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The Supreme Court upheld the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, ruling the process constitutional.
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00:00Good evening, hello and welcome. You're with the news today. This is your primetime destination news,
00:05newsmakers, talking points, the big talking point tonight. Is this the end of the road for Karnataka's
00:11strongman Sidhara Maya, set to resign tomorrow? Will that be a smooth transition? Karnataka's
00:18Minister Santosh Laad will be joining me in a moment. Also the Supreme Court's SIR order
00:25ruling it constitutional. Is it a blow to the vote-chory campaign of the opposition or has the
00:31SC failed the citizen? Those are the questions I will raise but first as always it's time for the
00:39nine headlines at nine. The countdown begins for a change of guard in Karnataka. Chief Minister
00:45Sidhara Maya to meet governor and resign at 3 p.m. tomorrow. D.K. Shiv Kumar set to become the
00:53next
00:53Karnataka Chief Minister. Supreme Court upholds Election Commission's authority to conduct the
01:03SIR exercise. Says the exercise has a direct link to ensuring free and fair elections is
01:09legally tenable. Opponents question the judgment's basis.
01:17Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay meets Prime Minister Modi. He raises the
01:23Mekadaku Dam issue with Karnataka also urges the Prime Minister to play the Tamil anthem before
01:29Vande Matram during government events in Tamil Nadu. High drama in Thiruvananthapuram after
01:38enforcement directorate raids former Chief Minister Vijayan. Angry left workers gather outside his home,
01:45vandalised ED vehicles. Vijayan cries, vendetta politics. Assam becomes the third state after
01:55Uttarakhand and Gujarat to pass the UCC bill, Uniformed Civil Code. It proposes seven years imprisonment for
02:03podigami, three months jail for not registering live-in relationships.
02:10Apex Court agrees to examine the CBSE's three-language rule for Class 9 students. Supreme Court has also sought responses
02:17from CBSE and Centre on petitions against the new three-language policy.
02:24Air India to cut its domestic flight operations by 22% during June and July amid soaring jet fuel prices.
02:31Sources say Indigo to also reduce its domestic operations.
02:37In the first, three private firms compete to build India's indigenous fifth-generation AMCA fighter jet which will also feature,
02:44have a stealth tech feature. Government run HAL not part of the current bidding process.
02:51And Iranian media claims to have received a draft of the deal with the United States which aims at ending
02:59the conflict
02:59and reopen horrible shipping. It adds that Tehran won't move ahead without tangible verification.
03:20But first, the story that we are breaking at the top, a story that was confirmed last night by India
03:26today.
03:26First, Chief Minister of Karnataka Siddharamaya will resign tomorrow.
03:31Siddharamaya will host a breakfast meet for his cabinet in Bengaluru.
03:36He has accepted, interestingly, the CAST survey report as his last decision that his government took.
03:43D.K. Shivkumar is now the front-runner to become the Chief Minister of Karnataka.
03:49So, it appears that Siddharamaya's tenure, the longest-serving Chief Minister of Karnataka over two terms, is coming to an
03:57end.
03:58Listen in to what R.B. Deshpande, the Senior Congress MLA, had to say.
04:04The CM has already decided to resign.
04:09The MLA's who were there, wanted him to continue.
04:13But he said, I have given a word to High Command, I have to respect that word.
04:18So, there you have it. Officially, the CM has decided to resign.
04:22That was the first official statement on record.
04:26Nagarjun Dwarkanath now joins us, our Bureau Chief there.
04:30Nagarjun, game set and almost match.
04:32Is there going to be any last-minute twist in this Karnataka-Karnataka?
04:37Or are we now clear? Siddharamaya to resign.
04:40D.K. Shivkumar likely to take over a few days later.
04:47Asdip, there seems to be no Nataka anymore.
04:50It's completely set, the stage is set for the transition of power.
04:54Chief Minister is set to resign at 3 p.m. tomorrow, is what we are told.
04:57The message from the Chief Minister of Office to the local power is that,
05:00post-lunch, we would be coming over to meet you.
05:04The resignation is what the message was given.
05:06I met the Governor personally today and that's the message the Chief Minister of Office has delivered to him,
05:11I'm saying post-lunch around 3 o'clock is when we are expected to arrive.
05:15Most probably by morning 11 o'clock,
05:17the official message would be given to Raj Bhavad that we are coming at 3 p.m. is what we
05:23are picking up.
05:24So, the stage is all set. There's no going back.
05:26There's no renegotiations that can be done from here on.
05:30And post that mostly on the weekend, we'll have the CLP and one-line resolution that the party has chosen
05:35D.K. Sukumar in all likelihood to be the next Chief Minister of Karnataka.
05:39And post that the next two days would be critical for D.K. to take oaths off as the Chief
05:44Minister of Karnataka.
05:45Okay. Thanks very much Nagarjun for confirming that story.
05:49I want to go to Santosh Laad, Labour Minister in the Karnataka government scene as part of the young guard
05:55of the government.
05:58Santosh Laad, it appears that an era is coming to an end.
06:01Siddharamaya, longest serving Chief Minister of Karnataka.
06:05Is this a decision that you and other MLAs are comfortable with?
06:13Honestly, no. Comfortable is not the case.
06:16But if the decision is taken from the highest quarters from the Rahul Gandhiji and as well as the High
06:22Command.
06:23And CM always consistently said that if High Command says, Mr. Rahul Gandhi says that he'll step down.
06:29It's a very emotional time and every end has got a bad feeling.
06:35But that's fair enough. That's how the life is all about.
06:39Just give us a sense of why you believe the High Command did, why do you believe they chose this
06:46moment?
06:47Do you believe that with election just two years to go, that this change of guard will galvanize your party
06:55or not?
07:00No, because we sat with the CM and we tried to speak to him and he did not speak anything
07:06much about it.
07:07But this political decision is taken once by the High Command.
07:11So, we all have to abide by it.
