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Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole criticised the new amendments in the conduct of Election Rules alleging that the Mahayuti government in the state returned to power by "stealing" the people's mandate.
Raising questions on the amendments and the Election Commission, Patole said somthing is "fishy." "The government that has been formed in Maharashtra has come to power because of the Election Commission and the bosses sitting in the Centre. This government has been formed by stealing the mandate. Just yesterday, the Election Commission issued a notification saying that it will not give any information now. It means that there is something fishy," he said. This comes in the wake of a recent Punjab and Haryana High Court directive in the Mahmoud Pracha vs ECI case, where the court ordered the sharing of all documents related to the Haryana Assembly elections, including CCTV footage under Rule 93(2) of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961. But, the amendment by the Centre, now restricts public scrutiny of certain electronic documents, including CCTV footage, based on a recommendation from the ECI. The Union Law Ministry recently amended Rule 93(2) to specify which documents are open to public inspection. A senior ECI official, however, clarified to ANI that the candidate already has access to all the documents and papers, and no amendments have been made to the rules in this regard. The ECI official noted that while the rule refers to "election papers," it does not explicitly address electronic records. The ambiguity in the rule and concerns over potential misuse of CCTV footage inside polling stations, especially with advancements in artificial intelligence, prompted an amendment to safeguard voter secrecy and prevent its misuse. The official emphasized that sharing CCTV footage inside the polling stations from sensitive areas such as Jammu and Kashmir or Naxal-affected regions could compromise voter safety. "Lives of voters may be at risk, and the secrecy of the vote must be protected," the official stated. All other election-related documents and papers remain accessible for public inspection. Earlier today, Congress leader KC Venugopal also slammed the Union Government's recent amendment to the Conduct of Election Rules, citing a disturbing trend of opacity in the Election Commission and electoral process. Venugopal pointed out that despite a High Court order to provide sufficient documents, but the Election Commission "disobeyed" and instead of that, iamended the rules, sparking concerns about the "integrity of the electoral process (ANI)
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