Rahul gandhi on ec: Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, once again raised serious questions on the Election Commission on Saturday, raising his transparency, alleging that the Election Commission was deliberately trying to destroy the important data related to the election.
Rahul Gandhi on Saturday made a scathing attack on the Election Commission and said that he is deliberately destroying the necessary documents and data related to the election. Rahul wrote on social media that the voter list will not be given in the machine-readable format, the CCTV footage has been changed to the law, and now the photo-video of the election will be destroyed in just 45 days, not one year. He said that the one who needs answers is erasing the same evidence, that is, “match is fixed” and fixed elections are poison for democracy.
Election Commission cleaning – secrecy and security is necessary
The Election Commission has responded to Rahul Gandhi’s allegations. Election Commission officials said that making public webcasting footage of polling stations public can pose a threat to voters’ privacy and security. According to the Commission, such demands appear in support of public interest and democratic honesty, but in reality their purpose is the opposite.
Refer to law and Supreme Court orders
Election Commission officials said that the demands of Rahul Gandhi are against the Representation of the People Act of 1950 and 1951 and the directions of the Supreme Court. The Commission also said that it is working according to the law and constitution, and it is its priority to maintain the safety of voters and fairness of elections.
Danger of the identity of voters being revealed
Election Commission officials have warned that by making public the CCTV footage of polling stations, it can be ascertained who voted and who is not, which can lead to a situation like pressure, discrimination or intimidation. Giving examples, he said that if a political party gets less votes at a booth, then he can find out who did not vote. With this, selected people can be disturbed or intimidated.
CCTV footage deadline and use
Officials made it clear that the Election Commission keeps these CCTV footage safe only for 45 days for internal administrative works. This rule is because the legal deadline for filing a petition against the election result is also 45 days.
Court is kept safe for court
If a petition is filed within this deadline, then the footage is kept safe and it is made available to the court when needed. But if a petition is not filed, then keeping the footage may be a risk of spreading wrong information or misuse.
Methods of changes and recording in rules
Last year, the government had made changes in the election rules on the recommendation of the Election Commission, under which a provision has been made not to make some electronic records such as CCTV and webcast footage publicly. On May 30, the Election Commission had written a letter to the state officials, stating that many methods like photography, videography, CCTV and webcasting are adopted for recording of election process.