Devangee Halder

still not sure why im on twitter; journalist

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[The Indian Express @IndianExpress]

#ExpressInvestigation | 97 voters may not matter in the world’s largest democracy of over 900 million voters but this story from Goa has national significance.

The Indian Express reported that 2 Election Commissioners (ECs) in 3-member Election Commission of India (ECI) objected on record 14 times in 10 months to steps taken by the ECI under Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar — from keep­ing them in the dark to adding new voters and deleting names.

What the 2 ECs, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, primarily warned against — the centralisation of ECINet and cutting out state ground-level officials — has played out in Goa, and its trail is recorded.

Written by: @RitikaChopra__

Read: https://t.co/21kdFV5uwp

[Mohammed Zubair @zoo_bear]

Reminder: Gyanesh Kumar may be the face of these decisions, but he is merely a pawn.

[Rana Ayyub @RanaAyyub]

In Hyderabad last week, this woman who works as a daily wage labourer tells me she is worried she will be thrown out of the country after receiving a notice from the SIR. She carries a bag full of documents, old photographs with parents. The legacy of Gyanesh Kumar !!

[Ritika Chopra @RitikaChopra__]

ECINet was officially launched on January 22, and was built "in strict accordance with the law," CEC Gyanesh Kumar had announced from the stage.

But within the Commission, and within months of the launch, his colleagues were saying the SAME software was weakening the decentralised preparation of the voters' list, which has been the EC's strongest defence against any allegation of mass manipulation.
(3/14)

[Ritika Chopra @RitikaChopra__]

But first, what did the two Commissioners record in writing?

They raised questions over the ECI's IT division, and its head Seema Khanna sitting in New Delhi, centralising control of the country's voters' list through a software, ECINet.

They had WARNED the software was "restricting" the EROs (ground-level officers) from doing their statutory duties of adding, deleting and restoring names on the voters' list.
(2/14)

[Saba Naqvi @_sabanaqvi]

This combination of money, ED and ECI is how the great machinery works. Earlier we used to say cadre work but it’s more now. And these aspects more important.

[Rajat Pandit @IamRajat_Pandit]

Editorials in all prominent newspapers demand clear answers from the #ChiefElectionCommissioner; one also calls for his immediate resignation!

[Prem Panicker @prempanicker]

Senior journalists now saying "It is no secret" that Gyanesh Kumar was a tinpot dictator. Strange, though, that the same journalists never talked about it until the Express investigation ripped the facade.

BTW, this has all the earmarks of the regime getting set to throw Gyanesh under the bus (in any case, his tenure has very little more to go).

[Ashish Joshi @bismil_prasad]

Please don’t reduce the Express report to a “compromised ECI" only .
Put the gaze on the Supreme Court too.
It allowed an executive-heavy appointment process, then upheld SIR as a “constitutional duty,” and left the Commission free to decide in the dark.
CEC drafted the licence. The Court issued it. The Court owns this mess too.

#ResignCEC #InstrospectSupremeCourt

[The Indian Express @IndianExpress]

Good morning, this is the #ExpressFrontPage for today.

Visit https://t.co/PXvAxKPWgD for more.

[Ritika Chopra @RitikaChopra__]

Yesterday, @IndianExpress reported an unprecedented rupture inside the Election Commission: TWO of its three members objecting on record, 14 times in 10 months, to decisions taken without their knowledge.

Today, the second part of our investigation looks at the concern Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi flagged most often: Who really controls our electoral rolls?

We followed that question to Goa, where we found something deeply concerning.

Stay with me....
(1/14) 🧵

[Ashutosh Ranka @AshutoshRanka]

No one should hesitate in saying this.

Gyanesh Kumar is the enemy of India.

[Gautam Bhatia @gautambhatia88]

Always a good time to recall that when SIR was taken to court, the SC first allowed it to become fait accompli by delaying hearings, and then sanctified it.

https://t.co/lFOs7rPo5T

[Ritika Chopra @RitikaChopra__]

The Election Commission is three people, not ONE: a Chief and two Election Commissioners, equal in rank.

By law they decide together. Unanimously if they can, by majority if they can't. Two of three is a majority.
(2/10)

[Ritika Chopra @RitikaChopra__]

The Election Commission of India is under fire like never before.

The SIR has struck 13 crore names off draft rolls, putting the EC at the centre of intense public debate over its role in deciding who gets to vote — and who doesn’t.

HOWEVER, what nobody knew: through that same period, some of the sharpest questions were being asked from inside.

Out today, after months of work. Our #ExpressInvestigation 🧵
(1/10)

[Siddharth @svaradarajan]

Not a smart move by @SuvenduWB right after the BRICS summit to strip Kolkata of street names honouring iconic, historic personalities from Russia, Viet Nam, Germany.

[Dushyant Arora @atti_cus]

Students died due to negligence in Delhi, and a minor was gangraped in a moving vehicle.

Meanwhile Modi’s ministers:

[Parth MN @parthpunter]

Who exactly is Delhi police fact checking here?

Because the accused is openly bragging about his crime

[Ishaan Tharoor @ishaantharoor]

It boggles the mind that, according to a bunch of major lobby groups and institutions here in the US, we are still somehow not supposed to read anything into the rhetoric and actions of Israel's national security minister, or see his messaging as reflective of anything deeper in Israeli society.

[ALUTHEDON @Mbakaza4L]

so give it back then