| News Details |
| Deep rupture within Election Commission raises serious questions over electoral rolls: Rattan Lal | |
Jammu, September 23 (Scoop News)- Expressing serious concern over the reported differences within the Election Commission of India, Rattan Lal Gupta, Provincial President, J&K National Conference, said that the revelations regarding repeated objections by two Election Commissioners have raised legitimate and serious questions about transparency, institutional functioning and the integrity of the electoral-roll revision process.
According to a report published by The Indian Express, Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi reportedly recorded objections on at least 14 occasions over a period of ten months concerning decisions relating to addition of new voters, deletion and restoration of names, and the functioning and control of the electoral-roll software. The report further states that the two Commissioners raised concerns about the centralisation of electoral-roll databases and separately approached the Cabinet Secretary regarding certain administrative and IT-related issues.
Rattan Lal Gupta said that these developments cannot be brushed aside as an internal administrative matter because the voters' list is the foundation of representative democracy. Every eligible citizen must have an equal opportunity to get his or her name included, while no genuine voter should be removed without due process, notice and an effective opportunity to raise an objection.
He said the reported objections regarding changes to Form 6, used for registration of new voters, are particularly serious. The two Commissioners reportedly questioned the legality and authorisation of changes made to the form in connection with the Special Intensive Revision.
“If two members of the three-member constitutional Election Commission themselves record that important decisions were taken without their knowledge or approval, the country deserves a complete explanation. There must be no secrecy in a process that determines who is entitled to participate in elections,” Gupta said.
Gupta called upon the Election Commission to make public the relevant records concerning the objections raised by the two Commissioners and to conduct an independent technical and legal audit of the electoral-roll software and also explain. How and on whose authority changes were made in the new-voter registration process; The complete procedure followed for addition, deletion and restoration of names from electoral rolls.
He said that democracy depends not merely on holding elections, but on ensuring that every eligible citizen can vote and every electoral-roll decision is taken strictly according to law, transparently and without discrimination
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