In a direct counter to attacks by opposition parties, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday pushed back against allegations of “vote theft” and collusion with the BJP. The commission, in a press note, asserted that political parties themselves failed to flag errors in electoral rolls during the “designated claims and objections period”. The rebuttal came days after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused the poll body of aiding the ruling party in manipulating voter lists and described the irregularities as “vote chori” of citizens.
The poll body will be addressing a presser tomorrow (Sunday, August 17). Before the official briefing, the EC shared the press note and underlined that the political parties are involved at every stage of producing electoral rolls and the rolls are shared in advance with them to allow scrutiny and corrections.
Rahul Gandhi vs Election Commission
Earlier, the EC had strongly objected to Gandhi’s claims and termed ‘vote chori’ a “dirty phrase” meant to mislead the public and create a false narrative. It also asked Gandhi to submit his charges under oath. Gandhi refused the request saying his oath to the Constitution sufficed.
In the latest press note, the Commission said, “It seems that some political parties and their Booth Level Agents (BLAs) did not examine the Electoral Rolls at the appropriate time and did not point out errors, if any, to SDMs/EROs, DEOs or CEOs. Recently, some Political Parties and individuals are raising issues about errors in Electoral Rolls, including the Electoral Rolls prepared in the past.”
The EC stressed that the appropriate stage to highlight such concerns was during the designated claims and objections period. “Had these issues been raised at the right time through the right channels, it would have enabled the concerned SDM/EROs to correct the mistakes, if genuine, before those elections,” it added.
Welcoming scrutiny from opposition
While the rebuttal from the election watchdog took some time, it “welcomed” the criticism coming from parties. “ECI continues to welcome the scrutiny of Electoral Rolls by Political Parties and any Elector. It will help SDMs/EROs to remove the errors and purify the Electoral Rolls which has always been the objective of ECI,” the statement read.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav also joined the chorus of criticism, alleging that BJP leaders in Bihar were issued two Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) numbers as part of a larger conspiracy to manipulate voter rolls. The EC has rejected the accusations outright and is expected to address these issues in its Sunday press conference.
Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi is set to launch his “Vote Adhikar Yatra” in Bihar on Sunday. This public rally will be a 16-day campaign across 20 districts to raise awareness about the alleged irregularities in the voter list ahead of the state’s elections. Polls in Bihar are expected to be held sometime in November.