– Abdul Bari Masoud
New Delhi: Over 700 citizens have urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to ensure transparency in the Delhi Assembly election on February 5, 2025. The demand follows allegations of mass rigging in the Haryana, Maharashtra assembly polls and the 2024 general elections.
In a signed petition, they asked the ECI to publish key election records on its website:
- Form 17C (Part I): Prepared by the Presiding Officer at the close of polling, this records voter turnout and votes polled via EVMs. Copies are given to polling agents and submitted to the Returning Officer. The petition demands scanned copies of all polling stations be uploaded within 48 hours of polling.
- Form 17C (Part II): Compiled on counting day, this verifies votes polled for each candidate against Part I. The petition seeks its publication within 48 hours of counting.
- Form 20 – Final Result Sheet: This records votes polled at each polling station, including postal ballots. Though uploaded late, the petition demands its publication within 48 hours of result declaration.
- Queue Slips at Poll Closing: Presiding Officers record slips issued to electors in queue at poll closing. Publishing this data would clarify any sudden voter turnout surges.
The petition emphasizes that public trust in elections is crucial for democracy. It is signed by transparency activists, former information commissioners, Supreme Court lawyers, academics, and civil servants.
Signatories include Anjali Bhardwaj, Prashant Bhushan, Ashok Sharma (former Ambassador), Amrita Johri, Harsh Mander, Wajahat Habibullah, Smita Gupta, Aditi Mehta (former IAS), Shabnam Hashmi, Deepak Sandhu (former Chief CIC), M. M. Ansari (former CIC), Gauhar Raza, M Sridhar Acharyulu (former CIC), Shailesh Gandhi, Zoya Hasan, Jayati Ghosh, E A S Sarma, Navsharan Singh, Nivedita Menon, Nandita Narain, Commodore Lokesh K Batra (Retd.), Venkatesh Nayak, Yogendra Yadav, Vrinda Grover, Roop Rekha Verma, Sanjay Parikh, Kavita Srivastava, Nikhil Dey, Jagdeep Chhokar, and others.
