SUNIL NEGI
The chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar has today without naming the leader of the opposition Rahul Gandhi said that he will have to substantiate his charges against election commission within seven days with credible evidence or will have to seek public apology from countrymen. The CEC said that charging election commision with allegations of theft of votes is a serious charge which warrants an affidavit, and is unconstitutional for which public apology is required.
The chief election commissioner was addressing a press conference at India Media centre today after LOP Rahul Gandhi levelled charges of fake and duplicate voting in a press conference few days ago.
The CEC said that casting of votes and multiple names inclusion in voter list are two different things.
A voter may have his name in multiple voter lists but his vote will be cast only once.
He catagorically said that for election commission there is no ruling party or opposition party but they are all equal.
Saying that the doors of election commission are open for everyone he said that till 1 st September all the political parties can come forward to point out their objections if any in the voter lists as levelling allegations after the conduction of elections hold no meaning of any complaints or allegations against the election commission.
Speaking in favour of the Special Intensive Revision the CEC Gyanesh Kumar said that some individuals and political parties are spreading rumours about malpractices in EC’s working and SIR in BIHAR.
He said that the Election Commission will continue doing its SIR work and shall not be moved cautioning the voters to be aware and not to come under the influence of rumor mongers.
He said that all the political parties have been demanding the SIR for the last twenty years and the EC has commenced it from Bihar finding more than twenty lakh people dead and more than thirty five lakhs transferred , hence their names have been eliminated during SIR taking into confidence the agenda of all the political parties who haven’t objected to it.
Answering to the questions of journalists, though skipping majority of the important points, the CEC Gyanesh Kumar didn’t responded to Rahul Gandhi several important queries except one that having names multiple times in voters list doesn’t mean that a voter is casting his or her vote multiple times as he or she can cast it only once.
Regarding the house addresses of the voters as OO in the voters list he clarified that the computer doesn’t accept the numberless addresses of voters if any living in various parts of the country hense shows 00 as house address. That does not however mean that the voter with OO address is a non existent or fake or duplicate voter. He though didn’t clarified the objection raised by Rahul Gandhi regarding a single house accumulating eighty voters ?
He catagorically said that even if a voter is living under a pole, on pavement or a cluster without address can be enrolled as voter giving examples of Arunachal Pradesh of a single voter woman, living several miles away on a mountain for which the election commission’s team goes to get her vote on voting day.
He said that for election commission every vote is important and we have to honour it.
About casting aspersions with regard to SIR in Bihar Gyanesh said that so far 28370 claims objections have been given.
Regarding correcting entries in the draft rolls in Bihar he said that the EC is committed and will stand with the voters of all communities. Form 6 is the form for inclusion and Form 7 challenging names and for correction form number 8 is required tk be filled said the CEC Gyanesh Kumar.
The elections commissioner Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, who is the former chairman of secretary of Uttarakhand and Dr.Vivek Joshi were on the dias with the CEC at the press conference.
