India News | Congress Holds Meet to Discuss Party Stand on Remote Voting Prototype
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The Congress on Thursday held a meeting to discuss the party's stand to be taken at the January 16 meet called by the Election Commission to demonstrate remote voting prototype for migrant voters.
New Delhi, Jan 12 (PTI) The Congress on Thursday held a meeting to discuss the party's stand to be taken at the January 16 meet called by the Election Commission to demonstrate remote voting prototype for migrant voters.
Party's senior leaders, including Rajya Sabha MPs Digvijaya Singh and Vivek Tankha, besides AICC general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh, discussed the party's stand on the issue.
Singh, who is the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister, raised objections to the figure of 30 crore migrant voters that the Election Commission (EC) has come up with and asked what is the authenticity of such a number.
"In this context, Election Commission on January 16 will hold consultations with political parties. We have many questions. EC will have to assure the people of the country that how they will include 20 or 30 crore migrant labourers in this system. What is the preparation for this," Tankha asked on Twitter.
In a major move to increase voter participation, the EC on December 29 said it has developed a prototype of a remote electronic voting machine (RVM) for domestic migrant voters and has invited political parties for a demonstration on January 16.
If implemented after stakeholder consultations, migrant voters do not need to travel to their home districts to exercise their franchise.
The Congress has already opposed the idea, saying the EC should first allay the Opposition's apprehension about misuse of EVMs before extending their application which "would seriously undermine trust" in the electoral system.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)