Had raised issues at right time, would have corrected mistakes: ECI
text_fields
New Delhi: The Election Commission of India released a 10-point statement on Saturday in which it claimed that the issues raised by the various parties about past elections must have been flagged during the stipulated time, criticising those who raised objections.
The Commission said that there was a designated Claims and Objections period precisely for the purpose. In the statement, the poll body outlined the process of preparing electoral rolls, claiming its work was transparent.
The statement by the Commission read, “The appropriate time to raise any issues with the Electoral Rolls would have been during the Claims and Objections period of that phase, which is precisely the objective behind sharing the Electoral Rolls with all Potential Parties and the Candidates. Had these issues been raised at the right time through the right channels, it would have enabled the concerned SDM/EROs to correct the mistakes, if genuine, before those elections.”
The statement also said, “ECI continues to welcome the scrutiny of Electoral Rolls by Political Parties and any Elector. It will help SDMs/EROs to remove the errors and purify the Electoral Rolls, which has always been the objective of ECI.”
It claimed that the draft electoral rolls were published in both digital and physical formats and were shared with all political parties, as well as being published on its website for public access. Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), who hold the power of sub-Divisional Magistrate-level officials, are those who prepare and finalise the electoral rolls with Booth Level Officers’ (BLOs) help. Therefore, the Commission claimed that the responsibility for the accuracy of the rolls lies with EROs and BLOs.
As the statement comes the night before the Commission’s announced press conference, it seems that a decision has been made to refuse to take responsibility for the severe and serious errors that the opposition has revealed in recent days.
