New Delhi, 27 September (H.S.):

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said that maintaining public confidence in the electoral process is the responsibility of all political parties and leaders. Taking strong exception to the allegations being levelled by the Opposition regarding the Election Commission and the electoral process, she said that the statements and activities of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and other Opposition leaders were “no less than sedition” and that cases of sedition should be filed against them.

Speaking at a press conference held at Janseva Sadan on Sunday, the Chief Minister questioned the “baseless allegations” being made by Opposition leaders and asked whether the Election Commission had functioned with the same degree of transparency during the tenure of Opposition governments as it was demonstrating now by placing its procedures and decisions before the public.

She said, “Does it behove the Opposition to create an unfounded atmosphere merely on the basis of a report published in a single newspaper?” The Election Commission, she said, had placed each issue before the public with complete transparency and clarified that the decisions had been taken unanimously. She said everyone has the right to raise questions in a democracy, but such questions should be based on facts. Merely making political allegations and undermining the credibility of a constitutional institution is not appropriate.

The Chief Minister also referred to the questions being raised by the Opposition regarding Form-6. She said the Election Commission had clarified that the original Form-6, which is used for the registration of new voters, had not been changed. A declaration relating to the SIR process had been added separately. She said Form-6 and the related declaration for new voter registration are currently available on the Election Commission’s citizen services portal as well.

She said the electoral process was being made more organised and accessible while keeping public convenience in mind. Revision of electoral rolls is a regular process aimed at retaining eligible voters on the rolls and verifying, in accordance with prescribed rules, entries that have become ineligible due to death, migration, duplication or other reasons.

On the Opposition’s allegations of “vote theft”, the Chief Minister said that the process of updating electoral rolls has, for years, involved identifying individuals who died long ago, duplicate entries, voters who have shifted elsewhere and entries that have become invalid for other reasons. She said ensuring that the names of genuine eligible voters remain on the electoral rolls while removing ineligible or duplicate names is a natural requirement of the electoral process.

She said the Election Commission’s SIR process also provides for a prescribed procedure for verification of electoral rolls, as well as for claims and objections. She questioned why the Opposition was uncomfortable when the names of people who had died years ago, duplicate names or names of people who did not exist were verified and corrected, resulting in genuine voters being identified.

The Chief Minister said the Bharatiya Janata Party had received a clear mandate in the 2014 Lok Sabha election. She asked the Opposition who was responsible for administering the Election Commission’s system at that time and whether similar questions had then been raised about the credibility of the Election Commission.

She said it was not appropriate to question the electoral system and constitutional institutions merely because election results did not turn out as expected. She said, “You may spread as much false propaganda as you want to mislead the people, but the public is watching everything. The people will respond to every single point. Lies have no legs.”

The Chief Minister said maintaining public confidence in the electoral process is the responsibility of all political parties and leaders. If any political party has an objection to the electoral process, she said, it should present its concerns through the prescribed constitutional and legal mechanisms.

According to the Chief Minister, continuously making allegations without concrete evidence and creating an atmosphere of distrust in the country is not appropriate for democracy. She also said that activities that weaken public confidence in constitutional institutions should be viewed seriously.

The Chief Minister said, “The kind of activities Rahul Gandhi and any Opposition leader are engaging in and the kind of statements they are making, I believe, are no less than sedition. Cases of sedition should be filed against them.”

She said political opposition had its own place, but raising questions about the credibility of the country’s democratic institutions and electoral process without sufficient grounds and creating confusion among the public should not be acceptable.

According to the Chief Minister, the Election Commission is working to ensure the rights of eligible voters and make electoral rolls more accurate and up to date. She said the Commission had issued clarifications regarding the decisions and procedures associated with the SIR process.

In a democracy, the people are supreme, she said, and ultimately, the public makes its decision on the basis of facts, performance and policies.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar