ECI team to visit Bengal to review SIR procedures: Official
Kolkata (PTI): A team from the Election Commission of India (ECI) is likely to visit West Bengal from November 5 to 8 to review the rollout of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, a senior official said on Monday.
The team, led by ECI Principal Secretary SB Joshi and Deputy Secretary Abhinav Agarwal, is likely to inspect the districts of Cooch Behar, Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri, he said.
"During the visit, they will evaluate how Booth Level Officers (BLOs) and Returning Officers (ROs) are performing their duties, and may interact with political representatives. Officials of the Chief Electoral Officer's (CEO) office will also be present during the inspection," the official told PTI.
The ECI team's visit is aimed at ensuring smooth, transparent, and secure implementation of the SIR programme ahead of the 2026 assembly elections, he added.
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Nitish Kumar's son Nishant among 32 to take oath as Bihar ministers
Patna (PTI): In a major expansion of the Cabinet of Bihar's first BJP-led government, JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar's son Nishant Kumar and 31 others took oath as ministers on Thursday in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Altogether 32 leaders, drawn from all constituents of the five-party NDA in the state, were administered the oath of office by Governor Lt Gen (Retd) Syed Ata Hasnain at a grand ceremony that was also attended by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Union Health Minister J P Nadda and BJP president Nitin Nabin.
Prominent inductees included Nishant Kumar, the son of JD(U) president Nitish Kumar, who stepped down as chief minister last month to enter the Rajya Sabha.
The BJP, which is the single largest party in the 243-member assembly with 89 MLAs, has 15 ministers, who took oath on Thursday.
Most of the inductees were those who were part of the Nitish Kumar cabinet formed in November last year after the NDA stormed back to power in the assembly polls.
The JD(U) is represented by a total of 15 ministers, 13 of whom took the oath at the Gandhi Maidan on Thursday. Vijay Kumar Chaudhary and Bijendra Prasad Yadav had taken oath in April along with Samrat Choudhary and were designated as deputy chief ministers.
Sanjay Kumar Singh and Sanjay Kumar Paswan, both from the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) headed by Union minister Chirag Paswan, are back as ministers, and so are Santosh Kumar Suman and Deepak Prakash, sons of Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi of the Hindustani Awam Morcha and Upendra Kushwaha of the Rashtriya Lok Morcha, respectively.
