New Delhi: Five phases of voting have been completed in the Lok Sabha elections. Voting for the sixth phase will be held tomorrow i.e. on 25th May. Just a day before the sixth phase of voting, i.e. today, there is a very important hearing in the Supreme Court regarding the election process. Actually, there is a political uproar over the release of Form 17C data. A PIL has been filed in the Supreme Court regarding this. The petition demands that the Election Commission upload a copy of Form 17C on its website within 48 hours of the end of voting. However, the Election Commission has opposed this petition. The Election Commission has also cited the data of 2019.
Now the Supreme Court’s vacation bench will hear the petition related to the release of voting data today i.e. on Friday. In this case, the Election Commission has opposed the petition by filing an affidavit. The Election Commission says that if the copy of Form 17 C is uploaded on the website, it can cause chaos. Taking a copy from the website and tampering with its pictures can harm the trust of the common people on the electoral process. A copy of Form 17 C is given to the polling agents of various parties, but it would not be appropriate to make it public. The original copy of this Form 17 C is kept safe in the strong room.
What did the Election Commission say?
The Election Commission in its affidavit has rejected the allegations of any discrepancy in the voting percentage data after the polling, calling them completely false. The Election Commission says that the allegations of discrepancy in the voting percentage and voter turnout data are misleading and false. The allegations have been made on the basis of mere suspicion. The Commission says that due to the caution exercised at many levels regarding the data, it takes time. However, there cannot be any discrepancy.
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Who filed the petition?
In this case, ADR i.e. Association for Democratic Reforms has filed a PIL. In the petition, there is an allegation of manipulation in the voting data. It is said that the data was released several days after the voting. The data of the first phase was released 11 days after the voting and the second phase after 4 days. It was also claimed that there is a difference of about five percent between the initial data and the final data.
What is Form 17C?
Actually, voter turnout data is recorded in Form 17 C. This work is done by the polling officer. Form 17 C is filled after the voting is over. It is given to the polling agents of all the candidates. Through this Form 17 C, it is known how much percentage of voting has taken place at that booth.
Tags: Election commission, Supreme Court
FIRST PUBLISHED : May 24, 2024, 07:29 IST