BENGALURU, 21 MAY

A total of 120 civil society groups and former bureaucrats across South India had a unified message for Election Commission of India (ECI): Maintain transparency to release actual voter turnout and work for Constitution, not for governments.

Amid the delay in releasing voter turnout of Lok Sabha elections by ECI, the civil society groups and former bureaucrats met in the City on Tuesday for a panel discussion on how to ensure voters' voices are heard. The discussion was organised by Eddelu Karnataka (Wake Up Karnataka), a civil society collective.

Quoting Russian Dictator Joseph Stalin — “It’s not the people who vote that count, it's the people who count the votes" — the panel raised concerns about ECI's “partiality” and failure to address petitions about violations of model code of conduct, and the lack of transparency in releasing final voter data. It urged the citizens to monitor alliance shifts of parties and candidates, PM candidate selection of INDIA bloc, BJP strategies and watch out for manipulations during speeches.

Former IAS officer MG Devasahayam said not releasing voter turnout data could lead to manipulation of the mandate. “During Emergency of 1975-77, it was free and fair elections and people had the freedom to bring back Democracy.”

The panel participants formed Citizen Vigilant Commission, consisting of former bureaucrats, judges and police officers. This commission will monitor ECI over the next three months to ensure it follows the rules and counts votes transparently. The collective urged citizens to be vigilant during counting and hold silent marches to apprise ECI that they are being watched. —Salar News