Election Commission asks poll machinery in states to hold regular interactions with parties

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

The Election Commission on Tuesday directed its poll machinery in states to hold regular meetings with political parties and resolve issues according to procedure. The directions came at a conference of state poll officials amid allegations by the TMC that voters in different states had identical voter card numbers.

Meanwhile, the ruling Trinamul Congress in West Bengal Tuesday kept the heat on the poll watchdog on “voter-fraud” releasing a fresh set of what the party referred to as evidence of a conspiracy to deny genuine voters the right to exercise their franchise in Opposition-ruled states.

After Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee flagged the voter-list issue in a party meeting last week in Kolkata, the central poll panel had contended that the photo identity card of some voters “may be identical” but the demographic details, constituency and polling booth are different.

The state poll officials were asked to file issue-wise action-taken reports by March 31. This is the first such conference to be held since Gyanesh Kumar assumed charge as chief election commissioner.

In his address, Kumar exhorted the officials to work transparently and fulfil all statutory obligations diligently and according to the existing legal framework. He directed the officials to be approachable and responsive to the political parties.

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All party meetings at statutory levels should be held regularly to resolve any issues within the existing statutory framework by the competent authority concerned, Kumar said.

He emphasised that all chief electoral officers, district election officers, returning officers and electoral registration officers should be thorough with their roles and responsibilities, as clearly delineated within the statute and the Election Commission's instructions.