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Rahul Gandhi cited voters with house number 0 as proof of “vote theft”, now several real voters with house number 0 on their voter IDs speak out: Read details

OpIndia Staff
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Rahul Gandhi cited voters with house number 0 as proof of “vote theft”, now several real voters with house number 0 on their voter IDs speak out: Read details

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi recently levelled massive allegations on the integrity of the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the fairness of elections during a press conference in Delhi. Harping on his same old diatribe about the ECI acting in collusion with the BJP and rigging elections in favour of the ruling party, Gandhi presented some electoral data, which he claimed was collated during an “internal survey” of his party, to support his allegations.

The Congress scion presented the electoral rolls of Karnataka and alleged that a massive vote theft took place in the constituency because his party won fewer seats than expected. Gandhi displayed what he claimed were the electoral rolls of Mahadevapura in Karnataka’s Bangalore Central constituency, which the Congress lost to the BJP. He claimed that his party analysed the Mahadevapura electoral rolls over 6 months and found that of 1,00,250 alleged bogus voters, 40,009 had “fake and invalid addresses” and 10,452 were “bulk voters” registered at common addresses.

He pointed out voter entries with house numbers marked as ‘0’ and voters registered at the same house number to allege that the ECI had added fake voters in the voter list to rig elections in favour of the BJP.

Notably, some media reports later pointed out the same pattern in the electoral rolls of Rahul Gandhi’s own constituency, Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh. The voter list there also has a large number of entries with “House Number 0” and even clusters of dozens of voters registered at the same address.

Why the ECI allots ‘0’ house numbers to voters

‘House Number 0’ and multiple voters registered at the same residential addresses are not fake votes, as claimed by the Leader of the Opposition. The Election Commission often assigns ‘House Number 0’ or ‘notional addresses’ to include voters without well-defined or permanent residential addresses, such as homeless people, those whose houses have no official numbering, or those who failed to enter their full addresses in electoral forms.

Similarly, multiple voters having the same residential addresses can be found in cases of joint families, shared housing or rented accommodations, particularly in rural and semi-urban areas.

Videos of several such voters have emerged, who have voter ID cards with House Number 0 mentioned in the address fields. These voters have explained that they are living in their places for 10-15 years, and have valid voters IDs. The voters said that as their houses were not numbers, ECI officials 0 in place of house number in their voter IDs. They also displayed their Electoral Photo Identity Card (EPIC) mentioning house number 0 in the address field.

A woman in the video can be heard saying that she is being harassed for having house number 0 in their voter cards.

With a vast population comprising people who constantly migrate within the country for various reasons, mostly for job opportunities, maintaining fixed or standardised addresses poses a challenge for the authorities. The problem was highlighted by the Department of Posts in May this year in its policy document, wherein it proposed the creation of digital public infrastructure to standardise addresses. “Despite the centrality of address information in everyday life, frictions exist in how such data is managed, shared and used across India,” the policy document reportedly stated.

Speaking to The Indian Express, some current and former Election Commission officials said the that the in cases where voters lack proper addresses of leave the field blank, they are assigned “notional” addresses to ensure that they are not excluded from the electoral rolls. Election Commission instructions, which date back to 2011, reportedly direct the allocation of addresses in such a manner. These addresses are clearly marked as “notional” in the electoral roll. The instructions were followed in the recent Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar, as well as in the poll-bound states of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Telangana, in May 2023.

The officials further added that the practice of notional addresses, which arises from the ECI’s policy of inclusion, not exclusion, is followed across the country. Citing the example of homeless persons, the EC officials said that the guidelines instruct the Booth Level Officers (BLOs) to verify the address given in Form 6 at night by checking on multiple occasions to confirm that the person sleeps at the given location. In such cases, if the address of a homeless person is verified in this manner, no documentary proof of residence is needed.

According to The Indian Express, a 2011 Election Commission instructed the BLOs that where house numbers have been assigned by the Municipality, those should be used as they also appear on Electors Photo Identity Cards (EPICs) that double as address proof for other government schemes. However, where no official house numbers exist, BLOs are instructed to assign notional numbers to houses starting from 1 in each section. These notional numbers are computer-generated and do not mandatorily match the numbers allotted by the municipality. Oftentimes, municipalities allot ‘0’ as house numbers in illegal colonies to avoid conferring legal status.

Telugu Department Professor in Banaras Hindu University hires contract criminals through students to assault Head of the Dept, two accused arrested

OpIndia Staff
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Telugu Department Professor in Banaras Hindu University hires contract criminals through students to assault Head of the Dept, two accused arrested

Varanasi police on the night of Tuesday,12th August, arrested a contract killer involved in the brutal assault on Banaras Hindu University (BHU) Telugu Department head, Professor C.S. Ramachandra Murthy. The accused, identified as Pramod Kumar alias Ganesh Pasi, was shot in the leg during a brief encounter before being taken into custody.

