Bhopal/New Delhi, Sep 23 (IANS): Former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) O.P. Rawat on Wednesday termed the reported differences within the Election Commission over electoral-roll revision as “very serious” and “unfortunate”, saying any change to statutory voter-registration Form-6 without proper approval would be “absolutely wrong and illegal”.
Rawat was reacting to a media report that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had formally raised objections on several occasions over decisions and orders issued in the name of the poll panel without their knowledge.
The report said the two Election Commissioners had recorded objections at least 14 times over 10 months on issues, including addition and deletion of voters, changes to Form 6 and centralisation of control over electoral-roll data.
“There are different opinions about this. The best thing would be for all three of them to sit together and clarify in a press conference what the matter was. If there was dissent, then a decision could not have been taken,” Rawat said while talking to IANS in Bhopal.
He said the Election Commission, as a multi-member body, has to take decisions either unanimously or through a majority.
“Because a decision by the Election Commission can only be taken either by consensus or by a majority vote, and not otherwise,” said Rawat, who served as the CEC from January to December 2018.
Rawat also expressed concern over the SIR process, which began in Bihar and has subsequently been extended to other parts of the country.
He said the SIR exercise had faced problems from the beginning and needed a thorough review.
“There have been several mistakes in the SIR process from the beginning, starting with Bihar. Gradually, the Election Commission improved the process and tried to make it smoother,” he added.
Referring to the West Bengal SIR process, Rawat said the reported restoration of a large number of excluded voters showed the consequences of errors in electoral-roll revision.
He added that the Election Commission should ensure that eligible voters do not lose their right to vote because of errors in the revision process.
Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar turned the controversy into a political attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led state government, alleging that the objections raised by the two Election Commissioners had exposed serious questions about the functioning of the poll panel.
“The manner in which Election Commissioners Vivek Joshi and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu have exposed the collusion between Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the BJP government proves that the country is moving towards autocracy,” Singhar said.
He alleged that questions had been raised within the Commission over voter additions and deletions, centralisation of voter data in Delhi and changes to Form 6.
“The issue is not merely about procedure; it directly concerns the voter’s right to vote,” he said, asking the Election Commission and the Union government to explain who authorised the disputed decisions and why the two Election Commissioners repeatedly recorded objections.
The Election Commission, however, has said that all its decisions, including those related to SIR, were unanimous and had the approval of all three Election Commissioners.
