Congress president and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge has invited Opposition Members of Parliament to a lunch meeting in New Delhi, where lawmakers will sign letters seeking an appointment with Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
This is the second time the INDIA bloc and Election Commission have had a political row over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The meeting is scheduled for 1 pm on Wednesday. Opposition MPs will talk about their concerns regarding the electoral-roll revision process and attempt to meet the Chief Election Commissioner and the poll panel members separately.
The move follows an INDIA bloc protest in New Delhi on October 6. Opposition leaders and MPs marched towards Nirvachan Sadan, the headquarters of the Election Commission, as part of their campaign against alleged irregularities in the functioning of the poll panel and concerns around the SIR exercise.
The Opposition has constantly demanded answers from the Election Commission in the form of answers about the electoral-roll revision process. Opposition parties and Congress and other INDIA bloc parties have alleged that the exercise raises questions of voters and electoral participation. But the Election Commission has maintained that electoral roll revision follows established procedures.
The October 6 protest was also a part of the Opposition’s wider “Save Democracy” campaign. Some INDIA bloc leaders and MPs participated in the march towards the Election Commission. The procession was stopped by police barricades before reaching Nirvachan Sadan, and the protesting lawmakers marched towards Akashvani Bhawan and held a sit-in.
Among the leaders who took part in the protest was Rahul Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha. During the sit-in, Gandhi said that a lot of Opposition MPs would like to meet the Election Commissioners and express their concerns to them directly. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and several other opposition leaders also participated in the demonstration.
Delhi Police later detained a number of protesters, including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, after the sit-in continued for a few hours. The detention ratcheted up the political conflict between the Opposition and authorities over the protest.
Consequently, the Congress has maintained that its campaign will focus on protecting democratic institutions and the Constitution. The party said its “struggle” will continue to keep up until it is “fully protected” the Constitution and democracy from “every anti-people and anti-national force,” in a statement on social media in the afternoon.
But the Election Commission has given a different account of the events around the proposed meeting. The poll panel said that no political party has formally sought an appointment at the Commission until 4 p.m. on October 6.
The ECI said it was informed by Delhi Police at 4 pm that a delegation of about 240 MPs led by Rahul Gandhi wanted to meet the Election Commissioners and submit a memorandum. According to the Commission, the proposed meeting was to take place at the Parliament House Annexe.
The poll panel described the proposed venue and manner of seeking the meeting as unusual when compared with its established protocol. Political representatives typically follow a prescribed procedure when seeking an appointment with its members, the Commission said.
The ECI said that after being notified about the delegation, it considered sending its most senior executive officer to the Parliament House Annexe to receive the memorandum from the Opposition MPs. According to the Commission, that offer was rejected.
The differing accounts have also become another point of contention between the Opposition and the poll panel. Opposition leaders have said they sought to communicate their concerns directly to the Election Commission, but the ECI has maintained that no formal request for an appointment had been received through representatives of a political party before the stated deadline.
Kharge’s meeting is therefore significant as the Opposition wants to formalise its request for an interaction with the Chief Election Commissioner. By bringing together the lawmakers to sign a joint letter, the Congress leadership is trying to present the demand as a collective request from opposition lawmakers rather than as an individual political initiative.
The SIR exercise remains at the heart of the dispute. Opposition parties have looked for more clarity about how electoral rolls are being revised and have raised questions about the impact on eligible voters. The Election Commission has justified its processes and has continued with the electoral-roll revision exercise according to its stated framework.
The dispute also speaks to the bigger political tension between the INDIA bloc and the Election Commission. With the Opposition continuing its “Save Democracy” campaign and the poll panel sticking to the established procedures, the demand for a meeting with Gyanesh Kumar is likely to remain an important part of the political debate.
The letter expected to be signed by the Opposition MPs could be the next step in the standoff. How the Election Commission will respond to the call for the meeting and how the two sides get along on SIR will determine the next phase of the ongoing controversy.
