Election Commission interacts with BJP leaders as part of panel’s outreach

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday interacted with senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders including party president JP Nadda as part of its outreach to understand the concerns of political parties and address them.

“The BJP leaders discussed a range of issues, including the timely deletion of names of absent, shifted, and dead electors from the electoral roll. It was conveyed to them that this exercise is carried out annually during the summary revision of electoral rolls,” said a person aware of the matter.

Apart from Nadda, the BJP general secretary Arun Singh, Union minister Bhupender Yadav, and member secretary Om Pathak attended the meeting.

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) was the first of the national parties to meet the EC earlier this week.

At its meeting on May 6, the BSP led by Mayawati asked the commission to ensure that Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail, or VVPAT, slips be generated for all votes.

Thursday’s meeting comes eight days after the April 30 deadline set by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar for all national and state political parties to interact with the election watchdog.

“In continuation of the ECI’s emphasis on fostering greater and regular engagement with different stakeholders, the Commission has initiated interactions with National and State political parties. These interactions would provide a long-felt need of constructive discussions which enable… presidents to share their suggestions and concerns directly with the Commission. This initiative aligns with the Commission’s broader vision of further strengthening the electoral process in accordance with the existing legal framework with all stakeholders,” the Commission had said after the meeting with the BSP.