Election Commission’s arbitrary attitude towards opposition parties weakens democracy: Congress

Party General Secretary Jairam Ramesh sarcastically remarked, “How many more ‘masterstrokes’ of this Commission are yet to be seen?”

Ramesh claimed that only two representatives from each party were allowed to meet, preventing several leaders from interacting with the Commission’s members, and he himself had to wait in the reception area for nearly two hours.

The Election Commission clarified that it decided to meet two representatives from each party to ensure all views could be heard.

Leaders of several INDIA alliance constituent parties had approached the Election Commission on Wednesday regarding the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list in Bihar, raising concerns and questioning the timing of the exercise.

Jairam Ramesh wrote on X, “The INDIA alliance delegation met the Election Commission yesterday evening regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list in Bihar. Initially, the Commission refused to meet, but eventually, under pressure, the delegation was called.”

Ramesh alleged that the Commission’s attitude over the past six months has consistently weakened “the foundational structure of our democracy.”

Ramesh further said that, most importantly, the Election Commission cannot set arbitrary rules for engaging with political parties—such as limiting the number of representatives, their designation, or determining who is authorized and who is not.

Ramesh noted, “When the delegation called these rules arbitrary and misleading, the Commission responded, ‘This is a new Commission.’ This raises deeper concerns—what will be the next move of this ‘new’ Commission? How many more ‘masterstrokes’ are yet to come?”

Amid repeated and varied requests for meetings by “unauthorized” individuals from various parties, the Election Commission decided on Wednesday that it would only take cognizance of such interactions from the heads of political parties.