Police said Pasi confessed to the attack on after being hired by another professor from the same department, Professor Budati Venkateswarlu, who is former Head of the Telugu Department. According to officials, the assailant revealed that the contract was given through a former research scholar from South India, who had personal ties to the professor.

An internal dispute sparked the attack

Investigations suggest the motive behind the attack stemmed from a heated dispute between Professor Murthy and Professor Venkateswarlu. Upset over certain matters, the former Head of Department decided to “teach him a lesson” and sought the help of two of his former research students from Telangana. He told the students, Bhaskar and Modgu Kasim Babu, that the current HoD was harassing him, and was not letting him work.

The former students then contacted an acquaintance named Mohammed Kasim in Prayagraj for the job. The three arrived at Varanasi on 25 July, and met with Ganesh Pasi, who engaged two other contract criminals to carry out the assault. The attackers were given a motorbike near the BHU campus to approach their target.

The brutal assault

On the evening of 28th July, as Prof. Murthy was heading home to Brij Enclave Colony from the campus around 6:30 p.m., the two assailants waited near the Birla Hostel crossing. Armed with steel rods, they brutally beat the professor, leaving him with multiple fractures in both arms. After the attack, they escaped via the highway.

Bystanders rushed the injured professor to BHU Trauma Centre, where he was treated. Following his complaint, police registered an FIR and formed three teams to track down the attackers.

The arrest and encounter

DCP Crime Saravanan T. said that during a late-night vehicle checking operation in the Nuaav area, police spotted Pasi. On seeing officers, he tried to flee through a different route. When police ordered him to stop, he fired at them with a locally made gun.

In retaliatory fire, a bullet struck Pasi’s leg, causing him to collapse. He was taken to BHU Trauma Centre for treatment and later formally arrested. Police recovered a pistol from his possession.

According to police, the original plan was to attack Prof. Murthy outside the university premises. However, after conducting reconnaissance, the attackers decided to strike inside the campus. The entire assault was orchestrated jointly by the former Head of the Department of Telugu, the former student, and the contract killer.

On the next day of the incident, 29th July, BHU professors held a protest at Singh Dwar (main gate), seeking arrest within the police station itself. The protest occupied the entry gate for a while, which resulted in a confrontation between the police and the protesters. The senior officers, including the ACP, managed to calm down the crowd, promising prompt action.

Pasi is currently in custody, and Bhaskar, one of the students who contacted the criminals, have been arrested. His Aadhaar card details were found from a hotel where they had stayed, and this led to his arrest. Police have also traced online financial transactions used in the crime. The officials stated they are attempting to arrest everyone implicated in the conspiracy.

The arrested persons have confessed that they were asked to attack the professor to intimidate him, and not to kill him.

A silent confession of losses? US dodges questions on number of F-16s downed during Operation Sindoor, deflects with “ask Pakistan” for answers

OpIndia Staff
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A silent confession of losses? US dodges questions on number of F-16s downed during Operation Sindoor, deflects with “ask Pakistan” for answers

The United States has refused to answer questions about whether Pakistan lost any of its F-16 fighter jets during Operation Sindoor the fierce 88-hour battle fought between India and Pakistan from 7th May to 10th May.

According to a report by NDTV, when it asked the US State Department about the matter, the reply was brief: “We refer you to the Government of Pakistan to discuss its F-16s.”

The US has detailed agreements with Pakistan about its F-16 fleet. Under these “end-use” agreements, US contractors called Technical Support Teams (TSTs) are stationed in Pakistan round the clock. Their job is to track and monitor the use of Pakistan’s American-built F-16s at all times. This arrangement ensures the US always knows exactly how many jets are operational, where they are, and what condition they are in.

This latest US response stands in contrast to what American officials had said in 2019. Back then, shortly after India’s airstrikes on Balakot, Foreign Policy magazine quoted two senior US defence officials saying that they had counted all of Pakistan’s F-16s and found none missing contradicting India’s claim that it had shot one down.

Now, three months after Operation Sindoor, Indian authorities believe the situation is different. According to Indian assessments, the Pakistan Air Force lost several F-16s during the fighting either destroyed on the ground in Indian Air Force (IAF) strikes or shot down in aerial combat.

On Saturday, 9th August, in a significant claim three months after the end of hostilities in May, the Indian Air Force chief said, ”Shahbaz Jacobabad airfield (was) one of the major airfields that was attacked. Here, there’s an F-16 hangar.” He added, “One half of the hangar is gone. And I’m sure there were some aircraft inside which have got damaged there.”

While talking about the IAF ground strikes, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh said, “Three hangars that we attacked: Sukkur – UAV [Unmanned Aerial Vehicle] hangar, the Bholari hangar of the AEW&C [Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft] and Jacobabad – the F-16 hangar. We have an indication of at least one AEW&C in that AEW&C hangar and a few F-16s, which were under maintenance.”

