India's political landscape is ablaze with activity! From the ongoing debates surrounding the new farm bills and their impact on rural India, to the upcoming state elections shaping the national narrative, the stakes couldn't be higher. Key political figures are maneuvering strategically, with alliances shifting and power dynamics constantly in flux. The opposition's challenge to the ruling party is intensifying, sparking vigorous debates on crucial policy matters including economic reforms and social justice initiatives. Parliamentary proceedings are filled with heated exchanges, reflecting the deep divisions within the nation. This evolving political climate directly impacts the lives of every Indian citizen, influencing everything from economic opportunities to social welfare programs. Stay informed about the latest developments in Indian politics, from crucial legislative decisions to grassroots movements, by exploring Abtak.com for in-depth analysis and breaking news updates. Understanding the intricacies of our political system is crucial; stay engaged, stay informed, and stay ahead.
Thiruvananthapuram: The Election Commission of India on Friday declared that all eligible voters working in any business, trade, or establishment will be given a paid holiday on polling day, April 9, for the upcoming Kerala Assembly elections. The EC said the decision is in line with provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. "No deduction of wages shall be made on account of such a paid holiday. Any employer who contravenes these provisions shall be liable to a fine. All daily wage and casual workers are also entitled to a paid holiday on polling day," it stated. The Commission also clarified that voters employed in industrial or commercial establishments outside their constituency, but registered to vote in a constituency going to polls, will be entitled to paid leave to cast their vote. It has directed all state and union territory governments to ensure strict implementation of these provisions and to make it easier for voters to exercise their franchise without difficulty.
The Election Commission introduces new rules for voter enrollment. Voters enrolled after 2003-04 must now provide proof of citizenship. This includes a self-attested declaration and supporting documents. The move aims to remove illegal immigrants from the electoral roll. Bihar will be the first state to implement the special intensive revision. Other states will follow soon.In a move to identify and remove illegal immigrants wrongly included in the electoral rolls, the Election Commission has man ...Read More >
Patna (Bihar) [India], July 2 (ANI): Defence Minister Rajnath Singh arrived at Patna airport on Wednesday for his visit to Bihar ahead of the inaugural ceremony of the BJP's state executive meeting. The visuals showed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders welcoming the Defence Minister at the airport. Also Read | IT Hiring Massive Surge: India's Tier-2 Cities See 53% Rise in Hiring in Information Technology Sector, Says Foundit. Speaking to reporters, Union Minister Giriraj Singh said, "Rajnath Singh is coming. He will speak about the accomplishments of the state and central governments, ...Read More >
By Jaikrishnan PKOTTAYAM: One woman was killed and two were injured after a part of a building in the govt medical college hospital collapsed here on Thursday. The woman got stuck in the debris of the collapsed building. It was the rescue team that found the dead body of the woman amongst the debris. The husband of the deceased complained that his wife was missing after the building collapsed. According to him, the woman went to take a bath in the washroom in the collapsed part of the building. T ...Read More >
Patna (Bihar) [India], July 6 (ANI): The ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) campaign of the electoral rolls in Bihar is progressing rapidly and recognizing the efforts of the Polling station officials, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Bihar has announced a special incentive of Rs 6,000 for each. This additional honorarium is aimed at acknowledging their hard work and commitment during the intensive revision process. Also Read | PM Narendra Modi, Argentine President Javier Milei Agree to Diversify India-Argentina Trade Basket, Vows to Expand Cooperation in Defence, Security and Mine ...Read More >
New Delhi, Jul 15 (PTI) YouTuber Samay Raina appeared before the National Commission for Women (NCW) in Delhi on Tuesday, months after he was summoned in connection with allegedly offensive and sexist content aired during his show "India's Got Latent", officials said. Raina was also among the five social media influencers who appeared before the Supreme Court in a case seeking action against them for ridiculing persons suffering from disabilities. Raina submitted his statement in response to the allegations to NCW officials. Officials said further steps will be considered after reviewing his ...Read More >
