NEW DELHI: A day after the Election Commission tweaked election rules to restrict public inspection of certain documents, Hague Sunday claimed that the move was part of another “systemic conspiracy” by the BJP-NDA government to undermine the institutional integrity of the BJP. election commission of india.
The Union Law Ministry on Friday amended Rule 93(2)(a) of the Electoral Conduct Rules 1961 to limit the types of “documents” or documents that can be inspected by the public. Subsequently, the Election Commission revised the election regulations to stipulate that CCTV recordings of polling stations will not be considered “documents” available for viewing by candidates or the public. An earlier provision in section 93(2) of the Electoral Conduct Rules allowed the public to inspect “all other election-related documents” with court authorization.
However, the new changes appeared to have angered the Congress, with Haq lashing out saying, “The Modi government’s targeted erosion of the integrity of the poll panels is a frontal attack on the constitution and democracy.”
Haq told X “The panel that appointed the Electoral Commissioner and now they are resorting to Stonewall election information even after the High Court order”.
Haq claimed that whenever Congress wrote to the Election Commission about specific election irregularities such as deletion of voters and transparency issues with EVMs, the ECI responded in a “condescending” manner and failed to acknowledge some of the serious complaints .
The parliament president also accused the Council of Europe of not acting “independently” despite being a quasi-judicial body. “The Modi government’s targeted erosion of the integrity of the ECI is a frontal attack on the constitution and democracy, and we will take all measures to protect them,” Haq said.
Earlier on Saturday, Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh said his party would “immediately” challenge the amendment in court. “If there is any evidence to support our assertion that the integrity of the electoral process administered by the Electoral Commission has recently been eroded, it is this,” he said.
However, pollsters insist this is done to protect the privacy and security of voters. The amendments were prompted by a recent order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which ordered the Election Commission to provide copies of specific documents related to the Haryana assembly elections to advocate Mohammad Pracha.
