Independence, professionalism of ECI compromised: Jairam Ramesh

National Happenings

Posted by admin_kas on 2025-01-25 10:09:42 | Last Updated by admin_kas on 2025-07-07 12:57:06

Share: WhatsApp| Facebook| Twitter| Visits: 47

---

New Delhi, Jan 25: Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh on Saturday said the independence and professionalism of the Election Commission of India (ECI) was compromised by the government.

He made this statement on the occasion of National Voters Day and accused the

Taking to the micro blogging website, Jairam Ramesh said that January 25 was being celebrated as National Voters Day since 2011 to mark the day on which the Election Commission came into being 75 years ago in 1950.

"Sadly, over the past decade, the professionalism and independence of the Election Commission has been severely compromised by the PM-HM duo. Some of its decisions are now under challenge in the Supreme Court," he wrote.

He said the Election Commission was a Constitutional body and its first Chairman was the legendary Sukumar Sen whose role in establishing the foundations of our electoral democracy was crucial. "He was the sole Chief Election Commissioner for eight years. His report on the First General Elections in India 1951-52 is a classic. But the preparations of the draft electoral roll for the first elections had been completed before Sen took over," he wrote on X.

He said the story of this historic endeavour and of the people involved in it is narrated very finely by Ornit Shani in her definitive "How India Became Democratic.”

He said there have been other distinguished CECs amongst whom TN Seshan stands tallest and whose contributions were seminal.

"Its stand on the concerns raised in the recent assembly elections in Haryana and Maharashtra has been shockingly partisan. There will be a lot of self-congratulation today but that will not obscure the fact that the Election Commission as it has been functioning makes a mockery of the Constitution and is an insult to the voters themselves," he wrote on X.

Earlier, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar dismissed the Congress claims of tampering of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in Maharashtra and Haryana Assembly elections, asserting that the Supreme Court has vouched for the reliability of these devices.

Go!