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Can vote even if not in NRC, says chief election commissioner

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Can vote even if not in NRC, says chief election commissioner

A person whose name does not figure in the final National Register of Citizens in Assam can still vote if his/her name is on the voters’ list, said a report in The Indian Express (IE).

The electoral roll is governed by a separate law and exclusion from the final NRC would not mean “automatic removal” from Assam’s voters list, the IE report said, quoting Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat.

Speaking to The Indian Express a day after the draft NRC was published without the names of over 40 lakh people out of 3.29 crore applicants, Rawat said that a voter, despite her absence from the final NRC, will continue to remain on the state’s electoral roll if she can prove to the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) that she has “sufficient documents” to prove three things:

–  that she is a citizen of India

– is at least 18 years old on January 2019 and

– is an ordinary resident in the Assembly constituency she wants to enroll.

According to Rawat, the Election Commission (EC) is prepared to face three scenarios while drafting the final electoral roll for Assam before the Lok Sabha elections next year.

In the first scenario, the registered voters in the state, who are also in the final NRC, will remain unaffected.

In the second scenario, voters, who are absent from the final NRC but have managed to get a stay from a tribunal or court, will also continue to be on the electoral roll.

As for those who are neither in the final NRC nor have challenged their exclusion in court, it will be the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) who will decide their fate based on criteria laid down in the Representation of People Act of 1950.

“This is a quasi-judicial decision based on evidence and documents. He (ERO) has to decide whether he (the voter absent from NRC) should remain (in the voters’ list) or not,” said Rawat.

Rawat also clarified a basic question raised by many who pointed to the scenario of citizens moving across states in the country. Asked whether exclusion from NRC makes a person’s Indian citizenship doubtful, he said, “Suppose I am employed in Assam but I was born and brought up in Madhya Pradesh. How can you say that if I’m not in NRC, I’m not a citizen of India? You can’t say that.”

The EC has directed the Assam Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) to reach out to the state coordinator of NRC, Prateek Hajela, to synchronise the summary revision of Assam’s electoral roll with the process of claims and objections to the draft NRC.

The EC’s electoral roll will be published on January 4, 2019. The final list of the NRC will be published by December this year. The Commission expects a preliminary report from the CEO in a week.

Could synchronization with NRC delay the publishing of EC’s Assam voter list? “We are only taking help of their process to the extent that it can help us. If it (finalization of NRC) goes haywire or continues for the next three years, why should we stop? Our process is different. We are governed by RP Act,” Rawat was quoted by IE as saying.

“We will go by our motto that no voter must be left behind. Any eligible person in Assam must not be left behind from enrolling and voting. Our (state) CEO will work for that,” he added.

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Lok Sabha elections: Priyanka Gandhi questions Centre on inflation, unemployment, farmers income under Congress media campaign

She questioned about no participation of Dalits, backward classes, tribals, minorities and poor upper castes in the posts and resources of the country.

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Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra questioned the BJP led government at the Centre on several developmental issues under the party’s media campaign for Lok Sabha elections, Mere Vikas ka Do Hisaab.

Priyanka Gandhi asked the BJP government to give it an account of development during its tenure of 10 years. Slamming the government on youth issues, the congress leader questioned why 83 per cent of the total unemployed in the country are youth and where are the 2 crore jobs annually? She further asked about vacancy in 30 lakh government posts and exam paper being leaked.

Alleging that corporates Rs 16 lakh crore has been waived off, Priyanka Gandhi asked why are farmers committing suicide due to debt. She also asked when will the farmers’ income double and when will they get MSP? She also enquired about no proper participation of Dalits, backward classes, tribals, minorities and poor upper castes in the posts and resources of the country.

The Congress General Secretary also raised questions on the increasing number of atrocities on women. Her remarks on social media  platform, X came on a day Congress ran a media campaign with the tagline ‘Mere Vikas Ka Do Hisaab’ and ‘Haath badlega halaat’, posing questions to the Modi government.

