New Delhi: Amid allegations of vote theft by opposition leaders, including Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, through Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter list in Bihar, the Election Commission (ECI) has sought opinion from the public in this regard. Terming the allegations of opposition leaders as baseless, the Election Commission left it to the public to decide whether the exercise being done to improve the voter list in the poll-bound state of Bihar is right or wrong.
Apart from this, only a few days are left to file claims and objections in the ongoing SIR process in Bihar.
Just a few days ago, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had asked Congress MP Rahul Gandhi to prove his “vote theft” claim or apologize to the country. Even after the seven-day ultimatum ended, Rahul Gandhi neither submitted an affidavit nor apologized. After this, the Election Commission took this step on Tuesday.
Raising several questions, the Election Commission sought the opinion of the public, asking, “Should there be a thorough scrutiny of the voter list or not? Should the names of dead people be deleted or not? Should the names of those who have their names in two or more places in the voter list have their names in only one place or not? Should the names of foreign nationals be deleted or not? If the answer is yes, then contribute to the Election Commission in making this difficult task of cleansing the voter list a success.”
Referring to these questions, Election Commission sources said, “These are to counter those who are opposing SIR. This is a kind of appeal to the people whether what the Election Commission is doing is right or not.”
Election Commission sources said, “There has been no protest from the public. If 65 lakh names have been deleted, then how many people have raised their voice in the last 25 days that their names have been deleted. The total number is not even 200. The public has no problem. Overall, the public agrees with this process. Only a political atmosphere is being created.”
Sources further said, “The stand of the Election Commission is very clear, the allegations are baseless. If a baseless allegation is made on a constitutional institution, a notice can be issued.”
Expert opinion
Speaking to ETV Bharat, former Lok Sabha Secretary General PDT Acharya said, “The Election Commission has a responsibility. They have powers as well as responsibilities. Under Article 324, they have the right to take all necessary steps to ensure free and fair elections. When the Election Commission has these powers, it also has the responsibility to see whether these powers are being used properly or not.”
He said, “It is the duty of the Election Commission to prepare the (voter) list. The Election Commission has prepared the list. Sometimes, a citizen or a group of citizens, may be a political leader and his team finds irregularities in the list, i.e. inclusion and deletion of names. Then he brings it before the public. What is the role of the Election Commission? It is the duty of the Election Commission to investigate it. Find out the truth and tell the public whether what the political leader has said is right or wrong.”
Referring to Rahul Gandhi’s press conference in which he alleged vote theft, Acharya said, “If the data provided was not that of the Election Commission, then he should have immediately gone to court and challenged it, because he is giving wrong information, misleading information to the public. He should have gone to the court and said that he has given all imaginary data with malicious intent. This is what a constitutional body can do. It is their duty to establish authenticity.”
Assembly elections are due in Bihar later this year.