07:13Definitely, there's a lot of pros and cons which you have to talk about.
07:16But whenever such decision is taken by a party, we as a party man, as a Congress, honest, you know,
07:21we can call them as a worker or what you call as a leader.
07:24We all have to come together and see to that that whatever decision is taken by the party and we
07:29all have to honor it and stand in unity.
07:32But will it be a smooth transition? Because over the last one year, we've seen this constant speculation over whether
07:40DK Shiv Kumar will take over two and a half years, two and a half years rotational chief ministership.
07:45Many believe that has affected administration governance. Do you believe whatever decision is taken as to who is to succeed?
07:52Mr. Siddharamaya, with Shiv Kumar being the front runner, will it be a smooth transition now?
08:01Yes, transition looks smooth, but obviously, there will be some tooting point, obviously.
08:07That's how the politics is all about. We have to reset. We have to pull up our socks and work
08:11together.
08:12That's how I feel in futuristic to Sibai.
08:15And what happens to Mr. Siddharamaya? You all spoke to him. You all met him. Is he ready to retire?
08:20Does he want to come to Delhi, become part of Rajasaba as Rahul Gandhi has offered him, become an OBC
08:25face nationally?
08:27Or what are you picking up when you met Mr. Siddharamaya? Did he reveal what he wants to do next?
08:37No, we were there when I was there. We spent almost five, six hours there with him from morning till
08:42afternoon, late afternoon we were there.
08:44So, he kept on listening to everybody, lot of people coming there, throwing the emotions, showing the emotions.
08:49He did not respond to anybody and he said, tomorrow I am going to speak. That's what he said.
08:56And tomorrow he has called, especially for all the cabinet ministers, he has called tomorrow morning for 9am at breakfast.
09:01I think he is going to speak there.
09:04You know, DK Shivkumar is also someone you know well. He is the Karnataka Congress president.
09:10You are also seen as part of the younger guard in a way of the party.
09:13This could be a generational change from a 78-year-old Siddharamaya to a 60-plus DK Shivkumar.
09:19Will you be comfortable working with a DK Shivkumar?
09:23Is the Congress going to unite for once in Karnataka given the big challenge that you face just two years
09:28from now from the BJP?
09:34Yeah, working with anybody is a must. That's how we are all and we are all the congressmen and once
09:39any high command takes a decision, we have to fall in the line.
09:43And obviously, yes, he is still an youngster and he has got a lot of energy.
09:46And the party has given him an opportunity and I think that with his energy and if he is able
09:53to pull up everybody, all youngsters and seniors together, yes, definitely we can try.
09:58Because the BJP seems to believe that there is high anti-incumbency against your government in Karnataka.
10:03They are banking on it. This is one of the few states where the Congress has had a strong organization.
10:09Do you believe that it's going to be very difficult now for whoever takes over, whether it's Mr. Shivkumar or
10:16anyone else from Siddharamaya with just two years left, series of elections also coming up to local bodies, Bangalore municipality,
10:23will it be possible for your party to arrest anti-incumbency and actually have a chance in 2028?
10:33We have got a good chance, you know, even though people speak about anti-incumbency, only hope that Dhanesh Kumar
10:39does not support them and he does not become a man of the match and man of the series in
10:42Karnataka.
10:42But however, all said and done with all those, you know, whatever election commissioner, you know, favors them.
10:48But believe me, in Karnataka, last three years, whatever programs we have given, it has been a great handy to
10:53the common man and especially for the poor class people here.
10:56And if you ask me, yes, there is a challenge and there's always a saying that necessity is the mother
11:02of all invention.
11:03With challenges, I think always you have to invent the things the way it has to run forward.
11:08And yes, we all together as congressmen and all the leaders and Karakartas, if you really put a fight, I'm
11:15sure that we will come back to power again in 2028.
11:17Are you expecting continuity or a lot of change? Obviously, Mr. D.K. Shiv Kumar will want his own cabinet,
11:23his own people.
11:25Is your party so deeply divided into camps in Karnataka? Will you all be able to do expect a lot
11:32of new faces now to emerge?
11:34Or will we see the same? Will we see a strong element of continuity?
11:39The leader is being changed. Will your cabinet also see a lot of changes?
11:47Obviously, there will be some changes. So, not the entire, maybe 40% or 30%. It depends on the high
11:53command.
11:54If they are going on a merit, they will definitely see who has done what work.
11:58And based on that and obviously party equations and they will take a call and whatever call is taken by
12:03the party, we have to abide by it.
12:06You know, one final word from you. You, as I said, you've known Mr. Sidharamaya well. What, according to you,
12:12was the one, you know, longest serving chief minister of Karnataka?
12:16Not easy in a state like yours to be there as long as he is. What was that one characteristic
12:21that defined Sidharamaya for you?
12:23What was the quality he had that enabled him to survive for so long?
12:31I feel he always very ideologically, he was a very strong and a very socialist thought of a person.
12:38And he always, you know, one thing about Mr. Sidharamaya, if I have to tell, because last 30 years, I
12:43always see him as, I always consider him as my father figure.
12:46And I always keep saying I am an emotional son to him. But he is a very downtrodden man, connected
12:51with masses until today also in Karnataka.
12:54He is the most popular leader, hands down, no doubt about it. And he is still connected to the farmers.
13:02He is the one leader who is connected to the all masses in Karnataka.
13:06But you know, if he is such a popular leader, so connected to the masses, why remove him? Why was
13:11he removed?
13:12Have you got any indication? Have any of you, was it this two and a half year, two and a
13:16half year rotational formula that was brought in?
13:19What is the reason that he was removed if he is so popular?
13:27Okay, the lines got disconnected on that point. I am going to leave it there. Santosh Lad, one of the
13:31few ministers in the Karnataka government,
13:34who's willing to come out and speak on that transition that's taken place in Karnataka.
