Yechury writes to EC; raises issues of funding, social media and EVMs

New Delhi: As the electioneering for Bihar assembly polls gathers steam, the CPI(M) on Friday raised concerns over funding and use of social media and electronic voting machines in the state assembly polls.

In a letter to the Chief Election Commission Sunil Arora, the party's general secretary Sitaram Yechury said that it had earlier raised these issues but did not get a response from the poll body.

Raising the issue of political funding through the electoral bond scheme, the CPI(M)'s letter quoted EC's affidavit in the Supreme Court where the poll body had stated that electoral bonds would signal serious repercussions on the transparency aspect of political funding of political parties.

Since the matter is now pending with the top court, the question is how the EC will discharge the mandate of Article 324 in ensuring a free and fair poll in Bihar and a level playing field as the guidelines issued on September 25 do not throw any light on this vital question, the letter said.

The second issue raised by the Left party was concerning an effective mechanism to ensure a level playing field on mass media and social

media.

The experience in recent times clearly shows that BJP, armed with its enormous money power, enjoys a disproportionate advantage over all other political parties, it said, adding that the use of social media by political parties had assumed new significance in the light of the exposure on BJP's involvement in the spread of misogyny and hate on social media.

The letter further said that the BJP has claimed that its election campaign efforts would involve 9,500 IT Cell heads who will coordinate 72,000 WhatsApp

groups.

Raising the concerns over the functioning of EVMs, the CPI(M) said, "Contrary to Supreme Court direction, the VVPAT has been used not for ensuring transparency but to introduce a new element of uncertainty."

We hope that these three concerns will be addressed by the Election Commission of India and appropriate official directions issued.

Such appropriate direction must be available to all the political parties which are in the election process in the upcoming elections to the Bihar Assembly, the party added.mpost