Indelible ink in demand ahead of general elections

April 25th, 2009 PATNA - Over 300,000 'suspected troublemakers' have been identified by authorities in Bihar and asked to furnish bonds, vowing not to take to violence during the next two phases of the Lok Sabha polls in the state April 30 and May 7, police said Saturday. 'All the identified troublemakers were directed to furnish bonds, pledging that they will not create a disturbance during the elections,' said Additional Director General of Police Neelmani.

March 31st, 2009 AMRITSAR - Illicit liquor brewers are getting ready to meet the increasing demand from politicians in Punjab for their products in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections. Amanpreet, who is involved in making illicit liquor, said that the demand from politicians for country liquor is because of the higher prices of English liquor, which cannot be distributed, in huge numbers.

March 28th, 2009 GWALIOR - In order to ensure smooth functioning during the general elections, the authorities in Madhya Pradesh have directed the local licensed arms holders to deposit their arms. The arms holders have been asked to deposit their arms either with their area's local police station or respective arms dealers.

March 25th, 2009 NAGPUR - With the process of general elections having begun in India, the demand for symbols made out of fiber is increasing. The dummies of the symbols of various political parties made of fiber are used immensely for campaigning and promotional activities during the elections.

March 25th, 2009 DEHRADUN - The Uttarakhand Director General of Police Subash Joshi has asked police chiefs of all the districts to intensify the security ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in the state. Joshi communicated with police chiefs through a video conference and directed them to follow model code of conduct.

March 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi or her son and Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi must be projected as Prime Minister to ensure a victory for the Indian National Congress (INC) in the 2009 general elections, a website has said. According to the Politicsparty.

March 15th, 2009 PATNA - The police in Bihar have started a drive to book 'trouble-makers and habitual offenders' ahead of the general elections next month, a police official said here Saturday. 'The police headquarters has issued instructions to all the district police chiefs to book trouble-makers, including criminals and habitual offenders, ahead of the elections,' a police official told IANS here.

March 12th, 2009 NEW DELHI/KOLKATA - The BJP has expressed confidence over faring well in Orissa even after the ruling BJD pulled away from it ahead of the upcoming General Election. BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters in New Delhi that his party would contest the polls in Orissa on its own.

March 9th, 2009 MYSORE - Its manufacturing cost is less than one percent of the general election budget, yet the ink manufactured by a little known state-run enterprise here leaves an indelible line on your finger - proof that you have exercised your right to vote. Tucked in the eastern suburb of Karnataka's cultural city, about 140 km from Bangalore, the 72-year-old Mysore Paints & Varnish Ltd (MVPL), the sole supplier of indelible ink to the Election Commission of India, is working overtime to manufacture a whopping 20,140 litres of unique violet ink and dispatch it in the coming weeks to 28 states and seven Union Territories (UTs) in 10 ml (millilitre) plastic bottles of 7.5 cm size.

March 8th, 2009 AGARTALA - A tribal based political party Saturday demanded the creation of a separate state carved out of Tripura, a move seen as an attempt to whip up emotions ahead of parliamentary elections. 'The existing Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) areas should be given the status of a separate state for the one million indigenous tribal people of Tripura,' said Narendra Chandra Debbarma, president of the Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT).

March 2nd, 2009 MUMBAI - The Congress is negotiating tricky issues like seat distribution to ensure that old allies like the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) remain with the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), but would not sacrifice the party's interests, a senior leader said here Monday. Reacting to the NCP chief Sharad Pawar's demand for 24 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, state party general secretary Sanjay Nirupam said: 'It is their condition and our well known stand is to give them 21 seats.' 'However, negotiations on this issue are continuing and the third round of talks is scheduled this evening.

February 25th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Congress president Sonia Gandhi Wednesday urged MPs to work hard to ensure that the party returns to power in the coming Lok Sabha elections. Urging them to put their combined weight behind the party candidates, Gandhi told the Congress parliamentary party: 'We are often our worst enemies.

February 14th, 2009 NEW DELHI - This week, an official in a paint factory in Mysore will lock himself in a secure room in his company's premises. His job: mixing chemicals for the ink to mark voters in the coming Lok Sabha elections.

February 13th, 2009 SURAT - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be the prime ministerial candidate of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in the Lok Sabha elections, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi said Saturday. 'I have answered this question so many times in the past.

January 12th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Congress will benefit if party president Sonia Gandhi's daughter Priyanka Vadra contests the Lok Sabha elections, the party said Tuesday. 'If Priyanka contests election, it would benefit the party.