13:39We'll, of course, wait and see how that transition actually carries on on the ground,
13:45given the fact that there have been so many past animosities that have existed between the two leaders.
13:51But will they work together is the big challenge the Congress has in Karnataka.
13:57Okay, let's move. Okay, let me bring in at this moment Ramakrishna Upadhyaya, he's senior journalist from Bengaluru.
14:04Mr. Upadhyaya, a quick word from you. Do you believe that question that I raised?
14:09Will this be a smooth transition? Or do you see more twists and turns even in the next few days?
14:14Will Mr. Siddharamaya go quietly into the sunset or kicking and screaming?
14:20I don't think he will go quietly into the sunset. But tomorrow's event could be quite smooth.
14:26Because I think he has realized now that he is not on a strong wicket.
14:32Because I think this came as a bombshell to him. Rahul Gandhi asking him point blank to resign.
14:39I don't think he ever expected. Rahul Gandhi was his biggest supporter and he had always backed on him.
14:45And they had a certain chemistry working for them. And he never thought that Rahul Gandhi will ask him to
14:52resign.
14:52I think yesterday, I believe when he mentioned this after meeting his mother and sister at home for lunch, when
14:59he had gone for lunch.
15:00Until then, there was no mention of this, that change of leadership.
15:04It was only after he returned from home that I believe Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka insisted that it is time
15:12for Yashiv Kumar to be given a chance.
15:14And he came back to the meeting and bluntly told Siddharamaya, can you please resign Siddharamayaji for my sake?
15:22And it was a shock for him. And it was a surgical strike which Siddharamaya never expected to come from
15:28Rahul Gandhi.
15:29And he has been, I think, demoralized after that. Otherwise, I think after he came back from Delhi, he would
15:35have tried to put up some fight.
15:36But he realizes that he is, you know, his biggest supporter is not backing him. So, today morning, at least
15:42half a dozen, I mean, half the Legislature party, MLAs, had come to his house and requested him,
15:49Siddharamana, please don't go. We will not let you resign. You know, things would have been different. But that didn't
15:54happen. That didn't happen.
15:55And hardly, except his, you know, supporting ministers and a handful of MLAs, there was nobody. So, I think he
16:04has worked and given up.
16:05Can I therefore ask you in conclusion, why do you think it happened? Why do you think Rahul Gandhi then
16:10decided that it was time to effect a change?
16:13Was it the two and a half year, two and a half year formula that already was six months in
16:17advance?
16:18So, that had already crossed six months. Why do you think? Why do you think eventually then he took the
16:24decision?
16:25I believe it was Sonia Gandhi who mentioned this, saying that, you know, we should honor the, you know, pact
16:32that we have.
16:32And then forcefully argued by Priyanka saying that, look, Siddharamana is going to be 80 by the time 28 elections
16:40come.
16:40We need a, you know, younger person to, you know, take the party forward.
16:45And Karnataka is one of the most important to her states. And she has always had a soft corner for
16:50her, Siddharamana.
16:52And I think that was a clincher. Until then, they were only talking about the Rajasava seats and council seats
16:58and all that.
16:58Everything was hunky-dory for them. And only after the lunch break, you know, this bombshell was, you know, exploded.
17:06I think Siddharamana will take some time to recover from this. But he will, I'll tell you, he will stay
17:11back. He will not go to Delhi.
17:12He will stay back and fight. And especially the fact that it is going to, you know, Shukumar, his bitterest
17:19critic or bitterest rival is not going to please him.
17:22So, he would have liked it to have gone to somebody else, but he is not in a position to
17:27influence it. Now, he will sit down and, you know, wait for a start.
17:31And interestingly, one of his last decisions is to actually get the caste survey, put the caste survey out in
17:39the public domain.
17:40And therefore, he will perhaps continue to play the politics that he is known of, of bringing a social engineering
17:47plank of Muslims, of Dalits, of scheduled tribes, of backward classes together.
17:52You're saying, therefore, that do not write off Mr. Siddharamaya just yet. Am I correct?
18:00Absolutely. Absolutely. And I think, you know, Congress also will realize that the kind of social engineering that he had
18:06developed, you know, OBCs, the Muslims, and, you know, the bulk of the Hindus as well, you know, that is
18:13not going to be easy for Shukumar to hold on.
18:16He has always been known as the Okkalika leader. He has never grown out of that, this thing.
18:21So, now, he has made the chief minister. When he goes to North Karnataka, will he be able to build
18:25that, you know, around that Siddharamaya had?
18:30I think it's going to be very difficult for him to take on the BJP and JDS combined, which is
18:37going to, you know, work together in the next election.
18:39In 2023, the Fort Egg and Seishida, which helped Congress in a big way to get to 136 seats. In
18:462028, they are going together and thus will be a big challenge.
18:50Because he will also have Kumaraswamy to face for the Okkalika, you know, vote back. So, it's going to be
18:55very, very big, challenging situation in Karnataka. And Siddharamaya is going to fully exploit that.
19:02Okay, I'm going to leave it there, Mr. Upadiya. Clearly, we'll wait and watch what happens in Karnataka very closely.
19:09Thank you very much for joining us on the news today. Let's turn then to our big talking point.
19:14Because the Supreme Court today gave a major decision, ruling that the election of Commission of India had the authority
19:21to conduct the special intensive revision exercise.
19:24It was constitutional and did not transgress any statutory provision. The Supreme Court also upheld the power of the EC
19:32to scrutinize citizenship during the SIR while clarifying that a refusal by the poll to include names won't mean stripping
19:41them of their citizenship.
19:42Has the Supreme Court now effectively busted the opposition's claims about the SIR being managed by the Modi government? Take
19:52a look at the story.
20:05The Supreme Court has handed the election commission a major legal victory backing the controversial special intensive revision or SIR
20:14of electoral rolls.
20:18In a landmark verdict, the top court ruled that the exercise is constitutionally valid and does not violate any law.
