Reacting to a report highlighting critical problems in the Election Commission’s functioning, Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of violating a foundational principle of democracy. the top election officer got 10, whereas the other two election commissioners got none, he quipped While one person gets one vote in elections.
“The funny part is that one man, one vote, one woman, one vote is part of the basic structure of the Constitution. And the funny part is that this Election Commission, which is the policeman for one man, one vote and fair elections, is itself not having one man, one vote. Because without this, you can’t have free and fair elections.
It is having one man, 10 votes and two men, zero votes,” he said, referring to an Indian Express report that claimed Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had objected to several decisions taken by the poll body without keeping them in the loop.
“So, you don’t have one man, one vote within the Election Commission; what will it entrust to the country?” he added.
Not with this blanket answer today,” he added. The Election Commission brushed the allegations aside, arguing, “Differing views and observations are a normal part of deliberation in any institution. “Not giving decentralised power to the EROs has become a real issue. Who is going to answer these? Singhvi claimed that the Election Commission statement did not address any points raised in the report.
Filing 1.6 million appeals without any apparent authorisation from the Election Commission as a collective is a real issue.
The two Election Commissioners also flagged the alleged centralisation of the electoral roll database, according to the report.
