PANAJI: Advocate Radharao Gracious has criticised the functioning of the Election Commission of India (ECI), alleging that recent actions concerning electoral rolls have raised serious concerns about democratic rights.
Gracious said the primary responsibility of the Election Commission is to ensure free and fair elections and alleged that the present commission was not functioning in accordance with that role.
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Referring to a report, he claimed that two Election Commissioners were not involved in a decision concerning the deletion of 13.98 crore voters. He described the reported figure as a serious concern and questioned how such a large-scale deletion could take place.
“If 10 to 15 per cent of voters have been deleted, it amounts to the murder of democracy,” Gracious said.
His remarks come amid wider political and public debate over electoral-roll revisions and the functioning and independence of the Election Commission. Critics of the ECI have raised concerns over voter deletions and the transparency of the electoral-roll revision process, while the Commission has maintained that electoral rolls are revised under established procedures to remove ineligible entries and ensure their accuracy.
