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The Hindu
a day ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Government proposal in 2024 for a panel on ‘demographic challenges' never took off
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a High-Power Demography Mission on Friday (August 15, 2025). However, a similar committee announced before the 2024 Lok Sabha Election was never formed. In her Interim Budget speech on February 1, 2024, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the committee will be constituted to consider the challenges arising from 'fast population growth and demographic changes'. The terms of reference and the composition of the committee were never notified. On Friday (August 15, 2025), in his Independence Day speech, Mr. Modi said that the 'demography of the country is being changed as part of a conspiracy and a well-planned plot' and that the Mission will do its work in a well thought-out and definite manner in the stipulated time to deal with 'this grave crisis that is looming over India'. Census, which gives a clear picture of migration and demographic changes, was last done in 2011 and the next population count is expected in 2027. The Total Fertility Rate (TFR), the average number of children per woman, in the country has remained constant at 2.0 in 2021, the same as 2020, according to the Sample Registration System report for 2021 released by the Registrar General of India on May 7. Bihar has reported the highest TFR at 3.0, while Delhi and West Bengal reported the lowest TFR of 1.4. Though there is no accurate data on demographic changes in the country, police and security agencies have been regularly flagging the issue at various forums. Also read:What are the issues around deportation? | Explained During the annual Director General of Police conference in 2021, which was presided by the Prime Minister, police officers from Uttar Pradesh and Assam submitted research papers that highlighted demographic changes in districts along the international border with Nepal and Bangladesh. The compendium of reports compiled by the Intelligence Bureau, which was later pulled down from its website in 2022, said that police officers had submitted essays highlighting the ongoing demographic changes in bordering States, districts, sub-divisions and in some cases at the level of bordering villages. 'These have been prepared with the help of data collected through Census exercises, National Family and Health Surveys, local surveys, data enumerated by going through voters' list, etc. However, the thrust remains on the overall demographic changes. These demographic changes in the bordering belt are presenting a big challenge to national security, particularly at the level of border villages and bordering sub-divisions,' the report had said. The officers highlighted an increase in number of mosques, seminaries and a high decadal growth in population in these areas. The Assam Police paper said that the decadal growth in population – from 2011 to 2021, within 10 km of Bangladesh border was 31.45%, higher than the projected national and State average of 12.5% and 13.54% respectively. It said that four districts shared borders with Bangladesh – Cachar, Karimganj, Dhubri and South Salmara. The report pointed out that in 2001, the 'bordering areas' of Cachar had a population of 49,224, out of which 29,160 were Hindus, while in 2021, out of the total population of 76,319 in these areas, Hindu population stood at 48,223, around 63%. The Muslim population in 2001 stood at 19,957, while in 2021 it stood at 27,823, around 36% of the total population. Based on the papers submitted by the police officers, it was suggested to further augment the existing intelligence grid and create more police stations, particularly in the bordering areas of Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Assam. It was also suggested to engage border population in the overall management of border affairs making them the second line of defence by constituting Village Level Defence Committees, opening more units of National Cadet Corps and 'inculcating sense of nationalism' among them. The Uttar Pradesh Police paper said that out of 1,047 villages in seven border districts of Maharajganj, Siddharthnagar, Balrampur, Bahraich, Shravasti, Pilibhit and Khiri, 303 villages had a Muslim population between 30%-50%, while 116 villages had a Muslim population of more than 50%.
