To substantiate the opposition’s claims, Congress general secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh cited a post by the party’s deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, Gaurav Gogoi, which claimed that Parliament has a long history of discussing electoral reforms and the functioning of the Election Commission. Ramesh said Gogoi has done excellent research and “thoroughly exposed the bogus claims of the Modi government, which is preventing Parliament from functioning smoothly”.In a post on X, Gogoi said that in 1961, the Rajya Sabha debated amendments to the Conduct of Elections Rules ‘ the discussion was led by then Law Minister Gopal Swarup Pathak, he said.In 1981, Congress MP Manubhai Patel moved a resolution to set up a parliamentary committee to review election laws, Gogoi pointed out. “In 1991, the Upper House debated the urgent need to amend existing election laws.In 2015, a Calling Attention Motion was moved by Rajya Sabha LoP Ghulam Nabi Azad on proxy and e-postal voting for NRIs. Law Minister DV Sadananda Gowda accepted the Opposition’s demand to consider their views,” the Congress MP said.“And as recently as 2019, a Short Duration Discussion on electoral reforms saw participation from the then Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. There is ample precedent. The government must not delay the long overdue and essential discussion on electoral reforms. Let us discuss electoral reforms in Parliament,” he added.
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