Expansion of the Scope of Postal Ballots and Shrinking Democracy

After the initiative and recommendations of the Election Commission, the government has approved the amendment of the rules to increase the scope of the postal ballot system in elections. This has been done under the pretext of coping with the COVID-19 pandemic. People aged 65 years and above now will vote using postal ballots. The Opposition parties have reservations about this because according to them, this will make it easier for the ruling party to rig the elections. Senior journalist Urmilesh analyses various aspects of this development.