Mehbooba sees India becoming ‘banana republic’ after voter rolls manipulation
PDP chief fears ED, Income Tax raids on dissenting Election Commissioners
Srinagar: Peoples Democratic Party President Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday warned that India could “resemble a banana republic” if electoral rolls continued to be manipulated according to the wishes of the ruling BJP.
According to Kashmir Media Service, she described reported objections raised by two Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi concerning electoral-roll management as an important safeguard for democracy. Mufti referred to the possibility of enforcement actions against them, asking whether they could face Enforcement Directorate or Income Tax raids.
The Indian Express reported on Wednesday that the two commissioners had formally objected at least 14 times over the past 10 months on issues including voter registration, deletion and restoration of names and the handling of electoral-roll data.
However, Election Commission officials said all decisions of the poll panel, including those concerning the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, had been taken unanimously with the approval of the Chief Election Commissioner and both Election Commissioners.
Speaking about the reported differences within the Election Commission, Mufti said dissent from officials responsible for overseeing elections was important for the functioning of Indian democracy. She alleged that attempts were being made to undermine the electoral process through changes to voter lists, saying the reported objections by the two commissioners had highlighted concerns over the addition and deletion of names.
Mufti said India and Pakistan appeared to be competing in ways that, in her view, were damaging their own people and institutions. She also referred to India’s boasting of itself as the world’s largest democracy and to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s references to the country as the “mother of democracy”.“If we continue like this, there will be a time when we are going to resemble a banana republic. There will be no democracy,” Mufti said.
The PDP President also referred to the deletion of voters from draft electoral rolls and stressed the importance, in her view, of independent officials within the Election Commission.
