In the first press conference by EC since the start of Special Intensive Revision exercise in Bihar, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar on Sunday refuted the opposition’s allegations of a conspiracy of “vote theft” in Bihar. The press briefing was also the first direct media interaction by the Election Commission since the controversy broke out, with the INDIA bloc parties alleging that the revision exercise was being used to manipulate voter lists.
CEC Kumar started the presser by saying that the Commission has “no opponents and no supporters” and that every political party stands on equal footing before the poll body.
ECI defends SIR – ‘almost all parties demanding corrections’
Gyanesh Kumar stressed that the SIR was not an arbitrary move but a long-standing demand of parties themselves. “For the past two decades, almost all parties have been demanding corrections in the electoral rolls and to fulfill this very demand, the EC has started the SIR from Bihar,” Kumar said.
The CEC also pointed out that the draft rolls were prepared in collaboration with all stakeholders. “In the SIR process, all voters, along with the 1.6 lakh Booth Level Agents (BLAs) nominated by various parties, have jointly prepared a draft roll,” he said. On the ground, Kumar added, voters, political parties and booth-level officers were “working together in a transparent manner”, even providing video testimonials to validate the exercise.
Opposition misinformed or misleading?
In a pointed rebuttal to the INDIA bloc, which has accused the EC of turning a blind eye to irregularities, Kumar suggested that the disconnect lay within political parties themselves. “It is a matter of serious concern that these certified documents and voices of district-level party presidents and their nominated BLAs are either not reaching their state or national-level leaders, or the ground reality is being ignored to deliberately spread confusion,” he said.
Kumar argued that with over seven crore voters engaged in the process, questioning the EC’s credibility amounted to questioning the voters themselves. “When more than 7 crore voters stand with the Election Commission, then neither the credibility of the EC nor that of the voters can be questioned,” he said.
Rejects ‘vote theft’ narrative
On allegations of double voting, Kumar dismissed the charges as “false” and unsubstantiated. “Some voters alleged double voting. When asked for proof, no answer was given. Neither the Election Commission nor any voter is afraid of such false allegations,” he said.
He also denounced the practice of political parties presenting voter photos to the media without consent. “Should the Election Commission share the CCTV videos of any voter, including their mothers, daughters-in-law, daughters? Only those whose names are in the voter list cast their votes,” he said. Kumar accused the opposition of politicising individual voters for broader narratives.
‘Rock-like commitment’ to democracy
Kumar reiterated that India’s elections remain among the most transparent globally, with lakhs of officials and agents monitoring the process. “In the process of Lok Sabha elections, more than one crore employees, more than 10 lakh booth level agents, more than 20 lakh polling agents of candidates work for the elections. In such a transparent process in front of so many people, can any voter steal votes?” he asked.
He went further, asserting the EC’s impartiality, “When politics is being done by targeting the voters of India by keeping a gun on the shoulder of the Election Commission, today the EC wants to make it clear that it fearlessly stands like a rock with all voters of all sections and all religions.”
A political flashpoint
While the EC has sought to present the SIR as a neutral corrective measure, the row over it points towards a deepening distrust between the opposition and the Commission. During the presser, the poll body skipped some questions posed by journalists. For instance, the EC avoided answering the question about the “not recommended” option provided to the BLOs while uploading the filled up enumeration forms.
With Bihar set to be a key electoral battleground for both the BJP-led NDA and the INDIA bloc, the allegations and counter-allegations over voter lists have become politically charged, shaping the narrative of accountability well ahead of the polls.