Lucknow, February 7 (DNS)The Election Commission landed itself in middle of controversy just a day ahead of first phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh. The Opposition parties trained gun on Election Commission and Congress party over transfer of IAS official, who stopped cavalcade of Robert Vadra in Amethi on the final day of electioneering on Monday.
The Election Commission transferred the IAS Pawan Sen to Goa soon after he stopped the car of Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law when he took out a bike rally in support of Congress. The poll official Sen stopped Vadra's cavalcade as it was exceeding the permissible numbers of vehicles.
Lashing out at Election Commission and Congress, the Opposition BJP said that it shows dictatorship of Congress Party and Central government.
On the other hand, Samajwadi Party General Secretary Azam Khan said that transfer of an IAS officer will set a wrong precedent. He further said that there was also no justification given over Sen's transfer.
The Opposition Parties also accused Gandhis to influence the constitutional body like Election Commission. However, Election Commission on Tuesday came out with a clarification that transfers are routine and on hold till elections over.
The Election Commission has denied allegations that a poll observer was tranferred on Monday for ordering the stopping of a motorcycle rally of Congress campaigner and Priyanka Gandhi's husband Robert Vadra on the charge of violating the model code of conduct.
The Election Commission in a late night ... Read Full Story
Chandigarh, February 1 (DNS)- After conducting peaceful and fair polls, the State Election Commission is now confronted with the task of keeping the electronic voting machines (EVMs) safe for over a month till the time the mandate of the electorate recorded in these machines is declared on March 6.
As many as 19,841 EVMs that recorded the decision of the electors of choosing the next candidates in 117 assembly segments have been kept in 117 strong rooms in 56 buildings across the state.
Manned by three-tier-security comprising an inner cordon of central paramilitary forces, outer cordon of Punjab Armed Police personnel and patrol parties of the Punjab Police, these EVMs have been kept securely away from light so that the data stored in these machines does not get affected till the time the poll results are out.
About 2,000 paramilitary personnel man the EVMs in three shifts over all 117 strong rooms in the state. “Five personnel of central forces are deployed right outside the 117-strong rooms in three shifts of eight hours each.
The outer cordon is provided by the PAP personnel deployed at the gate of the building,” said a senior police official.
After the completion of voting process yesterday, the returning officers (ROs) of each constituency were entrusted with the task of storing the EVMs in strong rooms in each district.
The EVMs were transported in the trucks escorted by paramilitary and police personnel. In certain constituencies where the polling took place at a distance of several ... Read Full Story
Chandigarh, January 31 (DNS)- People's Party of Punjab chief Manpreet Singh Badal has thanked voters of the state for having come out and voted in large numbers. "The large turnout showed the anger of the voter not only with the existing government, but also with the SAD and the Congress meery-go-round every five years" he said.
He said there was a clear indication that people wanted change. "Also, our state has a young population and youngsters coming out to vote in large numbers shows that there has been a clear disconnect between their aspirations and the state policies ", he said.
"I have been very humbled by the love and affection that has come to me from Punjabis all over. I can't think of a political party formed less than a year before the poll emerging a potent third alternative in state politics. When I think, the rationale of this support, I guess it stems from the fact that for the first time, people of Punjab, found an option which they could describe their own PPP, is their political party- one which is based on their values, their feedback, their aspirations and their vision for the state", he added.
"A few days back, I was interacting with my young supporters on internet, and many of them said, that they were specially coming from far off distances just to cast their votes. I can only tell them, that irrespective of the fact, that PPP gains power or not, it will never ever betray their trust", said Manpreet.
"I have always believed that politicians are essentially servants of the ... Read Full Story
New Delhi, January 28 (DNS) The campaigning in Uttarakhand and Punjab for the Assembly elections slated for January 30, ends on Saturday.
In Uttarakhand 800 candidates are in the fray for 70-member Assembly seats, while as 1880 aspirants are in the fray for 117-member Assembly seats in Punjab.
The Election Commission has made elaborate arrangements to ensure free and fair polls in both the states slated on January 30.
BJP president Nitin Gadkari will address rallies in Pathankot and Chandigarh while his colleague, MP Shatrugan Sinha is scheduled to campaign in Ludhiana on Saturday.
Amarinder Singh's Congress, the Parkash Singh Badal-headed SAD-BJP combine and the Chief Minister's nephew Manpreet Singh Badal have come out as strong contenders over weeks of campaigning.
Meanwhile in Uttarakhand, Congress veteran ND Tiwari on Wednesday jumped into the race of chief ministerial post in the event of his party returning to power.
Earlier on January 25, Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi in an exclusive interview with CNN-IBN said that the use of black money during the Assembly elections was a major cause for concern and the EC was trying its best to deal with it.
Across the five states getting ready for the Assembly elections, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa, nearly Rs 45 crore of illegal money has been seized so far. Out of that, nearly Rs 30 crore has been seized from Punjab only.
Sources in the Election Commission said that money is just the tip of the iceberg to buy votes in ... Read Full Story
Noida, January 8 (DNS)- A day after the Election Commission (EC) ordered the covering of statues of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati and her party symbol, the elephant, draping has begun on the structures in various parts of the state.
