The Election Commission has written to all political parties, asking them to participate in a meeting to strengthen the election process within the legal framework. The meeting could be held at their convenience, the Commission wrote amid the huge political row over the alleged manipulation of voter list in the Maharashtra and Delhi assembly elections.
The Commission has also invited suggestions from all national and state parties to flag any unresolved issues by April 30 with concerned officials.
At an internal meeting of the Commission last week, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar had instructed junior officials to hold regular interactions with political parties, resolve issues and submit an action taken report by March 31.
The Commission has also urged the political parties to proactively use this mechanism of decentralised engagement.
The Commission's initiative -- the first of its kind -- comes amid massive Opposition allegations of tampering of electoral rolls in last month's assembly election in Delhi.
The matter is expected to have ripples in parliament during the ongoing budget session. The Opposition parties are also expected to flag the multiple EPIC issue.
On Monday, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said the House needs to discuss the issue of voters list.
Today, a delegation of Naveen Patnaik's Biju Janata Dal arrived at the Election Commission Office in Delhi. They will submit a follow-up memorandum on variances in the votes cast in the 2024 Parliament and Assembly Elections in Odisha.
On March 6, Trinamool Congress delegation met Election Commission officials in Kolkata regarding their complaints about the same Elector Photo Identity Card (EPIC) number.
Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party, which was routed by the BJP in Delhi last month, has alleged that names of voters have been deleted from the list on a mass scale.
On the other hand, there were the addition of several thousands of new names that were not there during the Lok Sabha election just a few months ago, they have alleged.
Shiv Sena UBT leader Sanjay Raut said it followed the pattern of what happened in Maharashtra.
"We held a press conference to discuss the attitude of the Election Commission and the government regarding the elections. How a fraud is happening in the voter list and how this new Maharashtra pattern has been created. I also said that the Maharashtra pattern has been implemented in Delhi as well," he had said.
