Jairam Ramesh writes to CEC, seeks time for INDIA bloc to put forward view on VVPATS

NEW DELHI: In a letter to Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh asked that leaders of the INDIA bloc be given the chance to meet with him and his colleagues in order to present their positions on VVPATS.

In his letter to Kumar, Ramesh said that on December 20, 2023, INDIA parties’ leaders had requested for an appointment with the ECI to “discuss and provide suggestions on the use of VVPATs” based on a resolution passed at meeting of leaders of the bloc held the previous day.

In his letter dated December 30, 2023, the Congress general secretary also pointed out that on August 9, 2023 a memorandum had been submitted to the ECI on EVM- related concerns of INDIA parties.

This was supported with several requests on August 9, 10, 16, 18 and 23 last year for a meeting of an INDIA parties’ delegation with the ECI, he said.

“On August 23, 2023 ECI issued a clarification to our counsel on the memorandum. This clarification was generic in nature and (i) directed us to refer to the standard FAQs on EVMs available on ECI website; (ii) explained the legal backing for EVMs through Section 61A of the Representation of Peoples’ Act, 1951; (iii) summarised judgments of High Courts and the Supreme Court on issue of EVMs; (iv) provided a chart of Assembly and Parliamentary election results since 2004 to show that the political party winning the maximum number of seats changed several times,” Ramesh said

However, there was no meeting or hearing provided to INDIA parties’ delegation despite repeated requests, he said. On October 2, 2023 a follow-up representation was sent by us through counsel, Ramesh pointed out.