The Election Commission of India (ECI) has postponed two youth-focused voter awareness programmes in Uttar Pradesh that Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar was scheduled to address, officials said on Friday.
The first programme, a regional conference on Electoral Literacy Clubs (ELCs), was scheduled in Meerut, while the second, an interaction with young voters, was to be held in Varanasi on September 28.
The postponement comes amid a controversy over differences within the poll panel, following reports that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections to several decisions of the Commission. The ECI has maintained that its decisions were taken unanimously.
On Thursday, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi called for CEC Kumar to resign. Cockroach Janta Party also called for his resignation, saying they would launch a protest if he did not do so within 48 hours.
An ECI official said the postponement was not linked to the controversy and that the decision was taken on September 21.
“Adjustments in dates of events is an ongoing process which is necessitated by various factors such as availability of venues, schedules of higher authorities, natural factors,” the official said.
The official also cited previous instances in which ELC conferences in Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh and Uttarakhand had been postponed or rescheduled.
Sources said the two Uttar Pradesh programmes had been postponed indefinitely.
The ELCs are an ECI initiative aimed at familiarising school and college students, particularly first-time voters, with the electoral process. The Commission has been holding regional conferences under its revamped ELC 2.0 programme along with outreach on ECINET, its voter services platform.
(With inputs from PTI)