Even as Delhi went to polls on Saturday, KN Govindacharya, convener of Save Democracy Front and former ideologue of BJP, has sought postponement of the elections as the BJP has violated
The law commission presented its 255th report, on electoral reforms, on March 12, with some bold recommendations to make democracy more meaningful and thriving. It should have generated a debate. B
It is a season of pouring trouble for the Modi government. As the issue of external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj’s humanitarian gesture misfires, a Delhi court has taken cognisance of a com
The supreme court on Tuesday issued notices to the government and election commission on a plea seeking to bring political parties under RTI (right to information act). The petition
While the country is observing a decade of information revolution under right to information act (RTI), the political parties continue to hide behind certain rules when it comes to disclosing party
Our modern day politicians are not known for language skills or mastery over various issues and that lacuna is being reflected in the kind of political discourse Bihar is witnessing. The choice of
C Thirunavakarasu, a member of the election surveillance team (called ‘flying squad’) on duty at Thiruvanmiyur in Tamil Nadu’s Velachery constituency, looks worried. He believes c
The BJP would gain in this assembly election as at “the ground level people, especially youth, want change and their connect with Narendra Modi is high today”, says party national gener
Should Lok Sabha and all state polls be
President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday emphasised on the need to avoid disruption of parliamentary proceedings. He said that while three Ds are essential in a parliamentary system of democracy i.e.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) collected Rs 76.85 crores from 613 donations in the year 2015-16, which is the highest among all political parties. Indian National Congress (INC) party recei
The election commission has announced the schedule of the biggest electoral bout of the year, in five states. Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand
The elections 2017 – to five states – promise to be the biggest political bout during the Modi government, and will impact the nation like no other political event. Here are the sever
Here are the few candidates who can make or break the the political fortunes of the BJP in the upcoming UP elections. Akhilesh Yadav There is feud in the fami
The Election Commission is determined to take the environment-friendly route in conducting elections in the five states in coming months. While announcing the election schedule for Uttar Pradesh, P
The election commission will be conducting elections in five states in the next few months. Of the many initiatives it has taken to make the electoral process more transparent, one heeds the concer
The year 2017 will witness assembly elections in five states - Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa – with over 16 crore voters and 1.85 lakh polling stations across the five s
Bharatiya Janata Party MP Sakshi Maharaj has been issued a show cause notice by the Election Commission of India for saying in Meerut: &ldquo
Shiv Sena leads by a wide margin when it comes to the donations received by regional political parties above the 20,000 cut-off (for which parties need not disclose the source). In 2015-16, the Mah
The Election Commission of India has censured Aam Aadmi Party leader and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal over a bribe remark he made during a rally in Goa. Kejriwal, however, said that the ele
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday wrote a letter to the election commission, saying that the charge of bribery against him is baseless. In a
As much as 69 percent of the income of six national political parties and 51 regional parties has come from unknown sources, according to a long-term data analysis carried out by the Association fo
While presenting the budget in the Lok Sabha, the finance minister made some announcements about the manner in which he sought to make donations to political parties more transparent. If the propos
The fine print of the electoral bond scheme for donations to the political parties by businesses and wealthy individuals should aim at maximising clean-up of the system and transparency in politica
"Beet jayei ho beet jayei, voting ke bela ho; Sovat rahaba abki bhi tu, hoi paanch saal jhamela ho. Beet jayei ho beet jayei, kis soch mein haua ho, koi tohke paisa dei, police ke phone milaiy
Demonetisation was a factor as candidates in the fray for the Mumbai civic polls wooed people. Though the election commission doubled the expenditure limits from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh, some candi
The elections are over, votes are counted, victors are being sworn in – ok, in a couple of places the runners-up are being sworn in. And losers are blaming it on electronic voting mac
India is soon going to replace the older EVMs with newer machines. The election commission has informed that as the life of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) has be
The Election Commission of India has cancelled the RK Nagar by poll in Tamil Nadu, a state where political parties have bribed voters in the past too. The poll panel order clearly st
The “two-leaves” symbol, which has been frozen by the election commission, seem to have brought together the warring factions of the AIADMK. Both factions are keen to get the symb
The next general election will see the debut of the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail Units (VVPAT). The move comes amid the criticism of electronic voting machines by BSP leader Mayawat
The income of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during 2014-15 was highest among all national parties. The party had declared a total income of Rs 970.43 crore but is yet to submit its copy of incom
Ballotting will take place on November 9 in Himachal Pradesh, chief election commissioner Achal Kumar Joti announced on Thursday. The votes polled in the 68 assem
Gujarat will have two-stage elections for the next assembly, on December 9 and December 14, and the results will be out on December 14, the election commission announced on Tuesday. The fir
The bypoll for RK Nagar assembly constituency, which fell vacant following the death of Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa, is going to be a litmus test for the ruling AIADMK, feel poli
Prof Jagdeep Chhokar of the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) points out a stark irony of crime in Indian politics. “There are more than 3.5 lakh undertrials languishing in Indian pris
Criminalisation of politics is the focus of public debate when discussion on electoral reforms takes place. This issue gets amplified when data highlights an increasing number of candidates with
According to Election Commission a small percentage of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) get defective during the poll process and get replaced immediately without causing any disruption of the pol
In the age of ‘breaking news’, ‘breaking first’ and ‘super-exclusives’, authenticity of news and following basic journalistic norms is hardly given any importanc
The general elections 2019 are taking place at a time when democracies around the world are facing an increased threat of distortions from a variety of digital platforms. A group of activists and
A bench headed by chief justice of India Ranjan Gogoi in interim order on Friday asked all parties to submit receipts of the electoral bonds to the EC in sealed covers, while posting the matter
The family group on WhatsApp went into a buzzing frenzy. Thumbs-ups, happy emojis, congratulatory messages. All in response to a message that made it seem as if the BBC was reporting on a survey co
It’s 6 pm and there is no relief from the scorching heat. A serpentine line of 600-odd men extends for over half a kilometre near Yamuna Pushta night shelter. Ranging from ages 21 to 70, wear
The National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCTD) goes to polls on February 8, amid debates and protests for and against the amended citizenship law and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC
The Maharashtra State Election Commission has urged the residents to take advantage of the ongoing Electors Verification Programme (EVP) and register their names along with those of the members of
The national capital territory of Delhi (NCTD) is going to assembly elections on February 8, and the results will be out on February 11. Now that the candidates have filed their nominations, here i
According to the “lesser of two evils” principle, whenever we have to choose among two evils, we should go for the lesser one. Flawed election systems provide voters such a limited choi
For the assembly elections in Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand earlier this year, 13 political parties collected total funds of Rs 1,441.797 crore, while the expenditure incurred
The comprehensive planning, reviews and follow-ups by the Election Commission of India (ECI) involving active participation of enforcement agencies have led to record seizures in the ongoing assemb
Ahead of the upcoming local body polls in Maharashtra including the prestigious BMC elections, the Election Commission of India has recognised the Eknath Shinde faction as the real Shiv Sena and al
The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to stay the Election Commission of India order recognising the Eknath Shinde faction as the real Shiv Sena, allowing Uddhav Thackeray, the former Maharashtra
In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court of India has held the anonymous, unregulated and unlimited funding through electoral bonds and companies as unconstitutional. The five-judge
On February 15, the five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court declared the government`s electoral bond scheme as unconstitutional. It also struck down amendments the government had made to
