Tag: assembly polls

  • Crucial assembly election results on Sunday in shadow of raging COVID pandemic

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Counting of votes will be held on Sunday in the high-stakes Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry assembly elections, overshadowed by the raging COVID pandemic, as the BJP seeks to consolidate its hold over more states and the Congress along with its allies attempts to regain lost turf.

    There will be 2,364 counting halls as compared to 1,002 halls in 2016 in 822 assemble constituencies, a more than 200 percent increase, in view of the COVID guidelines, according to the Election Commission which had drawn flak from the courts over the conduct of polls during the pandemic.

    At least 15 rounds of sanitisation will be carried out at each polling centre, besides social distancing and other precautions, including a ban on gatherings, will be strictly followed, officials said.

    They said counting of votes will begin at 8 AM and continue late into the night.

    As many as 1,100 counting observers will watch the process and candidates and agents will have to produce a negative COVID test report or double dose of vaccination certificate to get an entry.

    Exit polls have forecast a tight contest between the incumbent Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress and the BJP in the crucial West Bengal assembly polls and put the ruling saffron combine ahead in Assam while projecting that the Left alliance will retain Kerala, a feat unseen in four decades.

    For the Congress, the exit polls predicted that it may fall short in Assam and Kerala and lose in Puducherry to the opposition alliance of AINRC-BJP-AIADMK.

    The only good news for the Congress was from Tamil Nadu, where the exit polls predicted that the DMK-led opposition alliance, of which it is a part, will trounce the AIADMK-BJP coalition.

    The poll results in the four states and the UT are also likely to reflect how the handling of the COVID pandemic has played on the voters’ mind.

    Polling was held in eight phases in West Bengal between March 27 and April 29, in Assam in three stages on March 27, April 1 and 6, while votes were cast in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and the Union Territory of Puducherry in a single phase on April 6, when the COVID surge had begun in many of the states.

    Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal are among the 11 states that account for 78.22 per cent of the total active cases, according to the Health ministry.

    A three-tier security arrangement is in place in West Bengal’s 108 counting centres and at least 292 observers have been appointed and 256 companies of central forces deployed across 23 districts of the state that voted in a gruelling election marred by violence and vicious personal attacks.

    The result will decide whether Mamata Banerjee, who has been in power for 10 years and is arguably fighting the toughest poll of her political career, has been able to thwart the challenge by the battle-hardened election army of the BJP led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.

    The BJP, which had just three seats in the 294-member Assembly in the 2016 Assembly polls and went to win 18 out of 42 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, had pulled out all stops in the state in a determined bid to oust Banerjee, a vocal critic of Prime Minister Modi, and add another state to its tally of 17.

    The Left-Congress alliance is third main contestant in the state.

    In Tamil Nadu, both Dravidian parties — AIADMK and DMK — went into the election without their stalwarts, J Jayalalithaa and M Karunanidhi.

    Chief Minister K Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam will cement their position as successors of Jayalalithaa if the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (AIADMK) retains power though it faces an uphill task especially after the rout in the 2019 Lok Sabha election when the DMK-led alliance won 38 out of 39 seats.

    The AIADMK had scored successive wins in 2011 and in 2016, when Jayalalithaa bucked the anti-incumbency trend — the first by anyone in nearly three decades in the state.

    After a narrow defeat in the last assembly election where several exit polls had predicted his party’s win, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief M K Stalin spearheaded a determined election campaign this time and vigorously toured the state to take on the ruling AIADMK.

    AIADMK ally BJP, which had not won any seat in the last polls, is contesting in 20 constituencies.

    Another AIADMK ally PMK is contesting from 23 constituencies.

    The Congress, an ally of the DMK, is in the fray in 25 Assembly segments.

    Actor-politician Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam-led combine is also in the fray.

    There are 75 counting centres across the state and all arrangements are in place to smoothly conduct the exercise, which would be monitored by observers, authorities said.

    In Kerala, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) is seeking to break the state’s four-decade-old trend of swinging between the communists and the Congress-led United Democratic Front.

    As many as 957 candidates, including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, 11 of his Cabinet colleagues, Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala, senior Congress leader Oommen Chandy, ‘Metroman’ E Sreedharan, former Union Minister K J Alphons and BJP State president K Surendran, among others, were in fray in the election to the 140 seats.

    The BJP,which had won one seat in 2016, is confident of garnering more seats this time The poll is significant for Kerala Congress (M) chief Jose K Mani who recently snapped decades-long ties with the UDF and joined hands with the Left front.

    Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had camped in the state for several days and taken part in dozens of corner meetings and rallies, with the party hoping that the state will herald a turn in its electoral fortunes after a series of disappointments in recent years.

    In Assam, the ruling BJP is facing a challenge from ‘Mahajoth’ or ‘Grand Alliance’ comprising the Congress, AIUDF, Bodoland Peoples’ Front (BPF), CPI(M), CPI, CPI(ML) Liberation, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Anchalik Gana Morcha (AGM).

    The BJP has an alliance with the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), the United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) and the Gana Suraksha Party (GSP), The saffron party had scripted history by winning the traditionally Congress-dominated state in 2016, after remaining on the fringes.

    In Puducherry, the AINRC-led NDA and the Congress-led Secular Democratic alliance are in a contest.

    While AINRC fielded candidates in 16 of the total 30 constituencies the BJP is contesting nine seats while the AIADMK is contesting five seats.

    The Congress-led government in the Union Territory had collapsed just before the elections.

    Counting will also be held in four Lok Sabha seats and 13 assembly seats across 13 states where bypolls were held.

    The EC has banned victory roadshows and vehicle rallies.

    India’s daily coronavirus tally crossed the grim milestone of four lakh on Saturday, while the death toll rose to 2,11,853 with 3,523 fresh fatalities.

    The infection tally rose to 1,91,64,969 with 4,01,993 new cases, while the active cases crossed the 32-lakh mark.

  • Would like to ensure ongoing assembly polls are held in peaceful and fair manner: CEC Chandra

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Sushil Chandra, who assumed charge as the 24th Chief Election Commissioner on Tuesday, said he would like to ensure that the ongoing assembly elections in West Bengal are held in a very peaceful and fair manner so that voters in even the vulnerable areas can cast their votes without any fear.

    Chandra was appointed as the CEC on Monday, the day Sunil Arora demitted office. “I would like to ensure that the elections (in the remaining phases in West Bengal) should be held in a very peaceful and very, very free and fair manner so that voters even in the vulnerable areas can cast their votes without any fear,” Chandra told PTI after assuming charge as CEC.

    The high-octane assembly election campaign in West Bengal, where the BJP and the Trinamool Congress have unleashed a no-holds-barred attack against each other, has seen the EC clamping down on leaders of both parties for their objectionable utterances. The first four phases of polls in the state have been marred by violence.

    While the three-phased assembly polls in Assam and the single-phase elections in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry have concluded, West Bengal is going through eight phases of polls.

    The fifth phase is on April 17. Chandra said that an “atmosphere has to be created” to ensure free and fair polls. Asked how the poll panel will go about it, the CEC said the EC is monitoring and talking to all the officers on the ground as well as the observers and detailed meetings are taking place.

    Chandra was appointed as an election commissioner on February 14, 2019, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. He would demit office on May 14, 2022.

    Under him, the Election Commission will hold assembly polls in Goa, Manipur, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.

    The term of the assemblies of Goa, Manipur, Uttarakhand and Punjab ends on various dates in March next year. The term of the Uttar Pradesh assembly ends on May 14 next year.

    Chandra belongs to the 1980 batch of the Indian Revenue Service. He is also an ex-officio member of the Delimitation Commission since February 18, 2020, looking after the process in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

    Having held several posts in the Income Tax Department for nearly 39 years, Chandra was appointed the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman on November 1, 2016.

    He spent considerable time as Director of Investigation and Director General of Investigation, Mumbai and Gujarat, respectively followed by his stint as Member (Investigation), CBDT and thereafter assuming the post of Chairman of this apex body.

    “Transparency and purity of political finance are of vital importance for a free and fair electoral process and the creation of a level playing field.

    “Continuing the crusade that he started as CBDT Chairman against the menace of black money, Chandra was proactive as the erstwhile Election Commissioner in curbing the use of money power that vitiates the electoral process,” the Commission said on Tuesday.

    He has constantly emphasised the concept of “inducement-free” elections and it has become an integral dimension of monitoring the electoral process in all ongoing and forthcoming elections, the EC said.

  • Supreme Court dismisses plea to stay sale of electoral bonds ahead of assembly polls 

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea seeking stay on further sale of electoral bonds ahead of assembly elections.

    A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde declined to stay sale of the electoral bonds as sought in the application moved by the NGO, Association for Democratic Reforms.

