New Delhi: Following the BJP's strong performance in the Haryana Assembly elections, speculations are rife regarding the composition of the new state government. Sources indicate that Nayab Singh Saini is poised to return as Chief Minister, with the potential support of two deputy chief ministers.
This development is consistent with a growing trend across Indian states, where the appointment of multiple deputy chief ministers is becoming increasingly common. In the aftermath of last year's elections, seven out of nine states that went to the polls appointed deputy chief ministers, including Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Meghalaya, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, and Nagaland.
The recent elevation of Udhayanidhi Stalin as Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu has also contributed to this trend, bringing the total number of states with such positions to 15 and the overall count of deputy chief ministers to 24.
The Indian Constitution does not explicitly provide for the role of deputy chief ministers. While the position holds the same rank as a cabinet minister in terms of pay and perks, it carries substantial political weight, particularly in coalition scenarios. The Constitution's Articles 163(1) and 164(1) outline the structure of the Council of Ministers and the appointment of ministers but make no reference to the role of deputy chief ministers.
However, the post has increasingly been used to ensure political stability, address leadership crises, and balance caste and community dynamics. For instance, Bihar has two deputy chief ministers, Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha, appointed after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s return to the NDA fold.
On February 12, 2024, the Supreme Court dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the appointment of deputy chief ministers. The top court concluded that the position is fundamentally ministerial, asserting that the title of deputy chief minister is more of a label without legal implications regarding equality under Article 14.
Many states, particularly under BJP governance, have adopted the model of appointing one chief minister and two deputy chief ministers. However, Gujarat remains an exception, with Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel opting not to appoint any deputy since assuming office in 2021.
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New Delhi(PTI): Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale on Monday said 1.26 crore voters have been "deleted" from Bihar's electoral rolls following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise and challenged the government to a debate on the issue in Parliament.
Sharing the Election Commission's SIR data in a post on X, Gokhale said the poll panel "conveniently" did not share any information regarding its claim of having found foreign nationals in Bihar.
As the month-long first phase of the SIR has concluded, the EC on Sunday said that enumeration forms from 7.24 crore or 91.69 per cent of voters of the state have been received.
It also said 36 lakh people were found to have either permanently shifted from their previous addresses or were not found. It pointed out that seven lakh Bihar voters were found to have enrolled themselves at multiple places.
"ECI has deleted 1.26 crore voters in Bihar from the 2024 Lok Sabha voter list overnight," Gokhale, the TMC Rajya Sabha MP, said on X.
Calling the details revealed by the EC "bizarre", Gokhale pointed out that of a total of 7.90 crore voters, forms have been collected from only 91.69 per cent -- 7.24 crore voters.
"This means that forms were not collected from 65 lakh voters, and they will be deleted. About 22 lakh voters (2.83 per cent) have been deleted because they're claimed to be deceased, about 36 lakh voters (4.59 per cent) have been deleted because they're claimed to be untraceable, and about 7 lakh voters (0.89 per cent) claimed to be found as duplicate entries so half i.e. 3.5 lakh entries deleted," he said.
"ECI has conveniently not disclosed how many voters were found to be non-citizens of India. This is important because ECI had claimed that the SIR was being done to 'remove illegal immigrants'," Gokhale said.
EC sources had earlier said their field-level functionaries found "a large number of people" from Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar during house-to-house visits made for the ongoing intensive review of the voters' list in Bihar.
Gokhale further said the names "deleted" were on the voters' list in the last Lok Sabha polls.
"A total of 1.26 crore voters in Bihar, whose names were on the Lok Sabha 2024 voter list just one year ago, have been deleted from the new voter list," he said.
"To give you a comparable idea, the number of deleted voters in Bihar during the current SIR is equal to the entire combined population of Uttarakhand plus Himachal Pradesh or the entire combined population of all 6 states of the North-East (excluding Assam)," he said.
He said EC needed to answer some questions "urgently".
"The voter list was revised by ECI before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. How on earth did 1.26 crore voters become ineligible in just one year?" he said.
"How many voters has the ECI been unable to reach for collecting their forms? Under the rules of SIR, those whose forms were not collected will be deleted. Therefore, what is the total number of voters whose names have been deleted only because their forms were not collected?" he questioned.
He said the EC has not collected documents along with the forms from all 7.24 crore voters.
"Does this mean that more voters will be deleted if their documents have not been collected with their forms?"
He reiterated West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's statement that the SIR exercise "is NRC by the back door".
"ECI had claimed 'removing foreigners from the voter list' as one of the reasons for conducting this SIR. Why has the ECI not disclosed how many actual 'foreigners' were found and deleted from the voter list during this SIR?" he said.
"It makes zero sense that 12 million people in Bihar have become 'ineligible' voters in just one year between the 2024 Lok Sabha elections till date... When 12 million people in a single state lose the right to vote overnight, it is a serious issue," he said.
He added that the opposition MPs have been pressing for a debate on the issue.
"Why is the Modi Govt so scared to have an open discussion on this in Parliament?" he added.
Meanwhile, the EC has asserted that no names will be deleted from draft rolls without following due process.
VERY IMPORTANT AND SHOCKING
— Saket Gokhale MP (@SaketGokhale) July 28, 2025
ECI has deleted 1.26 CRORE voters in Bihar from the 2024 Lok Sabha voter list OVERNIGHT
Last night, the ECI published details of ongoing "special intensive revision" of the electoral roll being conducted in Bihar. The deadline for collection of forms… pic.twitter.com/E7x2egYfCw