New Delhi, May 8: Leaders of the opposition INDIA bloc will meet the Election Commission on Thursday over their demand to promptly release the absolute voter turnout figures in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls after each phase, sources said.
They will also raise the issue of alleged “use of religious symbols” by the BJP in their campaign, they said.
The sources said leaders from the INDIA bloc will meet the full bench of the Election Commission of India on Thursday afternoon, submit a memorandum and also discuss the issues with the poll panel.
INDIA bloc parties, including the Congress, Trinamool Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist), have written to the poll panel separately so far, expressing concern over the alleged “delay” in the release of the voter turnout data in the first two phases.
Amid the opposition's allegations, the poll body had asserted that booth-wise data of the “actual number of votes polled” is available with the candidates soon after the voting ends.
In a statement issued last week, the EC also said it attaches “due importance” to the timely release of voter turnout figures after each phase of the poll, and said not just constituency, but booth-wise data of actual number of votes polled is available with the candidates, which is a statutory requirement.
On Tuesday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had written to leaders of various opposition parties on the issue of alleged “discrepancies” in the voting data released by the Election Commission (EC).
In his letter, Kharge urged the INDIA bloc leaders to “collectively, unitedly and unequivocally” raise their voice on the issue.
The EC officially shared the turnout figure for the first two phases of Lok Sabha polls on April 30. According to EC figures, a voter turnout of 66.14 per cent was recorded in phase one and 66.71 per cent in phase two of the ongoing Lok Sabha polls.
For the third phase of voting that took place on Tuesday, the EC's voter turnout app on Wednesday showed that 65.55 per cent voting had occurred.
