BJP and INDIA approach EC ahead of counting day

 Delegations from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the INDIA bloc approached the Election Commission (EC) on Sunday, a day after polling for all 543 Lok Sabha seats concluded, and urged the poll panel to ensure that all guidelines are followed on the counting day to safeguard the electoral process.

The ruling party asked EC to ensure that every polling official is “fully conversant” with the poll body’s counting protocol, as it also alleged that Congress and “certain motivated civil society groups” were trying “to undermine the integrity of the ongoing electoral process”.

In its appeal, the Opposition blocs urged the panel to ensure that on June 4, the postal ballots are counted and their results declared before announcing the count of votes cast through EVMs is announced. It stressed that EC should ensure that the norms related to the counting process are implemented, and that step-by-step instructions are made absolutely clear to the counting officials.

BJP’s appeal

The BJP delegation, comprising Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal submitted a memorandum to EC, saying that the Opposition, along with certain civil society groups were resorting to “a series of unfounded claims aimed at discrediting the election process.” The BJP said that a pattern has emerged where the Opposition first targets institutions, then the election process, and “if court verdicts do not favor them, target the judicial verdicts.”

“We had to call upon the Election Commission in light of the repeated attempts by a section of political parties, like the Congress and their INDI alliance partners, and also by certain motivated civil society groups and NGOs who are trying their level best to undermine the integrity of India’s electoral process,” Goyal said after the meeting.

He added: “We have requested EC to ensure that every official engaged in the counting process is fully conversant with the minutest details of the prescribed process and engage diligently with all EC protocols.”

Opposition’s application

In a memorandum, the INDIA bloc delegation asked the poll panel to ensure that the postal ballot results were declared before the final round of counting of EVM votes, adding that there was a guideline to this effect, but it was withdrawn on May 18, 2019. It also said that according to the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, the counting officials must start counting postal ballots first and start counting EVM votes 30 minutes after that.

“G]uidelines/notices/letters of ECI can in no way be used to dilute the rules established under law… While some District Collectors have issued similar orders, others have made statements about counting of postal ballots in the end. Clear instructions from the ECI are expected, it said.

The Opposition delegation included senior Congress leaders Abhishek Singhvi and Salman Khurshid, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI general secretary D Raja, DMK’s TR Baalu, and SP’s Ram Gopal Yadav.

“This is the third multi-party delegation visiting the EC during this process.... We spent time with the EC on two-three major issues. Most important was counting the postal ballots and declaring the results first. This is a very clearly stated statutory rule, which specifically says that you should take up the postal ballots first,” Singhvi said.

Another letter, signed by 13 Opposition leaders, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Nationalist Congress Party (SP) president Sharad Pawar, said although political parties have put in a lot of effort to train their counting agents, the counting officials often fail to fully understand all aspects of the counting process.

“This mismatch can be challenging for the counting agents, particularly when counting officials ask for written ECI orders/guidelines for every request being made. On the day of counting, it is impractical for counting agents to carry multiple ECI manuals and circulars to all the counting tables,” it said.