Dear Friends,
In August 2013 I had mailed the trailing mail ......... Times of India had covered the story :
Booth-wise poll results open to manipulation: Civil society
NEW DELHI: As the election commission declares results booth-wise, civil society members fear that the upcoming assembly polls are not going to be free and fair as there is enough scope for manipulation.
"The secrecy of the ballot is a farce. For any political party, it is easy to identify group of voters who didn't vote for them as election results are declared booth-wise," said Rajiv Kakria, president of GK1 RWA.
Civil society members allege that it is easy for political parties to indulge in votebank politics and manage the votes, especially of people belonging to the economically weaker section of the society.
"As it is easy to identify groups of houses in a locality who voted for a certain party, this information is used to intimidate poor living in slums. The electronic voting machines of a constituency should be jumbled up so that it becomes impossible to find out voting pattern," said Kakria, who has written to the lieutenant governor, Lokayukta and cabinet secretary among others in this regard.
Chetna, a Delhi-based NGO, has written to the Election Commission of India (ECI) and Vijay Dev, Delhi's chief electoral officer, to discontinue the practice of declaring results booth-wise. "We have also sought an appointment with Dev to discuss the issue. If we want free and fair elections in the city, then this practice has to be stopped immediately," said Anil Sood, president of Chetna.
While the civil society is pushing for its quick implementation, Dev is not certain whether it can be done in time for the elections. "We are aware of the problem and have discussed the matter with the Election Commission of India. This is a policy matter and I can't say if any change will be possible in the coming assembly polls," he said.
It is learnt that ECI has recommended a change to the Centre as part of reforms in the electoral process. But a final decision in this regard is yet to be taken.
Meanwhile, civil society members have decided to file a PIL in the Delhi high court in case the change is not implemented in the upcoming polls.
Thereafter together with CHETNA (NGO) filed a PIL in the Delhi High Court which on 19-12-2013 passed an order stating ..... "We hope and expect that the concerned authorities shall take necessary decision as early as possible." (Court Order Attached)
Todays Times of India has given us the good news :
With best regards,
Rajiv Kakria
