"The Election Commission's press conference should be welcomed because it is a good step to clear public doubts regarding the SIR process (in Bihar) and other issues," Rawat told PTI in Indore.
The Election Commission has uploaded the names of people on the list of SIR logical discrepancies list on its website following a Supreme Court order. The district electoral officers will download the list and display it on panchayat bhavans and block offices.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah accuses the West Bengal government of openly facilitating infiltration, defends the Special Intensive Revision of voter lists, and asserts BJP's prospects in upcoming elections.
The Maharashtra State Election Commission has prohibited civic poll candidates from using microphones and moving in large groups during door-to-door canvassing after the end of the public campaign. Opposition parties have criticised the decision.
Several opposition parties on Wednesday decided to jointly oppose the delimitation provisions in the Constitution amendment bill in Parliament, even as they reiterated support for women's reservation, with Mallikarjun Kharge alleging the move is politically motivated.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has announced a new unemployment allowance of Rs 1,500 per month for young job seekers in the state, starting March 7. The announcement comes ahead of the assembly elections and aims to support unemployed youth aged 21-40 who have passed their secondary exams.
For successive governments the Election Commission remains a 'holy cow', where unhealthy precedents are allowed to be nurtured since Independence, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Supreme Court has reserved its verdict on a petition challenging the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, following arguments from various lawyers and the Election Commission of India.
The Election Commission has issued instructions to district election officials in West Bengal regarding voters marked as 'unmapped' due to technical issues during the digitisation of the 2002 electoral rolls.
The Election Commission (EC) defended its power to revise electoral rolls and ensure no foreigners are registered as voters before the Supreme Court. The EC argued it has a constitutional duty to maintain the purity of electoral rolls and exclude those not eligible to vote.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has accused President Droupadi Murmu of acting on the advice of the BJP and questioned her silence on issues affecting tribal communities in other states. This comes after Murmu raised concerns about the pace of tribal development in West Bengal.
The Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, Mritunjay Kumar Narayan, has reassured the public that individual data collected during the upcoming census will remain confidential and cannot be used for any purpose other than statistical aggregation.
Days after Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar undertook an hours-long trek to a remote polling station in Uttarakhand, the poll panel on Tuesday decided to double the remuneration of polling officials going to such booths as early as three days before voting day.
All along, we were told SIR was an essential exercise carried out as part of the Election Commission's regular duties. But now that the ideological mentor of the ruling party has declared that SIR is a means of detecting infiltrators, one understands the unseemly haste with which it is being carried out, notes Jyoti Punwani.
'Imagine, for the last 12 years the prime minister belongs to the BJP, the home minister belongs to the BJP... If that is the case, you have waited for 12 years to remove infiltrators. Which means you and your central government has failed India on stopping infiltration.' The Rediff Podcast Featuring Shiv Sena-UBT leader Aditya Thackeray.
The Election Commission sent a notice to Mangal Prabhat Lodha, the BJP's Mumbai chief. This is probably because a leading newspaper highlighted his utterances on its front page.
The order is is contrary to the Central Information Commission's directive bringing six national parties under the transparency law.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut announced a joint squad with MNS to 'thrash' dual and bogus voters during the upcoming civic polls, raising concerns about potential violence.
A Trinamool Congress councillor in West Bengal protested being listed as deceased in the draft electoral rolls by walking into a crematorium, highlighting concerns about voter list accuracy ahead of state elections.
Amid claims of Amartya Sen being summoned over Special Intensive Revision (SIR), the Chief Electoral Office of West Bengal has clarified that the notice to the Nobel laureate was issued after the Electoral Roll Officers' Network (ERONET) portal flagged a 'logical discrepancy'.
The Supreme Court has directed the Election Commission to display the names of those on the 'logical discrepancies' list at various public offices in West Bengal, addressing concerns about irregularities in the voter rolls.
The Election Commission is set to publish the draft electoral rolls for West Bengal on Tuesday following the completion of the statewide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) ahead of the 2026 assembly polls. The publication of the draft rolls will mark the end of the enumeration phase and the beginning of a far more contentious stage - claims, objections and hearings that will stretch into February 2026.
The Supreme Court has requested the Election Commission to consider extending the deadline for submitting enumeration forms for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Kerala, due to the ongoing local body elections.
Speculation is rife in Bihar about Chief Minister Nitish Kumar potentially moving to the Rajya Sabha, leading to discussions about a possible BJP chief minister and a role for Kumar's son, Nishant. Senior BJP leaders have dismissed the rumours.
Electors in the upcoming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls will be required to present either a voter photo ID card or any one of the 12 alternative identity documents approved by the State Election Commission to cast their vote, officials said.
More voter deletions recorded in draft SIR exercises than to the combined SSRs in the past 10 years.
Like the realisation on the failure of development, we have also internalised the failure on democracy, argues Aakar Patel.
The Election Commission on Thursday justified the decision to deny permission to Narendra Modi's rally in Varanasi city and came to the defence of the district magistrate whose removal is being demanded by the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Pakistan's election commission has expressed its inability to hold general elections within three months due to legal, constitutional and logistical challenges, according to a media report on Tuesday.
The Supreme Court is examining the validity of the Election Commission's decision to conduct special intensive revisions of electoral rolls in several states, focusing on concerns about democratic participation and the burden on ordinary voters.
The Election Commission served a notice to Nobel laureate Amartya Sen regarding electoral roll discrepancies, sparking a political controversy in West Bengal. The Trinamool Congress has criticized the move as a politically motivated attack.
'Some states have become more populous, while others have become less populous. Those who became less populous became economically strong. Those where population increased, they became economically weak
The Election Commission (EC) clarified that Nobel laureate Amartya Sen is not required to appear for a hearing regarding discrepancies in the spelling of his name in the voter list. The correction will be handled administratively. The EC also issued instructions to ensure timely delivery of notices related to voter list discrepancies.
Large hoardings praising Fadnavis' leadership appeared across the city, reflecting a celebratory mood within the BJP camp following its strong performance in the country's richest civic body.
The rally is being organised to protest against alleged electoral roll manipulation in the Maharashtra assembly elections, with opposition parties alleging that there were around 96 lakh fake votes which had been added in the 2024 assembly elections.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee escalates tensions ahead of assembly polls by accusing President Droupadi Murmu of political bias and criticising her stance on tribal welfare, sparking a major controversy.
The Election Commission on Saturday night transferred Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police Brij Lal and Principal Secretary (Home) Kunwar Fateh Bahadur after major opposition parties accused the two officials of working as "agents" of the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party. BSP slammed the EC's decision, claiming the removal of Lal and Bahadur would "shatter the sense of security among Dalits and the downtrodden that they would be able to exercise their franchise in a free manner
'Even today illegal foreign immigrants live in Assam and their names might be on the voters list. This we can get rid of only by doing SIR.'
The Supreme Court has urged political leaders to promote fraternity while declining to entertain a PIL seeking guidelines on political speeches, emphasizing the need for objectivity and even-handedness in addressing concerns about hate speech and constitutional values.
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