Latest news with #ElectionCommission
Scroll.in
an hour ago
- Politics
- Scroll.in
Rush Hour: 84% of funds donated during polls went to BJP, 223 Air India victims identified & more
We're building a brand-new studio to bring you bold ground reports, sharp interviews, hard-hitting podcasts, explainers and more. Support Scroll's studio fund today. The BJP accounted for nearly 45% of all expenditure by political parties and over 84% of all funds received by parties during last year's election period from March to June, according to a non-governmental organisation. The Hindutva party spent Rs 1,493.91 crore and collected funds to the tune of Rs 6,268 crore during this period, said the Association for Democratic Reforms. Among the 32 political parties that the report analysed, the Congress had the second-highest expenses at Rs 620.14 crore, or 18.5% of the total expenditure. The Congress collected Rs 592.48 crore during the election period, which amounted to 7.96% of the total amount, the report said. The BJP spent Rs 983.92 crore on publicity, while the Congress spent Rs 502.97 crore. This included media advertisements, publicity material and public meetings. In total, political parties spent Rs 3,352.81 crore during last year's Lok Sabha election and Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim that were held along with it. Read on. The Election Commission has reduced the period it will retain video footage and photographs of the polling process to 45 days, citing 'recent misuse' of such material by non-contestants. On May 30, the poll body told state chief electoral officers that recording of polling was not mandated by law but was used as an 'internal management tool'. In 2024, the Election Commission issued instructions laying out timelines, ranging from three months to a year, for storing video footage from stages of the election process. Read on. Eight days after the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad, the identities of 223 persons who died have been confirmed through DNA testing. Of the total, the bodies of 204 persons have been handed over to their families. Meanwhile, India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is yet to decide whether flight data and cockpit voice recorders from the aircraft that crashed will be sent overseas for analysis. The crash on June 12 killed all but one of the 242 people onboard Air India's Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft. Thirty-four persons were also killed on the ground after the plane crashed into the hostel building of the BJ Medical College and Hospital. Read on. Several Opposition leaders have criticised Union Home Minister Amit Shah for saying those who speak English in India will soon feel ashamed. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that English is 'not a barrier, but a bridge', adding that the language provides employment and boosts people's self-confidence. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP Kanimozhi told Shah that 'the only thing to be ashamed of is imposing your will on the people and trying to destroy the pluralism of India'.
The Hindu
an hour ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Nilambur bypoll: arrangements in place for counting of votes on June 23
The counting of votes for the byelection in the Nilambur Assembly constituency in Malappuram will be held on June 23. The strong room where the electronic voting machines are kept will be opened at 7.30 a.m. in the presence of the candidates' agents. The counting of votes will begin at 8 a.m., Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Rathan U. Kelkar said here on Friday. 19 rounds In all, 19 rounds of counting will be held across 14 tables. Five tables have been set up for counting the postal ballots, including the Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System, which will be counted first. The electronic votes will be counted next. The votes will be counted in the presence of the Observer appointed by the Election Commission and the candidates or their agents. Micro observers and Assistant Returning Officers have been appointed to monitor the counting of votes. 75.27% turnout The number of voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) slips in five selected booths will be compared with the votes in the EVMs there to ensure accuracy. As per the latest update from the CEO's office, Nilambur saw a voter turnout of 75.27%. The EVMs used in the byelection are stored in a strong room at the Chungathara Marthoma Higher Secondary School under tight security.
Bloomberg
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Poland's Tusk Calls for Partial Recount of Presidential Ballot
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has called for a partial vote recount of the country's presidential election amid alleged irregularities. 'Wherever there is doubt, let's count the votes again,' Tusk told reporters in Warsaw on Friday, stressing the need to look into all concerns about how the ballot was organized.
Scroll.in
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Scroll.in
Citing ‘misuse', EC cuts storage time of polling videos, photos to 45 days
The Election Commission has reduced the retention period of video footage and photographs of the polling process to 45 days, citing 'recent misuse' of such material, The Indian Express reported on Friday. In a notice to state chief electoral officers on May 30, the commission stated that videography and photography of polling were not mandated by law but were used as an 'internal management tool', the newspaper reported. The panel said that the data can be deleted after the 45-day period if no election petition is filed for it, The Indian Express reported. It was referring to petitions filed in courts to challenge the election of a candidate in a poll. In 2024, the Election Commission had issued instructions laying out timelines, ranging from three months to a year, for storing video footage from stages of the election process, the newspaper reported. The guidelines mandated that the footage from the pre-nomination period must be retained for three months. Recordings from the nomination stage, campaign period, polling and counting were to be preserved for periods between six months and one year, it had stated. In its May 30 notice, the poll panel said that the 'recent misuse of this content by non-contestants for spreading misinformation and malicious narratives on social media by selective and out-of-context use of such content, which will not lead to any legal outcome, has prompted a review', The Indian Express reported. It added: 'If no election petition is filed in respect of a particular constituency, then the said data may be destroyed'. With the new instructions, the time for storing the footage aligns with the 45-day period for filing an election petition, The Indian Express quoted unidentified polling officials as saying. As first reported by Scroll, the Union government in December amended Rule 93(2)(a) of the rules, which stated that 'all other papers relating to the election shall be open to public inspection'. The amended rule says: 'All other papers as specified in these rules relating to the election shall be open to public inspection.' With this change – notified by the Union Ministry of Law and Justice, in consultation with the Election Commission – not all poll-related papers can be inspected by the public. Only those papers specified in the Conduct of Election Rules can be scrutinised. Courts, too, would also not be able to direct the poll panel to provide all election-related papers for public scrutiny. The Congress has challenged the change of rules in the Supreme Court. The December amendment, unidentified Election Commission officials had told The Indian Express, would clarify that electronic footage of the polling process is not covered within the definition of election papers and hence not open to public scrutiny. Providing security camera footage would amount to the violation of the secrecy of the vote and open it up to potential misuse through the use of artificial intelligence, they were quoted as having argued.
India Today
9 hours ago
- Politics
- India Today
Tharoor on star campaigner list for bypoll: Congress rebuts ‘no invite' claim
Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president Sunny Joseph on Friday said Shashi Tharoor was on the party's list of star campaigners for the Nilambur bypoll. Joseph's response came after the Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor said that he wasn't invited for the campaign.'We had officially published the list and submitted it to the Election Commission. It included Shashi Tharoor's name. He was abroad most of the time, and then in Delhi. I don't know if he even came to Kerala,' Sunny Joseph said. 'I have nothing more to say about this,' he other leaders came and cooperated in the election, except AK Antony,' he said, naming senior leaders like Ramesh Chennithala and Kodikunnil Suresh who joined the bypoll campaign for their candidate Aryadan Shoukath. Joseph's remarks came a day after the four-time Thiruvananthapuram MP told reporters that the party never asked him to join the Nilambur campaign. 'I wasn't invited by the party. But that's alright,' Tharoor said, adding that he had been on an official diplomatic tour abroad during most of the campaign said there was no urgency shown by the leadership after he returned either. 'When I came back there was no insistence, no missed call from the leadership saying I should come,' he added with a on Thursday, again downplayed the speculation of a rift with the Congress brass, while acknowledging 'some differences'. He had just returned from a five-nation diplomatic tour by an all-party team, which included meetings in the US after Operation the tour, his comments praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi drew criticism from within the Congress, especially for omitting mention of similar strikes during the UPA regime.
