अपने ही खेल में बुरी तरह फंसा चुनाव आयोग, लोकसभा चुनाव 2024 में भयंकर धांधली? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymMH8G_Cf9o Jul 8, 2024 कोर्ट के आदेश के बाद चुनाव आयोग ने दिए CCTV फुटेज, सुप्रीम कोर्ट सीनियर वकील ने फुल एक्सपोज कर दिया! सुप्रीम कोर्ट में सबूतों के साथ पहुंचे वकील, लोकसभा चुनाव 2024 में NDA को बहुमत नहीं मिला, भयंकर धांधली? Legal storm brews: criminal complaint by adv Mehmood Pracha alleges massive election manipulation by ECI and senior BJP leaders https://sabrangindia.in/legal-storm-brews-criminal-complaint-by-adv-mehmood-pracha-alleges-massive-election-manipulation-by-eci-and-senior-bjp-leaders/ SABRANGINDIA JUNE 15, 2024 Detailed complaint outlines systematic election manipulation favouring BJP and calls for for investigation due to allegations of EVM tampering and procedural violations...Individuals affiliated with the BJP, such as Mansukhbhai Shamjibhai Khachariya, Dr. Shivnath Yadav, Ms. Shyama Singh, Mr. PV Parthasarathi, and Mr. Krishna Bihari Rai, were appointed as Directors in BEL and ECIL. These appointments according to the complaint were a part of a broader scheme to keep the EVM manufacturing process secretive and manipulatable full text: https://sabrangindia.in/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Complaint_against_Election_Commission_of_India1-1-1.pdf

Gram Panchayats should be delegated more authority and power to raise revenue from local taxes to make them more citizen-oriented and ensure proper implementation of the 73^rd Constitutional Amendment Act of 1992, according to a World Bank policy research paper released last week. https://theprint.in/india/world-bank-paper-bats-for-more-authority-to-gram-panchayats-rely-almost-entirely-on-grants/2125152/ 

Over three decades after the passage of the 73^rd Amendment, which was aimed at decentralisation of power and decision-making from the Centre and states to PRIs, “Panchayats are not quite independently functioning units. They rely almost entirely on grants made by state and national authorities,” the paper underlines.

“Panchayats’ autonomy will always be curtailed if they cannot raise revenue levels from above the very low-levels at which they stand. Tax collection by Panchayats could improve with devolution of functions: when Panchayats are seen to be responsible for a wider range of tasks, their legitimacy improves in the eyes of the citizens, which could translate to greater local revenues,” the paper says.

by RISHA CHITLANGIA

10/06/2024

Two Hundred and Fifty-Thousand Democracies : A Review of Village Government in India (English)

https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/099352506052423764/idu19460152816e9c1407d1974312e8ea5706cd3 

To read full report click the above link

A long Institutional Road   https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/pratap-bhanu-mehta-writes-on-recent-supreme-court-verdicts-hold-the-celebrations-9176080/lite/  by Pratap Bhanu Mehta  February 23, 2024 s: On recent Supreme Court verdicts, hold the celebrations
While SC judgments on electoral bonds and Chandigarh mayoral election are welcome, they ought not to merely be an episodic legitimisation of the façade of constitutionalism. They need to be part of a pattern that challenges the consolidation of authoritarianism and communalism

One has to keep two features of political legitimation in mind. The first is that any institution, particularly the Court, has to often balance not antagonising the executive with considerations of its own legitimacy. If its own legitimacy collapses, it poses a threat to the existence of the institution....where the Courts have a track record of facilitating the Executive’s authoritarian or repressive agenda, it should not come as a surprise that there are decisions that do not favour the government’s positions. Often these decisions will be in areas which actually do not attack the government’s core ideological project, such as Hindutva-related issues or a civil liberties issue, where the government has a serious rather than a peripheral political stake...

You would have thought that a week in which an initiative by the government like electoral bonds was declared unconstitutional, or an election officer was blatantly fixing a mayoral poll, would embarrass the BJP. But these actions are not seen as a sign of the moral inadequacy, institutional untrustworthiness or threat to democracy posed by the ruling BJP. They are, at most, considered tactical mistakes, or minor stupidities, of no consequence electorally.

WA FM - I disagree often with him but this is a really excellent analysis... Just goes straight into the heart of the matter
It is also an indictment of our own society

 

'Democratic Backsliding In India?' Ashoka University Faculty's Paper Stirs Major Row With Electoral Manipulation Charge  https://www.outlookindia.com/national/-democratic-backsliding-in-india-ashoka-university-faculty-s-paper-stirs-major-row-with-electoral-manipulation-charge-news-309827 On August 1, the University issued a statement saying it is dismayed by the speculation and debate around a recent paper by one of its faculty members, Sabyasachi Das, and the university's position on its contents. ..The University’s response was described by some academicians as an act of cowardice and the BJP was equally critical of it, saying, “How can any University allow it.”

The paper titled “Democratic Backsliding in the World’s Largest Democracy”  https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/SSRN_ID4528365_code3073096.pdf?abstractid=4512936 published on July 25, in its abstract says, “This paper contributes to the discussion by documenting irregular patterns in the 2019 general election in India and identifying whether they are due to electoral manipulation or precise control, i.e., incumbent party’s ability to precisely predict and affect win margins through campaigning.”

S Sen on Whats app: Apparently, the University came under tremendous pressure: Political and defence analyst [and a known rabid saffronite] Abhijit Iyer-Mitra, described the “research” as crap. He said it is the second time one of the professors of the University has put out bogus “research” in just one year. Mitra called for an immediate review of Ashoka’s accreditation.