Earlier, Congress Parliamentary Chairperson Sonia Gandhi alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is making a systematic effort to cripple the Congress financially and deny a level playing field in the Lok Sabha election. The Income Tax Department reportedly restricted the operations of the bank accounts following a tax dispute.

Meanwhile, the Income Tax Department asserted that it has not frozen the party’s bank account, but has made a recovery of Rs 135 crore because of its violation of the law that grants political parties tax exemptions. It added that the party is free to operate these accounts beyond the money recovered by the department.

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Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, wife Gurpreet Kaur blessed with a baby girl

Mann is the first chief minister in the history of re-organised Punjab to become a father while in office. He is 51 years old.

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Punjab Chief Minister Bhaghwant Mann and his wife Gurpreet Kaur were blessed with a baby girl on Thursday. Mann took to X and posted that the Almighty has given him the gift of a daughter. He said both the mother and the girl are healthy. According to reports the baby was delivered at Fortis hospital Mohali.

Mann is the first chief minister in the history of re-organised Punjab to become a father while in office. He is 51 years old. He has 2 children with his ex-wife, who is now settled in Canada with the 2 children.  

Mann also shared the picture of his daughter in another post. Mann had married Kaur in 2022 after he separated from his first wife in 2015. His wedding was held at his residence in Chandigarh and was attended by select guests like Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal, MP Raghav Chadha.

The Punjab chief minister’s family members including his mother and his sister were also part of the wedding, which was carried out according to Sikh rituals. Comedian turned politician Bhagwant Mann became an MP from Sangrur for the first time when he won the 2014 Lok Sabha election on Aam Aadmi Party ticket.

His first wife Inderjit Kaur also campaigned for him during the elections. Before the Punjab assembly election the Aam Aadmi Party declared him as his CM face for Punjab. He won the elections with a thumping victory. Bhagwant Mann is the 17th chief minister of Punjab. Mann’s 2nd wife Gurpreet Kaur, born in 1993, is a doctor by profession and studied MBBS in Ambala. She hails from Pehowa town in Kurukshetra district. According to reports Gurpreet Kaur’s family and Mann’s family have known each other for a long time.

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Dera chief of Uttarakhand’s Nanakmatta Sahib Gurdwara shot dead within premises

Baba Tarsem Singh was hurried to a hospital in Khatima where he died during treatment.

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Dera chief of the Nanakmatta Sahib Gurudwara in Uttarakhand was shot dead within the premises of the shrine by two bike-borne assailants on Thursday. A CCTV footage showed the brutal killing of the dera chief of the Nanakmatta Sahib Gurdwara.

The footage shared by news agency PTI shows the dera chief sitting on a chair at around 6:30 am in the premises when two bike-borne assailants arrived and fired at him. Udham Singh Nagar, SSP, Manju Nath asserted that Baba Tarsem Singh was hurried to a hospital in Khatima where he died during treatment.

Notably, the Nanakmatta Sahib Gurdwara is a revered Sikh shrine situated on the Rudrapur-Tanakpur route in Udham Singh Nagar district of the state. Reportedly, the Uttarakhand Police has formed a special investigation team (SIT) to investigate the chilling murder. 

Furthermore, additional police personnel have been deployed in the Nanakmatta area of Udham Singh Nagar district to ensure peace. The police have also appealed to the Sikh community to maintain peace. The Police officials have also contacted central agencies to share useful input, and a massive search operation is underway to nab the culprits.

Uttarakhand Director General of Police (DGP) Abhinav Kumar said that they received information around 7 am on Thursday that between 6:15-6:30 am, two masked assailants entered Nanakmatta Gurdwara and shot Kar Seva Pramukh Baba Tarsem Singh. He added that the Dera chief was rushed to the hospital in Khatima, where he succumbed to his injuries.

The DGP mentioned that this is a very serious matter and that senior officials have reached the spot. He affirmed that DIG Kumaon will inspect the scene of the crime and speak to the locals. Furthermore, he will try to assess the situation there. Abhinav Kumar also mentioned that for investigation of the incident, Police Headquarters has formed an SIT, which will comprise officials of STF and local Police.

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