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120 Civil Society Organisations Caution Against Vote Manipulation, EC’s Partisan Conduct

As part of the initiative, called ‘Wake up Karnataka’, activists, former bureaucrats and experts held a six-hour long discussion on how to hold the Election Commission accountable.

New Delhi: Amid questions surrounding the Election Commission’s conduct and the sanctity of the electoral process in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, over 120 civil organisations came together on Tuesday (May 21) to raise concerns about potential “manipulation” of votes on counting day.

As part of the initiative, called ‘Wake up Karnataka’, activists, former bureaucrats and experts held a six-hour long discussion on how to hold the Election Commission (EC) accountable. More meetings are planned in New Delhi and other places, Deccan Herald reported.

Political economist Parakala Prabhakar said such an event was necessitated by the EC’s repeated failures.

“So, we have a serious and limited objective: that the people’s will should be reflected on the ballot, whatever that it is. If that were not to happen, the civil society will have to challenge it to assert the civic rights of the people,” he said, adding that the exclusion of the chief justice of India from the selection committee had cast serious doubts about the impartiality of the EC.

The new selection panel is headed by the prime minister and has just one opposition member.

“We are not accusing the EC of anything. However, it is for the EC to establish that our doubts were unfounded,” he said, noting that the EC’s actions have further added to the doubts, the report said.

Pointing to the commission’s failure to prevent, or even discourage, hate speech and other repeated model code of conduct violations by the prime minister and his party, Prabhakar said that the EC’s conduct does not inspire confidence. He also questioned the commission’s role in denial of voting, reluctance to release the voting count and asymmetrical action taken against some parties for MCC violations.

Retired IAS officer M.G. Devasahayam said elections in India never had the current cloud of doubts and suspicions which have arised this time, the paper reported.

Comparing the Lok Sabha elections to those held after the Emergency, Devasahayam said,”The question before the people was almost the same: democracy or dictatorship? [In] 2024, the atmosphere and the mood of the people is almost the same. The stumbling block is that by and large elections are not free and fair.”

He also cautioned against the EC’s stand on cross verification of votes with VVPAT, saying that non-verification could lead to massive stealing of the mandate of the people. “As civil society, we are telling the returning officer that we are watching you. We don’t doubt your integrity. All we want is that the will of the people prevails,” he said.

“Is the EC following the law in issuing Form 17(C) and holding a secure counting process without fear and favour. We are also going to conduct independent media polls to show the growing support for opposition states. We believe that the government is jittery and leaders of the government are making vicious statements. We must, at the counting booth level, ensure that citizens remain vigilant,” activist Teesta Setalvad said.

Congress working committee member Gurdeep Sappal said it is the duty of the EC to ensure that people have faith in its process. “Unfortunately, this trust is missing,” he said.

“We never thought there would be a day in this country when the EC will refuse to give even the data of the votes polled on a particular day,” Sappal said, adding that in many constituencies, the returning officers have refused to provide data on the votes polled in booths. “This shows that something is not in order. We request the EC to instruct all the ROs to share the data with all the candidates,” he said.

Referring to reports of voters being lathi-charged in at least four Muslim-dominated villages, Nadeem Khan United Against Hate said, “In Uttar Pradesh’s Sambal and Amethi, voters have been lathicharged with police and security forces misbehaving with women. We have lost faith in the EC. We have two doubts. First, they will steal our vote. Second, they will steal the mandate by forcing winning candidates to join their party. People will come together to ensure both don’t happen,” he said.

Farmer leader Badagalpura Nagendra likened the prime minister to a dictator and said, “Dictators don’t accept defeat, they will try to avoid accepting the result. We will not allow that to happen.”


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