SUDIPTA CHATTOPADHYAY
*KOLKATA* : Former Indian National Congress President & present Raebareli Congress MP, Rahul Gandhi defames India's Commission & its rules during his recent visit at Boston in America.
The commission warns Gandhi stating that by defaming and demeaning the EC & its workings, the MP has put false allegation on the constitutional body which is totally vague and meaningless. The EC counter hits Gandhi by stating that the election is conducted in our country following all the constitutional norms and regulations without any loopholes. Commission also adds that the election procedure of India is appreciated by the whole world. So, by disrespecting the electoral laws of the country ,Gandhi has not only insulted the constitution but has also demoralised the motivation of thousands of people who are directly or indirectly involved in the electoral procedure. According to EC this kind of statement
has also maligned all elected representatives and demotivated poll staffs .
Notably, the Indian National Congress has raised frequent questions time and again rebutting the role of EC & electoral laws. Sources in commission also reiterated that EC had slammed the false allegation against it on Dec'24 which is also recorded on EC's website. The Opposition party also raised the alleged discrepancies in Mahashtra Assembly polls several times. The poll body’s clarifications said that, during the Maharashtra Assembly election, there were 6,40,87,588 electors who reached their polling stations between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m., who cast their votes. About 58 lakh votes were polled per hour on an average. Going by these average trends, nearly 116 lakh voters could have voted in the last two hours. Therefore, the 65 lakh votes allegedly cast in the last two hours was actually below the hourly average.
The EC added that electoral rolls in India, including in Maharashtra, are prepared as per the Representation of People Act, 1950 and the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960. As per law, either just before the elections and/or once every year, a special summary revision of the electoral rolls is conducted and a final copy of the voter list is handed over to all national and State political parties, including INC.
After the finalisation of these electoral rolls before the Maharashtra election, there were only 89 appeals filed before the first appellate authority i.e. DEO level out of 9,77,90,752 electors. Only one appeal was filed before the second appellate authority i.e. CEO. Therefore, EC sources said, it is vividly clear that there was no complain from the Congress or any other political parties before the conduct of the election.During the revision of the electoral rolls, for 1,00,427 polling booths, along with 97,325 booth-level officers appointed by returning officers, 1,03,727 booth-level agents were also appointed by all political parties, including 27,099 by the Congress. Therefore, these unsubstantiated allegations raised about the electoral rolls in Maharashtra are an affront to the rule of law, the EC sources said.
