- 3 months ago
The top focus of this episode of India First is the political firestorm surrounding the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists across 12 states, impacting 51 crore voters.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Good evening. The Election Commission is going full steam ahead with the purification of the
00:06voter list with phase two of the special intensive revision of the electoral rolls.
00:13And after Bihar, so it's Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, part of 12 states and union territories
00:19where the process begins midnight tonight and is to be completed by the 7th of February.
00:25The Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, reminded all states, it is their constitutional
00:31responsibility to enable this process. And this has added fuel to the political fire in states.
00:42Big Bang Pan India SIR rollout.
00:46At midnight, poll roll of 12 states to be frozen.
01:00A voter list shake up like never before.
01:08Poll body vows no illegal voters.
01:12Opposition cries, loot of voting rights.
01:22Swatch polls or democracy in danger.
01:29So despite allegations of vote-tory in democracy to danger to our democracy to perceive threats
01:35including don't play with fire.
01:37The Election Commission is going full steam ahead with this constitutional mandate
01:42of purification of the electoral roll.
01:45CEC Gyanesh Kumar today chose not to respond to the political allegations
01:49but categorically insisted.
01:51Not one complaint had been made in writing to the EC about the special intensive revision.
01:59Zero. Zero appeals.
02:01So are allegations of vote-tory or Muslims and marginalised being targeted
02:06just political rhetoric ahead of elections?
02:11Why are some political parties against the purification of the electoral rolls?
02:15If this process is flawed, why are complaints not being made in writing
02:20post the process in Bihar?
02:22There are many questions we debate.
02:24We seek answers.
02:26I'm Gaurav Savant.
02:27As always, let's get started with the headlines on India First.
02:30External Affairs Minister Dr. Jai Shankar meets U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio
02:40on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur
02:42both discuss bilateral ties and global issues in the backdrop of the ongoing trade talks.
02:49Alleged acid attack on a 20-year-old in Delhi accused was stalking the survivor for some time.
03:03The accused's wife claims she was raped by the acid attack survivor's father.
03:09UPSC aspirant murdered in Delhi by his live-in partner.
03:18The girlfriend killed him with the help of her ex-boyfriend.
03:22And the accused is a forensic sciences student.
03:26So she staged a cylinder blast to camouflage the murder-most foul.
03:33Madhya Pradesh Minister Kailash Vijaywargiya triggers massive outrage,
03:43suggests that the two Australian women cricketers should have learnt their lesson
03:47after they were molested in Indoor and should not have stepped out un-escorted.
03:52A month after the Karoor Stampede, TVK chief Vijay meets the kin of victims,
04:02breaks down as he meets them in Mahabalipuram.
04:06He urged families to consider him as their own.
04:10The election commission today announced phase two of the SIR or the Special Intensive Revision of the Voter List.
04:25The process begins midnight tonight and is expected to be completed by the 7th of February, 2026
04:31and will include 12 states and union territories from Bengal to Kerala, Tamil Nadu to Uttar Pradesh
04:37and union territories of Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep.
04:40So 51 crore voters across 12 states are to be impacted by this drive.
04:47The opposition, already up in arms after Bihar,
04:51is now pledging a show of strength and their defiance outside the EC office.
04:57Our political bureau gets you our top story tonight.
05:01The election commission launches nationwide Special Intensive Revision of Electoral Rolls.
05:07This massive exercise will cover over 51 crore voters across 12 states and union territories in the latest phase.
05:25The Special Intensive Revision will take place in Andaman and Nicobar Islands,
05:42Goa, Puducherry, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Lakshadweep.
05:53The election commission has clarified that in Assam, due to the ongoing NRC process, no SIR will be conducted.
06:02The election commission has made it clear that Aadhaar can be used only as a proof of identity, not as a proof of citizenship.
06:07The election commission has said in Assam,
06:08The election commission has made it clear that Aadhaar can be used only as a proof of identity, not as a proof of citizenship.
06:16The election commission has said in Assam,
06:17The election commission has made it clear that Aadhaar can be used only as a proof of identity, not as a proof of citizenship.
06:31The final electoral roll after the SIR exercise will be published on February 7th, 2026.
06:38Many opposition parties have hit out at the election commission, calling SIR a political conspiracy and questioning the intent behind the move.
06:51Today the ECI has written about SIR in Assam,
07:08First of all, the details of the Election Commission, what they have said, will be analyzed and evaluated by our leadership.
07:29But the party stands by this point that no valid voter will be omitted.
07:36The Election Commission, however, maintains that the SIR process is vital for keeping electoral rolls accurate and credible, removing duplicate, migrated or ineligible voters.
07:50Bureau Report, India Today.
07:52The opposition is already up in arms.
07:58The Congress Party is accusing the Election Commission of colluding with the Narendra Modi government to carry out vote-chori once again.
08:06Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister, MK Stalin, he says he saw this coming.
08:10Just yesterday, he called it a web of conspiracy weaved by the AIAD, MK and the BJP.
08:15He says, to attempt, in an attempt to remove voters and fix elections.
08:21Kerala Chief Minister, Pinrai Vijayan, a month ago in Kerala Assembly had said that the Election Commission is in a tearing hurry to kick off this exercise.
