Leaders of both the ruling BJP and Opposition INDIA bloc met with members of the Election Commission (EC) on June 2 and demanded strict adherence to the established processes of counting of votes of the Lok Sabha elections, scheduled for June 4. While the BJP warned the EC against “attempts to undermine the integrity of the electoral process” by the INDIA bloc and “certain organisations, in the guise of civil society,” the INDIA bloc urged the EC to ensure that the control units of the electronic voting machines (EVMs) are moved through CCTV-monitored corridors and the current date-and-time display of each be verified.
Ministers in the Union government, Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal, representing the BJP, submitted a petition and asked the EC to ensure the safety of the counting process and that every official engaged in the counting process was fully conversant with the details of the prescribed process.
“We also ask the ECI to take cognisance of the systematic attempts to undermine the electoral process and take stringent action against those responsible, as well as issue a public statement affirming the integrity of the electoral process and warning against any attempts to disrupt the democratic process,” said Mr. Goyal after the meeting.
BJP targets Opposition, civil society organisations
In the letter handed over to the EC, the BJP noted the verdict of the Supreme Court of India in April this year on challenges by civil society organisations on the use of EVMs, where the apex court dismissed any apprehensions about their misuse. “Now that they (civil society bodies) have failed in the law courts and also have serious apprehension that they failed in the court of public opinion, these bodies now want to resort to anarchy,” the letter said.
“These manufactured controversies are intended to create mistrust in the electoral process and instigate unrest among citizens,” the letter further stated. The BJP also alleged that the Opposition, with civil society organisations fronting them, had a “toolkit” aimed at discrediting the electoral process, including a “Delhi Resolution” adopted on May 28 by “unknown, unverified persons” which outlines a series of actions, including protests and writing to the President of India and other high constitutional officials to undermine the results.
The BJP’s delegation met with EC officials barely minutes after the INDIA bloc’s delegation met the officials to share their apprehensions over the counting of votes. Senior leaders Sitaram Yechury, D. Raja, Salman Khurshid, T.R. Baalu and Abhishek Singhvi, among others, were part of the delegation.
Clarity in process, adherence to rules
In a memorandum to the EC, they said that it was essential to acknowledge that counting officials requisitioned from local authorities, schools, universities, banks etc., often failed to fully understand all the aspects of the counting process, despite training by the EC. “This mismatch can be challenging for the counting agents, particularly when counting officials ask for written ECI orders/guidelines for every request being made,” the representation said, adding that there was a lack of clarity on the precise details involved in the counting process.
They demanded safe movement of the control units through a CCTV-monitored corridor, verification of the current date and time displayed on the control units, confirmation of the start and end time and date of the voting process to the counting agents. “This verification is important because unless it is done, there is no authenticity that it is the same control unit that came from the polling booth, that it has not been changed,” Mr. Yechury said.
“The previous experience of counting process also reveals that in many cases the counting officials rush into declaring the results of one machine to the other, leaving scope for manipulation. The ECI must issue necessary instructions that the counting officials must wait and allow all counting agents to record the results before moving from one machine to another and from one round to the next,” the memorandum said.
It also sought strict adherence to the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961. Citing reports that postal ballots would be counted towards to the end in some districts, the memorandum asked for this process to be completed in the beginning, as per the rules.
“Clear instructions from the ECI are expected,” Mr. Raja added.
