Heavy security, long queues and missing Trinamool booth agents defined the opening hours of Falta repolling ordered by the Election Commission after alleged poll irregularities.
Over 1.13 lakh names have been deleted from Jammu and Kashmir’s Panchayat electoral rolls while 3.39 lakh new voters were added during the latest revision exercise, pushing the total electorate past 72.24 lakh ahead of the upcoming panchayat polls.
The Supreme Court on Thursday termed it “very unfortunate” that political parties demand an independent Election Commission when in opposition, but turn silent on the issue or take a completely contrary stand once in power, even as the court was told that free and fair elections — a part of the basic structure of the Constitution — necessarily presuppose an independent and impartial Election Commission.
After losing ground in key constituencies, Mamata Banerjee accused authorities of unfair practices, questioned the election outcome’s legitimacy, and signalled a political fight ahead for her party.
ECI enforces strict counting rules in Bengal, stopping Abhishek Banerjee at a Kolkata centre while issuing directions over mobile phone violations during Bhabanipur vote counting.
According to the Election Commission of India’s most recent enrolment statistics, out of the total of 4.9 crore registered voters, approximately 2.35 crore are under the age of 40. As many as 11.74 lakh of them are first-time voters, which is 2.39 per cent down from 2.7 per cent in 2017 and as much as 3.5 per cent in 2012.
Apart from Asif Mohammad Khan, two other people have also been detained by the police, whose role was being investigated in this connection.
According to Police, Asif Khan misbehaved with Sub Inspector Akshay, who approached to Asif and inquired about the gathering.
While talking to mediapersons on Friday evening, State Chief Electoral Officer P Bharathi told that under the Arms Act, 51 illegal weapons and 274 illegal ammunition were also seized.
The Commission visited Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh in September for reviewing electoral preparedness and dedicated teams also visited various regions of the two states in October to oversee preparations for the Assembly elections.
