Page 5 - Election Commission Of India

Amid report of rift, EC says all SIR orders were unanimously approved

People issued notices during SIR need not appear for personal hearings, except in exceptional cases, the Election Commission said

Best of BS Opinion: Don't hang the ECI just yet, make it work efficiently

From electoral-roll revisions and Telangana politics to institutional trust and the business of spirituality, today's opinions examine governance, political strategy and consumer communities

Three NDA allies seek election panel's clarification amid SIR row

BJP allies seek clarity from the Election Commission over objections raised by two poll commissioners on voter-list revision, as a Supreme Court plea seeks action against CEC Gyanesh Kumar

SC plea seeks criminal prosecution of CEC Gyanesh Kumar over SIR decisions

A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking criminal prosecution of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged violations of statutory duties in connection with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The plea filed by advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi through advocate Chand Qureshi seeks that decisions, guidelines and software modifications allegedly undertaken by Kumar without the concurrence of the two election commissioners be declared unconstitutional and void. It also seeks a declaration that all such decisions relating to the SIR are illegal and restoration of the original Form 6. It further seeks an inquiry by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) into the alleged deletion of around 13 crore voters from electoral rolls during the revision exercise. The petitioner has sought criminal prosecution of Kumar, Deputy Election Commissioner Maneesh Garg and Seema Khanna, IT head of the Election Commission (EC), alleging violation of their statut

Dipke urges opposition parties to stop participating in 'rigged' elections

CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke on Friday urged opposition parties to stop participating in elections if they believe the electoral process is being rigged, saying their continued participation only legitimises such polls and creates an "illusion" that they are free and fair. In a post on X, Dipke said opposition parties could not simultaneously claim that elections were being rigged and continue to contest them. "Yes, elections are being rigged. But when you continue to participate in rigged elections, you legitimise these elections and help maintain the illusion that they are free and fair," he said. The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) founder questioned whether opposition parties continued to participate because they feared that staying away from elections would lead to their political extinction. "Maybe you keep contesting because you fear that if you don't, you will stop existing. But what kind of existence are you trying to protect when votes are being stolen, your MLAs and MPs are be

Election Commission adds 'Mark VIP' feature to BLO app amid Delhi SIR

The feature was added to the app in July, allowing Booth Level Officers to flag certain electors as VIPs during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision

Gyanesh Kumar removal row: How can Chief Election Commissioner be removed?

Opposition parties are preparing a fresh removal motion against CEC Gyanesh Kumar. Here is what the Constitution and law say about the appointment and removal of the Election Commission chief

Opposition plans fresh notice seeking CEC removal, nationwide protests

INDIA bloc parties plan fresh notices in Parliament seeking CEC Gyanesh Kumar's removal and nationwide protests over alleged irregularities in the Election Commission

A question of independence

The Election Commission urgently needs internal reform

Election Commission row: Gyanesh Kumar must resign immediately, says Rahul

Rahul Gandhi demanded CEC Gyanesh Kumar's resignation, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah of "destroying" India's democratic architecture

Opposition demands CEC's arrest, poll body says 'unanimity' in decisions

Congress, TMC, AAP, and DMK step up attack on Gyanesh Kumar over reported objections within poll panel

'No independent counterweight': SC split on law replacing CJI in EC panel

The Supreme Court delivered a split verdict on the Centre's plea to refer challenges to the 2023 Election Commissioners appointment law to a larger five-judge Bench

ECI says decisions unanimous after report flags Commissioners' objections

Poll panel says internal notes and differing views are part of routine deliberations, while final decisions, including electoral roll revision measures, were unanimous

'Remove Gyanesh Kumar': Opposition after report flags major rift in ECI

Opposition parties slammed CEC Gyanesh Kumar after an investigation by The Indian Express claimed there is a major rift within the poll panel over decisions related to SIR and electoral rolls

Delhi SIR: CEO publishes data with reasons for voter discrepancy notices

New booth-wise disclosure identifies unmapped electors and specific mismatches in self and parent names, offering greater detail than the earlier aggregate figures of 3.313 million notices

Delhi SIR: SC to hear plea against voter name deletions on Sep 21

The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear on September 21 a plea against deletion of names from the electoral roll under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Delhi. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana said it will hear the matter on Monday as other matters related to SIR exercises are also listed next week. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that out of the 47 lakh people whose names have been deleted from the electoral roll in Delhi, the poll panel has issued notice to 33 lakh people. "What they have done is that they have not disclosed the names of people who have been issued notices or on what grounds they have been deleted. They have not disclosed which people notice has been issued to. What are the logical discrepancies and how are they unmapped," Bhushan submitted. On August 31, the Election Commission published a draft electoral roll under which 47 lakh voters were deleted from the list

Nandan Nilekani, family named in Karnataka electoral roll discrepancy list

Nilekani, wife Rohini and their two children are expected to receive notices during the document verification phase of Karnataka's electoral roll revision

Raghav Chadha alleges AAP vendetta after name dropped from Punjab draft SIR

The Rajya Sabha MP said his voter ID is registered in Mohali, yet his name has been classified as "shifted" in the draft roll.

Delhi SIR 2026 draft: 13 constituencies had over 40% electors not included

As many as 13 of Delhi's 70 Assembly constituencies saw more than 40% of electors not included in the SIR 2026 draft. Tughlakabad recorded the highest share at 47.8%, followed by Okhla at 45.2%

Delhi draft electoral roll excludes 4.77 mn names, claims open till Sep 30

Delhi's draft electoral roll was published Monday, with 47.7 lakh electors out of 1.45 crore of the city's voters excluded. Delhi chief electoral officer said those excluded can file their claims till September 30 through Form 6 and supporting documents. The final roll is due November 4. Claims and objections will be examined, and the notice and disposal process will be on till October 29, according to the revised Election Commission schedule. The draft roll contains around 97.5 lakh electors whose enumeration forms were received and digitised under the Special Intensive Revision through a house-to-house exercise, which began on June 30 and ended on August 17. Forms of around 67.18 per cent of Delhi's 1,45,10,299 electors were digitised during the process. The remaining 47.7 lakh electors were categorised as "uncollectable" under Absent, Shifted, Dead, Duplicate and Others (ASDDO) and do not figure in the draft roll. The extent of digitisation varied considerably across the city'