The IAF also claims it shot down six Pakistani aircraft during the battle: five fighters and one larger aircraft, which could have been either an electronic intelligence (ELINT) or AEW&C aircraft. However, the Air Chief did not name the exact fighter types destroyed.

Pakistan has strongly rejected these claims. Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif challenged India to allow an independent verification of both countries’ aircraft inventories. “If the truth is in question, let both sides open their aircraft inventories to independent verification though we suspect this would lay bare the reality India seeks to obscure,” he said.

This is not the first time the US has stayed quiet on the issue. Earlier, NDTV had filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the US Department of Defence with the same set of questions. The reply was that FOIA does not require US agencies to compile new information or answer direct questions, it only obliges them to release existing records. Later queries to the Pentagon and to the Office of the US Secretary of Defence’s Public Affairs division also went unanswered.

For now, the exact number of F-16s Pakistan may have lost, if any, during Operation Sindoor remains unconfirmed. The US, despite having teams in Pakistan monitoring the jets 24/7, is staying officially silent, and both India and Pakistan are sticking to their own versions of events.

‘Aadhaar not proof of citizenship, SIR in Bihar to continue’: SC affirms EC’s power to revise voter rolls, rejects mass disenfranchisement claim

OpIndia Staff
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‘Aadhaar not proof of citizenship, SIR in Bihar to continue’: SC affirms EC’s power to revise voter rolls, rejects mass disenfranchisement claim

The Supreme Court on Tuesday (12th August) agreed with the Election Commission of India (ECI) in holding that the Aadhaar Card is not conclusive proof of citizenship. The observation was made by a bench of justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi during the hearing of a batch of petitions filed against the ECI’s June 24 directive of holding a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls ahead of upcoming State assembly elections. The top court also acknowledged that the ECI is empowered to include or exclude citizens and non-citizens from the voter list.

SC terms petitioners’ challenge to SIR as a case of trust deficiency

The Court did not accept the submission of the petitioners, who claimed that the SIR in Bihar would result in disenfranchisement of lakhs of voters, as they are poor and do not have the necessary documents. “This is a case of trust deficiency that’s all,” Justice Kant stated during the hearing. Terming the petitioners’ claims as a ‘sweeping argument’, the bench said, “But something will be needed to see whether they are resident or not. There are family registers, pension cards, etc, a very sweeping argument to say that people do not have these documents”.

The court addressed the apprehensions of the petitioners that the SIR exercise could result in people being declared invalid based on a presumption, and assured that it will take care of that. “If they do so, we will adjudicate the same…Are we going to explain to everyone that if we find something suspicious, can’t we include all of them in the 2025 list…into the roll?” Justice Kant said.

ECI assures fair procedure during SIR

The Supreme Court sought the response of the ECI on 6th August after it was informed that around 65 lakh fake or duplicate names had been excluded from the voter list during the SIR in Bihar. A plea was moved in the Supreme Court seeking directions to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to disclose details of 65 lakh names that have been deleted from electoral rolls. Responding to the plea, the ECI assured the court that no name will be removed from the draft electoral roll in Bihar without prior notice, an opportunity to be heard and a reasoned order from the competent authority.

The court also rejected the petitioners’ claim that the SIR would result in the mass exclusion of voters. Mass exclusion will depend on facts and figures,” the bench said.

Several opposition leaders and organisation challeneged the SIR

The petitioners, including several opposition leaders and organisations like TMC MP Mahua Moitra, former AAP co-founder Yogendra Yadav, RJD MP Manoj Jha, and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), were represented by the likes of senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Prashant Bhushan, and Abhishek Manu Singhvi.

Several petitions were filed before the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the SIR exercise in Bihar on the grounds that the identification process laid down by the ECI shifted the burden of proof onto citizens and that, considering the high rates of migration and poverty in the state, the requirement of documents specified by the ECI might disenfranchise millions of voters. The petitioners also challenged the exclusion of the Aadhaar card from the ECI’s list of documents required as proof of citizenship to be enumerated as a voter. However, the Supreme Court had refused to put a stay on the exercise, saying that it was a routine exercise, which the Election Commission is competent to conduct.

Will Rahul Gandhi follow Khaleda Zia’s playbook and boycott all upcoming elections as he ramps up attack against ECI and hopes for a regime change to grab power?

Shraddha Pandey
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Will Rahul Gandhi follow Khaleda Zia’s playbook and boycott all upcoming elections as he ramps up attack against ECI and hopes for a regime change to grab power?

