By-election: Voting tomorrow
Bengaluru, November 2: The voting for the by-election to three Lok Sabha and two Assembly constituencies in the state would be held on November 3 from 7 am and the Election Commission has made all preparation for conducting smooth and fair election.
The by-election which is considered as the referendum for the forthcoming Lok Sabha election, created a tough fight between Congress-JDS and opposition BJP and tried to woo the voters in their own way.
The voter would seal the fate of candidates VS Ugrappa, J Shanta, Madhu Bangarappa, BY Raghavendra, LR Shivarame Gowda, Dr Siddaramaiah, Anitha Kumaraswamy, Anand Nyama Gowda and Srikanth Kulkarni in the EVMs on November 3.
Total 6453 polling booths including 57 pink polling stations in Ballary, Shivamogga, Mandya, Ramanagara and Jamakhandi constituencies and 1502 sensitive polling stations were set up. Along with the local police, 39 platoons of central reserve police force were deployed for the duty.
Total 9822 ballot units, 8438 control units and 8922 VVPAT machines were being used for the voting and web-casting would be done in 130 polling stations and 1312 micro observers were appointed, the Election Commission said.
Total 54.54 lakh voters including 27.21 lakh male and 27.30 female voters would cast their votes in five constituencies. For the first time, vehicle facility was made for physically disabled voters to come to polling stations and vote.
Drilling for winning
In order to woo the electorate, the candidates, local leaders have been visiting the houses in the last day of campaigning. They have also been trying to woo the voters in the last moment with all means. Following possible distribution of money and liquor by the candidates, the Election Commission is keeping a strict vigil on the activities of the political leaders and took many people who tried to distribute money and liquor to the voters into custody.
As Ramanagara BJP candidate Chandrashekar backtracked from the election in the last moment, the BJP has planned to knock the Election Commission to postpone the election in Ramanagara.
The Election Commission has already banned sales of liquor in all the five constituencies and imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144. The counting of votes would be held at respective constituencies on November 6 and the result would be announced on the same day.
“The Election Commission will apply indelible ink on the pointing finger of the left arm in three Lok Sabha and two Assembly by-elections to be held on November 3”.
- Sanjeev Kumar, Chief Election Commissioner
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UK Professor Nitasha Kaul's Overseas Citizenship of India cancelled
Academician decries move as "transnational repression"
London/New Delhi: Professor Nitasha Kaul, a London-based academic, announced on May 18, 2025, via a social media post that her Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) card has been cancelled by the Indian government. She described the move as a "bad faith, vindictive, cruel example of transnational repression" intended to punish her for her scholarly work critical of the Modi government's policies concerning minorities and democracy.
The cancellation follows an incident in February 2024 when Professor Kaul, who holds a British passport and held an OCI card, was denied entry into India upon arrival at Bengaluru airport. She had been invited by the then Congress-led Karnataka state government to speak at a conference on "The Constitution and Unity in India."
According to an image of the letter shared by Professor Kaul, the Indian government stated that it had been "brought to the notice of the Government of India that you have been found indulging in anti-India activities, motivated by malice and complete disregard for facts or history." The letter further accused her of regularly targeting India and its institutions on matters of India's sovereignty through "numerous inimical writings, speeches and journalistic activities at various international forums and on social media platforms."
Professor Kaul, who is a Professor of Politics, International Relations, and Critical Interdisciplinary Studies and the Director of the Centre for the Study of Democracy (CSD) at the University of Westminster, London, vehemently rejects these accusations. She stated she had provided a 20,000-word response to what she termed the government's "ridiculous inanity about ‘anti-India’," but the OCI was cancelled through a "rigged process."
In her social media posts, Professor Kaul lamented the decision, questioning how the "mother of democracy" could deny her access to her mother in India. She characterized the action as stemming from "thin-skinned, petty insecurity with no respect for well-intentioned dissent."
The February 2024 denial of entry had already sparked controversy. At the time, immigration officials reportedly cited "orders from Delhi" without providing formal reasons, though Professor Kaul mentioned informal references to her past criticism of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The Ministry of External Affairs had then responded by stating that the entry of foreign nationals into India is a "sovereign decision." Unofficial government sources had indicated that a "preventive lookout circular" was issued against her due to her alleged "pro-separatist" and "anti-India" stance on Kashmir.
The BJP in Karnataka had criticised the state government for inviting her, labelling her an "anti-India element." Conversely, the then-Karnataka government and various international human rights organizations and academic bodies had condemned the denial of entry.
Professor Kaul has been an outspoken commentator on Indian politics, including the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, and has testified before international bodies such as the US Congress on human rights in the region. She maintains her work is academic and pro-democracy, not anti-India.
The cancellation of her OCI card effectively bars her from entering India, a country to which she has personal and academic ties. This incident adds to a growing list of academics, journalists, and activists of Indian origin whose OCI status has been revoked or who have been denied entry to India in recent years, raising concerns about freedom of speech and dissent. Reports indicate that over 100 OCI cards were cancelled by the Indian government between 2014 and May 2023. Furthermore, in 2021, new rules were introduced requiring OCI cardholders to obtain special permission for activities such as research and journalism.
