New Delhi, May 10 (UNI) Soon after Election Commission of India (ECI) rebuked Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge for his remarks on delay in final voter turnout numbers, the apex poll body came under heavy attack from senior leaders from the grand old party.
Former Union Minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram has called for “full discussion on the omissions and commissions of the ECI” while also reminding the poll body that it is not beyond criticism.
“ECI should remember that it is not beyond criticism. There is much that ECI has done and has not done for which it deserves to be criticised. When RBI, C&AG, Finance Commission and other bodies can be criticised, why does ECI think it should not be criticised,” Chidambaram wrote on micro-blogging site ‘X’.
He further said in the post, “Let Parliament meet and Let there be a full discussion on the omissions and commissions of the ECI, and ALL political parties will share their experiences contesting elections under the current ECI.”
Chidambaram also defended his Party President and noted, “Mr Mallikarjun Kharge had raised valid points in his letter. ECI may refute them, but why take exception to the letter.”
The Election Commission in a strongly-worded letter to Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday rejected his comments alleging possible discrepancy in voter turnout data which is released after polling. The poll body termed his comments as ‘highly undesirable, unwarranted and without facts.’
Kharge had earlier this week written to leaders of various opposition parties and raised concern over alleged discrepancies in the voter turnout data.
The ECI, however, rejected all his allegations and rapped Kharge for “making baseless allegations to create confusion, misdirection and impediments in the conduct of free and fair polls.”
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh lambasted the poll body saying, “Both the content and intent of the letter will be a permanent blot on the reputation of an institution that can boast of luminaries like Sukumar Sen, TN Seshan, JM Lyngdoh and others.”
“The response of the Election Commission of India (ECI) to the issues raised by the Congress President in his letter to the INDIA parties is simply beyond description. The EC is a Constitutional body entrusted with the responsibility of being an impartial body that ensures, and is seen to ensure, a level-playing field to all political parties. Both the content and intent of the letter will be a permanent blot on the reputation of an institution that can boast of luminaries like Sukumar Sen, TN Seshan, JM Lyngdoh and others,” he wrote on X.
