-Hindustan Times From a constitutional point of view, the scheme fails the tests of rationality and non-arbitrariness Earlier this month, the Supreme Court indicated that it would hear the long-pending constitutional challenge to the electoral bonds scheme. The electoral bonds scheme, which was introduced by the government in early 2018, provides new channels for private funding of political parties, and has been subjected to severe criticism, including by a former Chief Election...
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Another Rs 2,000 per farmer won't swing the election -SA Aiyar
-The Times of India blog The hyper-patriotic heat over Indo-Pak aerial battles is diminishing. Other issues are getting more attention. The Election Commission has notified polling dates, so its model code of conduct for political parties is in force. This says no new projects or welfare schemes can be announced or implemented before the election. What does this imply for the pre-election PM-Kisan scheme, announced in the budget? Pre-election budgets are usually...
More »SC seeks EC's response on opposition's VVPAT petition -Dhananjay Mahapatra
-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday took less than a minute to seek the Election Commission’s response to a joint petition filed by leaders of 21 non-NDA political parties pleading for mandatory counting of VVPAT paper slips in at least 50% of EVMs in each assembly segment in the Lok Sabha elections even though it may delay declaration of results. Senior advocate AM Singhvi, who played a...
More »23 Opposition parties move court on EVMs and VVPAT
-The Hindu Paper trail crucial, say petitioners; SC hearing today In a major show of pre-poll strength, 23 Opposition parties moved the Supreme Court on Thursday, demanding the random verification of at least 50% Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) using Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) in every Assembly segment or constituency. They further sought to quash an Election Commission guideline that Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) should be conducted “only for VVPAT...
More »Election Commission: no names removed based on draft NRC
-The Hindu SC wants list of names included in Assam rolls from 2017 The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday assured the Supreme Court that names have not been deleted from the Assam electoral roll on the basis of their exclusion from the draft National Register of Citizens (NRC), which was published in July last year. However, a Bench led by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi was not satisfied. “But a question looms large...
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