Kolkata Mar 30 PTI The Election Commission has barred Trinamool Congress MLA Narendranath Chakraborty from campaigning for by-polls to two constituencies in West Bengal for violating the model code of conduct by allegedly issuing open threats to BJP voters and supportersThe Pandabeswar MLA was recently heard telling party workers in a purported video to intimidate BJP supporters so that they do not go to polling boothsThe Commission orders to prohibit him from holding any public meetings public rallies road shows and interviews public utterances in media in connection with ongoing by-election for a week from 10 am March 30 to April 6 2022 8 pm the EC said in a communication to the West Bengal chief electoral officerBy-polls to the Asansol Lok Sabha constituency and the Ballygunje assembly seat will be held on April 12 and votes will be counted on April 16 PTI SCH RBT RBT

New Delhi Feb 23 PTI The Election Commission on Wednesday issued a notice to a Congress candidate in Uttar Pradesh polls for allegedly making objectionable remarks against the prime minister and the state chief ministerAjay Rai contesting from the Pindara seat has been given 24 hours to respondThe notice referred to Rais Facebook live on January 31 in which he allegedly made the objectionable remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi AdityanathReferring to a provision of the model code which states that criticism of other parties or their workers based on unverified allegations or distortion shall be avoided the notice said the poll watchdog prima facie is of the opinion the Congress leader has violated it PTI NAB NAB TIR TIR

Chandigarh Feb 20 PTI The Election Commission on Sunday restrained actor and philanthropist Sonu Sood from visiting polling stations in Moga where his sister is contesting on a Congress ticket after receiving complaints that he was allegedly influencing voters according to officials Soods vehicle was also impounded by police they said adding that a video surveillance team was also deployed outside his residence However he has denied the charges of influencing voters Moga Returning Officer RO Satwant Singh said that Sood was directed not to visit polling stations Sood accused some candidates of buying votes but the district election office did not find any substance in the allegation In a tweet Sood alleged Other Candidates in Moga Constituency are buying votes ECISVEEP should take immediate action regarding the same On Soods accusation the RO said no such incident came to their notice He said several locations were checked but no cash was found Soods sister had joined the Congress last month Election to the 117-member Punjab Assembly is being held on Sunday PTI CHS VSD RT RT

Lucknow Jan 29 PTI The Election Commission has banned all exit polls pertaining to the coming Assembly elections from 700 am on February 10 to 630 pm on March 7 In a statement issued here on Saturday UPs Chief Electoral Officer Ajay Kumar Shukla said that conducting the exit polls its publication in print or electronic media or its publicity has been banned from 700 am on February 10 to 630 pm on March 7 Any person who violates the order will be punished with a two-year jail term or fine or both PTI NAV VN VN

Kolkata Jan 25 PTI The Election Commission of India has decided to send illustrated Elector Photo Identity Cards EPIC to newly enrolled voters via post a senior official said on Tuesday The service will be launched on January 25 which is celebrated as National Voters Day the official said We will start sending the voter cards directly to the recipients by post The service will be officially launched on National Voters Day he said Talking more about it the official said that the Commission will also send a kit along with the identity cards of the new voters The packet will contain all the information including EVM voting method he said The National Voters Day will be observed across the country on Tuesday as an initiative of the Election Commission to raise the awareness of the voters The theme of this years Voters Day is Empowering Vigilant Protecting and Informing Our Voters he said PTI SCH RG RG

New Delhi Jan 22 PTI The Election Commission on Saturdayextended the ban on physical rallies and roadshows till January 31 but gave relaxation for physical public meetings of parties or contesting candidates for phase 1 from January 28 and for phase 2 from February 1The commission has also enhanced the limit of people allowed for door-to-door campaignInstead of five now 10 people excluding security personnel will be allowed for door-to door campaigns PTI NAB RHL

New Delhi Nov 22 PTI The Election Commission EC on Monday held a conference with chief electoral officers CEOs of all states and union territories here and reviewed a host of issues related to the poll process in the countryThe event was chaired by Chief Election Commissioner CEC Sushil Chandra who stressed on the expeditious redressal of all pending applications especially with regard to voter registrationAn EC spokesperson said in a statement that the conference discussed and reviewed various thematic issues related to electoral rolls polling stations ongoing special summary revision IT information technology applications timely resolution of grievances electronic voting machines EVMs voter verifiable paper audit trail VVPAT training and capacity building of polling staff media and communication and extensive voter outreach program amongst othersCEC Chandra the statement said stressed on the significance of effectiveness and visibility of the CEOs as they represent the commission in the statesHe CEC asked the CEOs to ensure purity of the electoral roll availability of assured minimum facilities and to ensure better facilities at all polling booths for all voters it saidChandra told the CEOs that all efforts should be made to ensure better voter experienceCEOs should have regular interaction with political parties to redress their grievances if any Chandra saidThe CEC emphasised that new initiatives and best practices by the CEOs for election-related activities should be regularly disseminated through the media for enhanced outreachHe said that the objective of the conference was to identify the gaps and challenges to ensure instructions of the commission are implemented uniformly in all states and union territories across the countryElection commissioners Rajiv Kumar and Anup Chandra Pandey also attended the conference and spoke to the officersKumar said the legal and regulatory framework of the elections is quite robust but the implementation of various instructions of the commission at the field was very criticalHe Kumar stressed that CEOs need to be innovative be more active and should learn from each others best practices and challenges the statement saidPandey asked the CEOs to ensure good training and capacity building of BLOs booth level officers as the effectiveness of EC activities depends upon the effective implementation by field-level election officialsHe Pandey emphasised that CEOs need to ensure that correct information and facts are regularly shared with local media for enhanced outreach the statement saidThe conference also saw the commission release a number of publications including a Compendium of Cases on Election Law and an Information Booklet For VotersThe booklet contains end-to-end information starting from voter registration postal ballot casting of vote through EVM-VVPAT and various facilities provided for the voters at polling stations the statement said PTI NES IJT

Guwahati Oct 27 PTI The Election Commission has made arrangements for webcasting during the October 30 by-elections to five assembly seats in Assam to ensure free fair and safe polling an official said on Wednesday Webcasting will be conducted in all the 1135 polling stations he said By-elections to the Gossaigaon Bhabanipur Tamulpur Mariani and Thowra constituencies will be held on October 30 The counting of votes will be taken up on November 2 and the entire polling process will be over by November 5 Through webcasting the Election Commission officials will be able to monitor the polling process live he added Voting will take place from 7 am to 5 pm Personnel of the Central Armed Police Forces will also be deployed at each polling station as part of security measures the official was quoted as saying in a release By-polls to Gossaigaon and Tamulpur were necessitated due to the death of sitting MLAs while the incumbents of Bhabanipur Mariani and Thowra resigned from their seats to join the ruling BJP A total of 796456 voters are eligible to decide the fate of 31 candidates in the by-elections to the five assembly seats PTI ESB RBT BDC BDC