Congress leader Jairam Ramesh accused the Election Commission (ECI) of giving in to pressure and harming democracy. He was unhappy that the ECI first refused to meet opposition parties about Bihar election changes, then only allowed a few leaders to attend, which he feels weakens India's democracy
Jairam Ramesh. File Pic
A day after the Election Commission of India (ECI) met with a delegation of 11 parties to discuss its decision to conduct an "electoral" revision ahead of the Bihar elections, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh criticised the poll body, stating that the meeting "ultimately" took place "under pressure".
However, the Congress leader noted that the Election Commission had initially refused a meeting but later only allowed two leaders from each party, which meant some leaders were unable to meet with ECI officials, reported ANI.
"Yesterday evening, the delegation of the INDIA bloc met with the Election Commission regarding the special voter intensive revision ('SIR') in Bihar. Initially, the Commission had refused to meet, but ultimately, under pressure, the delegation was called. The Commission arbitrarily allowed only two representatives from each party, due to which many of us could not meet with the Commission. I myself sat in the waiting room for almost two hours," Jairam Ramesh stated in his 'X' post.
The Congress MP asserted that the ECI's attitude "weakens" the "basic structure" of Indian democracy. He maintained that the ECI is a constitutional body and cannot refuse the opposition's requests for hearings.
"Over the past six months, the Commission's attitude has consistently been such that it weakens the basic structure of our democracy. The Election Commission is a constitutional body. It cannot regularly reject requests for hearings from the opposition. The Commission must work in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution and its provisions," Jairam Ramesh's 'X' post read.
Furthermore, the Congress leader emphasised that the ECI cannot impose "arbitrary rules" for engaging with political parties.
"Most importantly, the Election Commission cannot make arbitrary rules for engaging with political parties — such as the number of representatives, their positions, or deciding who is authorised and who is not," the Congress leader stated.
Claiming that when the opposition labelled the ECI's rules "arbitrary and misleading," the body replied, "This is the new Commission," Ramesh expressed that this response from the ECI has deepened the opposition's concern, as they ponder what the electoral body's next step will be.
"When the delegation called these rules arbitrary and misleading, the Commission responded,'This is the new Commission.' Hearing this, the concern deepens — what will be the next move of this 'new' Commission? And how many more 'masterstrokes' are yet to be seen? Just as the 'demonetisation' of November 2016 dealt a severe blow to our economy, similarly, this 'voter suppression,' which is emerging in the form of SIR in Bihar and other states — will destroy our democracy," Jairam Ramesh concluded in his 'X' post.
(With inputs from ANI)
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