Itanagar, Jun 7 (PTI) The flood situation in Arunachal Pradesh improved on Saturday with water levels of most rivers receding, even as 33,000 people in 24 districts remained affected, officials said. Twelve people lost their lives and one person went missing in rain-related incidents, including landslides, after the monsoon set in, they said. In its daily report, the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) said 33,200 people in 215 villages remained affected due to floods and landslides in the state. The water levels of most major rivers and their tributaries were showing a receding trend o ...Read More >
New Delhi, July 10 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Supreme Court on Thursday orally observed that the clutch of petitions challenging the Election Commission of India's (ECI) decision to revise electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar raises an issue which "goes at the very roots of democracy", involving the right to vote. After the petitioners' side presented their oral submissions, a Bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi remarked, "There is no question that the issue raised goes at the very roots of democracy -- the right to vote". "They (petitioners) are challenging not only the powers o ...Read More >
New Delhi, Nov 26: The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking directions to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to introduce ballot paper in place of EVMs (Electronic Voting Machines). A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and P.B. Varale rejected the prayer to return to the ballot system due to the alleged manipulability of EVMs. "When you lose, EVMs are tampered with; when you win, EVMs are fine," remarked the apex court, when the petitioner referred to the statements made by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and his predecessor Jagan Mohan ...Read More >
Srinagar- Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Saturday said foreign countries were told clearly during the post-Operation Sindoor diplomatic outreach that in case of a fresh provocation, India would repeat its action. Speaking at a discussion at the Ahmedabad Management Association, Tharoor said Indian delegations which visited foreign countries in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor managed to convey that India acted with restraint and responsibility. "In other places, we actually were able to get some very high-placed people to say not only that they respected and supported India's right of self- ...Read More >
Kottayam (Kerala), Jul 3 (PTI) Kerala Health Minister Veena George is facing mounting pressure to resign after a woman died when part of a building collapsed at Kottayam Medical College Hospital on Thursday. While opposition Congress-led UDF demanded her resignation, citing serious lapses in rescue operations and broader failures in the state's public health system, the BJP said that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan "is no longer fit to remain in his position even for a moment" and must resign. Bindu, the mother of a patient, was found dead under the debris two and a half hours after a sectio ...Read More >
New Delhi [India], July 4 (ANI): The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise being undertaken in Bihar ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections is progressing smoothly on the ground, with Booth Level Officers (BLOs) completing their first round of visits to nearly 1.5 crore households across the state. According to official data, more than 87 per cent of Enumeration Forms have already been distributed during the door-to-door verification drive, which is being carried out as part of the Election Commission's ongoing efforts to update and verify the electoral rolls. Also Read | CCI Directs A ...Read More >
Mumbai, Jul 9 (PTI) Rejecting criticism over financial prudence for presenting supplementary demands of Rs 57,509 crore just three months after presenting the budget, Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar on Wednesday said the state's economic position is robust and fiscal parameters are fine. He said the additional funds would primarily be spent on the Centrally-sponsored development schemes, infrastructure projects, and statutory grants, which will contribute to enhancing the state's productive assets. The Maharashtra government tabled supplementary demands of Rs 57,509.71 crore in the state le ...Read More >
New Delhi, Jul 10 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Supreme Court is slated to hear on Thursday a clutch of petitions challenging the Election Commission's decision to revise electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar. As per the causelist published on the website of the apex court, a Bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi will take up the matter for hearing on July 10. On Monday, the Justice Dhulia-led Bench agreed to urgently list the batch of pleas against the ECI's order directing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar after a battery of lawyers, including senior advoca ...Read More >
