-The Hindu With a high percentage of Muslims, Bihar’s Seemanchal region frames issues of representation and welfare In the ongoing general election, Seemanchal, a historically neglected and yet socially and politically significant region in Bihar, has once again registered a high Voting percentage. Comprising four districts — Purnea, Katihar, Kishanganj and Araria — Seemanchal has a population of about 1 crore. It assumes sociopolitical significance owing to the large proportion of Muslims...
More »SEARCH RESULT
On the political fringes -Manish K Jha & Ajeet Kumar Pankaj
-The Hindu The exclusion of migrants from the electoral process reveals the caste- and class-driven nature of mainstream politics While political commentators have been busy analysing voter preferences in the general election 2019, one segment, namely migrants, continues to be overlooked. The Election Commission of India (EC), on February 21, clarified that NRI voters cannot cast votes online, and that an NRI who holds an Indian passport can vote in his/her hometown after...
More »Can VVPAT complaints be decriminalised? SC seeks govt reply -Dhananjay Mahapatra
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday sought responses from the Election Commission and the Union government on a PIL seeking to decriminalise the provision in Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, that makes a person liable for jail term if her complaint about discrepancy in a EVM/VVPAT turns out to be false. The PIL by Sunil Ahya came up for hearing before a bench of CJI Ranjan Gogoi...
More »From Plate to Plough: Cow and cane -Ashok Gulati
-The Indian Express Farm distress, particularly the stray cattle menace and the crisis in livestock sector, and mounting sugarcane arrears could dampen the BJP’s performance in UP. If one wants to know the quality of our evolving democracy, one must watch the ongoing election campaign in India. It is great fun too. And nothing is more interesting than tracking it in Uttar Pradesh (UP), where the real political battle is being...
More »How caste and class shape election results in India -Sriharsha Devulapalli
-Livemint.com The BJP enjoyed greater support among upper caste-dominated affluent districts in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections than in other districts of the country One of the notable features of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s historic victory in 2014 was its ability to attract support across social groups, cutting across traditional divides of caste and class. Yet, support for the party was much greater among certain demographic groups than among others, a Mint...
More »