20:26Calling SIR a step towards an accurate and inclusive electoral roll, the bench said that the process breathes life into
20:33the constitution.
20:35The court said the exercise is aimed at ensuring free and fair elections, has adequate safeguards and serves a legitimate
20:42purpose by correcting electoral rolls.
20:45The CGI-led bench also clarified that SIR cannot grant or cancel citizenship.
20:55The verdict effectively ends the year-long battle over the exercise first launched in Bihar, where opposition parties accused the
21:03election commission of overreach and targeting vulnerable voters.
21:07Petitioners argued that election officers had no authority to verify citizenship, but the Supreme Court rejected those claims.
21:16Soon after the verdict, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar released a video on how the poll panel stands with the
21:22voters always.
21:25Every citizen of India who has completed 18 years of age should become an elector and should always vote.
21:36In accordance with the constitution of India, electoral laws, rules and instructions issued therein.
21:44The election commissioner of India was, is and will always be with the voters.
21:54The verdict has now sparked a fresh political showdown with the BJP hailing it as validation of its clean polls
22:00narrative.
22:01After this judgment of Supreme Court, the complete defeat of opposition, Congress party in particular and Mr. Rahul Gandhi in
22:16particular has been summarized as PCM, political, constitutional and moral defeat.
22:24While the Congress and other opposition parties question SIR and the implications of the ruling.
22:46As voter verification takes centre stage ahead of key state elections, the political debate
22:52over electoral transparency, voter rights and the powers of the election commission is far from over.
22:59With Anisha Mathur and Srishti Ojha in Delhi, Bureau Report, India Today.
23:28Joining me now, Dr. S.Y. Qureshi, former Chief Election Commissioner, Yogendra Yadam, one of the petitioners in the court
23:34and co-founder Swaraj India and JBL Narasimha Rao, former Rajasrabah MP and senior leader BJP.
23:41Appreciate your joining us. Let me come to you, Dr. Qureshi, first.
23:44Do you believe that the Supreme Court order vindicates the election commission
23:48who says the SIR was necessary to clean up the electoral rolls, had nothing to do with politics?
23:55Well, Supreme Court order partially does that.
23:59It declares that election commission has the power under the constitution and the law
24:05to purify the electoral rolls following a procedure which itself adopts.
24:11There's absolutely no quarrel with that.
24:13But I would like to say that for the last so many years, 30 years, 40 years, election commissioners
24:19have been doing exactly that.
24:22And after 30 years of effort, after digitizing it first, and every year through summary revision process,
24:30we have achieved 99% accuracy and 1% impurity is thought to be removed every year by door-to
24:40-door visit for summary revision.
24:43Now, the electoral roll, which was very pure in June 2024, which brought in the government of India in 2024,
24:53became junk and rubbish in 2025.
24:58Now, that itself is very illogical.
25:01Now, need for purity of electoral process, which the Supreme Court has also highlighted,
25:06absolutely there is no quarrel with that.
25:08But that is, will the election commission guarantee that now the election electoral roll is pure
25:16and there is no illegal deletion and there is no illegal inclusion?
25:22Has the Supreme Court asked the election commission to certify this?
25:25And I feel that the purity, which was 99% a year and a half ago, it must be now
25:3170%.
25:33You know, so you're saying that that was, you're effectively questioning the necessity for the SIR in the manner and
25:42the timing of it.
25:43You're saying in 2024, if the electoral rolls were pure, what prompted the election commission a year later
25:50to suddenly go for an SIR ahead of Bihar and Bengal elections?
25:54Am I correct?
25:54Am I correct?
25:54Am I correct?
25:55Yes, absolutely.
25:56Absolutely.
25:57They were fined until January 2025.
26:01And suddenly in two, three months, they become junk.
26:03And secondly, to call it revision itself is a misnomer.
26:07You revise something which exists.
26:09The existing roll has been thrown into the dustbin.
26:13And of any issue, from scratch, new names are being collected.
26:17Now, collecting all the names, putting them together and coming out with an electoral roll
26:22is a very time-consuming and complex exercise, which is why I say that it had taken 30 years
26:27to reach this level of perfection.
26:29And they would do it in three months or 30 days.
26:32But we had an SIR with due regard, Dr. Kureshi, in 2003.
26:36We did have an SIR.
26:38It's not as if you don't have, you've not had these special intensive revisions in the past.
26:43No, I didn't say that at all.
26:45In fact, taking up from what you're saying, that in 2003, after the intensive revision,
26:52the then-election commission decided that time has come that we will not require intensive revision
26:58because we have already digitized our electoral rolls.
27:02They need to be updated every year because there will be some deaths, there will be some migration,
27:07there will be some people becoming 18 and becoming new voters.
27:11Therefore, we will, hence, now onwards, we will only do summary revision,
27:17which also exactly, basically, is the same process.
27:20Yes, the BLO goes door to door.
27:23It will come to, the BLO will come to your house, Rajdeep, this is your electoral roll.
27:27These are the five names in your house.
27:30Is that correct?
27:30If you say it is correct, they move on.
27:34Otherwise, if you say, no, they want, you want some change,
27:37they will give you a form 6, 7 or 8 for addition, deletion or correction.
27:41And only thing is, Rajdeep, the important thing is that the whole exercise was started in the name of finding
27:48illegal voters, illegal immigrants.
27:51How many illegal immigrants were found in Bihar?
27:54Till today, we do not know.
27:56Everybody is talking about transparency.
27:58Do you know the number?
28:00We don't.
28:01Only I read it in the media that in Bihar, after making 8 crore people run around,
28:06500 foreigners were found.
28:08Of which 150 were Bangladeshis and 350 were Nepali Hindu women who had come by marriage.
28:14For this, to achieve that purpose, you went through this whimsical exercise?
28:22Okay, you're, you know, you're therefore questioning the manner, the timing of the exercise.
