Bihar polls: Election Commission to meet heads of enforcement agencies
New Delhi (PTI): The Election Commission has convened a meeting of the Committee of Heads of Enforcement Agencies and Heads of Forces on Friday to give a final shape to its strategy to prevent inducement of voters in the Bihar Assembly polls.
The chief secretary and DGP of Bihar will also join the meeting online along with state chief electoral officer.
Aimed at ensuring pro-active and preventive action by each law enforcement agency during the upcoming Bihar elections, the Committee will discuss the strategy to curb covert expenditure by candidatures and political parties.
It will also fine tune cooperation and sharing of intelligence of economic offences amongst law enforcement agencies for effective action, officials said.
Measures to check transportation of smuggled goods, drugs, liquor and cash, including fake currency, through inter-state borders and international borders will also be taken up during the deliberations.
Bihar shares its international border with Nepal.
The Committee includes 17 departments - CBDT, CBIC, ED, DRI, CEIB, FIU-IND, RBI, IBA, NCB, RPF, CISF, BSF, CRPF, SSB, BCAS, AAI and Department of Posts.
The key state goes to polls in two phases on November 6 and 11 while votes will be conducted on November 14.
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Women's quota bill would have ensured defeat of democracy, Constitution: Aaditya Thackeray
Mumbai (PTI): Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Saturday said that the passage of the women's quota bill would have ensured a "total defeat of democracy", alleging that the legislation, linked with a delimitation exercise, was a political tool designed to reduce the voice of states.
Thackeray, in a post on X, claimed that the Bill would have amended the Constitution for the political means of the ruling regime to increase seats, reduce the voice of many states and enable the gerrymandering of constituencies to ensure unfair victories.
"The very amendment that would have ensured the total defeat of democracy and the Constitution in India stands rejected by the unity of the Opposition MPs," he wrote.
The legislation should have been called "Delimitation to ensure unfair victory Bill", the former minister said, adding that there was a genuine need to enable 33 per cent reservation for women in the current number of seats.
"Now, it is up to the government to ensure that it is implemented in the 543 seats of the Lok Sabha for the 2029 elections and all elections across India, if that is the real intent of the government," he wrote.
A Constitution Amendment Bill to implement reservation for women in legislatures in 2029 and increase the number of Lok Sabha seats was defeated on Friday in the Lower House.
While 298 members voted in support of the Bill, 230 MPs voted against it. Out of 528 members who voted, the Bill required 352 votes for a two-thirds majority.
According to the Constitution Amendment Bill, Lok Sabha seats were to be increased to a maximum of 850 from the current 543 to "operationalise" the women's reservation law before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.
