"Throwing mud on EC amounts to throwing mud on democracy": BJP's Prakash Reddy amid SIR row

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], September 28 : BJP leader Prakash Reddy on Monday hit out at Opposition parties over their criticism of the Election Commission of India (ECI), saying that attacking the poll panel and its functioning amounted to undermining democracy and the Constitution.
"The Congress party has come down to such a stage that they are not in a position to mobilise the public or fulfil people's aspirations. That's why they are throwing mud on the Election Commission. Throwing mud on the Election Commission is indirectly throwing mud on our democracy and our Constitution also," Reddy told ANI.
He said that individuals were not more important than institutions and urged political parties to respect the functioning of constitutional bodies.
"We individuals are not important to the system. The system is important, the institutions are important. So when the institutions are functioning, let us not disturb the institutional functions," he said.
Reddy said Opposition parties had the right to raise their grievances but should not target the electoral system or the EC.
"It is your right to discuss this matter as an opposition party, but do not throw mud on the election system, election methodology and Election Commission. Individuals in the Election Commission are different," he said.
Referring to the Indian Express report, Reddy said leaders like Rahul Gandhi and others reacting to it were "not correct in a democracy".
"Indian Express news is just assumption news. And yesterday, people of this country witnessed how the Election Commission functions. All three election commissioners have equal rights, and people are understanding what the Election Commission is," he added.
He also took a jibe at Congress, saying, "Thanks to the Congress party, the educated people of this country are now understanding what the Election Commission is. That will certainly strengthen democracy in future."
Reddy said the ECI is functioning as per the aspirations of the people.
"Election Commission should function, and is functioning, as per the aspirations of the people of this country to protect democracy. People of India are very much for democracy. That's what they proved during the 1977 elections, and that will continue in future also," he said.
The BJP leader's remarks come amid criticism of the ECI from Opposition parties over its functioning and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The Indian Express reported that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections at least 14 times over a period of 10 months on decisions and orders related to the SIR process and other electoral matters. The reported disagreements included issues concerning Form 6, voter deletions and access to electoral-roll databases.
The Election Commission, however, rejected the suggestion that the reported objections amounted to institutional dissent over final decisions. The poll panel said operational queries, inputs and suggestions raised during the draft stage were part of its standard administrative and decision-making process.
The poll body maintained that all decisions taken by the Commission, including those related to SIR, were unanimous and had the approval of all three commissioners.
Meanwhile, Opposition parties including the Congress, CPI, CPI(M), Trinamool Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) have called for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.
CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya has said that an INDIA bloc meeting is expected on September 30 to discuss the SIR exercise and the functioning of the EC. He has also urged that the meeting not be restricted to bloc partners alone.