Tag: poll

Revision Of Electoral Rolls In JK Does Not Disturb Poll Schedule: EC

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SRINAGAR: Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Wednesday said the revision of electoral rolls in Jammu and Kashmir does not disturb schedule or conduct part of polls and the poll-body is aware that there is a vacuum in the Union Territory which needs to be filled.
The CEC said that they are aware that there is a vacuum in Jammu & Kashmir which needs to be filled.
On fresh revision of electoral rolls in Jammu & Kashmir, the CEC said the process is aimed at bringing the voter list of JK at par with the rest of the country.
“There are four qualifying dates for enrollment of voters. The qualifying date for revision of electoral rolls in Jammu & Kashmir was October 1 while January 1 was the qualifying date for summary revision in the country. We wanted to complete the process (previous revision) as soon as possible,” he said, adding that those who will attain the age of 18 years on April 1, 2023 are eligible to enroll themselves as voters.
On March 20, the ECI ordered a fresh revision of electoral exercise in Jammu & Kashmir. The exercise would start on April 5 with publication of the integrated draft electoral roll and culminate on May 10 with publication of final electoral rolls.
This is the second such exercise ordered by the poll-body in Jammu & Kashmir in less than one year.
Jammu & Kashmir has been without an elected government since June 19, 2018 when BJP withdrew support to Mehbooba Mufti-led government for which it had entered into a power-sharing agreement in 2015. (KNO)

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#Revision #Electoral #Rolls #Disturb #Poll #Schedule
( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

March 29, 2023
Finland on course for NATO membership after Hungarian vote

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The Hungarian parliament ratified Finland’s NATO membership on Monday, putting Helsinki one step closer to joining the alliance but leaving Sweden waiting in the wings.
Members of Hungary’s parliament voted by a margin of 182 to 6 in favor of Finnish accession.
Helsinki now only needs the Turkish parliament’s approval — expected soon — to become a NATO member.
Hungary’s move comes after repeated delays and political U-turns.
Hungarian officials spent months telling counterparts they had no objections and their parliament was simply busy with other business.
Budapest then changed its narrative last month, with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán — who has an iron grip over his ruling Fidesz party — arguing the point that some of his legislators had qualms regarding criticism of the state of Hungarian democracy.
Finland and Sweden have been at the forefront of safeguarding democratic standards in Hungary, speaking out on the matter long before many of their counterparts.
But earlier this month — just as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced that he will support Finland’s NATO membership — the Fidesz position flipped again, with its parliamentary group chair then announcing support for Helsinki’s bid.

Turkey’s parliament is expected to ratify Finnish membership soon. But it is keeping Sweden in limbo, as Turkish officials say they want to see the country implement new anti-terror policies before giving Ankara’s green light.
Following in Turkey’s footsteps, Hungary is now also delaying a decision on Sweden indefinitely — prompting criticism from Orbán’s critics.
Attila Ara-Kovács, a member of the European Parliament from Hungary’s opposition Democratic Coalition, said that Orbán’s moves are part of a strategy to fuel anti-Western attitudes at home.
The government’s aim is “further inciting anti-Western and anti-NATO sentiment within Hungary, especially among Orbán’s fanatical supporters — and besides, of course, to serve Russian interests,” he said.
“This has its consequences,” Ara-Kovács said, adding that “support for the EU and NATO in the country is significantly and constantly decreasing.”
A recent Eurobarometer poll found that 39 percent of Hungarians view the EU positively. A NATO report, published last week, shows that 77 percent of Hungarians would vote to stay in the alliance — compared to 89 percent in Poland and 84 percent in Romania.
But Hungarian officials are adding the spin that they do support Sweden’s NATO membership.
The Swedish government “constantly questioning the state of Hungarian democracy” is “insulting our voters, MPs and the country as a whole,” said Balázs Orbán, the Hungarian prime minister’s political director (no relation to the prime minister).
It is “up to the Swedes to make sure that Hungarian MPs’ concerns are addressed,” he tweeted on Sunday. “Our goal,” he added, “is to support Sweden’s NATO accession with a parliamentary majority as broad as possible.”

