Sunil Arora, who will take charge as chief election commissioner in December, will have overseen just 10 assembly polls by the time the general elections roll in. That's less than half the experience his predecessors had in 2009 and 2014.
Election Commission has begun work to change a range of poll laws to make them relevant to political landscape, check abuse of money power and ensure level playing field.
ANUBHUTI VISHNOI
Full text of the interview with outgoing Central Election Commissioner Dr Nasim Zaidi (You can read the edited excerpts here) :
How do you look back...
The outgoing Chief Election Commissioner says he would have liked to see more electoral reform before he left.
ANUBHUTI VISHNOI
Days before he demits the top...
The hullaballoo over LinkedIn bot’s pronoun use comes on a day when CJI DY Chandrachud used the phrase ‘pregnant person’ in his judgment. It is a thing now. Get with the programme.
Air India’s new policy, effective from 2 May, introduces new weight limits for tickets in each of the different 'fare families' — Comfort, Comfort Plus, and Flex.
A theme has not yet emerged for BJP & people see lack of a contest, which makes it unexciting. For all these reasons, 2024 is turning out to be an unexpectedly theme-less election.
It is the institution that matters, more than the individuals who serve it. The ECI has about nine months in hand to plan for a flawless general election. Issues have arisen about the EVMs / VVPATs, which should be resolved, taking political parties into confidence. A reversion to paper ballots should not be ruled out; the only downside is that it takes a few hours longer to count the votes. The ECI and the RBI are respected institutions. A special effort should be made to leave no space for someone to question the impartiality and neutrality of the umpire.
When Mr T N Seshan was appointed as CEC he had no previous experience in conducting elections. The oldies always think our days were better.
It is the institution that matters, more than the individuals who serve it. The ECI has about nine months in hand to plan for a flawless general election. Issues have arisen about the EVMs / VVPATs, which should be resolved, taking political parties into confidence. A reversion to paper ballots should not be ruled out; the only downside is that it takes a few hours longer to count the votes. The ECI and the RBI are respected institutions. A special effort should be made to leave no space for someone to question the impartiality and neutrality of the umpire.