Election Commission has become a puppet of Modi, says Selvaperunthagai

K. Selvaperunthagai
| Photo Credit: M. SRINATH

Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K. Selvaperunthagai on Monday criticised the Centre’s decision to amend the rules governing election procedures, which allows it to withhold election related records. The amendment comes on the heels of the Punjab and Haryana High Court ordering the Election Commission of India (EC) to furnish all electronic voting machine (EVM) records, videos, closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera footage, and other related information in a case related to discrepancies in the Haryana Assembly election.

In a statement, he said the discrepancies between temporary and final vote tallies were around 1% in the past, but the Maharashtra Assembly election reported a discrepancy of 8%. Jharkhandand and Haryana were also marred by irregularities related to voter rolls, EVMs, and the polling process on election day.

“Typically, after 5 p.m., voters in line at polling stations are given numbered slips as permission to vote. Usually, these slips number fewer than 100. However, to account for 7.6 million votes, an estimated 1,000 extra voters would have had to vote per polling station, requiring over 1,000 minutes or six-and-a-half hours to accommodate them. This is an impossibility,” he said, adding, “A similar discrepancy in Haryana led to a case being filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which ordered the EC to provide the petitioner with all EVM records, videos, CCTV camera footage, and other related information.”

Mr. Selvaperunthagai criticised the Union Ministry of Law and Justice for resorting to amending the rules governing the EC’s procedures and said that the commission had now become a puppet of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Previously, under Section 93(2) of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, all election-related records had to be provided to petitioners filing cases in court. However, the amendment now exempts the EC from this requirement, even allowing it to withhold documents requested by courts. This blatant alteration has further eroded the already diminishing credibility of the EC and highlights the Modi administration’s deliberate assault on democracy,” he said.