Within hours of the Indian Express report and statements from opposition leaders, the Election Commission put out a statement, external defending its way of working.
“Differing views and observations are a normal part of deliberation in any institution. They are a part of the decision-making process before a final decision is taken.
“Not only the three Commissioners, but every officer of the Commission is fully authorised to give his suggestions to the Commission for improving the electoral system,” the statement said.
The note said that highlighting “certain specific internal notes and observations spread over the period of 10 months while overlooking the much larger body of approvals, decisions, instructions and initiatives” give only part of the picture.
And that in recent months, the commission has “introduced around 40 new initiatives and undertaken many electoral reforms including the conduct of electoral roll revision (including SIR) across the country. All these decisions are an outcome of the unanimous decisions of the full commission in the past one year”.
The BJP has also defended CEC Kumar, calling the opposition criticism a “smear campaign” and that dissent was “a sign of a vibrant democracy”.
Party spokesperson Sambit Patra told a press conference that “ever since the Modi government came to power in 2014, opposition parties have been collapsing one after the other”. And because they cannot win elections, they are trying to “undermine the institutions of the country”, he said.
But the row over the election database is likely to intensify. Banerjee has already said opposition parties will hold protests until Kumar remains CEC.
And India’s influential Gen Z-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which recently forced the education minister to resign, has also said it will protest against the “hijacking of India’s democracy”.
Analysts say the defence of the Election Commission is unlikely to satisfy many, with some pointing out that its statement doesn’t address all the issues raised in the newspaper report and that “CEC Kumar needs to clear the air, external if we are to view the Commission as an impartial body”.
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