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New Delhi: The Supreme Court, on July 10, urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to consider accepting Aadhaar, ration cards, and electoral photo identity cards (EPIC) as valid documents to establish voter identity during the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls currently underway in Bihar, ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections. While the Court declined to stay the SIR process, it repeatedly questioned the ECI's decision to exclude Aadhaar as a valid form of identification. Although no interim order was passed to halt the revision, the Court directed the ECI to provide ...Read More >
Thiruvananthapuram, July 11: Union Home Minister Amit Shah will arrive here late Friday night to inaugurate the new BJP State Committee Office and launch the party's campaign for the upcoming local body elections. Shah is expected to land at Thiruvananthapuram airport around 10 pm, where he will be received by BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar and other senior leaders, an official statement said. The formal inauguration of the state office will take place at 11 am on Saturday. Shah will hoist the party flag, plant a sapling in front of the building, and light a traditional lamp after ...Read More >
Patna (Bihar) [India], July 13 (ANI): A large number of individuals from Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar have been found by Booth Level Officers (BLOs) with Aadhaar cards, domicile certificates and ration cards during house-to-house visits carried out as part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar, according to sources. The State will have assembly polls later in the year. ECI sources say that after a proper enquiry to be conducted from 1 Aug till 30 Aug, if found true, such names shall not be included in the final list to be published on 30 Sep 2025. M ...Read More >
New Delhi: Alleging "blatant misuse" of agencies to defame its leaders, AAP on Thursday questioned why the first information report filed against former Delhi ministers Saurabh Bharadwaj and Satyendar Jain was being kept under wraps and "selective" press notes were being leaked to the media.Bharadwaj, who is Delhi AAP convener, alleged that only two former ministers were named in the case without any reasonable cause while all the officers of the health and public works departments, who were actually responsible for executing the hospital projects, were spared. "Is the FIR so baseless that BJP ...Read More >
VIJAYAWADA: The State government on Friday accorded approvals to a slew of industries. Among those are Krishnapatnam Power Corporation Limited (KPCL), which is set to establish a 350 MW Solar and Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) in Thamminapatnam and Mommidi villages of SPSR Nellore district with a Rs 1,225 crore investment, creating 575 jobs. Furthermore, the government also waived off a Rs 54 crore extension of time fee, contingent on project completion within two years as per the Andhra Pradesh Integrated Clean Energy Policy-2024. The government also allocated 22.80 acres at MPSEZ in N ...Read More >
Patna (Bihar) [India], July 4 (ANI): Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar on Wednesday said that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process in Bihar is progressing smoothly and on schedule, despite concerns raised by opposition parties about possible voter exclusion. Speaking at a training session for Booth Level Officers (BLOs), Gyanesh Kumar said, 'The implementation of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar is running as per schedule with the active participation of all election staff and all political parties in a transparent manner. Despite apprehensions of some persons, ...Read More >
New Delhi: The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court challenging the Election Commission of India's (ECI) recent directive mandating large sections of voters in Bihar to furnish proof of citizenship in order to remain on the electoral rolls. Filed under Article 32 of the Constitution, the petition seeks to quash the ECI's June 24 order initiating a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections in Bihar. The plea argues that the directive violates constitutional provisions inclu ...Read More >
New Delhi: Former Chief Justices of India have reportedly endorsed the constitutionality of the 'one nation, one election' (ONOE) concept, while conveying their views to a parliamentary committee on the Bill proposing simultaneous polls. They have also raised concerns over its various aspects, including the power given to the Election Commission, and offered suggestions. Former CJI D.Y. Chandrachud, in his opinion submitted to the joint committee of Parliament, dismissed the Opposition's criticism that the synchronisation of Lok Sabha and state Assembly polls violated the Constitution's basic ...Read More >
New Delhi, July 11: Three out of every four Bihar electors have submitted their enumeration forms as part of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll, taking the total coverage of the drive to 74.39 per cent, an ECI official said on Friday. "As of 6 p.m. on Friday, 5.87 crore Enumeration Forms, which is 74.39 per cent of the total forms, have been collected in the last 17 days, since the issue of SIR instructions on June 24. Enumeration Forms can be submitted before July 25," said the Election Commission of India (ECI) in a statement. The official said that with 14 m ...Read More >