08:31He said, it's under a body of cloud, this entire poll body.
08:36So let's listen in to a lot of reactions that are coming in.
08:38The opposition is coming together.
08:40Uddhav Thakre Sena, the Shiv Sena UBT, they insist the entire opposition will come together.
08:47And as a body, they will carry out a protest, a show of strength, a defiance in front of the Election Commission office.
08:54Listen in.
08:54If you have a protest, you will be able to make a protest, a vote-chori, a vote-chori, a vote-chori, a vote-chori.
09:09the election is correct. If the foreign people who are not in Bhaerat, if they are in the name of Water
09:15List, who have died, if they don't have the name of water list, if they don't have the name of water
09:21list, they don't have the name of water list. So you should have to be clear on the water list.
09:25They should have to understand that the election commission is so good, so they should
09:30all be able to do it, rather than to challenge the election commission.
09:34SIR کا issue ہے. ہم نے یہ کہا تھا کہ election commission دیش کے پردان منطری
09:42کے لیے کٹ پتلی کی طرح کام کر رہا ہے اور پی جے پی کے لیے. SIR ابھی انہوں
09:50نے بیہار میں کی جہاں پر چناو ہیں. کیوں؟ کیونکہ انہیں پتا ہے کہ بیہار کے
09:55اندر چناو ہو رہے ہیں اور وہ ہار رہی ہے بی جے پی اس لیے. SIR کرنے کا کام
10:02بیہار کے اندر کیا. اب ان کو یہ بھی پتا ہے کہ آنے والے دنوں میں جو
10:07election ہے اگلے سال وہ ویسٹ بنگول میں ہیں، کیرلا میں ہیں، تامیل نادو
10:14میں ہیں تو پھر SIR وہاں کریں گے. کیونکہ کسی نہ کسی طریقے سے بھاجپا
10:21کو کرسی پر بنے رہنا ہے. پہلے بیہار میں SIR کو لے کے کچھ خرشات اور کچھ
10:33شکایتیں کی گئی ہیں. ابھی تک تو یہ بھی نہیں معلوم کہ SIR کرانے والوں
10:38کو اس SIR کا فائدہ ہوگا یا نہیں ہوگا. بیہار کا election مکمل ہونے
10:44دیجئے. پہلے ہمیں ہم دیکھیں کہ واقعی کیا اس SIR کا کوئی فائدہ ہوا
10:49یا نہیں ہوا. تو election کمیشن کو اس میں جلدی نہیں کرنی چاہیے. کیونکہ
10:53پھر ایسا لگے گا کہ election کمیشن جو ہے اپنی انڈیپینڈنس کھو کے
10:57کسی پولٹیکل پارٹی کے پریشر میں یہ کام کر رہے ہیں.
11:01دھاندلی ہو رہی ہے. بی جے پی الیکشن کمیشن دلوں ملکر دھاندلی
11:04کر رہے ہیں اس کے طور پر. صاحب صاحب کہہ رہا ہوں کی بی جے پی کے
11:07سارے پر election کمیشن کر رہا ہے ایسا. یہ ایسا پرتیت ہوتا ہے
11:13ایسا دکھ رہا ہے. کیونکہ یہ بھاچ پالے کہا تھا اب کی چار سو
11:17پار تو سمیدھان بچانے کے لیے لڑائی لڑی دیش کی جنتہ نے اور ان کو
11:23چار سو چھوڑیے بہمت نے ہی پار ہونے دیا. تو اب دوسری طریقے سے اب
11:29گھسپیٹھیا گھسپیٹھیا جب بولتے ہیں یہ گرہ منتری اور پردان منتری ان کے
11:33موہ سے نکلتا ہے تو میں کہنا چاہتا ہوں یہ گھسپیٹھیا اگر آئے سیما پار کر کے
11:38تو کون جمیدار
11:39so from گھسپیٹھیا to the timing to the process vote chori charge minorities and
11:48marginalized being targeted the opposition as you see has come out all guns blazing
11:52but the cc he shot back saying all this is you know where are those appeals there
11:58were zero appeals made after the finalist was published in behar he insists the
12:03pruning is a regular process it's a routine process a process where 7.5
12:09crore electorate of behar participated the test case was successful the process is
12:14now being taking taken nationwide in various phases opposition continues to
12:19call this process vote chori bjp says the opposition is upset because
12:23ghuspetyas are being removed from the electoral roll the vote bank of the
12:28opposition is being impacted but will the process be flawless in states like bengal
12:33for example kerala tamil nad where the ruling parties in these states are
12:37opposing it joining me on india first is dr shama mohammad national spokesperson of the congress
12:42party sayed zafar islam is the national spokesperson of the bharatia janta party former member of
12:47parliament yashwan deshmukh is not just a sophologist he's the founder of and director of sea voter
12:53he's been studying voter reaction very closely namrita kothari is a political analyst joins us from bengal
13:02uh we hope to get the thinking within the trimul congress the ruling party in bengal amitab tiwari is
13:07an election analyst and researcher founder of vote wipe joining us on this special broadcast dr
13:11shama mohammad will the congress party continue to oppose what the cec describes as is the purification
13:20of the electoral rolls it's happened in the past it's happening once again calls it a routine event
13:26okay a couple of questions out here what was the reason they started sir the reason they said at
13:36that point of time was they were rohingyas bangladeshis we need to get rid of them after did the bihar sir
13:45nothing about the rohingyas nothing about the bangladeshis we got to know nothing about it
13:52my question today is next year there is an election happening in four states
14:00west bengal is included kerala is included tamil nadu is included assam is not included now assam is
14:07one of the states which borders bangladesh and a lot of bangladesh is coming up i really want to know
14:14who these bangladeshis are in our state and tell them to leave the country and go back to bangladesh now
14:19what is the excuse given as their nrc is happening which nrc we started an nrc in 2014 the nrc finished
14:28in 2019 19 lakh names came out out of that 12 lakh of muslim i'm sorry 12 lakh were hindus so suddenly
14:36the nrc goes slow in 2022 there was an audit report which says that many indigenous people were left out
14:42in assam the report also said nearly 1 600 floors were used and a lot of financial irregularities
14:49so which nrc is yanesh talking about i want to know why is assam not included is there collusion
14:59between the election commission and and vjp the uh the party which runs the government of the country
15:06and the other thing where he keeps saying that nobody filed a complaint now how can we where that's a
15:12a big lie a billows of file complaint we finish billows of the file complaint our ml is a file
15:17complaint the other important thing voters have been deleted the names of these voters are not known to
15:26anybody so they said the supreme court says file a p-i-l file a case but how can i or or any biharu know
15:35dennings why is the election commission of india not putting out the voter list of those people who
15:42have been deleted 47 lakh people have been deleted correct so where is that list why is it not putting
15:49up then only one can find a list of questions raised by the congress party spokesperson uh add to this
15:56question raised by pavan kheda who says through sir bihar is being turned into some kind of a laboratory
16:01to murder democracy 12 states where sir has been announced will the guidelines be different from
16:07those in 2003 uh is this just a vote cutting exercise because the election commission has not
16:14taken any step towards adding new voters he asks well two things i heard the argument of uh congress
16:26spokesperson and their leaders and all this terrible argument first of all they they have to
16:31understand the what is the objective very simple objective that they have to clean the uh electoral
16:38rolls they should there should not be a person who has already died their name should not be there
16:44their name should be dropped people who have migrated because we have seen urbanization last few years
16:50several years and people have migrated from one place to another and their what their name is still
16:55exists in those votaries that needs to be dropped then there is a there are people who
17:00are uh not bona fide citizen of this country and they are still there if they are there their name
17:06needs to be dropped so it just the purpose is that it should be transparent cleaner electoral roll
17:13it should give you fairer election opportunity for fairer election and nobody should have any
17:19question about the electoral roll if anybody has any observation then electoral election commission of
17:25india has very clearly said that we want to engage every political party then this is an exercise
17:31which we support because we know that exactly that electoral roll should be clear from all uh
17:38speculations and that is something which is being done by the election commission if you know
17:42dr shama mohammad specifically asked you be activated your blas were active just a second is i are you
17:47hiding under the garb of nrc and she says that's the collusion between the cec or the ec and the bjp
17:59not at all i mean see there are when people say let me let me emphasize few things when people say or
18:06i heard shama mohammad my friend shama mohammad that she said that uh where is the rohingya where
18:11is the uh uh uh who continue to be citizen but they are actually illegally staying here
18:20i must tell them and i must tell you viewers they there are names which have been detected
18:29and soon they will be deported you heard me correctly or not they have been detected
18:34and soon they will be deported because they are not the citizen of this country soon you will get
18:39to hear everything so i'm just telling you there are it is nothing to do with nrc but it is something
18:45where the citizen have no proof the city is trying to become citizen or claim to citizen but
18:52they they are not so those people have been detected so are you saying bangladesis and rohingyas have been
18:57detected in bihar and they'll be okay dr mohammad wants to respond to you go on quickly ma'am before i bring in our other guests
19:03no no just a second i don't want to jump the gun i don't want to jump zafar you said it has nothing to
19:10do with nrc and i don't want to jump the gun the truth is come out of zafar's mouth that's nothing to
19:15do with nrc no no i'm saying there is a pollution between the election i'm telling you that you keep on
19:22asking now now one second where you said you speak speak why are they not putting out the names
19:28where are the names of the bangladesis i want to see it in the list the names of the bangladesis in
19:33the low indias why is the election commission fair enough ma'am you raise that point sir quickly
19:37response i think why there is a lot of anxiety among congress uh spokesperson and the leader
19:50you have to understand it's it's the exercise to just clean the electoral rolls support the
19:55the authority because they are not doing anything for to favor any political party they are doing
20:00what is supposed to be done by the authorities it is their wisdom it is their authority it is their
20:06responsibility they are just discharging their responsibility to clean the electoral roll free
20:11from all the speculations you have any rest of their observation go to nci engage them and if you
20:18are still not satisfied go to a high court supreme court anywhere you want to go take a legal recourse
20:23but i know for sure that none is not a single complaint was there and even if you have today
20:29some complaint is still there the doors are open you can go there so let me quickly bring in namrita
20:34kothari because i want to understand how this process will now be taken forward okay in in the
20:40state of bengal for example before i bring in our our analysts on this broadcast namrita kothari
20:45will mamta banerji government cooperate with this process because the cec made it very clear state
20:51government is constitutionally mandated to ensure the process is carried out smoothly at least he hopes
20:59there will be no threat to the lives of the blos carrying out the verification process
21:06yeah first of all i'd like to congratulate our central government for such a good initiative
21:11if it will be carried out properly uh regarding west bengal definitely uh the party over here will
21:18have no problem with sir uh keeping in mind everything we what we are seeing in case of bihar
21:29like sir has started that those who are the dead voters those who are the infiltrators
21:34there they will be wiped out from the voters list but till date we didn't get any uh a sort of list
21:41who are the infiltrators any names it didn't come out from the election commission so the same thing i
21:47think it will going to be happened in bengal also if the things to be uh done like this i think
21:52justice shouldn't be done in this way and then the the the blo and those people who are uh in the in
22:00this process their number is very small and those who the government officials who are selected for
22:06carried out this process they are actually hamper our education systems because they are mostly hired
