00:00With reports emerging, if there was a rift and differences within the Election Commission,
00:05the poll body has now clarified on the reports, Election Commission is denying
00:08if there was any internal rift over the SIR exercise.
00:12It clarifies that there was no formal dissent that was recorded on SIR.
00:16Internal discussions for the Election Commission are routine.
00:21The recent orders unanimously were signed, is what the statement has come according to the Election Commission.
00:27There were reports that were claiming that there was certain dissent within the Election Commission over the SIR
00:32and that some of the commissioners, the Chief Election Commissioner, had raised certain observations.
00:40But the Election Commission has now put out a statement to say,
00:43the observations were raised and examined, which is routine, but there was no formal dissent.
00:49Now, does that mean that this dissent was basically more of a discussion among the Election Commissioners
00:55or was there on some issues, especially on the SIR issues,
00:59some Election Commissioners had raised an objection as well, even though not a formal one,
01:04but among the commissioners had raised an issue over it,
01:07but that it was then surpassed, eventually cleared by the Chief Election Commissioner.
01:11But to that, the EC for now is saying, if there was any discussion, that is routine.
01:15But there was no formal dissent.
01:17That basically means that in writing, in recording, there was no specific formal dissent that was written.
01:24But even if there were differences, to what level and what kind it was, that also will be pertinent here.
01:31The focus, remember, has been political on this with the showdown that's emerged.
01:35Congress has also jumped on this.
01:37Ishwarya Paliwal is joining me for the latest.
01:39Ishwarya, go ahead.
01:40Tell me, what is this clarification that has come in from the Election Commission?
01:44What are you picking from it?
01:46Well, you know, Pooja, one of the first and foremost things that we are hearing from the Election Commission
01:49is that, you know, on an average, there are close to 10 orders which are passed within the Election Commission
01:54every day.
01:55And yes, there are discussions that do take place.
01:58And those discussions, we have seen how the ECs, in fact, have flagged off some of these issues.
02:03And then there were lengthy discussions that actually...
02:09Yes, Ishwarya, I'll come back to you in just a short while.
02:12So we have the Congress also jumping on this.
02:14Remember, with the reports that are emerging, a clarification nevertheless coming in from the Election Commission.
02:19And this was timely and this was important because otherwise it did appear that...
02:24Was there a decision taken by one sole authority?
02:27Were there differences?
02:28Are the Election Commissioners not on board when it comes to this SR exercise which is massive on scale and
02:35is being done?
02:36As you can see, and you must have also hired SR officers around you throughout the country in different cities,
02:41towns, villages.
02:42Ishwarya continues to be with us.
02:43Yes, Ishwarya, go ahead, please.
02:48Well, Pooja, one of the things which at the moment is coming out was that, yes, there were certain issues
02:52that were being flagged off.
02:53But when we speak about the decisions that were being taken, at that moment after Lendi discussions, those decisions were
03:00unanimous.
03:01And in the documents also, all three of them are present.
03:06There were certain issues that have been either of the EC.
03:09So this is what Election Commission sources are saying.
03:12But yes, they are agreeing to the fact that when discussions were taking place,
03:16there were some of the points that were being flagged off both by SS Sandhu and by Vivek Joshi, the
03:21two Election Commissioners.
03:22Pooja.
03:22All right, please keep tracking all the latest on that.
03:25The SR exercise is on, but it's immediately being picked up as a political showdown.
03:30The Congress has jumped on this because remember, the Congress has, from day one, been slightly critical when it comes
03:36to the SIR.
03:37They have maintained that this has been deletion of voters, deletion of voters of a certain kind, and it's complete
03:44cures and commotion.
03:45But Election Commission has said that this was needed, especially when you're looking at a census, you're looking at fair
03:50voting procedure.
03:51You need to know if there are voters who are not supposed to be a part of that list.
03:56And there have to be certain credentials that are very basic and needs to be understood and put on record.
04:03Opposition but is launching a fierce attack.
04:06They've got a fresh shot in the arm now.
