Assam Pradesh Congress Committee Raises Queries on Poll Result Sheet

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Assam Pradesh Congress Committee's (APCC) vice president and senior spokesperson, Bobbeeta Sharma, demanded that the Election Commission of India (ECI) ensure that in the Lok Sabha elections of 2024, the Form 20 election results sheets should be published with polling booth numbers along with polling booth names as well as candidates' names mentioning political parties, as was the practice earlier.

Addressing the media today, Sharma said, "We strongly believe that any election-related data from previous years and the future should be made available in a transparent manner on the official website of ECI. This will only enhance the credibility of the Commission and the Commissioners."

She said, "In Assam, since 2021, the Vidhan Sabha booth-wise election results in Form 20 have only polling booth numbers but no names of the polling booths. It also does not have the names of the parties of the contesting candidates. When we looked up the CEO websites of other states where state elections were held recently, we also found that for Kerala (2021), Goa (2022), Punjab (2022), and Karnataka (2023), they too don't have polling booth names but have only polling booth numbers. The parties to which the candidates belong have also been omitted. Only candidate names are given. It is to be observed that until 2021, Form 20 carried booth-wise results mentioning polling booth numbers along with polling booth names. It also had the names of the contesting candidates along with the names of the political parties they represented. But now, surprisingly, this practice has been discontinued by ECI. So in the present status, ECI does not reveal the names of the polling booths while declaring results, nor the names of the parties to which each candidate belongs. Instead, it only assigns a number."

She said, "Why is the ECI trying to withhold information from the public? What compelled them to withhold the names of the polling booths? What compelled them to withhold the names of the parties of the contesting candidates? Who benefits by withholding the names of polling booths?"

She alleged that the erasing of booth names will have multiple dimensions as far as any booth-level analysis is concerned. "The government has access to all these data and can do the analysis, whereas it will be difficult for any other political party, independent agency, or research scholar to do the analysis. That makes the election unfair, as equal opportunity to do analysis is lost," she said.

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