22:11from the uh teachers from the schools and all and as the board's examination is on on march
22:16in cave and march so the studies of the uh students are hampered so what what is what is so much of
22:23hurry by the government key we have to do this right now this is my first thing uh to um to know about
22:30this why are why are we in so in hurry we will take time for this and then we will do that even uh
22:37today we will get the list of the 12 states where sir will be done what about maharashtra in the name of
22:43the election in local bodies uh right now they are not doing sir over there why that means the people
22:49who are giving vote to the uh parties right now might be after next assembly election or they might not
22:57be the citizens of india so what is the i didn't understand the uh actual motive of the government
23:04key for the local bodies their election they will be exempt exempted and for the assembly and the other
23:09elections they will not be exempted so yashvan deshmukh you're reading you've heard political
23:14parties you've heard analysts okay ma'am you've made that point you've made that point twice now
23:20yashvan deshmukh the cc gave details of how this process has been carried out regularly from 1951 to 2004
23:29eight times by the ec more than 20 years have passed since the correction of electoral roads what is your
23:35reading one of the opposition stands uh is this pure politics or is there merit does the opposition
23:43have reason to be concerned just to be clear on the record i mean the day the bihar sii was announced i
23:50was the first one to criticize it on the account that it should not have been done so close to the
23:55election at least six months to one year prior to the election this should be carrying out so i was
24:01doubting on the time but i never doubted on the intention on why and which is being done and how
24:07it should be done because i trust the election commission as an institution that's my job to see
24:12through it how the things are carried out as a professional uh almost i mean on the conservative
24:19estimate 60 lakh uh people uh have been removed from the bihar list uh i think if i'm not wrong yogin
24:26he said in supreme court probably 80 lakhs uh some calculation that he said if i go by that almost
24:32like 33 000 people on an average from each constituency they have been removed did we see
24:4188 lakh people 80 000 people 8 000 people even 80 people on the street that we have been disfranchised
24:50in bihar we are talking about bihar which is the most politically conscious state in india do you
24:58really believe that 80 lakh people would have been removed disfranchised and there would be not even 80
25:03people on the ground protesting against that do you really believe that so i mean let's be very clear
25:10politics aside and i am i am not a player it's a political season it's an election season political
25:16parties are free to take their stand but where i i have an issue uh with anybody trying to put up a
25:23question mark or bringing down an institution or questioning the entire process i have will have
25:29an issue with that i have had an issue with the bjp when they question the evm after 2009 defeat i have
25:36a question with any political party who uh who claims that the the system is rotten or things are wrong i mean
25:42if it is so rotten it is so wrong just backward the election don't contest the election if you are
25:47so sure before i bring in amitabh tiwari is the news of bjp just don't contest the election go ahead
25:55say we are not going to contest the election if 50 lakhs or 60 lakhs or 80 as some may argue have been
26:01removed from the bihar electoral list wouldn't people be out on the streets protesting and dr shama
26:07mohammad none uh is the point yashman yashman deshmukh uh raises uh quickly respond before i bring in
26:14mr tiwari no i want to ask yashman ji that we all want an electoral list which is clean where there are
26:23no double voters i agree totally with you none of us want this you know for but the problem is yashman
26:29deshmukh ji is why did they start it three months before the election in bihar they could have started
26:35it in jam even i questioned it even i questioned it that's why i said that it should be done at
26:42least six months to a one year kind of one more thing one more thing is that the deleted voters
26:48names are not coming out why don't you see if i want to suppose i'm in bihar my name is deleted all
26:54right i have an election on november 6th my first phase i want to know if i'm deleted or not i don't
26:59know then only i can file a a case in court isn't it names of who are deleted are not there and a
27:05very important point which is raised by kavan feda is that why are the names even when you go through
27:11a list new names will be added right you also add why are those names not there which are the added
27:17voters in this list that doesn't come out and the most suspicious thing is assam you have an nrc
27:22just to prove citizenship all right but voter sir is not to prove your citizenship one is that they
27:28don't come into each other's way and i've also asked the question about nrc which is happened then
27:34let nrc happen all over the country you know why one particular state is given this nrc thing which is
27:40also after 2019 they've come out with 19 the home minister has said it will happen it will happen
27:47nationwide uh yeah and the thing is that the question the list that in bihar is being questioned
27:54it carries 90 000 signatures of the booth level agents of each and every party you know why would
28:04a party who is questioning the list ask the agents to sign it and certify it number one number two
28:10i mean politics aside politics aside and i i get your point we are as far as
28:16cleaning the list going for a right process reforms are concerned we are all sailing in the
28:21same boat nobody is questioning that you know the but the but the question is that apart from
28:28the fact that it was done in a hasty process in bihar where i am questioning eci just like you
28:35for the elections which are coming in next one year two years if the things are being done on priority over
