Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], March 6 (ANI): Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) on Saturday announced its candidate for the post of Mayor in Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), election for which will be held on March 24.

Mumbai Feb 21 PTI The Bombay High Court on Monday dismissed a public interest litigation challenging a notification issued by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC chief for suggestions and objections from citizens on the proposed delimitation of civic wards A division bench of Justices Amjad Sayed and Abhay Ahuja also imposed a cost of Rs 25000 each on the two petitioners- Nitesh Ranjhans Singh BJP and Sagar Devre MNS The court while dismissing the plea said it was accepting the statement made by the State Election Commission SEC that due to lack of manpower it has appointed state officers as its delegates for election purposes and that any final decision on the delimitation of wards would be taken by the commission only The cash rich BMC is controlled by the Shiv Sena and the civic polls are due later this year The public interest ligitation PIL had challenged the legality and propriety of the BMC notification of February 1 inviting suggestions and objections from the public on the proposed delimitation of wards to increase their number from 227 to 236 ahead of the corporation elections The petitioners main contention was that BMC Commissioner I S Chahal who had issued the notification was not authorised to do so The SEC had earlier told the court that it had delegated the power to the BMC Commissioner for the purpose of elections As per the SEC when such powers are delegated to state officers they act as delegates of the election commission and not as an officer of the state government The BMC and the SEC had informed the court that the final date for submitting the suggestions and objections was February 14 and 816 letters were received as on that date An IAS officer Manoj Sounik who is presently additional chief secretary finance has been appointed to conduct a hearing on the objections and suggestions of the public A report would be submitted to the SEC on March 1 and a final decision on the formation of new wards rests with the State Election Commissioner PTI SP GK GK

Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], February 16 (ANI): Over 70 per cent voter turnout was recorded in the first phase of the five-phase Odisha Panchayat poll that concluded on Wednesday, informed the State Election Commission.

Kolkata Jan 19 PTI The TMC on Wednesday renewed its demand for declassification of files on Netaji Subhas Chandra Boses disappearance in 1945 and said that ashes preserved at a temple in Japan believed to be that of the freedom fighter should be sent for DNA analysis The party also claimed that the Centres vendetta politics was behind the decision to reject Bengals tableau on Netaji and INA from the upcoming Republic Day parade in Delhi At a press meet here party spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said We want to know why the Centre is not releasing the classified files about the disappearance of Netaji a long-standing demand of the people of the country We also want the Centre to facilitate DNA test of ashes at Renkoji temple Bose had reportedly disappeared following a plane crash in Japanese-occupied Taiwan on August 18 1945 Conflicting reports about his alleged death or fate continue to do the rounds till date The TMC leader alleged that unfair rejection of Bengals tableau was followed up by inclusion of Central Public Works Departments diorama also on Netaji as a cover up for the gaffe Responding to Ghoshs assertions BJPs state unit spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said It has been clearly spelt out by the Centre that the tableau was rejected by an expert committee not the Centre The TMC is bringing disrespect and humiliation to Bengal by politicising the matter During the press meet Ghosh when asked about the deferment of civic polls said the TMC was battle-ready no matter what the schedule of the elections Polls to four municipal corporations have been postponed by three weeks in view of the rising COVID-19 cases across the state When dates for civic polls were initially announced the COVID situation wasnt this bad The TMC in the wake of rising COVID-19 cases had shared its views about rescheduling the election with the State Election Commission SEC which is the decision-making authority The SEC decided to defer polls by three weeks and we were okay with it We are not afraid of the vote results he added Later in the day Leader of Opposition in the Assembly and BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari claimed that the SEC works at the behest of the state government PTI SUS RMS RMS

