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‘240 MPs at Parliament Annexe unusual and unacceptable': Why ECI rejected meeting with Opposition MPs
The poll body's statement comes after over 300 Opposition MPs of the INDIA bloc began a march from Parliament Complex to the Election Commission office.
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The Election Commission of India on Tuesday rejected a meeting proposal with Opposition MPs, citing their demands as “unusual and unacceptable”. The poll body also clarified that it had received no request from any political party for a meeting beforehand, and had intimated about it by the Delhi Police at around 4 pm.
The poll body's statement comes after over 300 Opposition MPs of the INDIA bloc began a march from Parliament Complex to the Election Commission office, in a bid to meet with the Election Commissioners and hand over a formal memorandum to them.
Rejecting the Opposition's request on grounds of “protocol”, the Election Commission said any political party can request a meeting with the poll body at any time through the established procedure. “The Commission may schedule the date and time for such a meeting based on convenience,” ECI said.
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‘2015 protocol, authorised representative’: Why did ECI reject meeting with Opposition?
The Election Commission of India, while declining to meet with Opposition MPs on Tuesday, citing a procedure established in 2015. It said that the poll body had a protocol for such meetings with political parties. “All political parties have been informed of this and adhere to this process,” the ECI said in its statement.
It said that under this process, whenever a delegation from a single political party or a joint delegation of political parties wish to meet the Commission, they must request an appointment through their “duly authorized representative.” The meeting takes place thereafter at a time mutually agreed upon by both parties, the ECI stated.
‘Unusual and unacceptable’: Election Commission response to Opposition demands
In its statement, the ECI said it had initially considered meeting with the Opposition after being informed that the MPs wished to meet the Election Commissioners.
However, it said that the Deputy Commission of Police later informed the poll body that the meeting would involve 240 MPs from the Opposition and was proposed to be held at the Parliament Annexe, a demand deemed by the ECI as “unusual and unacceptable.”
The poll body said that protocol dictates that such meetings take place inside Election Commission premises. The ECI added that while it had also proposed sending its most senior serving official to the meeting venue to receive the Opposition's memorandum, this was rejected by the INDIA bloc MPs. It said that this step “would have been unprecedented in itself.”
“The ECI respects the country's parliamentary and democratic processes, as well as its own protocols and conventions, which are of utmost importance,” the poll body added.
