Top Sources have told the Indian Express that The Election Commission is set to write to the Law Ministry seeking legal powers to countermand polls in case there is credible evidence of use of money to bribe voters and the poll panel had sought a report from the Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer on the matter.
It is said that the move comes against the backdrop of a recent sting operation that purportedly showed a group of MLAs from Karnataka demanding money, in crores, for supporting a candidate in the coming Rajya Sabha elections.
An official has stated that they want the government to either tweak this provision or introduce a new one through which the EC can also revoke any election (Assembly, Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha etc) if money has been used to influence voters.
The EC sources have told that instead to resorting to extraordinary powers repeatedly to take such a step, the EC would like to have it as part of the RP Act and having said that, it doesn't mean that the Commission will not use Article 324 again to countermand polls, until the proposal is accepted and executed by the government.
