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 […]
This was interviewed by Herjinder. “Are we to believe that 22–25 lakh people died in just six months, and another 37 lakh left?” The Election Commission of India’s month-long charade of ‘fixing’ the voter rolls of Bihar — an exercise now better known as the ‘Special Intensive Revision’ — has reached its first big milestone. […]
This was interviewed by Gulam Jeelani. The EC’s controversial voter list revision in Bihar raises concerns about potential citizen ‘disenfranchisement.’ With accusations of ‘unconstitutionality’ and risks of creating ‘second-class citizens,’ ADR’s Jagdeep Chhokar warns of dire implications if the move is not stopped. The Election Commission’s (EC) Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in […]
This was interviewed by Gulam Jeelani. ADR co-founder Jagdeep Chhokar says that the Election Commission can conduct the revision exercise legally, but “that doesn’t mean you violate existing laws”. The Election Commission’s (EC) Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar has triggered a political storm, with the opposition Congress dubbing it ‘a […]
It deliberately chose to give the four ‘star campaigners’ of the Lok Sabha elections preferential treatment by not taking action for breaching the poll code. “Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar told Scroll on Monday that the Election Commission had deliberated over poll code violations during the 2024 general elections at length and had decided to […]
It is now clear that the ECI had itself done this calculation but was holding back the total number of voters which it has now, after encouragement by the SC, magnanimously decided to disclose. The Election Commission of India has released the “absolute number of voters for all completed phases” in a press note issued […]
There have been ample and unambiguous signals that the electoral bonds story is far from over. On 26 March 2024, former Finance and Economic Affairs Secretary of India Subhash Chandra Garg wrote a piece titled Electoral Bonds Are Now History. Did the Government Let the Donors Down? As the dust was still settling down on […]
The original petition requested only for the EB scheme to be declared unconstitutional. The SC did that but went ahead and also issued directions to SBI and ECI to ensure full implementation of the judgment. This initiative of the apex court must be acknowledged and commended 8 pm of March 14, 2024, was somewhat reminiscent […]
The electoral bonds data in public domain, with secret numbers readable only by ultraviolet light, will continue to be parsed and investigated. But, we also need to, now, think beyond EBs. From its introduction to its cancellation, the road EBs took has made it clear that political party funding reforms are an absolute imperative. Three […]
You can read the article here: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/electoral-bonds-five-facts-five-takeaways/amp_articleshow/108531290.cms. This article was originally published in TOI+.