When one can’t win a competition, blame the game, the referee, the opponent, and concoct an outrage so strong that covers up their own incompetence and posits them a forced-to-lose ‘Hero’. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s recent escalation of attacks on the Election Commission of India suggests that the Gandhi scion is trying hard to pull off this gimmick. While the opposition has been selectively outraging over election results in the recent past and gladly accepting the same when it wins, the timing of Rahul Gandhi’s fresh ‘vote chori’ bogey, raises the question: Is Rahul Gandhi planning to go the Khaleda Zia way?

Joined by the opposition parties, Congress prince Rahul Gandhi has been levelling unfounded allegations about the EVMs, VVPATs, electoral roll, fake voters and whatnot to establish a false narrative that the ECI is colluding with the Bhartiya Janata Party to manipulate voter lists and rig elections. 

As Rahul Gandhi continued his full of hollow rhetoric and theatrics, devoid of evidence attacks on the Election Commission, the poll body issued a strong statement calling his allegations “baseless” and demanded that Gandhi either substantiate his allegations with evidence under oath or apologise. On 11th August, the I.N.D.I. Alliance marched to the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) New Delhi headquarters, protesting against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the Bihar electoral registers and at the same time claiming ‘vote chori’ and voter list discrepancies. They claimed that the drive would result in disenfranchisement and charged that was an attempt by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led-government to steal votes. 

The Bihar SIR exercise program has revealed a significant number of fraudulent voters in Bihar. It uncovered around 65 lakh non-existent voters who were then purged from the electoral rolls. The names that have been deleted are mostly those of people who have passed away or who were not found at their registered addresses. The opposition in the state has been mobilizing since the initiative was announced. A significant number of these counterfeit voters are their supporters. 

Now, a similar drive is set to occur in West Bengal which has alarmed the All India Trinamool Congress and its supremo, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who has been an outspoken advocate for Bangladeshi infiltrators. The IIM researchers who had warned about around 70 lakh fake voters in Bihar, an estimate that was found nearly correct, have now in another study highlighted that around 1 crore excess voters in may be existing in the electoral roll for West Bengal in 2024. 

While the general public rejected Rahul Gandhi’s ‘vote chori’ narrative following the Maharashtra assembly elections and ‘EVM hacking, VVPAT tampering’ claims after the Lok Sabha elections, the Gandhi scion renewed his attacks on ECI after the alarming results of SIR in Bihar exposed the presence of thousands of lakhs of voters in the electoral roll. Now that the ECI plans to conduct SIR in every state, the opposition is fuming. 

Mahadevpura voter fraud claims found to be baseless

Rahul Gandhi made special mention of Karnataka’s Mahadevpura constituency to allege electoral fraud saying that several voter entries in the voter list had “house number 0” and that numerous voters were listed at the same address during a press conference on 7th August. However, the ECI debunked his claims. Gandhi claimed that 80 fake voters were registered at one house in Mahadevpura, but it turned out that they were not fraudulent but migrant voters. 

The Gandhi scion’s attacks on the ECI have though failed to stir outrage among common Indian voters, have found audience in the leftist foreign media. As OpIndia reported earlier, New York Times, Al Jazeera, and others have amplified Rahul Gandhi’s bogus ‘vote chori’ claim, apparently, to discredit India’s democratic institutions.  

The foreign and Indian leftist media is amplifying Rahul Gandhi’s ‘vote chori’ lies, the Congress leader refuses to submit formal complaints or affidavits, aruging that his parliamentary oath suffices as evidence of truthfulness. However, this refusal confirms that Rahul Gandhi’s campaign against supposed ‘vote chori’ is more about public spectacle than legal recourse.

The opposition seems to be following the strategy of keeping the issue alive in public domain while avoiding engagement in procedural battles since their lies would get exposed, as happened in the Supreme Court recently and earlier during EVM hacking allegations, diluting the impact of their manufactured outrage. 

Is Rahul Gandhi laying ground for boycott of elections as BNP leader Khaleda Zia did in Bangladesh?

The Congress party’s unannounced forever PM aspirant, has also threatened the ECI of ‘consequences’. This is alarming. This is more than just political theatrics, attempt at deflecting from Congress’s electoral failures, or a gimmick meant for immediate electoral gains. Is Rahul Gandhi sowing long-term distrust in India’s democratic institutions? Is the Congress leader, joined by the anti-BJP parties, laying the groundwork for a more radical and destructive political manoeuvre, an election boycott? Is Rahul Gandhi planning to replicate the Khaleda Zia playbook?

It is notable that in Bangladesh, Khaleda Zia, the leader of the anti-Hindu Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), a direct opponent of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League and India detractor, boycotted the 2014, 2018 and 2023 elections claiming that free and fair elections cannot take place under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s watch. Massive protests were taken out, violence and chaos erupted in 2023. In 2018, several people lost their lives in violent protests and in 2014 elections, the Hindu minorities were attacked and killed by BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami members. 

