New Delhi:

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Saturday said it is some people’s job to create doubts and asserted the systems in place at the Election Commission (EC) are strong to ensure no mistakes creep in.

He was responding to a question on doubts being cast on the turnout of voters in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

“It is the job of some people to create doubts. Our system is strong, not from today, it has been there for the past 70-72 years,” he told PTI Videos.

His remarks come on a day when the poll panel came out with Lok Sabha constituency-wise data on the number of votes cast in the first five phases of the elections.

The turnout figures came a day after the Supreme Court refused to issue directions to the Election Commission on an NGO’s plea for uploading polling booth-wise voter turnout data on its website.

The Election Commission said it has decided to expand the format of turnout data to include the absolute number of voters in every parliamentary constituency.

The Chief Election Commissioner said that the matter was in the Supreme Court and it has delivered its verdict, which is before everyone.

“All I can say is that there is no mistake in this, nor can there be any mistake,” Mr Kumar said.

“But why did these doubts arise, how were they created, and how much negative impact it has on our voting and the atmosphere, how our entire energy is diverted, we will tell this to the country one day,” he added.

While the Election Commission had been issuing turnout percentages, there had been demands to make the actual number of voters in every phase public.

The Supreme Court refused a plea on Friday to direct the EC to upload Form 17C — which records votes polled per polling station — on its website

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

A three-member panel chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet at noon to hold discussions on candidates for two vacant posts on the top panel of the Election Commission of India. The panel comprises the Prime Minister, a Union Minister and Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. The Union Minister who will attend the meeting is Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, it is learnt.

The meeting comes days after Election Commissioner Arun Goel stepped down, leaving just Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on the three-member panel. Another Election Commissioner, Anup Chandra Pandey, retired last month. This is critical as Lok Sabha polls are approaching, and the poll body is set to announce dates for the election.

Mr Goel’s resignation has sparked a massive row, with the Opposition accusing the government of “systematic decimation of independent institutions”.

Sources have said Mr Goel had cited “personal reasons” for his decision. They added that there may have been some differences between him and the Chief Election Commissioner.

The Prime Minister-led panel’s meeting is being held at a time when multiple petitions have challenged in the Supreme Court the process to appoint top poll officers. The court has said it will hear these tomorrow.

Last year, a Constitution bench of the Supreme Court had ruled that top poll officials must be appointed on the recommendation of a committee comprising the Chief Justice of India, the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha.

Months later, the Centre brought the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023. This legislation, which cleared the Parliament, dropped the Chief Justice of India from the selection panel. Instead, a Union Minister was put on it. This gave the Executive more heft on the panel.

The petitioners, including Association for Democratic Reforms and Congress leader Jaya Thakur, have challenged this move of the government.

Jammu:

The Election Commission has received details from the State Bank of India (SBI) related to the electoral bonds and will share all relevant information in time, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said here on Wednesday.

The assertion comes in the wake of the Supreme Court directing the SBI to submit the details of the electoral bonds purchased since April 12, 2019, to the EC.

SBI is the authorised financial institution to issue electoral bonds.

“The SBI was supposed to submit the data by March 12. They have given us the details in time. I will go back and look at the data (and) would disclose it in time,” Mr Kumar told reporters here.

Mr Kumar reached here on Wednesday to review preparations for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

“We are ready for the 2024 Lok Sabha election. We will ensure free and fair elections across the country. We request voters across the country including Jammu and Kashmir to enthusiastically take part in the ‘festival of democracy,” the CEC said.

He said social media cells will be established in all districts to respond to fake news in real-time.

“Adequate security to be provided to all candidates and central forces will be deployed,” he added.

Kumar said strict vigil will be maintained on online cash transfers through wallets in Jammu and Kashmir.

People above 85 years and those with a disability will be provided a voting at-home facility in J-K, he added. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)