‘Grow A Spine or Resign’ Civil society groups tell Election Commission
Bengaluru (Press Release): Several groups concerned with democratic rights undertook a joint campaign to hold the ECI accountable for its inaction against violations of the MCC and laws during the Lok Sabha elections.
On Saturday, a joint complaint was submitted through the offices of the Chief Electoral Officers in different cities like Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Hyderabad and others, and a letter was also submitted to the office of the Chief Election Commissioner in Delhi. This collective of organisations and concerned citizens also undertook a postcard campaign in which hundreds of postcards were sent to ECI, Delhi from various cities containing the image of a spine - thereby demanding the Election Commission to ‘Grow A Spine or Resign’.
The issues in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections highlighted by the group in the letter submitted are:
1) Voter turnout data shared only in percentages and not in numbers, raising concerns about manipulation of vote count
In 2019, reports indicated discrepancies between votes polled and votes counted in the Lok Sabha elections in 373 constituencies, including a surplus of more than 18,000 in Kancheepuram, 14,512 in Sriperumbudur, etc. So far the ECI has not explained the discrepancy. This time around, the ECI has refused to share the data about votes polled, instead sharing only the percentage of votes polled. This is leading to fears of vote counts being manipulated
2) Failure to combat hate speech during elections
Mr. Modi has made several speeches which pit communities against one another and promote hatred between communities on religious lines. This amounts to a violation of the Model Code of Conduct, amounts to a corrupt practice under the Representation of People’s Act and is a violation of the ECIs advisory to political parties. So far Mr.Modi, who is a star campaigner has not even been served a notice. Similarly, BJP has released several videos which are again spreading hatred.In Karnataka, an FIR was registered over the hate filled video, but it was not taken down till the voting got done in Karnataka. No action has been taken against the BJP for using religious symbols, or for all their hate speeches. No action has been taken against the BJP for distorting points from opposition parties' manifestos as well. BJP leaders have done this in speeches, BJP has issued ads which distorted information but faced no punitive action.
3) Acting only against MCC violations by opposition parties but letting the ruling party of the hook
Mr.RandeepSurjewala of the Congress, Mr.K.Chandrashekhar Rao of the BRS have been banned from campaigning for 48 hours over MCC violations. But more serious violations by the BJP have been ignored.
4) Failure to take action against surrogate ads
It has been reported that the expenditure on surrogate advertising and targeted online campaigns by political actors to influence voter perception and beliefs are not under adequate scrutiny. The ECI must ensure accountability of political parties and digital platforms by adopting rights-based standards for regulating political expenditure on online ads and targeted campaigning. The ECI has also failed to disclose any action taken on such surrogate advertisements.
Although it has earlier been brought to the attention of your office the manner in which technology affects electoral outcomes including use of deepfakes and voter surveillance, the ECI has not responded or taken adequate action to secure these violations.
5) Failure to address the withdrawal of candidates, threats to candidates
Several candidates have reported threats by the BJP - In Gandhinagar and elsewhere. Some candidates have switched over to the BJP at the last minute. In Surat and Indore, there were no elections held and winners declared. This is a subversion of democracy. Threatening a candidate or promising incentives to withdraw are corrupt practices under the Representation of People Act. However, ECI has neither conducted any inquiry not taken any action
Therefore, the following organisations joined hands to undertake a national level campaign on May 11th, across several cities. Along with these organisations, the letter was signed by 222 people from various walks of life, including lawyers, activists, filmmakers, academics and concerned citizens.
- People’s Union for Civil Liberties
- National Alliance for People's Movements
- Bahutva Karnataka
- All India Lawyers Association for Justice
- Shramik Mukti Dal
- Young Leaders of Active Citizenship
- Bharat BachaoAndolan
- Prashant
- Hate Speech Beda
- New Trade Union Initiative
- Indian Muslims for Secular Democracy
- Citizens for the Constitution
- The Bombay Catholic Sabha
- Centre for promoting Democracy
- PaniHaq Samiti
- NaavedduNilladiddare
- Association for Protection of Civil Rights
- Fridays for Future
- Delhi Solidarity Group
- Eddelu Karnataka
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Airlines got 999 hoax bomb threats till Nov 14 this year; 256 FIRs filed: Govt
New Delhi, Nov 28: Airlines received 999 hoax bomb threats this year till November 14 and as many as 256 FIRs have been filed while guidelines have been issued by aviation security regulator BCAS for objective assessment of threats, the government said on Thursday.
In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said a total of 1,148 hoax bomb threat messages/calls have been received since August 2022 till November 14, 2024 threatening the operations of international and domestic air travel.
While 999 threats were received by airlines during the period from January to November 14, 2024, the count stood at 122 last year and at 27 for the August-December 2022 period.
"256 FIRs have been filed since January 2024 till 14 November 2024, out of which 163 FIRs have been filed during 14 October- 14 November 2024. 12 arrests have been made in view of hoax bomb threat since January 2024 till 14 November 2024," the minister said.
The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has issued guidelines for objective assessment of threats. The indicative factor has been useful in reducing time taken by the Bomb Threat Assessment Committee (BTAC) during the decision-making process.
"Also, to reduce the overall time taken for convening BTAC to less than 5 minutes, virtual assembly of BTAC through pre-generated video link has been set up. Further, advisories for compulsory 10 per cent of secondary ladder point check-in for all flights, strict monitoring of non-scheduled flight operations, enhanced security measures and surveillance at cargo terminals were issued," Mohol said.
Further, the minister said the government is considering amending the Aircraft (Security) Rules, 2023 to put hoax threat messenger in the no-fly list.
"It is also being considered to amend Suppression of Unlawful Acts against Safety of Civil Aviation for covering Aircraft in flight as well as on ground, airport etc," he added.