There is no doubt that India’s political landscape is different from Bangladesh. India is home to one of the most robust democracies in the world. The Election Commission here enjoys large public trust. The ECI has a history of competitive elections. Time and again, the Supreme Court while hearing petitions moved by pro-Congress ‘activists’ and self-declared ‘defenders of democracy’, has backed the ECI against allegations of fraud and conspiracies to favour the BJP. 

However, the apprehensions are not unfounded that the opposition, especially Rahul Gandhi, might try to pull a Khaleda Zia playbook: sow distrust in public’s mind against electoral process, boycott the elections, incite violent protests and oust the demoratically elected leader, to become the sole runner in the race of power and come first. 

OpIndia has reported many a times how Rahul Gandhi during his foreign trips has been seeking foreign intervention in India’s internal affairs, levelling ‘Democracy khatre mein hai’ allegations, casting aspersions on the integrity of the ECI while on foreign soil. From seeking foreign interference to relying on dubious foreign reports to attack Indian businessmen like Gautam Adani, eulogising China to even recently parroting US President Donald Trump’s ‘India’s a dead economy’ jibe. It seems that a colour revolution may be on the cards. 

Amidst Trump’s tariff war against India for buying Russian oil and the Modi government’s strong refusal to open India’s agriculture and dairy markets for the US, PM Modi had recently said that he is ready to pay a “personal price” for protecting the interests of Indian farmers. Although he made no explicit mention of a regime change conspiracy at play, however, speculations are rife that the US, given it has a history of orchestrating regime change in countries where its economic or strategic interests are challenged, might attempt the same strategy to oust Modi and install its puppet in New Delhi. A potential attempt at this cannot be overlooked as, the case of Bangladesh is front of the world. 

Months after Sheikh Hasina alleged that the US is conspiring to oust her from Prime Minister’s post and fanning anti-government protests, she was forced to quit and flee the country. After days of chaos, anti-Hindu violence, targeted killings of Awami League leaders, and a political vaccum, a pro-US Muhammad Yunus became the leader of the interim government. Now, elections are set to be held in Bangladesh in early 2026. With Awami League nearly erased, its backbone broken, offices abandoned, leaders killed, Khaleda Zia’s BNP and supportive Jamaat-e-Islami are set to grab power unopposed. 

With state elections looming in Bihar, West Bengal in the coming times, it remains to be seen if Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Vote Chori’ allegations and anti-ECI campaign is only to keep the BJP on defensive, or a groundwork towards unfolding of a broader playbook of boycotting elections, stirring violent protests, and orchestrating a regime change. Eventually, after a phase of violence and uncertainty, just as Khaleda Zia removed her competition, Sheikh Hasina, from the race and is now set to run alone and come first, is Rahul Gandhi trying to do the same?

Uttar Pradesh: Court orders police to file FIR against Union Minister Kirti Vardhan Singh and his associate in connection with a land dispute case

OpIndia Staff
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Uttar Pradesh: Court orders police to file FIR against Union Minister Kirti Vardhan Singh and his associate in connection with a land dispute case

A court in Gonda, Uttar Pradesh, ordered the UP police on Monday (11th August) to register an FIR against Union Minister of State for External Affairs, Kirti Vardhan Singh and his associate Rajesh Singh in connection with an alleged land dispute.

As per reports, the order was passed by Special Judge of the MP-MLA Court (Civil Judge, Senior Division) Apeksha Singh. The judge directed the Mankapur police station to lodge an FIR against Kirti Vardhan Singh, Rajesh Singh, Pinku Singh, Sahdev Yadav and Kanti Singh.

The order came after complainant, Ajay Singh, a resident of Bhitoura in the Mankapur area, approached the court under Section 173(4) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, to initiate legal proceedings against the minister and others. In his complaint, Singh reportedly alleged that land registered in the name of his wife, Manisha Singh, was fraudulently transferred in favour of Mithlesh Rastogi and Kanti Singh by influencing and luring the original seller, Bitten Devi, into executing a backdated sale deed using a three-year-old stamp paper.

He further alleged that an inquiry ordered by the superintendent of police based on his complaint confirmed his allegations. A case was reportedly registered in 2024 on the instructions of the superintendent of police against the seller and the buyers, but a final report was filed closing the case.

Ajay Singh said that he objected to the closure of the case in March 2025, after which the court set aside the final report of the police and ordered further investigation, which is still underway. According to Singh, in the meantime, Rajesh Singh lodged a false case against him and his wife in 2024. He accused Rajesh Singh of misusing his political influence to harass him and his wife.

As per the allegations, Rajesh Singh got a case filed against Ajay Singh and his wife under the provisions of the SC ST Act and the BNS through his driver Rinku Singh to force them to settle the case.

Ajay Singh alleged that the accused had been threatening to kill him and his family if he did not agree to settle the case. He claimed that no action was taken by the police against the accused despite his repeated complaints, which is why he approached the court.