28:41there why why it should be questioned why not everybody gets to get it done properly
28:48because of the trust deficit and now let me bring in amitabh tiwari into this conversation as we take
28:51this forward there is a trust deficit here yashmut deshmukhji there's a trust deficit when you do it in this
28:57even courts of law no no what is what is the basis of this trust deficit because i also want to quote to
29:03you what justice surekant has said no give me a moment so let me answer it's almost 25 minutes he
29:10hasn't come into this conversation at all amitabh tiwari bjp mp nishikan dubai after the bihar electoral
29:16role revision said some ghuzpaityas have been removed more needs to be done or words to that effect that is
29:22exactly what sayyad zafar islam also needs to has also said words to that effect that people have been
29:27identified and they will be deported now is the hint also at bengal and will this then become
29:34the big political face-off for elections in in the you know upcoming elections
29:41no essentially see if in any state which had 7.89 crore voters and 65 lakh voters were deleted
29:49and that also were materially correct because as the cec claimed not a single complaint was filed and even
29:56if we assume that some complaints were filed no material errors were found in the deletions of 65
30:03lakh which is eight percent of the vote base of bihar eight percent is a huge number which means
30:10that anywhere between zero to eight percent if we take bihar as an example there are wrong names in the
30:19voter list that can be due to one is death of people second is movement of people from one state to
30:29other third could be infiltration which i mean to give to agree with the opposition was not a very big
30:38issue in bihar as it was made out to be earlier because we do not have the list of people who have
30:43been deleted due to citizenship issue so that can be a big thing in west bengal i mean we as citizens
30:50should hope that since this exercise has been carried out in bihar of course there were transparency
30:56issues court was overseeing the entire process court intervened at regular intervals for inclusion of
31:03aadhar for disclosing all the names of the people who were deleted and the election commission also
31:10since it was holding as an sir almost after 20 years i think it it would have learned from its
31:17mistakes committed during this entire process and we should finally see a better tighter smoother
31:24process in the 12 states which are expected to see an sir of course west bengal can be an issue because
31:31it is a border state and infiltration affects west bengal and assam the most and i was one of the first
31:38ones to point out that if aadhar can be used as a document to make a voter id then it should also
31:46be used as a document to for validating my name as a voter so that i'll also the supreme which you can
31:53say what the opposition's demand also has been accepted so i think let's hope that process cleans the
32:01entire electoral rolls before the next cycle you know because we are giving out yeah we're giving out
32:06details of those 65 lakh dr shama mohammad and i want to put it out once again uh how many number
32:12have are people who've died those who've moved those who are there and duplicate all of that information
32:18is out there but i want you i want you to respond to what the supreme court said i want you to see this
32:24is that figure deleted due to death 22.3 lakhs deleted due to duplication 6.8 lakhs deleted due to shifting 36.45
32:32lakhs total deleted 65.74 lakhs uh electors in in draft uh list is 7.24 crore 7.5 as the uh honorable
32:41uh as as the cec said but i want to quote what the honorable court said dr shama mohammad if i were
32:47to quote the supreme court on the 9th of october 9th of october justice surekant said virtue of the effect
32:53that the total number of voters in bihar outweighs its total adult population by 107 percent in the past
33:01and that shows special intensive revision of electoral roles carried out by the election
33:06commission is justified it was definitely a problem that required correction so why is the opposition
33:12to this entire process no no you see gaurav the the issue now the trust deficit i tell you the issue is
33:20why did they do this they did it what is the election commission could have said we want to clean up the
33:26electoral role whatever whatever they said they they said that we want to find out where how many
33:32rohingyas are there how many bangladeshis are there now when it comes out when mr gyanesh kumar was doing
33:38the press conference without how many of them have been found he did not say one now you have given you
33:43i think have a good eyesight because i don't see you wearing glasses gaurav you've given me the number
33:49are there the names there who are these deleted people who are they do you know you have the
33:53names you are an intelligent guy you're not some guy who's on the roadside romeo you're an intelligent
33:59journalist who have gone abroad and done wonderful stories my question is we don't have the names and
34:04number three very important 2022 it is this government who said we have to link adhar to our voter id because
34:11adhar was so important everything is based on adhar we have to link it to our bank accounts to our
34:17our fan number everything why is the adhar card kicked out and then supreme court had to tell the
34:21election commission get in the adhar today gyanesh kumar says this cannot prove your citizenship but
34:27who is gyanesh kumar to prove citizenship the election commissioners no right it is with the home
34:32ministry and that the supreme court also said so why does gyanesh kumar talk about citizenship
34:38and the adhar card i want to know but he clarified that point but anyway uh okay sayyad zafar islam
34:44wants to respond to you he has his hand up uh response sir to the points being made by dr shama
34:49mohammad
34:53see dr shama mohammad and her party and all the opposition parties are in block they have this
35:01apprehension that these all these bogus voters who support them please do not interrupt you get to the
35:09decency i told you please have some decency i know how to shout how to shield please do not do that
