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May 11, 2024
MUMBAI : A civil society delegation met with Mr. S. Chockalingam, Chief Electoral Officer, Maharashtra in Mantralaya, Mumbai on May 11, 2024, raising serious concerns regarding the ongoing Lok Sabha Elections 2024.
At the meeting, a joint letter petition endorsed by several civil society organisations and citizens to hold the Election Commission of India (ECI) accountable for its inaction against violations of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) and laws during the Lok Sabha elections 2024, was submitted to Mr. S. Chockalingam. The letter petition raised critical issues on the delay in releasing the voter turnout data in numbers, the discrepancies in the 2019 voter data, failure to combat hate speech during elections, failure to take action against surrogate ads, failure to stop campaign violations, the need to take equal and impartial action against violating political parties and the withdrawal and threats to candidates, which are going unchecked.
Mr. Chockalingam assured the delegation that he would forward the concerns to the ECI and expressed his readiness to address issues concerning Maharashtra which fell under his jurisdiction.
While agreeing with the delegation that the voter turnout numbers must be shared with the citizens promptly, he explained the process of collecting data from polling stations in detail and said that he would take up the matter with the ECI to ensure that the numbers are put up.
On the issue of hate speech during election campaigning, he said that at least in his jurisdiction they are taking violations seriously and have already filed 280 FIRs, of which 211 are on MCC violations. On being asked on what punitive action is being taken against candidates to ensure that they do not repeat the violations by restricting them from campaigning, he said that such action is in the domain of the ECI. However, their office has been filing reports on violations and recommending stern action including censure, warnings, restricting campaign etc. against candidates who violate the MCC.
The delegation expressed concern about the prevalent hate speech in Maharashtra, which is continuing during the election campaign, and the need to take strict action against the offenders to ensure that communal sentiments are not incited to procure votes and vitiate the peace and unity in Maharashtra. The delegation also requested that preventive action be taken by his office to ensure that there is no hate speech in the coming week, which is crucial for the election campaign leading up to the voting on May 20, especially by the star campaigners.
Taking note of this demand, the CEO assured that he will ensure strict measures are taken against hate speech and will issue a warning to the parties and candidates to not engage in hate speech by releasing a public statement and will also declare the action taken by them by filing FIRs against violators. He also encouraged citizens to make use of the Civigil App and National Grievance Service Portal to report on such instances. An instance pointed out to him of hate speech in Amravati at the meeting, was taken cognisance of by the CEO by calling the Collector and asking him to file a report.
The delegation also pointed out that citizen’s rights were being clamped down under the guise of MCC, for instance when meetings are organised to ask people to vote, people have been detained by the police for violation of MCC. Expressing surprise at this, the CEO said that citizens must inform him of any such incidents and assured the delegations that citizens would not face harassment for fulfilling their constitutional duties.
The 7 member delegation that met with the CEO Maharashtra comprised women’s rights activists Sujata Gothoskar and Sandhya Gokhale, writer and journalist Rajni Bakshi, civil society and peace activist Tushar Gandhi, social and political activist Guddi S.L., free speech activist and journalist Geeta Seshu and lawyer and General Secretary, PUCL Maharashtra Lara Jesani.
Civil Society Campaign addressed to the ECI “Grow a Spine or Resign” :
This initiative to meet the Chief Electoral Officer, Maharashtra at Mantralaya, Mumbai was part of a larger civil society campaign. Several groups concerned with democratic rights undertook a joint campaign to hold the ECI accountable for its inaction against violations of the MCC and laws during the Lok Sabha elections.
On Saturday, a joint complaint was submitted through the offices of the Chief Electoral Officers in different cities like Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Hyderabad and others, and a letter was also submitted to the office of the Chief Election Commissioner in Delhi. This collective of organisations and concerned citizens also undertook a postcard campaign in which hundreds of postcards were sent to ECI, Delhi from various cities containing the image of a spine - thereby demanding the Election Commission to ‘Grow A Spine or Resign’.
