Indian Elections

CJ Sharma said: "We are not lawmakers, we know our limitations. We ensure compliance of law. We can't issue such mandamus."

India has witnessed a nearly six-fold increase in the total number of voters since 1951 to over 94.50 crore this year, but almost one-third of them stayed away from exercising their franchise in the last Lok Sabha polls. This has prompted the Election Commission to walk the extra mile to bring them to the polling booths. In 1951, when the voter lists for the first general elections were prepared, India had 17.32 crore registered electors and 45.67 per cent had turned up to exercise their franchise in the newly-born Republic. The number of registered electors witnessed a gradual increase over the years, and so did their participation in the subsequent elections. In the 1957 general elections, the number of registered electors was 19.37 crore and 47.74 per cent cast their ballots to send their representatives to the Lok Sabha. Amid talks of taking the voter turnout to 75 per cent, the Election Commission has flagged the issue of the 30 crore voters who did not turn up at the polling

With the objective of finding a technological solution for migrant voters to all stakeholders, the Commission has explored the option of using a modified version of the time-tested model of M3 EVMs

Contending that the ECI is seriously concerned about the increasing use of money power in elections, the poll panel has told the Supreme Court that it has introduced a robust mechanism for election expenditure monitoring during polls. The Election Commission of India (ECI) said one of the reasons for more money being seized today is its increased vigilance and efforts. It said that the services of central and state law enforcement agencies are routinely engaged, and their teams deployed to poll-bound states to monitor election expenditure. The submissions were made in an affidavit filed in response to a plea filed by Prabhakar Deshpande seeking comprehensive plan to curb excessive poll spending by political parties and candidates and action against erring candidates and parties. "The Election Commission of India is seriously concerned about the increasing use of money power in elections. To curb this menace, the Election Commission of India has effectively and successively enforced

The coming year would tell whether Congress has regained its strength or BJP's slogan of Congress-free India is headed towards success

Municipal polling doesn't draw crowds, and that's not just in India

Both the Congress and BJP have huge political investments in Karnataka, but the lines between their supporters have blurred over the years

Not just as the home state of PM Narendra Modi, but also as a major producing and exporting state known for its trade and enterprise, Gujarat holds a special place for all political parties

In view of the upcoming Assembly polls in Gujarat, the Election Commission (EC) has directed all banks in the state to keep a watch on suspicious transactions of more than Rs 10 lakh in the accounts, officials said on Sunday. The banks have been instructed to also report transactions of more than Rs 1 lakh in the accounts opened by poll candidates, they said. As per the EC's guidelines, poll candidates cannot spend more than Rs 40 lakh during campaigning and they have to open a separate account for that purpose. All the transactions above Rs 10,000 must be done through cheques, RTGS (Real-Time Gross Settlement) or drafts, a senior state official said. To convey these instructions, nodal officers of the expenditure monitoring cells in all 33 districts of Gujarat convened meetings with senior bank officials in the last two days, said Sahdevsinh Solanki, accounts officer at the office of Gujarat's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO). "As per guidelines of the Reserve Bank of India and the E

As per the rules, both the candidates as well as the political parties have to publish complete details about the criminal antecedents

The ADR said 16 of the 23 electoral trusts submitted details of their contribution for 2020-21 (FY21) to the Election Commission of India

Meanwhile, the apex court has asked a three-judge Bench to review a past order on the issue, which said that such handouts are not a corrupt practice

Experts dwell on whether or not there can be a legal definition of the term 'freebies'

Experts and politicians are divided over who the challenger to the NDA/BJP is really going to be: the Congress or regional parties

About 1.29 crore votes were cast for NOTA option in the last five years in state and general elections, poll rights body ADR said on Thursday.

The meeting is scheduled to take place at the residence of NCP chief Sharad Pawar at 3 PM, with all major opposition parties expected to attend

Droupadi Murmu will meet NDA lawmakers in Bihar around 10 am before leaving for Tripura

Murmu has got support from Biju Janta Dal as well as YSR Congress

Draupadi Murmu will meet the MLAs and MPs of BJP as well as allies in Lucknow

The BJP consolidated its position in Tripura winning 3 of the 4 assembly seats; In Delhi's Rajinder Nagar, AAP's Durgesh Pathak defeated BJP candidate Rajesh Bhatia by a margin of over 11,000 votes