Congress accused the Election Commission of lying about its ECINet system, claiming it violates poll laws. Jairam Ramesh said, "Starting today, the INDIA janbandhan, citizens and many civil society organisations will hit the streets across the country demanding accountability." The opposition now plans marches and meetings to protest these alleged irregularities.
He referred to the ECI's launch-day assurance that ECINet had been developed in "strict accordance with the law" and was fully compliant with the Constitution, the Representation of the People Acts of 1950 and 1951, and the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.
He alleged that by restricting Electoral Registration Officers' (EROs) access to the ECINet voter-roll system and overruling EROs in states including Goa and West Bengal, the poll panel had violated the statutory framework governing electoral rolls.
According to Ramesh, the Representation of the People Act and the Registration of Electors Rules vest statutory authority over electoral rolls with EROs.
He also cited a September 24 letter by the Maharashtra chief electoral officer to the ECI, seeking correction of what he described as an "illegal state of affairs".
"Starting today, the INDIA janbandhan, citizens and many civil society organisations will hit the streets across the country demanding accountability for these violations of the law and the Constitution," Ramesh said.
The Congress' allegations come amid a wider opposition campaign against the functioning of the ECI and the revision of electoral rolls.
The INDIA bloc on Wednesday announced joint 'Save Democracy' marches in all districts and five major rallies. The grouping also demanded that future elections be conducted using ballot papers and urged the Supreme Court to expedite cases concerning the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and alleged electoral irregularities.
At a meeting attended by leaders of 19 political parties, the opposition decided that its MPs would march to the ECI on October 6 and that its leaders would meet the President over alleged irregularities in voter-list revision. The grouping has also demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The developments followed a report by The Indian Express that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded objections at least 14 times over 10 months to decisions and orders related to the SIR process, saying they were issued without their knowledge or recommendation.
The ECI, facing criticism over the reported differences, has said differing views and observations are a normal part of institutional deliberations and maintained that all its orders have full legal sanction and follow established statutory procedures.