INDIA bloc march: ECI says no party sought appointment till 4 pm

Hours after the INDIA bloc MPs marched towards the Election Commission and staged a day-long protest, the poll panel on Tuesday evening said no political party sought an appointment through its authorised representatives for a meeting with it till 4 pm.The Commission said the Delhi Police later informed it that a delegation of MPs led by Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi wished to meet the poll panel and submit a memorandum. The Commission said it learnt through the media that during the march of certain political parties towards the commission headquarters, some MPs wanted to meet the poll panel along with their delegation.
In a press statement, the Commission said that, however, at around 4 PM, it received information from the Delhi Police that a delegation of Members of Parliament, led by the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, wants to meet the Commission and submit a memorandum. Delhi Police DCP stated that the meeting was requested with a group of 240 MPs, and the proposed venue was the Parliament House Annexe. The Election Commission considered this request unusual, which could not be accepted. The Commission said that according to protocol, such meetings take place within the premises of the Election Commission of India.
The Election Commission prescribed a procedure for meetings with political parties and said all political parties have been informed of this and they follow the same procedure. Whenever a delegation of a political party or a joint delegation of several parties wishes to meet the Commission, it shall request an appointment to meet the Commission through its duly authorised representative. The parties then meet at a mutually agreed upon time.
The EC respects the country’s parliamentary and democratic processes, and also respects its own protocols and traditions, which are extremely important. Any political party may, at any time, request a meeting with the Election Commission; and the Commission may fix a date and time for meeting with them, in view of the convenience of time. This is a natural process.