Rush Hour: BJP office in Leh set on fire, Rahul questions EC about new voter deletion measure & more

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The Bharatiya Janata Party office in Leh was set on fire by protesters demanding that Ladakh be granted statehood and be included in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. This section guarantees protections for land and a nominal autonomy for citizens in designated tribal-dominated areas.

The demonstrators clashed with and threw stones at the police, and set fire to a police vehicle. Some protesters had been on a hunger strike since September 10 and had called for a complete shutdown to demand statehood.

Following the violence, climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, who has been leading the protests, called off his hunger strike. Read more.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi questioned the timing of a new “e-sign” feature rolled out by the Election Commission for voter addition and deletions. He said that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar introduced the measure after the “vote theft” in Karnataka’s Aland Assembly seat.

The Indian Express reported that the new feature on the ECINET portal and mobile application required those seeking to register as voters, or applying for deletion and corrections, to verify their identity using their Aadhaar-linked phone numbers.

The e-sign feature was not present...

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