Post card campaign “Grow Spine or Resign” run across the country regarding the incompetence of the Election Commission

Dehradun, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Delhi and others several groups concerned with democratic rights launched a joint campaign to hold the ECI accountable for its inaction against the MCC and violations of laws during the Lok Sabha elections.

On Saturday, a joint complaint was submitted through the offices of the Chief Electoral Officers in Dehradun, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Hyderabad and other cities and a letter was also submitted to the office of the Chief Election Commissioner in Delhi. This group of organizations and concerned citizens also launched a postcard campaign in which hundreds of postcards with the image of a spine were sent from different cities to the ECI, Delhi – demanding the Election Commission to ‘grow a spine or resign’.

The issues highlighted by the group in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections in the presented letter are:

1) Voter turnout data shared only in percentage, not numbers, raising concerns of vote counting manipulation
In 2019, reports indicated discrepancies between votes cast and counted in the Lok Sabha elections in 373 constituencies, including over 18,000 in Kancheepuram, 14,512 in Sriperumbudur, etc. So far the ECI has not explained the discrepancy. This time, the ECI has refused to share data about voting, instead sharing only the percentage of voting. Due to this, there is a possibility of manipulation in the counting of votes.

2) Failure to deal with hate speech during elections
Mr Modi has given several speeches that pit communities against each other and promote hatred between communities on religious grounds. This is a violation of the Model Code of Conduct, corrupt practices under the Representation of the People Act and a violation of the ECI’s advice to political parties. Till now, notice has not even been given to star campaigner Shri Modi. Similarly, BJP has released many videos which are again spreading hatred. An FIR was registered in Karnataka on the hate video, but it was not removed until the voting was over. No action has been taken against the BJP for using religious symbols or for all their hate speeches. No action has been taken against BJP even in the matter of distorting the points of manifestos of opposition parties. BJP leaders have done this in speeches, BJP has released advertisements in which information has been distorted but they have not had to take any punitive action.

3) Taking action against MCC violations only by opposition parties, but letting the ruling party take responsibility
Shri Randeep Surjewala of Congress, Shri K.Chandrashekhar Rao of BRS have been banned from campaigning for 48 hours over MCC violation. But more serious violations by the BJP have been ignored.

4) Failure to take action against surrogate advertisements
It has been reported that spending by political actors on surrogate advertising and targeted online campaigns to influence voter perception and beliefs is not held up to adequate scrutiny. The ECI should ensure accountability of political parties and digital platforms by adopting rights-based standards to regulate political expenditure on online advertisements and targeted campaigning. The ECI has also failed to disclose any action taken on such surrogate advertisements.

Although it has already been brought to the attention of your office how technology affects election results, including the use of deep fakes and voter surveillance, the ECI has not responded or taken adequate action to safeguard these violations. Have not done.

5) Failure to resolve withdrawal of candidates, threats to candidates
Several candidates in Gandhinagar and elsewhere have reported threats by the BJP. Some candidates have switched to BJP at the last moment. No elections were held in Surat and Indore and the winners were declared. This is the destruction of democracy. Threatening a candidate or promising incentives for his/her withdrawal is corrupt practice under the Representation of the People Act. However, the ECI neither conducted any investigation nor took any action.

Today, many intellectuals of Dehradun and many social service organizations also sent their complaint letters to the Election Commission through a postcard campaign against the continuous ignoring of the Model Code of Conduct in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. After talking to the people involved in this campaign, they said that the model code of conduct is being continuously violated by the Bharatiya Janata Party and all the campaigners of the BJP, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the people are being asked to build Ram Temple in the name of religion. But the public is being appealed to vote by spreading false rumors against the opposition by intimidation against a particular religion, which is not justified in any way. Despite all this, ignoring all these facts by the Election Commission can prove to be a big threat to India’s democracy, that is why today some intellectuals and social service organizations of the city have decided that we will send our point to the Election Commission through postcards. We will reach out through the campaign and will appeal to the Election Commission to take appropriate steps to make the elections fair and strict action should be taken against the culprits as per the rules. Indresh Nautiyal, Kamlesh Khantwal, Satish Dholakhandi, Nitin Maletha, Swati Negi, Kunal Rana, Rohit Singh etc. were present in this post card campaign.