35:24i know exactly how to do that so all i'm trying to tell you that these these political parties have
35:28only one intention to mislead the nation this will not work this has this issue has gone to supreme
35:34court honorable supreme court has delivered honorable supreme court had many observations and honorable
35:40supreme court has very candidly said that they have full faith in ec and it's what does what is
35:45he saying is he saying that your bls should work on the ground but your bls is only listening to your
35:50leader who is trying to mislead the people and not working if you have any observation approach the
35:55court approach first ecci if you are not satisfied approach the court but you don't have any substance
36:01to approach the court or you don't have any substance to approach the hci that's why you're
36:05making this kind of toll claim bogus voters will not remain in the electoral rules anymore because
36:12they are not supposed to be there that is this cleaning exercise being undertaken by the election
36:17commission and nothing against any political party i am telling you repeatedly and so is the election
36:23commission it is election committee is not the government's exercise it is the election commission
36:27which is independent body conducting an exercise we are supporting but we are welcoming it but we also
36:32want election commission but why are you defending the election commission every time there's an
36:40election commission issue i am finally defending the objective i am defending the objective the election
36:46commissioners and you have not answered listen listen i am not okay let me bring in namrita kuthari
36:51also into this conversation is there an apprehension apprehension now let's move beyond bihar uh is there
36:58an apprehension that there could be a breakdown of law in order and that god forbid there could be
37:03violence in bengal on the issue of sir if it's followed through because mr gyanesh kumar the cc insists
37:11that article 324 uh subclause 6 makes it very clear states have to provide officials they have to cooperate
37:20with this process or you know because there are some reports from bengal that seem to indicate that
37:25uh blos are not available uh in bengal there is some kind of a defiance of the easy order that's
37:31happening at least that's the allegation i don't think so uh uh central government will get full cooperation
37:38from the state government because this one is a good initiative and uh all the all the states in india
37:44want to definitely support this sort of um uh you know rectification of voters and all but uh the
37:52thing is uh this should be done in a correct way so that no one those who are the voters there they
37:59shouldn't be cut off from the voter list as happened in the case of bihar because many uh voters they
38:05are like 56 uh lakhs or 65 lakhs of voters they are cut off from the voters list so this is not justified
38:11being a citizens of india you you you you you will snatch the right to vote this is not just
38:16no but 65 lakhs according to the election commission of people who are either dead or have moved they've
38:22given details of who who who's been removed also support it but definitely if the genuine voter will
38:29be cut off from the voters lips then definitely boys will be raised okay but is there evidence to
38:35suggest yashman deshmukh that genuine voters okay sayyad zafar islam wants to respond to you can i come
38:40for 10 seconds go on sir so see i'm i'm really aghast when people are making this kind of a
38:47speculation all i'm trying to tell you that we are you as a political party like us should support the
38:53initiative undertaken by the election commission if you have they are following a process they have
38:58defined the objective they are following the process you have problem with the objective
39:03then you tell me that we have problem with the objective the bogus voters should be there if you
39:06have no problem with the objective defined by the election election commission then they haven't
39:11defined the process if you have problem with the process they will engage you you tell them no to
39:18to you know to prove that they are the citizens of the people no no all i'm saying all i'm saying
39:25that you have a problem with the processes not the objective then process that's why they said that
39:30we will engage every political party to make it a smooth operation so that everyone is comfortable
39:37and there there is no head room for a speculation and what is why are you making a speculation when
39:42the process has yet to initiate and the process is something where your contribution should be there
39:47your engagement is there you can contribute and you can also instead of
39:51that's why that's why that's why we want here that no uh no lacuna will be
39:59what have you seen now all the dust has settled
40:03so that the citizens okay yashwan deshmukh wants to come in yashwan deshmukh and dr shama mohammad want
40:08to come in yashwan deshmukh will this end up being a a big ticket polarizing election issue in poll
40:15bound states and specially in bengal what according to use the key takeaway from the process in bihar
40:22well i i don't think it is going to have any issue whatsoever i i mean trust me on that i mean
40:27because you know what there is an impression i mean even the viewers might be thinking that these
40:31thousands and thousands of the blos are employees of election commission of india or employees of
40:36central government no it's not you know who are the officials of election commission they are the state
40:41government uh employees it's precisely the state governments who have appointed them and they will
40:46be carrying out this exercise it is mamta bennetti's people in west bengal it will be stalin's people
40:52in tamil nadu they are salivate people of their government who will be carrying out this exercise
40:57so whomsoever see the thing is they're very clear i tell you what the practical side of it uh as we say
41:03in hindi you know anybody and everybody who has a good presence on the ground anybody and everybody
41:10who has a good organizational strength you know that party will be benefited from the sir because
