CPI(M) Writes to EC
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CPI(M) general secretary, Sitaram Yechury wrote two letters to the chief election commissioner , on April 24. One, for restoring the postal ballot facility to police personnel from Kerala on poll duty deployed outside their home state and ensuring their right to vote; the second one was, forwarding complaints from Tripura regarding mismatch between the polled votes and the total votes in certain booths in West Tripura parliamentary constituency and about the obnoxious and insidious utterances being made by Biplab Kumar Deb, a star campaigner for the BJP, who is also a candidate in West Tripura parliamentary constituency. Below we publish the text of both the letters.
POLICE officials from Kerala deployed on polling duty outside their polling area are aggrieved by the fact that they are being deprived of the right to vote in the Lok Sabha elections. They were deprived of this right even during the 2021 elections to the Kerala assembly.
While prior to 2021 assembly elections they could use the postal vote facility and send their ballot before the date of counting, now they can only vote at the Postal Vote Facilitation Centre on designated dates, denying nearly 1,500 officials of their right.
In the current round of elections, in Kerala the designated dates were April 22, 23 and 24. All those stationed outside the state could not vote as they had already moved out for poll duties assigned to them and they would, as has been the practice, be able to return only once the entire election process is complete.
The ECI’s circular No. 52/2024/SDR/Vol.1. of March 19, 2024 regarding “voting through postal ballot for absentee voters in the category of persons employed in essential services” is ambiguous on this count.
The denial of the vote to police personnel, who fall within the category of “essential services” as identified by the Election Commission, runs contrary to the efforts being made by the Election Commission through various means to encourage people to vote.
You will concur that in the best interests of democracy, measures should be taken to ensure each voter is able to cast their vote. We would urge upon the Commission to restore the earlier facility and provide postal ballots to all those police officials stationed outside their constituencies, which can be sent back by them before the date of counting, or provide some other alternative to ensure their right is not denied.
We are informed that the police as well as the officers association had represented before the CEO, Kerala and the CEO in turn had forwarded it to the ECI.
SECOND LETTER
The second letter was on two complaints submitted to the EC by Jitendra Chaudhury, secretary of the Tripura state committee of the CPI(M). The first pertains to the mismatch between the polled votes and the total votes in certain booths in West Tripura parliamentary constituency. The second is about the obnoxious and insidious utterances being made by Biplab Kumar Deb, a star campaigner for the BJP, who is also a candidate in West Tripura parliamentary constituency. Sitaram Yechury urged upon the Election Commission of India to take these complaints seriously and take appropriate action.
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