Rahul Gandhi, Congress leader and leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, on Saturday criticised the Election Commission of India (ECI) for deleting evidence and not maintaining transparency in the electoral process. His comment was in reaction to a new order issued by the poll panel to its officers to delete CCTV footages, webcasting recordings, and other video records documenting the election procedure after only a mere duration of 45 days- unless one makes any legal objection to the same within such stipulated time.
Rahul Gandhi also tweeted in Hindi on the social media platform X (Twitter) by saying, “Voter list? Will not provide machine-readable form. CCTV footage? Covered up by the alteration of the law. Videos and photos of an election? They will be removed after 45 days, not after 1 year. The person who was supposed to offer explanations is the same person destroying the evidence.” He proceeded to say, It is evident that the game is rigged. “And rule of election by fixation is poison to the democracy.”
Rahul Gandhi has been very vocal, demanding that the Election Commission be more transparent, particularly after issues had arisen pointing to irregularities in the assembly elections in Maharashtra. He has already requested voter lists, polling statistics, and video footage to show that no skewing of the election was taking place.
In its May 30 letter to the chief electoral officers in the states, the Election Commission justified the storage of 45 days, saying there was a threat of misuse of recorded information. It added that such videos, which were initially designed to be an internal management tool, were increasingly being misused across social media sites by those who were not participants in the contests, in order to misinform with carefully selected and out-of-context video clips.
Although it is never a legal obligation to have any electoral process recorded, the Commission has employed the recordings as a way to handle and oversee polling. But, in the light of increasing abuse of the same, it has now directed the state authorities to eradicate such information within 45 days unless there is a legal challenge.
Join our whatsapp group for the Latest updates
Click Here for Chhattisgarh News
Click Here for Entertainment News