Adani Digital Labs unveils next-gen digital solutions to transform and enhance airport experience

OpIndia Staff
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Adani Digital Labs unveils next-gen digital solutions to transform and enhance airport experience

Adani Digital Labs (ADL), the technology arm of Adani Airport Holdings Limited, has announced a suite of innovative initiatives aimed at redefining how passengers experience travel across Adani-managed airports in India. These moves, blending technology and customer-centric design, are set to enhance convenience, comfort, and engagement, strengthening Adani Airports’ leadership in digital innovation within the aviation sector.

Spearheading the initiative, Ms. Srushti Adani, Director of Adani Digital Labs, said, “The new ADL aims to infuse energy, diverse ideas, and unparalleled expertise into its operations. This marks the first phase of a broader strategy to deliver an exclusive digital-first experience to passengers. Our goal is to reduce travel-related anxiety, offering up-to-the-minute information, exciting rewards, and tiered lounge services—going beyond standard offerings to create a personalised digital journey.”

Marking a significant milestone, ADL inaugurated a new 150-seater office in Ahmedabad. From here, the team will design solutions to address common passenger challenges, including tight schedules, lack of awareness about amenities, and long queues. At the core of this transformation is the Adani OneApp, a unified platform bringing all airport services together—turning travel from a transactional necessity into a seamless, personalised experience.

Key features include:

  • Adani Rewards – India’s first airport-exclusive loyalty programme, integrating F&B, retail, parking, duty-free, and meet & greet services, offering unmatched value and flexibility.
  • Seamless Lounge Access – Pre-book lounges, check card eligibility, and enter without queues.
  • Comprehensive Shopping Options – Browse and order from extensive F&B, duty-free, and retail catalogues, with services like Delivery at Gate and Multi-Cart Orders.
  • Smart Parking with Park & Fly – Hassle-free booking and management of parking facilities.
  • Real-Time Travel Assistance – Live flight status, instant alerts, and high-speed Wi-Fi access.

By integrating these offerings into a single digital ecosystem, Adani Digital Labs aims to make the airport journey smoother, faster, and more enjoyable for every traveller. With this launch, ADL reinforces its commitment to setting new benchmarks in airport hospitality and digital innovation, putting the passenger experience at the heart of its transformation strategy.

“Voter fraud in Wayanad, Rae Bareli, Mainpuri…?”: BJP pays back in same coin, shows Lok Sabha seats won by INDI leaders had serious electoral list anomalies

OpIndia Staff
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“Voter fraud in Wayanad, Rae Bareli, Mainpuri…?”: BJP pays back in same coin, shows Lok Sabha seats won by INDI leaders had serious electoral list anomalies

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has hit back at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s “vote chori” (vote theft) allegations, producing what it calls extensive evidence of irregularities in constituencies where key INDI alliance leaders, including Rahul himself, emerged victorious.

According to the BJP, the opposition’s outcry over alleged rigging in BJP-won seats is not only baseless but hypocritical, as multiple Lok Sabha constituencies held by INDI bloc leaders show patterns of mass voter list manipulation, ranging from duplicate entries to fake addresses, manipulated ages, and concentrated bulk additions.

Speaking at a Press Conference, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur came down hard on the Congress party, calling Rahul Gandhi the “Propaganda King” and “LoB — Leader Opposing Bharat.” Thakur said that despite being admonished by the Supreme Court, the Gandhi scion “keeps peddling lies” and holds the record for 90 election defeats under his leadership, with even Congress leaders questioning his credibility.

He accused the Congress of repeatedly blaming Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), the Election Commission, and democratic institutions instead of engaging in honest introspection. Thakur further alleged that the party is making “false claims” in coordination with opposition allies ahead of the Bihar polls, attempting to discredit the electoral process.

Wayanad: Rahul Gandhi’s seat

BJP’s analysis claims that Wayanad has 93,499 “doubtful voters”, broken down into 20,438 duplicate entries, 17,450 fake addresses, 4,246 “mixed households” (multiple religious communities registered at the same small address), and a staggering 51,365 voters allegedly added in bulk. The BJP also flagged bizarre cases of centenarians — voters aged 99, 101, and 102 — being added for the first time in 2024, calling it a clear sign of manipulated rolls.

Rae Bareli: Priyanka Gandhi’s stronghold

The report alleges 2,00,089 suspicious entries in Rae Bareli, including 19,512 duplicates, 71,977 fake addresses, 15,853 mixed households, and 92,747 bulk additions. The data even pointed to over 52,000 fake birth certificates linked to bogus voter addresses, questioning whether Rae Bareli’s consistent Congress victories were sustained by legitimate votes or by a “padded” electorate.

Diamond Harbour: Abhishek Banerjee’s seat

The TMC bastion has 2,59,779 doubtful voters — 3,613 duplicates, 1,55,365 fake addresses, 290 fake relatives, 43,947 mixed households, and 56,564 mass additions, the report added. Many of these alleged irregularities were concentrated in booths where the TMC scored overwhelming margins.