28:28You want to respond, J.V.L. Narsimara, on a day when the constitutionality has been affirmed by the Supreme
28:34Court,
28:34there are still questions being raised.
28:36Logical discrepancies, a criteria was put out in Legault,
28:40which led to 27 lakh voters losing their voting rights in Bihar.
28:47The argument was made, infiltrators were weeded out,
28:50but we don't know how many infiltrators were actually weeded out.
28:53Was this exercise done purely for Bihar and Bengal to give an advantage to the ruling parties,
28:59what the opposition has alleged?
29:01Dr. Qureshi is saying, you already had an electoral roll which served the purpose in 2024.
29:06Was there a need to conduct the exercise in such haste without transparency?
29:12No, I think there was no haste and there was complete transparency.
29:16I contradict that.
29:18And I'm little, I would say I'm surprised and also a little disappointed
29:24that our former Chief Election Commissioner is finding fault with the electoral cleaning process,
29:31which has also been upheld by the Supreme Court of India after detailed hearings.
29:36It was not a, so it's an order that was delivered by the court.
29:40It's nobody's case.
29:42On what is the basis for him to say 99% accuracy of the rolls in 2024?
29:48There were definitely duplications in that.
29:51In fact, several Congress leaders, BJP leaders, not by any design,
29:55just because of inefficiencies in the system, several people had their votes.
30:00I can name any number of people who have two votes,
30:04one in their home constituency and one in place of work.
30:08And despite, in fact, effort on the part of the voters to get their votes removed or transferred,
30:17I think duplication continued to happen.
30:20We've seen during the election how it's pure inefficiency.
30:24No, no, but should it have been done with great, not in such haste?
30:28Because when you do it in such haste, that's the point the Supreme Court does not seem to have registered.
30:34No, no, no.
30:34I think you're doing, this process has been ongoing.
30:36It has happened over a four-month period in Bengal.
30:40How many months do you require when the whole machinery of the state government
30:44and the entire political machinery of the political parties is involved in the entire exercise?
30:50Tamil Nadu is not a BJP-ruled state.
30:53It's not ruled even now.
30:54Not a murmur of complaint by any political party.
30:57Uttar Pradesh is ruled by the BJP.
31:00Two crore voters have been, I think, they have been found to be not existing
31:08or either removed or either migrated.
31:11It's not a question of favoring any political party.
31:15But the foundation of your clean elections requires clean electoral rolls.
31:21Let me read some observations.
31:23And this is what the Election Commission of India has stated as the purpose.
31:27It's not just for removal of illegal immigrants.
31:30It stated frequent migration.
31:33That's a major cause of voters moving from one place to the other.
31:38And the voters, and their remaining as registered voters at multiple places,
31:43resulting in voters getting registered at more than one place.
31:46This is a very major, major, major problem.
31:50A number of people who migrate to Delhi continue to have votes in Bihar
31:53or continue to have their votes in Uttar Pradesh or wherever they came from.
31:57Non-removal of dead voters.
31:58Several lakh dead voters were found in Bihar.
32:02All of them did not die after 24 May.
32:06They died.
32:07Certainly, the procedures adopted earlier did not possibly do this job as diligently as it was done
32:17as a part of the special intensive revision.
32:20You see this as a clean-up.
32:22You see this as a clean-up of the rolls which was necessary.
32:26And therefore, it is wrong, you believe, to attach a political motive to it.
32:31That's your sum and...
32:32And have some faith in the highest judiciary.
32:36You can call it political parties can indulge in much slinging.
32:39But at least neutral people, at least so-called neutral people,
32:43must have some respect for the wisdom of the judiciary.
32:46You can continue to have your point of view, but saying this is a BJP will decide
32:51who will be a voter, who will not be.
32:53A point I am referring to Dr. Yagintra Yadav apparently made today.
32:57It is BJP doesn't decide.
32:59We are not in power in all the states.
33:02So, West Bengal, we were not in power.
33:04So, are you saying that TMC had the power to decide who would be in the list,
33:08who would not be in the list?
33:10I think it's a little unfair.
33:12And I hope people of our maturity should refrain from making such political overtone comments.
33:21Okay, let me bring in Yagintra Yadav on that point because you are a petitioner in the case.
33:25Do you accept with all humility what the court has said?
33:28Because you've almost suggested that you've lost faith in the Supreme Court after this verdict.
33:34Do you want to expand on that and explain why you've lost faith?
33:37At the end of the day, the Supreme Court is the apex court of this country.
33:43Rajdeep, I said nothing of that kind.
33:45I have simply analyzed the consequences of the court's judgment
33:50and the rationale deployed by the court, both of which it is my constitutional right and duty to do.
33:57The question never was whether voter list should be revised or not.
34:02The question was whether the very special, very controversial and unprecedented method used for that,
34:11which involved shifting the onus of voters, which involved overturning the presumption of citizenship,
34:17and which involved producing new set of documents and producing your family history,
34:23was that legal or constitutional or not?
34:27And let's be absolutely clear about what the Supreme Court has said today.
34:34Supreme Court of India has put its stamp of approval on the biggest disenfranchisement ever in the history of any
34:44country,
34:45not just India.
34:46Six crore voters have been deleted, those who were on the voters list.
34:51Six crore names have already been deleted.
34:55By the time the exercise comes to an end, my estimate is it will be more like 9.5 crore
35:01or about 10 crores of it.
35:03But many of them could be duplicate voters, many of them could be dead voters,
35:08many of them therefore had to be removed from the rolls.
35:12Indeed, Rajdeep, about 2-3% of them are dead voters, according to Election Commission's own statistics.
35:18The most important thing to remember here, Rajdeep, is that when six crore names are removed,
35:27we have actual, not just estimate, we have figures from the government of India
35:32about what the adult population in these states was.
