‘Who will trust EC? Their work has deteriorated so much..’ Kapil Sibal

NEW DELHI: Senior advocate and Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Sunday criticised the Election Commission (EC) and alleged that people have lost faith in the institution.

This comes after 4,123 Electoral Registration Officers ( EROs) across the country are holding all-party meetings to resolve any pending polling booth-level issues in their respective Assembly Constituencies (ACs).

He asked what was EC doing when the elections were taking place.

Kapil Sibal said, “It is a very good thing that the Election Commission will now meet all the political parties and take their suggestions. What was the Election Commission doing when the elections were taking place? The by-election took place in Milkipur, about a hundred complaints were filed, but no reply was given to them. When people of political parties give controversial statements, nothing happens.”

He further said that people have been caught distributing money but no action has been taken.

“Who will trust the Election Commission? Their work has deteriorated so much, this is not a matter of today, we have been seeing this for many years.

Opposition has raised the issue of cutting of electoral voters’ list. Some people are not allowed to vote. In last 10 years they have done nothing, now suddently they claim that they would hear us. What they want to do now? After 5 pm suddenly voting percentage increases. This never happened before. Why is Form 17 not displayed? Today, people have lost faith in many institutions, Election Commission is not only one such institution, there are many such institutions,” he said.

Earlier, all 788 District Election Officers (DEOs) and 36 CEOs of all 28 States and 8 UTs at the State/UT levels have also been directed to hold such meetings to resolve any pending issues at the district and State/UT levels, respectively, within the legal framework of the RP Act 1950 & 1951, Registration of Elector Rules 1960, Conduct of Election Rules1961 and the manuals, guidelines and instructions issued by ECI from time to time, the poll body added.

These meetings have already started with the active participation of national/state-level political parties. All such meetings are to be completed in the entire country in each AC, district and State/UT by the 31st of March, 2025.

This is in line with the directions of the Commission led by CEC Gyanesh Kumar along with ECs Dr. Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Dr Vivek Joshi during the conference of CEOs of all States/UTs and one DEO and ERO from each state on the 4th of March, 2025 at IIIDEM, New Delhi.

Political parties and their authorised representatives, such as Booth Level Agents (BLAs), Polling Agents, Counting Agents and Election Agents, have specific roles to play in various electoral processes, including the conduct of elections.

This grassroots-level engagement has been welcomed by political parties, with their active and enthusiastic participation in meetings across assembly constituencies, districts, and states/UTs. The Commission appeals to all the national/state political parties to avail this proactive grassroot level engagement with electoral authorities for resolving any pending issue in a time-bound manner.

Photos of the nationwide political party meetings can be viewed at ECI’s official social media handle. (ANI)