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EXPLAINED: 2 - The Real Truth

‘Encounter specialist’ as Bengal poll guardian: When an observer becomes a ‘viral hero’

In a News18 India segment posted on X today, the thumbnail read: “Singham Ki Entry: Kiski Hogi Victory” (Singham's entry: Whose victory will it be?). On one side sat a cutout of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee; on the other, a stylised, cinematic-style photo of IPS officer Ajay Pal Sharma racking…

Newslaundry

Key Indian state heads to polls amid controversy over millions losing voting rights

ON THE GROUND: Former government workers and even security officers on election duty are among millions stripped of the right to vote in West Bengal’s knife-edge polls. Alisha Rahaman Sarkar reports from Kolkata

The Independent UK

Deleted despite documents: Inside West Bengal’s ‘political’ SIR

The run-up to elections in West Bengal has been anything but normal. The Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) has led to the exclusion of nearly 90 lakh voters from the electoral rolls. Of these, 27 lakh were excluded after being placed “under adjudication” over “logical discrepancies” in their documents,…

Newslaundry

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Appellate tribunals or a black hole? Where the Bengal SIR goes to bury a ‘second chance’

The Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee National Institute of Water and Sanitation, which houses all 19 appellate tribunals set up by the Election Commission in West Bengal, is completely restricted. CAPF and West Bengal Police guard the gates, and no one is allowed in unless the judges have formally summoned them.

Newslaundry

Bengal’s migrant workers caught between ‘ghuspaithiya’ politics and SIR deletions

Md Anikul Hoque, a migrant labourer from Samserganj in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district, has waited through many crises. He stood in queues for food, water, and cash during demonetisation in 2016. He worked through the Covid-19 lockdown inside sealed buildings in Odisha “like a thief in a prison” waiting to…

Newslaundry

‘Bid to move us to Bangladesh’: At the Bengal poll booths where every second voter is gone

Gajol SK’s name was deleted from West Bengal’s voter rolls. Now he is afraid of what comes next.

Newslaundry

A father, a beneficiary, ex-BLO: The SIR chaos queue in a Bengal district

Aftab Alam gave his primary school examination at Krishnanath School in Titagarh in 1976. He is 64 now. Today, he was back at the same school. It was not for any reunion, but to prove he has the right to vote.

Newslaundry

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Infiltration, SIR, ‘washing machine’ | The Suvendu Adhikari interview

With West Bengal heading to the polls in just two weeks, credible reports indicate that the Election Commission of India’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) has disenfranchised millions of voters. The SIR exercise, the opposition TMC alleges, has been designed to pave the way for a BJP victory.

Newslaundry

EC’s app was used to file fake voter forms before 2024 Maharashtra polls. The probe hasn’t moved

In the weeks before the 2024 Maharashtra assembly elections, someone used the Election Commission of India’s own Voter Helpline App to file hundreds of fake voter registration applications in a single constituency – using forged Aadhaar cards, nonexistent addresses, and the stolen data of Mumbai college students.

Newslaundry

'PM Modi should be invited': BNP's diplomatic tone ahead of Tarique Rahman's swearing-in

Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milan suggested inviting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the swearing-in ceremony of BNP chief Tarique Rahman, who is set to become the next Prime Minister. The BNP secured a landslide victory in the general elections, marking their return to power after nearly…

The Times of India

BNP set to return to power after 20 years; Jamaat’s bid falls short — Bangladesh election highlights

Bangladesh's Nationalist Party appears poised for a landslide victory in the recent parliamentary elections, with preliminary results showing a commanding lead. Party chief Tarique Rahman is expected to become the next Prime Minister. However, the main opposition, the Awami League, has denounced the polls as a 'well-planned farce' and alleged…

The Times of India

'Over 50% polling stations centres': How Bangladesh is preparing for first election since Hasina ouster

Bangladesh is holding parliamentary elections amidst unprecedented security following the ouster of former PM Sheikh Hasina. Over half of polling centres are deemed risk-prone, prompting a massive deployment of nearly 9.58 lakh security personnel. For the first time, drones and body-worn cameras will monitor the process, aiming for a peaceful…

The Times of India

‘How can you remove names without checking?’: Inside Prayagraj’s battle over voter lists

The release of the draft electoral rolls under UP’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) has left many residents of Prayagraj’s western and southern assembly constituencies anxious. Since January 11, the Election Commission has set up claims and objections booths across the city.