35:36So when Dr. Qureshi refers to 99%, he's not referring to 99% accuracy,
35:42he's referring to 99% completeness of the electoral rolls,
35:45which is to say, compared to adult population,
35:49our electoral rolls were 99%.
35:52Today, that has dropped to less than 90%.
35:56Nearly 9% drop in one single year has never been witnessed.
36:03So the argument that they were all dead, absent, needed to be deleted,
36:07and the voters list was inflated,
36:09is refuted by the government of India's own statistics.
36:13The piece that I had the honour to present to the Supreme Court personally,
36:17there is no comment in the judgment on that.
36:19But forget about that, Rajdeep.
36:21The importance of what has been done today is in the context,
36:26in the course of the hearing,
36:28Justice Surya Kanta, I think, had said,
36:30we don't operate in vacuum.
36:33We keep our eyes open.
36:36Similarly, we must look at what the Supreme Court has ordered today,
36:40not in vacuum, keeping our eyes open.
36:43We live, Rajdeep, in a context where BJP's dominance over the stranglehold
36:49over electoral politics is near complete.
36:52We live in a system where BJP is trying to check the architecture of India's electoral system.
36:59It's Desh, Kaal, and Patra, all three of them,
37:02to deliver a permanent majority for the BJP.
37:06And we live in a system of times
37:08when election commission's own legitimacy is going for a nosedive.
37:13In that context, the Supreme Court of India today
37:18has granted virtually a blank check to the election commission.
37:23Supreme Court has legalized disenfranchising.
37:26Not just that.
37:27It's not just about behalf.
37:27Now, you were talking of logical discrepancy.
37:31Rajdeep, the principles outlined in this judgment,
37:33which I have read carefully, 124 pages of it,
37:36now leaves no doubt that no such question about Bengal can be raised.
37:41Not just that, Rajdeep.
37:42If these principles are to be affirmed,
37:45and they have to be because this is the judgment of the Supreme Court,
37:48for the next few years,
37:50no matter what the election commission does with the voters list,
37:54will be accepted, as they used to say,
37:57na khata na bahi,
37:58jo election commission kahe, boh sahi.
38:00And therefore, I say, Rajdeep,
38:02that this is the ADM-Jabalpur moment of our times.
38:06Just a context.
38:07Rajdeep, you know, I read you say this is the ADM-Jabalpur moment of the times.
38:12To our viewers, ADM-Jabalpur was the judgment whereby a 4 to 1,
38:16the Supreme Court had effectively said suspension of your fundamental rights was possible
38:22in certain circumstances.
38:23And in this case, constitutional right,
38:26the right to vote,
38:27many believe has been circumscribed.
38:30GVL, you are raising your hand.
38:31You want to respond to what you went through.
38:33I'll say one thing to GVL, to my friend GVL,
38:35when he says,
38:36why do you question the Supreme Court of India?
38:39My humble submission, sir,
38:41is why did you question the ADM-Jabalpur judgment?
38:46Why is it that Vajpayee ji, Advani ji, Arun Jaitali ji,
38:49all used to say ADM-Jabalpur is a plot on the history of Indian judiciary?
38:55We said that, na?
38:56Why can't we say that today,
38:58if that is what is happening today?
39:00Yeah, go ahead, GVL.
39:01I was not objecting to that,
39:03but your comment, Yogi Indra,
39:06that BJP will decide who will be on the voters list and who will not be.
39:11I don't know if you have made that comment in,
39:17whether you made that as a serious comment,
39:19or it was a comment of flippancy,
39:21I don't know.
39:22But if it's a serious comment,
39:24I think it really warrants an explanation,
39:26because it's not the BJP that decides.
39:29It was when Mr. Khureshi was the chief election commissioner,
39:33decisions were made by him.
39:35It was not done by the Congress party.
39:37We never realized that.
39:38So therefore,
39:39it's very unfair to say that the BJP will decide.
39:44BLOs of all political parties are involved in this exercise.
39:48Officials of the respective state governments are involved.
39:51Whoever is in power,
39:52we were not in power in Kerala.
39:54We were not in,
39:55we are not,
39:55we were not in power in Tamil Nadu.
39:57And the same exercise that was carried out did not,
40:00did not,
40:01and which Kerala had a substantial minority population.
40:06No questions were raised there.
40:07So West Bengal,
40:09the questions were raised more as a political,
40:12some kind of a political issue,
40:15and a political bogey to discredit the BJP,
40:18to prevent a,
40:19to tar a BJP's potential victory,
40:23to paint it as some kind of a concoction.
40:26I think it was a political motive.
40:28That is my allegation.
40:29How does BJP decide in Kerala,
40:31or West Bengal,
40:32or Tamil Nadu,
40:33who would be on the list,
40:34and who would not be on the list?
40:36Because West Bengal had a unique category,
40:39Mr. JVL Narsimara,
40:40you'll know that West Bengal had a unique category,
40:42created through an algorithm called logical discrepancies,
40:45under which 27 lakh people were taken off the rolls.
40:49And so far,
40:50when they've gone and appealed to the tribunals,
40:52most of them have been found to be genuine citizens.
40:55My point is,
40:56do you believe, therefore,
40:57that the EC needs to do any introspection or not?
41:00Or you believe this is pure politics?
41:02No.
41:03I, as a responsible citizen,
41:06I certainly expect the Election Commission of India,
41:10to be extremely conscious of its responsibilities,
41:13and carry out these duties very diligently,
41:17and not get carried away by any political comments,
41:21either from the BJP or from the opposition,
41:24and do its duty as the constitution mandates.
41:27And certainly,
41:28I expect accountability from every institution,
41:30including the Election Commission of India.
41:33And questions raised about the process in Bihar or in Bengal,
41:37will certainly, I think,
41:39will put greater honours on these institutions,
41:42and their oversight over the administration in different states.
41:47Quick response, Yogendra Yadav.
41:49Do you believe, at the end of the day,
41:51that the Election Commission now will say that,
41:54look, the court itself has said,
41:57that all the cases which are disputed
41:59have to be heard expeditiously?
