ECI Press Conference on August 17: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced to call a special press conference at the National Media Center in New Delhi on Sunday, August 17, at 3 pm. The Commission’s Director General (Media) informed that in this program, senior officials can share important updates related to election preparations and voter list revision.
Commission surrounded by ‘vote theft’ controversy
This press conference is being held at a time when the Election Commission is surrounded by allegations from opposition parties. Especially Congress and Rahul Gandhi are constantly claiming that there have been huge irregularities in the voter list. Rahul alleged that about 1,00,250 votes were stolen in the Mahadevpura assembly constituency of Karnataka. He says that fake addresses, duplicate names, and hundreds of voters were registered on the same address, due to which Congress suffered losses and its seats were reduced by half.
Questions on Maharashtra and Haryana, too
Rahul Gandhi has also claimed that lakhs of names were added abnormally in Maharashtra and Haryana. They allege that the Election Commission is colluding with the BJP and have demanded that the voter list be made public in digital and machine-readable form.
The Commission’s counterattack
The Election Commission has already rejected these allegations, calling them “factually incorrect and misleading”. The Commission says that the voter list is prepared through a completely transparent process, and there is no scope for rigging at any level. The Chief Electoral Officers of Karnataka and Haryana also clarified that all the lists were prepared under the Representation of the People Act and the Electoral Registration Rules.
Supreme Court’s intervention
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has directed the Commission to increase transparency in the voter list of Bihar. The court said that the details of 65 lakh removed names should be made public along with the reasons. The court also ordered that the list be made available at the panchayat and district level, so that the common people can know the reasons for which their name was removed.
Now everyone’s eyes are on August 17
In such an environment, the upcoming press conference of the Election Commission is considered very important. It is believed that the Commission will not only present the blueprint of election preparations but will also openly put forward its stand on the allegations of ‘vote theft’ leveled by the opposition.