NEW DELHI, Sept 21: The Election Commission has said any “permanent post” in a political party was “anti-democracy” and could not be allowed in the country.
The issue came up because of the media reports that the Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had been elected “president for life” of the Yuvajana Shramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) party founded by him and swept the polls in the last state Assembly elections.
The ECI on Wednesday ordered the YSRCP to publicly come out against media reports that said party president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy had been elected as president for life and clarify the situation.
In July, media reports had stated that the YSRCP founder was unanimously elected as the permanent president of the party. The EC had written to the party on July 19 seeking its comments on the matter. In its reply on August 23, the party informed the EC of “unanimous” election of Reddy as president on July 8 and July 9, but “did not categorically admit or deny the specific allegation as forwarded in Election Commission of India’s reference,” the EC order said.
In another reply on September 11, the YSRCP told the EC about an amendment to its party constitution in February and addressed the allegation of Reddy being elected as president for life. “It was confirmed that the said matter was reported in the media and that the party has launched an internal enquiry in this regard. Further, necessary action on the same will be taken by the party on finding the facts. The Commission categorically rejects, any attempt or even a hint of any organisational post being of permanent nature being inherently anti-democracy,” the EC said.
The Commission said any action against periodic elections was in complete violation of its instructions and if not categorically denied, had the potential to create confusion among other political parties. This could “assume contagious proportions,” it said. “Therefore, the Commission has ordered that YSRCP be directed to conclude the internal enquiry at the earliest and make a clear and categorical public announcement contradicting the said media/newspaper reports so as to put the possibility of such a confusion at rest,” the EC order said.
Meanwhile, in another development, the ECI has proposed to the union law ministry that the poll workers henceforth cast their votes at voter facilitation centres set up for them instead of sending it via post, a move that would minimise the potential for misuse, an EC source said on Wednesday.
The commission, comprising Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioner Anup Chandra Pandey, decided during a meeting on September 16 to send the recommendation to the Law Ministry that the voters on election duty cast their votes at the facilitation centres only, the source said. The commission proposed amending Rule 18 of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 accordingly.
While they have the option of going to a voter facilitation centre, many poll workers choose to send in their votes via post and keep the postal ballots at their homes for a long time after completing their election duties, the source said.
The election workers have the option of sending their postal ballot to the returning officer by 8 a.m. on the counting day, even though the poll in their constituency may have been in the first phase of the polls, which can be a month prior to the date of counting.
The source said during the State Assembly elections in the past two years, over 50% of the ballots of election staff in Goa, Kerala and Manipur, were sent via post. In the Uttarakhand elections this year, not even one election worker cast the ballot at the facilitation centre, the source said.
The poll workers are deployed at constituencies other than their own, as per the EC policy. As of now, they apply for postal ballots from their respective returning officers at the time of the pre-election training. The ROs then issue the ballots and set up facilitation centres for such voters so that they can cast their votes before being sent on election duty.
(Manas Dasgupta)