The EC's order is part of the model code of conduct that is in place after dates for the upcoming assembly polls were announced in December last year. Elections in UP are slated to begin on February 4 and will, over seven phases, wrap up on February 28.
Addressing a press conference, Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi had on Saturday said that except for the Mahatma Gandhi, photos of all political leaders should be removed. "There must be level-playing ground. Partiality will lead to severe consequences," he had said.
One of the places where the covering of the statues has begun is the controversial Noida memorial park that was inaugurated by Ms Mayawati in October last year amid much fanfare. The park, estimated to have been built at a mind-boggling cost of around Rs. 685 crore, also drew
much criticism from political parties across the spectrum which slammed the Dalit czarina for wasting crores of taxpayers' money in what they called as mindless extravaganza.
The memorial is meant to honour Dalit icons and has over two dozen huge statues of Mayawati, her mentor Kanshi Ram and Dr BR Ambedkar, among others.
In the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, then Prime Minister A B Vajpayee's photograph on billboards across the country on the Golden Quadrilateral National Highway ... Read Full Story
New Delhi, January 8 (DNS)- The Election Commission feels that Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Goa may pose problems on use of money power in the upcoming Assembly elections. "We feel that Punjab and Uttar Pradesh will give us problems on the money front. And so will Goa, because money plays a big role,"
Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi told in an interview, when asked if EC foresees problems in any of the poll-bound states.
Already, the Commission's fears are turning true with huge cache of money bags being recovered in states of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. So far, as much as Rs 7.5 crore has been seized from Uttar Pradesh and a similar amount of cash has been recovered from Punjab.
The CEC said the Commission will also keep a tab on paid news during polls, besides also on the television channels and newspapers owned by various political parties and account for the expenses incurred on election campaigns for candidates of their respective political party.
"We are aware that political parties have their own channels and newspapers. This is also disturbing the model code and level playing field," said Quraishi.
"After Tamil Nadu, we have now prepared our guidelines for channels owned by political parties themselves. We will count the number of hours on TV and space given in newspapers and see their rate cards and then divide it among the total number of candidates for which the campaigns are done," he said.
The CEC said unfortunately there is no cap on expenditure of political parties during polls, but ... Read Full Story
Chandigarh, February 22 (DNS)- The Election Commission of India has approved to register eligible NRIs as voters.
The Chief Electoral Officer, Punjab, Kusumjit Sidhu, said today that under Section 20A of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, inserted vide the Representation of the People (Amendment) Act, 2010, every overseas elector, Indian citizen, who was absenting from his place of the ordinary residence in India owing to employment, education or otherwise, and had not acquired the citizenship of any other country and was not included in the electoral roll, was entitled to have his/her name registered in the electoral roll of the constituency in which his/her place of residence in India as mentioned in his/her passport was located.
In terms of the Rule 8A of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, every overseas elector, whose place of residence in India is located in Punjab and who has completed 18 years of age as on January 1, 2011, and is desirous of registering his/her name in the electoral roll, is invited hereby to submit a claim application in Form 6A for the registration in the electoral roll of the constituency in which his/her place of residence as shown in the passport is located.The claim application in Form-6A may be either submitted in person directly to the registration officer of the constituency concerned or sent to such registration officer by post along with the documents mentioned in the form and the ... Read Full Story
Chandigarh, February 18 (DNS)- The Gurdwara Election Commission has decided to recommend holding of the general elections to the SGPC in May this year. The Chief Commissioner, Gurdwara Election Commission, Justice HS Brar, arrived at this decision after holding a meeting on the state of preparedness with commissioners from Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh yesterday.
Justice Brar said the commission would ask the Union Home Ministry to hold the elections in May 2011 as the final voters’ lists were ready and all other preparations were in order. The SGPC elections were earlier expected to be held in March or April 2011. “It is for the Union Home Ministry to announce the date, but we are asking them to hold them in the first week of May,” Justice Brar told Reporters.
Once the date is announced by the Union Government, all other schedules would be prepared and implemented by the commission. Justice Brar said applications had already been invited for the allotment of symbols on which parties would contest the. These symbols would be allotted soon after holding a meeting with political parties.
The SGPC poll in a pre-election year is rather significant and can set a trend for the next general election in Punjab, due in February 2012. Currently the SAD led by Sukhbir Singh Badal has a majority in the SGPC.
Justice Brar said the poll would be held on regular ballot papers and electronic voting machines would not be used. Around 55 lakh Sikh voters have become eligible to caste their vote ... Read Full Story
Amritsar, February 10 (DNS)- Shiromani Panthic Council chairman Manjeet Singh Calcutta has shot off a missive to the Union Home Minister P Chidambaram seeking the introduction of photo identity cards in the coming SGPC elections.
In his letter to the minister dated February 9, Calcutta has reiterated his charges regarding “grave errors, lapses and violations in formulation of voter forms, enrolment, publication of voter lists and now its revision”.
He alleged that the whole process has been “tailored to the diktats of the ruling SAD-BJP government in Punjab under the ideological influence of RSS”. He said though both the SGPC and the DSGMC are statutory bodies, the mechanism of regulation of voters is different. “In Punjab, workers of the ruling party are filling up voter forms and depositing them in bulk to the authorised officials, whereas in Delhi the voter forms are filled by the authorised officials of the Delhi Gurdwara Election ... Read Full Story
