Concerned with the Election Commission of India’s silence over multiple hate speeches by Prime Minister Narendra Modi among other Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, citizens across India have begun a campaign urging them to take action.
The campaign called #GrowASpineOrResign, which begins on Saturday, May 11, will see participation of more than 2,000 citizens from Bengaluru, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad and other cities. The participants have decided to send postcards to Chief Electoral Officers and the Election Commission of India in Delhi to take firm action against hate speech and various polling violations.
“This is a citizen initiative and many organisations such as Bahutva Karnataka and People's Union For Civil Liberties have extended their support for the initiative. We have also planned demonstrations in Bengaluru and Delhi on May 11. We will be gathering in front of the office of the Chief Electoral Officer in Bengaluru and the Nirvachan Sadan in Delhi at 11 am,” said Bengaluru-based activist Vinay Kumar.
A collective of various citizen organisations will also be submitting a letter to the Chief Electoral Officers and the Election Commission of India in Delhi on May 11. The letter highlights three major issues such as the inaction of the Election Commission of India in combating hate speech, delay in releasing voter turnout data and coercion of candidates which led them to withdraw their nomination in Surat and Indore.
“The Election Commission has failed in asserting their authority. There have been many withdrawals and reports of candidates complaining that they were coerced to withdraw their nominations. They have also not released the data of actual number of votes polled, this allows for a possibility of the data being manipulated. They have all the power to stop this. What is the Election Commission doing to prevent this from happening?” Vinay asked.