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Only 24K overseas Indians registered as voters, 98% of them are from Kerala

Agencies
August 13, 2017

New Delhi, Aug 13: A little over 24,000 overseas Indians, who are entitled to cast their ballot in India, have registered themselves as voters.

Now, in a bid to attract more such Indian citizens living abroad to become voters here, the Election Commission has launched a portal which allows them to register online.

The portal also has a long list of frequently asked questions to help people understand the procedure.

While there are no estimates on the number of overseas Indians eligible to vote in India, only 24,348 have registered with the poll panel.

Out of these, 23,556 are from Kerala, 364 from Punjab and 14 from Gujarat, according to the data provided by the Commission.

According to the ‘Overseas Indian Voters’ portal, an overseas elector is a person who is a citizen of India and who has not acquired citizenship of any other country.

The portal can be accessed through the Election Commission website: eci.nic.in.

Such people are eligible to be registered as voters in the constituency in which their place of residence in India, as mentioned in their original Indian passport in which visa endorsement has been made, is located.

Once their name is registered as a voter, the election officials of the constituency concerned will inform the overseas Indian by post on his or latest address abroad.

But, the portal clarifies, that overseas electors are not issued an election photo identity card as they are allowed to cast vote in an election in the constituency in person at the polling station on showing their original passport.

Data shows that only 10,000 to 12,000 NRIs have voted because they do not want to spend foreign currency to come to India and exercise their franchise.

Now, things may change as the Union Cabinet had on August 2 cleared a proposal to extend proxy voting to overseas Indians by amending electoral laws.

While NRIs and overseas Indians are free to cast their votes in constituencies where they are registered, according to the proposal, they would also be allowed to use the option of proxy, which as of now is only available to service personnel.

An expert committee in the Election Commission working on the issue had, in 2015, forwarded the legal framework to the law ministry to amend electoral laws to allow overseas Indians use proxy voting.

But for every election, the overseas voters will have to name a new person as their proxy.

Proxy voting is allowed for members of the armed forces.

The bill to allow the new provision for overseas voters could not be introduced in the Monsoon session of Parliament which ended on Friday.

Comments

Mohammed Farooq
 - 
Monday, 14 Aug 2017

whats the portal link

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coastaldigest.com news network
July 27,2020

Udupi, Jul 27: Karnataka chief minister B S Yediyurappa has appointed BJP leader Lalaji R Mendon as the new chairman of the State Backward Classes Commission.

Mendon is a three-time MLA from the Kapu Assembly constituency. During his second term as MLA, he was the Director in Konkan Railway’s Board.

Mr Yediyurappa has appointed 24 MLAs to different corporations in the state. Mendon is only one from coastal Karnataka.

Mendon is the only MLA representing BJP from fishermen's community. He was the president of Kaup unit of BJP Yuvamorcha. He also served as the state BJP secretary.

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coastaldigest.com news network
July 28,2020

Bengaluru, July 28: Former prime minister and JD(S) chief H D Deve Gowda today threatened to launch a state-wide agitation in against the amendments made to the Karnataka Land Reforms Act.

Gowda’s opposition to the new law comes even as Congress leader Siddaramaiah is also doggedly pursuing it.

Demanding that the state government immediately rollback the ordinance empowering these amendments, the octogenarian leader said he personally would take to streets if the government failed to budge.

The B S Yediyurappa government has liberalised the land reforms law by removing restrictions on non-agriculturists from purchasing and owning farm lands.

The government has also amended the APMC Act and has tweaked labour laws, which are all “against the interest of the state and must be rolled back,” Gowda said.

Speaking to reporters here, Gowda stated that he had already written thrice to Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa in this regard. "The ordinances have to be taken back. The amendments to Karnataka Land Reforms Act, by repealing sections 79-A, B and C, is an anti-farmer move. The APMC Act amendment, too, is against the interest of the state. The government has failed to speak about the impact of these amendments," said Gowda, who is now a Rajya Sabha member.

Elaborating on the amendment to the Land Reform Act, the JD(S) patriarch opined that by throwing open agricultural land ownership to anybody at all, the government was only helping real estate developers while pushing farmers into a “vulnerable” situation.

Amidst all this, there are now reports of funds misappropriation in Covid-19 relief measures and in procurement of medical equipment, he said, adding that it seemed like only the corrupt became stronger over time.

Further, Gowda lambasted both national parties for creating political unrest, referring to the ongoing political crisis in Rajasthan and the recent developments in Madhya Pradesh. However, he added that he would not wish to dwell on it much, while emphasising that his focus was primarily on strengthening his own party at this point in time.

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News Network
January 28,2020

Nagpur, Jan 28: A 19-year-old woman was allegedly raped and an iron rod was inserted in her private parts by a man in the Pardi area here, police said on Monday.

The gruesome incident took place on January 21 and the accused, Yogilal Rahangdale (52), was arrested from Gondia district, they said.

The accused was working as a supervisor in a spinning mill where the woman was employed as a labourer, the police said.

The woman, her brother, the accused and another girl lived in rented accommodations in Pardi.

Inspector Sunil Chavan of the Pardi police station said that the woman's brother and her female friend had gone to their village on January 21 for some work.

As the woman was alone at home, Rahangdale attempted to rape her in the night. When she resisted, he stuffed a piece of cloth in her mouth, he said.

When she fell unconscious, the accused raped her and inserted an iron rod in her private parts, Chavan said, quoting from the complaint filed by the victim.

She narrated the incident to her brother on January 24 and they subsequently lodged a complaint with the police.

An offence was registered against the accused at the Pardi police station.

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