Kannauj: Akhilesh Yadav’s seat

According to EC’s figures cited by the BJP, Kannauj has 2,91,798 doubtful voters, nearly double the winning margin of Akhilesh Yadav. This includes 16,163 duplicates, 1,53,919 fake addresses, 25,772 mixed households, and 74,531 mass additions, with some voters suspiciously registered as being over 100 years old.

Mainpuri: Dimple Yadav’s seat

The Election Commission’s data shows 2,55,914 doubtful voters in Mainpuri: 14,088 duplicates, 1,76,078 fake addresses, 16,216 mixed households, and 49,532 bulk additions. Many entries allegedly involved multiple religious identities at the same residence.

Kolathur: MK Stalin’s Assembly segment

In Tamil Nadu, Kolathur, CM Stalin’s home constituency, was flagged for 19,476 doubtful voters, including 4,379 duplicates, 9,133 fake addresses, and 5,964 mixed households. Several voters were allegedly registered multiple times with different EPIC numbers.

The BJP contends that these examples expose the opposition’s double standards, attacking the BJP for supposed “vote theft” while benefitting from inflated and manipulated electoral rolls themselves. It also accused the Congress and its allies of opposing the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, which the Election Commission uses to clean up such anomalies, stating that the poll body’s exercise threatened their “ghuspaithiya vote bank.”

BJP leaders challenged Rahul, Priyanka, Akhilesh, Stalin, Abhishek Banerjee, and Dimple Yadav to declare whether they would resign if these alleged “vote chori” patterns in their own constituencies were proven.

Framing the matter as both an electoral integrity and national security issue, the BJP said that the real theft is not in BJP strongholds, but in the deliberate padding of voter rolls in opposition bastions, a tactic it claims has been perfected over decades. The response came days after Rahul Gandhi proclaimed “massive voter fraud” and other charges in a press conference, several of which fell flat after closer scrutiny.

Delhi starts crackdown on stray dogs, 700 caught near Red Fort; dedicated helpline to start soon

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi starts crackdown on stray dogs, 700 caught near Red Fort; dedicated helpline to start soon

The veterinary wing of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has begun a phase-wise crackdown on stray dogs following the orders from the Supreme Court of India to remove all dogs from the streets in a phased manner. The court, in its order on 11th August, directed the authorities to start removing dogs with 5,000 in the next eight weeks.

The action against stray dogs has started in Shahdara and Bhajanpura, with the focus on high-risk zones. Around 700 dogs have been removed from streets around the Red Fort area ahead of Independence Day. Officials said that the drive will expand to other parts of the city after 15th August.

Shelters and helpline planned

Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh confirmed that the work to identify unutilised community halls and other buildings for dog shelters in each zone has commenced. Until the shelters are operational, aggressive and diseased dogs will be shifted to existing sterilisation centre facilities. The authorities are also launching a dedicated helpline for stray dog complaints within two days as ordered by the apex court. As of now, residents can use the 311 app.

Notably, on 12th August, a high-level meeting chaired by MCD commissioner Ashwani Kumar discussed a detailed action plan. Another meeting was scheduled for 13th August. A sub-committee led by deputy standing committee chairman Sundar Singh is identifying priority areas, feeding points, and issues with ABC units. Members have directed that at least 1,000 dogs per zone have to be caught each month, starting with aggressive dogs.

Long-term solutions and public involvement

Former MCD veterinary director Ravinder Sharma suggested using available land in Tehkhand and Masoodpur, and even community halls in Dwarka, to build multistorey shelters. Unlike animal birth control centres, permanent shelters require larger kennel space.

While dog lovers are claiming Supreme Court orders are not in line with the laws in place, those who have suffered because of the uncontrolled stray dog population and dog bites are happy with the decision.

OpIndia is doing a series on Stray Dog Menace in India which can be checked here.

Centre debunks Mamata Banerjee’s claims of BJP govt forcibly evicting Bengali-speaking citizens from Delhi’s Vasant Kunj, tells parliament that no such eviction drive was ordered

OpIndia Staff
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Centre debunks Mamata Banerjee’s claims of BJP govt forcibly evicting Bengali-speaking citizens from Delhi’s Vasant Kunj, tells parliament that no such eviction drive was ordered

Days after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged that that Bengali-speaking citizens were being harassed and evicted from Jai Hind Colony in BJP-ruled Delhi’s Vasant Kunj, it has emerged that the no such eviction order was issued by the government. This revelation was made by Nityanand Rai, the Minister of State for Ministry of Home Affairs, in response to an unstarred question asked by Trinamool Congress MP June Maliah.

