New Delhi: The Election Commission is understood to have decided not to intervene in the matter concerning the arrest of YSR Congress chief Jagan Mohan Reddy, whose mother has sought his release in view of the coming by-polls in Andhra Pradesh. The three-member Election Commission met on Tuesday under the chairmanship of Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi and discussed the letter from YS Vijayalakshmi, YSR Congress honorary president, seeking a...
03:44 PM, May 29, 2012
New Delhi: The Election Commission is likely to issue its notification for the Presidential election by mid-June, setting in motion the process of election to the country's top post. President Pratibha Patil's term ends on July 24 and the EC notification in this regard will be issued sometime in mid-June. "The notification for the last Presidential election was issued on June 13. The EC will be issuing a notification around...
03:22 PM, May 29, 2012
Hyderabad: Kadapa MP YS Jaganmohan Reddy's mother and the party honorary chief YS Vijaya on Monday requested Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi to direct CBI to release her son in larger interest of democracy and sought holding of free and fair elections in Andhra Pradesh. In a letter addressed to Quraishi, Vijaya alleged her son was arrested just days before the June 12 bypolls as part of a larger conspiracy...
12:37 AM, May 29, 2012
New Delhi: Terming as a closed chapter the issue of Law Minister Salman Khurshid's remarks during UP polls "challenging" the Election Commission, CEC S Y Quraishi on Monday justified taking up the issue with the President saying the "unprecedented" situation warranted such a step. "Here was a Law Minister who was challenging the authority of a constitutional body, whose powers have also been upheld by the Supreme Court. That amounted...
10:34 PM, May 07, 2012
New Delhi: Elections to the Rajya Sabha will be held in Jharkhand on Thursday. The elections will decide the fate of three candidates including the BJP's SS Ahluwalia. The BJP and JMM are still at odds over his nomination. The Election Commission (EC) had countermanded the elections following allegations of horse trading. The Supreme Court on Wednesday had refused to interfere in the Rajya Sabha election in Jharkhand. The apex...
08:48 AM, May 03, 2012
New Delhi: India's tech-savvy election management system has caught the fancy of SAARC nations, which have expressed the desire to emulate it in their respective areas. As heads of poll management bodies of SAARC countries got together to evolve solutions to common problems at the ongoing 3rd conference of heads of election management bodies of SAARC nations in New Delhi, India showcased its use of modern technology for strengthening democracy...
06:26 PM, May 01, 2012
New Delhi: Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi on Friday said there is no scientific basis for exit and opinion polls and sought a ban on both saying these could be sponsored. Speaking at a panel discussion on "Is India's media becoming increasing unethical", he said the poll body wanted a ban on not only exit polls but also opinion polls. "We wanted a ban on opinion and exit polls. If...
01:07 AM, Apr 28, 2012
Mumbai: The institution of Lokayukta in Maharashtra should be an autonomous body like the Election Commission and free from government interference, Anna Hazare said in Mumbai. Anna, who is in Mumbai to meet political leaders to muster support for a strong Lokayukta legislation in the state, was speaking to reporters after meeting Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray in Dadar. Raj has expressed his willingness to support a strong and...
04:25 PM, Apr 26, 2012
CHENNAI: DMK chief M Karunanidhi on Monday said that the Election Commission would announce the date for Pudukottai by-election soon after various benefits reach all the households there.In a statement, he charged that the State government had allocated Rs 50 crore specifically for various development works to be undertaken in Pudukottai constituency. This fund was reportedly being spent without calling for tenders, he claimed.Karunanidhi also charged that the AIADMK ministers...
10:50 AM, Apr 24, 2012
New Delhi: In a majority verdict, the Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the criteria of the Election Commission (EC) for granting symbols to unrecognized registered political parties. A three-judge bench comprising justices Altamas Kabir, SS Nijjar and Jasti Chelameswar upheld the panel's symbol order by a two to one majority. Justice Chelameswar wrote the dissenting order against the EC's symbol order. The court passed the order on a batch of...