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#Finland #NATO #membership #Hungarian #vote
( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )

March 23, 2023
Karantaka: BJP raises poll pitch in Old Mysuru with ambition to regain power

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Bengaluru: With Assembly elections round the corner, the BJP is focused on the Old Mysuru region, where significant electoral gains are seen to be crucial for the party to come back to power in Karnataka on its own.
For decades, the BJP has struggled to spread its wings in the Vokkaliga community-dominated Old Mysuru region, with the well entrenched JD(S) and Congress holding sway.
The region comprises Ramanagara, Mandya, Mysuru, Chamarajanagar, Kodagu, Kolar, Tumakuru and Hassan districts.
JD(S) leader and former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and President of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) D K Shivakumar belong to this community.
Among the 58 Assembly seats in these districts, JD(S) represents 24, Congress 18 and BJP 15. BJP also has the backing of expelled BSP MLA N Mahesh, who represents Kollegal in Chamarajanagar district.
In the Vokkaliga heartland of Mandya district, the JD(S) has six out of seven MLAs, three of four MLAs in Ramanagara and six of the seven seats in Hassan.
The JD(S) has four out of 11 seats in Mysuru, whereas the Congress has four and BJP three in this district.
The regional party also has three seats in Tumakuru but the party is wary about the Gubbi MLA S R Srinivas who allegedly voted in favour of the BJP candidate during the Rajya Sabha elections in June last year.
The BJP top brass has acknowledged that improving the electoral tally in this region is key to regaining power on its own steam.
The party came to power in Karnataka four times and every time it emerged as the single largest party but fell short of the majority mark.

Twice, the party had to allegedly resort to ‘Operation Lotus’ to woo disgruntled opposition members and form a majority government.
The BJP, however, put up an impressive show in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, winning 25 of the 28 seats.
Shivakumar’s brother D K Suresh won from Bengaluru Rural Lok Sabha constituency and JD(S) supremo and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda’s grandson Prajwal Revanna emerged victorious in Hassan.
To BJP’s comfort, the party backed independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh won from Mandya constituency, which had always been a JD(S) citadel.
The actor-turned-politician Sumalatha who defeated Deve Gowda’s grandson and former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy’s son Nikhil Kumaraswamy in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, extended her ‘full support’ to the BJP on March 11, a day ahead of Prime Minister’s visit to Mandya to launch a slew of projects including the most ambitious one Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway.
The inauguration could have been done either in Mysuru or Bengaluru, but the Prime Minister opted for Mandya.
“The voters of Mandya hardly get carried away by emotional issues,” a political analyst said.
The JD(S) suffered a blow when the KR Pet MLA K C Narayana Gowda ditched the party during the “Operation Lotus” in 2019 and was among the MLAs who resigned from the Assembly, joined the BJP and successfully contested the by-election on a BJP ticket and became a minister.
With this, the BJP got its first legislator from the JD(S) citadel, Mandya.
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#Karantaka #BJP #raises #poll #pitch #Mysuru #ambition #regain #power
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 19, 2023
Congress party is in danger, not democracy: Nadda in poll bound Karnataka

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Molakalmuru: BJP national President J P Nadda on Friday said, it is Congress party and not democracy which is in danger in the country, as he attacked that party’s leader Rahul Gandhi over his recent remarks in London.
He also accused the Congress leader of challenging India’s sovereignty, and urged the public to make such people sit at home.
“The way in which Congress is moving towards mental bankruptcy is reprehensible and painful. The kind of activities that the Congress party is involved in these days and what their leader Rahul Gandhi is doing is condemnable,” Nadda said.
Addressing a public meeting here, he said, Congress leaders are involved in corruption, commission, criminalisation, and divide and rule is their policy.
“Now they have crossed all limits….Rahul Gandhi goes to England and raises questions on India’s sovereignty. He says democracy has ended here. During the recent Assembly polls- in Nagaland Congress got zero, five seats in Meghalaya and three in Tripura. It is not democracy that is in danger, your party (Congress) is in danger,” he added.
The BJP President was addressing a public meeting here as part of the party’s ‘Vijaya Sankalpa Yatre’, ahead of Assembly polls by May. He was referring to Rahul Gandhi’s remarks made in London — that structures of Indian democracy are under “brutal attack”.
Further hitting out at Rahul Gandhi for allegedly seeking America and Europe’s intervention into the issue of democracy in India, he said, “Should we allow such leaders to remain (in politics)? They should be made to sit at home.”
Rahul Gandhi is challenging India’s sovereignty, he said, as he targeted the Congress for trying to preach about democracy. Nadda pointed out that it was the Congress government at the Centre that imposed emergency on the country under Indira Gandhi’s leadership.
Karnataka BJP President Nalin Kumar Kateel, state Ministers R Ashoka, B Sriramulu among others were present at the public meeting.

