Leaders of several INDIA bloc parties met the Election Commission over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar and raised concerns over its timing, alleging that over two crore voters of the state may be disenfranchised by this mammoth exercise being done just ahead of assembly elections.
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.
'Are elections still fair in India, or are we all witness to a macabre style of 'selection' of lawmakers? The jury will be out on this for a long time because there is no definitive evidence on either contention, at least as yet,' notes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author, Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times.
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 some states, many women voters had enrolled themselves by their relationship with the male members of their family instead of providing their own names.
'The current Election Commission functions more like a government department than an autonomous body.'
Meanwhile, the Congress' data analytics department chairperson Praveen Chakravarty on Tuesday wrote to Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, seeking assembly-wise voter rolls in excel sheet format for the Lok Sabha elections and the assembly polls in Maharashtra.
The final turnout in the Maharashtra assembly polls was 66.05 percent, up from 61.1 percent in 2019, according to the Election Commission. The polling percentage for the Nanded Lok Sabha bypoll was 67.81 percent. The increase, excluding postal ballots, highlighted the EC's efforts to engage a broader electorate, the statement added. Kolhapur led with 76.63 per cent, followed by 75.26 per cent in Gadchiroli, while the lowest was in Mumbai island city at 52.07 per cent and 55.95 per cent in the metropolis' suburban district. More than 68,000 citizens aged over 85 and 12,000 individuals with disabilities cast their votes through home voting.
Long before the by-election was announced, a person with the name Prashant Kishor was included in the list of the electorate in Bhabanipur during the addition process in January-April, according to the Election Commission website.
Tamil Nadu's ruling DMK has filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the Election Commission's plan to implement the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in the state.
"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 said it will allow suspected fake voters to cast their ballots in the Palakkad assembly by-poll, but will take action against them later. The CPI(M), Congress, and BJP have accused each other of enrolling fake voters. The by-poll is scheduled for November 20.
'The EC should not have let the initiative go into the hands of the political leadership. By allowing this to happen, they have opened a Pandora's box.'
Of the 87.54 crore electors in the first six phases of the Lok Sabha polls, as many as 57.77 crore voters turned up at the polling stations to cast their votes.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee claims a Bengali-speaking woman and her child were threatened in Delhi after an alleged assault. She urges Bengali migrant workers in BJP-ruled states to return to Bengal if harassed and questions the absence of central commissions in BJP-ruled states when atrocities occur.
...the DMK chief minister's campaign -- which includes criticism of the BJP's 'pro-Hindutva, anti-Tamil, anti-federal' policies and building on his own government's social welfare programmes targeting especially women and youth -- appeals to Tamil Nadu's voters in next year's assembly election, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
Actor-politician Vijay, founder-chief of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), will be its chief ministerial candidate for the 2026 Assembly election. The party announced this at an executive committee meeting where they also ruled out any alliance with the ruling DMK or the BJP.
As many as 19.31 lakh applications have been registered so far as part of the ongoing summary revision of electoral rolls in Maharashtra and voters would have the opportunity to enrol themselves until the last date of filing of nomination papers, the Election Commission of India said in Mumbai on Tuesday.
The order also highlights further disparities, citing examples of Denmark and Sweden restricting mail-in voting to those unable to vote in person and rejecting late-arriving ballots regardless of postmark, while many US states have embraced widespread mail-in voting, with some accepting ballots without postmarks or those arriving well after Election Day.
'This time, triumph will belong to the brother who promises a brighter future, not the one who merely remembers his sisters during elections and then vanishes.'
Is the unusually and unbearably scorching Sun and the general laxity, bordering on laziness, among voters, responsible, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
The CEC said the chief electoral officer of Assam will give a factual report in the coming week on various aspects arising out of the publication of the final draft NRC.
The government on Friday issued rules allowing linking of electoral roll data with Aadhaar, making electoral law gender neutral for service voters and enabling young citizens register as voters four times a year instead of the present one.
A Delhi court has summoned Sunita Kejriwal, the wife of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, for allegedly violating the law by getting herself enrolled in the voters list of two assembly constituencies.
The government sources said the bill incorporates various electoral reforms which have been discussed for a long time.
The BJP, meanwhile, asked Kejriwal to learn "spirit of service" from the RSS leaving behind his "political moves" instead of writing to Bhagwat to draw "media attention".
State Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil also said that the government will introduce four-year degree courses from June 2023 as mandated under the National Education Policy and the universities will have to implement the decision.
The clarification was issued through an advertisement in local dailies after facing political backlash, including from parties perceived close to the government.
Millions of NRIs wishing to get voting rights may have to wait a little longer to see their names in electoral rolls as differences between the government and the Election Commission have resulted in a delay in finalising the modalities for enrolment.Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi on Tuesday said two rounds of discussions have already been held between the Election Commission, the external affairs ministry and his ministry to finalise the modalities.
The National Conference called the meeting after remarks related to the addition of voters in the revised rolls by the Union Territory's chief electoral officer Hirdesh Kumar raised hackles of the regional parties.
Parties like the NC and Peoples Democratic Party claimed the administration has not addressed their main concern on whether ''outsiders'' ordinarily residing in J-K will be allowed to enroll as voters.
If implemented after stakeholder consultations, migrant voters do not need to travel to their home district to exercise their franchise.
The Delhi government's Women and Child Development and Health departments issued public notices on Wednesday distancing themselves from the ruling Aam Aadmi Party's promised schemes of providing Rs 2,100 to women and free treatment for the elderly, triggering a fresh row ahead of assembly polls.
Besides disclosing in their affidavits, candidates have to prominently declare criminal cases they are facing, if any, thrice in newspapers in print as well on television, he said, adding that political parties too have to publish within three days of nomination why a candidate with criminal background was selected. "You (political parties) have to tell the public whether you did not get any (other) candidate and why was it necessary to select them (those with criminal background)," he said.
Campaign through paragliding across the state is the latest means to attract the people.
An organisation where workers function in different directions never succeeds, BJP sources quoted Shah as telling a party gathering in Mumbai on Tuesday. Shah has also asked the Maharashtra BJP to undertake 'Ghar Chalo Abhiyan' to reach out to every household in the state and called for strengthening the party's booth-level network, a party leader said.
Any decision to include "non-locals" in electoral rolls in Jammu and Kashmir is unacceptable and would be contested by all means, including in court, Nation Conference president Farooq Abdullah said on Monday after a meeting of nine parties over the issue.
Jammu and Kashmir is likely to get around 25 lakh additional voters including outsiders after the special summary revision of electoral rolls being held for the first time after the abrogation of Article 370, an official said on Wednesday.
'A government whose policies are focused around making the life of ordinary citizens, specially the most deprived sections, richer; a government that prioritises education, health and transport, that doesn't treat its citizens as subjects who must come to it for everything, is rare in our country.' 'When such a government is thrown out, one is left stunned,' notes Jyoti Punwani.
With 19 border polling stations along the Line of Control in Rajouri and Poonch, a contingency plan has been worked out to deal with cross-border shelling though chances are negligible given the ongoing ceasefire between India and Pakistan that came into effect in February 2021, officials said.