42:01That's what the court is saying.
42:02That those which are disputed have to be heard expeditiously.
42:07First, respond to J.B. Elgaru,
42:09who had indeed asked this question,
42:11and I did not answer.
42:12I'm sorry about this.
42:14Yes, I have actually said,
42:16that the consequence of the court's judgment today,
42:19I do not attribute any political motive to the court.
42:22The consequence of the judgment of the court today is
42:26that ECI gets absolutely unchecked, untremeled,
42:31unaccounted power for changing voters' list.
42:35Unfortunately, because the Supreme Court
42:38is unable to take any decision
42:40about how the Election Commission is being appointed,
42:44it virtually gives the government every power to decide,
42:48the central government, not the state government.
42:50And because the state government is controlled by the BJP,
42:53I said, and I just clarify the context
42:56in which all this is happening.
42:58In today's context,
43:00the net consequence of this judgment would be
43:02that it would further tilt the scales
43:06in favor of BJP's attempt
43:09at completely changing the electoral architecture
43:14of this country to gain permanent majority.
43:16And yes, if BJP wants to target
43:20any particular section of society,
43:22BJP will order the government,
43:25government which enjoys complete control
43:27over the Election Commission,
43:29an Election Commission which now today
43:31has complete power to do what it likes.
43:33So the conclusion is obvious.
43:35Okay.
43:36So 30 seconds at the end.
43:37I've heard both sides.
43:39Conclusion at the end.
43:40I think it's very unfortunate
43:42because somebody is appointed by the government,
43:46they will not follow the constitutional architecture
43:50and they will be guided only by what the BJP says.
43:54This is very unfortunate.
43:56By that logic,
43:57everybody in government appoints practically...
43:59That's his opinion.
44:00That's his opinion.
44:00GBL Nansimarao, that's his opinion.
44:03That's his opinion, sir.
44:04Sir, you know,
44:05there is an opportunity
44:06to meet the particular
44:09Chief Election Commissioner at the moment.
44:11Sir, you know,
44:12institutional decline is something
44:14we all know of.
44:15But how do you arrest it?
44:16You see, at the end of the day,
44:17the credibility crisis,
44:18those who do not trust
44:20the Election Commission
44:21will continue not to trust it.
44:22Those who trust it
44:23will feel reinforced by this judgment.
44:25How do you ensure
44:26that the Election Commission's
44:28credibility is restored among all?
44:30Does it need to be more transparent?
44:32A final word from you, Dr. Qureshi.
44:33Well, of course,
44:36every institution requires credibility.
44:39And if there is a question mark
44:41on the Election Commission's credibility,
44:44they have to address it.
44:45But I would like to point out
44:46two things, Rajdeep.
44:47One, the good thing
44:48which came out of this judgment today
44:50is that a very good pronouncement
44:54that deletion from the electoral roll
44:56does not mean deletion from citizenship
44:58and they cannot be denied.
45:00All the benefits of all the government schemes,
45:03which was happy,
45:04which had started happening
45:05in West Bengal,
45:06at least that protection,
45:07I think it is commendable
45:09and we need to acknowledge that.
45:11Second, but the other thing,
45:13they say that anybody
45:14who has been deleted,
45:15he has a right to go in appeal.
45:17Now, right to go in appeal
45:18is a court case.
45:20Now, please understand
45:21that we are talking of now
45:23millions of cases getting filed
45:25and only recently,
45:27briefless lawyers
45:28was referred to as cockroaches.
45:30There is a windfall
45:31for these cockroaches.
45:33They will have millions of cases
45:34to deal with these rickshawwallahs,
45:36you know, poor people.
45:37They will all be going to court
45:39in appeal.
45:40So, that is something
45:41which has been completely missed,
45:42very simply,
45:43easily conveyed.
45:46Yoginder, you are shaking your head
45:47when Dr. Qureshi spoke.
45:50Quick response, 30 seconds.
45:52I wish the court had said
45:54what Dr. Qureshi reads
45:55in the judgment,
45:56but the court doesn't say so.
45:57The court simply reaffirms
45:59the basic position.
46:00Even the election commission
46:01has never claimed
46:02that they are the final authority
46:04in deciding the citizenship.
46:06But I wish the court had said,
46:08therefore,
46:09once their names are deleted
46:10on the ground of being illegal,
46:12foreigners,
46:12only on the basis of suspicion
46:14or conclusion of election commission,
46:16they should not be denied
46:18other benefits.
46:19Unfortunately,
46:20the court judgment
46:21does not say so.
46:22Qureshi, sir,
46:23I wish the court had even said
46:25that at least give us a count
46:27of the number of persons.
46:29Unfortunately,
46:29the court has not said even that.
46:32Okay, I'm going to leave it there.
46:33Radheep.
46:34Three, three,
46:34yeah, 15 seconds to you.
46:37Yes, the court clearly said
46:40this will be for a limited purposes
46:42of deciding whether somebody
46:44should be on the electoral list
46:45or not.
46:46The Supreme Court,
46:49the election commission of India
46:50will have,
46:51will can determine citizenship
46:53for that limited purpose.
46:54But for larger citizenship purpose,
46:57I think the concerned authorities
46:58will decide
46:59it's not the election commission
47:01of India.
47:02Therefore,
47:02by implication,
47:03one will not be
47:04deprived of citizenship
47:06by not being
47:07automatically,
47:08by not being on the water list.
47:10Sir, already welfare benefits
47:12are being denied
47:13even as we speak
47:14in Bengal
47:14to those who are not
47:15on the list
47:16as decided
47:17through the SR.
47:18But we leave that debate
47:19for another day.
47:20We are also seeing
47:21lots of people
47:21leaving the country
47:22on their own
47:24because they have declared,
47:26they have self-declared
47:28themselves to be,
47:28not to be citizens of India.
