Soon after taking charge as Chief Election Commissioner, Rajiv Kumar asked the Law Ministry to issue notifications for the linking of Aadhaar with voter IDs, allowing four qualifying dates for eligible people to register as voters, and also renewed the commission’s proposals for banning opinion polls and exit polls as well as limiting the seats from which a candidate can contest to just one.
“The EC sent six key proposals to the Law Ministry. We have requested the government to notify the rules for linkage of Aadhaar to voter IDs and also for the four cut-off dates for eligible people to register as voters,” said an EC official who did not want to be named.
In December 2021, Rajya Sabha passed the Election Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2021 by voice vote, enabling “the linking of electoral roll data with the Aadhaar ecosystem” as the Opposition walked out in protest. Parties had alleged that the government passed the Bill in haste without adequate discussion.
The EC has also sought powers to deregister political parties, a long-standing demand of the poll panel, and sought the modification of Form 24A to mandate the disclosure of all donations above Rs 2,000 instead of Rs 20,000.
This also comes in the backdrop of the commission’s action against ‘registered unrecognised political parties’ (RUPPs) last month. The EC had announced a clean-up drive initiating “graded action” against more than 2,100 RUPPs for flouting rules, including failure to furnish a contribution report and communicate any change in its name, head office, office bearers and address to the EC.
Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 empowers the commission to register associations and bodies as political parties. However, there is no constitutional or statutory provision that gives power to the EC to deregister parties.
Leave a comment
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *