KTR urges apex court to fix anomalies in EC functioning

HYDERABAD

Working president of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) K.T. Rama Rao has raised questions over the functioning of the Election Commission of India amid the reported objections raised by two of the three Election Commissioners over decisions relating to voter registration, deletion and restoration.

Referring to the reported differences within the three-member Election Commission, he questioned the principle of majority decision-making. “Two out of three is a majority, or at least it used to be. Looks like the definition is changing now,” he said in a statement on Thursday. The fact that two of the three Election Commissioners were repeatedly raising objections warranted scrutiny of the functioning of the poll panel.

“If decisions on voter registration, deletion and restoration are pushed through questionably, are we even a democracy any more?”, he sought to know. The BRS leader further said the country’s democratic future could not be left to an institution whose foundations are eroding and appealed to political parties, constitutional bodies, citizen forums and the Supreme Court to come together to “save what is left of our democracy”.

Mr. Rama Rao said he was not surprised that the highest voter deletions in Telangana are in BRS-won seats, reducing the political contest in the State to “KCR garu Vs All”. He said the BRS would fight the issue in courts, and with people, and asserted that every illegally deleted vote will be added back.