West Bengal CM Mamata to hold virtual meet with TMC MPs on Aug 4 amid Parliament logjam over SIR
The meeting assumes political significance for several reasons, as it coincides with the ongoing monsoon session of the Parliament.
Since the beginning of the monsoon session on July 21, the Trinamool Congress has been particularly vocal about the Election Commission of India's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, both inside and outside of the Parliament.
A section of the Opposition parties considers the SIR process as a 'conspiracy' to exclude names of Opposition voters from the voter lists.
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Hindustan Times
a minute ago
- Hindustan Times
In Supreme Court, EC may share same draft roll it gave to political parties
New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) is likely to inform the Supreme Court that it had shared the draft electoral rolls of Bihar with various political parties on August 1 and had also circulated lists detailing reasons for the deletion of nearly 6.5 million electors, people familiar with the matter told HT on Wednesday. The Election Commission of India headquarters in New Delhi(File Photo) The top court, which is hearing a bunch of petitions challenging the ECI's ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar, on Wednesday directed the poll body to file to file a reply by August 9 in response to allegations that over 6.5 million names were deleted from the draft rolls. An official aware of the matter, requesting anonymity, said: 'The roll shared with parties on August 1 has detailed classifications of the 65 lakh (6.5 million) deletions. While there is no separate category for those who didn't fill enumeration forms, they have been grouped under 'migrated'. Suspected foreign nationals are also under review and listed under the same head, but they are being separately verified by electoral registration officers (EROs).' The top court's order came on a plea filed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), a non-profit working on electoral and political reforms, alleging that ECI removed a column titled 'Uncollectable Reason' from the version of the draft roll published on August 1. The petition also sought disclosure of booth-wise deletions and their reasons. The top court asked ECI to inform it when were the draft rolls shared to the parties, which parties received these rolls, as well as to submit the list of deleted names. The official cited above said the draft rolls were handed over to all political parties by district collectors at 11 am on August 1, and published on the ECI's website at 3 pm the same day. Booth-level data, the official added, was shared with political party representatives. In a press note on July 25, the commission had said that 2.2 million electors were found deceased, 700,000 were registered in more than one place, and 3.5 million had either migrated permanently or were untraceable. After top court's direction on Wednesday, ECI issued a press note saying: '…lists of electors found dead, permanently shifted, having duplicate entries, or uncontactable after at least three visits by Booth Level Officers (BLOs) had been shared with all political parties and their BLAs on or before July 20.' It further shared a series of posts with various BLAs saying they have received the draft electoral roll and separately a list of the 6.5 million individuals removed from the roll. ECI also said that between August 1 and August 6 (9 AM), no political party had filed claims or objections related to the draft roll. However, 3,659 individual objections and claims have been submitted directly by electors. The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) rejected EC's 'no objections' received remarks, saying EC is trying to create an impression that everything is fine with the Bihar SIR and there are no complaints coming in. 'Nothing could be farther from the truth', the opposition party said in a post on X, listing several concerns, including the claim that its leaders had submitted complaints which were not being counted because they were not routed through BLAs. It also questioned the assumption that all 15,000 Form 6 applications received were from first-time voters and not from electors who had been deleted from the rolls. 'We have been repeatedly asking the EC to provide us with booth level lists of deletion specifying the ground thereof, but to no avail,' the Left party added.
NDTV
29 minutes ago
- NDTV
Mamata Banerjee Condemns Alleged Attack On Bengali Migrants In Protest Rally
Jhargram: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday led a massive protest rally in Jhargram, condemning the alleged attacks on Bengali-speaking migrants outside the state. The rally, themed around the narrative that the Bengali language and identity "will never be silenced," was led by the TMC boss. Banerjee walked nearly 3 km through the tribal heartland, joined by TMC leaders, cultural personalities, and citizens waving placards that read 'Banglar Apoman Sojjyo Hobe Na' (Insult to Bengal won't be tolerated) and 'Bangla Amar Ma' (Bengal, my mother). The protest comes in the wake of alleged harassment of Bengali-speaking migrants in various parts of the country. (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
7 held for attack on Suvendu's convoy in Cooch Behar
1 2 Kolkata/Jalpaiguri: Seven people were arrested by Cooch Behar Police on Wednesday in connection with the attack on the convoy of Bengal leader of opposition Suvendu Adhikari. Sources said the arrested included TMC workers and Trinamool Yuva functionaries. The arrested were remanded to five days' judicial custody. Meanwhile, Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya moved a notice in Rajya Sabha under Rule 267 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Council of State (Rajya Sabha), seeking a discussion on the attack, which he described as "an attack on democracy". Adhikari's convoy came under attack in Cooch Behar on Tuesday, when he arrived to attend a protest rally and submit a memorandum to the SP regarding alleged assaults on BJP workers. As the convoy reached Khagrabari, a group of alleged TMC supporters attacked the convoy. In his complaint, Adhikari named 41 persons, including state minister, Udayan Guha. "We are not going to leave them. If Udayan Guha was directly involved in the incident, the police's role cannot be ruled out," Adhikari said at a meeting on Wednesday. You Can Also Check: Kolkata AQI | Weather in Kolkata | Bank Holidays in Kolkata | Public Holidays in Kolkata According to an agency report, Union home minister Amit Shah spoke to Nisith Pramanik, former Union Minister of state for home affairs, seeking details about the incident. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Live Your Best Life: The 20 Top-Ranked Cities to Move to in 2024 Learn More Undo Guha said the identities of those arrested demonstrate that the allegations made by Adhikari — that the attack on his convoy was carried out by illegal Rohingya and Bangladeshi infiltrators — are unfounded. "Not a single Rohingya or Bangladeshi Muslim was named in complaint or arrested. His comments were baseless and he should apologise. Those who disrespect Bengalis and the Bengali language will be shown black flags," Guha said.
