Jairam Ramesh Attacks Election Commission over INDIA Bloc's Meet With ECI
3 July 2025 2:25 PM IST3 July 2025 2:25 PM IST
The Congress MP stated that the ECI's attitude "weakens" the "basic structure" of Indian democracy
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh (ANI)
New Delhi: A day after the Election Commission of India (ECI) met with a delegation of 11 parties to discuss its decision to conduct an "electoral" revision ahead of the Bihar elections, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh slammed the ECI, stating that the meeting "ultimately" took place "under pressure".
The Congress leader noted that the Election Commission had earlier refused a meeting. However, it later allowed only two leaders from each party, due to which some leaders could not even meet with the officials of the ECI.
“Yesterday evening, the delegation of the INDIA bloc met with the Election Commission regarding the special voter intensive revision ('SIR') in Bihar. Initially, the Commission had refused to meet, but ultimately, under pressure, the delegation was called. The Commission arbitrarily allowed only two representatives from each party, due to which many of us could not meet with the Commission. I myself sat in the waiting room for almost two hours,” Jairam Ramesh said in his 'X' post.
The Congress MP stated that the ECI's attitude "weakens" the "basic structure" of Indian democracy. He asserted that the ECI is a constitutional body and cannot refuse the opposition's request for hearings.
“Over the past six months, the Commission's attitude has consistently been such that it weakens the basic structure of our democracy. The Election Commission is a constitutional body. It cannot regularly reject requests for hearings from the opposition. The Commission must work in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution and its provisions,” Jairam Ramesh's post said.
The Congress leader emphasised that the ECI cannot impose "arbitrary rules" for engaging with political parties.
“Most importantly, the Election Commission cannot make arbitrary rules for engaging with political parties—such as the number of representatives, their positions, or deciding who is authorized and who is not,” he added.
Claiming that when the opposition called the rules from the ECI "arbitrary and misleading", the body replied, "This is the new Commission." Ramesh said this response only deepened the concern of the opposition, raising questions about what the electoral body’s next steps might be.
“When the delegation called these rules arbitrary and misleading, the Commission responded: 'This is the new Commission.' Hearing this, the concern deepens—what will be the next move of this 'new' Commission? And how many more 'masterstrokes' are yet to be seen? Just as the 'demonetization' of November 2016 dealt a severe blow to our economy, similarly, this 'voter suppression', which is emerging in the form of SIR in Bihar and other states—will destroy our democracy,” Jairam Ramesh said in his post.
“Yesterday evening, the delegation of the INDIA bloc met with the Election Commission regarding the special voter intensive revision ('SIR') in Bihar. Initially, the Commission had refused to meet, but ultimately, under pressure, the delegation was called. The Commission arbitrarily allowed only two representatives from each party, due to which many of us could not meet with the Commission. I myself sat in the waiting room for almost two hours,” Jairam Ramesh said in his 'X' post.
The Congress MP stated that the ECI's attitude "weakens" the "basic structure" of Indian democracy. He asserted that the ECI is a constitutional body and cannot refuse the opposition's request for hearings.
“Over the past six months, the Commission's attitude has consistently been such that it weakens the basic structure of our democracy. The Election Commission is a constitutional body. It cannot regularly reject requests for hearings from the opposition. The Commission must work in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution and its provisions,” Jairam Ramesh's post said.
The Congress leader emphasised that the ECI cannot impose "arbitrary rules" for engaging with political parties.
“Most importantly, the Election Commission cannot make arbitrary rules for engaging with political parties—such as the number of representatives, their positions, or deciding who is authorized and who is not,” he added.
Claiming that when the opposition called the rules from the ECI "arbitrary and misleading", the body replied, "This is the new Commission." Ramesh said this response only deepened the concern of the opposition, raising questions about what the electoral body’s next steps might be.
“When the delegation called these rules arbitrary and misleading, the Commission responded: 'This is the new Commission.' Hearing this, the concern deepens—what will be the next move of this 'new' Commission? And how many more 'masterstrokes' are yet to be seen? Just as the 'demonetization' of November 2016 dealt a severe blow to our economy, similarly, this 'voter suppression', which is emerging in the form of SIR in Bihar and other states—will destroy our democracy,” Jairam Ramesh said in his post.
( Source : ANI )
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