In his now famous speech to budding police officers in Hyderabad on how civil society groups can be subverted, the National Security Adviser, Ajit Kumar Doval, widely regarded as the third most important official in the security establishment, significantly said: “The quintessence of democracy does not lie in the ballot box … it lies in the […]
Correcting electoral rolls in a society like India’s has to be done the hard way — going door to door. Quick fixes and tech solutions like Aadhaar can do more harm than good The issue of linking India’s voters’ list with the Aadhaar database is in news again with the surreptitious passage of The […]
Only 15 regional parties received donations through electoral bonds, the highest amount being BJD’s Rs264 crore. For the Opposition parties, electoral bonds pose the fear of omission (being starved of funds) and the fear of commission — being traced and harassed by the ED and CBI. How would you like to play a game in […]
All that the announcement does is to follow exactly what several judgments of the Supreme Court have ordered. The announcement of the schedule for elections for five state assemblies was a much anticipated event. What attracted attention of some observers was the inclusion of requirements for disclosure of criminal antecedents by candidate and political parties […]
Despite the ECI’s enquiries and reassurances, there is a fairly widespread impression that the attempted linking of electoral roll data with Aadhaar may have resulted in the disenfranchisement of legitimate voters. After a gap of six years, the dubious linkage between voters IDs with Aadhaar numbers is back in the news. It was reported on […]
हाल ही में हैदराबाद की एक विशेष अदालत ने तेलंगाना राष्ट्र समिति की सांसद कविता मलोथ को छह महीने कारावास की सजा सुनायी है. कविता ने 2019 लोकसभा चुनाव में अपने पक्ष में मतदान के लिए लोगों को पैसे बांटे थे. चुनाव के दौरान मतदाताओं को पैसे बांटने के लिए किसी पदस्थ सांसद को अपराधी […]
The Election Commission recently mooted connecting electoral expense limits to population and inflation; but will that create a level playing field between rich and poor candidates? “Indian politicians start their legislative careers with a lie — the false spending returns they submit? – Atal Bihari Vajpayee” Achchhe din (Good days) are here for at least one category of persons in India: […]
Tushar Mehta’s remarks calling public interest litigations “self-employment generating petitions” sound like a complete and summary rejection of the concept and reek of contempt. One of the Indian government’s senior-most legal officers, solicitor general Tushar Mehta said in the Supreme Court on April 3, 2020, that “’professional PIL shops’ must be locked down.” This has created […]
There are five reasons why the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme must be abolished All Opposition parties have been unanimous in their criticism of the government’s recent move to suspend the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) for two years, approved by the Cabinet. The government’s reason is this: to use these funds […]
It is not easy to get down to writing when the country, indeed the world, faces an uncertain future due to the coronavirus pandemic. But this is perhaps a good time to try and explore the impact of the coronavirus on democracy. It is well known that crises bring out the best and worst in […]