Election Commission grants appointment for ‘interaction’ today on Congress request

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India has granted an appointment for an interaction at 12 pm on Monday on the request of the Congress Party.

In a letter addressed to Congress MP Jairam Ramesh, the Election Commission of India’s secretariat stated that the Commission has considered the request and decided to grant an appointment for an interaction. The appointment is granted in response to Jairam Ramesh’s request on “behalf of certain political parties”.

The Election Commission has requested to submit the names of up to 30 people along with their vehicle numbers for the interaction due to the limitation of space. The agenda of the meeting is not mentioned in the letter.

However, the Opposition has been constantly raising questions over Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar, accusing the poll body of “vote theft” The INDIA bloc has also announced a protest march from Parliament to the office of the Election Commission on Monday in protest against the SIR of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar.

Addressing a press conference, senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh alleged that all the Booth Level Officers (BLOs) are filling out “fake forms” in one room while making the announcement for the march.

“All the BLOs are filling out fake forms in one room. The Election Commission says that so many people have died, but their list is not given… And tomorrow the MPs of the entire INDIA alliance, who are from all parties except the BJP and NDA alliance MPs, will march from the Parliament to the Election Commission’s office…” he added.

Meanwhile, Delhi police stated that the Opposition parties had sough no permission for the proposed march.

On August 1, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government was ready to hold discussions on any issue under the rules, but the SIR could not be debated as it was a process carried out by a constitutional body–the Election Commission of India.

“I want to clarify that the government is ready to hold discussions on any issue as per the rules. There cannot be a discussion on SIR because it is a process undertaken by a Constitutional body, and it is not happening for the first time…” Rijiju said. (ANI)