The rights groups pointed out that Modi has made several hateful speeches which promote hatred between communities on religious lines and no action has been taken against the BJP for using religious symbols, or for all their hate speeches
Waquar Hasan | Clarion India
NEW DELHI— Civil society groups, opposition parties and media bodies are up against the election commission (ECI) for its partisan behaviour, inaction against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders over hate speeches and the delayed release of voter turnout percentage among others.
Several rights groups undertook a joint campaign holding Election Commission of India (ECI) responsible for its inaction against the misconduct and violation of Model Code of Conduct (MCC) during ongoing Lok Sabha Polls, urging ECI to ‘grow a spine or resign.’
On Saturday the civil society groups filed a complaint through the Chief Electoral Officers in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and other cities.
Activists and Civil Society groups launched a postcard campaign in which hundreds of postcards with the image of spine carrying the message ‘grow a spine or resign’ were sent to ECI, Delhi from various cities across the country.
In their complaints, the concerned groups raised the issues of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders making hate speeches during the election rallies, delayed and incomplete information about the voter turnout, partisan action against opposition leaders not BJP leaders, surrogate ads and the withdrawal of candidates due to threats.
Around two dozen civil society groups have signed this joint complaint and took part in the campaign against the election commission. People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), National Alliance for People’s Movements, Bahutva Karnataka, All India Lawyers Association for Justice and Indian Muslim for Secular Democracy are among them.
Along with these organisations, the letter was signed by 222 people from various walks of life, including lawyers, activists, filmmakers, academics and other concerned citizens.
In their joint complaint, the rights groups pointed out that Modi has made several hateful speeches which pit communities against one another and promote hatred between communities on religious lines.
This amounts to a violation of the Model Code of Conduct, amounts to a corrupt practice under the Representation of People’s Act and is a violation of the ECIs advisory to political parties. So far Mr. Modi, who is a star campaigner has not even been served a notice.
“No action has been taken against the BJP for using religious symbols, or for all their hate speeches. No action has been taken against the BJP for distorting points from opposition parties’ manifestos as well. BJP leaders have done this in speeches, BJP has issued ads which distorted information but faced no punitive action,” reads the statement issued by the PUCL about their complaint with the ECI.
The groups pointed out that Randeep Surjewala of the Congress, K. Chandrashekhar Rao of the BRS have been banned from campaigning for 48 hours over MCC violations. But more serious violations by the BJP have been ignored.
They noted that several candidates have reported threats by the BJP – In Gandhinagar and elsewhere. Some candidates have switched over to the BJP at the last minute. In Surat and Indore, there were no elections held and winners declared. “This is a subversion of democracy. Threatening a candidate or promising incentives to withdraw are corrupt practices under the Representation of People Act. However, ECI has neither conducted any inquiry nor taken any action,” reads the statement.
In Mumbai, a delegation met with Mr. S. Chockalingam, Chief Electoral Officer, Maharashtra in Mantralaya to submit the complaint. According to the delegation, Chockalingam assured that he would forward the concerns to the ECI and expressed his readiness to address issues concerning Maharashtra which fell under his jurisdiction.
Like civil society organisations, Press Club of India also issued a statement criticising the poll body for not holding press conferences after each phase of polling as it used to happen. Under the banner of the PCI, five media organisations also raised objections to the release of incomplete information related to the voter turnout.
With regard to the press conference, PCI president Gautam Lahri said till 2019, the last general election, holding a press conference after voting in each phase was the normal practice.
India, being one of the largest democracies in the world and the general election considered as the “biggest festival of democracy”, the citizens have every right to know what has happened on the voting day, from the constitutional body, the Election Commission of India.
“In this context, we demand that the CI hold a press conference after every phase of voting. Further, we demand that the entire poll date, including absolute number of votes polled and final percentage of voting be released by the next day of the polling. Such transparency is necessary to uphold the voters’ confidence in the electoral system,” reads the statement.
