Election Commission a 'failed institution', says Kapil Sibal amid Oppn's charges on voter list issue

"The Election Commission is a dysfunctional body. It has not discharged its functions in accordance with its responsibilities which are expected of it under the Constitution," Sibal said when asked about the Congress' and TMC's allegations about voters list irregularities.

New Delhi: Terming the Election Commission "dysfunctional" and a "failed" institution, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal has claimed that a large section of people do not have faith in the poll body as it has not discharged its functions in accordance with its constitutional responsibilities.

In an interview with PTI, Sibal said the quicker the issue of lack of faith in the Election Commission is dealt with, the greater is the chance of saving democracy.

"The Election Commission is a dysfunctional body. The Election Commission has not discharged its functions in accordance with its responsibilities which are expected of it under the Constitution," he said when asked about the Congress' and TMC's allegations about voters list irregularities.

The Election Commission as it stands today is a "failed institution" and there is no confidence in the Election Commission among a large section of the people of this country, the Independent Rajya Sabha MP said.

"Therefore, the quicker we deal with this issue, the greater is the chance of saving democracy," Sibal said.

"The message to the opposition is that apart from the EVMs, there are some really serious issues which in fact suggest that the process of elections is polluted," he added.

The results that have come about may have been the result of manipulations at many levels, Sibal claimed.

"We need to address that issue together," the former Congress leader asserted.

His remarks come in the backdrop of the Congress and I.N.D.I.A. bloc parties repeatedly raising issues of voter lists, including abnormally high additions, unexpected deletions and duplicate voter ID numbers.

The Election Commission on Saturday said over 4,000 of its electoral registration officers are holding all-party meetings to resolve pending polling booth level issues in their respective assembly seats.

The meetings are in line with the poll body's recent decision to hold interactions with parties at multiple levels in the state to resolve complaints.

The Election Commission (EC) has also decided to explore the possibility of linking voter cards with Aadhaar and involve authorities dealing with birth and death registration certificates to clean up voter rolls.

The Congress had last Tuesday said the EC agreeing to hold technical consultations between its experts and UIDAI to "clean up" voter lists was a clear acknowledgement of the charge the party made about suspicious names in electoral rolls.

The EC has said linkage of voter cards with Aadhaar would be done according to the prevailing law and the Supreme Court's directions and added that technical consultations between its experts and UIDAI for the exercise would "begin soon".

Amid allegations of a cover-up over duplicate voter ID numbers, the poll authority had said that it would address the "decades-long" matter in three months.