The TMC MP had raised five questions pertaining to the alleged eviction of Bengali-speaking Indian citizens. “(a) whether the Government has received complaints regarding the disconnection of electricity and water supply in Jai Hind Colony and Vasant kunj, New Delhi; (b) if so, under what legal provisions or notifications these actions are being carried out; (c) the number of families affected by the eviction drive in that area; (d) whether the Government has verified the citizenship or legal residency status of the evicted persons; and (e) whether any compensation or relocation plan has been initiated for the affected families, if so, the details thereof?” the TMC MP asked.

Responding to this earlier this month, Minister Rai stated that the Delhi government has not not carried out any eviction drive nor have they received any written complaints regarding the disconnection of electricity and water supply in Jai Hind Colony, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi. The minister, however, added that one complaint was made on social media platform X on 10th July 2025.

“(a) to (e): The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi, has informed that they have not carried out any eviction drive nor have they received any written complaints regarding the disconnection of electricity and water supply in Jai Hind Colony, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi except one post on social media platform ‘X’ on 10.07.2025. Jai Hind Colony Vasant Kunj is a J.J. cluster, and no piped water network exists in this cluster. Water is supplied to the residents of this cluster through tankers daily as a routine, which is still continuing. It has also been informed that 2 (two) electricity connections were disconnected on 08.07.2025 in compliance of the Hon’ble Civil Court’s judgement dated 14.05.2024 (Civil Suit No. 56914/2016),” Minister Rai responded in a written reply on 5th August. 

Before this, TMC MP June Maliah had asked in the Lok Sabha whether the Government is aware of the ongoing eviction drive and has received complaints regarding the disconnection of electricity and water supply in Jai Hind Colony. She also sought the details thereof along with the legal provisions or notifications under which these actions are being carried out. In addition, the TMC leader also inquired about the number of families affected by the eviction drive in that area; (d) whether the Government has verified the citizenship or legal residency status of the evicted persons and if so, the details thereof and whether any compensation or relocation plan has been initiated for the affected families and if so, she sought details of the same.

Responding to this on 31st July 2025, Minister of State in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Tokharam Sahu stated that the Delhi Development Authority have not carried out any eviction drive nor received any complaints regarding the disconnection of electricity and water supply in Jai Hind Colony, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi.

Thus, the question of legal provisions for carrying out eviction proceedings, number of evicted families and compensation to them, does not arise. 

“(a) to (e) Action is taken by the land owning agencies from time to time to get the encroachments cleared/demolished from their land. As informed by Delhi Development Authority, they have not carried out any eviction drive nor received any complaints regarding the disconnection of electricity and water supply in Jai Hind Colony, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi. In view thereof, the question of legal provisions for carrying out eviction proceedings and the question of number of evicted families, compensation to them or relocation plan for them does not arise,” the Minister stated in response to the TMC MP’s unstarred question.

He continued, “Also, as informed by Delhi Jal Board, they have not received any written complaint regarding disconnection of water supply in Jai Hind Colony, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi except one post on social media platform ‘X’ on 10.07.2025. In addition to this Department of Power (Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi) has informed that 2 (two) electricity connections were disconnected on 08.07.2025 in compliance to the Hon’ble Civil Court’s judgement dated 14.05.2024 (Civil Suit No. 56914/2016).”

It must be recalled that in July this year, CM Mamata Banerjee had launched a scathing attack on the BJP alleging that it is targetting and harrassing Bengali-speaking Indian citizens in the name of cracking down against illegal Bangladeshi and Rohingya immigrants. 

“Water supply was reportedly cut off, electricity meters confiscated, and power abruptly cut the day before yesterday,” Mamata Banerjee wrote on X. 

Dubbing the alleged eviction of Bengalis from Jai Hind Colony, the West Bengal Chief Minister labelled the BJP as “Bangla-Birodhi (anti-Bengali). 

“Bengalis are being treated as infiltrators in BJP-ruled states. Speaking Bengali does not make one Bangladesh” she claimed.

On 13th August, BJP leader Amit Malviya slammed CM Banerjee for making misleading claims about the alleged eviction drive in Jai Hind Colony. He said that TMC MP June Maliah herself exposed Mamata Banerjee’s “lies”. He said that only two electricity connections were cut, that too on court orders.

“TMC MP busts West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s lies. In the Lok Sabha, June Maliah asked about “evictions” in Jai Hind Colony, Vasant Kunj. The truth, as revealed in the official Government reply, is crystal clear: No eviction drive took place. No water supply cut — not a single complaint to the Delhi Jal Board, except one social media post. Only two electricity connections were disconnected — and that too on the orders of the Hon’ble Civil Court (dated 14.05.2024). Once again, the false propaganda of the TMC has been exposed in Parliament — through their own question! Bengalis are not being targeted, as falsely alleged by Mamata Banerjee to hide her misgovernance. Facts speak louder than their lies,” Malviya wrote.

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