-BBC   Delhi: A record number of people have taken part in India's general election, now in its home stretch with just one round of voting left before results are announced on 16 May. Part of the reason for the increase in turnout in the five-week-long polls, which began on 7 April, can be attributed to the Election Commission for successfully encouraging more women and low-caste Indians to vote. But many remain excluded. Because Indians...

-The Hindu   While migrant labourers see price rise as their primary concern, they still rate caste and religion as determining factors in their voting decision After the rural poor, farmers and the urban middle class, political parties are now seeking to make a vote bank out of migrant manufacturing labourers. The Bharatiya Janata Party's election manifesto promises the concept of "Industry Family" between workers and factory owners, but does not elaborate on...

-The Hindu   Loans from labour agents will keep them away till mid-June BHUBANESWAR: Tied to brick-kilns in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka because of a ‘debt-bondage,' more than three lakh migrant workers from the western districts of Odisha will miss out on voting in the Lok Sabha polls. Odisha is going to the polls in two phases, on April 10 and 17. However, most migrant workers from these districts must have to...

-The Hindu Is the voting population a true reflection of the country's population? New data for Delhi indicates that marginalised groups are less likely to be registered or vote, but the election commission is narrowing this gap. An Election Commission of India-commissioned survey shows that Muslims, new migrants, women and young people were less likely to be registered and vote than others. The ECI's own analysis of its data also shows that...

-The Hindu The incorporation of the Aadhar number in the electoral rolls will help to minimise malpractices and enable more people to participate in elections Every October, the Election Commission begins the annual exercise of revising the electoral rolls with the following January 1 as the effective date. This October, there was another important news — the launching of Aadhar enabled service delivery in Dudu in Rajasthan. The EC and Aadhar can...