India Today
5 days ago
- Politics
- India Today
AAP claims voter fraud in Delhi polls, says SIR model legitimises 'vote chori'
Amid the INDIA bloc's protest against voter list manipulation in the 2024 Lok Sabha Election, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday intensified its attack on the Election Commission of India (ECI), alleging large-scale electoral fraud during the recently concluded Delhi spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar claimed that "Vote Chori" (vote theft) had taken place and called for the results to be declared "null and void."advertisement"Electoral fraud happened in the Delhi Polls. We have shown clear evidence, yet the Election Commission didn't act," Kakkar said during a press conference. 'Why are they not cancelling the results of the Delhi Polls?' she asked.,—3, AAP (@AamAadmiParty) August 12, 2025 Kakkar further pointed to specific allegations, including the removal of over 42,000 voter names from Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's constituency. 'In the Sahadara assembly alone, a BJP worker filed applications to cut names of 11,000 voters,' she further said that submitted 3,000 pages of documents detailing these irregularities to the ECI, but no response was received. 'We provided evidence in the run-up to the Delhi Polls, the ECI didn't act,' Kakkar the accusations further, the AAP leader claimed that after the exposure of the 'Delhi model,' a new method was devised to legitimise vote tampering. Kakkar alleged that the BJP and the ECI collaborated to create what she termed the 'SIR model' — a new strategy to facilitate electoral also raised concerns regarding irregularities in Bihar, claiming that around 5,000 voters registered in Bihar's Valmikinagar are also listed as voters in Uttar the party released a series of videos on its official social media platform, reviving allegations of "vote chori" (vote theft) and linking them to the ongoing voter roll revision in AAP leader's statement comes while the INDIA bloc is staging a protest against voter list manipulation in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections following Rahul Gandhi's detailed data-backed presentation on the same. Several AAP MPs joined the protest demanding a halt to the revision process and full transparency from the Election Commission.- EndsMust Watch
Hans India
08-08-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
Siddaramaiah backs Rahul's claims of nationwide ‘voter fraud'
Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had exposed, with evidence, widespread voter fraud during the recent Lok Sabha elections and demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's resignation. In a post on 'X', Siddaramaiah said the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, has exposed with hard evidence how widespread vote theft took place across India in the recent Lok Sabha elections. Despite massive public anger, Modi returned to power only through electoral fraud. The documents released by Rahul Gandhi today stand as clear proof, he added. 'Narendra Modi became Prime Minister by misusing the Election Commission, stealing votes, and abusing power. He has no moral right to stay in office. He must resign and dissolve the government immediately,' Siddaramaiah demanded. He vowed that the Congress would raise its voice across the country and expose the BJP's crimes to every citizen. Giving an example from Karnataka, Siddaramaiah said a six-month investigation was conducted into voter records in Mahadevapura Assembly segment, which falls under the Bengaluru Central Lok Sabha constituency. 'Under the guidance of Shri Rahul Gandhi, a detailed six-month investigation was conducted into the voter records of Mahadevapura Assembly segment, which falls under the Bengaluru Central Lok Sabha constituency. The probe uncovered precise evidence of systematic vote theft,' he said. 'In the 2024 Lok Sabha Election, the BJP misused the Election Commission and illegally secured 1,00,250 votes in Mahadevapura — a constituency with just around 3.25 lakh voters — to win the seat,' Siddaramaiah said. He said five methods of electoral malpractice were identified in just this one segment. 'A total of 11,965 fake voters are estimated to have cast votes in this constituency. Some individuals voted in multiple polling booths, while others voted not only here but also in other parts of the state and even outside Karnataka. This points to a systematic and deliberate misuse of the electoral process,' Siddaramaiah charged. He added that 40,009 voters were found with fake addresses. The Chief Minister said, 'Thousands of them are registered under non-existent addresses, including many with 'House Number 0', random gibberish entered in place of father's or husband's names, and addresses that simply do not exist.' According to him, 10,452 voters were registered under a handful of addresses. 'In one instance, 80 voter ID cards were issued using the address of a single-bedroom house. In another case, 68 voter IDs listed the address of a private club. Upon verification, it was confirmed that none of the listed voters actually reside there.' Siddaramaiah said 4,132 voter ID cards in the constituency had missing or unclear photographs, yet those individuals were allowed to vote. He also pointed out that '33,692 voters aged between 60 and 90 years were found to have been registered as first-time voters through Form 6. The BJP often claims that new voters support Narendra Modi, but the reality is startling — even individuals aged 89 and 98 have allegedly voted for the first time.' Siddaramaiah said that had the Election Commission acted impartially and provided the electronic data and CCTV footage that Rahul Gandhi requested, this scam could have been exposed within days of the election. 'Instead, the Commission deliberately altered its own rules to suppress information and cover up the truth. This is not a scam limited to Mahadevapura alone — it is now clear that the BJP has used similar vote theft tactics across the country to cling to power,' he said.
