Postal ballot facility for 65 yrs and above: RJD joins opposition chorus against move, writes to EC

New Delhi: Joining the growing opposition chorus, Bihar’s main opposition party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), has also written to the Chief Election Commissioner against the move to extend the postal ballot facility to voters who are 65 years or above.
“It has come to our notice that additional rules have been introduced in the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 unilaterally, without following due process of consultation with the political parties,” RJD Rajya Sabha member Manoj Jha wrote in the letter to the ECI on Monday.

Jha has requested the ECI to withdraw the changes and hold consultations with all parties “to have an inclusive discussion on the challenges of conducting elections during the ongoing pandemic”.

“Our concern primarily has to be with the way in which the satisfactory physical verification of the voter will be now done. With the introduction of new categories and expansion of existing categories of people to whom postal ballot will be made available, we are of the opinion that the principle of verification stands to be greatly undermined. We are also apprehensive that such changes in the electoral process will work in favour of the ruling coalition, with monitoring and supervision powers under the current administration,” Jha wrote in the letter.