The Election Commission has given another opportunity to certain voters whose names were not included in the draft electoral rolls during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.

The decision applies to Delhi, Maharashtra, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Telangana and Nagaland. It covers electors who were issued Enumeration Forms but whose names were left out of the draft rolls after being marked under the ASDD categories — Absent, Shifted, Dead or Duplicate.

The move is aimed at ensuring that eligible voters get an opportunity to have their cases considered before the final electoral rolls are published. The EC has also directed officials to prevent duplicate enrolments while ensuring that eligible electors are not left out.

Lists of excluded voters to be displayed again

The Election Commission has directed officials to display booth-wise lists of voters falling under the specified categories again at the concerned polling stations.

The lists will also be made available at panchayat bhawans and urban local body offices and uploaded on the websites of the respective Chief Electoral Officers. They will mention the probable reasons why the voters’ names were not included in the draft rolls.

Fresh enumeration forms for affected voters

District election officials and Electoral Registration Officers have been asked to generate partially filled Enumeration Forms afresh through the ECINET system.

Booth Level Officers will be tasked with contacting the affected voters and helping ensure that the forms reach them. This can include physical delivery as well as communication through WhatsApp, email or SMS where contact details are available.

Voters can also download and fill their forms through the Election Commission’s website or ECINET using the same EPIC number that existed before their names were deleted from the draft roll.

What voters who have shifted need to do

The EC has made separate provisions for voters who have shifted their residence within the same state.

Such electors will not need to submit Form 8 for this process. They can submit the Enumeration Form along with a statement giving their new address and Assembly constituency, along with proof of address.

For homeless voters who do not have address documents, the Election Commission has provided for a field verification report by the Booth Level Officer to establish residence.

Forms will be verified before inclusion

The fresh submissions will not automatically result in inclusion in the electoral roll. The applications will be examined by the concerned Electoral Registration Officers under Rule 21(1) of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.

Forms accepted after verification will be kept separately for inclusion in the final electoral rolls under the SIR exercise.

The Election Commission has also directed state and Delhi election officials to establish monitoring mechanisms to oversee the implementation of the process and ensure that eligible electors get the opportunity to seek inclusion while duplicate entries are prevented.

The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has imposed Stage III of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) across Delhi-NCR with immediate effect as air quality deteriorated ahead of Diwali.

The decision was taken as a precautionary measure after Delhi’s average Air Quality Index (AQI) reached 382 on Friday, placing the national capital in the “Very Poor” category. 

GRAP 3 comes into effect across NCR

The CAQM’s Sub-Committee on GRAP decided to invoke Stage III across the entire National Capital Region.

GRAP is an emergency response framework under which pollution-control measures become progressively stricter as air quality deteriorates. The four stages correspond to different levels of air pollution, with “Poor” covering AQI levels of 201-300, “Very Poor” 301-400, “Severe” 401-450 and “Severe Plus” above 450.

The Stage III decision comes less than two days before Diwali, when authorities are particularly concerned about a further deterioration in air quality.

Pollution levels remain a concern

Delhi’s average AQI of 382 indicates that pollution levels have remained high across the capital. The move to GRAP Stage III is intended to prevent further deterioration in air quality across Delhi-NCR.

The latest decision follows earlier pollution-control measures implemented under the revised GRAP framework as air quality worsened in the region. 

What GRAP means for Delhi-NCR

The GRAP framework provides for increasingly stringent measures as pollution levels rise. Stage III brings stricter restrictions than the earlier stages, particularly in areas linked to dust and emissions.

The latest CAQM decision applies across Delhi-NCR with immediate effect. Details of the measures to be enforced under the newly invoked Stage III should be followed through official directions issued by the authorities.

The development comes amid heightened concern over air pollution in the national capital region ahead of Diwali.

By Neeraj Mishra

A Rs 94,000-crore betting scam took place in the country and so far the only police official taking the heat is a measly ASI. The Chhattisgarh government, the CBI and the ED would all like us to believe that a betting racket backed by hawala operators spread right up to Dubai could be run on the shoulders of an Assistant Sub-Inspector of Durg district! And all this alleged money was made within three years of operations making it the most profitable venture ever.

The fact is that big names are hiding behind the curtains pulled tight together by the investigators themselves. There is an IG rank officer, two SPs, two IAS officers and several other state police officials who have been named by sources and perfunctorily questioned with no great enthusiasm by the investigating agencies. Their political masters are protecting them both from investigations and the media.    

This Wednesday a special CBI court in Raipur granted the CBI eight-day remand of alleged kingpin Saurabh Chandrakar, who was finally extradited by Oman after months of back and forth. The CBI for some strange reason then requested the court to take Chandrakar to Delhi to which the accused’s lawyer also did not object. Since the original crime scene is in Durg and most of the possible dubious characters are in Raipur, one would assume keeping him in Chhattisgarh would have been appropriate.

But perhaps it’s a bigger ring and the CBI is also aware of the pitfalls ahead. Rs 94000 crore is a figure in the chargesheet but knowledgeable sources in the gambling racket in the state believe that  while Mahadev book was initially backed by people close to then Chief Minster Bhupesh Baghel, it was later taken over by the IPL gangs since the main source of income is the IPL season. It is estimated that more than Rs 25000 crore changed hands every season. The handlers or the Khai party easily makes almost half of it nice and clean.

Baghel’s son and some of his sidekicks have been questioned but not named in the chargesheets so far. On the day Chandrakar was being produced in Raipur court, his partner in crime Ravi Uppal was arrested in Dubai and may soon be extradited. But the way things are, no big names will come out.

It’s possible that Baghel may face the heat when the 2028 state assembly elections come around but it is also clear that the Mahadev operations have probably been taken over by some other gang backed by some powerful political bosses in India. So Chandrakar was allowed to get married in Dubai with Bollywood stars in attendance and not extradited for two years. Now that everything has been snatched from him and he is no longer an asset, he’s surrendered along with Uppal. Mahadev, believe this writer, will live on.