Newslaundry

SC’s baffling bail order rattled the press. Voter rolls exercise should terrify it

It is rare for India’s mainstream media to speak with one voice on an issue that makes the government uncomfortable. It is remarkable, therefore, that almost every major newspaper made strong editorial comments about the recent Supreme Court ruling granting bail to five of those implicated in the 2020 Delhi…

Newslaundry

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Newslaundry

How we broke the voter roll story before it became a national conversation

More than a year ago, when I began looking into possible manipulation of voter rolls, the first person to help me understand it was Dr SY Quraishi, former Chief Election Commissioner of India.

Reason

Councilman's Threatening Outside Counsel Law Firm into Firing Attorney May Violate First Amendment

"A Nashville city councilman threatened to withdraw business from a law firm, which served as the city's outside counsel, due to the position one of its attorneys took as the chair of the county election commission on a tax referendum."

Newslaundry

‘Inhuman work pressure’: Inside the SIR crisis pushing poll workers to the edge

A nationwide effort to clean up India’s voter rolls seems to be spiralling into a crisis for the people meant to carry it out. At least five Booth Level Officers across 12 states and union territories have died by suicide during the second phase of the Election Commission’s Special Intensive…

International Business Times UK

Thousands 'Declared Dead': Voter Purge in Bihar Branded 'Quiet Coup' Against Democracy

Bihar's voter purge has sparked outrage after 6.5 million names were deleted from electoral rolls, with critics calling it a 'quiet coup' as the Supreme Court demands transparency from the Election Commission.

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Newslaundry

Brazilian photo for 22 voters in Haryana: Rahul says lakhs of votes were rigged

What does an image clicked by a Brazilian photographer have to do with the Haryana election? As per the latest in the series of press conferences by Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on alleged electoral manipulation on Wednesday, the stock image of a model by a Brazilian photographer was used…

The Independent UK

Head of South Carolina elections fired after voting machine contract had unexplained $4M overrun

The South Carolina Election Commission is investigating why a $28 million contract for new voting machines ended up costing $4 million more

Newslaundry

Fresh spotlight on Karnataka CID case as Rahul Gandhi flags missing ‘voter fraud’ details

Mounting fresh allegations against the Election Commission of India, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Thursday alleged that centralised softwares were used for targeted deletion of voters in two assemblies – Aland in Karnataka and Rajura in Maharashtra.

Newslaundry

More men die in Bihar, but more women vanish from its voter rolls

Paradoxical as it may sound, women appear to be dying at a faster rate than men in Bihar – at least if the Election Commission of India is to be believed. This defies state records, which peg deaths among women being lower than men.

Newslaundry

BJP’s new political frontier: Fusion of Gujarat Hindutva model with Assam anti-immigration politics

Increasingly, across a widening swathe of the world, the central campaign issue for right-wing parties is immigration. Recent statements by top leaders, along with a series of administrative moves, suggest that with the Ayodhya Ram temple built and Article 370 abrogated, immigration is now emerging as the key political issue…

Newslaundry

Rajiv Pratap Rudy on PM’s claims on ‘infiltrators’, ‘vote-chori’, Nishikant Dubey’s ‘arrogance’

In an interview with Sreenivasan Jain, senior BJP leader and Bihar MP Rajiv Pratap Rudy addresses the controversy over the Election Commission’s deletions of 65 lakh names from Bihar’s electoral rolls, which the opposition calls “vote chori.” He defended the Prime Minister’s claims of a surge of infiltrators into Bihar…

International Business Times

India's Election Commission Under Fire From Opposition

The Election Commission of India, long regarded as the impartial guardian of the world's largest democracy, is facing unprecedented scrutiny over its credibility and independence.

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