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New Delhi: The Ministry of Law and Justice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government has made an amendment to the Conduct of Election Rules, restricting public access to certain electoral documents that were previously available.

The original Rule 93(2)(a) of the 1961 Conduct of Election Rules stated, “all other papers relating to the election shall be open to public inspection.” However, following the amendment on Friday, the rule now reads, “all other papers as specified in these rules relating to the election shall be open to public inspection.”

Activists have raised concerns, claiming that the insertion of the phrase “as specified in these rules” limits access to various official documents created during elections to Parliament and Assemblies, which are not explicitly mentioned in the rules.

RTI activist Venkatesh Nayak pointed out that there are numerous documents, though not listed in the rules, that are generated by election officials such as Presiding Officers, Sector Officers (responsible for constituency vulnerability mapping), and those in charge of EVM movement and replacement of defective machines on polling day. These include reports from general, police, and expenditure observers, as well as Returning Officers and Chief Electoral Officers.

Nayak emphasized, “Access to these documents is crucial for ensuring the fairness of elections and the accuracy of results.”

The amendment comes shortly after the Punjab and Haryana High Court directed the Election Commission to provide video footage and documents related to votes cast at a polling station in the recent Haryana Assembly elections to lawyer Mehmood Pracha. Pracha has criticized the amendment, asserting that it will withhold essential information. “This is a reconfirmation of the Election Commission’s bias,” he said.

Nayak further stated, “This amendment undermines the principle of full transparency established by the Supreme Court in the Electoral Bonds case. The notification of this amendment on the very day Parliament was adjourned sine die has deprived MPs of the opportunity to challenge its necessity in real time.”

Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, Leader of the Islamic Revolution, has called the Syrian conflict a "joint American and Zionist plot," while attributing a secondary role to a neighboring country in the crisis.

Speaking to a gathering in Tehran on Wednesday, Ayatollah Khamenei emphasized, "There should be no doubt that what happened in Syria was plotted in the command rooms of the United States and Israel. We have evidence for this."

The Leader also pointed to the involvement of a neighboring nation, widely understood to be Turkey, stating, "One of the neighboring countries of Syria also played a role, but the primary planners are the US and the Zionist regime."

Ayatollah Khamenei dismissed fears of a weakened resistance front following the takeover of parts of Syria by militants and Takfiri terrorists. He assured that resistance will emerge stronger despite the adversities. "This is what the resistance is, this is what the resistance front is. The more you push, the stronger it becomes; the more you commit crimes, the more motivated it becomes. The more you fight with them, the more widespread it will be, and I tell you, by the Divine Power, the domain of resistance will cover the entire region more than before."

The Leader rejected analysis suggesting that a weakened resistance front would lead to Iran’s decline. "That ignorant analyst, unaware of the meaning of resistance, imagines that when the resistance becomes weak, Islamic Iran will also become weak, and I say that by God's will and power and with the permission of God Almighty, Iran is strong and powerful and will only grow more powerful," Ayatollah Khamenei declared.

Highlighting the divisions among militant groups operating in Syria, the Leader noted, "Each group has its own agenda and all seek to stake out their own turf."

Angry BJP lawmakers stormed Assembly Speaker U T Khader’s chambers at the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha, escalating tensions after the ruling Congress turned the tables on the saffron party over the Panchamasali Lingayat community’s reservation issue.

The friction began when Congress MLA Vijayanand Kashappanavar, a Panchamasali Lingayat, was allowed to criticise the Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government’s controversial decision to scrap the 4 per cent Muslim quota, reallocating it equally to Lingayats and Vokkaligas. Kashappanavar slammed the BJP’s move, accusing it of being a mere election gimmick.

“The previous BJP government created two new reservation categories, 2C for Vokkaligas and 2D for Lingayats, just before the 2023 Assembly elections,” Kashappanavar said. “When challenged in the Supreme Court, the BJP government admitted it would not implement the decision. They announced it for votes but backtracked in court, misleading Panchamasali seer Basava Jaya Mrityunjaya Swami.”

Adding fuel to the fire, Kashappanavar alleged that RSS members had incited violence during a protest for enhanced Panchamasali Lingayat reservation. This claim enraged BJP lawmakers, who demanded the comment be expunged. However, Speaker Khader permitted Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda to read aloud the BJP government’s affidavit to the Supreme Court.

“If the Panchamasali Lingayat community has faced injustice, it is because of the BJP,” Gowda declared, sparking further protests from the opposition. BJP leaders accused Khader of being “one-sided” and disregarding a point of order raised by BJP MLA V Sunil Kumar.

When Khader adjourned the session for lunch, the confrontation boiled over. Opposition Leader R Ashoka, BJP state president B Y Vijayendra, MLAs Dr C N Ashwath Narayan, Sunil Kumar, and others barged into Khader’s chambers. Chaos ensued as shouting and hollering echoed through the halls, prompting marshalls to intervene.

“The Speaker was warned that if he continued behaving this way, we would boycott the session,” Narayan stated afterward.