CHENNAI: Chief Minister M K Stalin on Monday alleged that democracy is facing its gravest threat under the BJP-led union government as it has made a reckless amendment to Section 93(2)(a) of the Conduct of Election Rules of 1961 to “kill transparency” and appealed to all political parties to counter the “assault on free and fair” elections.
In a post on X, Stalin said, “Consequent to the direction of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to furnish the CCTV footage of an election booth, the union government brought this amendment to prevent public inspection of election documents and thus destroyed one of the basic features of the Constitution.”
Post-amendment, the rules mention that only those papers specified in the rules would be available for public inspection, he said. Stalin accused the BJP-led government of acting out of fear. “The BJP’s fear extends beyond Haryana, reflecting anxiety over Maharashtra where their orchestrated and unholy victory in the Assembly polls has raised serious concerns.”
ECI succumbed to BJP govt’s pressure: Stalin
The CM said it was shocking that the Election Commission of India, “instead of fighting for institutional integrity, has willingly succumbed to the pressure of Prime Minister Modi’s government and is happily involved in defacing its child —free and fair elections”.