EC yet to hear from oppn after Congress plea for 'urgent' meet

NEW DELHI: Congress had approached Election Commission on June 30 seeking an "urgent" meeting "any time after 4 pm on July 2" between the poll panel and a delegation comprising 10 opposition parties to discuss the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of rolls in Bihar . However, EC, despite writing back to each of the 10 parties to indicate availability of their representatives at 5 pm on July 2, is yet to hear from them.

EC sources said the "July 2" meeting with the multi-party opposition delegation thus stood deferred as no confirmations were received.

Sources told TOI that while the mail received from All India Congress Committee (AICC) for the multi-party delegation 's appointment with EC was unilateral, the commission sent its response the same day to each of the 10 parties - Congress, RJD, TMC , DMK, Samajwadi Party, NCP, JMM, CPI, CPM and CPI(ML) Liberation - seeking their confirmations for a meeting at 5 pm on July 2.

However, not one of the 10 parties had responded to EC's mail till late on Tuesday, as per EC sources. Even so, a TMC delegation met EC on Tuesday as part of its ongoing consultation with parties on all election-related issues. During this, the former suggested that 2024 be used as the base year for SIR, set to be taken up in Bengal ahead of elections next year.