Election Commission

This was revealed by an exclusive CVoter-ABP Gujarat Opinion Poll to gauge popular perceptions and voting intent of adult citizens in the state with a sample size of 22,807 spread across all the 182 Assembly constituencies in Gujarat using random sampling techniques.

The remarks were made by the CEC after the Congress party, following the "delay" in the announcement of dates for Gujarat Assembly polls, took a jibe at the EC by tweeting that the poll body was an autonomous institution and conducted fair elections. The Gujarat Assembly Elections will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5, while the results will be declared on December 8.

As per official record, Shyam Saran Negi had also participated in the 1951-52 general elections, the country's first. "I have never missed an opportunity to cast my vote since India got its Independence in 1947 and I am happy to vote this time too," Negi said in Kalpa, some 275 km from the state capital, after exercising his franchise.

"The Election Commission has sought, by way of the proposed amendment, to limit campaign promises to only those that are 'possible to be fulfilled'. Again, this is a woolly formulation. Every single party will claim that their promises are enforceable and given that the requirement proposed is to give a 'broad formulation'" for how the promise will be achieved the threshold isn't a difficult one to clear... which again brings us back to the concern that this is a redundant exercise," said the reply made by senior party leader and former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh.

Stating that the law doesn't provide for electoral roll based on caste or religion, the poll panel noted that the Representation of People Act, 1950 and the Representation of People Act, 1951 envisage various provisions aimed at ensuring purity of electoral registration, revision and final roll and provisions for penalties and criminal liabilities for undue interference, including false declaration knowingly and promoting enmity between classes.

This was revealed by the latest quarterly review of anti-incumbency sentiments based on a daily tracker poll conducted by CVoter for IANS. The exclusive data analysis for IANS shows that Indian voters are more angry with CEO- style Chief Ministers and the Prime Minister than the local MP or MLA.

With the announcement of the poll schedule, the Model Code of Conduct for guidance of political parties and candidates will come into force. Teams of the Commission recently visited the two states to take stock of poll preparedness. The previous assembly elections were held in December 2017. After the election, BJP emerged victorious and had formed the state government, with Vijay Rupani taking over as the chief minister.

The Election Commission also banned sarees, shirts as gifts during rallies. The Election Commission said that educational institutions including their grounds (whether government aided, private or government) shall not be used for political campaigns and rallies.

The EC has made the interim arrangement to enable the party put up a candidate for the upcoming by-polls to Andheri East assembly elections and till the dispute into the matter is resolved. The EC rejected CM Shinde's other option -- a Sun with rays -- as it resembled the symbols allotted to some other parties.

Accordingly, the Thackeray group has been given the name of Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray and it has been allotted a new symbol of a flaming torch. Similarly, the breakaway Shinde group has allotted the identity of "Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena" and it has been ordered to submit new options for a symbol by 10 a.m. on Tuesday.