47:30That's also the reality.
47:31We cannot forget.
47:32Okay, I'm going to leave it there.
47:34I appreciate three fine voices
47:35joining me
47:36on what is a contentious issue.
47:38Is this India's
47:39ADM Jabalpur moment
47:40as Yogendra Yadav
47:42seems to suggest
47:42or is it reinforcing
47:43the right of free
47:45and fair,
47:46or is it reinforcing
47:47the election commission's
47:48claim that they are
47:49conducting a free
47:50and fair election?
47:51Let's turn to tonight's
47:52ground report.
47:53An enforcement directorate raid
47:55at former Kerala
47:56Chief Minister
47:56Pindrai Vijayan's residence
47:57has triggered a massive
47:59political drama
47:59and violent protests
48:01in Thiruvananthapuram.
48:02Hundreds of CPIM workers
48:04gathered outside
48:04Vijayan's residence
48:05attacked the ED vehicles,
48:07clashed with officials.
48:08The ED raids were conducted
48:09over an alleged
48:10money laundering case
48:11involving Vijayan's
48:13daughter Veena Vijayan's
48:14firm.
48:15The CPM has dismissed
48:16the case as politically
48:17motivated.
48:18Is the EC once again,
48:20ED once again
48:21now in the eye of a storm?
48:23Take a look.
48:25ED Gopal!
48:26ED Gopal!
48:28An ED raid
48:29at former Kerala
48:31Chief Minister
48:31Pindrai Vijayan's residence
48:33triggered high drama
48:34in Thiruvananthapuram
48:36on Wednesday.
48:40Party workers
48:41gathered outside
48:42Vijayan's bakery
48:43junction home
48:44and attacked a vehicle
48:45taking ED officials
48:46after the raids
48:48were over.
48:50The protesters
48:51blocked the ED team's
48:53vehicle and damaged
48:54its windshield
48:55using brakes and rods
48:56while raising slogans
48:58against the central agency.
49:03Earlier,
49:04CPM workers
49:05had hurled helmets,
49:07bottles and stones
49:08while some tried
49:09to force entry
49:10into the former
49:11chief minister's residence.
49:16The ED suspects
49:17that the mob violence
49:19was organized
49:19to disrupt the searches.
49:23The raids were part
49:24of the ED's
49:25intensified probe
49:26into the alleged
49:27money laundering case
49:28linked to payments
49:29made to ExaLogic Solutions
49:31an IT firm
49:32owned by Pindrai Vijayan's
49:34daughter,
49:35Veena Vijayan.
49:36The agency
49:36carried out searches
49:37at multiple locations
49:39across Kerala
49:40over alleged payments
49:41worth 1.7
49:43to 2.7 crore
49:44rupees
49:45made by mining firm
49:46CMRL.
49:47The ED alleges
49:49that the payments
49:50were made for services
49:51which were never delivered.
49:55Vijayan has dismissed
49:57the allegations
49:58against his daughter
49:59accusing the Narendra Modi
50:01government
50:01of vendetta politics.
50:03He claimed
50:04the raid would make
50:05Rahul Gandhi happy
50:06as he had raised
50:07the issue
50:08in the election campaign.
50:12Shalom kallam.
50:14Waliyah.
50:17Another problem
50:19is
50:21Jahaul Gandhi
50:22left the issue
50:22because
50:24we are
50:24not ready
50:26to come in
50:26the
50:26Narendra Modi
50:27behind the
50:27Narendra Modi
50:31against the
50:31Narendra Modi
50:32against the
50:33Press.
50:36We are
50:38thankful
50:38work
50:39and
50:41we
50:41are
50:45a
50:49CPIM leaders have claimed that the raids are politically motivated.
51:21The search has come as the latest challenge for the CPIM veteran after being voted out of power last month.
51:28With Shivimol KG, Bureau Report, India Today.
51:37Troubling scenes from Kerala. Remember, the ED seems to operate or be hyperactive in opposition-ruled states.
51:43Let me leave you with our good news today's story, and it's a story and a half.
51:49Minerva Football Academy from Punjab has created history by defeating Liverpool FC, the mighty Liverpool 6-0,
51:57in the under-15 category at the prestigious Mediterranean International Cup.
52:02The tournament has previously featured stars like Lionel Messi and Neymar.
52:06The stunning win is seen as a major boost for India's football future.
52:11Either way, what did it take for a small club from Punjab to do the seemingly impossible?
52:18Good news today.
52:27A football team from Punjab did the unthinkable a month ago.
52:37Mojali-based Minerva Football Academy stunned Liverpool in the under-15 category in the Mediterranean International Cup.
52:46And they did it in style, winning the match 6-0.
53:15Mojali-based Minerva Football Academy
53:27The founder of the academy is thrilled.
53:32Mojali-based Minerva Football Academy
53:53World's top players like Messi and Neymar had featured in the MIC tournament during their younger days.
53:59A victory on the global stage spells hope for India's football dreams.
54:07With Aseem Bassi, Bureau Report, India Today.
54:15My ambition is one day or my dream is one day to see India play in the World Cup football.
54:21Don't know whether that will ever happen.
54:23But I want to leave you with our image of the day.
54:25A Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, C. Joseph Vijay, the man who's made all the headlines, was in Delhi today for
54:31the first time since taking charge as Chief Minister.
54:34Met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, gave him a list of demands which included the Mekadatu Dam issue with Karnataka,
54:41Vande Matram Rao, where he wants the Tamil anthem to be put before Vande Matram at official functions and many
54:47more.
54:48He also met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman, where he highlighted Tamil Nadu's fast-paced economic growth,
54:54sought priority funding for major infrastructure projects.
54:58Vijay, of course, has been one of the stars of this election season.
55:02Thanks for watching.
55:03You stay well, stay safe.
55:04Good night, Shubhra 3.
55:06Jai Hind.
55:07Namaskar.
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