Earlier in the day, the BJP President held roadshows at Challakere and Molakalmuru, as part of the Yatre.
Noting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has played a key role in changing the political culture in the country, Nadda said the politics propagated by Congress was of corruption, commission, criminalisation, dynastic rule, but the PM with a responsible leadership has begun the politics of report card in the country.
A strong and responsible government that believes in serving the people, has been established by PM Modi, he said, highlighting the concept of “New India”, and listed out India’s growth as the fifth largest economy, and in sectors like automobile, digital payments, mobile phone manufacturing, among others.
Affirming that Karnataka’s picture has changed, thanks to the push given by the “double engine government” (BJP govts both in centre and state) in various sectors and in infrastructure, the BJP President said, the state stands number one in FDI inflow, innovation, startups among other areas.
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#Congress #party #danger #democracy #Nadda #poll #bound #Karnataka
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 17, 2023
National Opposition, JK Leaders Submit Memorandum To ECI, Seek Early Assembly Poll

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SRINAGAR: National opposition and Jammu and Kashmir regional parties on Thursday submitted a memorandum to Election Commission of India, seeking early assembly polls in the Union Territory.
The signatories of the memorandum include National Conference president Dr Farooq Abdullah, Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge, CPI (M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, NCP chief Sharad Pawar and other senior leaders of national political parties.
The memorandum reads that Jammu and Kashmir is without a legislative assembly and an elected government for last five years.
“In disregard of the letter and spirit of the Constitution, an unrepresentative and unaccountable bureaucracy is allowed to run the government to the discomfort and inconvenience of the general public, “ it reads.
It reads that the panchayat elections and elections to other PRIs cannot be substitute to legislative assembly elections and the government and for that matter the ECI cannot avoid and delay assembly elections on that ground.
“Had it been so, there would be no need to conduct assembly elections in states, that the ECI is with due dispatch and punctuality, as is evident from recently held assembly elections in Meghalaya, Tripura and Nagaland and the elections scheduled to be held in Karnataka.”
It added in each case the argument though, inherently specious, could have been that as PRIs were in place there was no need to hold assembly elections.”
“The Home Minister and other functionaries of Government of India have more than once stated that the government is ready to facilitate conduct of assembly elections and final call is to be taken by the Election Commission of India.”

It reads the Election Commission of India is under a constitutional obligation to hold assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir and delay in and denial of assembly elections would amount to denial of fundamental and democratic rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and a breach of constitutional obligations.
“We however reiterate that the assembly election would be first and important step towards restoration of all the constitutional rights guaranteed in the constitution of India and fulfillment of political aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” it reads.
The memorandum reads, “We the signatories to this memorandum representing different political parties of Jammu and Kashmir and various national political parties implore and request the Election Commission of India to announce the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir without any further delay and notify the election schedule so that the democratic rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and access to democratic institutions is restored.”
Earlier in the day, JK leaders during a meeting with representatives of various national opposition parties discussed prevailing situation in Jammu and Kashmir and delay in holding of assembly elections.(KNO)

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#National #Opposition #Leaders #Submit #Memorandum #ECI #Seek #Early #Assembly #Poll
( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

March 16, 2023
Macron pays high price in popularity over pension reform, survey shows

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Emmanuel Macron is paying a high price for his push on pension reform as a survey on Sunday showed the French president is facing a new low in popularity — as low as during the protests of the so-called Yellow Jackets.
As the French take to the streets to protest against Macron’s pension reform, 70 percent of respondents said they are dissatisfied with the president, according to the Ifop barometer published by Le Journal du Dimanche. Macron’s popularity rating fell by 4 points in one month, it showed.
Since December, Macron has suffered a substantial drop of 8 points, and he now sees only 28 percent satisfied and 70 percent dissatisfied, according to the poll carried out, Le Figaro emphasized, between March 9 and 16.
That is the same period as the negotiations that finally led the Elysée to shun parliament and impose the unpopular pension reforms via a special constitutional power, the so-called Article 49.3, which provides that the government can pass a bill without a vote at the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, after a deliberation at a Cabinet meeting.
The procedure has been used in the past by various governments. But this time it’s prompting a lot of criticism because of the massive public opposition to the proposed reform, which raises the legal retirement age from 62 to 64 years. Some media stress that recent opinion polls have shown that a majority of the French are opposed to this type of procedure.
“You have to go back to the end of the Yellow Jackets crisis in early 2019 to find comparable levels of unpopularity,” writes Le Journal du Dimanche commenting the survey. The outlet also stresses that dissatisfaction with Macron crosses all categories, the younger generations as well as the blue- and white-collar workers.
A total of 169 people, including 122 in Paris, were taken in custody for questioning on Saturday evening in France during demonstrations marred by tensions between the police and the protesters, according to French media citing figures communicated on Sunday by the Ministry of the Interior.

