ECI’s 14 objections leave democracy checking the fine print
KTR has challenged the Election Commission over voter-roll decisions after reports of repeated internal objections. The ECI says the final decisions were unanimous. The objection notes remain unpublished.
The Election Commission says final decisions were unanimous; the objection notes have not been published.
The Election Commission has some explaining to do, after reports said Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi recorded objections at least 14 times in 10 months over voter registration, deletions, restorations, Form 6 and electoral-roll software.
K. T. Rama Rao said the reported objections raised serious questions about the functioning of the poll body. “When two of the three Election Commissioners themselves are repeatedly raising objections, it’s time to fix the EC,” he said. He also alleged a Congress-BJP-ECI nexus and claimed eligible Telangana voters were being deleted. Those allegations have not been established by documentary evidence in the material reviewed.
The ECI says written notes and internal checks are routine, and that all final decisions over the past year, including those on the Special Intensive Revision, were taken by the full Commission and in accordance with law. Fair enough. But the 14 objection notes, a date-wise record of the disputes and Telangana’s deletion and restoration figures have not been published in the material available.
The BRS says it will challenge illegal deletions in courts and before the public. Until the Commission releases the paperwork, democracy is being asked to trust the minutes it will not show.