New Delhi [India], December 10 : As Lok Sabha debates election reforms, Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Ram Gopal Yadav on Wednesday said that the real culprit causing "mischief" amid the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise was at the district level.
Speaking to ANI, he said the actual people responsible for "diverting votes" were part of the administration and worked like a political party. He added that only the Election Commission can't be blamed, but it must take action on complaints.
"Collectors and the Election Commission are responsible for conducting SIR, but the real culprits who are causing all the mischief are at the district level. I had told the Election Commission that you can issue any orders, but if the people sitting in Lucknow tell the Collector to cut the votes, no matter how much you say their votes should remain, they will get cut. We cannot just blame the Election Commission. The people connected to the administration who have started working like a party are the ones responsible for diverting these votes here and there," Yadav said.
The SP MP argued that the independence of the judiciary was critical for election reforms while advocating large-scale reforms.
"For electoral reforms, a few things are essential-- the appointment of the Election Commission and the independence of the judiciary. If there is mischief happening, the Supreme Court will say that we will not interfere in the Election Commission's work, even if they show someone alive as dead and vice versa. There is a need for reform on a larger scale," Yadav said.
"I remember TN Seshan used to provide a particular route to each political party. Ballot boxes for a particular booth would follow a pre-decided route. A worker from a political party will accompany the officials to the place where the ballot boxes are submitted. Each party's agent will remain present when the ballot box is kept in the strong room. All this system has been done away with," he added.
This comes as Lok Sabha continues discussion on the SIR exercise initiated by the Election Commission of India (ECI) on the eighth day of the ongoing winter session of Parliament.
Senior Congress MP Manish Tewari opened the debate yesterday, with Leader of Opposition (LoP) Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi extending the discussion from the opposition side, levelling serious accusations that the EC is colluding with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to "shape elections".
Gandhi said that vote theft was an anti-national act.
A total of 10 hours has been earmarked for the entire discussion in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
The upper house of Parliament is also set to take up discussion on electoral reforms after further discussion on the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram on Wednesday.
In Rajya Sabha, Union Home Minister Amit Shah is likely to initiate the discussion on SIR.
The opposition parties were demanding a debate on SIR for months, with Congress alleging discrepancies in the voter list.