Voices of dissent being muzzled: Oppn to Prez
NEW DELHI A 13-member delegation of opposition parties, led by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, met President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday to express concern over the alleged tampering of electronic voting machines (EVMs), incidents of attacks by cow vigilantes and attempts to “muzzle the voices of dissent”.
The delegation also sought the President’s intervention in protecting India’s constitutional democracy, preserve its plurality and diversity, safeguard fundamental rights that are constitutionally guaranteed to the citizens of the country and ensure that the rule of law is upheld in letter and spirit.
The meeting with President came two days after the opposition leaders had approached the election commission in seeking reintroduction of the old ballot paper system in all future polls in view of the allegations of tampering of EVMs in the recent assemparty’s bly elections. “During our meeting, we suggested alternatives to EVMs as the nation has lost faith in these. Allegations of EVM tampering have raised questions on electoral process. Democracy cannot function if such doubts are not put to rest,” senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad told reporters after the meeting.
The delegation also included former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi besides leaders of the Janata Dal (United), CPM, CPI, DMK, NCP, Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). “We also brought to the President’s attention how the voice of the opposition is being suppressed. An environment of fear and insecurity is prevailing across the nation. People are taking law into their own hands,” Azad said.
Senior Congress leader and former law minister M Veerappa Moily, who had opposed the stand on the EVM issue, was a signatory to the memorandum. “In fact, he was a part of the delegation that met the President today, and had twice read the draft memorandum,” Azad said.
The Congress party distanced itself with Moily’s reported remark that the EVMs cannot be tampered with, calling it his “personal opinion”.
The delegation told the President that critical appointments have been made “arbitrarily bypassing Parliament and other institutions” and that key legislations are being “disguised” as Money Bills “to bypass and undermine” the Constitutional position of the Rajya Sabha.
Azad said the states ruled by non-BJP parties “are being destabilised by misusing the powers of Governors and artificial majority is cobbled up by unethical means” and cited the examples of Goa and Manipur in this regard.
He said all central agencies are being used to harass leaders of opposition parties, particularly chief ministers.