EC has no mandate to hold pan-India SIR: Manish Tewari in LS

Initiating a two-day debate on electoral reforms in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Tewari made four more demands — amendments to the 2023 law to expand the panel that selects the Chief Election Commissioner and the election commissioners (ECs); end to the practice of cash transfers at the cost of central and state exchequer and return to paper ballots in the wake of apprehensions around EVMs.

Tewari quoted from the Constitution and the Representation of the People Act to argue that the SIR could be conducted only for a particular constituency after the EC “records reasons in writing”. “The government should ask the EC for written reasons behind conducting the SIR in 12 states and UTs,” Tewari said, challenging the legal and constitutional basis of the SIR and lamenting that the SIR debate had not even unfolded in courts.

He went on to demand that the selection panel for the CEC and the ECs — currently constituted of the PM, the Leader of the Opposition (Lok Sabha) and a central minister — be expanded to include the CJI and the Leader of the Opposition (Rajya Sabha) for the sake of neutrality.

Questioning the impartiality of the EC, Tewari also called for return to paper ballots noting that the move was necessary to restore people’s faith in the system as EVMs were in the shadow of doubts.

On cash transfers, Tewari red-flagged Bihar’s ruling NDA’s Rs 10,000 cash transfers to women saying, “You cannot win elections at the cost of the exchequer. This will bankrupt the nation and democracy. If this goes on, no government will ever change. You will keep transferring cash and getting re-elected. Winning elections, forming governments is not an end in itself,” said the MP, adding that the only way to get around raging apprehensions about EVMs was — paper ballots or 100 per cent VVPAT counting.