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#Macron #pays #high #price #popularity #pension #reform #survey #shows
( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )

March 15, 2023
Imran postpones poll rally till March 13 after govt imposes Section 144

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Islamabad: PTI chief Imran Khan on Sunday postponed his party’s election rally in Lahore till March 13 after the interim government in Punjab province imposed Section 144.
Khan, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, on Saturday night had announced a rally today (Sunday).
However, citing concerns in the wake of a Pakistan Super League (PSL) match in Lahore, the district administration banned public gatherings invoking Section 144 in the city, Dawn reported.
Protesting the interim government’s move, the PTI approached Election Commission of Pakistan, and later postponed the rally.
Taking to Twitter, Khan posted: “It seems again Sec 144 has been imposed illegally solely on PTI election campaign as all other public activities are ongoing in Lahore. Only Zaman Park has been surrounded by containers & heavy police contingent. Clearly, like 8 March, Punjab CM & police want to provoke clashes.”
“To file more sham FIRs against PTI ldrshp & workers & to use as pretext for postponing elections. Elec Schedule has been announced so how can Sec 144 be imposed on pol activity? I AM TELLING ALL PTI WORKERS NOT TO FALL INTO THIS TRAP. Hence we have postponed rally till tomorrow,” his tweet read.
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#Imran #postpones #poll #rally #March #govt #imposes #Section
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 12, 2023
Amit Shah sounds LS poll bugle in Kerala, targets CM on corruption

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Thrissur: Taking on Kerala’s CPI(M)-led Left government on alleged corruption in the Life Mission project, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday urged Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to shed his silence on the matter.
Shah, while addressing a BJP rally here, also alleged that Communists were keeping mum on the alleged gold smuggling scam and said they will be forced to answer the public in 2024 Parliamentary elections.
“The communists are immersed in the Life Mission corruption. The Chief Minister’s former Principal Secretary, M Sivasankar, was arrested in this case. I urge the chief minister to answer the people on that matter,” Shah said.
Referring to the government action against the Popular Front of Indi (PFI), the Union Home Minister said the outfit has been completely banned in the country and thus helped Kerala to get rid of violence.
“This step was not welcomed by either the Congress or by the Communists,” he said.
In a rally, marking the launch of BJP’s election campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Shah said the people of Kerala, for a long time, have given opportunity to the Congress and Communists to rule the state.
“Communists have been rejected by the world and the country has rejected the Congress party…Kerala is passionate about bringing change under the leadership of Narendra Modi,” Shah said.

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#Amit #Shah #sounds #poll #bugle #Kerala #targets #corruption
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 12, 2023
Flawed reports causes more damage to credibility of poll management bodies: CEC KumarB

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Bengaluru: Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar has flagged “flawed” reports of some agencies and organisations, saying they cause more damage to the credibility of election management bodies as the pioneering work done by them finds no place in such surveys.
Kumar urged the EMBs to come up with essential parameters and standards which should guide such surveys and rankings.
He was addressing the 3rd International Conference on the theme ‘Inclusive Elections and Elections Integrity’ on Thursday in a virtual format.
The CEC along with fellow election commissioners were in Bengaluru where they also assessed the poll preparedness of poll-bound Karnataka.
He lamented that countries with low inclusivity are ranked high.
“The flawed report causes more damage to the credibility of EMBs,” he added.
The CEC urged the participating EMBs to come up with essential parameters and standards which should guide such surveys…countries with low inclusivity are ranked high,” the poll panel said in a statement.
Talking about inclusivity, the CEC pointed out that India has 460 million women voters, which is almost equal to the number of men voters.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, more women than men voted. “This is the level of inclusion that India has been able to achieve,” he said.
In his address, Election Commissioner Anup Chandra Pandey said the Election Commission of India has been working for inclusive elections under the premise of ‘No Voter to be Left Behind’.

