In a key political development, as many as 23 opposition parties have written a letter to the Supreme Court expressing concern about alleged manipulation of the electoral process in the country, saying that in many instances, the results of the elections did not reflect the will of the people.
The letter is addressed to all the Supreme Court judges, through CJI Surya Kant, and has been signed by "like-minded" parties "opposed to the BJP", such as the Indian National Congress, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), the Samajwadi Party, RJD, the Trinamool Congress, NCP(Sharad Pawar), Aam Aadmi Party, JMM, Communist Parties(CPIM, CPI, CPIML), IUML, JKNC, PDP, Forward Block etc.
They said that investigating agencies like the ED, the CBI and the NIA have become tools in the hands of the central government and are used to target opposition parties as well as to topple elected governments. "We find, and it is a matter of grave concern, that the agencies of the government, in particular the CBI, the ED and the NIA, are used only to target those in opposition. These agencies are also used for the purpose of manipulating the outcome of results in the elections, apart from bringing down elected governments."
The letter claims that the appointments to the Election Commission, since the BJP came to power in 2014, have been highly suspect and the recent Special Intensive Revision just before the elections in states like Bihar, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu was unnecessary. They assert that the recent elections in Delhi, Haryana and Maharashtra were manipulated.
With regard to the ECI and appointments made thereto, the letter says that persons associated with the BJP continue to get appointed, who do the bidding for the government. They point to the decision in Anoop Baranwal and how the CEC Act, which is pending challenge before the Supreme Court, has done awaywith the presence of the CJI on the selection panel for Election Commissioners.
The letter further raises concerns about CEC Gyanesh Kumar's "unabashed" support for the BJP government, the ECI's failure to act against violations of the Model Code of Conduct by the ruling government, and its stoic silence on toxic, communal statements made by BJP leaders while the MCC is in force. On the SIR exercise in Bihar, the letter states that the ECI's rationale behind the exercise was stated to be "sanitization" of the electoral rolls as Bangladeshi infiltrators were claimed to have become part of the rolls.
The letter also pleads that when all else fails, people repose their trust in the judiciary. Then if the judiciary fails to respond, it indicates a complete breakdown of the Republic.
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