41:18they would be in control of what is going in the list what is being cut out of the list
41:22and they would be having a sheer strength presence on the ground to oppose if anything goes wrong so
41:29in case of bihar for example rjd has that strength cpi mali has that strength so you will be surprised
41:36you know maximum number of addition deletions happened from the account of cpi ml because they
41:43have strength on the ground they got it done so what i'm simply trying to say as there were not even
41:49800 or 80 people on the street who said that we are disfranchised in bihar you know it did not happen
41:56i do not see anything would be happening and as dr shama mohammad rightly said it's about the trustworthiness
42:03i agree with her you know if it will be a question of trustworthiness there would be no more than 25
42:09percent turnout in bihar okay okay okay if this process 55 turn out in bihar there would be shall
42:18be no question because ultimately it's a question of trustworthiness for whom may i just complete my
42:24point may i just complete my point ultimately it's a question of trustworthiness for whom not for you
42:30not for me not for any party for the people of india for the voter if they trust the process
42:36they will come out in a large number if they do not trust the process they will not come out
42:42amitabh diwari rahul gandhi raised this issue very emphatically initially but has he kind of retreated in
42:48the background on this issue in bihar and you've you've looked at it so extensively is it not an evocative
42:56issue in bihar uh because the cc claims 7.5 crore uh electorate of bihar blos all members of political
43:04parties booth level workers they participated in the process they didn't challenge it through appeals
43:09they signed off on this process so is this an indication as the ec claims only the correct names were deleted
43:16yeah because if you see i mean any issue uh which finds resonance with the opposition voters or neutral
43:26voters has an electoral impact so i would not say that sir as an issue has not resonated in bihar
43:33but it has resonated only largely with the core vote block of the mahagadbandan
43:39so it does not have a significant electoral impact because those vote blocks were anyways going to vote
43:44for mahagadbandan and perhaps it energized and motivated the cadder now since the mahagadbandan
43:51has itself realized that sir perhaps is not an issue it is talking about sargari jobs it is talking about
43:59permanency of the jivika dedis and rupees 30 000 salary correct because they have moved
44:04back to you would see bread and butter issues and i agree with yashwanji here is that in most of the states
44:10we will we will likely see a smooth process because the opposition has also perhaps realized that this
44:16is not an election issue which can get it votes except perhaps for west bengal because infiltration
44:24or illegal citizens can be an issue in west bengal there there could be cooperation or non-cooperation
44:31issues with respect to central government and this citizenship thing because can the ecci decide on the
44:38citizenship is still languishing in the court in the supreme court because the supreme court has not
44:43given a final order on this so i think except for west bengal more or less i think it's likely to be a
44:49smooth affair across the country no in fact and bengal is area of interest okay one point okay go on ma'am
44:56one point is they saying there is nobody objecting on the streets there is nobody coming out on the
45:01streets mike how can anybody come out when you don't know who has been deleted the problem today
45:08is nobody knows once that final list is published wouldn't your booth level workers know whether your
45:15voters are there on their list or not names are not published yet that's the problem see once it is
45:21done that is the trust deficit be be transparent the way you keep out assam bjp rule state you know
45:28these all go against transparency of the ec come out and tell us yeah 30 seconds amitab
45:36quickly amitab first supreme court asked the election commission to release the list of
45:41deleted names and it did so i think somewhere around august 20th 17 to 20 it was it was asked by
45:48the supreme court second is that it's a misconception that the number of voters have declined compared to
45:552020 elections in fact the number of voters have increased compared to 2020 with answer by election
46:01in 2020 with answer by election there were 7.36 crore voters and in 2025 draft electoral roll there are
46:107.42 crore voters which is an increase of 1.6 percent not a decline across constituencies there is an
46:18increase of voters when you compare to 2020 with answer by election okay saeed zafir islam quick 30 seconds
46:29saeed zafir islam has not answered any whether it's bengal whether it's assam whether it's any other
46:33other any any any any other states every state will have to comply why are you doing choo choo choo
46:40allow me to speak replace the you always interrupt people when they don't interrupt you so please
46:49don't do choo choo choo choo when people other people are speaking okay so all i'm trying to tell
46:53you uh uh uh that this noise you will hear but they will like in bihar they are retracted they will
47:01retract here also they just want to mislead the people otherwise the draft electoral roll is out
47:08everybody can see whether there exists there their name exists there or not and as far as assam is
47:13repeatedly she is saying election commissioner has already stated that there will be separate
47:19notification for assam because of certain technical reason he said he's very clearly said
47:25in the press conference for the election of assam why should it be after the election of assam we want
47:30it before the election this is fraud over here in assam there is nothing called nrc this is
47:35so you you have problem you have problem with your bogus voters i must tell you that your bogus
47:44voters will not be able to vote no more bogus voters will be able to vote anymore politically it
47:51remains an evocative issue the cec says if there are objections there is form 6 and form 7 and for
