Congress President forms EAGLE to oversee elections, civil society applauds
- In Reports
- 07:41 PM, Feb 03, 2025
- Myind Staff
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has formed a group called EAGLE (Empowered Action Group of Leaders and Experts) to oversee elections with the Election Commission of India. This move has been welcomed by several civil society groups. According to the press release, the team includes Ajay Maken, Digvijay Singh, Abhishek Singhvi, Praveen Chakravarty, Pawan Khera, Gurdeep Singh Sappal, Nitin Raut, and Challa Vamshi Chand Reddy. The committee's first task will be to look into the issue of manipulation in the Maharashtra voter list. They will prepare and submit a detailed report to the leadership as soon as possible.
Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) Director Venkatesh Nayak said, "This monitoring group is a welcome and long overdue move. Vigilant opposition parties must monitor whether or not the process is conducted according to the rule book. If chunav ka parv (festival of elections) is to truly become desh ka garv (pride of the country), a strict vigil must be maintained.” He further added, “I hope the empowered group makes efforts to collect grassroots-level feedback from election agents, polling agents and counting agents from every constituency and seeks legal remedies against actions and omissions that violate the sanctity of the electoral process.''
Meanwhile, Supreme Court advocate Mehmood Pracha, also Mission Save Constitution convener, said, "Congress has at least taken a first step. We are ready to help them and share the extensive data and information that we have gathered after much research. But we wish to inform them that mere monitoring may not really help but we have to work towards a long-term solution. There are many civil society groups that I'm working with, all of whom are seeking greater transparency in the poll process."
On the other hand, former IAS officer Devasahayam said, "This response from Congress is too little too late. They need to be more firm in responding to this serious issue.'' EAGLE will also look back at previous elections in different states and keep an eye on upcoming elections. It will also focus on addressing any issues related to ensuring free and fair elections in the country.
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