New Delhi, Aug 7 (IANS) Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Thursday led discussions with leaders of Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) on electoral reforms, an exercise which coincided with the ongoing Bihar voter list revision, which has drawn criticism from Opposition parties.
The CEC and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had an interaction with a delegation from LJP (RV) led by its Vice President A.K. Bajpayee and received their suggestions at Nirvachan Sadan.
“The meeting is in continuation of the interactions being held by ECI with the Presidents of various National and State Political Parties (List annexed),” said an official statement.
It said these interactions provide for a long-felt need for constructive discussions, which enable National and State Party Presidents to share their suggestions and concerns directly with the Commission.
During the past 150 days, a total of 4,719 all-party meetings were conducted, including 40 meetings by CEOs, 800 by DEOs, and 3,879 by EROs, engaging over 28,000 representatives of various political parties, said the official statement.
The meeting comes at a time when the ECI has published a draft voter list in Bihar and opened the window for receiving applications for the addition and deletion of names from the list, ahead of the final publication of the electoral roll.
Earlier in the day, the ECI said that all political parties taken together, including the Opposition – RJD and Congress, have filed zero ‘claims and objections’ for inclusion or exclusion in the electoral draft rolls, a week after its publication. However, 5,015 people have directly submitted objections to the poll panel.
‘No objection’ to the draft rolls by parties assumes importance as a week has already passed after the August 1 publication for redressal of complaints and grievances.
Even as 5,015 people have directly submitted objections to the poll panel, in terms of new electors, those crossing the stipulated age of 18 years for voting, more than 27,000 individuals have sought the EC’s nod for getting their names added to the voters’ list.
The draft rolls published after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar became a bone of contention between the Opposition and the Election Commission, with the former alleging that it has resulted in disenfranchisement of lakhs of genuine electorate.
–IANS
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