New Delhi: Leaders of the Indi alliance met top officials of the Election Commission on Friday amid concerns expressed by opposition parties over the voting data. The meeting took place on the issue of voting data released by the Election Commission in the first two phases as well as alleged violation of the model code of conduct by BJP leaders during the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
Lawyer and leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who reached the Election Commission office on behalf of the Congress, raised two issues on behalf of the India Alliance. Firstly, there cannot be a delay of 11 days in the publication of voter turn out. Secondly, the difference in voter turnout between the initial and final publication is huge. He said that such an increase was not seen in 2019. Congress said that the Election Commission told us that there is a need for amendment in it.
On Tuesday, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge had written a letter to the leaders of various opposition parties on the issue of alleged ‘discrepancies’ in the voting data released by the Election Commission (EC). After this the opposition leaders decided to approach the Election Commission on this issue. However, the Election Commission on Friday responded to Kharge’s letter to fellow Indi alliance leaders, which was also posted on Twitter, and rejected his allegations that it had delayed the release of final voter numbers for the first two phases of the Lok Sabha elections. Has delayed in doing.
The Election Commission said in a strongly worded letter that the statements of the President of a national political party are attacking the credibility of the electoral steps and processes and may have a negative impact on voter participation. Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh responded by defending the concerns raised by the Congress President. The response of the Election Commission of India (ECI) to the issues raised by the Congress President in his letter to Indian parties is beyond description. The Election Commission is a constitutional body entrusted with the responsibility of being an impartial body which ensures and is seen to ensure a level playing field for all political parties.
Jairam Ramesh, in a post on Can claim. He said the Congress president has raised ‘completely legitimate issues’ which have drawn widespread concerns and comments.
He said the Election Commission’s approach to addressing these issues was ‘extremely regrettable’. Amid allegations from the opposition, the poll body insisted that booth-wise data of ‘actual number of votes’ is available to the candidates immediately after polling ends.
In a statement issued last week, the Election Commission also said it attaches ‘due importance’ to timely release of voter turnout data after each phase of polling and added that not only constituency-wise, but booth-wise actual vote count The data is available with the candidates, which is a statutory requirement.
Tags: Abhishek Manu Singhvi, election commission
FIRST PUBLISHED: May 10, 2024, 19:57 IST