Uttar Pradesh's chief electoral officer, Navdeep Rinwa, has asked senior officers from 23 enforcement agencies to coordinate closely and keep a tight watch on money, alcohol and narcotics ahead of the 2027 assembly polls.
Each assembly seat will get nine flying squads and nine static surveillance teams. The Election Commission is also flagging constituencies that need extra scrutiny, using seizure data from the 2022 assembly and 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Seizures will be logged on a shared web portal so every agency can act on them quickly.
The draft voter list for all 117 Punjab Assembly seats is out under the 2027 Special Summary Revision. Requests to add names or fix entries can be filed until December 11, and the final list is due on January 4, 2027.
Voters can check their entries on the CEO Punjab website or the ECI's Voters' Service Portal. Anyone who turns 18 by January 1, 2027 can apply to enrol, and assistance desks are open at district election offices.
Forms 6 to 8 cover new enrolment, overseas voters, deletions and corrections or address changes. Questions can go to the Voter Helpline on 1950.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has claimed that 1.27 crore names were removed from the state's electoral rolls. AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi, speaking at a press conference in Lucknow alongside ASP (Kanshi Ram) chief Chandrashekhar Azad, has asked the Election Commission to publish the list of deleted names and explain how the figure was reached.
Owaisi also pointed to Election Commission data that he said shows 2.89 crore deletions overall, including 46 lakh marked deceased, 25 lakh duplicates, 1.3 crore shifted and 87.19 lakh absent.
Congress begins a statewide Haryana campaign today, with public meetings until November 24. Called Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao Chaupal Abhiyan, it targets what the party sees as problems in how elections are run.
State chief Rao Narender Singh and Sanjay Dutt will tour the state with Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Kumari Selja and Randeep Singh Surjewala.
The party alleges the 2024 Haryana Assembly vote was tilted toward the BJP through manipulation and flawed voter rolls. It has also questioned the Election Commission's accountability under Gyanesh Kumar.
The Election Commission has extended poll-period neutrality rules to retired officials and re-employed state government staff. They are barred from taking part in election campaigns or canvassing.
Voters who were on the roll before the Special Intensive Revision but are now missing can file Form 6 again without fear of action. That protection does not cover anyone already registered in another assembly constituency.
The guidance was shared on X by the Uttar Pradesh chief electoral officer.
The first round of checks on EVMs and VVPAT machines for the Punjab assembly elections begins across the state on Thursday.
State chief electoral officer Anindita Mitra said the Election Commission requires this testing so that only working machines are used. Engineers from Bharat Electronics Limited will carry out the checks under district election officers, and only machines that pass will be used in the polls.
The whole process will be webcast live from all 23 locations. Political parties have been asked to send representatives to observe it.
DMK chief M.K. Stalin has asked President Droupadi Murmu to refer a complaint against CEC Gyanesh Kumar to Parliament. It concerns 97.37 lakh voters removed from Tamil Nadu's rolls in the 2025 SIR.
He pointed to two fellow commissioners who said they were kept out of certain decisions. He claimed the deletions in Tamil Nadu and elsewhere skewed results in several seats.
He wants the President to seek the PM's input, bar Kumar from using the Commission's powers meanwhile, and restore pre-SIR rolls for Tamil Nadu. He also wants the SIR cancelled in all states.
Former Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan used a BJP rally in Sambalpur to attack Congress over its stance on democracy and the Election Commission. He said the party backs these institutions only when it wins.
Pradhan also said Congress and the Gandhi family were growing more intolerant as voters kept backing PM Modi. The BJP will continue such rallies across the country, he added.
Panchayati raj minister Rabinarayani Naik described questioning the Election Commission after defeats as a feudal mindset.
The Election Commission has extended its Model Code of Conduct to retired officials engaged by the governments of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur, all of which are heading to the polls.
Until now, no specific rules governed these retirees. The same limits that bind serving staff will now apply to them during the code period.
State governments are also barred from calling election officers in districts or constituencies where polls are announced to official meetings or video conferences. The EC has warned of strict action for any violation.
The Election Commission has told the Delhi High Court that an objection still holds up a decision on registering Waris Punjab De as a political party. Its inquiry through Punjab's chief electoral officer is still pending.
The objection came in July 2026 and alleged the group had separatist roots. The party first applied in January 2025.
If the inquiry comes back favourable, the party must still publish public notices and allow 30 days for objections. The High Court hears the case again on January 11, 2027.
The Election Commission of India has extended deadlines again for the third phase of its voter roll revision. Most states now need five to six months, compared with 98 days in Bihar.
Delhi has had the most extensions, and its final roll is now due on December 22 instead of October 7. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra have also been pushed back several times, with Maharashtra publishing on November 30.
The delays follow a surge in Form 6 applications and voter entries that fail logical checks, which has led to lakhs of notices and hearings.
Congress leader Sachin Pilot has attacked the Election Commission of India, accusing it of failing in its duties. He called the actions of commissioner Gyanesh Kumar unlawful and unconstitutional.
Pilot also backed Rahul Gandhi's claims, asking why one person out of about 1.4 billion citizens has been given protection for life.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court sought replies from the Centre and the ECI on a petition challenging a 2023 provision that bars civil and criminal cases against election commissioners over official acts, even where bad faith is alleged.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has called for substantive discussions in Parliament, free of disruptions, ahead of the Winter session expected to start late this month or early next month.
Asked about the SIR electoral roll revision, he said the Business Advisory Committee will decide what gets taken up. He has also received no notice to impeach Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, though the opposition is demanding his resignation.
At a Public Accounts Committee conference, he stressed that budgeted money must be monitored to make sure it is used for its intended purpose.
On Monday the Election Commission of India starts checking how ready Uttar Pradesh is for the 2027 assembly polls, beginning with 18 districts across four divisions.
Manish Garg, a senior deputy election commissioner, will lead the review alongside fellow commission officials, and state election chief Navdeep Rinwa will also take part. Local officials will present on staffing, vehicles, voter lists, voting machines and awareness drives.
The meeting in Meerut begins at 10.30 am, and the team will then cover the rest of the state's divisions and districts.
The Election Commission of India has fixed November 12 for publishing the draft voter list ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, with the final list due January 4.
Officials were told to flag voters who are absent, have moved, appear twice, or have died. The draft will be shared online, at polling stations, and with party representatives.
People will get roughly a month to submit additions, deletions or corrections using Forms 6, 7 and 8. Special drives in schools and colleges will also aim to register first-time voters.
The Election Commission has approved a reshuffle of polling stations across all 403 Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, cutting their total by 3,786. The state will now have 1,73,730 stations, down from 1,77,516, Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa said.
The changes are based on a benchmark of 1,200 voters per station, applied across all 75 districts.
The draft electoral roll for the Special Summary Revision, which uses January 1, 2027 as its qualifying date, will be published at these new stations. Voters whose stations have changed will be informed in writing through booth level officers.
Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday alleged that Chief Eelection Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar is "running the Election Commission under the direct instructions" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
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