'The reason why they rushed through the bill was they wanted to avoid using the 2026 Census because the 2026 Census by their own decision will be a caste census.' 'The BJP knows that a significant share of the OBCs who will get captured in the census, for the first time after the 1931 Census, are against the BJP. Only a segment of the OBCs are in their favour.' 'So they wanted to avoid the OBC reservation among women, which is a demand of a lot of Opposition parties.'
The draft electoral roll for Uttar Pradesh was published after a special intensive revision exercise, with 12.55 crore voters retained out of 15.44 crore listed earlier. Around 2.89 crore voters were excluded due to deaths, migration, or multiple registrations.
The Election Commission will conduct phase two of the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in 12 states and Union territories between November and February, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar announced on Monday.
'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
Opposition parties are questioning the Election Commission's intentions behind the second phase of special intensive revision of electoral rolls in 12 states and Union Territories. The BJP has slammed the Congress and called the opposition a 'herd of dissatisfied souls'.
The Election Commission on Thursday extended the timeline for Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in six states and Union territories following requests from the chief electoral officers.
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor criticised the government's decision to link women's reservation with the expansion of Parliament, calling delimitation a 'political demonetisation'. He argued that women's reservation should be implemented immediately based on existing parliamentary strength.
'The Supreme Court stated that once the delimitation plan is approved by Parliament and receives assent of the President, it cannot be undone. Nor can it be modified.'
The Supreme Court has directed states to consider deploying additional staff to ease the workload on booth level officers (BLOs) engaged in the special revision of electoral rolls, following concerns about extreme work pressure and related issues.
The Supreme Court expressed concern over threats to election officials in West Bengal and other states, urging the Election Commission to take action. The court also addressed the lack of cooperation from state governments in electoral roll revisions.
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 legendary Seshan was not keeping good health for the past couple of years and he passed away at about 9.30 pm, a senior police official told PTI.
The Election Commission removed 6.5 crore electors from the draft electoral rolls of nine states and three Union territories as part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). The removals are due to voters being absent, shifted, deceased, or duplicates.
The Election Commission has extended the schedule for the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in several states and Union Territories following concerns raised by opposition parties.
'You cannot run Parliament with 800 MPs as nobody will get time (to speak in Parliament). And Parliament sits for barely 60 days in a year.' 'Look at the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. They have 650 MPs and they sit for 150 days on an average in a year.'
Aam Aadmi Party's Gopal Italia on Monday won from Gujarat's Visavadar assembly constituency and his party also retained Punjab's Ludhiana West seat while the Congress-led United Democratic Front wrested Nilambur from the ruling Left Democratic Front in Kerala, according to results of assembly bypolls in four states.
Over 10.56 lakh voters have been deleted from Assam's electoral rolls following a Special Revision, ahead of upcoming assembly elections. The revision included house-to-house verification and aims to create an error-free electoral roll.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Sunday said the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise being conducted by the Election Commission of India (ECI) was 'essential', as electoral rolls were not perfect.
Will the EC would make an example of the RK Nagar by-election, either by ensuring free and fair polls or by countermanding the same, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Winter session of Parliament will be held from December 1 to 19, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju announced on Saturday, in what the opposition has described as an 'unusually delayed' and truncated session.
'Rahul Gandhi's problem is that he doesn't think big.' 'He looks more like an activist, while politics is like a game of chess. You attack and then defend and have a game-plan.'
Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voters' list commenced in nine states and three Union territories on Tuesday, amid objections from several parties with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee leading the anti-SIR offensive in West Bengal with a rally in Kolkata and alleging 'silent, invisible rigging' through the exercise.
The Election Commission is expected to initiate a phased, pan-India special intensive revision (SIR) of the voters' list, prioritizing states with upcoming assembly elections. This cleanup exercise aims to weed out illegal foreign migrants and ensure accurate electoral rolls.
The Election Commission is ramping up preparations for a special intensive revision of voter lists across India, assessing the progress made on mapping current electors with voters as per the last SIR in different states.
A delegation of Opposition leaders in Maharashtra, including Sharad Pawar, Uddhav Thackeray, and Raj Thackeray, met with the state's chief electoral officer to raise concerns about alleged irregularities in the poll process, particularly regarding the voters' list, ahead of local body elections.
Following that, Sudhakaran, at another event in Alappuzha on Thursday, claimed that what he had said earlier was not completely true and he had added something extra to it from his "imagination".
Assam, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala and West Bengal will to polls in 2026 and they are amongst the states where the voters' list cleanup exercise will begin first.
Chief Justice of India considers shifting Supreme Court hearings to virtual mode due to severe air pollution in Delhi after experiencing its effects firsthand.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju stated the government is open to discussing electoral reforms in the Rajya Sabha, urging the Opposition not to impose a timeline. Opposition parties staged a walkout after demanding an immediate discussion on the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
The Congress on Friday posted its second worst performance in Bihar's electoral history, managing to win only six of the over 50 seats it contested and losing deposits in most seats as its 'vote chori' pitch failed to make any impact on the ground.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the NDA's victory in the Bihar assembly elections as a win for good governance, development, and social justice. He congratulated alliance partners and thanked the people of Bihar for their support.
Newly appointed election commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu assumed charge on Friday.
Assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal are due in 2026.
Nine seats are going to polls in Uttar Pradesh, four in Punjab and one in Kerala.
As part of the investigation, EC officials visited Sudhakaran's residence on Thursday and recorded his statement. They said the matter would be submitted to the district collector for further actions.
Months of uncertainty due to governance issues, turf wars and internal power struggles are set to end when the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) holds its much-delayed elections on Thursday.
Special Intensive Revision (SIR), the Election Commission's voters' list cleanup exercise, will commence in nine states and three Union territories from Tuesday.
Kerala's election discourse operates surreptitiously. Its explicit face focuses on important national and local issues. At the same time, it seeks to secure apt communal equations to ensure votes, notes Shyam G Menon.
'...the electoral playing field is tilted significantly in its favour.'
The Election Commission of India is preparing for a nationwide special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, following a Supreme Court ruling. This move aims to update voter lists and address concerns about illegal migrants.