Kolkata Dec 30 PTI The Calcutta High Court on Thursday directed the West Bengal government and the State Election Commission SEC to file affidavits clarifying the reason why Howrah Municipal Corporation was excluded from a notification for elections wherein polls to Siliguri Asansol Bidhannagar and Chandannagar were declaredState Advocate General SN Mookherjee submitted to the court that he had mistakenly made a statement before a division bench presided over by Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava that a Bill with regard to the bifurcation of Howrah Municipal Corporation into Howrah Municipal Corporation and Bally Municipality had received the assent of the governorThe bench had recorded in its order of December 23 the statement of the Advocate General about the assent having been received which was later refuted by Governor Jagdeep DhankharA vacation bench comprising justices Shampa Sarkar and Bibhas Ranjan De on Thursday directed the state and the SEC to file affidavits by the next date of hearing before the regular bench on January 6 the reason why Howrah Municipal Corporation HMC was excluded from the notification dated December 28 in which elections to Siliguri Asansol Bidhannagar and Chandannagar were declaredThe state government and the SEC had on December 23 submitted a proposal before the division bench presided over by Justice Shrivastava for holding elections to the five municipal corporations on January 22 and to the rest of the municipalities on February 27 2022The division bench had earlier directed the state and the SEC to disclose a tentative time schedule for holding polls to the 111 municipal bodies where it is due at the earliest with minimum number of phasesThe affidavits will also have to clarify whether the exclusion of HMC from the notification would amount to a violation of the December 23 directions of the high court and whether the proposal made was an eyewashThe petitioners lawyer submitted before the vacation bench that the respondents could not have gone back on the undertaking given before the court on holding elections to the five municipal corporations on January 22It was submitted that the reason behind such action was motivated mala fide and in order to favour a particular political partyThe AG appearing for the state submitted that a proposal was made at the relevant point of time but the said proposal could not be taken as an undertaking or a statement before the court that elections of all the corporations including HMC would be held definitely on the said date PTI AMR SOM SOM

Raipur Dec 23 PTI The ruling Congress has registered a big victory in polls held in 15 urban bodies of Chhattisgarh winning 174 of 300 wards for which counting has been completed leaving behind the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP with 89 a poll official said here on ThursdayThe counting of votes polled in 15 urban bodies and for bypolls in 15 wards on Monday began at 9 am at 29 counting centres on Thursday he saidReacting to the results declared so far Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said they indicate the success of welfare schemes launched by his governmentThe results declared by the State Election Commission SEC for 300 of the total 370 wards in 15 urban bodies showed Congress candidates emerging victorious in 174 wards the BJP in 89 the Janata Congress Chhattisgarh J in 6 and independents in 31The outcome for the remaining 70 wards which fall in the prominent Bhilai Municipal Corporation of Durg district was yet to be officially declared as the counting was underway the official saidHowever trends available for 70 wards indicate the ruling party had an edge over the BJP Of these 70 wards the Congress was leading in 37 rpt 37 the BJP 24 rpt 24 others in 8 and the Bahujan Samaj Party BSP in 1Congress MLA Devendra Yadav is the incumbent Mayor of the Bhilai Municipal CorporationThe civic bodies which went to polls included 4 municipal corporations 6 municipal councils and five nagar panchayatsOut of 40 wards in the Birgaon Municipal Corporation in Raipur district the Congress has won 19 and the BJP 10 while the JCCJ and Independent candidates emerged winners in 5 and 6 wards respectivelyIn the results of bypolls held in 15 wards spread across 13 urban bodies the Congress bagged 11 and the BJP 1 while independent candidates emerged winners in the remaining 3Mayors and chairpersons of urban bodies will be elected by corporatorsWhile the Congress believes the urban people have reposed faith in its government for the work done in the last three years the opposition BJP claims the civic polls results indicate the ruling dispensation is losing trust among peopleResults in all municipal bodies are in favour of the Congress This results show the success of public welfare schemes of the state government People have shown faith in three years of the Congress rule in the state and given their mandate in favour of the party Chief Minister Baghel saidHe thanked voters and congratulated winners and party workersBaghel was talking to reporters at the Swami Vivekanand Airport in Raipur after arriving from poll-bound Uttar Pradesh where he addressed four rallies on Wednesday and ThursdayBaghel has been appointed a senior observer by the Congress for the UP assembly elections scheduled early next yearState Congress president Mohan Markam said the credit for the victory goes to hard work of party workersPeople have given their consent to welfare schemes of the state government and their effective implementation he addedState BJP president Vishnudeo Sai claimed The results show the Bhupesh government has become unpopular and it is the beginning of a Congress-free Chhattisgarh The good response of the voters to the BJP in this election reflects that peoples trust in this government is decliningWe respect the peoples mandate and BJP workers will go to the assembly elections scheduled in 2023 with its full vigor to make the state Congress- free he added PTI TKP RSY RSY

Cuttack Dec 22 PTI The Odisha government Wednesday informed the high court it would withdraw a reservation notification issued for the panchayat elections realising that it was faulty The court was hearing a petition challenging the October 1 notification for reservation of seats It had asked the State Election Commission SEC to submit an affidavit detailing the reservation policy to be adopted for the elections scheduled to be held early next year The government counsel informed the court that a fresh notification for reservation of seats will be issued next Monday and objections will be accepted till January 3 said Sukanta Dalei the petitioners advocate After hearing the objections on January 5 the government will submit the final reservation list to the SEC on January 7 Dalei said A division bench headed by Chief Justice S Muralidhar is adjudicating a case filed by Birendra Das The petitioner had maintained that if October 1 was implemented then the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes would completely lose their constitutional and statutory rights The governments notification was also contrary to the 73rd constitutional amendment of 1992 Das said PTI COR HMB RG RG

