Today in Politics: PM Modi to participate in post-Budget webinars; TMC takes on EC over duplicate voter IDs

The webinars will provide a collaborative platform for government officials, industry leaders and trade experts to deliberate on India’s industrial, trade and energy strategies, the statement said. The discussions will focus on policy execution, investment facilitation and technology adoption, ensuring seamless implementation of the budget’s transformative measures.

TMC takes on EC

A day after the Election Commission (EC) admitted different electors could have the same voter ID number, the TMC on Monday intensified its attack on the poll body. The party contested the EC’s defence that duplicate IDs exist in different states, and alleged its “complicity in voter manipulation”.

The TMC on Monday said the EC should accept the “discrepancies” within 24 hours and threatened to release a document showing an “expose” on Tuesday if the EC failed to comply.

While alleging the EC was allowing voter fraud in West Bengal, where elections are due next year, the TMC claimed that “non-residents were being brought from other states to cast votes using identical EPIC (Elector Photo Identity Card) numbers”.

Amid reports flagging the issuance of identical voter card numbers to electors in two different states, the EC on Sunday said it would rectify the issue and also update its technology-driven platform. The poll authority asserted that while the EPIC numbers of some of the voters “may be identical”, the other details, including demographic details, Assembly constituency and polling booth, are different.

“Limited appreciation of the EC. I say limited because EC is admitting the error but not accepting the error,” said Derek O’Brien, TMC’s Rajya Sabha MP, on Monday. “In the next 24 hours, we humbly ask the EC to also accept the error. If not, we will share a document at 9 am on Tuesday morning.”

On February 27, at a conclave of TMC leaders and workers, party supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had sounded bugle for the Assembly elections slated for March-April 2026, including by “discrediting” the BJP’s victories in Maharashtra and Delhi, by alleging manipulation of voter lists there. “They (BJP) manipulated the voters’ lists with the blessings of the Election Commission. (Opposition) parties in Maharashtra could not catch this, parties in Delhi could not detect it. That is how they (BJP) won in Maharashtra and Delhi. But we could detect it,” she claimed.

Meanwhile, the EC is scheduled to begin a two-day conference with its state poll officials on Tuesday to brainstorm on various issues, including modern poll management. It is the first such event since Gyanesh Kumar assumed charge as the CEC on February 19.

Maharashtra Congress protests

The Maharashtra Congress is set to continue its protests against the BJP-led state government. Recently appointed state Congress chief Harshvardhan Sapkal said the party is protesting to highlight the “plight of farmers” and other civic issues under the Devendra Fadnavis government. On Tuesday, the party is holding agitations in municipal areas.

“Despite promises of farm loan waiver during the elections, the BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP government is yet to fulfil its commitment,” Sapkal said. The protests come amid the state Assembly’s ongoing Budget Session, which began on Monday.

Sapkal also highlighted the delays in elections to local bodies in the state, which have been pending for the last three years. “The BJP is deliberately delaying elections to retain control over the administration,” he alleged. Incidentally, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear matters related to Maharashtra’s delayed local body polls on Tuesday.

Yediyurappa faction’s rally in Karnataka

Amid infighting in the Karnataka BJP, the faction supporting state president B Y Vijayendra and his father, former CM B S Yediyurappa, had launched a campaign to woo the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community. After a series of conventions focusing on the community, the Yediyurappa camp is set to hold a rally in Bengaluru on Tuesday.

The BJP has a strong voter base in the Veerashaiva-Lingayat community, to which Yediyurappa belongs. His decades of work within the community played a crucial role in strengthening the BJP in Karnataka, ultimately leading to the party forming the government multiple times. Yediyurappa himself has served as the CM of the state four times.

However, his critics within the party, particularly the faction led by Vijayapura MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, are now working to allegedly weaken his influence over the community. Recently, Yatnal, who is also a Lingayat, organised a meeting where the BJP’s Lingayat leaders called for distancing themselves from Vijayendra. In response, the Yediyurappa-Vijayendra faction launched a counter-campaign, holding meetings with Veerashaiva-Lingayat leaders and religious pontiffs to consolidate support.

– With PTI inputs