New Delhi: Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra and fellow commissioners Rajeev Kumar and Anup Chandra Pandey recently held “informal talks” with the Prime Minister’s Office to bridge the gap in understanding of key electoral reforms between the Election Commission and the Law Ministry. Sources insisted on Friday. That there is no irregularity involved in doing so.
He said the commission was emphasizing on reforms in electoral laws and related issues, and virtual talks were held in November to “bridge the gap in understanding the views of the Law Ministry and the Election Commission (EC)”.
The cat is out of the bag!
What was whispered till now is true.
In independent India, it was unheard of by the PMO to call the ECI. Treating the Election Commission as an auxiliary tool is another low in the Modi government’s record of destroying every institution.https://t.co/Vk9QtSSUfI
— Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) December 17, 2021
Reacting to the development, the opposition on Friday hit out at the government, alleging that it was treating the Election Commission as its “subordinate instrument”.
Congress general secretary and chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala alleged that the government has come to a new level in destroying institutions in the country.
Surjewala said, “The cat is out of the bag! What was whispered so far is a fact. In independent India, it was unheard of by the PMO to call the ECI. Treating the Election Commission as a subordinate tool to every institution of the Modi government.” Another low in destroying records.”
Election Commission sources said that amid several correspondences between the government and the Election Commission on electoral reforms, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) took the lead in holding “informal talks” with the three commissioners.
Sources said in response to a news report published on Friday that the Law Ministry had sent a letter to the Election Commission stating that the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister would preside over a meeting on the Common Electoral Roll and “require the CEC to be present”. Let’s hope”, sources said. The three commissioners did not attend that formal meeting.
Responding to the news report, former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) SY Qureshi said it was “absolutely shocking”. When asked to clarify his remarks, he said that his words sum everything up.
Sources said that apart from officials of the Law Ministry, senior officials of the Election Commission attended the formal meeting.
The Legislative Department in the Ministry of Law is the nodal agency for matters relating to the Election Commission.
Sources said the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved various electoral reforms that the Election Commission was pushing to bring in the ongoing winter session of Parliament as a result of informal talks with the PMO.
One of the reforms is the linking of Aadhaar with the voter list on a voluntary basis. The second will allow eligible youth to register as voters on four dates every year. There is yet a qualifying date – January 1 of each year – for those who have turned 18 or older on January 1 to register as a voter.
Sources said important electoral reforms are pending for the last 25 years.
The Election Commission was writing to the government to go ahead with the reforms and the Law Ministry was seeking clarification.
Sources said the informal talks helped in bridging the understanding gap on key issues. A senior Election Commission official said, “This is how the reforms should be done.”
Sources said there was no impropriety in pushing for reforms.
He reminded that the CEC has written to law ministers, including Ravi Shankar Prasad and the incumbent Kiren Rijiju, seeking their help in implementing electoral reforms.
Usually the Law Minister and the Legislative Secretary have been meeting the commissioners on various issues in the election house. The commissioners never call ministers as part of the protocol as the Election Commission is an independent constitutional body.
Congress leader Manish Tewari on Friday handed over a notice to the Lok Sabha on the “call” of the Election Commission for a meeting in the PMO to discuss electoral reforms.
In the notice, he raised questions on the autonomy of the Election Commission, but the Lok Sabha was adjourned amid the uproar over the Lakhimpur Kheri violence. The former Information and Broadcasting Minister said that he would again submit the notice to move the adjournment motion on Monday.
“Why was the Election Commission summoned briefly and is it true that the Commission did not pay heed to the manner in which they were compelled to attend the meeting in the Prime Minister’s Office,” Tewari said.
DMK leader TR Baalu said summoning a constitutional authority like the Election Commission reflects the “authoritarian attitude” of the government, and is undemocratic.
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