Kolkata Dec 22 PTI Alleging that booths were captured and votes rigged during the just-concluded Kolkata civic polls a CPIM candidate on Wednesday moved the Calcutta High Court praying that the election be declared null and void CPIM candidate from ward number 75 Faiyaz Ahmed Khan who claimed he was manhandled by TMC supporters on the day of the elections also sought the deployment of paramilitary forces for polls to 111 other municipal bodies likely to be held in the next few months Khan petitioned for repoll to the 144-ward Kolkata Municipal Corporation He pleaded for court directions to set up a special investigation team for probe into allegations of booth capture vote rigging and incidents of violence The petitioner further prayed that paramilitary force be deployed at least seven days ahead of the day of elections as that would restore confidence in the minds of voters Khan in his plea said that prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC should be imposed within a radius of 300 metres from any polling booth The ruling TMC has gained control of the 144-member Kolkata Municipal Corporation clinching 134 seats in a ringing endorsement for the party seven months after its landslide win in the state polls The BJP managed to win just three wards The Congress and the CPI M-led Left Front bagged two wards each Three remaining wards were clinched by Independents The West Bengal government and the State Election Commission SEC had earlier told the high court that plans are afoot to hold elections to 111 municipal bodies in six to eight phases by May 2022 The high court recently turned down a prayer of the state BJP seeking deployment of central forces for the KMC elections following assurances by the State Election Commission SEC and the state police that all arrangements will be made for holding peaceful free and fair elections The court left it to the SEC to take a call on deployment of Central Armed Police Forces if necessary PTI AMR RMS RMS

Ahmedabad Dec 17 PTI Campaigning ended on Friday for polls to 10879 village panchayats in Gujarat which are expected to be the last major test for political parties before Assembly elections in December next year The village panchayat polls which are not fought on party symbols though candidates are affiliated to parties will be held using 54000 ballot boxes instead of EVMs on Sunday due to the high number of wards and the results will be announced on Tuesday officials said The campaigning ended on Friday NK Damor joint commissioner of the State Election Commission said The SEC in a release said of the 10879 village panchayats the five-year tenure of 10117 is ending in December while polls will be held in 65 panchayats due to splitting or dissolution of existing bodies and bypolls in 697 panchayats where seats fell vacant due to various reasons Nearly 206 crore voters will elect 10284 sarpanchs and 89702 panchayat members of these 10879 gram panchayats though 1267 gram panchayats have been declared as samras or fully uncontested as only one candidate remained on December 7 the last day for withdrawal of nominations More than 5000 election officials 15 lakh polling staff and over 58000 policemen will be deployed officials added In the 2017 Assembly polls which the BJP won with a reduced tally the urban voter had preferred the saffron party while the rural electorate largely sided with the Congress PTI PD BNM BNM BNM

Mumbai Dec 17 PTI Against the backdrop of Madhya Pradesh authorities being told to stay the poll process for OBC-reserved seats in local bodies the NCP in Maharashtra on Friday said those against quota seemed to be succeeding and called for a united fight The Supreme Court during the day directed the State Election Commission SEC in Madhya Pradesh to stay the election process on local bodies seats reserved for Other Backward Classes OBCs and re-notify such seats for the general category An SC bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and C T Ravikumar also observed it had passed an order on December 15 directing the SEC in Maharashtra to notify seats which were reserved for OBCs as general category ones adding that the same principle and analogy must apply in the local body election in Madhya Pradesh as well In a tweet in Hndi Maharashtra minister and NCP national spokesperson Nawab Malik said Supreme Court ke aadesh ke baad Maharashtra ke saath ab Madhya Pradesh mein bhi OBC aarakshan par sankat nirman ho gaya hai after the Supreme Courts order the OBC reservation is in danger in Madhya Pradesh along with Maharashtra Malik tweeted in Hindi The agenda of those who are against reservation is seemingly succeeding We will have to fight unitedly No reservation no election he added Malik earlier in the day said there may be law and order issues in Maharashtra if elections to local bodies are held without 27 per cent reservation for OBCs He also accused the BJP of misleading people on the issue PTI ENM BNM BNM BNM