Deputy election commissioner Vinod Zutshi is expected to visit Bengal on Wednesday, the third such trip in less than a month by the poll panel, which described the move as “rare, if not unprecedented”. During his three-day trip, Zutshi will meet the district authorities to “inspect the progress” in implementing the recommendations of an observer team that toured the state earlier this month. Zutshi is also expected to meet state government officials...

MLC plans to approach Karnataka High Court seeking annulment of ZP, TP polls The State Government's Ordinance limiting political reservation in panchayat bodies to 50 per cent has not only reduced seats for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) but has also decreased the number of minority members in the rural local bodies. A study of the zilla and taluk panchayat election results available on the State Election Commission's website, www.karsec.gov.in, reveals that OBC...

The Election Commission is set to do a balancing act by again sending an observer team to Bengal, this time to assess the situation in places where Left supporters have been the “victims”. The move follows the CPM’s complaint that the previous team had visited only the areas suggested by the Opposition. “We are ready to send another team to Bengal next week. This time, the team will visit sensitive zones where...

The heat generated by the high food inflation may force the government to go slow, or even drop, some of its key proposals to open up the country's food and fertiliser sectors, experts say. Decontrolling sugar and urea and freeing up some farm exports are some of the proposals the government may not touch in the coming days, they say. The proposal on foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail may also...

The Election Commission feels that the situation in Bengal is “worse than anticipated” and that the ground realities necessitate “an exclusive plan of action” for conducting the Assembly elections this year, according to sources. The commission made the observations after going through a report submitted by a six-member team that visited the state last week. The “exclusive plan of action” will have a bearing on the number of phases for the elections,...