The issues in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections highlighted by the group in the letter submitted are:
1) Voter turnout data shared only in percentages and not in numbers, raising concerns about manipulation of vote count
In 2019, reports indicated discrepancies between votes polled and votes counted in the Lok Sabha elections in 373 constituencies, including a surplus of more than 18,000 in Kancheepuram, 14,512 in Sriperumbudur, etc. So far the ECI has not explained the discrepancy. This time around, the ECI has refused to share the data about votes polled, instead sharing only the percentage of votes polled. This is leading to fears of vote counts being manipulated
2) Failure to combat hate speech during elections
Mr. Modi has made several speeches which pit communities against one another and promote hatred between communities on religious lines. This amounts to a violation of the Model Code of Conduct, amounts to a corrupt practice under the Representation of People’s Act and is a violation of the ECIs advisory to political parties. So far Mr. Modi, who is a star campaigner has not even been served a notice. Similarly, BJP has released several videos which are again spreading hatred. In Karnataka, an FIR was registered over the hate filled video, but it was not taken down till the voting got done in Karnataka. No action has been taken against the BJP for using religious symbols, or for all their hate speeches. No action has been taken against the BJP for distorting points from opposition parties’ manifestos as well. BJP leaders have done this in speeches, BJP has issued ads which distorted information but faced no punitive action.
3) Acting only against MCC violations by opposition parties but letting the ruling party of the hook
Mr. Randeep Surjewala of the Congress, Mr. K. Chandrashekhar Rao of the BRS have been banned from campaigning for 48 hours over MCC violations. But more serious violations by the BJP have been ignored.
4) Failure to take action against surrogate ads
It has been reported that the expenditure on surrogate advertising and targeted online campaigns by political actors to influence voter perception and beliefs are not under adequate scrutiny. The ECI must ensure accountability of political parties and digital platforms by adopting rights-based standards for regulating political expenditure on online ads and targeted campaigning. The ECI has also failed to disclose any action taken on such surrogate advertisements.
Although it has earlier been brought to the attention of your office the manner in which technology affects electoral outcomes including use of deep fakes and voter surveillance, the ECI has not responded or taken adequate action to secure these violations.
5) Failure to address the withdrawal of candidates, threats to candidates
Several candidates have reported threats by the BJP - In Gandhinagar and elsewhere. Some candidates have switched over to the BJP at the last minute. In Surat and Indore, there were no elections held and winners declared. This is a subversion of democracy. Threatening a candidate or promising incentives to withdraw are corrupt practices under the Representation of People Act. However, ECI has neither conducted any inquiry not taken any action
Therefore, the following organisations joined hands to undertake a national level campaign on May 11th, across several cities. Along with these organisations, the letter was signed by 222 people from various walks of life, including lawyers, activists, filmmakers, academics and concerned citizens.
1. People’s Union for Civil Liberties
2. National Alliance for People’s Movements
3. Bahutva Karnataka
4. All India Lawyers Association for Justice
5. Shramik Mukti Dal
6. Young Leaders of Active Citizenship
7. Bharat Bachao Andolan
8. Prashant
9. Hate Speech Beda
10. New Trade Union Initiative
11. Indian Muslims for Secular Democracy
12. Citizens for the Constitution
13. The Bombay Catholic Sabha
14. Centre for promoting Democracy
15. Pani Haq Samiti
16. Naaveddu Nilladiddare
17. Association for Protection of Civil Rights
18. Fridays for Future
19. Delhi Solidarity Group
20. Eddelu Karnataka
21. Forum Against Oppression of Women
22. Free Speech Collective
23. Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, Mumbai
24. Justice Coalition of Religious, West India
For more details on the meeting with CEO Maharashtra contact : Tushar Gandhi - 9821336617
For details on the national campaign : 9448274373, 9900047744, 9880595032
