SC hears pleas against Bihar voter roll revision; ECI says Aadhaar not proof of citizenship as Bench questions timing and risk of disenfranchising voters ahead of upcoming elections
A Delhi court on Thursday discharged 10 TMC leaders, including Derek O'Brien, Sagarika Ghose and Saket Gokhale, in a case linked to a protest outside the Election Commission of India last year despite prohibitory orders being in place. Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Neha Mittal passed the order of discharge. A detailed order is awaited. Earlier on May 13, the court had granted bail to the accused persons. On April 30, it granted exemption from personal appearance to the accused persons, except Vivek Gupta The court had summoned the accused persons on April 21 while taking congisance of the chargesheet. The TMC leaders held the protest against central probe agencies CBI, NIA, ED and the Income Tax Department in April last year. A 10-member delegation of the TMC had announced the protest after meeting a full bench of the Election Commission of India (ECI) to press their demand. The party alleged the central probe agencies were targeting opposition parties at the behest of th
He further alleged that the ECI has lost its credibility and accused it of preparing to exclude poor people from the voter list systematically
Calling the process rushed and impractical, Owaisi said even a 15-20 per cent error rate could have devastating consequences for marginalised communities
Petitions by RJD, ADR, PUCL, and others argue that Bihar's new verification norms violate electoral laws and fundamental rights ahead of the 2025 polls
While the EC insists that the Special Intensive Revision of the voter list is aimed at ensuring electoral integrity, critics argue that it risks disenfranchisement among Bihar's marginalised groups
While the poll body insists its drive will ensure integrity of electoral rolls, the Opposition alleges it will disenfranchise millions from marginalised sections. Archis Mohan explains
A special revision of Bihar's electoral rolls has triggered a political storm, with concerns over voter deletion, citizenship proof, and impact on the poor and marginalised
The Special Intensive Revision is a focused voter list update exercise conducted by the Election Commission of India to ensure electoral rolls are accurate ahead of upcoming elections
The Congress leader noted that the Election Commission earlier refused a meeting, however, later only allowed two leaders from a party, due to which some leaders could not even meet the officials
Leaders of several INDIA bloc parties met the Election Commission over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) 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 Congress claimed that after the prime minister's 'notebandi' (demonetisation) that "destroyed" the country's economy, EC's 'Vote-bandi' in Bihar will demolish India's democracy. Leaders from 11 parties, including the Congress, RJD, CPI(M), CPI, CPI(ML) Liberation, NCP-SP and the Samajwadi Party, put forth their objections before Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and other election commissioners to the special scrutiny of the voters' list. The INDIA bloc parties have been vocal in their opposition to the Special Intensive Revision exercise that has already started in Bihar and is to be carried out in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, which ar
The objective of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is to ensure that no eligible voter is left out, and at the same time, no ineligible voter is included in the electoral roll
It has come to the notice of the Commission that of the over 2,800 RUPPs currently registered with ECI, many RUPPs have failed to fulfil the essential conditions required to continue as an RUPP
In a statement, the Congress' empowered action group of leaders and experts (EAGLE), said this revision of electoral rolls by the EC is a "cure worse than the disease"
As part of the intensive review, poll officials will carry out house-to-house verification to ensure an error-free voters' list, starting immediately with Bihar
The Election Commission of India said that electors will also receive notifications via SMS at each stage, keeping them informed about the status of their EPICs
Ahead of the Bihar Assembly elections, the Election Commission has made webcasting mandatory at all polling stations with internet access.
Seeking to ensure increased monitoring of the poll procedure on voting days, the Election Commission (EC) on Monday decided to carry out webcasting at all polling stations, up from the present 50 per cent. The webcasting data will be for internal consumption of the poll authority. Bihar assembly elections are due later this year and it will be the first state where 100 per cent webcasting will be implemented. In a communication to all state chief electoral officers, the poll panel said webcasting will be done in areas with internet connectivity. "However, in shadow areas, suitable alternate arrangements of videography, photography, etc. may be made," it said. So far, webcasting was done in 50 per cent of the polling stations and in "critical polling stations" to ensure that the polling process is not vitiated. In December last year, the government tweaked an election rule to prevent public inspection of certain electronic documents such as CCTV camera and webcasting footage as we
A day after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi sought the Election Commission's response on his article alleging rigging in Maharashtra polls, sources in the poll authority said Sunday the constitutional body would respond only if the Leader of the Opposition writes to it directly. They also pointed out that as part of its outreach, the EC had invited all six national parties for separate interactions. While the other five met the EC brass, Congress cancelled the May 15 meeting. Gandhi had on Saturday hit back at the Election Commission after sources in the poll panel rejected allegation of rigging in the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly polls, saying evasion would not protect its credibility but telling the truth would. In an article, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha had alleged "match-fixing" in the Maharashtra polls and claimed that it would next happen in the Bihar elections and "anywhere the BJP is losing". Responding to a question on Gandhi's demand for CCTV footage of polling ..
Election Commission described Rahul Gandhi's allegations relating to Maharashtra polls as an "affront to the rule of law"