Election Commission officials report finding a large number of illegal migrants from Nepal, Bangladesh, and Myanmar during a review of Bihar's voters' list. Measures are being taken to exclude them from the final electoral roll.
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.
'If the NDA returns with the BJP substantially ahead of the JD-U, a BJP CM bid becomes plausible; if the gap is narrow or JD-U holds pivotal seats, continuity with Nitish is the lower-risk option.'
The Bihar chief minister had a point to prove in the latest assembly elections, which were held amid speculations of a fatigue factor, if not downright anti-incumbency, made worse by rumours of his indifferent health.
'The Congress has no positive vision for the country. The truth is that today the Congress has become the Muslimleegi Maowadi Congress -- MMC. The Congress' entire agenda revolves around this, so now a new faction is emerging within Congress itself, which is uncomfortable with this negative politics.'
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.
Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor believes migrant workers who stayed back after Chhath Puja are influencing the Bihar assembly elections.
As the election nears, political positions on prohibition are shifting.
'The campaign by the Mahagathbandan has failed to capture the imagination of the electorate given the fatigue factor with the Nitish government.'
Businessman Robert Vadra says his wife Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has a bright future in politics and a time will come when people would like to see her at the top position.
The development came in the backdrop of the Supreme Court's direction that details of the deleted names be made public by August 19 and a compliance report be filed by August 22.
The Election Commission (EC) is sharing lists of Bihar electors with political parties and their booth-level agents to verify the status of voters before July 25. The lists include those who have likely died, permanently shifted, or enrolled at multiple places.
Call it political opportunism or sagacity, his moves, in effect, have not allowed the Bharatiya Janata Party to appoint its own chief minister to date, despite enjoying a near hegemonic status nationally and the best performance in recently held assembly polls where the saffron party bagged 89 seats, followed by the Janata Dal-United with 85.
The Election Commission has assured the Supreme Court that no voter's name will be deleted from the draft electoral roll in Bihar without prior notice and a fair hearing. The EC also clarified that it is not required to share separate lists of those not included in the draft rolls.
Given Modi's track record from the time he became Gujarat chief minister in October 2001, it is highly improbable that Nabin will get opportunities to display his individual capacity. Even the team of organisational leaders that he will 'appoint' in a few weeks or months, will unlikely to be his choice, predicts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) failed to make a significant impact in the Bihar assembly elections, with most candidates securing less than 10% of the votes. The party is set to forfeit security deposits in a majority of constituencies.
Underscoring the 'presumption of genuineness' of Aadhaar and voter ID, the Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay the publication of draft electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar and said it would once and for all decide pleas against Election Commission's special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Ten years after a dream electoral debut, which saw him become the deputy chief minister at a young age of 25, the heir apparent of party supremo Lalu Prasad finally won, after trailing for several rounds, from Raghopur, a RJD stronghold.
November is a busy month on OTT with several series arriving, in their next season after being vastly successful in earlier instalments.
Left to its machinations, the BJP would have loved to cut Nitish down to size, but it can't afford to do so as the JD-U is in alliance with the BJP at the Centre, and cannot form a government on its own in Bihar. For now, both need each other: Nitish for legitimacy, the BJP for numbers, points out Ramesh Menon.
In a world fractured by uncertainty, India stands out for its policy consistency, paired with sustained ambition, points out Pritam Banerjee.
'The move to appoint a person with a profile, markedly lower than the leader Nitin Nabin will replace, has the potential to put the brakes on the careers of several others in the party and government in the positions they currently hold,' points out Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
'Jan Suraaj Party was the BJP's 'B' team. It is proven now.' 'You have seen their performance and it proves that they only worked to dent Opposition votes by working for the BJP.'
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday claimed that a 'systematic vote chori' method, evolved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Election Commission to 'kill Indian democracy', will be deployed in the Bihar assembly polls as well.
This is Modi's first visit to the country as prime minister and the first Indian bilateral visit at the prime ministerial level to Trinidad and Tobago since 1999.
'I felt I didn't understand the film industry at all.'
'When you compare Bihar's poverty from its earlier times, then there is a huge difference. Things have improved a lot. And migration has played an important role in reducing poverty.'
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP of rigging the Maharashtra assembly elections and expressed concerns about similar tactics being used in the upcoming Bihar polls. He alleged that the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bihar is an attempt to manipulate the election process.
Newly appointed Bharatiya Janata Party national working president Nitin Nabin on Monday termed his elevation as a blessing of the party and claimed that it is the only political outfit that allows its grassroots workers to thrive.
The Election Commission of India is conducting a special intensive revision of the electoral roll in Bihar, with over 6.60 crore electors expected to be included in the draft roll.
Nitin Nabin's selection is a bold political decision by the Two Gujaratis. When Rahul Gandhi has resurrected the issue of social justice, the BJP and the Two Gujaratis are sticking to their plan and agenda, explains Sheela Bhatt.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed NDA parliamentarians, emphasizing that laws and regulations should serve the convenience of the common people and not cause harassment.
While it is evident that the INDIA bloc has not shut its doors on Nitish Kumar, those within the NDA are hopeful that the JD-U's support base would benefit them as well
'It is people, their support and strength that made him a Bahubali.' 'I am proud of my father, who is innocent and wrongly framed.'
Special Intensive Revision (SIR), the Election Commission's voters' list cleanup exercise, will commence in nine states and three Union territories from Tuesday.
The agency seized documents like answer sheets, OMR codes, hand-written notes related to IDs and names of candidates apart from their education certificates, the sources said.
Mobile internet services have been restored in Assam's Karbi Anglong and West Karbi Anglong districts following an improvement in the law and order situation after recent violence between the Karbi and Bihari communities.
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear petitions challenging the Election Commission's decision to revise electoral rolls in Bihar. The hearing is scheduled for July 10.
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.
Abdullah emphasised the 24x7 model of politics pursued by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his team, and said that "no sooner has one election finished, they've already moved into the next territory... We will move into those states two months before the elections. We will be lucky if we sew up our electoral alliances before the last date of filing nominations".
