00:00Let me also take this to Aishwarya Paliwal joining us on the broadcast.
00:03Aishwarya, the meeting has just concluded as we are being told,
00:06but important decisions taken there.
00:08Do give us the inside scoop because everyone awaits the news briefing
00:13and answers to all that has been going on.
00:17Well, you know, one of the important things, Aishwarya,
00:19that we are seeing that is being done is the fact that the letter
00:21to the cabinet secretary was not related to any policy matter.
00:25It was related to the working of an officer on deputation and election
00:28commissioners in India. The work distribution order by the concerned officers
00:31were actually implemented after orders of the two election commissions
00:35and oversight over the IT division by the CDC was actually never withdrawn.
00:39In fact, let me also tell you the schedule for the SIR for 12 states and the UTAs.
00:43Now, this is something which was being done by the collective election commission
00:46on the 27th of October last year.
00:50And then again, there was an order, the schedule for the SIR for 19 states
00:55and UTAs. This, in fact, was being issued on the 14th of May this year.
00:59And this also was a unanimous decision, unanimous approval that was being taken
01:03by the election commission.
01:04So what the election commission now is trying to say is that they have been united.
01:08And this is what we also have been reporting since day one,
01:11that the commission says that they are united.
01:13Also saying that all the decisions were taken unanimously.
01:16No dispute with regards to the date in which SIR was to be conducted across the country.
01:23Oh, yes, absolutely, Aishwarya.
01:25And with regards to the clarification that has come in,
01:30especially the letter to the cabinet secretary,
01:33where it has been said that that letter was not related to any policy matter
01:40of the commission or IT division,
01:41but it was related to the working of an officer on deputation to ECI.
01:46Point being that with these points coming in from the election commission,
01:50will the opposition actually buy into it?
01:52Or can we see more adverse reactions coming in?
01:57Right, you know, the opposition, in fact, has picked this story up
02:00and they have been going to town saying that this is exactly what they were also claiming.
02:05But, you know, what, in fact, we have also been seeing is that the opposition now trying to rally
02:14around the report that was being done by the Indian Express
02:17and saying that this is exactly what we also have been speaking about.
02:20Now, with this clarification, we are seeing the election commission putting out a united front
02:25and clarifying the air with regards to the letters that were being written.
02:28And it is very, very clear, Suresha, that those letters, in fact, were being written.
02:32They were administrated in nature and they were not against the election commissioner,
02:36the chief election commissioner, Yanis Kumar, as the report was making it out to be.
02:40Oh, yes, absolutely.
02:41Because even the word coming in from the election commission to say that these are part of internal deliberations,
02:46that does not in any sense mean that there was a difference in decision making
02:51and that they were not on the same page.
02:54But we see how the opposition, especially the Congress, has been pushing the vote for Chori charge.
02:59They have been saying that, we have been saying this all along.
03:03But even with regards to the other clarifications coming in on the SIR procedure being carried out,
03:09on the extension of the dates, on helping out voters to reach out to their respective BLOs,
03:16be it in Goa, be it in other parts of Maharashtra,
03:18to say that the election commission is very, very open to helping everyone.
03:23And the idea is not to put it to be a cumbersome process,
03:29but for them to know that it is being done in a fair manner.
03:35Well, definitely, you know, elections are being conducted in a fair manner.
03:38And more importantly, what the election commission is trying to put out is a very clear message,
03:42clearly saying that the commission is united, is unanimous in the decisions that they have been taking.
03:48Yes, there were some administrative lapses about which both the election commissioners at different points of time had written.
03:53But there were administrative decisions and administrative lapses that they were, in fact, highlighting.
04:00This also speaks about the fact that there is democracy that actually is taking place inside the election commission.
04:10So these are some of the things, you know, that have been in the focus over the past few weeks.
04:14The opposition obviously will try to make a big story out of this.
04:18The opposition has been saying that the commission is not united.
04:21And also trying to fix both the election commissioners against the CEC.
04:24A clarification of sorts coming out in this latest statement, which is coming in.
04:28And the latest picture of all three of them just sitting together,
04:31clearly saying that all of them are united and unanimous.
04:36Paisira, stay on with us. More breaking news coming in.
04:40In the recent months, the commission has taken numerous decisions, including SIR across the country.
04:45The order for the SIR issued on the 24th of June 2025 for all states' union territories,
04:51starting with Bihar, followed by West Bengal and 30 other states' union territories,
04:55was issued with the unanimous approval of the commission.
04:58The same has been upheld by the Honourable Supreme Court of India,
05:01while its order dated 27th May 2026.
05:07The schedule for SIR for 12 states and union territories was issued on the 27th of October 2025.
05:14And those for 19 states' union territories was issued on the 14th of May 2026,
05:20with the unanimous approval of the commission,
05:22is what the Election Commission of India has said.
05:25And Aishwarya, the writing on the wall is very, very clear.
05:29They are stating that there is absolute unanimity between all the three,
05:35and there has been no difference on that front.
05:38They have been moving in line with what the procedure is,
05:45how it had been devised in the various states and union territories,
05:48in accordance with what the Supreme Court had held.
05:53This is something that the Election Commission, since day one,
05:55has been speaking, that all the decisions have been taken unanimously,
05:59and the letter, in fact, that has been written,
06:02was being written because,
06:06the letter, in fact, was being written because there were some kind of administrative lapses
06:10that, in fact, one could very, very clearly see
06:16taking place, and because of those administrative lapses,
06:19the letter was written because both the commissioners wanted the Election Commission
06:22to function as per the rules,
06:24and to make sure that no one is plouting on the sign of rules,
06:28and if by chance there was some kind of lapse,
06:30and both the commissioners felt that it had to be brought to the notice,
06:34and had to be rectified as soon as possible.
06:36So, this is something that this statement,
06:40the latest statement, Reta, at the moment is speaking about.
06:43All right, Aishwarya, I want to thank you for getting us the latest.
06:45This, we'll keep coming back to you for further updates,
06:47but for the moment, for our viewers to know
06:50that the meeting has very much concluded.
06:52These are the clarifications that have come in
06:54from the Election Commission of India.
