What Is EAGLE? Congress Sets Up 8-Member Panel To Keep 'Bird’s Eye View' On Polls
Congress has formed a committee to monitor election fairness by the ECI. The committee, EAGLE, will investigate voter list manipulation in Maharashtra and analyze past and future elections.
Just days ahead of crucial Delhi Assembly Elections, the grand old party, Indian National Congress, on Sunday set up an eight-member committee - Empowered Action Group of Leaders and Experts (EAGLE) - to monitor the conduct of free and fair elections by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the official account of Congress posted, "Hon'ble Congress President Shri Mallikarjun Kharge has constituted an Empowered Action Group of Leaders and Experts (EAGLE) with immediate effect, comprising the following members, to monitor the conduct of free and fair elections by the Election Commission of India."
Hon'ble Congress President Shri @kharge has constituted an Empowered Action Group of Leaders and Experts (EAGLE) with immediate effect, comprising the following members, to monitor the conduct of free and fair elections by the Election Commission of India. pic.twitter.com/a5qgmNDP79
— Congress (@INCIndia) February 2, 2025
Role of EAGLE:
As per the details, Congress' EAGLE, in its first assignment, will first take up the Maharashtra voters' list manipulation issue, and submit a detailed report to the leadership at the earliest, the party said. The committee will also analyse past elections in other states, and proactively monitor upcoming elections and all other issues related to the conduct of free and fair elections in the country.
Who all are inculded in EAGLE's Panel:
As per the details shared by the Congress, the members in the panel include:
- Ajay Maken (National Treasurer of Congress)
- Digvijaya Singh (Rajya Sabha MP)
- Abhishek Singhvi (Senior lawyer and RS MP)
- Pawan Khera (Chairman of media and publicity department of Congress)
- Praveen Chakravarty (Chairman of professionals’ Congress and data analytics)
- Gurdeep Singh Sappal (Administration in-charge at the All India Congress Committee)
- Challa Vamshi Chand Reddy (Special Invitee of Congress Working Committee)
- Nitin Raut
What Congress Alleges:
Earlier, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi had alleged that there is a "serious problem" with the country's election system and that the Election Commission needs to ensure there is transparency in polls.
Maintaining that "something wrong" has taken place in Maharashtra assembly elections, he had said the Congress and the opposition have been asking for voter lists of Maharashtra and Haryana elections, which the EC is refusing to provide.
What ECI said:
However, the ECI, in a statement, denied the claims of discrepancies in EVM and mismatched tallies between EVM and VVPAT slips.
The ECI also said that it is not possible to alter the actual voter turnout figures, as detailed information about voter turnout is documented in statutory form 17-C, which is available to the authorised agents of candidates at the time the polls close at each polling station.
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