47:59correction claims and objections there is also form 8 now the cec says there are multiple levels of
48:04appeals that a voter can make if a name is wrongfully deleted we will track the story very closely a
48:12quick break i want to thank all my guests for joining me on this part of india first on the other side
48:18the murder most foul she's a forensic sciences student and put her education to use in what the delhi police
48:27claims claims was a murder and they attempted to hide it as an accident details coming up
48:38it's the murder most foul she's a forensic sciences student she used her knowledge of science to conceal
48:49a murder at least that is what the police claim the image that you see on your television screen is of
48:56the murder accused and of the victim ramkesh mina now the victim ramkesh mina was allegedly killed
49:05according to the delhi police by his live-in partner amrita chauhan amrita chauhan is believed to have roped in the
49:13assistance of one of two of her friends earlier friends to carry out this murder now according to
49:20the police there was some material on ramkesh's mobile phone that the lady wanted deleted when he
49:28refused to do so she planned this murder most foul and how we bring you more in this report
49:43a death that first appeared to be a tragic fire accident
49:52later turned out to be a chilling murder over passion revenge and deception
50:00perfectly planned and executed by a young woman
50:06a charred body found inside a delhi flat the fire believed to have been caused by an air conditioner blast
50:13but within days police uncovered a chilling plot hatched by a 21 year old woman
50:21amrita to eliminate her live-in partner ramkesh mina a 32 year old upsc aspirant
50:29the killer girlfriend amrita along with her ex-boyfriend and other accomplices
51:00killed ramkesh meena in cold blood sumit who was amrita's ex-lover roped in his friend
51:08an lpg supplier to execute the crime
51:14amrita who is a forensic student used her training to mislead the probe she tried to camouflage the
51:21murder as a murder as a fire mishap after the murder the accused poured oil ghee and liquor on the body of
51:28the victim then opened a gas cylinder's wall and set on fire causing an explosion
51:35and this is what you can see in the house you can see in the house
51:38in this house in the house the whole of 6 October and the body of ramkesh was found in the house
51:48The man who only comes into the home.
51:53In this room, he has a ram case on this.
51:57This is the ram case.
52:01This is fashioned as the garbage for the owner.
52:05The gas cylinder gets opened.
52:08The pipe is on the ram case.
52:12The oil and the body in the body can be put on it.
52:18When cops scanned the CCTV footage, the trio was caught leaving the flat with their faces
52:25covered.
52:27All three accused have now been arrested.
52:31The accused took this extreme step as Lavar Ramkesh had Amrita's obscene images and was
52:37refusing to delete them.
52:40As probe in the case deepens, more chilling details continue to surface.
52:46With Arvind Ojha, Bureau Report, India Today.
52:55A radical Islamist terror sponsor back, a preacher of terror back in Bangladesh.
53:02This just shows under Muhammad Yunus.
53:04Now he may be a Nobel laureate, but look at the kind of people he's inviting to Bangladesh.
53:09The government in Bengal is all set to roll out the red carpet for wanted Indian fugitive
53:13Zakir Nayak.
53:14The Muhammad Yunus led administration has approved a month long nationwide tour for Zakir
53:20Nayak.
53:21Now this is his visit to Bangladesh.
53:23Remember, it's such a departure from the policies of Sheikh Hasina.
53:27Remember, Sheikh Hasina had banned Zakir Nayak and his Peace TV after the 2016 Dhaka holy
53:33artisan bakery terror attack.
53:35Zakir Nayak had fled India within hours after one of his attackers told the Bangladeshi investigators
53:42that he'd been influenced by Zakir Nayak's preaching through his YouTube channel.
53:47So he was involved, allegedly involved in the killing of people in Bangladesh through his
53:53radical Islamist preachings.
53:55Now he's coming back as a state guest.
53:57I want to cut across to India today's Shivani Sharma for more on the story.
54:02Shivani, bring us details.
54:04There's a huge shift in Bangladesh's politics and it just goes on to show that this Nobel
54:09laureate, Muhammad Yunus, was just a facade.
54:11Radical Islamists are ruling the country.
54:14Paraf, see, we've already heard a number of anti-India statements from Muhammad Yunus himself
54:20at a number of forums wherever he speaks.
54:23And now a red carpet welcome for this particular hate monger who has been anti-India.
54:30His Peace TV has already been banned in Bangladesh.
54:33It was in fact banned after the 2016 bakery attack where one of the bombers who admitted that
54:42he was influenced by Zakir Nayak's hate speeches.
54:45He's a radical Islamist fugitive.
54:48India is wanting to bring him to India and so that justice can be served.
54:54But Bangladesh has now invited him and not only for a few days, Gaurav.
54:58This is a month long program where he will be there treated as a guest by Bangladesh government,
55:04entering government, and he will be participating in a number of events out there, Gaurav.
55:10So this is how there is a massive, massive policy shift in Bangladesh after Sheikh Hasina had to flee saving her life.
55:18And now we are getting this through the sources that Zakir Nayak will be treated as a guest,
55:23the national guest out there in Bangladesh.
55:26You also have ISI generals and the Chief of General Staff of Pakistan Army visiting Bangladesh.
55:32It just goes on to show this axis of terror seems to be getting stronger into the eastern part of our country.
55:39And that is where there is clear and present danger.
55:42Shivani, for the moment, many thanks for joining me.
55:44Shivani and our team will continue to track developments on the story very closely.
55:48This poses clear and present danger for India's northeast and the eastern part of our country.
55:55That is all I have for you on India First this evening.
55:58Many thanks for watching.
Comments