Mint
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Mint
Bihar Election 2025: AAP to contest solo; Arvind Kejriwal says BJP sent Congress to defeat us
Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal said on Thursday the party will contest the upcoming Bihar Assembly Election alone, without the support of the Congress or the INDIA bloc allies. 'INDIA bloc was only for Lok Sabha polls. There's no alliance with the Congress now. If there was an alliance then why did Congress contest in Visavadar bypolls. They came to defeat us. The BJP sent Congress to defeat us and cut the votes,' Kejriwal said. In the recently-held bypolls, AAP candidate Gopal Italia won from Visavadar seat, Junagadh district in Gujarat. Italia, former party state president, won by a margin of 17,581 votes against BJP's Kirit Patel, with Congress candidate Nitin Ranpariya in third place. The AAP and the Congress had fought the 2024 Lok Sabha Election in an alliance. However, at state-level, the two parties have refrained from contesting the polls together. The AAP and the Congress had contested the Delhi and Haryana Assembly elections independently. The Bihar Assembly Election are likley to take place in October-November this year. The NDA, which consists of the BJP, JD(U), and LJP, will be once again looking forward to returning to power. In contrast, the INDIA Bloc will be giving competition to the incumbent Nitish Kumar government. In a significant political development in Bihar ahead of the Assembly polls, former Union Minister Ram Chandra Prasad Singh has merged his political outfit, Aap Sabki Awaz (ASA), with the Jan Suraaj Party, led by Prashant Kishor. Meanwhile, former BJP MP Uday Singh alias Pappu Singh has been elected as the national president of the Prashant Kishor-led Jan Suraaj Party. Besides, the Election Commission also announced Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar which aims to verify the eligibility of voters and ensure accurate electoral rolls ahead of the assembly elections expected to be held later this year. The opposition parties raised alarm over the exercise, claiming that it will be used to disenfranchise voters. Congress MP Jairam Ramesh alleged that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) by the poll body will "destroy" the country's democracy. Ramesh, who is also Congress' General Secretary in charge of Communications, drew a parallel between the demonetisation in 2016 and SIR by the Election Commission, stating that the PM's 'notebandi' destroyed our economy and the ECI's 'VOTE-Bandi', as reflected in the SIR, will destroy our democracy. The Bihar assembly elections are scheduled to take place at the end of this year, with the SIR exercise notified on June 24.
Hindustan Times
23-06-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
BJP fails to replicate Lok Sabha success in Ludhiana West bypoll
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which secured over 45,000 votes from the Ludhiana West segment in the 2024 Lok Sabha Election, couldn't even hold on to half the votes in the byelection, the results for which were declared on Monday. The party's vote share fell by more than 55% as compared to the 2024 general election. (Gurpreet Singh/HT) The party's candidate Ravneet Bittu scored an impressive 45,424 votes in the Lok Sabha election last June. Congress candidate Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, who had won the Lok Sabha seat, was a distant second in the segment with 30,889 votes. Expecting to translate the performance into a victory in the bypoll, the party fielded heavy weights like Union ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and Anurag Thakur, Delhi CM Rekha Gupta, Haryana CM Nayab Saini and Punjab BJP head Sunil Jakhar in the campaign. Former Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani, who died in the Air India crash in Ahmedabad on June 12, had camped in Ludhiana and planned the campaign. Despite all this, party candidate Jiwan Gupta could secure only 20,323 votes, finishing third. BJP district president Rajnish Dhiman attributed the relatively poor performance to two factors. First, he claimed, was the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led state government throwing all its weight in the bypoll. It is being speculated that the bypoll was of critical importance to the AAP as it plans to send party supremo Arvind Kejriwal to Rajya Sabha by freeing the seat occupied by Sanjeev Arora, who has now been elected the new MLA from Ludhiana West. Kejriwal is expected to be nominated to Rajya Sabha from Punjab as Arora resigns from his seat. Second, the local BJP leader argued there was a difference in the nature of the elections. 'The Lok Sabha poll were fought on national agenda with issues like the Ram Mandir at the heart of the campaign led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi,' he said. He argued that it was those national issues and Narendra Modi as the PM which had driven the party's domineering performance in the segment in the Lok Sabha elections. The bypoll, he claimed, was 'too local' in comparison to Lok Sabha to be comparable. While accepting the people's decision, BJP candidate Jiwan Gupta also took pot shots at the state government and alleged that it 'abused' the administrative system to win the bypoll. He pointed out that while at some polling booths the turnout was very low and at others clocked 65%-70% votes. 'At one booth only 465 votes were cast, and 412 of these went to AAP,' he said, alleging discrepancy.
