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Defectors & Democracy: A critique of the Tenth Schedule of the Indian Constitution
The right of voters to recall representatives who defect—as seen in West Bengal, Maharashtra, Goa and Arunachal Pradesh—and the requirement of intra-party democracy could form part of a broader institutional redesign. Such measures would deepen democratic values and, above all, signal a refusal by citizens to accept the corruption of their mandate. These may be among the reforms that India's Parliament and democracy most urgently need
Punjab University’s former dean writes to CJI: Bihar SIR threatens democracy, alleges ECI overreach & voter disenfranchisement
77-year-old Dr. Pyara Lal Garg's writes to CJI, exposes Bihar's "SIR" flaws, alleging ECI violations risk disenfranchising millions, stating, "The ball lies Before Your Lordships to uphold the constitution, to save the Democracy and to protect the voting rights..."
Assam’s Foreigners’ Tribunals bypass constitutional safeguards: Report
CJP Team -
Given the possibility of the onset of a nationwide exercise to update the National Register of Citizens, the report, ‘Unmaking Citizens’ by NLSIU & Queen Mary University of London, calls for an urgent, fundamental rethinking of the legal structures governing citizenship in India
Non-Electors Within Electors: ECI reports over 61 lakh potential exclusions
As Bihar's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) deadline arrives, ECI data reveals over 61 lakh potential voter exclusions, including millions identified as deceased, migrated, or 1 lakh untraceable, and nearly 7 lakh who haven't submitted forms, this massive culling of names fuels the INDIA Bloc's intensified, third-day protest, marked by LoP Mallikarjun Kharge's dramatic tearing of a symbolic SIR document outside Parliament
Bihar’s untraceable electors spiral by 809% in just one day, ECI reports 1 lakh ‘missing’, 15 lakh Bihar voters yet to submit forms
Bihar's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls faces intense backlash, while 52 lakh deletions were flagged by July 22 by the controversial ECI, including 11,484 "untraceable" electors, this figure for "untraceable" voters shockingly surged to 1 lakh (an 809% jump) by July 23, with overall deletions hitting 56 lakh—a dramatic increase of 3 lakh in just 24 hours. Leader of the Opposition, RJD leader, Tejaswi Yadav threatens boycott of state polls
When data is used as a weapon against reality: Deviations in the HCES & CES, claims of poverty line
This Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) is qualitatively different in methodology (including sampling) from the earlier Household Consumer Expenditure Survey (CES) last conducted in 2011-12, and therefore the two are not comparable. So the claim that India’s poverty has declined to below 5% doesn’t hold water: Second, the NITI Aayog has made no effort to even determine an official poverty line, last defined in the Census 2001.
ECI to SC: Voter ID insufficient for Bihar roll, defends citizenship verification power
Bihar’s electoral roll crisis: ECI defends excluding Voter IDs for new entries and power to citizenship verification; ECI’s revision flags 52.3 Lakh (6.62%) electors not found at their addresses (including 18.6L deceased, 26L shifted, 7.5L multiple entries and 11K untraceable voters), amid concerns over disenfranchisement of genuine voters and procedural hurdles, opposition stages black-clad protests outside the Bihar assembly
Weaponising Truth: A critical analysis of the Karnataka Misinformation and Fake News (Prohibition) Bill, 2025
Marketed as a tool to fight disinformation, the Karnataka Misinformation and Fake News (Prohibition) Bill, 2025 hands sweeping powers to the executive, criminalises speech, and threatens to silence dissent, satire, and critique—under vague and ideological pretexts
‘Define Special Intensive Revision scope… make it clear not linked to citizenship’: BJP ally TDP writes to CEC Gyanesh Kumar
Questioning the modus of the recently begun controversial SIR exercise, the TDP letter to Election Commission (ECI) states categorically that any such ‘Special Intensive Revision’ (SIR) should provide voters enough time, and that those in electoral rolls must not be required to re-establish eligibility “unless specific and verifiable reasons are recorded”
Behind the numbers: Economist Indira Hirway debunks India’s poverty reduction narrative
A recent article by noted economist Indira Hirway, titled...
Indian Muslims need to be protected as much from the communalism of their co-religionists as majoritarian communalism: In remembrance of CM Naim
An intrepid critique of entrenched and entitled Muslim elites, CM Naim, a historian and essayist, recently passed away at 85. Here his work is remembered for its out of the box thinking and commitment to both the culture and language around Urdu; an essay that recalls his works
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Defectors & Democracy: A critique of the Tenth Schedule of the Indian Constitution
The right of voters to recall representatives who defect—as seen in West Bengal, Maharashtra, Goa and Arunachal Pradesh—and the requirement of intra-party democracy could form part of a broader institutional redesign. Such measures would deepen democratic values and, above all, signal a refusal by citizens to accept the corruption of their mandate. These may be among the reforms that India's Parliament and democracy most urgently need
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