New Delhi, Apr 21: Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawla on Tuesday was accused by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati of working on the directions of the Congress.

Responding to Mayawati's allegations, Chawla reminded her that she herself had appreciated the conduct of the 2007 Assembly elections.

Talking to reporters here, Chawla said, "Ms Mayawati herself had come to the Election Commission on a Sunday in 2007 and spent one hour (with us) and congratulated the EC for conducting a free, fair and transparent election (in the state)."

New Delhi, Apr 20: Election Commissioner Navin Chawla took over as the Chief Election Commissioner on Monday.

Navin Chawla, who succeeded N. Gopalaswami, will hold charge till July 29, 2010. He took over in the presence of Gopalaswami and the third Election Commissioner, S. Y. Quraishi.

On the occasion, Gopalaswami wished the best of tenure to Chawla.

“Today, I take leave from all of you. I wish Mr. Chawla the best of tenure and a successful completion of the election,” Gopalaswami told mediapersons here.

Bratislava  - Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic won re- election Saturday, in a popularity test for leftist Prime Minister Robert Fico, preliminary results showed.

Gasparovic, 68, emerged victorious with 55.5 per cent of the vote, defeating opposition candidate Iveta Radicova, 52, who followed with 44.4 per cent, the Slovak Statistics Office said as 99.9 per cent of polling stations finished counting votes early Sunday.

The run-off election brought 51.6 per cent of Slovaks to the polls, the statisticians said.

Kolkata: Polling to the Nandigram and Sujapur Assembly seats in West Bengal passed off peacefully with both the sections recording an intense turnout of voters at 80 and
78 per cent, respectively.

Polling in some parts continued well after the stipulated hours.

Elaborate security arrangements were seen at each booth, with security personnel frisking voters with metal detectors. Every booth had a video recording facility.

Omar Abdullah, Chief Minister designate of Jammu and Kashmir, shall take charge along with a few Ministers from the National Conference and the Congress, before January 6, after the understanding reached between them.

This was announced after a meeting with the Congress at External Affairs Minister, Pranab Mukherjee’s office. Mr. Abdullah, accompanied by the Pradesh Congress Committee President, Saifuddin Soz and party in-charge of J&K, Prithviraj Chavan, said that he shall take the oath along with two National Conference members.

The B S Yeddyurappa Government, on Tuesday got a comfortable majority in the Karnataka Assembly as it won five of the eight seat in the by elections held on December 27. The remaining three seats were won by the JD(S), while Congress did not get a single seat.