“Our flagship voter education programme SVEEP connects with over 950 million voters spread over more than one million polling stations across the country,” he said.
Election Commissioner Arun Goel said inclusive elections are a critical building block of ‘Elections Integrity’.
A total of 59 participants from 31 countries/ EMBs including Angola, Armenia, Australia, Canada, Chile Costa Rica, Croatia, Denmark, Dominica, Georgia, Guyana, Kenya, Rep. of Korea, Mauritius, Moldova, Norway, the Philippines, Portugal, Romania, St Lucia, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland and Zambia, as well as representatives of two International organisations, participated in the Conference.
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#Flawed #reports #damage #credibility #poll #management #bodies #CEC #KumarB
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 10, 2023
Vivek Ramaswamy says he received an offer to buy his way into the CPAC straw poll

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The Ramaswamy campaign declined the offer, so they did not get any more details about where the money would go or how exactly the arrangement would work. The anecdote was shared on condition that the name of the consultant not be revealed for fear of retribution. But POLITICO confirmed that the person who made the alleged offer does indeed have ties to the conference.
“A straw poll is a vote that those in attendance get to participate in. If a presidential contender is organized and popular, they can do well,” a spokesperson for CPAC said in response to POLITICO.
In the past, candidates have organized for their own supporters to come to CPAC to boost their standing in the straw poll or cheer their candidate on stage. But the Ramaswamy campaign’s allegation is fundamentally different: that someone with ties to the conference offered to arrange those supporters for a fee.
It comes as there have been questions about CPAC’s influence in the broader conservative universe. The leader of the conference, Matt Schlapp, is currently being sued by a campaign staffer alleging sexual misconduct, allegations which Schlapp has denied. And it suggests that the biotech entrepreneur is designing his outsider campaign for president as a disruptive force within traditional GOP circles.
Ramaswamy first mentioned his campaign was contacted about the straw poll on Fox News Business. In an interview with POLITICO, he expanded on it, saying he decided to speak out about the call as part of his campaign’s effort to shine a light on corruption and exposing the sometimes unsavory behind the scenes deal making that is part of modern politics.
“The premise of the campaign is to drive a national identity revival, but a definite secondary goal is going to be exposing – I mean I’m not someone who has grown up in politics but everything I’ve learned suggests that there is a lot that people need to see in the open,” said Ramaswamy.
“We’ve decided to go ‘full transparency’ on exposing the quasi-corrupt process of the campaign itself,” he said.
Ramaswamy spoke at CPAC last week and received 1 percent support in the straw poll of potential 2024 Republican primary contenders. Former president Donald Trump came in first with 62 percent, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis came in at 20 percent. Perry Johnson, the millionaire from Michigan who announced his candidacy last week, and whose team had a presence at the event, earned 5 percent.

During his speech at CPAC on Friday, Ramaswamy called for a “national revival,” said he would shut down the FBI and the Department of Education, and vowed to end federally mandated affirmative action by repealing Executive Order 11246, which mandates race-based quotas for federal contractors.
“Do we want a national divorce? Or do we want a national revival? It’s not going to happen automatically, whatever it is — it is going to be what we choose it to be,” Ramaswamy asked the audience, referencing Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s calls for a “national divorce.”
Following CPAC, Ramaswamy attended the anti-tax group Club for Growth’s donor event in Palm Beach, Fla. This weekend, Ramaswamy will be attending the Hamilton Co. Republican Party Pancake Breakfast in Cincinnati, Ohio, and will be making upcoming stops in Iowa and New Hampshire.
Ramaswamy said his campaign is thinking about doing things differently when it comes to fundraising and even showing how candidates are prepped for interviews or events with expert briefings. He plans to launch a podcast in the coming weeks where the public can listen in on his briefing on topics ranging from foreign policy to health care.
“I am increasingly intrigued by the process,” Ramaswamy said of running for office. “The Republican base likes my message about fixing government management but you need to fix it in your own backyard if you’re going to preach about it.”
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#Vivek #Ramaswamy #received #offer #buy #CPAC #straw #poll
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

March 7, 2023