12:23 PM, Apr 18, 2012
New Delhi: Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi on Tuesday said he doesn't see online voting becoming a reality in near future while state funding of elections in the country will first require certain key reforms in the electoral process. "Voting online, technologically is child's play for us. We are an IT superpower. Let's accept that. But we do not see that happening in the near future," Quraishi said at a...
01:04 AM, Apr 18, 2012
New Delhi: Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi on Friday wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for speeding up long-pending electoral reforms. Sources said the poll panel chief in his letter said that the reforms, including preventing people with criminal backgrounds from contesting elections, should be "expeditiously considered and approved". Although the contents of the letter were not available, official sources said the poll panel had been suggesting steps to...
07:48 PM, Apr 13, 2012
New Delhi: The Election Commision on Wednesday laid stress on strengthening election expenditure monitoring mechanism and asked polls officials to focus on training of its officials in this regard. On the concluding day of the two-day conference of chief electoral officials (CEOs), top EC officials asked the CEOs of states to tighten the election monitoring mechanism and train their officials for ensuring this. The top poll officials were asked to...
04:59 AM, Apr 12, 2012
New Delhi: The biennial election to the two Rajya Sabha seats from Jharkhand, which was countermanded over allegations of use of money-power and horse-trading, will now be held afresh on May 3, the Election Commission announced on Tuesday. The three-member Commission decided the fresh dates in its meeting held on Tuesday and a notification for the same would be issued on April 16, starting the process for filing of nominations....
04:44 PM, Apr 10, 2012
New Delhi: The Election Commission on Monday decided to write to the government seeking a CBI probe into the events that led to countermand of Rajya Sabha elections in Jharkhand recently. The decision comes after the Jharkhand High Court asked the Commission to constitute a probe. Sources in the Commission said a letter was being written to the Department of Personnel and Training for conducting a CBI probe in the...
06:41 PM, Apr 09, 2012
Ranchi: Jharkhand High Court on Thursday ordered a CBI probe into alleged cash dealings in Rajya Sabha elections. One person had filed a petition in the High Court seeking CBI probe. The Jharkhand High Court on Thursday directed the Election Commission (EC) to order an inquiry by a specialised agency like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into circumstances leading to the countermanding of the Rajya Sabha elections in the...
03:08 PM, Apr 05, 2012
Jamshedpur: Defending itself for voting in favour of a candidate of its coalition partner JMM in the recent Rajya Sabha polls in Jharkhand, the BJP on Sunday said they want an enquiry into the election of Independent candidates to the Upper House from the state. "We will welcome a comprehensive enquiry from any agency including CBI not only into the recent development in the Rajya Sabha poll but also in...
05:10 PM, Apr 01, 2012
New Delhi: Chief Election Commisssioner SY Quraishi has said that he would like to conduct the scrapped Jharkhand Rajya Sabha elections before the Presidential polls. The Jharkhand Rajya Sabha elections were cancelled by the election Commission. The Election Commission on Friday countermanded the Rajya Sabha polls in Jharkhand in the wake of allegations of horse trading and seizure of over Rs 2 crore in cash, saying the election process there...
03:40 PM, Mar 31, 2012
Ranchi: Congress and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) have sought review of the Election Commission's move to recommend to President Pratibha Patil for cancellation of two Rajya Sabha polls held on Friday. Amid reports of horse trading in the Rajya Sabha (RS) polls, the Election Commission (EC) on Friday stopped the counting of votes for two seats from Jharkhand after money was seized from a car belonging to an independent candidate's...
01:15 PM, Mar 31, 2012
New Delhi: The Election Commission has cancelled the Jharkhand Rajya Sabha election. The directive comes after allegations of horse trading and recovery of crores of rupees. The BJP MLAs have come under the scrutiny. After two marathon rounds of meetings, the Election Commission was convinced that there was indeed large-scale horse trading that had taken place. Not the first time Rajya Sabha elections in Jharkhand have always been contentious and...
06:20 AM, Mar 31, 2012
