who cross-voted in support of President-elect Droupadi Murmu.

OP Rajbhar gets 'Y' security as he inches closer to BJP, backs Murmu

Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) president Om Prakash Rajbhar has been given 'Y' category security after he and his MLAs voted in favour of the NDA in the recent presidential elections

Droupadi Murmu scripts history; becomes India's first tribal President

Murmu, 64, won by an overwhelming margin against Sinha after receiving over 64% valid votes to succeed Ram Nath Kovid to become the country's 15th President

Presidential poll: Murmu consolidates lead after second round of counting

Of total votes counted so far, NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu got 71.79% votes, say officials

Prez polls: Building that was British seat of power turns into voting booth

Delhi MLAs on Monday queued up to cast their votes in the Presidential election on the premises of the historic Assembly building that had once housed the Central Legislative Assembly

Deck stacked in favour of Droupadi Murmu as India's next President

Cross-voting by MLAs reported in Odisha, Gujarat for NDA candidate