04:18Opposition is even naming saying Election Commissioners Joshi and Sandhu had questioned the CEC 14 times and that the Chief
04:26Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar is working in an arbitrary manner.
04:30Here's what Kapil Sibbal, who's been a former UPA minister, has been with the legal fraternity, saying on this.
04:39Majority Gyanesh Kumar ke saath nahi thi.
04:44Gyanesh Kumar apni man marzi se fayshle karte te.
04:49Kis tarha election chalana hai?
04:52Kya ERO ko karna hai?
04:54Kounsa form file karna hai?
04:57Ye taye karte te, Gyanesh Kumar.
05:01Joshi saab or Sandhu saab, joh election commissioners hain, kye bár unhau ne vireut kiya,
05:07kye joh aap kar rahe ho, Gyanesh kumar ji,
05:10or lag bhaag, merah khal 40 bár, 14 bár, 10 mienye mein vireut kiya.
05:16Kya aap ye kya kar rahe ho?
05:18Joh kar rahe ho, aap, woh samvidhanik nahi hai, woh kanon ke mutabik nahi hai.
05:22Kye joh software ha, election commission ka,
05:26joh adhikari hai, jis ko akhtyar hai,
05:28woh hai ERO, ERO tae kar sakta hai,
05:32aur usko access minna chahiyye,
05:35is software ka, kye kis ko delete karna hai, aur kis ko add karna hai.
05:40Ab hua kya, kye ye sara system centralize ho gya.
05:43Mطلب kye ye election commission ka,
06:16hath me ha, ERO ko access diya hai nahi gya.
06:21Let's try and understand this.
06:23Amit Bhardwaj is joining us on this.
06:25Amit, how do you think the opposition is going to escalate it?
06:27Because the election commission appears to have given a clarification.
06:30Do you think for the opposition that does not stand?
06:37Pooja, you know, the opposition parties is of the view that what they have been saying for months,
06:42each and every objection today stands vindicated.
06:46You would remember as to how Abhishek Banerjee,
06:49right ahead of the West Bengal election,
06:51came to meet Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
06:54He had the full panel sitting in front of him
06:56and a heated argument had happened.
06:58I remember in that particular press conference,
07:00Abhishek Banerjee after meeting the EC had said that,
07:04look, somebody sitting in the national capital in Delhi
07:08is playing with the electoral rules.
07:10It is not the officers on the ground.
07:12And they had raised question marks in regards to the tech portion
07:16of the election commission of India.
07:19And today, you know, after this revelation,
07:23Kapil Sibbal, the people, experts like Kapil Sibbal are also saying
07:26that the opposition or Abhishek Banerjee
07:29or whatever the opposition parties were speaking of
07:31stands vindicated because now there is a clear-cut indication
07:35of as to how the entire system was centralized
07:38and the names which are to be added or deleted by the EROs,
07:42the SDMs and the local commissioners do have,
07:45state commissioners have right and access,
07:47full access to the ECI net portal.
07:50Those access were reduced and was being controlled
07:54by someone sitting in Nirvachan Southern.
07:56So these are very serious allegations now being reiterated
08:00by the opposition parties.
08:01They are also saying, without mincing words,
08:04Puja, impeach CEC Gyanesh Kumar.
08:08Now, where is that demand coming from?
08:10You would remember as to how nearly five to six months back,
08:14the opposition parties had moved impeachment motion petition
08:18in the Rajya Sabha.
08:20So that petition is still pending in the Rajya Sabha.
08:24Turanamal Congress wasted no time in saying that,
08:27look, it is time to bring that impeachment motion
08:30immediately against Gyanesh Kumar
08:31because now we have a clear-cut indication
08:35as to how 14 times in 10 months objections
08:38were raised by two of the election commissioners.
08:41They have used words like illegal,
08:44unconstitutional decisions being made.
08:47So clearly what it shows right now,
08:49what the election commissioners said,
08:50that nothing of this was on record.
08:52These are the routine dissents that happened
08:55among discussions.
08:56But for the opposition, clearly,
08:58this has become now a huge issue
08:59that they'll be picking on.
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