    The NGO had also sought stay on sale of the electoral bonds during the pendency of the PIL filed by it pertaining to funding of political parties and alleged lack of transparency in their accounts The Centre had earlier told the bench, also comprising Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian, that the bonds would be issued from April 1 to April 10.

    The NGO had claimed that there is a serious apprehension that any further sale of electoral bonds before the upcoming assembly elections, including in West Bengal and Assam, would further ‘increase illegal and illicit funding of political parties through shell companies’.

    While reserving its order on the NGO’s application, the apex court on March 24 had flagged the issue of possible misuse of funds received through electoral bonds by political parties for illegal purposes like terrorism and had asked the Centre whether there was any ‘control’ over how these funds were put to use.

    The top court had said that the government should look into this issue of possible misuse of funds received through electoral bonds for illegal purposes like terrorism.

    “What is the control of the government on how the money is put to use,” the bench had asked the government.

    “The funds can be misused for illegal purposes like terrorism. We would like you, as the government, to look into this aspect,” the bench said, adding that political parties may use these funds for activities beyond their political agenda.

    “If a political party receives electoral bonds worth Rs 100 crore, what is the assurance that it won’t be used for illegal purposes or fund violence,” the bench had observed.

    The Centre had told the bench that electoral bonds have a validity of 15 days and political parties have to file their income tax return also.

    It had said that buyers have to use white money and the purchase of electoral bonds is through a banking channel.

    “Terrorism is not funded by white money. It is funded by black money,” the government had said.

    The NGO had said there is anonymity about the donor and the Election Commission and the Reserve Bank of India had earlier raised objections on it.

    It had also claimed that most of the funds through electoral bonds have gone to the ruling party.

    Assembly polls will be held in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Kerala and Union territory of Puducherry beginning from March 27 to April 29.

  • BJP’s Central Election Committee meeting today, likely to finalise candidates for Assembly polls

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: A meeting of the BJP’s Central Election Committee (CEC) in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be held in the evening today and is likely to finalise candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, West Bengal and Assam.

    Sources said that the party is likely to finalise its list of candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, West Bengal and Assam today. Assam BJP chief Ranjeet Kumar Dass said: “There will be a meeting of the parliamentary board at 5 pm, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”

    Earlier today, Dass attended a meeting at BJP chief JP Nadda’s residence. In the meeting, several ministers were present including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Jitendra Singh and Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal were present in the meeting.

  • Don’t deploy officials charged with lapses in previous elections: EC to poll-bound states

    The advisory, sent last month, said any officer, who is due to retire within the coming six months, should not be associated with any election-related duty.

  • Congress appoints its senior leaders as observers for 2021 Assembly polls campaign

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Congress on Wednesday appointed its senior leaders including chief ministers Ashok Gehlot and Bhupesh Baghel as observers to oversee the party’s election campaign management for the upcoming assembly polls in several states and a Union territory.

    Assembly elections are due to be held in the states of Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the UT of Puducherry by the middle of this year.

    An official communication from the party said Congress president Sonia Gandhi has appointed the leaders as senior observers for overseeing the election campaign management and coordination in states where assembly elections are going to be held in 2021.

    Their appointment is with immediate effect.

    They will discharge their duties in close coordination with AICC general secretaries and in-charges in the respective states, the party said.

    Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, former Goa chief minister Luizinho Faleiro and Karnataka’s former deputy chief minister G Parameswara have been appointed as senior observers for the Kerala assembly polls.

    Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, the party’s general secretary Mukul Wasnik and senior leader Shakeel Ahmad Khan have been appointed as senior ovservers for the Assam assembly polls.

    For the elections in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, senior party leaders and former union ministers M Veerappa Moily and M M Pallam Raju, besides sitting cabinet minister in Maharashtra Nitin Raut have been appointed as senior observers.

    For the West Bengal assembly elections, senior party leader B K Hariprasad and Alamgir Alam, besides Punjab minister Vijay Inder Singla have been appointed as observers.

    The party is keen to retain power in Puducherry and is seeking to wrest power back in Assam, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

    The Congress is in the process of finalising seat-sharing with its allies in these states, the statement said.

    The Congress is also contesting the West Bengal assembly polls in alliance with the left parties and final seat-sharing arrangements are being worked out in the state, it said.

    The party’s electoral fortunes were on the decline last year when it lost power in Madhya Pradesh after its leader Jyotiraditya Scindia and his supporting MLAs switched over to the BJP.

    The Congress also lost the assembly elections in Delhi and Bihar last year.