NEW DELHI: Soon after the Election Commission of India (EC) on Friday issued its response to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, a multi-party delegation of the INDIA bloc submitted a memorandum to the poll body and urged it to ensure the sanctity and transparency of the electoral process and a level-playing field for the remainder of the 2024 general elections.
The delegation included Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi, TMC leader Derek O’Brien, JMM leader Mahua Maji and DMK leader TR Baalu, among others.
The letter pointed out that the commission has not provided any proper or official clarification on the inordinate delay or the reported variance in the voter data. The commission has not mentioned crucial yet related figures, such as the votes polled in each parliamentary seat and in the respective assembly constituencies, it said.
“If the voter turnout data was published within 24 hours of voting along with the crucial figures, then we would have known if the increase (of approximately 5%) had been witnessed across constituencies, or only in constituencies where the ruling regime had not performed well in the 2019 elections,” it said.
The letter also raised the issue of “Prime Minister’s repeated violation of Model Code of Conduct and the commission’s advisories (dated March 1, 2024) through election speeches and interviews”.
“The PM has given hate speeches, misrepresented wholly the contents of the opposition’s campaign, sought to create divisions within groups, sought votes openly in the name of religion and made reckless claims, which if they had been made by any other individual would have amounted to offences punishable under the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and the Representation of People Act, 1951,” the letter said. The memorandum also cited the list of complaints on which no meaningful action has been taken by the EC.
“On 23.04.2024, the INC submitted a representation with this commission against an election speech delivered by Narendra Modi in Tonk, Rajasthan, for invoking; (a) the Armed Forces to malign the reputation of the INC and; (b) religion and religious references to ridicule the INC and its election manifesto,” it said.
Further, the parties urged the EC to initiate action against the repeated conduct of Narendra Modi, which is duly supported by cogent and indisputable evidence. “The blatant nature of these violations of PM Modi constitutes a direct challenge to this commission and if left unchecked, will leave a deep impact on the democratic fabric of the nation,” it said.
Earlier, responding to the EC’s letter, the Congress said that the content and intent of the letter will be a permanent blot on the reputation of an institution that can boast of luminaries like Sukumar Sen, TN Seshan and JM Lyngdoh.
“As a Constitutional body, the EC is entrusted with the responsibility of being an impartial body that ensures, and is seen to ensure, a level-playing field to all political parties. The EC’s response is simply beyond description,” said AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh. He further said that the Congress president had raised perfectly legitimate issues, on which there have been widespread concern and comment. “The approach of the Election Commission to addressing these issues is deeply regrettable,” said Ramesh.