-The Hindu New Delhi: Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of deliberately creating and highlighting contention on national security issues as a political strategy, Swaraj India president Yogendra Yadav warned that the long term result would endanger national interests. He was speaking in the context of the BJP’s response to Congress leader Sam Pitroda’s comments on the Balakot air strikes, and other efforts by the BJP to “hijack the electoral agenda”...

-The Hindu MACHILIPATNAM (Andhra Oradesh): A group of 10 unsung volunteers has helped almost 2,000 fellow Yanadi tribal people to enrol as voters, enabling them to exercise their right to franchise in the general elections 2019. A nomadic tribe, the Yanadi in Krishna district have constantly been on the move in search of livelihood opportunities from one season to the next. With a large number of families living in the mangrove forests...

-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...

-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...

-The Hindu ‘Ensures transparency, checks misuse’ Electoral bonds have been introduced to promote transparency in funding and donation received by political parties, the government told the Supreme Court on Thursday. “They [bonds] can be encashed by an eligible Political Party only through their accounts with authorised banks. The bonds do not have the name of the donor or the receiving Political Party and only carry unique hidden alphanumeric serial numbers as an in-built...