The article was originally published in Live Mint.
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When the Election Commission becomes a threat to democracy
Once a constitutional safeguard, the ECI now risks enabling the erosion of India’s democratic norms through partisanship and opacity. The Election Commission of India (ECI) was set up on January 25, 1950, one day before the country became a Republic. So, historically, the ECI predates the Republic of India, which is an important factoid that […]
SIR पारदर्शी नहीं है, न ही यह निष्पक्ष है… पढ़िए ADR के संस्थापक जगदीप छोकर का पूरा इंटरव्यू
24 जून के नोटिफिकेशन में लिखा है कि जो लोग 1 जनवरी, 2003 से पहले मतदाता सूची में थे, उन्हें भारत का नागरिक माना जाएगा। यानी इसके बाद के लोग नागरिक नहीं माने जाएंगे! नागरिक ना मानना बहुत बड़ी बात है। सुप्रीम कोर्ट ने 10 जुलाई की सुनवाई में कहा भी था कि आप नागरिकता […]
Bihar SIR: Doing the right thing the wrong way
Expecting uneducated migrants to fill and upload online forms to enroll as voters is a flight of fancy. The Election Commission still has time to take corrective steps A correct and up-to-date electoral roll is sine qua non for a free and fair election in a democracy. However, given the size, diversity, and geographical dispersion of population […]
आर्थिक और सामाजिक प्रगति के लिए एकजुटता जरूरी
Risk of vanishing votes in Bihar’s revised roll
According to a full-page advertisement issued by the Bihar CEO on July 5, voters in Bihar could submit their Enumeration Forms (EFs) by July 25. The article was originally published in The Tribune.
Now is the time to disclose the entire truth known to the ECI
Election Commission doesn’t share adequate voting-related information with people. That prevents a meaningful analysis of the electoral process. On June 8, this newspaper carried a report (‘Rahul’s attack on EC doesn’t match poll data, officials say bid to “defame”’) contradicting an op-ed on its Ideas Page (‘Match-fixing Maharashtra’, IE, June 7). The report was accompanied […]
AI and Elections in India | A need for better regulations
AI risks distorting information but also holds untapped potential to improve electoral campaigns and processes. To this end, prebunking must be used by all stakeholders Bihar’s political landscape is gradually heating up in the wake of the upcoming Assembly polls with political parties crafting campaigns to woo voters. The campaigns will soon be dominated by artificial intelligence […]
Let there be no room for confusion or cynicism
The Narendra Modi government must offer more details about the proposed caste census and share updates about anti-terror operations — this will put to rest misleading and malicious rumours April 30, 2025, will remain etched in India’s memory as a special day. Since morning, there was palpable excitement about a really big announcement from the […]
Give NOTA more teeth to cleanse electoral system
Instead of deriding NOTA as a toothless or failed idea, all stakeholders must combine to make it stronger ‘None of the above’ (NOTA) as an option was introduced in the EVMs on the basis of the Supreme Court judgement in the PUCL vs Union of India case of September 27, 2013. The court then stated, […]