Pune: State Election Commission (SEC) will use the July 1, 2025, updated legislative assembly voters' list for the upcoming local body elections with chairperson Dinesh Waghmare directing district collectors and municipal commissioners to begin preparations based on the updated voter rolls during video conferences on Thursday and Friday.Elections are due for 29 municipal corporations, 290 nagar panchayats and parishads, 32 zilla parishads, and 336 panchayat samitis, as their terms have expired. "There is no separate voters' list for local body polls. The Election Commission of India (ECI)'s up ...Read More >
Kargil , Jul 2: Pursuant to putting in place a comprehensive legal framework to ensure fair, inclusive, and transparent recruitment to public services, the Administration of the Union Territory of Ladakh has initiated a large-scale recruitment drive for 359 Gazetted posts through the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). This marks the first-ever recruitment of Gazetted posts through UPSC since the formation of the Union Territory, officials said. This follows the establishment of a unique and dedicated legal framework specifically designed for Ladakh. The framework ensures maximum local re ...Read More >
Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], July 4 (ANI): Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday came down heavily on the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) over its pitch to reconsider the words 'secular and socialist' from the Preamble of the Indian Constitution while saying that it was 'all talk'. He dared and challenged RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale and top leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the centre to remove the words 'secular and socialist' from the Preamble. 'Days before, I heard that some RSS person said that we should remove Secular and Socialist words from ...Read More >
New Delhi, July 6: Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra has petitioned the Supreme Court challenging the Election Commission of India (ECI) decision to order Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar, apprehending that such a second revision of the voters list could be replicated in West Bengal. In her petition, filed through advocate Neha Rathi, Moitra claimed that she has information that the "said (SIR) exercise is stated to be replicated in West Bengal from August 2025 for which instructions have already been given to EROs". Bihar Electoral Roll Revision Row: P ...Read More >
Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], July 9 (ANI): Following the violent protest at Kerala University, a case has been registered against 27 activists of the ruling CPM's Students Federation of India (SFI), including its state secretary P S Sanjeev, who has been named the prime accused, police said. The case also names 1,000 identifiable protesters who have been accused of damaging public property, forcibly entering the university campus, and assaulting police and university staff, police said on Tuesday. Also Read | Nobel Peace Prize 2025: From Mahatma Gandhi to Jawaharlal Nehru, Check Full ...Read More >
New Delhi [India], July 9 (ANI): Congress leader Pawan Khera on Wednesday questioned the independence of the Election Commission amid revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, accusing it of acting in favour of the ruling party. This comes amid the ongoing row over the electoral roll revision in Bihar and the Opposition-led Bihar Bandh.. Also Read | Amit Shah Shares 'Retirement Plan', Pledges To Take Up Vedas, Upanishads and Natural Farming in Later Years (Watch Video). Taking to the social media platform X, Khera wrote, "Baba Saheb Ambedkar on the role of 'Central Election Commission' in prote ...Read More >
New Delhi, July 10: The Supreme Court on Thursday orally observed that the clutch of petitions challenging the Election Commission of India's (ECI) decision to revise electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar raises an issue which "goes at the very roots of democracy", involving the right to vote. After the petitioners' side presented their oral submissions, a Bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi remarked, "There is no question that the issue raised goes at the very roots of democracy -- the right to vote". "They (petitioners) are challenging not only the powers of the Election Co ...Read More >
Patna (Bihar) [India], July 13 (ANI): A large number of individuals from Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar have been found by Booth Level Officers (BLOs) with Aadhaar cards, domicile certificates and ration cards during house-to-house visits carried out as part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar, according to sources. The State will have assembly polls later in the year. Also Read | Kota Srinivasa Rao Dies at 83: Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu Condoles Demise of Veteran Actor, Says 'He Will Forever Stay Etched in Hearts of Telugu Audience'. ECI s ...Read More >